Chapter 1127: Chapter 1058: Twists and Turns
“Have the results co out yet?”
Jiang Yuan finished the investigation and returned to the Changyang City Criminal Police Detachnt, asking ng Chengbiao this question first.
ng Chengbiao shook his head, “It’s not going very smoothly. Li Haochen is still a minor, so there are quite a few restrictions during interrogation. It might take one more day at least.”
“No rush,” Jiang Yuan’s mood was quite steady.
Jiang Yuan’s Accumulated Case Team was essentially working on a case out of their usual jurisdiction. Coupled with Jiang Yuan’s reputation, countless pairs of eyes were watching, eager to scrutinize every step under a magnifying glass. Inevitably, this procedural scrutiny reduced the efficiency of the interrogation process—a fact Jiang Yuan had already anticipated.
ng Chengbiao let out a sigh of relief and said, “I’ll go back and think of a way to break through. The prosecutor from the local inspection office has been following the whole process, so I need to write up sothing for him.”
After offering ng Chengbiao so words of comfort, Jiang Yuan headed to the Changyang City Criminal Science Center to read the reports produced by the lab there.
Many people read reports just for the conclusions, but this is clearly the least effective way of gathering information. The conclusions in a report can be revised; oftentis, specific information in the report must be studied in detail. What’s more, the specific details in the report can provide additional guidance.
The director of the Criminal Science and Technology Center, Wan Baoming, accompanied Jiang Yuan for a brief walk and brought over a cartful of materials, all comprising various forensic samples collected in the past two days—including a significant number of trace evidence samples.
A few people sat in the office examining the materials for half a day, before Jiang Yuan finally set down the report in his hands and said, “Most of it is useless.”
“Exactly,” Wan Baoming sighed heavily.
“No rush,” Jiang Yuan, now very experienced in handling cases, had reached a point where even without extraordinary skills, he was still a qualified leader of special investigation teams.
Regarding this case, although it remained severe, Jiang Yuan was nonetheless very confident.
Jiang Yuan said, “The Criminal Science team should continue gathering evidence to see if we can directly implicate Li Haochen. Since Li Haochen is a minor, his family might still hope for leniency. If we can find solid evidence against him, the Li family should be compelled to give up.”
Wan Baoming nodded emphatically, “Li Haochen is already 16 years old—he can be tried and sentenced as an adult. Even if he can’t be sentenced to death, he could still spend a lifeti in prison.”
Jiang Yuan nodded.
Just as they were speaking, Jiang Yuan’s phone rang.
Jiang Yuan picked up the call, imdiately hearing a somber voice from ng Chengbiao.
ng Chengbiao: “Captain Jiang, there’s been an unexpected developnt.”
Jiang Yuan frowned, with his forensic instincts kicking in: “Did you interrogate him to death?”
“Not at all, not at all,” ng Chengbiao inexplicably felt a hint of relief. If, in Jiang Yuan’s mind, ‘interrogating to death’ counted as just an unexpected developnt, then what he was about to report might indeed pale in comparison.
Jiang Yuan: “What happened?”
ng Chengbiao cleared his throat loudly and adopted a more serious tone: “Li Haochen confessed. He admitted to having a teenage romance with the victim, Sun Xiuwen. He even climbed up to the Li family window several tis and occasionally called Sun Xiuwen out to play. However… on the day of the incident, Li Haochen claims to have an alibi and insists he didn’t arrange to et Sun Xiuwen.”
“What’s the alibi?”
“He shot several videos at ho and also had a video call with relatives in another city. A preliminary investigation seems to confirm this as true.”
“So Li Haochen is once again excluded as a suspect?” Jiang Yuan raised his voice slightly as he spoke into the phone, sounding a bit annoyed.
“Yes,” ng Chengbiao answered helplessly.
“What about Li Haochen’s older brother? He should be an adult, right? Did you interrogate him?” Jiang Yuan remained slightly displeased.
