Eyes that are the same as those of evil

Chapter 141 Fourteen Years of Pursuit 7
Wu Yang was stunned.

Fourteen years ago, the stab wounds to my grandfather did not damage vital organs such as his brain or neck, but they did damage his lungs. Moreover, because it was discovered too late, he lost too much blood and did not survive until the ambulance arrived.

The murderer was undoubtedly Jiao Hua'an, who stabbed the man. He had the motive and the act of killing, and ultimately, he did cause death. No one has ever doubted this.

Even if they try to argue that they didn't hit any vital areas, it's just sophistry.

But he said that back then, someone was right behind the rapeseed flowers, right next to his grandfather...

Isn't that just someone watching their grandfather get stabbed and the murderer get away?

That person probably pretended to search for a long time, and only ran up to help when Grandpa was about to die from blood loss.

Who is it?
She stood there, bewildered.

Outside the interrogation room.

Tan Jia touched the nearly finished dough figurine folding knife and hesitated before asking, "Is it a crime to stand by and watch someone die?"

Tan Ming: "Under normal circumstances, it is not considered a crime and will only be subject to moral condemnation. However, in some special circumstances, it involves crimes of omission, such as when the person is a public official."

She then asked, "Does that mean we need to find this person before we can close the case?"

Tan Ming and Xiao Chen both wore complicated expressions.

"It would be very difficult to investigate. Fourteen years have passed; who would remember so many details? Maybe that person is already dead."

"Moreover, we are not actually restarting the investigation in a proper manner. If we were to conduct a thorough investigation, Wu Yang should recuse himself according to regulations, and even our entire team should recuse itself. The case should be handed over to Team One or someone else."

Another point is that, according to Wu Yang's recollection, the police had not yet arrived at the scene when her grandfather died, which basically confirms that the person who failed to help was not in a special situation, meaning that no crime was involved.

In this way, the case can actually be closed, since the murderer has already been caught.

Would a team put aside other murder cases and, after confirming the killer, expend manpower and resources to investigate this person who will not be convicted?
They were not optimistic.

Tan Jia wasn't too optimistic either, but she had a different perspective.

Is everything Jiao Hua'an says necessarily credible?

He said there was a third person present at the time, and what if it was a lie he made up to clear his name?
After all, the sentencing for murder and robbery/theft is different. He was unwilling to be convicted of murder, so he naturally tried to find ways to exonerate himself.

If he truly believed he hadn't killed anyone, then why did he sell all the knives and hide?
Or perhaps that person simply didn't see what was happening in front of them because they were looking through the rapeseed flowers?
There were many people looking for Grandpa Wu and arresting the suspect at the time, rummaging around in the rapeseed field. Who knew if they were looking for someone or the murderer? It was all in the blink of an eye, and they might not have seen clearly.

This is how she comforted Wu Yang when he came out of the interrogation room, looking completely disoriented.

“The same thing can be described differently from different people’s perspectives. You don’t need to follow Jiao Hua’an’s way of thinking.”

Wu Yang shook his head: "I just... never thought of this angle, never thought there would be a third person present at the time."

She murmured, "For fourteen years, for a long time, I dreamed about the scene back then. When I joined the criminal investigation team, I even thought about how to outwit the murderer from back then. He could be an elusive robber, or a cold-blooded and arrogant imposter... but how could he possibly be someone I knew well in the village?"

Zheng Yan hadn't expected this kind of unexpected turn of events, and sighed.

Tan Jia wasn't so sentimental. She asked, "Do you have anyone you suspect?" "No," Wu Yang slowly frowned. "Although my grandfather wasn't a highly respected old man, he never had any conflicts with anyone. He was even injured while saving a child. He was a good person, and everyone who passed by would greet him. Moreover, the villagers all got along very well. How could he possibly stand by and watch someone die?"

“So, maybe Jiao Hua’an’s words are false,” she said.

Wu Yang pursed her lips tightly.

That's what she said, but once the seed of doubt was planted, she couldn't help but keep thinking about it.

Who could it be? Who has shown signs of this before? Has anyone displayed unease over the past fourteen years?
Overthinking won't solve anything, she said, "I need to go home."

"Go home and go with your parents and grandma to suspect everyone in the village?" Zheng Yan didn't quite agree with this approach. "Regardless of whether we can find that person in the end, you've already started to suspect them. You'll see everyone as suspicious, which could cause even bigger problems than what you're facing now."

"Then what should we do? Captain Zheng, I want to know who that person is. I've waited fourteen years and finally found the murderer. I don't want to let there be any more unclear things in the case," Wu Yang said firmly.

Zheng Yan thought for a moment and said, "Without usable traces, biometric information, or surveillance footage, we can only start with the statements of any possible eyewitnesses. There are also the crime scene photos that the police station kept from back then."

“Ask everyone who was at the scene back then, just ask about the situation at the time, who ran ahead, who entered the rapeseed field first, whether the people being questioned saw the direction the murderer fled, and from what angle they saw it.”

"Also, let's temporarily hand the case over to Team One for further interrogation and proceed with the case closure process. This way, we can continue our investigation."

However, this also meant abandoning the trial and conviction of the person who failed to help.

Wu Yang was silent for a moment, then nodded and said okay.

They divided the work: Tan Jia stayed in the office to look at the crime scene photos taken fourteen years ago, while Lin Zhiyue spent most of his time watching him use his abilities to find the oddities in the photos.

She was nestled in her office chair, holding a photo up to the light with one hand and kneading a dough figurine with the other. This habit was now a sign of her deep thinking, much like how a collector of antiques would play with walnuts.

She thought that if Wu Yang and the others asked a group of people over forty years old about an event that happened fourteen years ago, they probably wouldn't get much useful information, perhaps even less than what the photos could provide.

After all, it's a still image of the crime scene.

The photo in my hand shows the scene of Grandpa Wu's body lying in the rapeseed field. The thin old man had trampled over a patch of rapeseed flowers, and the yellow flowers were stained with blood.

The rapeseed flowers on the side were unaffected, and they were about a meter tall. At that height, it would be difficult to see someone crawling inside while standing on the outside, so it's understandable that no one was found to rescue them immediately.

Besides, nobody knew Grandpa Wu had been stabbed at the time; everyone was focused on catching the robber.

Zhu San's father, who owned the pork shop, was the first to spot Jiao Hua'an. He shouted, and everyone rushed to help catch him. Grandpa Wu was at the forefront and got into a fight with Jiao Hua'an...

Wait, a fight broke out. At this point, Jiao Hua'an, who is unfamiliar with the terrain, will try to escape in the opposite direction or the back of the direction where Grandpa Wu fell?

It should be the other side.

The third person was standing opposite Jiao Hua'an, which is behind Grandpa Wu when he fell, behind his head. So Grandpa Wu couldn't see that person, couldn't call out his name for help, and couldn't complain to Grandma Wu that someone had failed to help him when she found him. That's why no one has discovered that there was a third person at the scene for fourteen years.

But did Grandpa Wu really not see that person? A corner of clothing, a hand, a panting breath, and the rustling sound of rapeseed flowers being parted all indicate that someone had been standing behind him.

Did he know there was a third person before he died?

If he knew, did he reveal any information pointing to that person on his deathbed?
(End of this chapter)