Police officer Chen Shu

Chapter 790 99% and 1%
While Chen Shu, He Chengfeng, and Huang Mao were talking in the room, Zhu Yiba, Chen Chuan, and Jiang Hai also came in.

Inside the room, He Chengfeng, who had gradually become convinced, recounted the whole story of the case in detail.

The case is very simple: the deceased met Zheng Jie online and they fell in love.

Zheng Jie introduced the deceased to a fake futures trading scam, which defrauded him of hundreds of thousands of yuan before Zheng Jie killed him in a hotel.

Of course, Zheng Jie has not admitted to killing the person to this day.

Chen Shu thought for a moment and then approached the question from another angle: "Did Zheng Jie's mother, the hotel cleaner Zheng Amei, confess?"

“No, she denies everything, but I reckon she’s at least an accomplice.” He Chengfeng recalled for a moment and spoke slowly. It was clear that he hadn’t focused on Zheng Amei during the interrogation, but a quick glance at the old woman showed that she was basically involved in the case.

Police officers with extensive experience in handling cases, due to years of fighting criminals, especially in China where investigative methods prioritize confessions, spend at least a large part of their daily work speculating on and interrogating various individuals. Therefore, their ability to judge people is, if not 100% accurate, at least 90% correct.

Generally speaking, if an ordinary citizen who has never been to a police station is suddenly locked in a small, enclosed interrogation room by heavily armed and fierce-looking police officers, it would be a nightmare.

Face-to-face interrogation usually breaks you down in no time, and you have to spill everything, whether you should or shouldn't, because most people haven't experienced such a high-intensity, high-pressure situation.

In particular, the police officers who interrogate them have rich experience in combat and are skilled in various psychological techniques, so people's psychological defenses can be easily broken through.

Unless it's out of maternal affection like Zheng Amei's, or a protectiveness ingrained in their genes, it's unlikely they would stubbornly refuse to budge.

After all, in this kind of murder case, if the mother confesses, her son will be executed, so there is still a chance that she will not confess.

However, their refusal to speak could not conceal the uncontrolled demeanor and emotions they displayed during interrogation.

Simply put, in the eyes of the police, they have the words "I am guilty" clearly etched on their faces.

Chen Shu nodded, agreeing with Cheng Feng's assessment.

After Chen Shu's questioning, He Chengfeng started to sense something was amiss and quickly said, "Officer Chen, do you mean that Zheng Jie climbed into the victim's room using a rope, committed the crime, and then escaped using the rope? But he has a complete alibi!"

Jiang Hai frowned, deep in thought, then muttered, "A locked-room murder... a locked-room murder."

Seeing Jiang Hai deep in thought, Chen Shu tried to guide his thinking: "Well, how about we ignore Zheng Jie's alibi for now? Just focus on this person, do you think he's the murderer?"

He Chengfeng nodded, affirming, "It must be! All the signs point to Zheng Jie, but we just can't find any evidence that he entered the room, and he won't say a word. Sigh!"

The idea that "a life for a life" is a deeply ingrained concept in Chinese culture. People who admit it will be executed, while those who don't may have a chance to live, even if the probability is only 1%. Most people are willing to try.

Therefore, it is quite difficult for the police to convict a murderer based on a confession alone.

However, in the order of handling cases, the priority is to first obtain a confession, and then use this confession to find witnesses and physical evidence, thereby forming a closed chain of evidence.

On the other hand, if confessions can't solve the problem, then we have to find a way through physical evidence.

For aesthetic reasons, the hotel's exterior walls are flat and do not have water pipes or air conditioning units that can be climbed. It would be impossible for the suspect to enter the room through the exterior walls, as there is not even a place to use as leverage.

Therefore, only by using tools can this problem be solved.

The issue has come full circle, revolving around the point Chen Shu raised earlier.

Since we cannot resolve the issue of Zheng Jie entering the crime scene, let's change our perspective and make inferences based on his departure from the crime scene.

Chen Shu took out a pack of yellow cigarettes and distributed them to the people present. When he handed one to Jiang Hai, he saw that the other man was also dumbfounded and reached out to take it. So he gave him a flick on the forehead.

He slowly said, "According to the 24-hour continuous monitoring, there is no possibility that Zheng Jie left through the corridor or on the ceiling. So, based on the fresh muddy rope marks on the curtains in the room, we can assume that Zheng Jie used a rope to leave the room through the window."

"Imagine if Zheng Jie left the room using a rope, then the rope he used would inevitably end up still tied inside the room, and he wouldn't be able to take it with him."

