I'm not a genius detective

Chapter 167 Obtaining the Confession
When Zhang Zhenhua stopped speaking, the interrogation room fell silent.

The answer surprised Wu Bin somewhat. He had discussed this with Gao Bingyang and Liang Yan many times before. If the murder was related to the car accident, and if the murderer wanted to avenge Zhu Guilan, why would he kill Wu Cuicui and Xiong Chuan?

I had guessed that it might have indirectly caused the car accident, but I never expected it to happen in this way.

If Zhu Guilan hadn't run into Xiong Chuan and Wu Cuicui, upon closer reflection, she certainly wouldn't have been hit by Li Dechang. Li Dechang would have only been passing by on his motorcycle for a few seconds, but Zhu Guilan was delayed for a full half hour because of Xiong Chuan and Wu Cuicui's appearance.

Life is like a play, and sometimes coincidences can make you feel that it's all fake.

If that's the case, then a new problem arises.

How did Zhang Zhenhua find out?
According to the account, no one witnessed Xiong Chuan and Wu Cuicui's actions, including Li Dechang. There were no surveillance cameras nearby, and even the police officers from the Criminal Investigation Brigade of the Gu'an Branch failed to find anything at the time. Yet Zhang Zhenhua managed to find it.

Even Wu Bin found this very difficult; he himself wouldn't know where to begin.

"Why did you decide to investigate people other than Li Dechang?" Wu Bin asked.

This is a prerequisite issue.

First of all, there must be some basis to prompt Zhang Zhenhua to investigate; it's impossible for him to believe that Zhu Guilan had been harmed without any reason.

Zhang Zhenhua: "I just wanted to know where Teacher Zhu's money went. At first, I didn't think the car accident was related to anyone else."

Teacher Zhu always carries money with her when she goes out. The money is given to her by her niece for emergencies, but she has never spent it.

"The money's gone; something must have happened."

That explanation made sense, so Wu Bin continued, "Then... how did you find out?"

Zhang Zhenhua shook his head and smiled: "I've been investigating for three years. If it exists, I can definitely find it. Is it that difficult?"

The reason you didn't find it back then was because you didn't spend enough time on it.

“Please answer my question directly.” Wu Bin pressed on. “This is not a matter of time. There are no witnesses and no surveillance footage. You are an ordinary person without formal training. No matter how much time you spend, you will never be able to find Xiong Chuan and Wu Cuicui.”

Zhang Zhenhua: "Who said there were no eyewitnesses?"

Wu Bing was taken aback: "A witness? Who?"

Zhang Zhenhua: "I won't tell you who it is, its gender, age, or address. It involves three lives. What if it gets retaliated against later?"
Don't ask me a second time; there's absolutely no way I'll tell you.

Wu Bin remained silent.

The concerns are valid. Just like when Li Dechang was killed, he did make a mistake, but he did not have any malicious intent.

"What motivated you to kill Li Dechang?" he asked. "Li Dechang called the police and an ambulance, which at least shows that he did not shirk his responsibility."

Zhang Zhenhua said, "But he still bears responsibility. An apology is useless. If he hadn't been driving under the influence, Teacher Zhu wouldn't have died."

"We've already killed Xiong Chuan and Wu Cuicui; one more won't make a difference."

Wu Bin: "What if it weren't for Xiong Chuan and Wu Cuicui? What if it were just a simple car accident?"

Zhang Zhenhua: "Then I will not target Li Dechang."

Wu Bin basically understood Zhang Zhenhua's mentality; to put it simply: he was going berserk.

Killing one is killing, killing two is killing, and even if there's a third, it makes no difference.

Since they were all people who had harmed Zhu Guilan, we'll deal with them all at once.

In fact, upon closer examination, this incident was caused by the elderly woman being left behind and missing her children too much. If Zhu Guilan's children had not gone abroad and could have stayed by her side more often, perhaps none of this would have happened.

Of course, Xiong Chuan and Wu Cuicui's subjective malice did exist.

Wu Cuicui went to Gu'an District to visit her father, but she never thought that Zhu Guilan was also someone else's mother. She really only cares about her own business and is a very typical egoist.

Most people are selfish, but Wu Cuicui shouldn't have taken the money.

If Wu Cuicui hadn't gone to get the money, it wouldn't have aggravated Zhu Guilan's wound, Zhu Guilan wouldn't have woken up prematurely, and Li Dechang's motorcycle might not have crashed.

Everything in this world has its own cause and effect; what has happened has happened.

“You, a terminal cancer patient, managed to kill three people with violence. That’s quite extraordinary,” Wu Bin said, looking at him.

Zhang Zhenhua smiled and said, "Killing people is difficult, but my health is poor, so I have been exercising and working out for the past three years, and the results have been pretty good."

With renewed strength and energy, the cancer cells stopped recurring. Perhaps Teacher Zhu was watching over me; exercise and fitness have allowed me to live a few more years.

Another cause and effect.

Exercise is beneficial for cancer patients, as it can improve cardiopulmonary function and immunity, reduce the risk of recurrence, and prolong survival. This is not speculation; there is ample medical evidence to support it.

Zhang Zhenhua started exercising to avenge Zhu Guilan, and because of that, he's survived to this day. And because he's survived to this day... that's why Xiong Chuan and the other two were killed.

Legally speaking, trading one life for three is quite worthwhile.

However, crime has a significant impact on families.

"Didn't you consider the child when you took action?" Wu Bin asked.

