Reborn in 97, I solved a cold case at the Municipal Bureau

Chapter 352 Interrogation of Fan Zhongliang

Qiao Jiali knew that Zhou Yi's reasoning was always quite bold.

To outsiders, this might sound like utter nonsense.

But Qiao Jiali knew that Zhou Yi's reasoning was based on logic and not on empty rhetoric.

"You mean, Fu Daqing and Li Youqiang just went along with Huang Yanli's request? In fact, the murder commission they originally accepted was to kill Zheng Guangming?" Qiao Jiali asked.

In the second team's office, Zhou Yi tapped on Huang Yanli's statement in front of him and nodded.

Xia Yu, who was standing to the side, was shocked and his jaw almost dropped.

Zhou Yi said, "Fu and Li had no grudges against Zheng Guangming. They killed him for money, which Huang Yanli also mentioned at the time. So after Huang Yanli set the price, the two quickly agreed, because it was just a side thing. Fu Daqing is a businessman, so of course he would consider maximizing his profits."

"We don't have to kill another person, which would reduce our guilt. We can earn twice as much money and shift the blame to the two people who hired the hitmen. For Li and his accomplice, this is a sure-fire way to make money."

“Didn’t we find 70,000 yuan in Jiang Wei’s hands? I raised a question at the time. The 70,000 yuan plus the money on Fu and Li’s bodies totaled 90,000 yuan. If Huang Yanli and Fu Daqing are not lying, then the first person who hired them to kill Zheng Guangming offered 30,000 yuan, and Huang Yanli later gave them another 60,000 yuan, which adds up to exactly 90,000 yuan.”

Xia Yu nodded and said, "Yes, that matches up. What about the gold jewelry Huang Yanli mentioned?"

Zhou Yi said, "The gold jewelry was either hidden by Jiang Wei or taken away by Fu Daqing. We'll definitely find out the truth later."

"Huang Yanli said that Fu Daqing forced her to write a statement admitting to hiring someone to kill her. That statement must be on Fu Daqing, right? It should be a very crucial piece of evidence," Xia Yu said.

Zhou Yi nodded: "I'll call Captain Wu later and have them conduct a thorough search of Lu Jiang's area. Fu Daqing is on the run, so he should be carrying this crucial evidence with him."

Qiao Jiali said, "Don't worry, I've already called Captain Wu, and he knows the situation. Captain Wu also said that Fu Daqing has been successfully rescued and is not in danger, but he is still in the ICU and cannot be questioned."

Upon hearing this news, Zhou Yi finally breathed a sigh of relief; as long as the person is alive, that's all that matters.

Xia Yu pointed to the statement and said, "Officer Zhou, I remember that forensic doctor Tang said that two men's semen were found in the female victim's body. One was Zheng Guangming's, so can the other be identified as Li Youqiang's? Because according to Huang Yanli, Li Youqiang had the intention to rape her at the time."

Upon hearing this question, Zhou Yi couldn't help but sigh.

Xia Yu looked at him in confusion, not understanding why he sighed.

But Qiao Jiali knew that Zhou Yi's sigh was not for Li Youqiang, but for his wife Zhang Xianglan and his deceased mother Niu Fengxian.

Niu Fengxian passed away after learning of her son's murder.

In order to let her mother-in-law rest in peace, Zhang Xianglan insisted on traveling a long distance to Anyuan to bring her husband home.

But what kind of person is Li Youqiang?

He was idle and irresponsible, and agreed to help Fu Daqing kill someone for money. In the end, he may have also raped the victim during the murder.

Such social scum doesn't deserve two women who care about him so much.

Zhou Yi said, "From the current perspective, it is more likely to be Li Youqiang, but we still have to wait for the results of Fu Daqing's interrogation to be clear."

Zhou Yi didn't want to discuss this matter anymore because when Tang Wenli told him that there were two men's semen in the female victim's body, he actually hoped that the person who did it was Fu Daqing. That's why he told Tang Wenli about Fu Daqing's asthenospermia in order to confirm it.

He subconsciously always felt that Li Youqiang was his son, his husband, and above all, his father.

He hoped the truth could be told in a more dignified way, not for Li Youqiang, but for his family.

However, Huang Yanli's testimony basically confirms that Li Youqiang was the one who did these things, while Fu Daqing was the relatively more rational person.

Moreover, this information also led to other information that matched the information they had initially gathered during their investigation of Fu Daqing in Hongcheng.

From the perspective of the whole incident, Fu Daqing may never have actually committed murder.

Li Youqiang was killed by Jiang Wei in a counterattack.

Zheng Guangming died suddenly from an acute illness.

Judging from the possibility that Bai Xiuxiu was raped by Li Youqiang, it is highly likely that she was also strangled by Li Youqiang, because Huang Yanli said that Li Youqiang put away the rope.

Later, when burying the body in Xiaoqiushan Park, Bai Xiuxiu, who was in a coma, tried to run away, but Li Youqiang caught up with her and stabbed her to death from behind.

Jiang Wei, whom he truly wanted to kill, escaped with the money they had earned.

Although Fu Daqing did not commit murder from a legal perspective, this does not mean that he was not guilty of intentional homicide.

Because, in terms of the facts of the crime, he had the criminal intent to kill, and carried out the actual criminal plan and action to kill, which ultimately led to the death of the victim.

