If the police really had evidence, they would have presented it already. Why bother talking policy with him?
"I’m innocent, this has nothing to do with ."
"Nothing to do with you? Do these two bundles of rope look familiar?"
Li Xiang pulled out two bundles of nylon rope from a drawer. One was found in Zhang Lihui’s car, and the other was evidence used to strangle Miao Xiuhui.
Seeing these two bundles, Gao Hongwei’s expression changed, but he still held onto a sliver of hope and said, "These are just two bundles of nylon rope, why should they look familiar to ?"
"What? You bought them yourself, don’t you rember?"
The hope that Gao Hongwei had held onto vanished instantly, and he suddenly beca nervous. He went alone to buy the ropes; no one knew about it, and the only person who did know was already dead. So how did the police find out?
The weather was a bit hot, and yet the police station did not turn on the air conditioning!
Sweat beads began to form densely on Gao Hongwei’s forehead, gradually growing larger and rging, rolling down his cheeks along the wrinkles.
"Did I buy them? I seem to have forgotten."
"Let jog your mory. On the morning of April 13th at 9 a.m., you bought two bundles of nylon rope at Old Cheng Hardware Store. It’s only been a month, and you’ve already forgotten? Truly, you are forgetful!"
Li Xiang directly pulled up the surveillance footage from that day. With the evidence right before him, Gao Hongwei realized he was nothing more than a clown, having underestimated the power of the police. He never thought they would even find surveillance video of him buying the nylon rope.
But getting him to confess was still far from enough. He bit his lip and argued, "I rember now. I did buy two bundles that day, but I took them ho to bind things with. You can’t just say they’re mine based on these two bundles, can you?"
"There aren’t many shops in Jinghai City selling this kind of nylon rope. We searched high and low, and only Old Cheng Hardware Store stocked it. And it just so happened that you were the one who bought it. Why is that such a coincidence?"
"Yes, such a coincidence. But what if this rope was bought elsewhere? It’s not unique to Old Cheng Hardware Store."
Seeing him still trying to argue at this point, Li Xiang asked, "So where did the two bundles of rope you bought go?"
"I used them to tie up garbage and sold it to a junk dealer."
"Who did you sell it to, and what’s that person’s phone number?"
Once a person tells a lie, they need a hundred more to cover it up. At this mont, the more details you ask about, the more he can’t keep up with his lies. Eventually, he’ll slip up.
This was exactly the case with Gao Hongwei. He knew better than anyone the true use of that bundle of nylon rope, but he couldn’t say it out loud and could only keep covering it up with more lies.
Too many lies, and eventually, they’ll beco tangled and unsustainable.
Seeing he couldn’t sustain his lies anymore, he simply clamd up.
Li Xiang, seeing his silence, knew Gao Hongwei was now engaged in an intense inner struggle, so he decided to push further: "Do you rember what you said in your first recorded interrogation?"
"I ask you, do you rember where you said you were at 10 p.m. on April 25th?"
"We retrieved the public surveillance from your company’s entrance that day. Your rcedes didn’t return that night. Do I need to backtrack the location of your car?"
"Zhang Lihui wasn’t your rival in love, he’s your brother-in-law. Though you are now a company owner, he looked down on you for having been a convict..."
"Why should he look down on ? I’m worth dozens or even hundreds of tis more than him. What right does he have to look down on ?"
Gao Hongwei, who had been silent before, suddenly beca agitated and retorted fiercely upon hearing Li Xiang say that Zhang Lihui looked down on him.
His emotions finally found an outlet. Even though he was the hero of a coback story, he was forever stamped with the label of an ex-con, a stigma he could never erase or wash away, no matter how successful he beca, no matter the price he paid for his past mistakes.
"So, did you want him to beco a criminal too? A murderer, perhaps."
"Yes, I wanted him to beco a murderer, to see how he would still look down on ."
His motive was laid bare by Li Xiang’s words. Knowing there was no need to conceal anymore, Gao Hongwei admitted, "Ah, I was outplayed in the end."
Gao Hongwei sighed and began to recount his story to Li Xiang and the others, "Lili and I were truly in love, but her family never agreed to us being together, just because we have a seven-year age gap, just because I was an ex-convict."
"I made mistakes when I was young, but I actively reford in prison and had my sentence reduced three tis. I only served seven years and then got out. I’ve already paid a steep price for my cris, but why must I still be subjected to the judgntal gazes of the world?"
"Especially her brother, who was a hypocrite with no real skills, yet he insisted on breaking us apart under the guise of caring for his sister. I have money and can give Lili a superior life. What can he offer her? His so-called care, is just empty talk and hypocrisy, right?"
"Since he looks down on ex-convicts so much, I wanted him to experience imprisonnt himself."
Mao Ji couldn’t help but interrupt, "This isn’t just about experiencing imprisonnt. This is straight out experiencing the taste of peanuts, right?"
Intentional homicide could warrant a death sentence, which is a lot more than just a little prison experience.
"I initially didn’t plan on killing her. I just wanted to find soone to seduce Zhang Lihui, then accuse him of rape. Once convicted, the label of rapist would follow him for life. So three months ago, I went to Aishang Foot Massage Shop and found Miao Xiuhui, who served at that ti. I offered her a deal: if she succeeded, I’d pay her ten thousand yuan afterward."
"Unexpectedly, after she had contact with Zhang Lihui, she wanted to play both sides, demanding five thousand yuan from upfront and another ten thousand after the deed. If I didn’t comply, she would tell Zhang Lihui everything, which is when I developed the urge to kill. She shouldn’t have been so greedy; getting what she was owed should have been enough. If she could blackmail for five thousand this ti, it would be ten thousand, twenty thousand next ti, endlessly. So, she had to die."
It was at that mont that Gao Hongwei decided that Miao Xiuhui had to die. So he simply went ahead and bought two bundles of nylon rope, one of which he had Miao Xiuhui place in Zhang Lihui’s car. At that ti, Miao Xiuhui didn’t know that Gao Hongwei was planning to kill her, so she complied with her employer’s requests.
The purpose of the bundle was also to provide evidence to the police. It was a two-step plan, making Zhang Lihui indefensible.
At 11 p.m. on April 25th, he received a call from Miao Xiuhui, who said her task was complete, and that as soon as Gao Hongwei paid her the remaining ten thousand, she would imdiately call the police and accuse Zhang Lihui of rape.
To her dying mont, Miao Xiuhui never realized that what awaited her wasn’t ten thousand yuan, but the end of her life.
After strangling Miao Xiuhui, Gao Hongwei imdiately cleaned up the cri scene, removing all traces of his presence. Having served ti, he had extensive anti-detection abilities. He even stole Miao Xiuhui’s phone and other belongings to create the false impression of a break-in robbery and rape-murder. Worried the police might not find Zhang Lihui, he left a used condom at the scene.
With the police’s capabilities, they were bound to find Zhang Lihui.
If, at that point, he still denied or the police couldn’t convict based on a single condom, he had even preemptively placed the murder weapon in Zhang Lihui’s car through Miao Xiuhui.
When the police arrested him, they would certainly search his car. At that point, with the murder weapon in his vehicle, no matter how Zhang Lihui protested, the police wouldn’t believe him.
"My plan was flawless, so how did you know it was ?"
Gao Hongwei detailed his cri, essentially reviewing his entire plan, which was interconnected and near-perfect. How did the police see through it?
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