Zhang Zhenhua is very carefree: "Children and grandchildren have their own blessings. Apart from taking the civil service exam, they have countless career options to choose from, so I don't need to consider it."

He wouldn't commit murder if it would cause real harm to the child; if it only affected his civil service exam, he didn't care. This interrogation will be very long, and every detail of the crime will be meticulously recorded.

At the same time, Gao Bingyang kept assigning police officers to verify Zhang Zhenhua's statement, ensuring that every word matched the facts and that there were no mistakes.

The seriousness of serial murder cases far exceeds that of ordinary murder cases. The prosecutor's office will definitely conduct a more rigorous review. If there is even the slightest error or controversy, the case file will be returned, and the special task force will need to conduct supplementary investigations, which will be a waste of time and energy.

Zhang Zhenhua's wife has arrived.

Upon learning that her husband had committed murder, she was completely stunned, her mind went blank, and the words "suspected of intentional homicide" pierced her eardrums like poison needles.

After she calmed down a bit, the police officers began questioning her to determine the veracity of Zhang Zhenhua's statement.

There is no discrepancy.

Between five and three years ago, Zhang Zhenhua did frequently visit a primary school teacher named Zhu Guilan. His wife asked him why, but Zhang Zhenhua did not mention the attempted suicide by jumping into the river. He only said that he and Zhu Guilan got along well and that she gave him a lot of inspiration in terms of medical treatment and life.

The wife didn't press the matter further. As long as her husband had a good attitude and was recovering well, it wasn't a big deal for him to visit an old lady regularly.

He started exercising six months after Zhu Guilan's death. He got a gym membership and went every day, rain or shine. His wife could clearly see the changes in her husband's body and spirit, which naturally pleased her.

Police officers called the gym to confirm, and it was indeed true.

Besides this matter, the used car dealership also needs to be dealt with.

"I go."

Han Ling volunteered to take Tong Feng away from the Municipal Bureau and headed to Nanyang Used Car Dealership, where they met the dealership's owner.

The boss is from out of town and speaks with a strong Northeastern accent.

Due to the shortage of local vehicles and high prices in Northeast China, Gangwon Province offers competitive wholesale prices for used cars, attracting many professionals from Northeast China to Gangwon.

During their casual conversation, the boss mentioned this matter, saying that in the entire Qingchang area, it is estimated that more than 40% of used car dealers come from Northeast China, accounting for a large proportion.

However, the largest used car dealerships are still run by locals, after all, locals have a natural advantage; in business, interpersonal relationships are very important.

"That's right, a van was stolen just a few months ago," the boss replied.

Han Ling: "Didn't you call the police?"

The shop owner laughed and waved his hand, saying, "Why call the police? It's only worth a few thousand yuan, forget it, it doesn't matter."

Whether it's genuine indifference or a desire to avoid offending people, only the boss knows the answer.

In the current era, the used car market is in a period of rapid, unregulated growth, with imperfect policies and a high volume of cash transactions. This makes car dealership owners information hubs.

Nanyang Used Car Dealership is quite large.

To succeed in running a used car dealership in Qingchang, one must be more than just a simple businessman; they are destined to deal with all sorts of people and build a very large network of relationships.

You need connections with people in every line of work: banks and credit institutions, vehicle management offices, traffic police, major repair shops, and even some suspected criminal scalpers.

Therefore, the boss won't care about minor losses in normal times, considering it as reaping good results from good deeds. But if he frequently calls the police, he will offend a lot of hotheads with nothing to lose.

Those who are barefoot are not afraid of those who are wearing shoes; if they suddenly try to ambush you, the losses will be even greater.

This is the real "big slacker," someone like Xiong Chuan can't even compare.

Since they were already there, Han Ling wasn't in a hurry to leave. She strolled around the van parking area with the boss and discussed the difficulty of stealing the car.

Ten years ago, it was possible to pick a door and break in, but now there are more restrictions. You can't just break a window, pull out two wires, and start a fire to drive away. That's what you see in movies; it's not that easy in reality.

Although the van Zhang Zhenhua stole was quite old, the dealership owner should have considered theft prevention and installed additional security features.

"You're quite the professional, buddy." The boss couldn't help but look at Han Ling with new respect. He hadn't paid much attention to him earlier because of his age. "If you want to steal my car, you'll need a professional programmer and diagnostic computer that can read and write chips. Ordinary petty thieves probably can't do that."

After leaving the used car dealership, Han Ling called the task force to report that the car theft issue needed further investigation.

Gao Bingyang took it very seriously and immediately arranged for police officers with relevant technical expertise to investigate, ensuring that the chain of evidence and testimonies were more solid.

Back at the municipal bureau, Han Ling spoke privately with Feng Yao and Ji Bowei, suggesting they visit the hospital, the gym, and Zhang Zhenhua's colleagues.

"What do you doubt?" Feng Yao believed in Han Ling's abilities, and striving for perfection was of course the best.

Han Ling: "It's not a matter of doubt. That deflected stab requires a lot of force. I want to determine whether a patient with late-stage cancer can make that stab through exercise and fitness."

Just conduct the normal review and investigation here. Tong Feng and I will be back soon.

Feng Yao agreed: "Okay, go ahead. Report any problems you find immediately... Uh, just do it at your own pace and try not to act on your own, except in special circumstances."

His requirements for Han Ling were different from those for others.

Han Ling: "Okay."

……

P.S.: Chapter Two will be released at night.

(End of this chapter)