I'm not a genius detective

Chapter 56 Doubts
Interrogation room in the detention center.

Faced with the DNA test report, Yang Qi opened her mouth, but ultimately couldn't utter a single word.

Ji Bowei was not in a hurry and waited quietly.

After an unknown amount of time, Yang Qi took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, calming the turmoil in his heart.

"Can I have a cigarette?" he said.

Ji Bowei waved, and Fang Zhou immediately stepped forward, took out a cigarette, put it in Yang Qi's mouth, and lit it for him.

Yang Qi took a couple of breaths and felt much more alert, his expression calming down: "I did it."

"What did you do!" Ji Bowei raised his voice.

"kill."

"Who did you kill!"

"My wife."

"What's your wife's name?!"

"Hou Jiarou".

At this point in the interrogation, Ji Bowei relaxed, rummaged through his pockets for a while, pulled out a cigarette case, lit one, and then asked, "Why did you kill her?"

Yang Qi lowered his head and smoked a cigarette: "I love her."

Ji Bowei frowned: "Can't you speak like a human being? Get your attitude straight! This is a detention center, we're conducting an interrogation, not filming an idol drama!"

Yang Qi expanded on what he had just said: "I love her, but she wants a divorce."

Ji Bowei: "Because of infidelity?"

Yang Qi nodded: "Mm."

Ji Bowei: "You cheated on your wife and then blamed her for divorcing you. Is this your logic?"

Yang Qi suddenly burst into laughter, which grew louder and louder, echoing in the interrogation room. When the laughter stopped, he looked at Ji Bowei and said, "I've already said it, Jia Rou is very resistant to intimate relationships."

My wife resists intimacy. Is it wrong for me to go out and satisfy my needs? Jia Rou wants a divorce, so is her logic correct?

You tell me, right?

Ji Bowei said, "I'm not here to argue with you about right and wrong. Tell me in detail when and how the person was killed."

Having decided to be honest, Yang Qi no longer hid anything: "In the second year of junior high, after Jia Rou and her mother had a fight, I saw her mother out of the community. When I came back, Jia Rou was looking at my phone... and found the text messages that Miss and I had exchanged."

As Yang Qi spoke more and more, everyone understood.

Previously, Yang Qi had an affair with a bank colleague. Although Hou Jiarou had arguments with Yang Qi and their relationship deteriorated, she did not choose to divorce him until she discovered that Yang Qi was frequently visiting prostitutes. She felt disgusted and could no longer accept it.

Yang Qi apologized, but Hou Jiarou refused to forgive him and filed for divorce, and the dispute gradually escalated into a quarrel.

Just as Hou Jiarou went back to her bedroom to pack her clothes and prepare to leave, Yang Qi tried to persuade her to stay again, but to no avail, and a physical altercation broke out between the two.

In a fit of rage, Yang Qi smothered Hou Jiarou to death with a summer blanket on the bed and dumped her body near the toy factory late that night.

The wet wipe left by the roadside was the one Yang Qi used to wipe her hands on her way home. She threw it out the window and then casually put it in the trunk for everyday use.

It was still that same pack of wet wipes; it wasn't all used up.

Ji Bowei: "There are no related text messages on your phone, where did they go?"

It was definitely deleted, but that's part of the interrogation process.

Yang Qi replied, "Deleted."

"Why did you choose to dispose of the body?" Ji Bowei continued to ask.

“At that time I…” Yang Qi paused for a moment before continuing, “I was terrified and didn’t know what to do. I just wanted to throw the body as far away as possible.”

Ji Bowei: "Why did we only throw away the summer blanket in the third year of junior high?"

Yang Qi: "My mind was in a mess. It wasn't until the next day that I remembered the blanket might be evidence, so I took it out and threw it away that night."

Han Ling watched the whole thing, keeping a close eye on Yang Qi without missing a single frame. After reviewing all the clues, he felt that something was not quite right.

Perhaps I'm wrong, but I can't pretend I don't know.

At this moment, he did not speak to interrupt the interrogation process.

"Your motive for committing the crime wasn't just because Hou Jiarou wanted a divorce, was it?" Fang Zhou, who was observing, spoke up. "After investigating, we found out that you are a mama's boy, dependent on and afraid of your mother. And your mother is very concerned about her reputation. If the news of your affair and prostitution gets out, the whole family will be ruined, right?"

Yang Qi looked at Fang Zhou, and after a moment of silence, admitted, "You're right, that's part of the reason."

Ji Bowei: "Where did you put the body when you disposed of it?"

Yang Qi: "I even fastened her seatbelt in the passenger seat. She used to... always sit in the passenger seat."

Ji Bowei understood. No wonder Hou Jiarou's biological tissues were not found in the trunk and back seat; the body was in the passenger seat.

"Tell me the route."

The process of securing the confession lasted for two hours. According to the route Yang Qi provided for disposing of the body, he didn't dare to take the main roads and mostly took back roads, so the surveillance cameras didn't capture his car.

Or some of the footage was captured but has been overwritten due to storage deadlines. Currently, only surveillance videos from accident-prone areas and special road sections are stored for longer periods.

