Dark Light Chaser.

Chapter 5 Interrogation
As the seal was lifted, Gao Fuye and the others left one after another, and the students at the stairwell rushed up and returned to their classrooms.

Some timid girls from the next class were too afraid to go through the front door, so the homeroom teacher was forced to open the long-closed back door.

Several police officers led Ai Liang toward the stairs, one after the other. Except for not being handcuffed, they looked as if Ai Liang had been arrested on the spot.

Yang Xingyue panicked immediately upon seeing this, and Yue Qihua couldn't stop her.

She rushed to the group, saying, "Officers, why are you taking Ai Liang away? He's innocent! Last night, I saw him leave with Gao Jiajia, and he came out of the school less than ten minutes later! He can't be the murderer!"

In her panic, Yang Xingyue blurted out that she had secretly waited for Ai Liang at the school gate the night before.

She was so anxious that tears were welling up in her eyes, and she couldn't care less about anything else.

The police officer twitched his lips speechlessly.

He glanced at Yang Xingyue, then recalled what Gao Jiajia looked like before she died, turned his head and glared at Ai Liang, thinking, "So what if you're handsome!"

No wonder he rejected that girl's confession; there was still some left in his bowl.

Ai Liang, who was inexplicably looked down upon for her character, pulled Yang Xingyue aside before the police officer could explain.

"I was just cooperating with the investigation as the first eyewitness at the crime scene."

"But, but..." Looking at the serious-looking policeman, Yang Xingyue stammered for a long time, not knowing what to say.

"You don't need to meet at the bookstore tomorrow. I'll let you know in advance if my investigation is finished. The worksheets you need to do these next two days are in your desk. Remember to hand them in to me for checking when you're done."

Ai Liang seemed completely unfazed and even had the mind to assign study tasks, as if she were just going to have a cup of tea.

The lead officer's face darkened: "Can't you be serious for once?"

The newly graduated police officers behind them looked completely bewildered: 'Is this how students date these days?'

The psychological journey of the two police officers is naturally something that cannot be explained to outsiders.

After making arrangements for her funeral, Ai Liang got into the police car amidst the impatient expressions of the officers.

Yang Xingyue leaned on the railing in the corridor, staring blankly at the departing police car.

"Your dad is the director of the Municipal Public Security Bureau, and you don't know the slightest bit about police procedures?"

Yue Qihua looked at Yang Xingyue, who had turned into a statue waiting for her husband, and said in an annoyed tone.

"Yes, yes, I can ask my dad for help!"

Yang Xingyue frantically pulled out her phone and searched for her father's number in her contacts.

Yue Qihua snatched the phone away, stopping her from abusing her power.

"I'm telling you, don't forget that your father was my grandfather's student. Their tempers are inherited from each other, as smelly and hard as rocks in a latrine."

"If Ai Liang really is the murderer, forget about calling for help; even if we threaten to kill ourselves, it won't work. Besides, what's the point of calling Ai Liang if he's not the murderer? Are you just helping him pin the blame?"

"What should we do then?" Yang Xingyue looked at Yue Qihua with a very aggrieved expression.

"Just wait. Anyway, Ai Liang and Gao Jiajia met once and then came out. There's definitely no time to kill her. Besides, there's surveillance footage. Just check the footage and we can prove Ai Liang's innocence."

Yue Qihua was much calmer than Yang Xingyue, methodically giving examples and even joking with her: "Even if the surveillance cameras are broken, you're still our witness, aren't you? Yang~Xing~yue~classmate~who watched Ai Liang leave the school gate~"

Yue Qihua deliberately dragged out her words, and Yang Xingyue realized that she had accidentally mentioned following Ai Liang. Her face immediately turned bright red.

Back in the classroom, almost everyone was talking about Gao Jiajia. The death in the otherwise mundane campus life suddenly enlivened the dull campus.

After Ai Liang's analysis of the corpse was spread by that girl, the boys were filled with regret and wished they could have taken the spotlight themselves.

Now, each of them is determined to prove their point and is turning into Sherlock Holmes, speculating and debating Gao Jiajia's death.

The arguments were well-reasoned and supported by evidence, with various versions circulating, including love triangle murder, revenge killing, and supernatural events.

They never showed any sadness at the death of their peers or fear of Gao Jiajia's murder. They simply used the opportunity to show off their own style. Everyone only cared about themselves and the few people they cared about. They were all the same.

As for Gao Jiajia's death? Nobody cared, since they had only heard the name but didn't know her well.

In contrast, they would prefer that the school give them two more days off because of this.

Under the principal's leadership, the homeroom teachers held a meeting to discuss how to mitigate the impact of the incident and give Gao Fuye a satisfactory explanation.

Gao Jiajia's father is, after all, a real estate tycoon. If he makes a scene and demands an explanation from the school, things will get complicated. After all, Gao Jiajia died at the school, and the school bears the primary responsibility.

But after discussing it for a long time, they couldn't come up with a good solution. All they could do was have the homeroom teachers go back to their classes and announce that the holiday was starting early.

If there's anyone in the entire school who truly cares about Gao Jiajia's cause of death and wants to find evidence to bring the real culprit to justice, it's Ai Liang, who's currently sitting in the police car.

That's right, Ai Liang learned the identity of the real culprit by reading Gao Jiajia's brain when she saw the body.

What he needs to do now is to find crucial evidence to convict the murderer before the murderer destroys it.

Otherwise, how could Ai Liang, an ordinary student, so easily identify the real culprit? He can't openly admit that he has superpowers.

According to Locard's law of exchange of matter, whenever a person commits a crime, they will inevitably affect the object of the crime and the surrounding environment directly or indirectly at the crime scene, leaving traces consciously or unconsciously.

