National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 1025 - 958: Wilted Plant_2

Chapter 1025: Chapter 958: Wilted Plant_2

Just like Da Zhou, Zhou Jiantao, his expression must have been honed through training.

Liu Wenkai chuckled and sat down boldly opposite Zhou Shetao, smiling and said, "Alright, if you say you haven’t done anything wrong, then just honestly answer a few questions. If we verify there’s no issue, we will let you go. How about it?"

This slightly relaxed the tension, because Zhou Shetao’s level of stress under pressure was already maxed out. On the other hand, Liu Wenkai’s patience was replenished.

The current situation wasn’t just about the appearance of the vase anymore; the bottom and the markings also seemed authentic. Although it was just seemingly authentic and needed meticulous research, Liu Wenkai was already willing to talk things through with Zhou Shetao in detail.

Of course, at this time it couldn’t be said that they were the murderers in the 430 case. They might be on the run for some other case, but to say the two men were innocent, Liu Wenkai thought it was almost impossible.

In other words, this pair of antique vases had been confirmed to be old, but exactly from which era would still require careful judgment.

Liu Wenkai looked at Zhou Shetao and said slowly, "Xiao Zhou, right? How long has it been since you last went home?"

Zhou Shetao, who was prepared for all sorts of questions, was taken aback by this unexpected one. After some thought, he hesitated and said, "Quite... quite a few years now."

"You don’t even remember how long since you’ve been home? When was the last time you went home, you don’t know?" Liu Wenkai’s gaze sharpened, what was supposed to be a blind shot ended up hitting the bullseye.

"No time to go back," Zhou Shetao looked down.

"Asking you how long it’s been since you went back, the year you left, don’t you have any idea?" Liu Wenkai pressed: "Like this, how could it not arouse suspicion?"

Thinking that buying tickets left records and going home had records too, that he couldn’t hide it, Zhou Shetao could only say, "It’s been about 10 years since we left. Didn’t have the money to go back. If we didn’t earn money, we didn’t want to go back."

As he spoke, a few tears fell from Zhou Shetao’s eyes.

The tears were real, so were the emotions, but the words might not be.

Liu Wenkai scoffed disdainfully, "Your parents are still alive, and you two came out to work, not returning home for 10 years, don’t you miss home? Didn’t your parents come to see you?"

"They came, they came to visit," Zhou Shetao said.

"Oh, it must be more costly for them to travel to see you, after all, they can’t stay in the factory dorms. Expenses like booking hotels..."

"Their company can reimburse a bit." This part of the story had been discussed with his older brother Zhou Jiantao, and he said, "We’re outside working, all saving money to buy a house. When they retire, we’re going to sell the old house and move to Yue Province."

Zhou Shetao’s emotions gradually stabilized. His defense, which seemed strong to ordinary people, was not merely based on fantasy; they had also sought advice from lawyers in places like live streams.

But to Liu Wenkai, these were just stimuli that started to entice him.

In the United States legal sector, there is a long-standing practice of courtroom simulations, with drills for both cross-examination and coaching witnesses for testimony.

However, in China, lawyers don’t usually engage much in this, not because there’s no money to be made, but because the value of simulated dialogues or prepared testimonies is limited. Because the testimony in American courts, especially from witnesses, is intended for the lay jury. Whereas in Chinese courts, professionals play a decisive role.

Common folks, even when well-prepared, are easily seen through by professional legal persons. After all, courtroom clerks have years of experience.

Just like now, although Zhou Shetao’s replies were calm and steady, in the eyes of Liu Wenkai, who had nearly two decades of experience as a criminal investigator, he was still a fledgling. Just a trained fledgling at that, even if trained for 10 years, could not compare to a real old hen.

Liu Wenkai stared at Zhou Shetao for a good while until Zhou Shetao grew uncomfortable, then he smiled gently, "So, that means your parents are also in the know."

With that, Liu Wenkai took out his cell phone and started pressing numbers.

Zhou Shetao blanked out, then said, "It has nothing to do with my parents."

