Eyes that are the same as those of evil

Chapter 18 The Case of Soul-Seeking at the Coffin 7
With the first person pointing the finger, breaking through the Zhao family's defenses became much easier.

Tan Ming and Xiao Chen drove to Shiyuan Village and took Zhao Mingyue away. The sound of police cars echoed throughout the village.

The 23-year-old youth, with little social experience, was taken away in front of the whole village, and his anxiety quickly turned into fear.

He struggled violently, shouting defiantly but weakly, "What are you doing? Why are you treating me like a criminal! Can't you ask me anything on the spot? I need to get to the airport; my flight is at dawn!"

“Three people in your family died, and you’re all in such a hurry to go your separate ways. Be honest, your fourth uncle and aunt have identified you as the murderer of Zhao Li and Zhao Mingqian. You can talk to us in the interrogation room if you have anything to say.” Xiao Chen explained considerately, his voice loud enough for the other members of the Zhao family to hear.

The Zhao family looked at him in disbelief.

Tan Ming tapped his notebook: "It seems this time the transcript will be quite different from the last one."

After bringing the man back to the police station, Zheng Yan and his team immediately began interrogating Zhao Mingyue.

His psychological defenses were at their weakest point. Without even banging on the table or shouting, his face turned pale, and he deliberately pursed his lips tightly, indicating his unwillingness to cooperate.

Tan Ming read the bank transfer records he had investigated to him and also relayed Liang Yun's accusations against him.

"Zhao Mingyue, your secret girlfriend transferred 200,000 yuan to Liang Yun's niece, Liang Siqi, at 5:37 a.m. According to Liang Yun's confession, this money was transferred to them by you to bribe them not to pursue the matter of Zhao Mingqian's death. Do you admit it?"

Zhao Mingyue remained silent, his eyes darting around nervously.

Tan Ming: "It seems you don't admit it. Indeed, if it was meant to bribe them, the money should have been transferred later. The transfer time was right around the time of Zhao Mingqian's death. Actually, this money was originally intended to shut Zhao Mingqian up, right? He found out that you killed Zhao Li, and he wanted to pay you to settle the matter, but you pretended to compromise and then killed him, didn't you?"

He remained silent and passive-aggressive.

"You think keeping quiet will solve the problem? A confession isn't mandatory. As long as there's motive and evidence, you'll still be..."

"So what evidence did you find?" Zhao Mingyue suddenly spoke, as if he had found a way to escape after thinking to the limit. "My uncle's death was an accident. He was too tired and lost focus, which caused him to twist his ankle and fall on the hoe. There were no fingerprints on that hoe. In addition, I was planning to save him. I was the only one busy stopping the bleeding at the time."

He became more and more confident as he spoke, and his pale face returned to normal. He continued, "Besides, why would I kill my uncle? For money? He treated me like a son and had told me long ago that I would take over the company. I benefited more from his life, didn't I?"

They actually refuted the doubts from both the perspectives of motive and evidence.

Tan Ming tossed the paper document containing the transfer record: "Then explain why you transferred money to the fourth branch of the family? And why just around the time of Zhao Mingqian's death?"

“Zhao Mingqian came to me for money, saying that his uncle had died and no one was giving him money now. He was willing to give up the right to inherit the company as long as I could continue to give him money. I thought it was a good deal to exchange 200,000 yuan for him not to get involved in the company. I left after giving him the money, and he was perfectly fine when I left.”

Zheng Yan scoffed, "Zhao Li's daughter is still alive, yet you're already eyeing someone else's inheritance as if no one else is around."

Zhao Mingyue's face tightened, and he said in a deep voice, "My uncle told us about these things a long time ago, so why can't he say it?"

It's natural that people find it annoying.

"You said you left after transferring the money to Zhao Mingqian, and he was perfectly fine at the time. Can anyone verify this?"

"I don't know if anyone saw it, but I don't think so."

"That is, no one can prove it."

Zhao Mingyue immediately said, "Similarly, no one can prove that I killed Zhao Mingqian, right?"

Tan Ming glanced at him again and tapped the transfer record: "Why did the transfer go through so much trouble, going through your girlfriend to Liang Yun's niece, Zhao Mingqian's cousin?" "Because Zhao Mingqian doesn't want his fourth uncle and aunt to know that his spending limit is controlled by his fourth uncle."

"But they still found out."

"Maybe my cousin suddenly received 200,000 yuan and felt she should tell my aunt? Anyway, it's none of my business."

"Then why are all the testimonies consistent in both investigations? Did you have the Zhao family give false testimony?"

"Of course not. Uncle's death was an accident, and everyone agrees on that. If Zhao Man hadn't been in a bad mood, she wouldn't have called the police. As for Zhao Mingqian's death, no one has found the murderer, so of course no clues can be provided. Moreover, you've implicated Uncle in killing Grandpa, so we can't possibly agree to that."

Zhao Mingyue answered several questions fluently, seemingly believing that he was truly innocent and that the police had no way to take action against him because they had no evidence. He appeared very relaxed.

At this moment, Zheng Yan and Tan Ming paused their questioning for a few minutes, brought in a new report from outside, glanced at it, and then gave Zhao Mingyue a meaningful look.

Zhao Mingyue sat up straight and frowned as he looked at the document.

"Would you like to see Zhao Mingqian's autopsy report?" Tan Ming read the key points to him, "Based on the size and shape of the victim's wounds and the direction of the skull fractures... it can be inferred that the murderer forced the victim's head to hit the grave mound, and the murderer was taller than the victim, with a preliminary assessment of about 1.8 meters tall."

Zheng Yan: "Among your Zhao family members, there are only two who are over 1.8 meters tall."

Zhao Mingyue pursed his lips tightly again and squeezed out a sentence: "It's not necessarily our family. Zhao Mingqian has plenty of tall and strong cronies."

"But the time of death was around 5:40, while you had someone transfer the money at 5:37, and Liang Siqi replied to Zhao Mingqian that she had received it at 5:39. Could it be that within 30 seconds of you leaving Zhao Mingqian, a 1.8-meter-tall person suddenly appeared and hit and killed Zhao Mingqian, and because you suddenly became blind and deaf, you didn't know who it was?"

Zhao Mingyue's face turned pale and ashen again.

Zheng Yan snorted coldly: "It seems you haven't paid enough attention to the development of emerging technologies at home and abroad. Forensic doctors can now use 3D modeling technology to assist in case handling and obtain more accurate time of death."

Tan Ming glanced at the not-so-accurate time interval on the document, and naturally echoed Zheng Yan's praise of the new technology.

Then I saw Zhao Mingyue sweating profusely.

When faced with solid evidence, a guilty person won't bother to carefully examine it; the pounding of their heart will leave them dazed.

"I...I was..."

Zheng Yan: "I advise you to confess honestly as soon as possible. Did you premeditate the killing of Zhao Mingqian, or was it an accident during the argument...?"

"I didn't mean to!"

Panic swirls wildly in the mind, and as soon as a slightly better outcome than the worst expected result appears, it rushes to jump into it.

Zhao Mingyue hurriedly said, "I really didn't mean to! I was so angry that I pushed him. It was very dark at the time..."

Although some things are still being concealed, the veil of lies has been torn open, and it's only a matter of time before it expands.

More than an hour later, the distraught Zhao Mingyue was brought before Zhao Xu and Liang Yun to confront them, where he confessed to the crime of intentionally killing Zhao Mingqian.

Zhao Xu and Liang Yun burst into tears. As they walked out of the interrogation room, they exchanged a glance before lowering their heads again to continue weeping for their poor eldest son.

(End of this chapter)