He Chengfeng was a little confused and frowned as he asked, "But didn't you say that when Zheng Amei entered the room the next day, she didn't remove the rope that was tied to the room? So where did the rope go?"

Chen Shu looked at Jiang Hai and saw that the other man also seemed to understand but not quite, so he suggested, "Captain He, I think we can go outside and buy a thick rope to do a field drill. It would be much better than just thinking about it here." No sooner said than done, Huang Mao borrowed a bundle of thick rope from the hotel property management and headed straight for the crime scene.

On the way, Chen Shu shared his experience with Jiang Hai, who was walking beside him: "Sometimes when we can't figure something out while sitting in the office, we can try to do some experiments on-site. Sometimes, taking action can yield unexpected information."

"Mmm!" Jiang Hai replied heavily, his cheeks flushed.

The group arrived at the room where the crime scene was located. The blond-haired man untied the thick rope and placed it next to the curtains where there were traces.

Chen Shu squatted down beside the thick rope and curtain fabric, gazing at them quietly. Then he picked up the rope and curtain fabric and examined them from all angles.

The rope was ordinary, about eight millimeters in diameter, slightly thinner than the marks left on the curtain fabric; the two were not the same size.

Chen Shu weighed the thick rope in his hand and muttered, "This rope is more than enough for hanging. If it were a bit thicker, it probably wouldn't be a problem for climbing either."

He paused, then turned to He Chengfeng and asked, "He Da, how thick was the rope the deceased used to hang himself? What was its diameter?"

He Chengfeng gestured with his hands, then hesitated and said, "It's about this thick. I'll have to ask for the exact size, but it feels about the same size as the rope with the mark on the curtain."

In other words, if the thick rope with marks on the curtain is the same size as the thick rope used to hang the deceased, then there is a high probability that they are the same rope.

However, the rope used for hanging was clean, with no mud stuck to it, so there should have been another one hidden at the scene, or another one that Zheng Jie had cut off.

Although he already had a pretty good idea of ​​what was going on, Chen Shu still asked the local criminal police, "Hey, have you checked the surveillance footage after the incident? Has anyone gone back to the scene?"

"After the incident? Are you going to check the video footage from after the incident?" He Chengfeng was stunned, then slowly shook his head. "No, we haven't checked it. We've been keeping an eye on that guy ever since we arrested Zheng Jie."

Did we arrest Zheng Jie?

Were you the ones who arrested them?
You guys thought it was a suicide case!
That's incredibly shameless!

Hearing this, Chen Chuan, who had been following behind, couldn't help but mutter a curse under his breath.

Seeing this, Zhu Yiba quietly pulled Chen Chuan a little further in. When Chen Chuan turned around and looked impatient, Zhu Yiba could only smile silently in response.

He Chengfeng continued, "With so many things in my hands, I thought that locking people up and scaring them a bit would be enough."

The old police officers still rely primarily on testimonies.

Even though current homicide investigations place greater emphasis on the integrity of the evidence chain in subsequent court trials, in the early stages of investigation, the police still prioritize confessions.

Once a highly suspected criminal is arrested, police resources will naturally be focused on interrogation, with officers taking turns conducting continuous surprise interrogations, thus neglecting the investigation and collection of other physical evidence.

Chen Shu nodded slightly, no longer dwelling on the issue, and then confirmed with the other party, "By the way, is the mud on this curtain from the muddy grass downstairs?"

He Chengfeng looked embarrassed and ashamed. He hadn't checked this either, although judging from the situation on the spot, it was pretty much true.

"Officer Chen, I'll contact the team right away and have them check it immediately," He Chengfeng said quickly, then took out his phone and hurriedly walked out into the hallway.

After watching He Chengfeng leave the room, Chen Shu turned to look at Jiang Hai, who was squatting on the ground, examining the curtains that were highly suspicious.

Jiang Hai noticed someone looking at him, turned around, and looked up to ask, "Brother Shu, the rough rope and mud marks on these curtains are obviously from downstairs. Why do we still need to collect samples to confirm? Didn't you previously use these marks to determine that Zheng Jie escaped through the window using a rope?"

Chen Shu walked to the window, squatted down by the river, pointed to the marks on the curtains, and slowly explained: "Yes, I'm sure 99% of the stuff on here was stuck downstairs."

"Then why did you still..."

"Isn't there still a 1% chance of something else?"

Jiang Hai froze, smacking his lips as he pondered this 1% possibility.

(End of this chapter)