Eyes that are the same as those of evil

Chapter 55 The Ungrateful Wolf 12
The smooth analysis stunned everyone inside and outside the car.

Officer An's weathered face was glistening with tears, his heart pounding with emotion: "Back then, we fell right into the killer's trap! Even if we guessed there was a second killer, and that the killer used the victim's family to kill Fan Yan to silence him, we always started by assuming that Fan Yan must be an accomplice, that he must be in cahoots with the killer. In reality, these were two completely separate cases that collided!"

"The murderer may not have known Lin Zhiyue's identity at first. He probably saw the news about the kidnapping and recognized him. So, he did cover Lin Zhiyue's face to prevent him from seeing him. He also deliberately mentioned Fan Yan's family affairs to mislead him. Later, he reduced the abuse on Lin Zhiyue and didn't bury him properly. All of this was part of the murderer's plan to shift all the blame onto Fan Yan! So, the murderer didn't randomly kidnap people. He always targeted those he considered unfilial children!"

Tan Jia remained silent for a long time before finally closing his mouth and biting off the biscuit stick with a snap. Holding the remaining piece, he let out a "Wow!"

Zheng Yan's reaction was far more professional than that of a novice like her. After discussing with Officer An, she immediately gave instructions: "Leave the investigation of physical evidence to the police. We now need to re-screen everyone in three directions—"

"First, there's the possibility that Fan Yan might have stumbled upon the crime scene on a night eleven years ago, but there's almost no connection between them."

"Second, they used to have children, who were between seven and twelve years old fifteen years ago, and who likely passed away eleven years ago. Currently, they have few family members or even live alone."

"Third, the perpetrator may have learned about Lin Zhiyue's kidnapping through this method, as he was someone who paid close attention to news and newspapers eleven years ago. This confirmed that he had arrested someone he shouldn't have, which is why he reduced the abuse of Lin Zhiyue later on."

The large-scale screening eleven years ago didn't uncover anything because half of their approaches were wrong, and the murderer had enough time to cover up the truth.

This time, the chances are very high.

With renewed hope, they threw themselves back into the work, and building on their past efforts, they quickly identified a list of suspects.

Fan Licheng and Huang Wen are still on the list.

All suspects were brought back to the police station for interrogation, with Fan Licheng and Huang Wen being the focus, and were handled by Officer An and Zheng Yan.

Tan Jia didn't need to worry about the interrogation; she planned to grab a packet of Tan Ming's instant coffee to drink as soon as she got there.

After getting off the bus, she was still yawning. As she followed the group into the police station, she casually took out the hardened dough figurine from her pocket and looked at it.

It got flattened again. Oh well, making it into a flat, slanted-scaled snake would be more accurate.

She decided to sculpt it according to the scale pattern of the slanted-scale snake.

She put down the dough, and for some reason the person in front of her slowed down. She almost bumped into them, but quickly stopped herself.

Then, looking ahead, an unexpected person appeared in the police station lobby.

Lin Zhiyue turned around, his gaze wandering over the group of people before finally fixing on Tan Jia as if no one else was around.

Why would a kind-hearted citizen who saved lives get involved in the investigation?

The three bodyguards behind him looked at Zheng Yan and his group.

Zheng Yan: "...Let's go inside and talk, let's go inside and talk."

It was best not to publicize Tan Jia's matter widely. With the interrogation imminent, Zheng Yan didn't have much time to waste on other people, so he just gave a few vague and perfunctory remarks.

This was the consensus, but Lin Zhiyue didn't seem to care about their explanations. While listening to Zheng Yan speak, his gaze still pierced through the crowd and stared at Tan Jia.

Unlike Jiang Zhixin's repulsive gaze in the previous case, his eyes were clean; he simply looked at her without any emotion.

...He was just too focused, too oblivious to his surroundings.

Just as Tan Jia had brewed his coffee and was blowing on the cup to cool it down, he noticed that Tan Jia was still looking at him, so he raised an eyebrow and looked back at him.

He lowered his eyes and turned to look at Zheng Yan and Officer An.

"Xiaolin, what brings you here this time..."

"I want to see Zhu Muyang."

