Chapter 50 Rope Murder Case (12) For your life...
The two of them lost no time and didn't even bother to have lunch. They drove straight to the client's store, which was called "Meimei Clothing Store". It had a pink sign and several mannequins behind the window, wearing the owner's new clothes.
Sang Luo and Ma Shi Tu pushed the door open and heard someone coming. The owner came up to them enthusiastically, shouting, "Are you here? What do you want to see——"
Before she finished her words, she saw the police uniforms they were wearing, so she immediately swallowed the rest of her words back, and her voice became a little timid:
"Officer, what are you doing here?"
Ma Shi Tu showed his ID and politely explained his purpose. Sang Luo scanned the store and saw a mannequin with tape wrapped around its neck at the back of the store. It was a male mannequin. Sang Luo took out tools to measure it and found that the mannequin was 1.8 meters tall, while Lan Jianguo was exactly 1.79 meters tall. The two were very similar!
"Master, that's it!" Sang Luo turned around and called Ma Shi Tu, his voice filled with suppressed excitement.
The shop owner was a little overwhelmed: "I thought I met just an ordinary thief, but it turned out to be related to a big case? Oh my God, I won't get into trouble this time..."
"Boss, did you clean this model after the incident?" Sang Luo asked nervously.
The boss shook his head: "Why wash it? Do you think it's my son? Do I have to give it a bath? There are just a few dirty spots, so I just wiped them with a rag."
Great! Sang Luo exclaimed in his heart.
Ma Shi Tu put on gloves and asked the shop owner for his opinion: "Can I take it away? I need it for the investigation."
The female shop owner immediately waved her hand: "Take it, take it! I don't want this unlucky thing at all, just take it away!"
In this way, Sang Luo and Ma Shi Tu brought the nude model back to the bureau and handed it over to the technical department for processing. The technical department first tore off the tape on the model's neck and carefully observed the incision on the model's head. They found some residue in the incision. They carefully sampled the residue, then sprinkled powder on the model and collected several different fingerprints.
At this time, Yuan Xiaohu called and he had also made some progress. He found an alley in the east of the city that was similar in height to Suzhai Lane. The width of this alley was also three meters. There were two big trees on both sides of the alley entrance. Yuan Xiaohu found traces of rope friction on the tree trunks and judged that ropes had been tied to these two trees.
Most importantly, trace amounts of blood were found below the marks, most likely from the murderer's hands being scratched by tree bark when tying the rope.
The technical department rushed to the location mentioned by Yuan Xiaohu without stopping and extracted the blood stains remaining on the tree trunk. Now the technical department has a total of three things waiting to be tested: fingerprints on the model, residues on the broken neck, and blood on the tree trunk.
These things needed to be sent to the Municipal Bureau for testing, so Yuan Xiaohu and Xie Ling'er went as usual. Before leaving, the four of them ate a bowl of beef noodles together at the door. The cafeteria was closed, so they could only eat a bite.
After finishing their meal, the two drove off. Ma Shi Tu glanced at the watch on his hand. It was two o'clock in the afternoon. If there were no special circumstances, the two should not be back until tomorrow morning.
Sang Luo took a quick glance and noticed that Ma Shi Tu's watch seemed to be very old, and the leather strap was completely peeling, so she casually asked:
"Master, why don't you change your watch strap?"
Ma Shi Tu waved his hand and smiled: "I can't change it. This watch is very important to me."
Hearing him say this, Sang Luo couldn't help but take a few more glances, and then he discovered that there seemed to be a word "Wen" engraved on the watch strap, but it had become blurred due to the passage of time.
Seeing that Ma Shi Tu didn't say much, Sang Luo didn't ask any more questions. Ma Shi Tu said to her, "Thanks to you for coming up with the idea that the murderer would simulate the crime. You really did a great job for us! Now, we just need to wait for the results tomorrow. We can finally breathe a sigh of relief."
Sang Luo's face did not look relaxed at all. She hesitated for a moment and said to Ma Shi Tu, "Master, I want to interrogate Hu Die again, is that okay?"
Ma Shi Tu was a little confused: "Is there any value in interrogating her? With her attitude, she refuses to say anything. We already have clear evidence, so there is no need to interrogate her again."
"But I still want to meet Hu Die." Sang Luo insisted.
"Okay," Ma Shi Tu sighed, "I have nothing to do this afternoon anyway, I'll go with you to interrogate her."
The second interrogation of Hu Die began. This time Ma Shi Tu was no longer anxious. He no longer had the pressure to solve the case, so he looked at Hu Die calmly. Hu Die also looked at the two people opposite her calmly. She seemed to be sure that the police could not convict her.
Sang Luo didn't beat around the bush and got straight to the point right away: "Hu Die, it was you who deliberately murdered Lan Jianguo with a rope on the 7th."
Hu Die curled her lips, her eyes full of disdain. Sang Luo said to himself, "On the 7th, you skipped classes as usual. Since you often skipped classes, your teachers and classmates didn't pay attention. After skipping classes, you didn't go out to hang out with your friends, but found a pile of gravel and put it on the road your father had to take to get home."
"At around 5 or 6 in the afternoon, your father came back from the countryside after catching pigs. He drove his electric tricycle past this pile of gravel. The car was bumpy and he fell off, injuring his hip. He called you for help, and you pretended to be back from school, helped him walk home, and then stayed by his side to take care of him."
Hu Die smiled: "You said yourself that I have been taking care of him, so how could I commit a crime? Could it be that I can clone myself?"
"You don't need to know how to clone yourself, just make your father fall asleep," Sang Luo emphasized, "Don't forget, your father is an alcoholic. He feels uncomfortable if he doesn't drink for a day. On the 7th, he made an appointment with someone to go out for a drink, but later he couldn't go, so he chose to drink at home."
