National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 1026 - 959: Elder Brother Respectful, Younger Brother Polite

Chapter 1026: Chapter 959: Elder Brother Respectful, Younger Brother Polite

"How is it going?"

Liu Wenkai entered the empty dormitory next door with a complacent smile, but Da Zhou Zhou Jiantao was still stubbornly resisting.

His deputy, who had also interrogated many cases, although hadn’t extracted anything substantial yet, still confidently said, "Just tough talking, give me a few more hours..."

"No need, Xiao Zhou has already confessed." Liu Wenkai glanced at Da Zhou with a smile, saying, "Whether he confesses or not is neither here nor there—it’s mostly done on our part, the rest will be left for the special case team that will handle it later."

What he said was half true. In terms of benefits, Liu Wenkai had already reaped the most significant gains from this round-up; Zhou Jiantao’s confession was inconsequential at that point.

However, Xiao Zhou had not actually implicated his brother Zhou Jiantao; insistent that he acted alone.

Theoretically, with his testimony, the police could nearly close the case. Although there was a little boy’s testimony claiming there were two perpetrators, the police had not believed him in the previous round of investigation, deeming it a tactic to protect his father.

As for Zhou Jiantao and Zhou Shetao working together, new investigators might not necessarily continue pursuing the matter.

Going out to work in pairs is nothing new, many people go out alone and find companions in other places. Moreover, the Zhou brothers took care of each other, settling down in an unfamiliar city; there is no crime to be found in this itself.

Ultimately, it depends on the diligence of the case investigators. In cases like the Hugjilt case, eyewitnesses were mistakenly treated as perpetrators; now that there’s an actual criminal, pursuing further or not may vary from one special case team to another.

Liu Wenkai was clearly one who preferred to pursue deeper.

He had seen the photos of the crime scene with the mother and daughter’s corpses; from his perspective, Zhou Jiantao and Zhou Shetao had lived too long already and it was about time they paid for their crimes.

Zhou Jiantao also realized the danger he was in.

His lips began to grow dry, and stubbornly he said, "You’re coercing a confession."

Huang Qiangmin had already broken one; looking at the defense Zhou Jiantao had put up was like looking at cardboard. Liu Wenkai said, "Cut the nonsense. Let me make myself clear; your parents, fully aware that the murderers were you two, not only failed to report but also provided you with money, tickets, hotel bookings, and escape routes. These are all aggravating circumstances of harboring crime."

Liu Wenkai, looking at Zhou Jiantao, said, "According to Criminal Law Article 310, Section 1, the punishment for harboring a criminal is imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention, or surveillance. In serious circumstances, it’s three to ten years. If you don’t confess, I’ll push for 10 years for your parents. The jail time you won’t do, they’ll do for you."

"You’re despicable!" Zhou Jiantao’s eyes widened, staring at Liu Wenkai with a ferocious gaze.

Liu Wenkai chuckled: "I’m despicable? You two brothers commit murder, and you think you’re heroes? Your parents are still living in the same place, right? Being good neighbors with the Mai Zuqing father and son, is it because you like to see the suffering of the victim’s family? I think it’s to gather information for you."

Liu Wenkai spat disdainfully and said, "That’s what I said, they’ll be convicted of harboring, and there’s no problem with that. Especially with aggravating circumstances—as I’m sure you’ve also read legal texts let me clarify for you. Serious circumstances include harboring criminals engaged in especially serious criminal activities, you committed robbery and murder; that fits, doesn’t it? There were multiple criminals involved; there were two of you, so half applies, judges will definitely consider it."

Liu Wenkai counted off on his fingers, continuing with what he had recited from memory: "The third circumstance, if harboring a criminal leads to them evading the law for a long time, you guys have been on the run for 10 years. That fits, right? The fourth circumstance, repeatedly harboring criminals; your parents have helped you more than once, that fits, right?"

Liu Wenkai had used this approach so often that watching Zhou Jiantao’s eyes fill with growing despair no longer gave him any sense of achievement. He said, "If you want to resist to the end, unwilling to cooperate, then we’ll proceed strictly according to the law. And send your parents in."

"You’re talking nonsense." Zhou Jiantao said with difficulty: "I’ve asked around, even if my parents did something, it’s mutual concealment between close relatives and is exempt from punishment."

"Ah, willing to discuss the case, that’s a good sign." Liu Wenkai smiled and said, "I won’t even ask who would discuss such matters. Let’s talk about mutual concealment among relatives, I think you’re right."

Zhou Jiantao was taken aback.

Before he could react, Liu Wenkai looked at Zhou Jiantao and said, "I agree with you, but I’ll also tell you, there’s discretion involved when reducing or exempting punishment for harboring close relatives. If you confess honestly and cooperate, I can apply to the court, considering your parents harboring you—applying the principle of mutual concealment among relatives. But if you don’t cooperate with me..."

Liu Wenkai didn’t finish his sentence; he just smiled. His words weren’t entirely true, but lying during interrogation is so common it could be compared to the frequency of lies told during romantic relationships, or even divorce proceedings.

Zhou Jiantao was not a legal professional and could not seek legal guidance at the moment, pushing him to the brink of collapse.

