“What a great help to Old Master Fang! Keep it up, young lady.” Chen Guangyao stretched his arms and looked around the private room, no longer feeling so oppressive.
“Thank you, Brother Da Guangming,” Jiayi said with a smile, nodding vigorously.
“What are you talking about? Old Master Fang? Do I look that old? Am I old enough to be her father?” Fang Zhenyue grumbled unhappily, then turned to ask Yi Jiayi, “How old are you?”
“20, sir!” Jiayi answered her superior seriously.
“Only 8 years older than you, could I have had a child at 8?” Fang Zhenyue said indignantly, equally serious.
“What? You’re only 28? You must be kidding,” Chen Guangyao, now in a better mood, joked back as the previously sullen man joined in the banter with Fang Zhenyue.
Uncle Jiu joined in with a laugh, holding his arms, “These days, old folks’ brains aren’t as quick as the young ones. But after listening to you guys, I got some ideas too, haha, talking about the case with you makes me feel smarter.”
“Uncle Jiu, you are very smart!” Jiayi nodded earnestly.
Everyone laughed and joked, completely transforming the atmosphere of the private room.
“Let’s wrap up, it’s time to head back to the station!” Chen Guangyao called out, patting Fang Zhenyue and Yi Jiayi on the shoulders, “Thanks to the colleagues from the Major Crime Unit, at least our Forensic Department doesn’t have to test all the tissues in the trash bin anymore.”
“Wow, what has Brother Da Guangming’s hand touched?” Jiayi quickly ducked to avoid Chen Guangyao’s hand.
“We can’t miss any evidence,” Fang Zhenyue also stepped aside, causing Chen Guangyao to miss his grasp.
“Got it,” Chen Guangyao waved his hand and turned to get busy.
Fang Zhenyue took a deep breath, nodded to Yi Jiayi and others, and then walked out of the crime scene.
Pushing open the door to a room of 15 people who hadn’t been interrogated, Fang Zhenyue scanned the room briefly and said, “Thank you all for cooperating with the police, you may go home now.”
“Ah sir, do you know who the murderer is?” someone immediately stood up, and thinking that only Zheng Lishan was absent, he asked further, “Is it Lishan who committed the murder?”
Fang Zhenyue smiled and did not respond, withdrawing and walking towards the small room where Zheng Lishan was being interrogated by Sanfu and Jiaming.
As he pushed the door open, Sanfu was leaning over the table, pressing Zheng Lishan to confess.
Zheng Lishan turned her head away and kept her mouth shut, clearly unwilling to cooperate.
The noise of the door drew everyone’s attention; Zheng Lishan’s expression was calm, showing no signs of malevolence, not looking like someone capable of harming others.
“Brother Yue,” Sanfu withdrew his hands from the table and nodded slightly to Fang Zhenyue.
“Miss Zheng, take a look at this.” Fang Zhenyue picked up a microphone from the small room and waved it towards Zheng Lishan.
“It’s a mic,” Zheng Lishan’s voice was tense, but her expression remained composed.
Yi Jiayi and Uncle Jiu also entered the private room, each folding their arms and standing on either side of Sir Fang, like a male and female pair of bodyguards.
“What about this?” Fang Zhenyue said, pulling off the cloth cover from the handle of the topic.
“…” Zheng Lishan pursed her lips, remained silent for a while, and then spoke, “A lace cover, what’s the problem with that?”
“What do you think the problem could be?” Fang Zhenyue turned the cover inside out, exposing the white interior, “If this were stained with blood and had fingerprints on it, do you think we could catch the murderer?”
“…” Zheng Lishan lowered her eyes, her expression tense, though her hands had uncontrollably clenched into fists.
“If you confess, it means you’re cooperating with the police, and you’ll naturally receive a lighter sentence in court. If you continue to resist, that’s fine too; you have the right to remain silent. However, you probably won’t be too pleased with the sentencing,” Fang Zhenyue said as he pulled over a chair and sat down leisurely, looking at her with a half-smile, and calmly stated:
“You’re a smart person, it’s your choice to confess or not.”
He glanced at his watch, “Why don’t you take a moment to think about it? How about I give you 5 minutes?”
“Sir, I understand that the police are under a lot of pressure with this incident, but you can’t just pick someone to take the blame, right? Can I request legal assistance?” Zheng Lishan’s palms gently relaxed, her tone still light, seemingly unfazed.
Fang Zhenyue laughed and nodded, seemingly appreciating her resistance.
He wanted to describe the murder process to trap her without any hope of luck, but thinking of the long explanation he had to give, he found it troublesome and turned to look behind him.
Uncle Jiu, lazy as ever, quickly shifted his gaze away, unwilling to make eye contact with him.
Turning to Yi Jiayi on the other side, the young policewoman made direct eye contact without any guard, not yet understanding her chief’s laziness and habits.
“Jiayi, you describe the murder process to Miss Zheng, show her the concrete evidence we have uncovered,” Fang Zhenyue tapped his fingers on the table and encouraged her with a smile.
“…” Yi Jiayi widened her eyes.
Sir Fang! Brother Yue! Are you sure you want me to describe Zheng Lishan’s murder process?
I’ve just seen the surveillance footage less than two hours ago, and everything is still vivid in my mind!
Seeing the young policewoman’s stunned look, Fang Zhenyue thought she was worried about not speaking well and reassured her with a smile:
“It’s okay, our evidence is solid, however you say it will be fine.”
Lin Wangjiu felt lucky that he had averted his gaze quickly earlier, glad that the task hadn’t fallen on him, while nodding at Yi Jiayi to encourage her. Clearly, this was a chance given by Fang Zhenyue to train herself, a valuable opportunity that deserved her best effort.
