Reborn in 97, I solved a cold case at the Municipal Bureau

Chapter 559 Qin Chao is in danger (Seeking monthly votes for more giveaways)
According to Zhou Yi, the flowerpot that hit him was originally meant for Qin Chao.

However, he didn't aim properly, and when it fell, it went astray and hit Director Wang, who was standing next to Qin Chao.

Director Wang gasped in shock: "Officer Zhou, you mean this flowerpot didn't fall down by itself?"

Zhou Yi countered, "Where would a normal person grow flowers?"

"The balcony...and the windowsill."

"Normally, it should be placed in a south-facing location, right?" Zhou Yi asked.

"Yes, the flowers I grow are on the balcony. Plants need to get plenty of sunshine," said Director Wang.

"Well, in normal houses, the balcony, whether it's in the living room or the master bedroom, is generally south-facing. A few corner units will face east, because only in this way can there be enough sunlight and a suitable temperature. Only a very small number of poorly designed houses will face north, and those facing north are usually the kitchen and the toilet."

"It's not to say that no one would put flower pots on the windowsills of the kitchen and bathroom, but it's impossible for every household in this building to put flower pots on the windowsills of the kitchen and bathroom, right? If a few households have flower pots on the windowsills of the north side, then after you call the police, it will be very easy for the police to identify the suspicious targets and start an investigation."

"But what did the police say to you after you called them?"

Director Wang replied, "The police said they had asked every household in the building, and no one admitted to throwing flowerpots down."

"Even if someone threw it away, they wouldn't admit it easily. Did they check the condition of the north-facing windowsill?"

"They said they didn't find anything unusual."

Zhou Yi nodded: "So it wasn't an accident. Then there are only two possibilities: either someone upstairs suddenly threw the flowerpot out because of an argument or something, or someone deliberately threw the flowerpot at you."

Zhou Yi asked Director Wang, "Did you hear any arguing coming from upstairs at the time?"

Director Wang thought for a while, then shook his head and said, "No."

Zhou Yi said frankly, "The answer is self-evident."

Director Wang stared wide-eyed, still finding it hard to believe. "This... who would target a student like him out of the blue?"

"Then we'll have to see what he's actually done!"

"Teacher Zhou, we're just ahead." Thanks to the siren, the police car had a smooth journey and soon arrived at the residential area that Director Wang had mentioned.

"Turn off the alarm," Zhou Yi said.

After the noise stopped, the police car finally stopped downstairs at Qin Chao's house, guided by Director Wang.

"Which floor?"

"The one on the fifth floor, room 501."

"Director Wang, you stay in the car."

After saying that, Zhou Yi and Shen Jiale got out of the car and went straight upstairs.

When Zhou Yi got to the fifth floor, he started banging on the door. Even the neighbor across the hall came out, but Qin Chao's family still didn't respond.

The neighbor across the street asked them suspiciously what they were doing. The two men showed their identification and asked if they had seen anyone from apartment 501 that day.

"I've seen her. I saw Xiao Li when I came back from buying groceries around eight o'clock this morning. She said she was going to work overtime," said the old man across the street.

The "Little Li" he mentioned should be Qin Chao's mother.

"And what about Qin Chao? The young man across the hall?" Zhou Yi asked hurriedly.

The old man shook his head: "I didn't see it. Maybe they haven't gotten up yet?"

Shen Jiale looked at Zhou Yi, who thought to himself, "If they're banging on the door like this, even a pig would wake up by now."

However, Qin Chao's mother showed no unusual behavior when she left home around 8 a.m., indicating that Qin Chao was still safe and sound at that time.

But the flowerpot fell yesterday evening. At that time, Director Wang was taken to the hospital by Teacher Tian, ​​and Qin Chao went home alone.

If someone really wanted to take revenge on Qin Chao for stabbing Wang Xinkai, then last night was undoubtedly the best opportunity.

It was a chaotic situation at the time, and Qin Chao's mother hadn't returned yet, so it would have been easy to trick her into opening the door.

