Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“What’s the matter, honey?” Miao Ying asked after she noticed Zhao Yu’s frustration. “Do you think that Han Kuan’s case is not quite solved yet? I never would have expected that our super detective, who has solved so many difficult cases, could be stuck on such a simple case now! You know that it has to be either Han Kuan or his wife.”
Cui Lizhu, who had been silent for a long time, nodded and said, “Yeah! It’s either Han Kuan or Zhang Jingru! Since it happened in a locked room, it must be one of them! In my opinion, now that we have the recording, it’s solid proof! What else are you worried about? Let’s just close the two cases together, right now!”
Cui Lizhu then pouted her lips and added, “This could be a great help to reduce my sentence…”
“Little girl, don’t talk nonsense now!” Zhao Yu shook his head and rolled his eyes at her before he said, “What we want is to find out the whole truth! I can’t ruin my super detective reputation over this case!”
Miao Ying stared at him for a long while, then asked, “So… You have doubts that Han Kuan is the culprit? You really don’t think that he planned everything and was just acting since the beginning?”
“Wait…” Cui Lizhu interrupted Miao Ying and asked Zhao Yu, “Boss, did you just hear what the Evidence Department reported? There was no problem with the recording, which shows that Han Kuan is innocent! So… Why are you hesitating?”
“Who said that there was no problem with the recording?” Miao Ying interrupted Cui Lizhu harshly, then pointed to the transcript that was projected on the screen and said, “Look at it carefully… This confession is full of loopholes! Without this confession, I might think that Han Kuan is innocent. But, with this confession, I think that he has to be murderer… No doubt in my mind!”
“Um…” Zeng Ke glanced at Wu Xiumin and the two shared a meaningful glance. After all, Miao Ying’s words were almost the exact same as Zhao Yu’s earlier. Zhao Yu had the same reaction after he heard about the confession for the first time.
“Elites always see the same truths!” Zhao Yu said as he smiled and went over to Miao Ying. He then asked her, “Meow… Why do you think that this recording is questionable?”
“Its length!” Miao Ying pointed at the screen and said, “Think about it… If Zhang Jingru really planned everything and was willing to sacrifice her life in the process, she would have at least made all of the details clear in her confession. But… This confession is short and far from complete, as it is missing several vital details!”
Miao Ying continued earnestly, “If Zhang Jingru really was a fan of crime fiction, then she certainly knew how to record a comprehensive confession that would be sure to help her innocent husband get away with her crime! But, if you look at this one…”
Again, Miao Ying pointed to the screen and said, “The time, the people, the location… These three vital elements have not been explained! Think about it… She admitted her guilt, but didn’t explain anything else! She didn’t even say what crime she had committed exactly! Isn’t that strange?”
“So…” Miao Ying stepped forward and patted the screen as she said, “It is this strange and faulty confession that gives me reason to doubt that Han Kuan is the real culprit in this case! In fact, I suspect that the reason that Zhang Jingru made this confession may be something else entirely!”
Ran Tao was surprised by her words and asked, “If it’s Han Kuan, then this fellow is a master at hiding things, as from the very beginning, I never doubted him at all!”
Wu Xiumin then said, “I have conducted a psychological assessment of him, and although his wife died, his mental state is very stable! So, come to think of it now, I do think that is a little suspicious!”
“Yes,” Miao Ying agreed. “A writer, whose sole job is to write crime stories all day long could possibly have some psychological problems. Think about it… His wife just died, and then he slept in her blood! And then… He was suspected of being a murderer! If he is innocent, then how can he be so calm about all of these crazy, awful things?”
“Wow…” Ran Tao looked at the screen, scratched his head, then said, “If we look at it that way, Han Kuan really does seem to have psychological problems! But…”
Zhao Yu interrupted him and finished Ran Tao’s sentence, “But… We can’t stop him now! Even if the recording is vague and full of loopholes, it’s real and highly effective toward proving his innocence, even if it’s false!”
Zhao YU shook his head, then said, “So, Han Kuan will have an absolute advantage in court! According to the normal procedures, even if the police hand Han Kuan over, the court-appointed attorney will not really prosecute him, much less convict him!”
“Yes!” Miao Ying said. “There are too many cases just like this, and in order to avoid wasting the nation’s limited resources on a long and drawn out trial, the police usually release the suspects directly and sometimes even throw out the case entirely!”
Cui Lizhu was not happy to hear this, “Ugh! Why do bad things always happen to me? That would mean that my chances at a sentence reduction would be gone! I… I don’t understand. What if Han Kuan really killed his wife? Can he really be deemed as not legally liable?”