Officer An didn't quite understand his focus: "The case has made significant progress. The murderer is among the people we're about to interrogate. I thought you wanted to come and watch the interrogation process to identify the murderer."

But he was more concerned about another survivor. After eleven years of fear and hatred, didn't he want to witness the killer's capture?
Lin Zhiyue remained silent. His indifferent profile and the three tall, burly bodyguards behind him made him look like a troublemaking playboy who had been released on bail.

Officer An had no choice but to have someone take him to the hospital.

Given his status and position, it's already considered law-abiding for him to consult with the police before taking any action.

As he left, Lin Zhiyue brushed past a group of victims' families who had just entered the police station lobby.

Eleven years had blurred the memories of that time, but after walking a few steps, Liu Maoshui, who was leading the group, turned around and glanced at that figure.

"Who is that?"

Xiao Chen, who was maintaining order, paused for a moment and said that they were survivors from that year.

The group stopped and looked back, and some even instinctively took two steps after them.

"...If nothing had happened, my son would be twenty years old now."

"My Tianlin should be nineteen years old by now, he should be going to university..."

"...He should also be as handsome as him. My wife was the most beautiful girl in the village back then. Our child will definitely be good-looking when he grows up."

It's like having an old knife stuck in my heart from eleven years ago; every word I say and every breath I take feels difficult and painful.

Xiao Chen sighed, "Let's go in."

They were there to witness the murderer's capture. They sat quietly in the outer corridor, their hands clenched tightly, leaning against their companions and looking towards the interrogation room door, like audience members waiting for the movie to end.

The first person to be tried was Fan Licheng, who was the prime suspect.

"Fan Licheng, 45 years old, was imprisoned for nine years ten years ago for damaging state property. He was only released at the end of last year and returned to Jiuqu Village. After you went to prison, your wife ran away with your eldest son, leaving only your ten-year-old son. The neighbors usually take care of him, and you only take care of your own food, drink and toilet needs. You have a bayberry grove at home, which is currently in the pollination season. You just went there to spray pesticides the day before yesterday, didn't you?"

Fan Licheng, who smelled of alcohol, chuckled indifferently upon hearing these words and lay on the table without saying a word.

Tan Ming slammed his fist on the table and raised his voice: "Cooperate honestly! Where were you between 6 PM and 5 AM the day before yesterday?"

"I'll just sleep at home, where else can I go? Spraying pesticides is exhausting, and nobody helps me. After I finish spraying, I'll go back, have a few drinks, and then go to sleep. Is that not okay?"

No wonder he's been to prison; he's not afraid of going to jail at all, and he's as relaxed as if he were at home.

Zheng Yan squinted at him: "You seem very relaxed. What, do you feel indifferent because you haven't broken the law, or do you think you can definitely escape and therefore disregard interrogation? Don't forget, you don't have an alibi. Right now, you are the prime suspect. Liu Maoshui's group of angry victim families are just waiting for you to walk out of this door."

Fan Licheng straightened up a bit: "How come I'm the most suspicious? My son can definitely testify for me. He, he even brought me dinner the night before last."

"What time is it?"

"Around seven or eight o'clock."

"Not only did you not raise him, but you also frequently beat and scolded him, saying that he wasn't your biological child, that the child wasn't close to you at all, and that he would even bring you food?"

Fan Licheng laughed like a bachelor: "A child isn't a woman, who cares about being close to him? Anyway, his mother ran away, and he only has me as his father. How could he not care about me?"

"You should know what kind of person a serial killer is, right? They hate children and like to torture and beat them. Your mentality matches that perfectly."

"Tch, go ask the people in the village, half of them don't like children."

Huang Wen on the other side was answering similar questions.

"Is it a crime not to love your child? Go ask around, how many mothers in the village truly love their sons? There are countless twisted relationships in Jiuqu Village involving births for compensation purposes and children who, with the indulgence of their grandparents and biological fathers, bully their own mothers. The child who died this time was named Yu Dong, right? Ask his parents, are they crying so bitterly because they truly love their child 100%, or are they afraid of being scolded if they don't cry their hearts out?"

(End of this chapter)