The Evil White Nightmare (13)

In the interrogation room, before Meng Siqi asked any questions, Xu Jianfei took the initiative to speak: "Officer, I had no choice but to pay the ransom. My wife answered the phone and asked me to go right away. You know she is impatient, so I had to go."

Xu Jianfei looked miserable, his eyelids were haggard, his face was pale, and his beard was untidy. He must have been worried about his daughter these days. "I don't know how Zhou Zhou is doing now. Can you save her? The ransom money has been paid, and they said to wait for news. I don't know if Zhou Zhou has come back now?"

Meng Siqi thought that Xu Jianfei didn't know that his father took the ransom money today. She planned to find a way to make Xu Jianfei tell the truth. She said solemnly: "Xu Jianfei, we are looking for Xu Yizhou's whereabouts. Don't worry, our police will do our best. She will be fine. But I also have a few questions for you. I hope you can answer truthfully. This may save Xu Yizhou's life sooner."

Xu Jianfei's panic seemed to have calmed down a bit. He asked, "Officer Meng, what do you want to know? I can tell you everything."

Meng Siqi was very pleased with Xu Jianfei's attitude. His attitude was much better than that of his father Xu Wangtu, but this did not mean that Xu Jianfei was not a major suspect. On the contrary, Xu Jianfei could not get rid of the suspicion.

Xu Jianfei was a primary school math teacher and a gold medalist in the Mathematical Olympiad. He was an excellent student and had strong logical thinking ability since he was a child. She had a deep understanding of this. Xin Tianfei, who had committed many crimes in the murder case, was a high school math teacher. He had very careful logical thinking and was invincible in his dealings with the police. If she wanted to find out the inner thoughts of these people, she had to engage in more rigorous logical dialogues. Meng Siqi must not be misled by the other party's logical fallacies.

She prepared the first question and asked, "Xu Jianfei, less than 24 hours after your daughter Xu Zhou was kidnapped, your wife and father did not report it to the police. Why did you secretly report it?"

In Meng Siqi's view, Xu Jianfei's behavior of secretly calling the police without telling his wife and father about the situation at that time was incomprehensible to her, because in her profile, Xu Jianfei was an "obedient" person at home. After he was expelled from school, his life hit a low point. His wife Zhou Yingjun had a stronger personality than him, so he showed more cowardice.

Xu Jianfei said: "After Zhou Zhou was kidnapped, Yingjun cried bitterly, and my father was also very upset. However, there were no more calls from the kidnappers after the first call. At that time, I had a huge worry. I was worried that the kidnappers had killed the hostage in advance."

Meng Siqi was slightly stunned and was somewhat curious about Xu Jianfei's "worry". When people are under great pressure, they often have greater hope for "life". In that case, it is normal to believe that his daughter is still alive. However, Xu Jianfei chose to think in the opposite way.

She asked: "Why do you think the kidnappers would kill the hostage? The kidnapping was not too long ago."

"Because I remember the child kidnapping case five years ago very clearly." Xu Jianfei said in a low voice, "Five years ago, one of my students, Qian Shuyin, died in a kidnapping case. I still remember it clearly, so I quickly thought about whether Zhou Zhou had encountered the same situation. I could only choose to call the police as soon as possible. Waiting for the kidnapper's call might not be a solution."

Meng Siqi had great doubts about Xu Jianfei's confession, because in her profile, Xu Jianfei was very likely the murderer of four child kidnapping cases five years ago. But at this moment, Xu Jianfei took the initiative to bring up the kidnapping case five years ago, which seemed like he was exposing his own scars.

Qian Shuyin was indeed Xu Jianfei's student. She was a second-grade girl in the same class as Liu Zizi. Xu Jianfei was their math teacher. Half a year after Xu Jianfei was expelled from school, Qian Shuyin got into trouble, and it was the first of four kidnapping cases.

Meng Siqi has done a profile. Logically, Liu Zizi is the person Xu Jianfei hates the most, but he chose Qian Shuyin, which makes Xu Jianfei less suspicious. However, Meng Siqi believes that Xu Jianfei's suspicion has increased. He may want to make Liu Zizi's parents panic by "sanctioning" Liu Zizi's classmates, because at that time Xu Jianfei and Xu Wangtu sought clarification from Liu Zizi's parents, but were rejected.

