Eyes that are the same as those of evil

Chapter 44 The Ungrateful Wolf 1
Tan Jia sat in the police station interrogation room once again.

Zheng Yan and several interrogators sat opposite her, their eyes fixed on her sharply.

"According to Tan Ming's confession, you suddenly appeared in the middle of the night, saying that someone had committed murder, and then drove precisely to that fruit picking base, where you found the only survivor. Is that right?"

"Yes." Tan Jia scratched her hair. The upper part of her wolf tail was short, layered hair, which was fluffy from scratching and obscured her listless eyes.

Zheng Yan asked, "Why do you believe that someone was really committing the crime at the time? And why were you able to find the location so clearly?"

“I dreamt about it. Yesterday afternoon, my brother and I happened to pass by that orchard, so after dreaming about it, I immediately remembered the location.”

The psychiatrist, one of the interrogators, asked, "But according to your previous statement, you only occasionally dream of the murderer's crimes against the deceased after seeing the body. Why did you dream of the crime scene happening in real time this time? Were you lying to us before?"

“I don’t know why,” Tan Jia leaned back in her chair, her voice flat. “Just like how I used to dream about seeing corpses, last night I fell asleep normally and then I dreamed that someone was strangling a child and another child was running away. I suddenly woke up and thought I should go to the orchard to try, maybe I could save a child.”

The narrative was very dry. Her current mindset is somewhat similar to that of her former American classmate, who once said that everyone should go to the New York State Police Department at least once in their life, just like checking off a record.

She never worked for the NYPD during her many years abroad, but surprisingly, she couldn't escape this bizarre rule in China.

Zheng Yan: "You don't seem to be having this kind of real-time crime dream for the first time. You acted quickly without wasting a minute. Your brother described your behavior last night as if you were divine intervention."

"...He might not be fully awake. I'm just more inclined to help others."

After saying that, he fell silent.

“It’s true that she’s helpful,” Zheng Yan said, looking at her. “The child was rescued, but his vocal cords were injured, and he can’t speak yet.”

Tan Jia pursed her lips and asked, "What about the other child?"

"We found his body in the bushes 200 meters away. He had been strangled and had some signs of abuse on his body."

She remained silent.

“Actually, this is already good,” Zheng Yan comforted her. “Without you, both children would have been killed, and we don’t know how long it would have taken to find their bodies. Now there is a survivor, and the crime scene is well preserved, so we will be able to catch the murderer soon.”

Tan Jia met his affirming, gentle gaze, paused for a moment, and then was filled with a slowly spreading sense of accomplishment. The corners of her mouth turned up slightly, and some of her fatigue was replaced by pleasure.

When it comes to solving cases and catching murderers, all the subsequent questions revolve around this point.

"Did you see the murderer?"

"No, the murderer had already run away when I caught up with him, and it was very dark at night. I couldn't even see the child's face clearly before I turned on my phone's flashlight."

"Do you remember any details? The murder weapon, the killer's method, the victim's reaction in the dream, or whether there was any dialogue?"

“There was no dialogue, the child's response was very weak, and he barely had the strength to struggle. The murder weapon was a very thin rope, which the assailant had wrapped around his palm twice, and his knee was pressed against the child's back…”

Tan Jia recounted all the details of her dream, and to make sure she didn't miss anything, she closed her eyes and recalled it for half an hour, repeating the story twice.

Zheng Yan finished taking notes, and the interrogation came to an end.

Having experienced the previous two dreams, they were relatively accepting of her evolved ability.

“We can’t predict whether you’ll have these kinds of dreams again. Just to be on the safe side, you need to get another brain CT scan and then come back for treatment from a psychologist. Stay at the station for now, and I’ll arrange a temporary position for you.”

Finally, he wrote down two phone numbers for her: "This is my phone number, and this is the bureau's number. If you have this kind of real-time dream again, remember to contact me immediately. Maybe we can still save some victims."

Tan Jia accepted the gift, stood up with a sense of despair, and followed the psychologist to the hospital for a checkup.

