"Have you already guessed who it is?" Wang Shen smiled and glanced at Liang Zichen.
"Xiao Lin?" Liang Zichen tentatively uttered the name.
After hearing the name, Wang Shen nodded and then said, "The watch on the man's wrist on the screen, I saw Xiao Lin wearing the same one that day, so there shouldn't be any mistake."
“But haven’t we already ruled out Xiao Lin as a suspect through many clues?” Liang Zichen also turned his gaze to the watch, his face still full of doubt.
"This shows that there were flaws in our judgment. Now we can sort out some of the clues that led us to rule out Xiao Lin as a suspect." Wang Shen pursed his lips, sat back down in his chair, and took out his usual notebook from his pocket.
Wang Shen flipped through a few pages of the notebook, looking at the information recorded inside, and said, "The phone number we found at Han Lin's house was located at Han Mo's house. We immediately went to Han Mo's house. Zichen, do you remember Xiao Lin was in the house back then?"
“I remember, we initially thought the murderer was still inside, so we waited outside for quite a while,” Liang Zichen answered Wang Shen’s question while nodding.
“That’s right.” Wang Shen tapped the table twice with his fingers, then continued, “This is the first piece of evidence that led us to rule out Xiao Lin as a suspect. Because half a day had passed since Han Lin’s suicide, we guessed that the murderer couldn’t have stayed in the house the whole time. The murderer would have guessed that we might find some clues and thus discover the phone’s origin.”
At this moment, Liang Zichen sat down opposite Wang Shen. Liang Zichen suddenly interrupted Wang Shen and said, "At the time, we thought the murderer wouldn't be stupid enough to walk right into our trap and wait for us to catch him. Indeed, murderers usually want to escape the crime scene as quickly as possible."
“But many murderers just don’t play by the rules. If we consider it from this perspective, do you think it’s possible that the murderer is doing the opposite of what we expect, waiting for us to catch them?” After saying this, Wang Shen looked at Liang Zichen, hoping to hear his opinion.
"Going against the grain?" Liang Zichen's pupils widened slightly, then he remained silent for a moment. "Captain Wang, you mean the murderer knew we would go to Han Mo's house, so he simply stayed there and waited for us. And according to our logical assumptions, we've confirmed that the murderer wouldn't be that stupid, so we can actually rule out Xiao Lin as a suspect, right?"
After Liang Zichen finished speaking, Wang Shen nodded slightly.
“No, we didn’t rule out Xiao Lin’s suspicion just because of this incident.” Liang Zichen seemed to have thought of something else, and then shook his head vigorously.
"Captain Wang, we were also puzzled by Xiao Lin's appearance at Han Mo's house at first, and we even considered him a suspect. He gave the reason for being in Han Mo's house: to steal the files from that red hard drive. But we still couldn't confirm his motive. Do you remember how we later confirmed his alibi?"
Wang Shen had already considered the question raised by Liang Zichen. He looked at the clues recorded in his notebook and then made some annotations. After a while, Wang Shen put down his pen and glanced at Liang Zichen.
"Our alibi for Xiao Lin is based on his wife's testimony. His wife confirmed that Xiao Lin was at home when Han Lin had the accident and had not gone out."
Upon hearing Wang Shen's words, Liang Zichen immediately responded, "Yes, with this alibi, we gradually eliminated our suspicions about Xiao Lin. Then, you turned your suspicions to Xu Xiaolin."
“That was indeed the situation at the time. But later, Xu Xiaolin also provided evidence of her alibi. So, whose alibi do you think is more reliable?” At this point, Wang Shen put down his pen, looked at Liang Zichen, and waited for his answer.
"Xu Xiaolin, I suppose," Liang Zichen said after a moment's thought. After stating his answer, he paused for a moment before explaining, "I remember Xu Xiaolin provided us with all the clues that could prove her innocence, such as information from the surveillance footage."
Wang Shen agreed with Liang Zichen's view. "Although I haven't had time to check the surveillance footage of Qi Huan's apartment complex yet, based on the current situation, I'm more inclined to believe that Xu Xiaolin and Han Lin's cases are unrelated."
After saying this, Wang Shen paused for a moment and glanced at the information in the notebook again.
Before Wang Shen could speak, Liang Zichen said to himself, "Captain Wang, if our analysis is accurate, then the murderer is Xiao Lin. And there must be a problem with the alibi provided by his wife."
Wang Shen and Liang Zichen shared the same opinion. "Alibis provided by close relatives are not very legally valid. Now it seems that Xiao Lin's wife is very likely lying."
After Wang Shen finished speaking, a new question arose in Liang Zichen's mind. "If Xiao Lin's wife is lying, then her purpose is clear: to help Xiao Lin cover up his late-night outing. A wife wouldn't not scrutinize her husband's reasons for leaving late at night. Moreover, Xiao Lin probably already made a prior arrangement with his wife, requesting a false alibi. From this perspective, could Xiao Lin's wife also be an accomplice in Han Lin's case?"
"Accomplice?" This time, Wang Shen's face showed a slight look of surprise. Wang Shen thought for a moment, then nodded, then shook his head. "Such an assumption cannot be confirmed at the moment. As long as Xiao Lin finds a reasonable reason, he can deceive his wife. This is not a difficult task."
"Okay, so based on our analysis, Xiao Lin's alibi has been overturned. But to enter Han Mo's house, we need the house key. Captain Wang, do you remember how Xiao Lin got the key to Han Mo's house?"
Wang Shen nodded. "Xiao Lin said he didn't know who threw the key into his office. So I went to Xiao Lin's office and checked the security camera footage in front of his office. The footage did show a child throwing a bag through the window into Xiao Lin's office."
After listening to Wang Shen's words, Liang Zichen immediately analyzed, "Now it seems that all of this was pre-planned by Xiao Lin. The purpose was to increase the reliability of his alibi."
Wang Shen tapped the table with his finger again and said, "That's right. At the time, I was glad that there was a security camera in the community pointing directly at Xiao Lin's office door. Now that I think about it, it was all Xiao Lin's arrangement. As for that child, we can't confirm his identity. Based on the clues we have so far, that child was very likely arranged by Han Lin in advance."
After saying so much, Wang Shen felt a bit thirsty. He got up, walked to the water dispenser, poured two glasses of water, and placed one in front of Liang Zichen. After taking a sip, Wang Shen said, "So, the key was actually in Xiao Lin's hands all along."
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