If Xu Jianfei was really the murderer, but he revealed his "trump card" first in the interrogation room, this would undoubtedly make Meng Siqi feel that Xu Jianfei was setting a logical fallacy trap, waiting for her to jump into it.

Meng Siqi decided to follow Xu Jianfei's words and unfold her prepared thoughts. She said, "Since you mentioned the kidnapping case five years ago, I have a few questions for you. You still remember Liu Zizi, right? What happened between you and Liu Zizi in the office six years ago? Can you tell me about it?"

Xu Jianfei's face suddenly turned extremely gloomy, and his eyebrows drooped. He must have not expected that the police would ask this question today. Meng Siqi also saw some inferiority and evasion in his eyes. Was it true that Xu Jianfei molested a female student as rumored?

Xu Jianfei asked back: "What does this have to do with Zhou Zhou's kidnapping?"

Meng Siqi knew that if she fought with Xu Jianfei in a "logical" battle, she might not be able to suppress her opponent, so she answered evasively: "Xu Jianfei, six years ago, didn't you want to clarify your innocence? Today you can tell us everything."

"Six years have passed. Is there any point in talking about this? What can these things change? Liu Zizi should have been in junior high school by now. Even if I was innocent six years ago, would Liu Zizi be willing to admit it now? And I don't want to disturb her current life."

Meng Siqi found it more and more strange. It was obvious that Xu Jianfei had encountered overwhelming "criticism" six years ago, and he must have wanted to clear his name. But today, he used the fact that Liu Zizi was in junior high school as an excuse to blur his mindset of seeking innocence.

She asked, "So, you don't want to clear your name, you want to be considered a student molester for the rest of your life."

Xu Jianfei shook his head vigorously. "No, you are wrong. I didn't. I just don't want to disturb my life. I don't want to go back to the days six years ago when everyone hated me. I have changed. I am now John, a gold medalist in Mathematical Olympiad training. This is more important to me."

Meng Siqi began to understand Xu Jianfei's state of mind and his way of thinking. She felt that Xu Jianfei had already set up a careful logical thinking framework in his mind, which was difficult for her to crack, but she had to penetrate the truth of six years ago, the truth that belonged to Xu Jianfei.

She "stepped back to the next best thing" and used a new strategy to ask: "Xu Jianfei, maybe you don't want to seek innocence, but what about your daughter Xu Zhouzhou? Don't you think all this is too similar to the kidnapping case five years ago? Since you chose to call the police, you must realize that Xu Zhouzhou's kidnapping is a continuation of five years ago. Why did the gangster choose Xu Zhouzhou and your family? Haven't you thought about it? Your family is not rich. Do you really think he committed the crime randomly? If you want to save Xu Zhouzhou's life, please clarify all this."

Meng Siqi's tone was firm and decisive. Xu Jianfei's eyes were finally stained with a mixture of anxiety and worry. That was definitely the anxiety and worry about his daughter. He moved his lips and finally spoke: "What do you want to know?"

"Liu Zizi went to your office at noon that day. What happened?"

"…Six years ago, I clearly remember that day during lunch break. There were a few questions on Liu Zizi's test paper, and her solution method was not quite right. Liu Zizi was the top student in the class, and I valued her more. At that time, students in the same grade often compared with each other secretly. I was the class teacher, and it happened that the school was investigating the deputy director candidate at that time. I was very strong-willed and made Liu Zizi a key teaching target. It was not the first time that I called her and some good students to the office to have a private conversation. It was just that one time…"

"But an accident happened that time. Liu Zizi's stomach suddenly hurt so badly that she cried out in pain. As the head teacher, I lost track of my identity and directly lifted Liu Zizi's clothes. I touched her belly and stomach to confirm where she was in pain. After gently pressing and stroking her a few times, I was sure that there was something wrong with Liu Zizi's stomach. But at that moment, Teacher Sun Songdian walked in."