After recounting the relevant information he knew, Ai Liang deliberately added his deductions about the murder in order to attract the attention of the police officers. He wanted to get the police's attention to the murder as soon as possible.

Of course, Ai Liang did this not because of that confession.

The school is not far from the nearest police station, which can be reached in a few minutes. As for Gao Jiajia's body, it was sent to the funeral home for an autopsy.

It seems that Ai Liang's remarks did have some effect.

Ai Liang was sitting on a chair in the police station corridor, waiting for interrogation.

He knew very well that Gao Jiajia did not die from pathological causes, so the preliminary autopsy report would be available soon.

Then the case will be classified as a murder, and I will definitely be handed over to the criminal investigation team.

Sure enough, after spending the whole morning sitting on the sidelines at the police station, around noon, a pair of capable-looking police officers came and took him away.

Ai Liang remained remarkably calm throughout the journey, and her aloof demeanor drew frequent glances from the police officer sitting next to her.

He had only ever seen this kind of mental fortitude in the head of the criminal investigation team, and in those vicious fugitives. His professional habits made him instinctively wary of Ai Liang, even though he was just a middle school student.

From the moment she got into the car until she was taken to the interrogation room, Ai Liang followed silently behind without saying a word.

If you say he was afraid, his eyes were clear and showed no sign of panic; if you say he was brave, he didn't ask any questions along the way and remained silent as if he were shy.

The detective who brought Ai Liang over comforted him for a moment, then slammed the interrogation room door shut, leaving Ai Liang alone.

Ai Liang then began to look around the room.

The interrogation room he was in wasn't like the ones in movies, where there was only one set of tables and chairs, the room was dark, and the walls were made of glass that allowed you to see inside from the outside.

The reality was quite the opposite. Apart from tables and chairs, there were long sofas placed against the walls, the ceiling and walls were covered with sky blue and green stickers, and the floor was even covered with a khaki carpet.

If you put a TV on it and replace the tables and chairs with a coffee table, people would believe it's an apartment living room.

Ai Liang knew that this room was actually designed specifically for teenagers, with the aim of helping them relax and recall more information related to the case.

Based on this, it can be inferred that the police have already reviewed the surveillance footage and ruled out him as a suspect.

About ten minutes later, a male and a female police officer entered the interrogation room with a folder and a voice recorder. They sat down on either side of Ai Liang, and the female officer looked at Ai Liang with a hint of pity and heartache.

"We've contacted your parents, but they're a bit tied up right now."

The policewoman spoke to Ai Liang in a gentle tone: "Don't be nervous. We have already retrieved the surveillance footage from the area near the school. This is enough to prove your innocence. We will just ask you a few simple questions, and you will be able to leave soon."

“I know, I already explained it to them via text message when I was at school.”

Ai Liang sat up straight with her hands on her knees and her eyes fixed straight ahead.

There was no difference from the morning, except for a few more questions about my private life, but they weren't particularly private and it wouldn't be a big deal to talk about them.

Ai Liang also added some details and points of confusion that were not discussed in detail in the morning session.

"Did someone teach you this knowledge, or did you learn it on your own?" the male detective asked, staring at Ai Liang's face while holding the notebook.

His sharp gaze seemed to pierce right through you.

I saw it in a book.

"You have a keen eye for observation. Do you plan to apply to a police academy in the future?"

"I read any book as long as it helps me pass the time; I don't have any specific purpose."

Ai Liang speaks flawlessly, and whether it's a personal question or a case-related one, all her answers are formulaic, just like in a textbook.

This made the officer feel like he was dealing with the news media as usual, except this time, he was the one being dealt with.

The questioning ended quickly, just as they had said, and the two detectives signaled Ai Liang to get up.

The male detective, his cold demeanor from the interrogation, smiled and invited Ai Liang, "It's almost lunchtime. How about joining us to experience the police station's cafeteria?"

"Thank you, but I have some things to do this afternoon, sorry." Ai Liang declined the male detective's invitation.

"Oh? Would you mind telling me where you're going this afternoon?"

The male detective asked instinctively, but he quickly realized what he was doing and scratched the back of his head: "Hey, look at me, it's just a professional habit."

Ai Liang didn't mind: "It's okay."

Upon exiting the interrogation room, Ai Liang encountered someone she expected—Glasses.

When Ai Liang saw the body, he recognized the jump rope that had strangled Gao Jiajia as the same one he had seen in the dilapidated house with glasses yesterday.

It's not hard to tell that he brought these junk items, and the glasses definitely have fingerprints on them, as well as his identity as a scavenger.

So he wasn't as lucky as Ai Liang; he was directly identified as a criminal suspect and taken to a real interrogation room.

Ai Liang knew very well who the murderer of Gao Jiajia was. Moreover, it seemed that Glasses hadn't returned to school last night. If he was outside, the surveillance footage could easily help him get away with it.

I have to say, Eyes was really lucky. He went out to scavenge last night and just happened to avoid the time of the crime.

Otherwise, the fact that he was an unemployed scavenger wandering around the school, living in a dilapidated house on campus, and had fingerprints on the jump rope would have been a clue.

The time, location, tools, and evidence of the crime are all complete. Given that he has no relatives or friends, even a hundred mouths couldn't explain it clearly.

The only thing that puzzled Ai Liang was that Glasses didn't seem flustered at all; on the contrary, he seemed a little happy.
This was the emotion Ai Liang sensed from him. He probably found a lot of good things while scavenging yesterday. The joy after going insane was truly simple and genuine.

However, besides the glasses, there was also an unexpected visitor leaning against the wall in the corridor.

(End of this chapter)