Eyes that are the same as those of evil

Chapter 146 Fourteen Years of Pursuit 12 (The End)

When Tan Jia arrived at the police station the next day, he heard that the case had been closed.

The murderer and the murder weapon were readily available; the team only needed to follow the procedures to complete the task quickly.

She ran into the Jiao family members who were making their escape with their heads down at the door, and asked Tan Ming, "What are they doing here?"

"Accept questioning. Besides murder, Jiao Hua'an also has more than a dozen other robbery and theft convictions. A team is investigating the whereabouts of his stolen goods and has found the Jiao family's property."

As Tan Jia watched the Jiao family members leave, he said slowly, "They must know something about Jiao Hua'an's robberies and thefts."

"Indeed, they initially claimed ignorance, but when asked about the discrepancy between their income and assets, they stammered and couldn't give a clear answer. When asked if they knew anything about Jiao Hua'an's crimes, they said they didn't know. In short, they were pretending to be ignorant. As long as they had money to spend and as long as they weren't caught, they could turn a blind eye."

But whenever something goes wrong, they resort to the three-piece set of feigning ignorance: "I don't know," "How could this be," and "I never expected it."

There wasn't even a chance to defend or plead for Jiao Hua'an; he fled the interrogation room as soon as he left.

The brother and sister shook their heads together at the gate.

Tan Jia turned her head and asked about something more important: "Where is Sister Wu Yang?"

After they left last night, I don't know what Wu Yang thought about it, whether to continue the investigation or give up.

After fourteen years of perseverance, she felt that Wu Yang, given his stubbornness shown in the past few days, would not give up.

But Tan Ming whispered, "She said she's not going to continue the investigation. She went to the conference room with Captain Zheng now, I don't know what they're talking about."

"Not investigating anymore?" Tan Jia was a little surprised by this result. "Wasn't she very curious about who that person was?"

"Maybe she was persuaded by her family? But I noticed her eyes are a bit swollen."

The brother and sister miraculously connected on brainwaves and exchanged a glance.

My eyes are swollen. Did I cry because I was upset and couldn't continue the tests after arguing with my family last night, or did I cry because I found out something that made me feel pain?
Wu Yang's demeanor yesterday was clearly off; it's probably not that she didn't want to investigate anymore, but that she had already found out. As for who that person is, the only ones who could cause her pain are her own family.

“Actually, what Brother Chen said last night was not wrong,” Tan Jia said casually, “Even an upright official finds it hard to settle family disputes.”

"You guessed pretty quickly. No wonder Captain Zheng praised you even after scolding me." Tan Ming gently patted the back of her head.

She blinked, giving him an expression that said, "Captain Zheng certainly has a keen eye for talent."

Wu Yang and Zheng Yan's conversation lasted for a long time.

When Zheng Yan returned to the office, he had a furrowed brow, while Wu Yang was relaxed. He walked past Tan Jia and watched her show off the dough sculpting knife she had made, and even stopped to admire it for a while.

"Jiajia, your dough sculpting skills have improved a lot. This knife you sculpted looks very realistic."

The rust spots applied were very similar, almost identical to the real murder weapon in the evidence bag.

She recalled her grandmother's words from last night: Does the murder weapon really only refer to a physical knife? In fact, there is such a knife hanging between people. It is not visible most of the time, but when the time comes, this knife can become any kind of murder weapon, silently reaping a life.

Wu Yang was lost in thought, but Tan Jia seemed oblivious to her odd behavior and said, "I also think it's pretty good. It's more realistic than the kitchen knife in the previous theft and murder case. It can be put in the first row of my collection cabinet."

"What's in the last row of your collection cabinet? Harbin red sausage?" Xiao Chen chuckled.

"..." She glanced at it.

Tan Ming acted as a henchman to avenge his sister, immediately grabbing her by the throat.

Wu Yang found it amusing and picked up his phone, saying, "Captain Zheng, I'll be going now."

Zheng Yan nodded: "I'll come back when I've rested."

She didn't answer, waved to everyone, and walked out of the police station into the blazing sun. After she left, Tan Jia turned around and asked, "What happened?"

Zheng Yan sighed, "She doesn't want to do it anymore."

They stared wide-eyed in surprise, exchanging bewildered glances.

……

In the evening, Zheng Yan went to Wu Yang's place for barbecue and drinks.

She had just sat down and ordered her food when a third person sat down next to her. When she looked up, she saw Tan Jia's youthful and beautiful face.

"How could you..." Wu Yang was a little surprised. Wasn't this supposed to be a private conversation between a leader and an employee who wanted to resign?

Tan Jia shrugged at her, indicating that he was just a laborer who had been brought in to make up the numbers, and that it was all the idea of ​​the person next to him.

As Zheng Yan opened the bottle of wine, he said, "I asked her to be my intermediary. She's very clever; she can guess what's going on with you without me having to say a word."

Looking at the bubbling beer in her glass, Wu Yang lowered her eyes and said, "She could guess it all, but I've been around for over twenty years and haven't seen anything. If I'm so clueless about my own family, I don't think I can do a good job."

"That's not how it works. Even financial experts get scammed. You're just too young. Young people only want clean relationships, whether it's dating, family, or work."

Tan Jia took the glass, sipped his beer, and joked, "Captain Zheng, don't you want a clean and honest relationship?"

"I want to, but it's difficult. It's like tap water; it looks clean, but it's actually full of impurities. The difference is that some people don't see it and continue to use it, while others hear about the impurities halfway through and can't use it anymore."

"You make it sound like a tragic love story, but that analogy doesn't quite fit the topic of today's conversation, does it?"

Zheng Yan glanced at her.

Wu Yang chuckled, thinking it was good to invite Tan Jia along. With a clever person to crack jokes, she wouldn't have to worry about how to refuse, how to insist, or how to express her confusion as soon as she sat down.

Seeing that her expression had relaxed a bit, Zheng Yan asked, "You said you're quitting, what are your plans for the future?"

"Hmm... Let's take my mom and grandma on a trip. While they're still in good health, let's go to all the places they want to visit."

"and then?"

Wu Yang was silent for a moment, then tilted his head back and drank half a glass of wine, saying, "Actually, I haven't thought it through yet."

Zheng Yan knew it would be like this.

Having served as the captain of the Criminal Investigation Team Two for so long, he had a good understanding of his subordinates. Wu Yang was good in every way, except that she was too sentimental and easily empathized with others. This personality made her very effective when dealing with female/young victims and psychologically vulnerable perpetrators, but it could easily cause psychological problems for her.

He gave Tan Jia a wink.

Tan Jia thought for a moment and said, "You can go on a sea trip. If you choose a good cruise ship, it can be very comfortable."

Zheng Yan: "...Was this your job to advertise for the cruise company?"

"Okay, I'm going to warm up with something spicy." Tan Jia casually clinked his glass against Wu Yang's.

“Sister Wu Yang, you’re just blindly compensating right now. It’s like parents who have a second child and can’t treat both children fairly, or taking their adult left-behind children to an amusement park to ride a roller coaster. After the roller coaster stops, the problem is still there, and only you feel better.”

Wu Yang: "...It is indeed a bit spicy. If you were me, what would you do?"

"It's hard to say. There are no simple solutions to complex emotions. Should Jiao Hua'an's children hate him like you do? No. Should the victims' families hate the murderer? Yes. But you have two identities, and this kind of debate has never reached a standard answer since ancient times."

"But if it were me, I might forget some of these things and just keep things the same. Fourteen years is such a long time. Both the victims and the perpetrators have found their way of life. Their hatred and forgiveness for this incident have preceded yours. You don't need to choose an ending for them."

(End of this chapter)