Chapter 14: Clues

Chapter 14: Clues

The door of the interrogation room opened and closed. After walking a short distance, Zhou Qiming looked at the signed confession and couldn't help but exclaim excitedly, "He confessed! Boss, you're really something!"

Jiang Cheng said, "His psychological resilience isn't as strong as his son's. Plus, we've already found the body and the crime scene, so he couldn't deny it. That's why he confessed so easily."

"Anyway, this case is finally over," Zhou Qiming said cheerfully. "But speaking of which, the forensic team was really quick this time. The results came out so early... Wait, what's this?"

He opened the file bag and was stunned: "Huangning District Home Invasion Murder Case Investigation Report... No, boss, why did you put last year's case file in here?"

Jiang Cheng couldn't help but say, "Is Cai Limin stupid, or are you? How long has it been? Identifying the remains, extracting DNA, matching and testing—so many procedures. How could it be done so quickly?"

Zhou Qiming realized belatedly, "So the boss was bluffing him?"

Jiang Cheng said, "What else? Even if Captain Qin and the others worked themselves to death, they couldn't have produced the test report that quickly."

Zhou Qiming asked again, "What about that piece of clothing earlier?"

Jiang Cheng replied, "The piece of clothing is real. As for whether there's any DNA residue on it, that's unknown."

It took Zhou Qiming a while to process this, then he shook his head and clicked his tongue, "Boss, that move was really something..."

Yue Lingchuan, who had been silent the whole time, was frowning slightly, flipping through the confession repeatedly.

"What's wrong, boss? Is there something off?" Zhou Qiming couldn't help but ask.

Yue Lingchuan said, "The confession itself is fine, but..."

He pointed at the text on the confession and shook his head, "I just feel that what Cai Limin said about his wife having someone else in her heart feels a bit off."

Zhou Qiming asked, "What's off about it?"

Yue Lingchuan was silent for a moment, then said, "They had been married for eight or nine years by then. That's a long time, and they even had a child. Their life wasn't particularly wealthy, but it was stable and peaceful. According to Cai Chengyong, Lv Xiuqin had a gentle personality and was very capable at managing the household. They had been together for so many years and rarely fought... In such a situation, would someone really still be hung up on their first love?"

Zhou Qiming was stunned and slowly fell into thought.

Yue Lingchuan continued, "Moreover, Lv Xiuqin must have been very fond of Cai Chengyong. In Cai Chengyong's heart, the role of his mother clearly held a very important position. Otherwise, if the mother-son relationship wasn't close, then someone insignificant running away wouldn't have given him such a strong sense of abandonment, to the point where he developed a dislike for all women."

"Someone like that, if they couldn't get what they wanted in their youth and still held onto their first love, I could understand. But to have that much obsession? Probably not."

Zhou Qiming hesitated, "Boss, are you saying Cai Limin is lying?"

Jiang Cheng, however, shook his head, "He's not lying. This first love might indeed exist, but whether things are exactly as Cai Limin said or believed is another matter."

Zhou Qiming hissed and grinned, "Could it all just be a misunderstanding in the end? If so, then..."

If things weren't as Cai Limin thought, if it was really just a misunderstanding, then all those lives lost because of it...

Yue Lingchuan closed the files and looked up, "Whether it's true or not, we'll have to investigate further. Cai Po Village probably doesn't know much about this, so we'll have to go to Lv's Village and ask Lv Xiuqin's family and her friends from her youth."

Zhou Qiming stretched, "We don't have much time recently. Let's wait until after Cai Chengyong's case is closed."

He looked at Yue Lingchuan and suddenly couldn't help but laugh. Yue Lingchuan looked at him strangely, "What are you laughing at?"

Zhou Qiming chuckled, "I was just thinking about how earlier the boss said he only cared about who the murderer was, not the so-called truth, but now..."

He clicked his tongue and shook his head.

This case could indeed be closed here. After all, the evidence is solid, and the murderer has confessed. What exactly happened back then doesn't seem that important anymore.

Yue Lingchuan shot him a look and raised an eyebrow, "What, you’re not up for investigating?"

"Not at all," Zhou Qiming replied, "I’m pretty curious about what actually went down back then."

"Speaking of which, now that Cai Limin has confessed, should we grill Cai Chengyong again?" Zhou Qiming then suggested.

Yue Lingchuan shook his head, "No. Cai Chengyong is not like Cai Limin; he’s careful and detail-oriented. Without solid evidence, he won’t crack easily."

"This is just a way to get him to talk at the right moment. Counting on this to get a confession is tough."

Zhou Qiming frowned, "So we’re back to where we started? We still gotta find the crime scene. But after chasing leads all day, we’ve got nothing."

