Chapter 48: Revealed
The door of the department was pushed open, bringing in a gust of hot and humid air, which dispelled some of the cold air from the air conditioner.
Qiao Yue gripped the cold door handle, feeling the chill, and sighed, "I almost died of heat."
"Captain Qiao is back." A colleague handed her a glass of water and, seeing the smile on her face, asked curiously, "Did you find anything good?"
Qiao Yue took a sip of cold water and finally calmed her rapid breathing.
Pulling out a stack of documents from his briefcase, he said, "I got information about Zhang Jinzhi's whereabouts from an informant, and then I went to the Traffic Management Bureau to retrieve the traffic surveillance records. Finally, I caught him."
The colleague took the information and glanced at it. "Has he been hiding in Yuxin Village these days?"
The heat caused by excitement was suppressed by the cold water. Qiao Yue wiped her sweaty forehead with a tissue and said, "Yes, we have to quickly take people to capture him, otherwise if he escapes again, all our efforts will be wasted."
As she spoke, she planned to go to the director's office to apply for an arrest operation.
He was stopped by a colleague's words and stood there in a daze. After a while, he repeated the question, "Did you say Zhang Jinzhi was arrested, or did he surrender himself?"
"Yes, a team brought the people back more than two hours ago."
Seeing Qiao Yue's face full of disbelief, the colleague pointed to the interrogation room and said, "Really? If you don't believe me, go and see for yourself. Team 1 is just looking for you to participate in the interrogation."
Qiao Yue held the document in her hand, her brows raised. "Really? Why don't I believe it? He's the old loach Zhang Jinzhi who's been on the run for over 20 years."
As he was speaking, Song Xianzhe walked over from the direction of the interrogation room. Seeing Qiao Yue from afar, he waved at her, "Queen of Interrogation, you're back! Come to your post."
Qiao Yue walked towards him with a half-believing, half-doubting attitude, muttering to herself, "Is this Yuxin Village some kind of holy place that can cleanse people's souls? Even someone as heinous as Zhang Jinzhi surrendered himself. I should find a chance to investigate there and maybe even build a prison there."
She was filtering information related to Yuxin Village in her mind, and suddenly remembered a small detail.
Yuxin Village is Zhang Jinzhi’s hometown.
She tied her hair up and closed her eyes tightly. Her vision became much clearer and she adjusted her state of mind.
Lin Yu sat in front of the isolation window, looking down at Zhang Jinzhi's case record.
"Hey, Xiaolin." Qiao Yue sat down and greeted him. Seeing that he looked unhappy, she asked, "What's wrong with you?"
Lin Yu grinned at her and said it was okay, "You'll probably understand the situation during the interrogation later."
His gaze shifted from the screen to the isolation window, where he saw the police officer escorting Zhang Jinzhi to the other side. He secretly held his breath, suppressing his fatigue and irritability.
Qiao Yue also saw Zhang Jinzhi's face clearly. She raised her eyebrows slightly, with surprise written on her face. She compared it with the wanted photo and checked it carefully again.
Zhang Jinzhi was wearing the dark blue jacket distributed uniformly in the prison. He sat opposite me with drooping shoulders and head hanging, looking lifeless.
The dry, hard, short hair stuck to the scalp, making it look thin.
The metal handcuffs on his wrists shone silvery-white under the incandescent light, further highlighting his overall dejected and dejected appearance.
Zhang Jinzhi slowly raised his head and saw Lin Yu outside the isolation window.
Suddenly, he raised the corner of his mouth, revealing a sneer, his eyes revealing a bit of contempt, and mouthed "murderer."
Lin Yu raised his eyes and looked at him silently for a moment, pressing his knuckles on the keyboard and typing out several gaps.
Qiao Yue noticed the strange atmosphere between them, moved closer to Lin Yu, and asked, "What's going on?"
Lin Yu briefly talked about Chen Wan's kidnapping and Zhang Jinzhi's belief that Chen Shan's death was related to the police.
Upon hearing that Chen Wan was kidnapped, Qiao Yue turned around and glared at Zhang Jinzhi, who was standing opposite her. Seeing that he had calmed down a bit, she continued to ask, "So, how is Chen Wan now? Is he injured?"
"I have a bit of heatstroke and am currently taking a statement." Lin Yu lowered his eyes, and his thick eyelashes hid the emotional fluctuations in his eyes.
From the time he returned to the team until now, he still feels a lingering fear.
He didn't dare to think about what had just happened. If there had been any slight mistake, he would have probably lost her.
Whenever I think about it, I feel scared.
Qiao Yue recalled what she and Lin Yu had discussed that day about not telling Chen Wan about Chen Shan, but she didn't expect that this would contribute to the subsequent development of the situation.
She frowned, sighed softly, and patted Lin Yu's shoulder. "I'll interrogate him, and you'll be in charge of taking notes."
Lin Yu also knew that his current condition was not suitable for interrogation work, so he turned his attention back to the case file and checked Zhang Jinzhi's personal file.