Meanwhile, several interrogators returned to their office after completing their assessments, discussing the issues raised in the interrogation records.

Looking at it again and again, I couldn't help but exclaim in amazement, "The world is truly full of wonders. There really are people who can see the scene of the murder in a dream during the murder."

One of them began to fantasize: "If it could be used properly, it could save many lives. I just don't know what the mechanism of her dreaming is. Before, she could only dream by seeing corpses, but now she can dream about them at the same time. If only it could be done earlier..."

Zheng Yan poured cold water on their enthusiasm: "Relying on an external force that works only occasionally is always risky. Criminal investigation is all about investigation. If we only rely on Tan Jia's dream, we will never be able to solve Qu Li's case."

If it were truly 100% effective, wouldn't it be possible to solve any unsolvable case by finding a couple more highly skilled fortune tellers?
After saying that, he picked up a now-cold fried dough stick, took a bite, and asked Tan Ming, "Has the body been brought back? Have the identities of the two children been found?"

Tan Ming was still a bit dazed. He drank a large glass of cold water before saying, "They've been brought back. Old Li initially estimated the time of death to be between 3 and 5 a.m. According to Jiajia's dream... it should be around 4:10 a.m. There are many wounds and bloodstains on the body. We are currently testing for any biological information left by the murderer. However, the identity has not yet been confirmed. We are still confirming with the people in the industrial park."

"What about trace evidence?"

"They said they found a knee mark and are expanding the search area to find other traces. Xiao Chen and his team are checking along the exits of the orchard to see if they can find where the murderer fled to."

Zheng Yan nodded, and after listening to the report, he quickly finished his fried dough stick and said, "Let's go to the hospital and see if we can get that child to answer a few questions."

The rescued child was only eight or nine years old. The ligature marks on his throat were red, swollen, and bruised. His brain may suffer permanent damage due to lack of oxygen.

The child cannot speak yet, but the doctor helped him write his name with a pen.

"His name is Zhu Muyang, he is nine years old, in the third grade, and he can't remember his parents' phone number." The doctor gave the child's handwriting to Zheng Yan for record-keeping.

Tan Ming glanced at it and then called his colleagues at the orchard.

Zheng Yan looked at the crooked handwriting and asked the doctor, "Is he able to answer more questions now?"

"It seems like there shouldn't be any major problems right now. You can give it a try. However, he has many wounds, and the pain and fear will make his reactions different from normal."

But when they went in and tried to ask questions, they found that the child was very strong. Even though he was on his deathbed, he tried his best to write and respond to each of their questions.

Zheng Yan's youngest son is only this age, and it's heartbreaking to see him like this.

Do you remember who hurt you? Was it a man or a woman?

Zhu Muyang didn't remember; he had never seen the person's face, and had been captured by the bad guys without even realizing it. He couldn't even determine whether the voice was male or female.

"Can you recall everything from beginning to end? How were you taken away, what did that person do to you... You just need to write down some important words."

Third-grade children have started learning to write compositions, but they are all short, rambling sentences, and they don't know how to write some words, so they can only use pinyin.

Tan Ming tried to identify the key words and connect them.

"You mean you were knocked unconscious while picking fruit in a fruit-picking garden, and when you woke up you were crying, that person hit you and forced you to kneel down and say sorry? Why did you have to say sorry?"

The child's hands trembled as he wrote three words: ungrateful wretch.

How could you inexplicably think that the two children are ungrateful?
Zhu Muyang had pinch marks, blunt force trauma, and a lip laceration. There were also obvious handprints on his face. Based on what he wrote, Tan Ming guessed that the murderer might have a mental illness and regarded the two children as an "ungrateful wretch." So after arresting them, he beat and scolded them, forcing them to kneel down and admit their mistakes, which is very similar to the behavior of some overly emotional parents.

Zheng Yan then picked up the notebook and read it twice, his brows furrowing tightly.

"I think I've seen a similar case before."

(End of this chapter)