"Solving cases isn’t a walk in the park. If it were that easy, crime wouldn’t be such a big deal," Yue Lingchuan said, "Today, I got the vibe that one guy knew something but was holding back. Let’s see if he reaches out later. If not, I’ll dig around again tomorrow."

Zhou Qiming also said, "Alright, I’ll get Jiang Cheng to look into it again, check if Cai Chengyong has any buddies or hangouts, and I’ll also poke around at the factory where he works to see if we can get any clues."

After discussing, the group returned to the office. They worked on Cai Limin’s case files while half-heartedly waiting.

They waited, but by quitting time, there was still no word.

Yue Lingchuan tossed his phone aside, got up from his desk, and called out to the team, "Let’s call it a day and get some rest. We’ll need to be on our game tomorrow—"

Before he could finish, a phone rang out in the office. Yue Lingchuan paused for a second, then lunged forward and snatched the phone:

"Hello," he said in a deep voice. The others in the office exchanged glances and quickly gathered around.

"Hello? Is this Officer Yue?"

A somewhat distorted voice came through the phone. Yue Lingchuan's eyes darkened as he called out the name, "Ma Laizi."

"Yes, yes, it's me. You have a good memory, officer," the voice on the other end flattered. Yue Lingchuan didn’t waste time and asked directly, "What’s up with your call?"

"Well..." the voice hesitated, then cautiously asked, "Officer, I just wanted to ask... is the 2000 yuan reward you mentioned earlier still valid?"

Yue Lingchuan straightened up slowly, looking around at the people gathered around him in various odd poses, and said, "That depends on whether the information you provide is true. If it is, the reward is naturally valid."

Ma Laizi was silent for a moment before saying, "Officer, I’m not entirely sure if it’s true, but I feel like it’s probably correct."

Yue Lingchuan leaned on the table with one hand, "Speak, we’ll judge the truth."

Ma Laizi lowered his voice, "Officer, let me tell you, Cai Chengyong has been having an affair with the widow Zhang in our village!"

Yue Lingchuan and Jiang Cheng exchanged glances, "Who is widow Zhang?"

"She’s the wife of Cai Fushun from our village, about my age. Cai Fushun’s parents died early, and before they passed, they arranged a wife for him. But not two years later, Cai Fushun accidentally fell off a mountain and died! They didn’t have any children, leaving only Zhang Cuimei as a widow."

Yue Lingchuan asked, "How long has Cai Fushun been dead?"

Ma Laizi thought for a moment, "I reckon... it’s been about seven or eight years."

Yue Lingchuan, "You say Cai Chengyong and Zhang Cuimei are having an affair, did you see it?"

Ma Laizi hesitated, "I think... I saw it."

Yue Lingchuan frowned, "What do you mean you think? Don’t you know if you saw it or not? What exactly happened, tell me carefully."

Ma Laizi, "Well, officer, it’s like this. Two years ago during Qingming, Cai Limin and his son came back to pay respects to their ancestors, right? After paying respects, they stayed overnight at home. That night, I saw a man enter the courtyard of Zhang Cuimei’s house. I was curious, so I went to the courtyard wall and listened for a while. I heard them flirting, and the voice was definitely Cai Chengyong’s."

Yue Lingchuan, "Are you sure you didn’t mishear?"

Ma Laizi said, "I also suspected that I might have misheard. After all, Cai Chengyong has only returned a few times since he was young, so how could he have been involved with Zhang Cuimei? I was curious, so the next day, I made a point of getting up early and took the chance to talk to Cai Chengyong. I swear, the voice was exactly the same as the one I heard the night before! And his figure—tall and big—even though it was at night, I could still recognize him!"

Yue Lingchuan pondered for a moment, then suddenly said, "So why were you at Zhang Cuimei's house that night?"

Ma Laizi immediately fell silent.

Yue Lingchuan dragged out his voice, "Hmm?"

"Alright, I'll tell you!" Ma Laizi hurriedly said, his voice faltering, "It's just that... Zhang Cuimei's husband had passed away... and I, I don't have a wife either. I, I and Zhang Cuimei, we... we were involved for a while..."

He quickly assured, "But officer, don't worry, it wasn't a transaction, and I didn't force her. It was mutual consent... yes, mutual consent!"

Zhou Qiming, listening on the side, couldn't help but roll his eyes. Yue Lingchuan said, "As long as you're not breaking the law, I don't care about other things."

He then asked, "Where is Zhang Cuimei now?"

"Oh, her," Ma Laizi said, "She ran away."

"What?" Yue Lingchuan's voice suddenly rose, and Zhou Qiming also widened his eyes, "She ran away?"

She ran away again?