National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 1000 - 936: Grand Fishtail

Chapter 1000: Chapter 936: Grand Fishtail

The interrogation lasted all day.

The next day, Qiu Ke, an interrogation officer from the Criminal Police Brigade of Changler City Bureau, accompanied by Meng Chengbiao, an interrogation expert from Jiang Yuan’s Accumulated Case Team, arrived at the office of the brigade director to report, "There’s something off about this suspect."

"Off in what way?" Director Lang Heng, who seemed as carefree as an antelope enjoying the lush grass, raised his ears alertly upon hearing Qiu Ke’s words, as if he had sensed the stench of a lion pack.

"Xu De has been consistently claiming that the victim fell into the fishpond by accident. After repeated questioning, his story hasn’t changed much," Qiu Ke took a breath, sat down in front of Lang Heng, his expression somber and emotional.

"The suspect doesn’t want to identify the scene?" Lang Heng asked.

Meng Chengbiao added from the side: "We haven’t reached that step yet. Xu De is admitting guilt, but the explanation of the murder process is too sloppy and doesn’t match the facts at the crime scene. There’s a big problem with this part."

Lang Heng sat up straighter, first chuckling: "Don’t be in a hurry. A lying suspect, isn’t that business as usual? It’s not worth fussing over."

"The problem is, the lie he’s told is too outrageous," Qiu Ke lightly tapped the desk with his hand: "The victim was tied up, a stone was attached to her, and she was sunk into the fishpond. As for accidentally falling into the water... it’s a ridiculously weak lie. After interrogating him repeatedly, I feel this guy doesn’t seem to be pretending."

Lang Heng’s expression suddenly became serious: "What are you suggesting? Did he voluntarily mention anything about Cai Tingxun’s cause of death or other details?"

Qiu Ke now confirmed that Lang Heng understood and slightly shook his head, saying: "No."

Lang Heng then relaxed a bit: "That’s good, then."

Meng Chengbiao praised with understanding of human affairs: "If it were a young rookie, things could have easily gone awry. Qiu Ke handled it on the spot superbly."

Qiu Ke: "It was Team Meng who gave the good reminder."

In such serious matters, if Qiu Ke had proactively mentioned it, in theory, it could have led to something more serious than entrapment or deceit, akin to feeding the suspect information and getting the suspect to answer based on information provided by the interrogation officer.

Of course, since the confession is written by the interrogation officer, there wouldn’t be any serious issues, but in the case of significant flaws in the case, this approach to interrogation is also flawed.

The key issue is whether Xu De is the real murderer or not.

Lang Heng "snap" lit a cigarette, casually passed the pack to Qiu Ke and Meng Chengbiao, and the three of them smoked in clouds for a while. It was only after half a cigarette’s time that Lang Heng tapped off the ash and said: "What you mean is, the suspect is taking the fall for someone?"

All three had been criminal police officers for 20 years, and after exchanging a few words, they each formed a judgment.

Qiu Ke eased up a bit too, saying: "I was present at the time of the arrest. The old boy trembled like a teddy bear; he definitely knew about this matter."

"Covering up?" Lang Heng asked.

"That’s the only explanation for now," Qiu Ke paused then looked at Meng Chengbiao, continuing: "We had someone check, Xu De’s close relatives only include a daughter, who is married well. Her husband owns a small company, dealing with landscaping and greenery projects, and her husband’s parents both are from state-owned enterprises and own four properties. They sold two of these properties in the past month, and the money was transferred to their son who withdrew it all."

Lang Heng raised his eyebrows: "You think the son-in-law did it? Xu De is taking the fall for his son-in-law? If he’s covering for his son-in-law, wouldn’t he be clear about the details of the scene?"

"I don’t know about that. But doesn’t it explain things rather smoothly?" Qiu Ke chuckled, still quite pleased with himself.

From the perspective of experienced criminal police officers, it really wouldn’t rest easy not to investigate a lead that seems so plausible.

Lang Heng extinguished his cigarette and picked up the phone: "Get Pi to my office."

After putting down the phone, Lang Heng asked: "What do you think about this Xu De? Is he really not at the scene, just spouting nonsense, or an accomplice?"

"There’s no need for a son-in-law to sell off properties if his father-in-law is a murderer," Meng Chengbiao rejected the accomplice theory.

Qiu Ke said: "Whether he was at the scene or not, it’s hard to say. It’s possible he’s talking nonsense. He might not know how we take down statements, maybe he’s still thinking about overturning the case."

"He knows now, doesn’t he?" Lang Heng smiled.

The police record statements in a narrative form, meaning the text recorded is not a verbatim transcript of the questions and answers, but rather a summary and translation by the police.

Therefore, the records are usually compliant, and Xu De cannot overturn the case through his testimony, at most he can only change his statement.

Old Qiu recalled Xu De’s emotions at the time, but couldn’t draw any definitive conclusions.

However, the situation concerning the sale of the house by Xu De’s in-laws, his daughter’s parents, could somewhat indicate certain issues, so Lang Heng called the head of the third team to investigate this matter urgently.