But Qin Chao was fine last night, yet now he's nowhere to be found.

This puzzled Zhou Yi.

"Teacher Zhou, should we force the door open?" Shen Jiale asked.

Zhou Yi squatted down and sniffed the crack in the door, but he didn't smell any gas, which meant that there was at least no possibility of an "accident".

He stood up and was about to speak when he suddenly heard someone shout downstairs.

"Officer Zhou! Officer Zhou!"

He and Shen Jiale quickly ran to the window at the corner of the stairs and looked down.

Director Wang was waving at them with his head tilted back. Standing next to him was a young man wearing slippers, carrying a bag in his hand and with an ice pop in his mouth.

Director Wang, somewhat at a loss, pointed to the young man next to him and said, "Officer Zhou, Qin... Qin Chao."

When Zhou Yi looked at Qin Chao, who was standing next to Director Wang and seemed both frightened and bewildered, he couldn't help but pause for a moment.

What's going on? Did I make a mistake?

"Let's go downstairs," Zhou Yi said to Shen Jiale.

The two turned around and hurried downstairs.

Once downstairs, Zhou Yi sized up the young man before him and asked, "Are you Qin Chao?"

Qin Chao nodded. He was not tall, had an average appearance, a neat buzz cut, and slightly dark skin. He looked like an ordinary student, the kind you wouldn't notice in a crowd.

He was still holding half an ice cream in his right hand, but he was clearly at a loss and frightened. The melting ice cream was dripping onto the ground, and he didn't dare to put it in his mouth.

In her other hand was a transparent plastic bag, inside which you could immediately see several bags of snacks.

"Did you go out to buy food?" Zhou Yi asked.

Qin Chao nodded quickly, glancing at Zhou Yi and Shen Jiale, then at Director Wang.

At this moment, Director Wang spoke up: "Qin Chao, these two are police officers. They've come to ask you about some things."

Upon hearing that they were police officers, Qin Chao couldn't help but ask, "Have you caught the person who raped Zhu Lingling?"

Zhou Yi frowned slightly, observing Qin Chao's micro-expressions as he spoke. He noticed a nervous reaction, but no fear or guilt.

That's strange. If he was the one who stabbed Wang Xinkai, he couldn't possibly not be afraid at all.

Are these two things actually unrelated? Or am I just overthinking it?
Qin Chao showed no signs of being harmed; his failure to answer the phone was clearly because he had gone out to buy food and simply missed it.

"Get in the car, we're going somewhere," Zhou Yi said, opening the back door and gesturing for Qin Chao to get in.

Qin Chao was at a loss and looked at Director Wang. Director Wang said, "Officer, we're taking you back to get a closer look at the situation. Don't be afraid. Look at me, Teacher Wang, I'm injured like this, but I'm still here with you."

Unexpectedly, Zhou Yi said, "We won't take you back to the police station."

"Huh?" Director Wang was taken aback. "Where are we going?"

"Zhu Lingling's house!"

……

Following the address provided by Director Wang, Shen Jiale quickly arrived at Zhu Lingling's residential area.

"Teacher Zhou, shall we go in?" Shen Jiale asked.

"Park on the side of the road."

"it is good."

After the police car stopped, the four people got out of the car.

Zhou Yi pointed to the entrance of the residential compound and asked Qin Chao, "Look, on June 14th, Zhu Lingling took you back to her home, is this the compound?"

Qin Chao looked at the gate of the residential area and said, "She led me through a small gate, not the main gate."

"Brother Jiale, go ask the security guard where the side gate of this community is."

"Okay." Shen Jiale quickly ran to the guardhouse, asked a few questions, and then ran back.

"Teacher Zhou, the security guard said that their community has two side gates. One is on the east side, which is used by more people and leads to the vegetable market. The other is on the west side, which is used by fewer people and leads to a road."

"Let's go! Let's take a look!" Zhou Yi said, walking forward.

But after taking two steps, he turned back and asked, "Director Wang, are you alright? Why don't you rest in the car?"