Sang Luo said as he flipped through Hu Maoshan's confession. When Yuan Xiaohu and his team were interrogating Hu Maoshan, Sang Luo noticed a conversation:
Yuan Xiaohu: "What were you doing after 6 o'clock on the evening of the incident?"
Hu Maoshan: "Hey, officer, you've asked me so many times, I've told you all, I fell and hurt my butt, I've been lying in bed, my daughter is taking care of me, this little bastard still has a conscience, she saw how miserable I was, she brought me some wine, I drank a few bottles of beer and fell asleep, I don't remember anything that happened afterwards, it's no use for you to ask me!"
Sang Luo held up the confession book: "Hu Maoshan said that you took the initiative to let him drink that night, and he got drunk after drinking a few bottles of beer. According to his friends, Hu Maoshan has a good alcohol tolerance and can usually get a whole table of people drunk. I guess you added something to the wine that night to make him fall asleep as soon as possible, so that it would be easier for you to commit the crime."
Hu Die said nothing, just smiled contemptuously.
This was just Sang Luo's guess. After all, several days had passed. Even if there was something in Hu Maoshan's blood, it had already been metabolized. Sang Luo did not dwell on this. She continued:
"After Hu Maoshan fell asleep, you walked into the yard, picked up the rope you had prepared, and walked out of the gate. Then you rode your bicycle to Suzhai Lane, where few people walked, and even less after dark. You tied the rope to the electric pole and tied several knots tightly - did you hate him?"
"After doing all this, you left the scene. No, maybe you didn't leave. You were hiding behind the corner of the alley, waiting for something to happen. After hearing Lan Jianguo's screams, you confirmed his death from a distance, and then left with satisfaction."
"There were no other pedestrians on the road at the time. You had the opportunity to untie the rope and take it away, but you didn't. You deliberately left it there to make it a clue for the police investigation. You hoped that the police would follow the rope to find Hu Maoshan and then take Hu Maoshan away as the murderer."
Sang Luo looked up at Hu Die: "That's what you planned, right?"
Hu Die whistled. Perhaps she was in a good mood and was willing to say a few more words today: "What makes you say I did it? Did someone see it with their own eyes, or do you have a video? You have nothing, so stop talking nonsense here!"
Ma Shi Tu slammed the table, and couldn't help but feel a little angry. He said to Sang Luo: "Look, with her attitude, is it necessary to talk to her?"
Sang Luo said calmly: "It is necessary."
Seeing this, Ma Shi Tu stopped talking. Sang Luo brought up another matter: "Hu Die, did you know that Lan Jianguo has a baby?"
Hu Die chuckled: "How would I know about his family's affairs?"
"There is the word 'zheng' written on the wall of Lan Jianguo's bedroom. Do you know what it means?" Sang Luo asked.
Hu Die's pupils suddenly dilated, and soon she returned to normal and said the same words as before, but from her reaction just now, she clearly knew.
"A classmate witnessed you dragging Lan Yue into the alley and slapping her, right?" Sang Luo asked the question again. They had asked this question when they first interrogated Hu Die.
"Yes!" Hu Die's attitude was very sure this time, "I did hit her, so what? A troublemaker like her who didn't pay protection money and dared to talk back to me, who else should I hit if not her?"
Seeing Hu Die's attitude, Sang Luo became more certain of her guess. She turned to Ma Shi Tu and said, "Master, I want to be alone with her for a few minutes, is that ok?"
Ma Shi Tu was stunned for a moment. Although he didn't know what Sang Luo was up to, he still chose to trust Sang Luo. He whispered, "Okay, you ask first. I'll go out and smoke a cigarette."
After Ma Shi Tu left, only Sang Luo and Hu Die were left in the room. Hu Die stared at Sang Luo with hostility in her eyes.
"You must think of me as an enemy, thinking that I am deliberately trying to capture you," Sang Luo smiled, "but you are wrong, I am here to save you."
Hu Die said "Pooh", but Sang Luo didn't get angry either. He said to her directly: "The police have evidence and can convict you tomorrow at the latest. Hu Die, I can tell you clearly that this is your last night in the detention center. After tonight, you will go to prison."
There was a rare panic in Hu Die's eyes. She looked at the policewoman in front of her, not sure whether she was deceiving her.
Sang Luo noticed the change in her eyes and continued, "Do you know what a women's prison is like? The people in there are much more powerful than the big brothers and big sisters you met when you were a gangster. They are all real criminals."
Hu Die lowered her head and said nothing. Sang Luo counted on his fingers and said, "Premeditated murder... Even if you are not sentenced to death, you will still be in prison for more than 20 years. That's 20 years. You have spent your best youth in prison."
Hu Die felt her throat dry. She swallowed hard and asked fiercely, "What do you mean by this?"
"What I mean is, I advise you to turn yourself in as soon as possible," Sang Luo walked up to her, "As long as you are willing to turn yourself in, the final punishment will definitely be reduced. Hu Die, this is your last chance."
Sang Luo glanced at the watch and said, "It's four o'clock in the afternoon now. The police's test results may come out at any time. As long as you can tell the truth before the test results come out, it will be considered as surrendering yourself."
Hu Die's heart was beating very fast. After all, she was still a child and was not sure whether Sang Luo's words were credible. She asked tentatively:
"Why are you telling me all this? Since you have evidence, why don't you just solve the case? What good will it do you if you force me to turn myself in?"
"It's not good for us, but for you—" Sang Luo looked at Hu Die with pain, "For the sake of your life, I want to try again. There is no special reason for me to do this, just because you are also a victim."
"Me?" Hu Die was a little surprised. It seemed like this was the first time she heard such words.
"Yes," Sang Luo said confidently, "Although you are a murderer, you are also a victim."
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