Seeing Shao Heng still refusing to admit anything, even with the evidence in front of him, Zou Shuyang sighed in frustration. He turned Xiao Tang’s computer towards himself, opened a video, and pressed play.
“Anyone who might threaten him must die.”
“Begging for mercy now? Too late.”
At first, Shao Heng had acted so fearless because he believed the police had no evidence. But now, with hard proof right in front of him, Shao Heng stared blankly at the screen, unable to believe what he was seeing.
For a moment, Shao Heng wanted to smash the computer in anger.
Fortunately, Zou Shuyang was sharp enough to notice this and quickly said, “The memory card from the surveillance camera has already been sealed as evidence.”
The implication was clear: even if you destroy the computer, it won’t make a difference.
Shao Heng lowered his head, struggling for a moment before speaking, “Do you think finding someone to imitate my voice and creating a fake video like this will be enough to convict me?”
Zou Shuyang glanced at the video. Indeed, due to the odd positioning of the camera, the footage was hard to watch. The camera could only capture Shao Heng’s legs below the ankles through a gap under the sofa, so his face wasn’t visible at all.
But, unfortunately for Shao Heng, Zou Shuyang rewound the video to when Shao Heng first entered the room.
The tiles in Lin Shaohuai’s house were polished to a high shine, and while the reflection was somewhat distorted, it was still clear enough to confirm that the person entering was indeed Shao Heng.
As he watched Shao Heng’s expression gradually collapse, Zou Shuyang leaned in closer, his face just inches from Shao Heng’s, and asked, “So? Ready to talk now?”
Shao Heng kept his head down, seemingly weighing something in his mind. After a long pause, he chuckled and said, “Yeah, I killed Lin Shaohuai.”
“What was your motive? Why did you kill him?”
Xiao Tang, who thought they were finally getting somewhere, eagerly prepared to take notes.
But then, Shao Heng casually leaned back in his chair and said with a smirk, “No reason. I just didn’t like him, so I killed him.”
“Shao Heng!” Xiao Tang was furious at Shao Heng’s “What are you gonna do about it?” attitude. “Do you realize that intentional murder can be punished by the death penalty?”
Shao Heng nonchalantly touched his nose. “I’m not ignorant of the law. Of course, I know.”
Xiao Tang tried to reason with him, “If you were hired to kill him, confessing to the authorities could significantly reduce your sentence. You know that, right?”
“Oh.” Shao Heng responded indifferently.
At this point, Xiao Tang felt helpless. He looked to Zou Shuyang, almost pleading, “Captain Zou, what should we do now?”
Zou Shuyang played the video again and asked, “Who was he referring to?”
The video was playing the part where Lin Shaohuai said, “He still doesn’t trust me.”
Based on Shao Heng’s words, it was clear that he hadn’t killed Lin Shaohuai just because he didn’t like him.
Faced with irrefutable evidence, Shao Heng couldn’t stick to his previous story. After racking his brain for a while, he finally said, “I found out today that Lin Shaohuai had stolen confidential information from our company and was planning to sell it. I didn’t want him to hurt our boss’s interests.”
“So you killed him?”
Shao Heng nodded. “The boss has been good to me. I had to nip this in the bud.”
Then, recalling what Lin Shaohuai had said in the video earlier, he sneered, “Lin Shaohuai had quite the imagination. He always thought my boss wanted him dead, but in reality…”
Shao Heng lifted his head, his gaze cold and vicious. “A worm like him wasn’t even worth my boss’s attention.”
Still unwilling to say more.
After exchanging a glance, Zou Shuyang and Xiao Tang decided to suspend the interrogation for now.
Once they left the interrogation room, Xiao Tang angrily punched the wall. His youthful face was filled with frustration. “That Shao Heng is so loyal, he won’t say a word.”
Zou Shuyang chuckled. “Why are you so worked up?”
“Aren’t you angry, Captain Zou? We clearly know why Lin Shaohuai was attacked, and we know that Shao Heng is just a tool used by the real culprit. Yet, he won’t say anything.”
Zou Shuyang shrugged and started walking upstairs. “But aren’t we closer to the truth than before?”
Seeing Xiao Tang still looking like he was about to explode with anger, Zou Shuyang pinched the bridge of his nose helplessly. “Come on, we now know that the person Shao Heng is protecting is Hao Yiming. Doesn’t that mean Hao Yiming is likely the one who assaulted Ding Jing and hired someone to kill Shen Tinglan? What’s there to be mad about?”
Xiao Tang was still young, so despite Zou Shuyang’s attempt to console him, he couldn’t let go of his frustration. “Ding Jing was such a good person. How did she end up like this?”
After venting for a bit longer, Xiao Tang helped Zou Shuyang open the office door, then asked in a downcast tone, “Shao Heng won’t say anything. What should we do next, Captain Zou?”
Zou Shuyang lowered his gaze and thought for a moment. “Remember that phone call Lin Shaohuai made before he was attacked?”
Xiao Tang’s eyes lit up. “I’ll go get someone to recover his call records.”
