False evidence

Chapter 172 Evidence (Part 2)

Three days later, I was summoned for questioning by Gao He.

Besides me, Cao Xinyun and his wife Yu Jilin were also present.

Upon meeting, Gao He said: "The police have gathered a lot of evidence, and Kuang Shichang has confessed."

Then, she coldly said to me, "Kuang Shichang's father suffered a stroke and has almost completely lost his mobility; his mother couldn't bear the blow and attempted suicide. Are you satisfied with this outcome?"

I countered, "Has Fang Ling been discharged from the ICU?"

Gao and I stared at each other for a while before returning to his desk. "I invited you here today to ask for your assistance in providing information to help complete this case," he said.

He pointed to Yu Jilin: "Attorney Yu, now one of the prosecutors' lawyers, also needs to know more details."

I glanced at the closed office door and frowned, saying, "Then what's the point of calling me here?"

Gao He said, “This time is different from the past. If the evidence you provided to me privately before cannot be considered real evidence, this time you are acting as a ‘private investigator.’ You are the most qualified to speak on the whole case… especially the Fang Ling case.”

Yu Jilin took out a pocket-sized laptop and said, "I need to know in detail what the commonalities are between the two victims."

I pointed at Cao Xinyun.

Yu Jilin immediately said, "I know that both victims were followed and murdered after leaving Cao Furui's tailor shop."

Seeing his businesslike and long-winded manner, I couldn't help but shake my head: "Let me start by sharing my opinion. The two victims have in common that they both ordered clothes from Cao Furui, and both were cheongsams."

The two victims were somewhat different in age, but both had fair skin, beautiful features, and a full-figured yet slender figure. To use an imperfect analogy, they were, like your wife, the killer's type.

Yu Jilin couldn't help but frown: "My wife and I have been married for seven years, and Kuang Shichang and I were high school classmates. To be frank, before that, my wife, Kuang Shichang, and I had always had a very good relationship. Why do you think that my wife is one of his targets?"

I chuckled dryly: "Besides being highly educated, your wife should also be a very virtuous wife. In front of her husband's friends, she would definitely protect his face. Why don't you ask her what she really thinks of Kuang Shichang?"

Yu Jilin looked at his wife.

The woman seemed to ponder for a moment, then frowned slightly and said, "Actually, I really don't like this Kuang Shichang. Every time we meet, he's quite polite. But whenever I turn my back, I feel like I'm being watched. Maybe it's a sixth sense, but I just feel... very insecure."

I coughed lightly: "In my personal opinion, the three women have in common: they are beautiful and have good figures; and because they are well-educated, they also have an elegant temperament."

Attorney Yu, you might also be wondering why he didn't harm your wife? Or perhaps you think he didn't harm your wife because he valued your friendship.

However, I don't think so. I remember very clearly that Kuang Shichang said he liked retro style.

More than half of the photos of the victim, Deng Wanzhen, show her wearing traditional Chinese clothing; Fang Ling also had a cheongsam custom-made when she went to Cao Furui's residence.

Moreover, on the day she visited Cao Furui, her attire was also predominantly Chinese retro style.

Your wife is a career woman. Perhaps due to personal preferences, her everyday attire, while fashionable, doesn't suit Kuang Shichang's taste.

"If I were Kuang Shichang, during your gathering, when your wife felt spied on, I would definitely be staring at her back, imagining her wearing a cheongsam or some other traditional Chinese women's clothing—what would that look like… I wouldn't call it aesthetic appeal, but rather, it would arouse my desire even more."

At this point, I nodded deeply to Yu Jilin's wife: "I'm sorry, it's very impolite to use you as an analogy. However, I even got my university degree through connections, and my education level is limited, so this is the only way I can explain what I want to say."

"I understand." The other person nodded at me.

Yu Jilin looked at his wife with a complicated and somewhat strange expression.

Cao Xinyun laughed, "The biggest reason Fang Ling was injured was because of my bad temper. I boasted that I would kill the murderer as compensation. But I didn't help at all from beginning to end. On the contrary, during the Jinting Grand Ceremony, Attorney Yu, your wife approached us..."

He pointed at me: "I helped this idiot. All I could do afterward was thank everyone who helped catch the murderer. So, I had my sister specially make a set of clothes for Mrs. Yu as a token of my gratitude."

After saying that, he stood up and handed over a vintage-style leather suitcase.

"I can't accept this, I wasn't much of a help..."

Yu Jilin's wife spoke, but her eyes revealed joy.

Yu Jilin's expression, however, was even more fascinating.

So much so that I have no doubt that if this were their own home, he would immediately have his wife change into a classic cheongsam, and then personally take it off for her... or just leave her disheveled, and then do something passionate that they haven't done in seven years.

I don't have that kind of experience, but I can still see through Yu Jilin's thoughts at this moment. Cao Xinyun and Gao He are even more so.

After another slightly awkward conversation, Yu Jilin finally got back into the swing of things.

He swiped across the laptop screen and said, "Third Mr..."

"Just call me Sanqi."

Yu Jilin nodded: "Sanqi, I think your analysis is very reasonable. But there is one point that is absolutely not true. That is, if the murderer's chosen targets all meet the points you summarized, but as far as I know, the victim Fang Ling was expelled from school after only completing the second year of junior high school due to intellectual disability."

Gao He said, "This point doesn't seem too important. Kuang Shichang has already confessed to all his crimes. This can be briefly mentioned in court..."

Before he could finish speaking, Yu Jilin said seriously, "I don't agree with doing this. The other side is wealthy and will hire lawyers, and top lawyers at that. Every detail that the prosecution's lawyer overlooks could be used by the other side as counter-evidence."

"Captain Gao, as a lawyer, my job is to ensure the criminals receive the appropriate punishment. However, personally, Kuang Shichang not only used me twice but also coveted my wife. I cannot afford to overlook this; he must be sentenced to death!"

Cao Xinyun leaned close to my ear and whispered, "Well, just because of that last sentence, once they get out of the station, those two will be going to have a wild time."

Although I had the same idea as him, I still said to him, "Stop rambling and tell me something useful."

Cao Xinyun nodded, but said to Ji Lin's wife, "Mrs. Yu, although this is only our second meeting, I assure you that this outfit was tailor-made for you, and it fits perfectly from the inside out."

Let me formally introduce myself. I am the sixth-generation successor of the time-honored Cao Furui Tailor Shop. We never use rulers in our shop; the eyes of every member of the Cao family are the most accurate measuring stick.

(End of this chapter)