A madman in France? How come he's always at crime scenes!

Chapter 13 Interrogation

Ni Xiang stood at the entrance of the police station, watching the crowd come and go, her eyes filled with helplessness.

Fang Lue tried several times to persuade her to go back first, but Ni Xiang just held her schoolbag, stubborn as a rock.

"I want to see my dad."

"I can't see him now," Fang Lue said in a low voice. "Your father is being interrogated."

"Then I'll wait here."

"You're just a young girl..."

"I'm not a little girl." Ni Xiang looked up, her eyes red-rimmed. "I'll be an adult in October!"

Fang Lue opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything for a long time.

Just when he was having a major headache, he looked up and saw Wu Liang walking over, and he immediately felt like he had found a savior.

"Attorney Wu!"

Ni Xiang suddenly turned her head and looked at Wu Liang.

lawyer?

His reddened eyes were initially blank, but then a hint of wariness quickly surfaced.

Wu Liang paused, first noticing Fang Lue's expression.

Save the children.

Wu Liang sighed inwardly.

This young policeman has a really fast tongue.

He walked up to Ni Xiang, but instead of asking questions, he squatted down, trying to get his line of sight to hers, and began to observe the little girl's appearance.

A pair of beautiful double eyelids made her eyes appear even larger, but now, with tears welling up, she looked even more panicked.

"Your name is Ni Xiang, right?"

Ni Xiang hugged her schoolbag tightly and didn't say anything.

"Don't be nervous," Wu Liang said softly. "I'm not interrogating you, nor am I here to scare you."

"So what do you do for a living?"

Wu Liang turned to look at Fang Lue, then leaned close to Ni Xiang's ear and whispered:

"The people who help your dad."

Ni Xiang stared at him for a few seconds, as if judging whether his words could be believed.

After a while, she spoke in a low voice.

"Brother, my dad won't do anything bad."

Wu Liang was taken aback when Wu Liang heard the word "brother".

He was used to being called Lawyer Wu, the unscrupulous lawyer, or that lawyer, but when a seventeen-year-old girl called him that, his heart softened for some reason.

Why do you think that?

"My dad is a good person; everyone in the village says he's honest..."

Wu Liang smiled.

"An honest person is not necessarily incapable of achieving great things."

Ni Xiang's face turned pale instantly.

Wu Liang added, "But if a person can endure it, they will usually hide the most important things very well."

The little girl didn't understand; she just lowered her head and fidgeted with the shoulder strap of her backpack.

Wu Liang glanced at the schoolbag in her arms.

"You came here by yourself? Where's your mother?"

"I came," she whispered. "My mother isn't in good health, and I was afraid it would upset her, so I came along by myself."

Fang Lue quickly explained, "She insisted on getting on the car, so I stopped her, I really stopped her."

Wu Liang waved his hand and looked at Ni Xiang again: "How is your mother?"

"He was already asleep when the officer arrived."

After Ni Xiang finished speaking, as if she suddenly remembered something, she quickly opened the zipper of her schoolbag and pulled out a crumpled little plastic bag.

"I was in such a rush that I accidentally took my mother's medicine out. Will my dad be able to come home tonight? He still needs to give my mother her medicine."

Wu Liang's gaze fell on the plastic bag.

The bag contained several boxes of medicine.

The packaging has a hospital pharmacy label printed on it.

He had only glanced at it casually, but the next second, Wu Liang's eyes suddenly stopped.

Name: Ni Dayong.

Diagnosis: Sleep disorder, severe anxiety.

A follow-up visit to the psychiatric department is recommended.

……

The interrogation room is located at the very back of the first floor.

The red light at the entrance is on, and simultaneous audio and video recording has been started.

The room was sparsely furnished, with an interrogation table, two chairs, and a clock hanging on the wall.

Tick, tick.

Ni Dayong sat in the interrogation seat, his wrists cuffed, his face expressionless, exuding a strange sense of relief.

Zhao Anmin sat in the main seat, and Sun Jin sat beside him, spreading out the interrogation record.

Wu Liang sat on a chair against the wall, a notebook on his lap, without saying a word.

Zhao Anmin looked up at the surveillance camera.

"Begin the interrogation now."

After Sun Jin read out the identity verification and rights and obligations notification according to the procedure, he asked him if he had heard clearly and if he wanted to apply for recusal.

Ni Dayong kept his head down.

"I heard you clearly."

"At noon on August 21, you left Shiqiao Village, took a rural bus into the city, and appeared near Luyuan Community at around 2:15 pm. The surveillance camera at the entrance of Ding Hu's building captured your profile."

"Enter Ding Hu's house at 2:20 and leave at 3:00."

Zhao Anmin pushed a photo over.

"What did you do in those forty minutes?"

"I killed him."