Director Wang's curiosity was piqued, and despite feeling tired, he kept shaking his head and saying he was fine. So the four of them started from the main entrance on the south side, first going around to the side entrance on the east side, and then going around in a big circle to the side entrance on the west side.

Standing at the entrance of the west gate, Zhou Yi asked Qin Chao, "How is it?"

Qin Chao shook his head again, looking puzzled. "No..."

"Are you sure?"

Qin Chao nodded and said, "I'm sure, Zhu Lingling's neighborhood doesn't look like this."

Zhou Yi and Shen Jiale exchanged a glance, then looked at Director Wang.

Shen Jiale was filled with admiration, because Teacher Zhou was absolutely right!
Director Wang finally realized what was going on and was so surprised he couldn't close his mouth.

“Let’s go visit Zhu Lingling’s house again. Director Wang, could you please show us the way?” Zhou Yi said.

"Alright!" Director Wang took the lead.

When walking in the residential area, Director Wang was in front, followed by Qin Chao, and Zhou Yi and Shen Jiale walked behind.

Zhou Yi had been observing Qin Chao's reaction.

In the investigation of a criminal case, after the suspect confesses to all the facts of the crime, there is actually a very important step called identifying the crime scene.

The purpose is to secure and verify evidence, forming a complete chain of evidence.

In layman's terms, it means taking the suspect to the original crime scene and the site where the body was disposed of and buried, identifying the scene, recounting the specific events of the crime, and corroborating the statements, witness testimonies, and physical evidence to form a complete chain of evidence.

The way suspects identify crime scenes also varies.

The most common emotions are avoidance, resistance, or fear, which are accompanied by obvious physiological tension reactions.

Some may show remorse and repentance, such as kneeling down and crying at the scene, saying that they are sorry to the victims and their parents.

However, there are also some apathetic and indifferent suspects, who are mostly repeat offenders or premeditated criminals.

But Qin Chao's emotions didn't match. He kept looking around, his eyes filled with determination to confirm his surroundings.

"Officer Zhou, it's just ahead, Building 8," Director Wang said, pointing ahead and turning around.

"Knock knock knock—" Director Wang knocked on Zhu Lingling's door.

A moment later, the four of them came downstairs.

At this moment, Zhu Lingling was still attending classes at school. Although the summer training courses did not have weekends, Director Wang said that students usually attended classes in the morning, while the afternoons and evenings were for off-campus adult training courses.

Only her grandmother and younger brother were home. Zhou Yi made up a random excuse and then asked Qin Chao to take a closer look at the door.

After they finished reading, the group went downstairs.

Once downstairs, Zhou Yi, unusually, didn't say anything, but instead lit a cigarette for himself.

Director Wang couldn't help but ask, "Qin Chao, how is he?"

Qin Chao was also a little confused. He shook his head, still clutching the bag of snacks in his hand.

Zhou Yi had already confirmed from Qin Chao's reaction that the "Zhu Lingling's house" he had visited was not the Zhu Lingling's house they had just seen.

It's impossible for Zhu Lingling to have another family.

If Qin Chao was lying and defaming Zhu Lingling's reputation, he shouldn't have given a negative answer on this matter. After all, knowing a place is a highly subjective matter, and he could have simply "continued to lie."

This result clearly caught Director Wang off guard, because Zhou Yi had only told him the third possibility: that Qin Chao was not lying. He was unaware of Zhou Yi's suspicions.

"Officer Zhou... what should we do next?"

Zhou Yi thought for a moment and said, "Qin Chao, would you please come back to school with us? There are some things we need to ask you about."

Actually, he could be taken directly to the branch office for questioning, but Qin Chao would feel less pressure at school. Also, there's someone else at school that Zhou Yi wants to meet.

The girl who lied, Zhu Lingling.

Upon hearing that he was to be taken back to school, Qin Chao showed a very nervous expression for the first time.

This puzzled Zhou Yi.

Just as I was about to ask what you were so nervous about, Qin Chao asked timidly, "Then... can you not tell my mom?"