“He’s an adult. The interrogation went smoothly, but on the day of the incident, he was also at ho participating in that sa video call with their relatives. Moreover, we searched through his phone thoroughly—no evidence was found.”
At this point, the suspicions surrounding the Li family had essentially been ruled out.
Jiang Yuan furrowed his brow slightly.
ng Chengbiao waited for several seconds; seeing no response on the line, he cautiously asked, “Captain Jiang, in this situation, should we start considering a cri of passion committed on impulse?”
“Highly unlikely,” Jiang Yuan replied decisively. “Earlier, the Criminal Police Brigade considered the possibility of a random killing based on the estimated ti of death being between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. This ti fra corresponds to when the victim would normally be on her way to school, making it plausible for soone passing by to target her.”
Jiang Yuan continued over the phone, “Right now, however, the ti of death is confird to be 3 a.m. At that hour, the victim. Sun Xiuwen, wouldn’t have been able to exit through the front door. Her mother and stepfather live on the first floor, and any movent by the front door would have been clearly heard. Besides, Sun Xiuwen already has a well-established thod for climbing over walls, so she wouldn’t need to risk going through the front door.”
At this point, ng Chengbiao began to grasp Jiang Yuan’s reasoning and added, “The jeans Sun Xiuwen used for climbing were rolled up and stored in the wardrobe. If Sun Xiuwen climbed down alone, who went back to roll up and store those jeans?”
Jiang Yuan: “Exactly.”
ng Chengbiao was now completely drawn in, remarking, “This creates an unsolvable paradox: Sun Xiuwen didn’t climb down of her own accord, yet she ended up dead at her house at 3 a.m. If the perpetrator had climbed into her house to kill her, her house isn’t the primary cri scene. Furthermore, if the perpetrator fled afterward, who would have been the one to roll up her jeans and put them away?”
Jiang Yuan pondered without imdiately answering.
Suddenly, ng Chengbiao’s excitent grew, with his detective instincts fully activated, as he speculated, “Could it have been Sun Xiuwen’s mother? Perhaps she was worried about the public perception and secretly rolled up the jeans herself…”
Jiang Yuan, recollecting details about the cri scene, interrupted him, “The footprints on the wall remain fairly fresh.”
“What do you an?”
“While it’s impossible to precisely determine when the footprints were left, what we can tell is that Sun Xiuwen climbed the wall fairly frequently.”
ng Chengbiao abandoned his Sherlock Hols-like reasoning and reverted to being Watson, asking, “What does that indicate?”
“Do today’s teenagers climb walls solely to et their boyfriends? Seems a bit monotonous,” Jiang Yuan remarked. “Follow up with Li Haochen and find out if Sun Xiuwen used to climb walls to et other people. Who else knew about her wall-climbing activities? In short, aside from her etings with Li Haochen, who else might she have been eting?”
“Understood,” ng Chengbiao caught the gist and imdiately took action.
Half an hour later.
ng Chengbiao called again, opening with, “Captain Jiang, you’re incredibly perceptive.”
“There are others involved?” Jiang Yuan had been waiting for this call.
ng Chengbiao responded with a firm “Yes,” saying, “Sun Xiuwen also had two close female friends. Occasionally, she’d climb out to spend ti with them.”
Killing another best friend isn’t easy, and doing so with a pillow adds even more difficulty.
As Jiang Yuan thought this over, he asked aloud, “What did they do together?”
“They’d watch movies, drink, dance… They have a secret hangout spot: a relative’s house belonging to one of the girlfriends’ boyfriends. The relatives don’t live there, but the place is fully equipped with water, electricity, and appliances.”
Jiang Yuan finally breathed a sigh of relief, “So at least one male knew about Sun Xiuwen’s regular wall-climbing activities.”
“Actually, two,” ng Chengbiao corrected. “Both of the friends have boyfriends.”
“Bring them all in,” Jiang Yuan instructed. After a pause, he added, “I’ll head back to the scene myself.”
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