Realizing the situation, Yi Jiayi cleared her throat, thought about the best approach, and then slowly and methodically began her account:
“Miss Zheng took advantage of the moment when everyone else was singing Wong Ka Kui’s “Glorious Years” and not paying attention to her. She quietly removed the cover from her microphone, tucked the mic into the gap between the sofa seat and armrest, and pulled out a knife she had prepared earlier. She covered the knife handle with the fabric, and slipped it into her sleeve. That’s why you wore a long-sleeved shirt today, despite the hot weather.”
“After standing up, the person next to you glanced at you. You were terrified, but fortunately, he just took a quick look and continued to sing facing the TV, completely unaware of what you were doing.”
“You quickly stood up, navigated past the three steps to your left, and crouched down next to the victim while slightly bending over. At that moment, the chorus of the song reached its climax and the surrounding noise escalated. You even leaned close to whisper something offensive in the victim’s ear, didn’t you?”
Gary, who ensured the safety of the 15 individuals before returning, couldn’t help but chuckle as he listened to Yi Jiayi describe the case.
Isn’t Little Eleven too adorable?
It was the first time Sir Fang had asked her to describe a case in front of a suspect, and she actually started narrating a story, detailing every little part as if she were in a TV drama.
Sir Fang had been worried that Yi Jiayi might struggle with her presentation and was ready to help her at any moment to ensure she could finish.
Unexpectedly, Little Eleven turned out to be a detail-oriented person with an exceptional eloquence and vividly descriptive narrative.
Moreover, when did this young girl interrogate the other witnesses? She even managed to find out what songs people were singing during the incident.
Impressive, having such an eye for details seems like she was born for this job.
Sanfu, who had spent half the day interrogating without extracting a single word, now had a gradually shifting expression.
He remembered his own first time presenting a case in front of a criminal, stumbling over his words and often getting the sequence wrong. If it weren’t for Sir Fang’s guidance, he might have led the criminal to retract their confession.
How could Yi Jiayi be so logically clear and well-organized on her first try?
As for Zheng Lishan, who had either kept silent or outright denied everything, her body stiffened progressively with each word from Yi Jiayi. Her eyes, filled with fear, fixed on Yi Jiayi, as if facing a nightmare she couldn’t escape:
“…You plunged the knife fiercely into the perpetrator’s chest, and hesitated for a few seconds after pulling it out, worried he might not die. Then, you grabbed the handle again and pushed until the blade was fully submerged before letting go.”
“The victim was groaning all the while. You deliberately leaned in close to hear his death rattles, satisfied only when he was silent. You should have retreated immediately to avoid being seen. But watching him die slowly like a loathsome turtle, you couldn’t help but linger a bit longer until the song was nearly over. Then, reluctantly crouching, you returned to your seat. Quickly, you flipped the microphone cover you retrieved, slipped it back on, and joined in the final lines of ‘Glorious Years’.”
“Miss Zheng, when you sang ‘Embrace freedom tightly through the storm, waiting only to admire the rainbow,’ you laughed, didn’t you? Did you feel like the protagonist in the song, waiting for the rainbow after the storm?”
Zheng Lishan’s chest heaved as if she had seen a ghost.
As Jiayi delved deeper, Fang Zhenyue’s mood was no longer light; he slowly straightened up.
He just wanted a char siu bao, but Yi Jiayi gave him a full imperial feast.
The young policewoman’s speech was not yet finished. She stared at Zheng Lishan, questioning her, and concluded her own remarks:
“The microphone under the cloth cover is metallic and very prone to retaining clear fingerprints for a long time. You’re not a KTV waitress, so why are your fingerprints on the metal handle of the microphone?”
“And why are your fingerprints on the blood inside the cloth cover?”
Fang Zhenyue looked at the young policewoman with more astonishment in his eyes:
This was her first time profiling a case, and her ability to gather clues so comprehensively, to connect them with such smooth logic, and even to supplement with the criminal’s psychology and reactions, was beyond what a typically excellent detective possesses.
It was a talent only a genius could have!
It looks like he, as a talent scout, had still underestimated the capabilities of this thoroughbred.
Meanwhile, Zheng Lishan across from him was breathing so heavily she seemed on the verge of an asthma attack.
She looked at Yi Jiayi with sheer terror in her eyes.
Before killing Li Wanqian, she did indeed curse at him, “Go die, idiot.”
After the murder, she indeed listened to Li Wanqian’s groans until he fell silent before she could bear to stand up straight. She also indeed admired his corpse for a few seconds before she could bear to leave.
Returning to her seat, she indeed only sang those two lines, which she thought particularly matched her mood and brought her joy.
Why?
Why did this policewoman seem as if she had seen and heard everything herself?
Her composure completely shattered, Zheng Lishan nearly forgot she was confronting the police and asked tremblingly:
“Did Li Wanqian tell you? Is he… he’s not dead? But I clearly… the knife was plunged so deep, it’s impossible… could it be his heart is on the right side? I know such people exist. If I had known… If only I had…”
Thus, Zheng Lishan was frightened into confessing by Yi Jiayi’s mix of bluffing and deduction.
“No, you indeed killed him. But even though Li Wanqian is dead, even if you clench your teeth and refuse to confess, the police have ways to clearly investigate the case. This is the most basic ability of a major case squad detective. Did you not thoroughly understand what capabilities your opponents possess before you committed your crime?” Yi Jiayi coldly asked.
Liu Jiaming stared at Yi Jiayi in disbelief, his inner turmoil screaming: No!!! This is not the most, basic, capability of a major case squad detective!!! No!!!
Her senior got intimidated by her prowess
Lmao she’s so good!