Once arrangements were made, Lang Heng also notified Jiang Yuan immediately.

Although there was no longer any need for the involvement of forensic doctors or technical evidence at this point, Lang Heng maintained a humility rarely seen among criminal policemen.

The one who reacted most strongly was Liu Jinghui.

He actively participated in the following two interrogations and reviewed the previous interrogation records before squatting off to the side to start writing.

When Jiang Yuan saw Liu Jinghui again, there were three whiteboards filled with mind maps in front of him.

"What’s your take on this case?" Liu Jinghui eagerly asked Jiang Yuan upon his arrival.

Jiang Yuan glanced at the mind maps drawn by Liu Jinghui, quickly averted his eyes as too much of such things could be draining on the spirit.

Jiang Yuan casually handed a box of Zhonghua cigarettes to Liu Jinghui, soothing him first before saying, "I think Director Lang has already made a conclusion, confirming it was the son-in-law who committed the murder."

"How was that confirmed?"

"Technical Investigation determined that he was at the crime scene at the time of the incident, and his wife, Xu De’s daughter, was also present. Additionally, Technical Investigation intercepted some calls of the suspects, securing some crucial clues. Finally, the technicians found video footage on Xu De’s daughter’s phone proving it was the son-in-law who killed..." Jiang Yuan answered clearly and to the point, without any fluff.

Liu Jinghui lost interest halfway through listening, tossed his pen aside resentfully, and sighed, "You high-tech people... it’s so dull... So, did the son-in-law commit manslaughter accidently? Or was it a crime of passion?"

"Right. It started as an accident, but later became an intentional act of murder, crime of passion. It was both," Jiang Yuan said to Liu Jinghui with a thumbs up, primarily showing emotional intelligence today and trying to console Liu Jinghui in the process.

"That’s the only explanation," Liu Jinghui sighed. "Since they were filming at the scene, it couldn’t have been premeditated. It may have started as a quarrel, but in a fit of anger, ended up killing someone."

Although he was speculating, his tone was one of certainty.

Jiang Yuan nodded: "The victim had originally wanted Xu De to give him money, and the two met by the river. Xu De’s son-in-law went there to stand up for his father-in-law, and a conflict ensued. The daughter secretly filmed the ordeal, hoping to use it as evidence later. In the end, Xu De’s son-in-law pushed the victim underwater, claiming he wanted to sober him up, but the man ended up dead."

"Afterwards, Xu De voluntarily took responsibility for the crime with conditions that, should the case be discovered, the family would provide the money for two houses solely to his daughter to cover the case expenses, and if he ended up in jail, to transfer half of the company to her." Mu Zhiyang spoke up, more interested in the aftermath, "Xu De and his daughter worked together to dispose of the body. Xu De had fished in a pond used for body dumping before, knew it had been empty for years and constantly filled with water, so he led his son-in-law to discard the corpse there."

"Actually, there was sufficient information available; all of these could have been inferred without resorting to technical means..." Liu Jinghui complained, feeling helpless.

Mu Zhiyang chuckled, "But it was the video that was decisive; it provided immediate confirmation. Xu De’s daughter didn’t even think to delete the video."

"Having kept the video, she could overturn her father’s case at any time. Xu De will always be her father, but the husband might not always be her husband," Liu Jinghui said dispassionately, "She has kids, right? First, she secures her father’s release; she and her child are also financially protected, and then later, she can safeguard her own father without any delay."

Mu Zhiyang: "All this for the world where her father is wounded?"

"This choice is the best solution for the three of them. They probably discussed it afterwards." Liu Jinghui reasoned calmly, saying, "The trouble was caused by her father, so it’s normal for him to take on the case. Moreover, if the body hadn’t been found, no one would have had to go to jail, and the father-in-law relationship might even have been more harmonious. If the case was exposed... stemming from Xu De’s side, even if he hadn’t taken on the murder charges, he would still have to serve time for the disposal of the body and complicity."

Liu Jinghui looked at his whiteboards with regret before adding: "Having control over the crime scene video is critical for the daughter. Since she can overturn the case for her father at any time, Xu De has multiple options. If necessary, he could have the son-in-law go abroad, or even go with the daughter, and then return with the video to transform Xu De’s charge from intentional murder to complicity and destruction of evidence. Together, those two charges wouldn’t result in many years; the sentenced time might even be served before they knew it."

Suddenly realizing something, Mu Zhiyang said: "So when Xu De described the murder details in his statement, did he deliberately spout nonsense?"

Liu Jinghui nodded, "Xu De can certainly claim he was fed or led during the interrogation. With the video as evidence, if he wasn’t the murderer, even if he were at the scene and witnessed the murder, he could say that his prior confession was for self-protection. As long as he serves a plausible story, the court must judge based on facts."

"Old Qiu and Old Meng had a narrow escape. The son-in-law’s entire family is ruined," thought Mu Zhiyang, his mind always wandering down unexpected paths.