The court will not give a lenient sentence just because he did not actually carry out the act. Just like Huang Yanli, she did not carry out the act, but she used money to bribe Fu and Li to kill for her, which already constitutes a crime.

However, Fu Daqing might not be familiar with the law, which is why, after failing to find the gold bars at Jiang Wei's house and discovering that both he and his car were gone, he ran back to Hongcheng's house to hide.

From his perspective, he felt that since he hadn't actually killed anyone, the consequences shouldn't be too serious. Furthermore, he didn't know whether Li Youqiang was alive or dead, so he stayed home and waited to see what would happen. His later decision to flee was naturally because the city-wide lockdown of Hongcheng, triggered by Long Zhiqiang, terrified him.

As for selling his family property before fleeing, it was because he was not well-off.

It is estimated that Fu Daqing and Li Youqiang each took 10,000 yuan of the two 10,000 yuan advance payments and kept the rest together, probably planning to split the money after disposing of Bai Xiuxiu's car.

They've been in Anyuan for so long, they must have spent money, so each of their 10,000s isn't a round number.

Jiang Wei eventually took all the money from Li Youqiang, while Fu Daqing used part of the remaining money to prepay his father's nursing home fees and carried the rest with him.

From the perspective of fleeing, this amount of money was indeed not much and would not last long, which is why he fled to a remote rural area.

"Officer Xia, it's time to interrogate that Fan Zhongliang," Zhou Yi said, standing up.

Xia Yu nodded and stood up.

Qiao Jiali said, "Then I'll go to the forensic lab and see how things are going with Xu Nian."

The three left the office and went their separate ways.

Zhou Yi pushed open the door to the interrogation room, and Fan Zhongliang, who was handcuffed, trembled like a frightened bird.

Zhou Yi didn't sit down immediately, but instead handed over a tissue, saying, "Wipe your glasses."

Fan Zhongliang had just jumped out of the window to escape, but fell onto the lawn and was pinned to the ground and handcuffed by Zhou Yi. He was filthy, especially his glasses, which were soaked with rain, mud, and sweat, making it impossible for him to see clearly with them on and without them off.

"Thank you." Fan Zhongliang took the tissue, took off his glasses, and carefully began to wipe his face.

"Resin lenses?" Zhou Yi asked casually.

"Huh? What?" Fan Zhongliang looked up and asked.

"I'm asking you, are your glasses made of resin lenses?"

"Yes, it's made of resin. The optician said it's not easy to break, but it's not scratch-resistant and gets scratched easily."

Zhou Yi nodded: "These days, resin lenses aren't cheap, they're much more expensive than glass lenses, right?"

Fan Zhongliang paused slightly as he wiped the lenses, then smiled awkwardly and said, "I'm highly nearsighted, so I need to buy better quality lenses for things I wear every day."

For a long time in the past, police stations in many places would confiscate the glasses of criminal suspects after arresting them. The reason was simple: to prevent criminal suspects from using the lenses to commit suicide.

Eyeglasses from the 1980s and 90s often used glass lenses because they were cheap. However, the downside was that they were very easy to break, and the shards of glass lenses were extremely sharp, enough to cause a suicide attempt by cutting one's wrists.

Later, resin lenses were mostly used. These are extremely durable and shatter-resistant. Some good resin lenses can be dropped on the ground and stepped on without breaking, let alone for criminal suspects whose hands and feet are cuffed and unable to make large movements.

Therefore, unless there are special circumstances, they will generally not be confiscated.

Fortunately, there was nothing Fan Zhongliang could do, as there were police officers watching over him in the interrogation room.

"Fan Zhongliang, how much does Zheng Guangming pay you a month?"

Fan Zhongliang had just put on his glasses when he paused, then asked, "This...this is starting already?"

“Alright, since you have a request, we’ll grant it.” Zhou Yi returned to the table and began the formal interrogation.

After confirming the basic information, Zhou Yi asked the same question again.

Fan Zhongliang replied, "My basic monthly salary is 480 yuan, plus some miscellaneous subsidies. At the end of the year, General Manager Zheng will also give me a bonus. In total, it's about 10,000 yuan a year."

"Ten thousand yuan might be average in a big city, but it's not a small amount in Anyuan, is it?"

"It's...it's alright..." Fan Zhongliang answered nervously.

"Oh, no wonder you're willing to buy such expensive glasses. By the way, I'd like to ask you, how many years would it take you to save up all that money in your pocket if you didn't eat or drink?"

Fan Zhongliang's expression immediately changed.

Zhou Yi then asked, "How much money did you have in your bag again?"

Then he turned to Xia Yu and asked, "Officer Xia, have you counted them?"

Xia Yu replied, "There is a total of 80,000 in the bag. There is also a passbook and two fixed deposit certificates in the inner lining of the bag. Adding the 80,000 in cash, the total amount is more than 264,300."

Zhou Yi pretended to be startled, turned to look at Fan Zhongliang and said, "Wow, so much money! You'd have to work for twenty-six years without eating or drinking and it still wouldn't be enough. Hey, how many years has Zheng Guangming been in the livestock business? I think it's been about ten?"

Fan Zhongliang stammered, "Ten...twelve years."

(End of this chapter)