Sometimes, the absence of hope does not lead to utter despair. Zhou Jiantao had already braced himself to resist until the end, regardless of whether his brother confessed or not; he was not planning on speaking, ready to face death than live in hiding forever.

But he did not expect the police to stoop so low as to drag his parents into the situation.

If he kept resisting, his parents would suffer; but if he chose to cooperate? He and his brother were sure to be finished, and it wasn’t certain that his parents would fare any better...

"How... can you guarantee?" After a long while, Zhou Jiantao finally spoke, asking, "How can you guarantee you’ll keep your promise?"

"That depends on how much you can cooperate." Liu Wenkai savored the fruits of victory contentedly.

In the previous interrogation, Xiao Zhou had taken all the blame upon himself, which Zhou Jiantao was oblivious to.

Zhou Jiantao lowered his head again, pondering for a moment before continuing, "I have a recording, made during a discussion afterward, that can prove it was my brother who singlehandedly planned to pick the locks of the Qin Family’s house. I only went over to help when I noticed something was amiss and ended up getting involved in the incident by accident."

"A recording?" Liu Wenkai did not expect to come across such a windfall. The police officer beside him also inconspicuously raised his head slightly.

The transition from respectful brothers to sibling rivalry escalated so swiftly that it caught people off guard.

Fortunately, the detectives were experienced and quickly adapted, donning their disguises with a mere lift of their feet.

Zhou Jiantao no longer cared about the expressions of others, and said straightforwardly: "The phone with the recording is hidden by me, you won’t be able to find it. I want a reduced sentence, and for my parents as well. It should be counted as my meritorious deed."

"We can consider it, but I’m not the one who decides," Liu Wenkai naturally would not say that this does not meet the criteria for a meritorious deed and so on. He did not even mention Zhou Shetao’s name; there’s no need to make the suspect feel embarrassed when facing the death penalty, as it is the police’s duty to send them smoothly to their demise.

Zhou Jiantao stepped back from a resigned acceptance of death and suddenly started to treasure his life. Knowing his life hung by a thread, he asked, "Who decides, then?"

"Someone will get in touch with you afterward. Come on, let’s talk about the crime process first. You’d better confess honestly; it’s the basis for a reduced sentence," Liu Wenkai coaxed Zhou Jiantao.

Zhou Jiantao was hesitant.

"If you don’t speak, we’ll take your brother’s account as the truth, and you’ll get an additional charge for not cooperating," Liu Wenkai had already figured out a strategy and was pressing hard.

Unable to restrain himself and guessing that his brother had already incriminated him, Zhou Jiantao took a deep breath and said, "Alright then. The whole thing was started by my younger brother. He... he made a duplicate key, opened the door to Mai Yinshu’s house, and just barged in. I have no idea what he was thinking..."

Zhou Jiantao recalled the scene of the day, sighing helplessly, and continued, "I was nearby at the time. When I heard someone scream in the room, I quickly ran over, thinking to call out my brother and apologize, that would be the end of it. I didn’t expect to find him clutching Mai Yinshu and refusing to let go. Afraid she might scream, he used his elbow to strangle her neck."

Liu Wenkai interjected with a question, "Did he know Mai Yinshu?"

"They were from the same school, our area is all under No. 35 Middle School. My brother probably... had a bit of a crush on her, I guess."

Liu Wenkai thought to himself, you call this a crush? Assassination is more like it.

Of course, he wouldn’t argue with Zhou Jiantao over this matter and just nodded, listening, "Continue with the scene."

Zhou Jiantao: "I walked in and had barely said two words when Mai Yinshu’s mother came running out, demanding my brother release her daughter or she would call the police and whatnot."

Liu Wenkai: "And then?"

"And then my brother let her go," Zhou Jiantao said, heavily sighing, "You know what happened next?"

His rhetorical question stemmed from a topic that had haunted his mind for 10 years. Over these years, he continuously relived that moment.

Feeling he had pretty much cracked the entire case, Liu Wenkai wanted to avoid any suspicion of leading the witness and said directly, "Go ahead and tell it."

"That idiot was too nervous; he strangled the girl to death," said Zhou Jiantao with a look of disbelief, then clenched his teeth and continued, "It was just a short while, not very long at all, and she just died like that. I didn’t know whether it was from lack of oxygen or fright, but anyway, the person was gone, and his mother collapsed on the floor."

"And then?"

"Then we, worried her wailing might draw others, dragged the body into the bedroom to take care of it."

"What do you mean by ’take care of’?"

"To strangle her."

"Who did it?"

Zhou Jiantao hesitated for a moment: "My brother did."

Liu Wenkai didn’t believe it, but it didn’t really matter to him. That question could wait for later; he just chuckled and asked, "Then what? What did you do?"

"We ran," said Zhou Jiantao.

Liu Wenkai hesitated for a moment, then did not continue to press on the issue of violating the corpse. It was clear that everyone has the right to refuse such acts, even criminals.

On the other hand, to avoid suspicion of leading the witness, Liu Wenkai was very relaxed and followed with routine interrogation. Afterward, he made a phone call to Huang Qiangmin: "Commissar, guess what happened?"