"Do I need you to tell me that? I need the specific steps!"

Zhao Anmin's tone suddenly turned fierce, and Wu Liang, who was listening from the side, felt his hair stand on end.

Sun Jin sighed, his tone seemingly filled with understanding.

"Old Ni, if you really want to take the blame, don't just say you killed him. That's not how cases are handled. If you don't explain the process, the prosecutor's office won't accept it, and neither will the court."

Ni Dayong tightened his fingers slightly.

Zhao Anmin continued to ask:

Who opened the door?

"he."

"Did Ding Hu open the door for you?"

"Um."

"Have you known each other before?"

"……know."

Zhao Anmin's eyes narrowed slightly, and he sneered.

"Didn't you say you didn't know me when we were at your house this afternoon? Now you say you do!"

Ni Dayong fell silent again.

The light in the interrogation room fell on his face, making his face, which was tanned by the sun for many years, appear ashen.

Sun Jin changed his posture, his voice becoming even gentler.

"Is he contacting you about something that happened fifteen years ago?"

Ni Dayong suddenly raised his eyelids.

Zhao Anmin noticed this detail and changed his approach.

"Did you two argue after you came in?"

Ni Dayong's Adam's apple bobbed.

"no."

"No?" Zhao Anmin scoffed. "The coffee table in the living room has a broken corner, there are drag marks on the floor, and there are two splattered bloodstains at the kitchen doorway. You're telling me there wasn't an argument?"

"I killed him."

"I asked you if you had a fight!"

"I killed him."

Zhao Anmin slammed his hand on the table.

boom!

"Ni Dayong! You think you can just say 'I killed him' and get away with the rest?"

Ni Dayong's shoulders twitched, and Sun Jin immediately chimed in.

"Old Ni, we're not forcing you. We're asking you questions now to help you solidify the facts. We know Ding Hu isn't a good person. If you only act when you're pushed to the limit, the situation will be different if you speak out."

Ni Dayong remained silent, head bowed, staring intently at the floor.

Why are you so tight-lipped?

Zhao Anmin frowned, about to continue speaking.

A voice suddenly rang in my ears.

"After Sha Yuanbao last visited Jiang Cuilan in 2003, he never left Shiqiao Village again."

Ni Dayong suddenly looked up at Wu Liang, who had been sitting silently in the shadows.

In just a moment, the honesty, numbness, and dullness on his face all cracked.

Wu Liang did not stop.

"Sha Yuanbao came to your house before he disappeared."

"Ding Hu came with him."

"A small-time bathhouse owner and a local thug. They've come looking for Jiang Cuilan, whom you've been selling to for three years. It can't be just about getting a few hundred yuan and that's it."

Ni Dayong's breathing became heavier, and the handcuffs clinked together.

Wu Liang's tone suddenly turned sharp.

"I just saw your daughter outside. The little girl has beautiful eyes, with double eyelids..."

"Shut up……"

Ni Dayong's voice trembled.

Wu Liang did not pause.

"But how can a couple with single eyelids possibly have a child with double eyelids?"

"I told you to shut up!"

Ni Dayong suddenly sprang up, pulling the handcuff chains straight, and the chair scraped against the ground with a screeching sound.

Sun Jin frowned and was about to step forward when Zhao Anmin raised his hand to stop him.

Wu Liang stood still, speaking each word carefully.

"Sha Yuanbao didn't come to your house just to ask for money..."

"He came to see the children."

"Bang!"

Ni Dayong slammed his head against the interrogation table, his eyes bloodshot, as if he had gone completely mad.

"I killed him!"

"I killed them all!"

"They deserve to die! They all deserve to die!"

"I'll kill anyone who dares to touch them!"

Zhao Anmin and Sun Jin exchanged a glance, feeling that the case was almost closed.

Wu Liang, however, seemed not to have seen it and continued speaking:

"There's no need to rush to take the blame upon yourself, Mr. Ni."

Upon hearing this, the interrogation room fell silent.

Ni Dayong was startled and immediately looked up.

Wu Liang didn't look at him, but simply looked down and turned a page in his notebook.

"Mr. Ni, there's something I've never been able to understand."

His voice was calm.

"If you really killed Sha Yuanbao fifteen years ago, why is Ding Hu still alive today?"

The interrogation room fell silent in an instant.

That's right!

When Ding Hu and Sha Yuanbao went to Shiqiao Village together, even if they didn't witness the crime scene, they must have known that Sha Yuanbao hadn't appeared since that day.

Shouldn't such a person be even more dangerous for Ni Dayong?

"If I'm not mistaken..."

Wu Liang had already walked up to Ni Dayong.

Ni Dayong trembled all over, looked up at Wu Liang, and his eyes revealed despair.

"You weren't the one who killed Sha Yuanbao, were you?"