Just as Xiao Tang was about to rush off in a hurry, Zou Shuyang, amused, called him back.
“Hold on. It’s the middle of the night. The telecom company is closed. Who’s going to help you recover the records? Besides…”
He paused, his gaze dimming slightly. “I have a pretty good idea who that call was made to.”
Jian Mengyan was pacing back and forth at home. The newly hired nanny, unsure of her new employer’s temperament, didn’t dare stop her. So, she busied herself with the dishes in the kitchen while stealing nervous glances at Jian Mengyan.
After pacing for several more rounds, Jian Mengyan finally made a decision as night fell.
“Eh? Miss Jian, are you going out?” The nanny, just done tidying up the kitchen, saw Jian Mengyan all dressed up as if she were about to leave.
Jian Mengyan nodded with her head lowered and declined the nanny’s offer to accompany her. She left the house alone.
She had received a phone call from Lin Shaohuai that afternoon, just after she finished tutoring her students.
Initially, she didn’t want to answer the call, but along with the call came a WeChat message from Yin Zhuo.
Yin Zhuo said that Lin Shaohuai was going to die.
For reasons she couldn’t quite explain, Jian Mengyan picked up the call.
And then she heard Lin Shaohuai tell her that he had left her a gift.
For a brief moment, Jian Mengyan felt her chest tighten, and her head throbbed painfully.
She knew exactly what gift Lin Shaohuai was talking about.
Jian Mengyan immediately wanted to retrieve that so-called gift.
But then…
“I hope you can find it.”
Lin Shaohuai’s words suddenly echoed in Jian Mengyan’s mind.
She couldn’t help but remember that back in high school, Lin Shaohuai loved to be mysterious.
Even the simplest things had to go through several twists and turns before reaching a conclusion when it came to him.
As she drove out of the underground parking lot, Jian Mengyan carefully navigated the streets while pondering where that so-called gift might be hidden.
Logically speaking, the most likely place was the cemetery.
They had just agreed to visit Shen Tinglan’s grave, and with Lin Shaohuai getting into trouble right after, it made sense that he would have hidden the item in the cemetery, where Jian Mengyan could easily retrieve it on her next visit.
But Jian Mengyan felt that was too predictable and uncertain.
Or maybe… the teacher’s house?
No, that didn’t seem right either.
Although Lin Shaohuai was heartless in some ways, he was cautious enough to know that the teacher’s widow had been devastated when her husband died, almost to the point of following him. It wouldn’t be wise to leave something like that with her.
The more she thought about it, the more frustrated she became. Unable to think clearly, Jian Mengyan pulled over and opened her phone to look at the map of Jiangzhou.
After some thought, she set her starting point as Jiangyuan Group and her destination as Yunshang Community.
Was there a place both she and Lin Shaohuai knew that lay between Jiangyuan Group and Yunshang Community?
The restaurant where they had their class reunion.
The coffee shop where they had coffee that afternoon.
The answer was clear.
The coffee shop.
Jian Mengyan restarted her car and drove cautiously along the road.
She had two reasons for thinking it was the coffee shop. First, it was Lin Shaohuai who had set the meeting at the coffee shop that afternoon. Second, the restaurant only opened in the evening, so Lin Shaohuai wouldn’t have had much time to hide anything there. There was no need to make things more complicated.
When she safely parked in front of the coffee shop, the staff was just about to close for the night.
“Please wait a moment.” Jian Mengyan called out as she jogged over to stop the staff member from pulling down the shutter.
“Ma’am, is something wrong?” The staff member asked politely.
Jian Mengyan pulled up a photo of Lin Shaohuai on her phone and asked, “Did this man come back here in the afternoon? He told me he left something here for me to pick up later.”
The staff member studied the photo for a moment but didn’t seem to recognize the person in the picture.
“Oh, this was taken in high school. He probably looks a bit different now. His name is Lin Shaohuai. Does that ring a bell?”
As soon as the staff heard the name “Lin Shaohuai” they suddenly had a look of realization and pushed the shutter back up. “Oh, him! He’s really changed since high school.”
That was true. In high school, Lin Shaohuai had been skinny and short, with a mix of insecurity and arrogance hidden beneath his gentle facade, making him a very contradictory person.
But now, with his career on the rise and having reached a high position at a young age, the conflicts of his youth had naturally disappeared.
As the staff member spoke, they led Jian Mengyan inside. “Mr. Lin is a regular here. In the afternoon, he came by with a box and asked us to stay open a bit later. He said a lady would be coming by to pick it up.”
After some rustling sounds, the staff retrieved a box from behind the counter. It was pink, with a large pink bow on top.
“I was surprised. Mr. Lin, a successful professional, using such a girly box. Turns out it’s a gift for his girlfriend.”
The staff member winked teasingly at Jian Mengyan.
Jian Mengyan shook her head with a smile. “We’re not boyfriend and girlfriend.”
“Oh~ I get it…”
Before the staff could finish their ambiguous comment, Jian Mengyan gently cut them off, “This is evidence.”
“Huh?”
“He used this to kill my high school homeroom teacher.”
Staff member: …
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