"We’ll still need to bring them to the station for questioning. If they knew and didn’t report it, then they would be accused of harboring criminals. Three years’ imprisonment, losing jobs, losing pensions." Liu Wenkai continued pressing on his cell phone.

"It’s unrelated to them!" Zhou Shetao’s facade completely crumbled, his expression twisted.

Liu Wenkai smiled without a word, picked up the phone: "Hello, this is Liu speaking..."

"Ah..." In an instant, Zhou Shetao went mad, frantically trying to snatch Liu Wenkai’s cell phone.

But with both his hands cuffed, he couldn’t move at all. Struggling only resulted in bloody wrists and falling to the ground with the chair.

Zhou Shetao let out a deep, crazed roar, twisting his body like a madman, trying to make his opponent submit to him.

The criminal police officer standing on his right didn’t hesitate to pull out a stun gun, targeting Zhou Shetao’s thigh for a shock.

Zhou Shetao’s body stiffened instantly.

All that literary flourish is worthless in the face of criminal cases.

In front of Zhou Shetao, Liu Wenkai continued with his phone in hand, "Check the parents of Zhou Jiantao and Zhou Shetao, they should be informants. Bring them in for a thorough interrogation."

After putting down the phone, Liu Wenkai approached Zhou Shetao again, fanning the air with his hand and frowning, "Did you just wet yourself? No matter, it’ll dry soon. What’ll it be, you confess now, or wait for your parents to suffer through one round, maybe two, before confessing?"

Zhou Shetao, having wet his pants, seemed to run out of tears, glaring at Liu Wenkai with nothing but hatred in his eyes.

"Whether you talk or not is up to you. I can wait until we get news from your parents’ side to see how long they can endure," said Liu Wenkai calmly, looking at Zhou Shetao, "For this kind of case, we can detain people for at least 37 days. After 37 days, if you’re still holding up, I can apply for an extension of the detention..."

Liu Wenkai never mentioned the name of the case from beginning to end.

But by now, Zhou Shetao couldn’t care less about that; feeling the sting in his thigh, the chill of his urine, and the shame of lying on the floor, he just didn’t want his parents to suffer like this anymore.

"I’ll talk, it was all me." Zhou Shetao now regretted not having the courage to end his life sooner.

"What did you do?" Liu Wenkai asked.

"I... I killed that mother and daughter." Zhou Shetao felt a sudden relief as he said this, as if he had been holding in his pee during a long bus ride and finally let it go.

Liu Wenkai asked, "State their names."

"Sui Yingxue and Mai Zuqing."

This time, it was Liu Wenkai’s turn to breathe a sigh of relief. He immediately followed up with, "How did you kill them?"

Zhou Shetao: "Strangled them."

"Describe how you strangled them, step by step."

Zhou Shetao exhaled deeply and started to describe the process slowly.

Liu Wenkai had suspected that he was with Da Zhou when he murdered them, but Zhou Shetao’s answers were evasive. It’s not possible to strangle someone while simultaneously preventing another person from escaping or fighting back.

But at this moment, Liu Wenkai didn’t rush to correct Zhou Shetao. He let him continue his half-truths before asking, "How did you enter the house?"

"Her father got drunk once, fell on the roadside, and I helped him inside. After getting in, I spontaneously got the idea to press their house key onto chewed gum, and then... I looked up online guides, bought some supplies, and made a key myself."

"When did this happen?"

"In May. During the May Day holiday."

"So, 11 months before the case?"

"Yes."

Liu Wenkai looked at Zhou Shetao, hating him to the core, yet admiring such patience in a sly fox.

Some sly types might play the lackey for three or four years, while others spend half a year learning to make keys from gum impressions, and another half year tweaking until they’ve fashioned a usable key.

He could have directly stolen the key from Mai Zuqing’s possession. If the whole key ring was missing, Mai Zuqing would probably think he lost it while drunk and might not even bother to change the locks. But the 16-year-old Zhou Shetao didn’t choose the easy way, stubbornly using a stupid method to commit the worst of crimes.