Qiao Yue slammed the stack of documents in her hand onto the table, picked up a pen from the pen holder, circled the three words "Yuxin Village", and then showed it to Zhang Jinzhi.
"The police started pursuing you on the 4th, and you returned to South City this afternoon on the 7th. During these three days, the traffic control bureau's vehicle ingress and egress surveillance records showed you hiding in Yuxin Village. But why did you return to South City today and kidnap Chen Wan? What's the connection between these two events?"
Hearing her mention Yuxin Village, Zhang Jinzhi's indifferent expression finally changed. He rolled his cloudy eyes and looked at Qiao Yue. "It's not related. I just want to..."
Qiao Yue watched Zhang Jinzhi's expression change intently, the corners of her eyes turned up, and the lines were as sharp as a knife.
After a pause of several minutes, he finally squeezed out the words "reform" from his throat.
Hearing these words from such a villain, the pen between Qiao Yue's fingers slipped and a few drops of ink spilled from the tip.
Lin Yu's typing hand also paused, and he showed the same confused expression as Qiao Yue.
Qiao Yue wondered, Zhang Jinzhi surrendered himself so obediently, and now he said he would reform, is he mentally ill?
Or is he pretending to have mental problems in order to get a reduced sentence?
But investigations cannot rely on speculation. Qiao Yue regained her serious expression and continued the interrogation, "As far as I know, Yuxin Village is your hometown, but your personal file shows that your mother and her family moved away a long time ago. What are you going back for?"
After hearing what she said, Zhang Jinzhi's expression became more impatient and his attitude became much more impetuous.
"I can hide wherever I want. It has nothing to do with that woman or this case."
Lin Yu, who was silently observing the interrogation process, noticed from his subtle change in attitude that he was trying to cover up something.
"How can it be okay? Don't forget you're still responsible for a murder, and it happened right in Yuxin Village. How could you have been on the run for so long? Have you forgotten why you fled?" Qiao Yue scrolled the mouse, looking at the file about the "Ancient Well Corpse Case," glancing at the deceased's identity, then looked up at him. "Why did you kill your grandmother, Luo Xiahong, and dump her body in the well? That same year, your brother, Hu Xiang, also mysteriously disappeared. Even though this is an old case, you must tell the truth."
Hearing that unpleasant past being mentioned in detail, Zhang Jinzhi was stunned for a long time.
Maybe I had been on the run for too long, and I was always thinking about surviving, so I forgot why I was running away.
Grandma and brother, these two names are both unfamiliar and cruel to him.
"What is your purpose in returning to Yuxin Village? Is it related to the drug transportation route?" Qiao Yue asked aggressively, getting straight to the point.
Zhang Jinzhi remained silent, his cheek muscles puffed up stiffly, revealing a resistance.
Qiao Yue stared at him for a few seconds, unable to find the answer. Then she shrugged. "It's okay if you don't tell me. We'll send someone to investigate in detail." She slowed her tone, looking at him word by word, and said, "Even if we go door to door, it's a bit troublesome, but we're sure we can find out something."
Zhang Jinzhi was irritated by her attitude. He slammed his elbow on the railing of the chair, causing the metal shackles to vibrate. With red eyes and gritted teeth, he said, "If you dare to threaten me again, try it."
Because he was behind the isolation window, the sound was specially processed and sounded fuzzy and distorted, like a ball of scattered thread, without any deterrent effect.
Like a mute who is shouting at the top of his lungs and making all the pretense.
Lin Yu frowned, his eyes fixed on Zhang Jinzhi's ferocious expression, and he slowly mouthed, "You clown."
Zhang Jinzhi stared at him, his Adam's apple rolling up and down, and finally he let out a long breath, slumped his shoulders, and sat back in his original position.
Qiao Yue nudged Lin Yu's shoulder and whispered, "That's right. For people like this, you have to hit their sore spot and provoke them."
This method of torture is commonly known as provocation, and its professional name is inducement to confess.
Today, Zhang Jinzhi is like a trapped beast hiding in a corner, struggling to his death.
Qiao Yue calmly broke through his psychological defenses, no longer unraveling the mystery, but going straight to the point.
"Your attitude of reforming yourself is so hypocritical." She smiled, but her eyes were cold.
Zhang Jinzhi realized that his flaw was this sentence which was seriously inconsistent with his identity.
This is his flaw and also his glimmer of hope.
"Who did you meet in Yuxin Village? Why did you kill Luo Xiahong? Where did you hide your brother?" Qiao Yue held the pen between her fingers and tapped it on the table in rhythm with the questions, making a crisp "dong dong" sound.
On the other side of the isolation window, the sound was constantly amplified, and each sound was like a drum beating against Zhang Jinzhi's heart.
Who did you meet in Yuxin Village?
Why kill people?
The whereabouts of my younger brother.
The long-buried secret was once again revealed and exposed to the light of day.
For more than twenty years, he has been constantly on the run and hiding, using more crimes as a shell to cover up his past.
Only by committing a heinous crime can the fear of committing it for the first time become insignificant.
Seal it layer by layer and become numb.
Now this thick shell has been torn apart.
......
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