"The situation at that time may have led to his misunderstanding. He called for help as soon as he stepped out of the door. I thought Sun Songdian was going to call for medical personnel, but I never thought that his thoughts were dirty. After Liu Zizi was sent to the infirmary, I was repeatedly questioned by the school's teaching department whether I had molested Liu Zizi at the time, causing her to cry and make a fuss. I knew that only Liu Zizi could clarify this situation, but I soon heard that Liu Zizi's parents were very angry when they heard that I had touched the child's body. They did not give me a chance to clarify and directly sentenced me to 'death'. Needless to say, Liu Zizi also thought that I was molesting her."

Even though six years have passed, Xu Jianfei still feels aggrieved and unwilling when describing the incident. Although this cannot prove whether he is lying, his emotions will not deceive people. The feeling of being wrongly accused and humiliated is chilling.

But what about the story behind this? When a person is wronged and humiliated, he can either swallow his anger or fight back desperately, and Xu Jianfei may have chosen the latter.

"You were wronged and felt very unbalanced. During that year, your wife wanted to divorce you, your mother-in-law mocked you, and your relatives and friends abandoned you. However, you could not escape and felt depressed, so you did something illegal?"

Xu Jianfei's eyebrows were knitted into a deep "川" shape. He lowered his head and looked worried. However, when he heard the last sentence, he raised his eyelids and said, "I don't understand what you mean..."

"Five years ago, there were four kidnappings. From the first kidnapping of Qian Shuyin to the last one, all four kidnappings were committed by the same person. Do you really know nothing?"

"You mean I was the one who committed the four kidnappings?" Xu Jianfei's eyes widened, as if he didn't believe what he heard at all.

Meng Siqi put the photo of Xu Yizhou being kidnapped in front of him. When he saw the person in it, Xu Jianfei raised his eyes in pain and asked, "Do you want to express it?"

"In the four cases back then, the murderer used the four elements of gold, wood, water, fire and earth, but not gold. Five years later, gold appeared in Xu Yizhou's case."

Xu Jianfei looked at the photo on the table. He had seen the report, but the information in the newspaper was in black and white, so no one would think about it in this way. The "gold" element in the photo was very obvious. He shook his head and said, "No, you said this was done by the same person? Why did he kidnap Zhou Zhou?"

Five years ago, four children were killed in a kidnapping. If there is a connection, it proves that Xu Yizhou may have been killed. Xu Jianfei became more and more emotional and clenched his fists. "This is impossible. That was five years ago. Just because of a photo, what can this prove! Prove that the murderer has appeared again?"

"Yes, this doesn't prove anything. The murderer must not be the murderer from five years ago, because you are the murderer from five years ago!" Meng Siqi said decisively.

Xu Jianfei was suddenly stunned.

Meng Siqi quickened his tone, "Five years ago, you designed four cases, using your strong logical thinking. Just because you were expelled from school and wrongly accused by a seven-year-old female student, you harbored resentment and hated those children, but deep down you liked them. You took Qian Shuyin away just because she was Liu Zizi's classmate. You originally just wanted to vent your desires. You like children but hate them. That time you accidentally killed her. You created the illusion of kidnapping... After that, you randomly selected three children in the same way and killed them in the same way."

During this process, Xu Jianfei's eyes were red, as if someone had pierced his nerves with a needle. "Haha..." He suddenly laughed, a nervous smile on the corner of his mouth, "Yes, I hate Liu Zizi. If it weren't for her, I would still be a teacher at Jinxiao. It is also possible that I would have been the principal of Jinxiao. You think I like to use a pseudonym to become a fake gold medal Olympiad teacher. I did want to take revenge on them, especially Liu Zizi. I like this little girl very much. That time she had a stomachache because she was too worried about her. I thought about taking revenge on her... but I couldn't do it. I didn't know how to do it? Of course, you don't have evidence to prove that I am the murderer."

Xu Jianfei once gave people the impression of being very down-to-earth, but just now he showed a mixture of neurosis and calmness. That neurosis should be the most repressed state of him after being expelled from school six years ago. However, he is born with a love for mathematics, and he prefers calmness in his bones. This is the combination of various personalities of this man.