Zhou Yi countered, "Why? You need to give me a reason."

"I secretly took the money I had saved for summer training courses and used it to buy a Game Boy game console without telling my mom..." Qin Chao said fearfully, "It cost...several hundred yuan. If my mom finds out, she'll definitely kill me."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yi suddenly understood what was going on.

He hurriedly asked, "So your mom originally gave you the money to enroll in summer classes?"

Qin Chao nodded.

Did you come to the school a few times last month?

Qin Chao nodded again.

Zhou Yi finally understood why some people saw Qin Chao, who wasn't attending summer school, at school during the summer vacation.

"Those times were because your mother took you there, so you had to hide at school to lie to her?" Zhou Yi finally confirmed.

Qin Chao nodded guiltily, as if his secret had been exposed.

"Where were you on August 5th, which was the morning before yesterday?" Zhou Yi stared intently at Qin Chao, reminding him, "Answer truthfully, or you will be held legally responsible."

"The day before yesterday morning?" Qin Chao replied, "I was at my junior high school classmate Chen Hairong's house. We usually play basketball together. He heard that I bought a game console and wanted to borrow it to play. It just so happened that my mom was going out late that day, so I secretly took the game console to his house. Their house is in the neighborhood that's just two streets away from my house."

Zhou Yi turned to Shen Jiale and said, "Make a note of this, and verify the situation later."

"Okay, Teacher Zhou."

Zhou Yi looked at Qin Chao and asked, "You didn't go to school that day?"

"No, I was just afraid my mom would have to take me to school, so I rushed out." Qin Chao scratched his head sheepishly. "I didn't feel safe staying at school; it felt like I was doing something wrong..."

As he spoke, Qin Chao glanced at Director Wang and whispered, "If the school finds out, they'll confiscate it."

When Wang Xinkai was attacked, Qin Chao was not at school and provided a verifiable alibi.

In other words, Zhou Yi's third possibility was also wrong!
This mistake didn't frustrate Zhou Yi, but he felt there was something illogical about it, something that didn't make sense.

If Zhu Lingling and Wang Xinkai had no relationship, then there would be no possibility that Qin Chao impulsively committed murder.

But it can now be basically confirmed that Qin Chao was not lying.

Who was the person who pinned Zhu Lingling down on the dining table?

Why did Zhu Lingling lie and deny everything?

“Teacher Zhou…” Shen Jiale was very surprised, surprised that the case had exceeded Zhou Yi’s expectations.

"Let's go back to school first; this isn't the place to talk."

Shen Jiale and Director Wang both nodded. Zhou Yi couldn't understand it either, let alone the two of them.

The four got into the police car and drove towards Wu Guang Art School.

Zhou Yi asked Director Wang to find Zhu Lingling after he returned to the school, as he wanted to have a personal talk with the girl.

When the police car went over the speed bump, it jolted, and Director Wang's body swayed. His left arm accidentally bumped against the side, and he immediately cried out in pain.

Zhou Yi said with concern, "Director Wang, why don't we take you home to rest first? You've already fractured your bone and you're still running around with us like this. It would be troublesome if you developed any aftereffects. You can arrange for someone to assist us."

Director Wang wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, waved his hand, and said, "It's nothing, it's nothing. Don't let my middle age fool you, I'm a winter swimming enthusiast, and I'm in great shape."

Then he added with a self-deprecating smile, "It's a pity that even the strongest body can't withstand the weight of a flowerpot."

Zhou Yi smiled and said, "Luckily, it only hit my shoulder, otherwise..."

Zhou Yi suddenly fell silent.

Yes, if Qin Chao and Wang Xinkai have absolutely nothing to do with each other, then what about that flowerpot that fell from the sky and hit Director Wang?
Zhou Yi lowered his head in thought and suddenly noticed that there was some dirt on the fingertips of the middle three fingers of his left hand.

He instinctively rubbed the soil with his thumb.

Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind, and he instantly understood something!

"Oh no! Something terrible is about to happen!"

(End of this chapter)