“Sadly, yes. That’s why he is so smart!” Zhao Yu shook his head and said, “He has already planned everything out for just this kind of outcome! We have definitely underestimated him. He fooled us all!”
“Wait a minute… What if we can find some new evidence?” Zeng Ke asked. “What if we can prove that Han Kuan tricked Zhang Jingru into recording the confession?”
“Then… How do you explain the safe?” Wu Xiumin asked. “If Zhang Jingru recorded the confession and put it in the safe, wouldn’t she notice that something was wrong?”
“It’s possible… Look…” Zeng Ke waved his hands and said, “Since Han Kuan is a writer, he could have written a type of script for her to read as she was being recorded. The very words that he would have scripted for her would have provided him with a perfect, made-up excuse!”
He shook his head and continued, growing more excited as he spoke, “As for the bank safe, it’s not a very difficult thing to explain. After all, don’t forget that the recording pen was sewn into the inside of the bag’s lining. Zhang Jingru probably didn’t even notice it at all.”
He paused to take a breath, then added, “Then, Han Kuan could use the excuse of the gifted bag in order to implement his plan! Han Kuan could say that he wanted to give a gift to the friend in the publishing house, but as the friend was not there, he knew that she would ask him to rent a safe and put the gift in it. But, when he arrived at the bank, Han Kuan tricked Zhang Jingru into doing it by telling her that he didn’t have his ID card with him.”
Zeng Ke then concluded his hypothesis, “That also explains why Zhang Jingru looks so impatient in the camera footage. She was annoyed that he had forgotten his ID, and she also knew that he was waiting for her to finish her errand!”
Ran Tao scratched his head and said, “I can’t deny that your theory sounds quite possible. But… If that’s really the case, Han Kuan is too wicked! In order to kill his wife, he made up so many lies and planned everything out so meticulously!”
“My suspicions about Han Kuan have become even stronger after hearing all of this!” Cui Lizhu eyes grew big eyes as she said, “Han Kuan is surely the murderer! Ugh! He’s disgusting! He is so cruel that he killed his wife, who he had been married to for ten year! We must reveal his dirty secret!”
“But… There is the confession… We can’t do anything…” Wu Xiumin shook her head, clearly feeling helpless.
“Zhao Yu…” At this time, Miao Ying’s eyes lit up. She suddenly pulled Zhao Yu aside and whispered, “Do you remember Liu Pengfei from Qinshan? We can do the same thing to Han Kuan!”
“This…” Zhao Yu frowned and looked unwilling to go along with her suggestion.
As Miao Ying’s whisper was overheard by the other team members, Zeng Ke was surprised and gasped, while he covered his mouth with his hand. He had suddenly remembered a scene from the Yongjin Island command vessel. At that time, Zhao Yu said the same thing as Miao Ying had just said. Even their tones were identical!
Wow! Zeng Ke thought. He felt that these two leaders were really a perfect match for each other!
“No way!” Zhao Yu replied, while he patted Miao Ying on the shoulder, shook his head, then said, “Meow… This case is different from the past ones. If Han Kuan is really the murderer, then no matter how we try to trick him, it won’t work! Han Kuan is very calm, and he can anticipate all of the moves that we could try to make. As long as he insists that he didn’t know anything, we can’t trick him into revealing his guilt at all!”
“Besides…” Zhao Yu added solemnly, “Even if you really want to trick him, now is not a good time. Even if we put aside the confession, we should still know the reason why Han Kuan killed his wife. At present, we still don’t know his motive for certain!”
Zhao Yu patted his chest a bit dramatically, then asked, “Besides… Don’t you know that I am an honest man now? Hence, I couldn’t do such a dishonest thing…”
Miao Ying knocked Zhao Yu’s on the forehead and said indifferently, “You’re an idiot!”
“Um… Boss…” Unexpectedly, Cui Lizhu also overheard their conversation, and she rushed over to them and said to Zhao Yu, who was holding his forehead in pain, “Boss… I have an idea!”
“What is it?” he immediately asked.
“There’s an old saying among us thieves: Throw a stone to find out the river’s depth,” Cui Lizhu said earnestly. “I think we can use a proverbial stone to find out about Han Kuan’s situation first, then take countermeasures accordingly!”
Zhao Yu raised his eyebrows and smiled, as Cui Lizhu’s words had indeed provided him with a new idea. Miao Ying also seemed to be very interested in this new angle, so she asked, “So… Who is this ‘stone?’”
Cui Lizhu gave her a strange smile and replied, “Think about 11 Kills! Don’t you think that we have a perfect candidate here?”