Shen Xiangming had been silent throughout the interrogation. At this moment, he suddenly felt that Meng Siqi had a different kind of charm. Her interrogation method was not complicated, nor was it designed in layers. It was even very calm, just like chatting with an opponent. However, it was at the most unexpected moment that she could make the opponent's heart collapse. This made him feel that Meng Siqi's thinking was three-dimensional, and she was spying on her opponent from multiple dimensions.

Meng Siqi is also very beautiful. He rarely sees such a beautiful girl in the provincial government. He still remembers the first time he saw Lu He's sister Liang Ran when he was still in the police academy. She played a piece of guzheng on the festival stage and the audience applauded. At that time, he thought she was stunning and decided to pursue her. Today, Meng Siqi's interrogation made him think that she was playing a wonderful piece of music.

Five years ago, he was in charge of this case, but that time, he did not suspect Xu Jianfei. But now it seems that Xu Jianfei is indeed a major suspect.

Facing Xu Jianfei's rebuttal, Meng Siqi remained calm, but she did not have any evidence against Xu Jianfei. If she had evidence, Xu Jianfei should have been executed five years ago. Now, she could only continue to throw out information and play psychological warfare with him.

"I am sure that Xu Yizhou has a lot to do with the case five years ago. In addition to the evidence of the gold element, after you sent the ransom money this afternoon, do you know who took it?" She paused deliberately, "It was your father Xu Wangtu!"

Meng Siqi's words were like thunder in his ears, striking Xu Jianfei's eyes. His pupils were filled with shock and confusion.

Meng Siqi added: "We just interrogated Xu Wangtu, and he claimed that he took the ransom money because he was threatened by the criminals. What do you think the criminals' purpose was? Don't you think his purpose was to target the murderer from five years ago?"

Xu Jianfei was still stunned by the shock of her messages, his face solemn and eyes full of shock. In Meng Siqi's opinion, he would definitely not ignore the factors behind this case at this moment, and he must pay the price for the mistakes he had made.

Meng Siqi's psychological warfare was very successful. Shen Xiangming had deeply felt all the efforts she had made. After careful consideration, Shen Xiangming raised his eyes slightly, and he finally began to feel the attraction of this girl.

"I can tell you, but I have a condition." Xu Jianfei finally gave in.

Shen Xiangming's heart sank. At that moment, he also found that Meng Siqi's face showed some of the youthful, sincere, and simple temperament of a girl. In fact, this is the temperament that men like most in professional women. He had seen this temperament on Liang Ran's face.

"As long as it's reasonable, I can agree to it." Meng Siqi replied.

"Officer Meng, I hope you can save my daughter. But I have one condition. I can plead guilty, but I can't tell you the details of the crime until my daughter is rescued."

Meng Siqi did not expect Xu Jianfei's condition to be this, but now she had no choice but to agree to him because the initiative was in Xu Jianfei's hands.

But she had no right to decide. She looked at Shen Xiangming, who nodded slowly. Meng Siqi immediately said to Xu Jianfei, "Okay, I can agree to it temporarily."

Xu Jianfei lowered his eyes slightly and said, "I killed Qian Shuyin. I planned the kidnapping. I plead guilty. If the school hadn't expelled me, causing me to be in agony and lose my mind, I would never have made such a mistake. But it's too late now. Today I only hope to atone for the victim's family by admitting my guilt."

In fact, when Xu Jianfei confessed his guilt, Meng Siqi did not feel particularly happy. Instead, she thought of the four murdered children. All this had a lot to do with Xu Jianfei's extremely unbalanced and distorted psychology at the time.

If everyone involved in the incident at school had been more fair and tolerant towards Xu Jianfei, perhaps the final outcome would have been different.

At dusk, after all the interrogations were over, Meng Siqi heard that Lu He and Han Changlin had returned to the police station. She planned to go to the door in person to tell them the results of the interrogation. After all, this case now involved both the kidnapping case and the white-faced man. She also wanted to know the results of their investigation.

Shen Xiangming followed, walked side by side, and said with a smile: "Siqi, you did a good job today."

"Thank you, Captain Shen."

"Keep it up, Mr. Shen is very optimistic about you."

"Thank you, Captain Shen." Meng Siqi smiled.

When the two of them arrived at the entrance of the police station, Lu He's group of people had already gotten off the car and were walking back to the entrance.

