Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“Team Leader, the recording appears to be real! It’s 100% authentic! This speaker is indeed Zhang Jingru! Also, the video shows no obvious signs of editing. But, in order to confirm this, I still need the original recording!” A few minutes later, Zeng Ke broke the silence and interrupted Zhao Yu’s thoughts.
Zhao Yu nodded slightly as he stood in front of the white boards. This result was clearly exactly as he had expected.
He thought for a moment, then said, “Zeng Ke, you need to transcribe Zhang Jingru’s confession word by word, then project it onto the big screen. I want to have a good look at it!”
“Okay!” Zeng Ke said, while he went to work on the task immediately.
Just after this, Zhao Yu’s phone chimed. When he looked down it it, he saw that Wu Xiumin had sent him a video link.
Apparently, while Wu Xiumin was playing Zhang Jingru’s recording to Han Kuan, she had secretly recorded his reaction, just as Zhao Yu had requested! The link was a real-time recording of this event!
In the recording, Han Kuan was listening carefully to Zhang Jingru’s recorded confession. His eyebrows were furrowed and his expression was very complicated. It was obvious that he was doubtful about what his wife was saying.
However, when he heard the last part of the confession, he suddenly got excited. Tears ran down his face and he shook his head vigorously. He just couldn’t seem to accept what he had just heard.
Finally, when she had finished speaking and there was no sound left in the recording, he lay his head down on the interrogation table and began to sob quite loudly. After he cried for a long time, he covered his eyes, which were filled with tears, then said with a trembling voice, “It’s impossible… She couldn’t be an avid crime fiction fan. I never knew that she was into that kind of thing.”
Wu Xiumin then asked, “Han Kuan… Are you sure that this is your wife Zhang Jingru’s voice?”
Han Kuan nodded, then asked, “But… Where did you find it?”
Wu Xiumin told him, “The last time you went to Longjiang with Zhang Jingru, she put it in her bank safe. Also, what she told you about Huo Weifang was made up!”
Han Kuan raised his head to look at her, then asked doubtfully, “What? My wife… She… Did you just say that she lied to me?”
After Wu Xiumin kept silent, Han Kuan pounded his fists on the table and said angrily, “Police officer, trust me! My wife definitely didn’t plan all of this! I know her. She isn’t a scheming person. This recording must have been forged. She must have been threatened by someone to admit to such a thing. Believe me, we have been married for ten years, and I know her best!”
Han Kuan looked dazed as he added nervously, “This is simply impossible. Please, you must find out the real truth!”
Wu Xiumin stared at Han Kuan as she said, “Zhang Jingru said that you could benefit from this case. What specific benefits would you get? Also, is it true that if she died, you could become famous? Would it make your book more popular?”
“You… How can you think that way?” Han Kuan roared, “I would gladly never write a single word more if she could come back alive! I never thought that something like this would ever happen to us…”
After that, Han Kuan couldn’t hold his emotions back any longer, and he burst into tears. This was the scene that Zhao Yu was observing. He was specifically focusing his attention on Han kuan’s reaction in the video.
It was undeniable that Han Kuan’s reaction was a natural grief, which made him appear innocent. Zhao Yu saw nothing abnormal in his mannerisms, no secret delight on his face, no deliberate affectation. Everything seemed to be a perfectly normal reaction of a grieving husband.
However, it was just this fact that caused Zhao Yu to question Han Kuan. It’s almost as if his was a perfect performance. This made Zhao Yu quite suspicious.
Zhao Yu believed that there could only be two reasons why Han Kuan’s reaction was so perfect. One was that his reaction was completely real, which meant that he was indeed innocent! The other reason was that he had rehearsed this reaction many times in advance, obviously knowing that the police officers would let him listen to this audio recording!
If the first assumption was the case, then Zhao Yu’s investigation was complete. His Special Investigation Group would have solved another big case and would gain great prestige! But… If it is the second scenario… Zhao Yu shuddered at the thought.
When Zhao Yu stopped the video, he looked up and saw that Zeng Ke had projected the transcript of Zhang Jingru’s confession on the big screen. It read:
Dear police officers,
I guess that my husband can finally be proven innocent now, right?
And, yes, I planned this perfect murder!
“Team Leader…” Zeng Ke looked at the big screen and said, “At first, I didn’t see anything strange. However, after transcribing this, I suddenly felt that some didn’t make sense. You see… Throughout the whole confession, she did not mention her name or Han Kuan’s name once, nor the exact date or anything. This just doesn’t seem right.”
Zhao Yu nodded in agreement. “I agree. If she really wanted to tell us the truth, she should have at least told us the specific details of the crime. For example, how did she render Han Kuan unconscious? How did she take Han Kuan’s hand and cut her wrists, ensuring that his fingerprints would be found? And… How did she take the picture and send it to Zhang Jingfeng?”
Zeng Ke nodded, then said, “Right! This confession lacks specific details! If Zhang Jingru was really a fan of crime fiction, then she shouldn’t have made such a huge mistake! Her confession is filled with contradictions.”
Zhao Yu then added, “And… She even didn’t mention her suicide! Imagine that if Zhang Jingru had really planned all of this, then she should at least have said something like, ‘I sacrificed my life in order to execute a perfect murder.’”
Zeng Ke nodded his head and agreed, “Yes! She said that this was a confession, but if Zhang Jingru really committed suicide, she was not a criminal! Team Leader, do you think that this is a fake confession, meaning that the person who is really guilty of the murder is Han Kuan? That would be crazy, as he has been right here in front of us this whole time!”
“We can’t jump to conclusions until we get ahold of the real evidence. Although there are still a few questionable points in Zhang Jingru’s confession, it doesn’t look like it was doctored or edited in terms of her tone and emotions,” Zhao Yu said.
He then asked, “Moreover, what if Zhang Jingru did actually rent the bank safe? Do you think that Han Kuan could possibly make his wife record a confession like this and put the recording pen in the bank?”
“Um… This…” Zeng Ke frowned, as he couldn’t figure out a way to explain this.
Zhao Yu then said, “The most challenging part about all of this is trying to figure out Han Kuan’s motive! If he is really the murdered, then why did he kill his wife? Would it be too crazy an idea to think that he might have committed such a heinous crime just to increase his popularity and sell his novels?”
After hearing this, something suddenly occurred to Zeng Ke. He was clearly scared as he said to Zhao Yu, “Team Leader, do you think that it is possible that what Zhang Jingru said about the crazy fan in her confession was actually pertaining to Han Kuan?”
“Huh? What do you mean?” Zhao Yu was puzzled.
“I mean…” Zeng Ke stared at him and said mysteriously, “What if Han Kuan is actually the crazy crime novel fan, and his real purpose for killing Zhang Jingru was to commit an impeccable murder!”
