Chapter 166: The Third Possibility
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Qinnan Jail was the biggest, most heavily guarded jail in Qinshan City. All the worst criminals in the city were locked in there. Because Zhao Yu signed up ahead of time, the jail gave him a proper interrogation room, and not just a regular interrogation window.
The person Zhao Yu was interrogating was a criminal named Jiao Hai. He was sixty-five-years-old that year. More than ten-years-ago, he and a group of people joined a kidnapping and murder case! Once he was captured, he was given a deferred death penalty, then because of good behavior and volunteer activity, his punishment reduced to a life sentence. His two companions were shot to death at the scene by the police.
At the time, it was already three in the afternoon. During the entire waiting process, Zhao Yu could not help but be somewhat nervous as he paced in the tiny interrogation room. He kept asking himself, "Is this person…really my target? The Mianling Kidnapping case that shook all of Qinshan, could it be related to this person?!"
As it turned out, after the investigation in the last few days, Zhao Yu could not get rid of a question in his head. That is, the person who kidnapped the five children and the driver Niu Weiguang back then, were they a professional?
For a long time, due to the lack of evidence, the police had always thought that the kidnappers had planned carefully and prepared well for this kidnapping. The police thought they were definitely professionals! But through Zhao Yu’s own understanding of this field, he had his own questions. He thought that the culprits might have acted impulsively, that this entire kidnapping case was an accident! Then…whose theory was correct?
When Su Yang suddenly praised Zhao Yu as a "professional," Zhao Yu could not help but think about this again! Yet, after Su Yang’s words, Zhao Yu suddenly felt a flash of inspiration, as if there was suddenly another direction for him.
He remembered at the beginning, when he was discussing the case with Team Leader Qu Ping, he said that because no one picked up the ransom money, he felt that the culprit of this Mianling case was either dead, or so well off so that they had no need to go back for the money!
Yet, when he thought about the word "professional" again, he suddenly realized that other than those two possibilities, could there be a third one? There was! Not only was there another possibility, but it had a big likelihood!
Zhao Yu thought that when the culprits of the Mianling case first kidnapped the five kids and the driver, it was most likely an accident. At that time, they were not professionals! But in those three days, through their carefully crafted plan, they finally completed the kidnapping flawlessly and gained a huge sum of money, instantly becoming rich. Could they have become addicted?
Through the Mianling case, they felt that this was a good way to make money. So after that, they turned kidnapping into a job! They became professionals!
Following this idea, Zhao Yu thought, "Then…with police technology becoming more and more advanced, along with the logic that there is no such thing as the perfect crime, could they have already been captured by the police? Could they have already spent all these years in jail?! It’s possible!"
Zhao Yu felt like this was a distinct possibility. If those people were already captured, but had not confessed to Mianling case, then the police would never suspect them! And because they were in jail, they did not have the opportunity to go back to the cave and pick up the cash!
Right, right! No one could imagine that the culprit of the Mianling Case was already in jail?!
In that moment, Zhao Yu was exceedingly excited. He felt like he was close to the truth! If his theory was correct, then as long as he looked through the criminals matching this profile, could the long-awaited answer soon be revealed?
This was why Zhao Yu had rushed out of the hotpot shop and immediately returned to the police office to investigate his theory.
Logically speaking, now that Mao Wei had returned as the Team A Leader, Zhao Yu should report to him, but Zhao Yu felt like Mao Wei and Liu Changhu were too close, and he was not very close himself. In addition, Mao Wei had just come back to the team. He probably did not seem to understand the Mianling case scenario very well. Thus, after some consideration, Zhao Yu went straight to Team Leader Qu Ping and told her his idea.
After listening to Zhao Yu, Qu Ping felt very inspired. She considered the possibility very important. She immediately commanded her best investigators and started going through jail records to find someone who matched the description.
They were looking for people forty-years-old and above, who were serving time for kidnapping charges, and were still serving their sentence. Especially those with a similar modus operandi as the Mianling Kidnapping Case!
After looking through the list, they picked out six criminals from all jails within Qinshan! Then, after further investigation, they quickly eliminated three, leaving only half. Out of the three remaining, this person, Jiao Hai, was the most suspicious! He used to live in Luquan Town which neighbored Mianling Town. Also, one of his two dead companions used to be a police officer, and another used to be in construction! These conditions perfectly fit Zhao Yu’s target! Could it be, this shockingly huge case had been carried out by these three people?!