Lu He looked at the two people standing side by side at the door, and his pace slowed down.

Meng Siqi took a few steps forward and was about to ask Lu He about the progress of the search when a man walked out from the door of the police station. It was Xu Wangtu. Because he had nothing to do with the kidnapping case, he was released by Shen Xiangming.

At this time, he looked a little downcast. He probably heard about the fact that his son Xu Jianfei had committed a crime. He walked outside the group of people, but his pace was slow, even making people feel a little elegant. Before leaving, he turned his head and glanced at Meng Siqi. It was a look of despair, but Meng Siqi saw a hint of coldness.

It was that look that suddenly reminded Meng Siqi of a certain behavior that occurred during Xu Wangtu's interrogation. She clearly remembered that Xu Wangtu also had such a cold look during the interrogation.

She suddenly realized that her previous guess was wrong!

She clearly remembered the moment she placed the photo of Xu Yizhou being kidnapped in front of Xu Wangtu, and the look of defeat and a hint of coldness on his face.

The expression on his face when he saw the photo of his granddaughter being kidnapped was a mixture of worry, shock, disbelief, astonishment, and cold-blooded viciousness.

Logically speaking, he could only judge the fact that his granddaughter was kidnapped based on a single photo, because even though the photo and the newspaper were different, one in color and the other in black and white, there was no essential difference.

Unless Xu Wangtu was very familiar with the kidnapping case five years ago, and was familiar with the five elemental characteristics of gold, wood, water, fire and earth throughout the kidnapping case.

Meng Siqi remembered clearly that she had not introduced the connection between the five elements at that time, and Xu Wangtu's expression was very obvious. He seemed to have discovered that the characteristics of his granddaughter's kidnapping were very similar to those five years ago. In other words, Xu Wangtu was very familiar with the characteristics of the case five years ago, so he had such a direct reaction.

Similarly, during Xu Jianfei's interrogation, when he first saw the photo of Jin Yuansu's daughter, his expression was filled with pain and worry.

All this proves that Xu Wangtu is more likely to be the real culprit in the case, and Xu Jianfei is taking the blame for his father.

Her mind was constantly reconstructing Xu Wangtu's criminal behavior. Those confusing clues began to rush into her mind endlessly, and she was reconstructing Xu Wangtu's criminal process more and more clearly. But unfortunately, the most critical evidence was still missing.

At this time, Shen Xiangming's voice interrupted Meng Siqi's thoughts. He said loudly: "Lu He, you are back. You don't know that Siqi's performance is very good. Xu Jianfei pleaded guilty."

Lu He's lips curled slightly, and this expression seemed to indicate that he had known Meng Siqi would behave like this.

Zhao Leiting and Han Changlin looked at each other, his eyes raised and his face full of joy. He must have wanted to tell Han Changlin, you see, I was right, Meng Siqi doesn't need anyone to lead her, she will definitely slap Shen Xiangming in the face.

But the next second, Shen Xiangming said seriously: "But unfortunately, it is only Xu Jianfei's unilateral confession, and the key evidence of Xu Jianfei has not been found. I came to the Municipal Bureau this time for another very important thing. I sincerely hope that Siqi will come to our provincial department to study and train, and I will personally take her there. In the future, she will definitely be able to stand on her own. Of course, I will listen to Siqi's opinion."

At that moment, everyone looked at each other in bewilderment, because everyone realized that Shen Xiangming's words contained too many hidden meanings. His words affirmed Meng Siqi, but also pointed out her shortcomings. She needed to go to the provincial department for further study to address these shortcomings, which were not something the municipal bureau could help her with.

He also made more requests. He wanted Meng Siqi to go to the provincial government, and he wanted to take Meng Siqi as his apprentice.

For the Municipal Bureau, this was a provocation, but no one dared to reject his provocation, because it was the dream of every local police officer to select outstanding people to work in the Provincial Department. It was worthy of blessing that Meng Siqi could be favored by the Provincial Department, but Shen Xiangming's method of asking for people was somewhat straightforward and arrogant. He didn't care about the face of everyone in the Municipal Bureau at all and asked for Meng Siqi on the spot.