When Ji Bowei asked about the phone call on the evening of the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, Yang Qi confessed that he made the call using Hou Jiarou's phone in order to divert the police's attention from the investigation.

He knew that Hou Jiarou had a very bad impression of Zhao Zhiqiang, and that as long as there were call records, the police would definitely pay close attention to Zhao Zhiqiang.

After making the call, I smashed and destroyed the phone.

"I'm sorry to her."

Five words are Yang Qi's final summary of the entire case of murdering his wife.

Having obtained the complete statements, the group left the detention center.

Ji Bowei breathed a sigh of relief. Overall, the investigation was going relatively smoothly, with new clues pointing to the suspect every day. In the end, Xia Liang, whom Han Ling and Tong Feng found, became the final killer.

The investigators work hard, and so do the forensic doctors.

"Han Ling, you've done another great job! Well done!" Ji Bowei didn't hold back his praise.

"Huh?" Tong Feng was displeased. "Captain Ji, what about me? Han Ling and I are partners!"

Ji Bowei smiled and said, "Tong Feng is also good. Well done. Our work is not finished yet. Let's go back to the branch office first."

Yang Qi has already pleaded guilty, but the subsequent procedures are still quite complicated.

First, we need to continue securing evidence.

The deleted text messages will be recovered by the electronic evidence laboratory to corroborate Yang Qi's testimony, which will be presented by the prosecutor's office during the public prosecution.

Once the evidence is secured, all materials will be compiled and submitted to the Legal Affairs Team for review, and then forwarded to the Procuratorate.

Only when the procuratorate approves the arrest and prepares for prosecution can the criminal investigation team's task be considered complete.

If a problem occurs at any stage and the case is returned, the Criminal Investigation Division will conduct further investigations.

Han Ling hesitated, then got into the car in silence.

Back at the branch office, Han Ling walked at the very back, and then found an opportunity to pull Fang Zhou to a secluded spot.

"What's wrong?" Fang Zhou asked, puzzled.

Han Ling said, "Brother Zhou, have you noticed anything wrong?"

"Something's not right?" Fang Zhou didn't understand. "What's wrong?"

Han Ling: "The Yang Qi murder case."

Upon hearing this, Fang Zhou recalled for a moment before speaking: "All the clues point to Yang Qi, the evidence also points to Yang Qi, and Yang Qi himself has confessed. Is there anything wrong with that? Are you trying to say that he is not the murderer?"

"No," Han Ling shook his head. "I'm asking if it's possible there's a second suspect in this case?"

These words immediately made Fang Zhou serious: "What do you mean?"

Han Ling said, "Two dots, Brother Zhou, listen and see if it's right."

First, apart from the mouth and nose, the body was unharmed, suggesting that the resistance was not significant.

Secondly, during the interrogation of Yang Qi just now, I noticed that he almost let something slip. He meant to say "we," but then slammed on the brakes and changed it to "I," pausing in the middle.

Fang Zhou listened attentively, and after thinking for a while, said: "First of all, it is not surprising that a strong and healthy man killed a weak woman and used a quilt to reduce the impact. It is not surprising that she was able to resist without leaving any injuries. Yang Qi himself also confessed that he wrapped her in a quilt and pressed down on Hou Jiarou with all his strength, making it difficult for Hou Jiarou to move freely."

As for the second point… are you sure you didn’t see wrong? I’ve been staring at Yang Qi the whole time and didn’t notice anything. Maybe we can review the interrogation video later.”

He didn't dampen Han Ling's enthusiasm; he was very patient.

Han Ling: "Uh... I'm not really sure either. The changes in lip movements are subtle, and the facial muscles aren't obvious. Watching the interrogation video probably won't be helpful. It's just a fleeting moment, and once it's over, it's gone. It can't be verified again."

Interrogation videos aren't high-definition; face-to-face interaction is the most authentic.

These weren't exactly suspicious points, but since he sensed something was wrong, he had to speak up.

Seeing this, Fang Zhou patted Han Ling on the shoulder and encouraged him, "It's good to have ideas, but now that we have all the evidence and testimonies, there are no flaws. If you raise unfounded suspicions with Captain Ji now, he probably... won't continue to waste police resources on this."

Here's the arrangement: if you really feel something is wrong, you can investigate it, or you can interrogate Yang Qi again. I support you, but it must be two people.

Organizing the case files takes time, and the prosecutor's office also needs time to review them. That should be enough time. I hope you can find the answer for yourself.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.

Han Ling could tell that Fang Zhou was being rather tactful, and that he wasn't stating certain realities too directly.

I am just a new police officer transferred from the police station to the special task force. Although I have performed well over the past year and found key evidence in the murder investigation, my contribution is still insufficient.

To put it bluntly, if the bureau chief has any doubts, regardless of whether there is any evidence, Ji Bowen will definitely do everything in his power to investigate.

Therefore, unless you can provide solid evidence or find a completely unreasonable point, it is not advisable to express doubts to Ji Bowei.

The suspect confessed, and all the evidence was complete, which was tantamount to throwing cold water on the entire task force for no reason.

"Okay, I understand." Han Ling nodded.

Fang Zhou holds a high position in the Criminal Investigation Brigade; you can't go wrong by listening to him.

(End of this chapter)