Taking a guess, Jiao Hai’s companions were already dead, so there would not be any reason for him to admit to the Mianling case, right? Right now, he was already serving a life sentence. If this case was linked to him, then his life was definitely over!
Just as Zhao Yu was waiting anxiously and continued to ponder, the metal door suddenly made a noise. The prison guards brought Jiao Hai to the interrogation room. Even though Jiao Hai was only sixty-five-years-old, his long life in jail had made him look extra old.
Due to his advanced age, the prison guards only gave him handcuffs with no other type of restraints. Once Jiao Hai sat down, his expression was complicated as he looked at Zhao Yu who was in a police uniform. He seemed as if he was worried about something.
Zhao Yu was not worried about him not confessing or being dishonest! Because he still has two invisible lie detectors from before! "As long as I use this miracle tool, no matter how deeply you hide your secret, even if you don’t know it yourself, nothing can escape my eyes, muwahaha…" he thought.
In order to quickly get to the long-awaited answer, Zhao Yu did not make idle chatter and immediately asked Jiao Hai to use "yes" or "no" to answer his questions!
Even though Jiao Hai did not quite understand why Zhao Yu was requesting this, his long life in jail had eroded his resistance, so he simply nodded in cooperation.
Zhao Yu got straight to the point and immediately asked, "Jiao Hai, let me ask you, do you have any relation to the massive Mianling Kidnapping case twenty-six years ago?"
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Hearing Zhao Yu’s serious question, Jiao Hai was a little stunned. He shook his head immediately.
Zhao Yu quickly reminded him to only answer "yes" or "no." In order quickly get Jiao Hai to cooperate, he even intimidated Jiao Hai, saying he could even lie if he wanted to! When he said those words, the prison guards beside him were all confused. They had never seen a police officer interrogate prisoners like this before!
"No!" After thinking for a few seconds, Jiao Hai gave his final answer.
Green light. Truth.
Oh! Zhao Yu could not help but pause. He asked immediately afterwards, "Niu Weiguang, Liang Meili, Tao Xia…twenty-six years ago, were you the one that kidnapped them from Mianling Highway?"
"No."
Green light again.
"Did you kill them?"
"No!"
Still green.
"You…do you know them?"
"No!"
Green light again.
"Then…then...then…do you know the culprits of the Mianling Kidnapping Case?" Zhao Yu still would not give up.
"No!"
Still green.
"Hoo…" Zhao Yu muttered to himself, "Holy sh*t" and did not know what else to ask! Even though it was a few simple questions, it was already enough for the truth. Jiao Hai had nothing to do with the Mianling case!
Sh*t, wrong person! Zhao Yu was quite frustrated. Not only did he find the wrong person, but he had also wasted a lie detector! "Now I only have one left! The pain…" he thought.
"Mm…Mianling…" Jiao Hai thought for a moment and raised his head. "Officer, I know that place! Mianling was close to my hometown. Are you talking about that Mianling kidnapping case? The one where a bunch of kids got kidnapped at once? Ah?! You…you can’t possibly believe that I did it, right?"
Jiao Hai seemed worried about something and started to explain immediately, "Officer, please know the truth. That case was a long time ago. I remember, at that time, I…oh right! I was in Tongshan Province picking apples. I was there for many years! If you don’t believe me, you can check! This has nothing to do with me, really! I beg you, it has nothing to do with me…"
When he spoke, Jiao Hai became more and more agitated. Sweat fell like rain from his forehead, he was nearly in tears.
No way?! This crazy?
Zhao Yu already knew that this guy and the Mianling case had no connections, but…why was he so excited? Did he have paranoia?
Thinking again, Zhao Yu kind of understood. This guy was most likely worried that if he somehow got connected with the case, he would be coerced into making a confession and end up as a scapegoat!
Sigh! Seems like this guy did not have a good time sitting in jail for so many years! Zhao Yu also used to be a frequent prisoner, so he could relate very well. Only when you are locked up behind those four high walls could you truly appreciate how precious freedom is!
"It’s fine, I’m done! Nothing, you can go now!" Zhao Yu turned and gestured for the prison guard, but unexpectedly, Jiao Hai suddenly started crying and muttered that the Mianling case had nothing to do with him. He would never have had the guts to commit such a huge crime!
Zhao Yu immediately rushed forward and pulled Jiao Hai back, and pulled him toward the door.
"Oh? Wait!" Zhao Yu suddenly acted as if he remembered something and immediately stopped the prison guards. "Misters, misters, sorry, I still have something I want to ask him!"