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

Chapter 554 Three Possibilities (2941 Please Come and Claim Your Prize)

"Director Wang, do you know anything about this boy's personal background?" Zhou Yi asked.

Director Wang replied, "This male student is named Qin Chao. He is a local and his academic performance is average. He is not very talkative and has a rather introverted personality."

Zhou Yi looked at him, hoping he would continue.

But Director Wang clearly had no intention of continuing.

The two stared at each other, Zhou Yi asking with his eyes, "That's it?"

Director Wang replied with an embarrassed look, "That's all."

Zhou Yi gave a helpless bitter smile. He seemed to understand, but in reality, he only understood the surface information.

"Does this Qin student like that girl? And is it a secret crush?" Zhou Yi asked.

"Well... I'm not quite sure about that."

"After this incident, didn't the school investigate Qin's motives for doing this?"

Director Wang immediately replied, "I've already educated him. I told him not to have wild thoughts and not to watch anything unhealthy."

Zhou Yixin thought to himself, "This isn't 'education,' it's 'criticism.'"

"Oh, I also contacted Qin Chao's mother and suggested that she take her child to the hospital for a check-up." Director Wang's implication was, of course, that the family should have Qin Chao's mental state checked.

Shen Jiale nodded upon hearing this, because no matter how you looked at it, Qin Chao seemed to be mentally unstable.

After all, the girl had completely rejected what he said.

That is enough to prove that these are all Qin's fantasies.

If you mistake fantasy for reality and call the police, then you definitely need to go to the hospital for a checkup.

Zhou Yi asked, "Have you investigated?"

Director Wang said apologetically, "I didn't ask about that, but...you should have checked, right?"

"Officer Zhou, is there a problem with this?" He didn't know that Zhou Yi actually wanted to ask about Bai Lin's incident six years ago. When Zhou Yi mentioned prostitution, he assumed it was the incident that had happened not long ago.

Instead of answering directly, Zhou Yi asked, "What are the basic details about that girl?"

"The girl's name is... Zhu Lingling. She usually lives with her grandmother. Her grades are just average, but her homeroom teacher said that she has a good personality and is very well-behaved and obedient."

"Do you live with your grandmother? Are your parents migrant workers, or are they no longer alive?" Zhou Yi asked.

"No, her parents went abroad to work and rarely come back even once a year."

“Oh, Zhu Lingling has a younger brother who is now in the second year of junior high school. The police officer at the time verified this, so what Qin Chao said is simply impossible. Zhu Lingling has a grandmother and a younger brother at home, how could she be raped at home?” Director Wang said, frowning and pointing to his temple, implying that Qin Chao had something wrong with his head.

At this moment, Shen Jiale couldn't help but ask, "Teacher Zhou, isn't something wrong with this?"

Zhou Yi held up three fingers and said, "I think there are three possibilities in this matter."

"The first possibility is, as Director Wang said, that Qin Chao may have secretly watched some obscene videotapes or read pornographic books, which led to all sorts of actual sexual fantasies. In the end, he got confused in his mind and mistook the fake for the real."

Upon hearing this, Director Wang immediately nodded, meaning that was correct and exactly what was going on!
But the next second Zhou Yi changed the subject: "But there is a big logical problem here."

"What's the problem?"

“If what Qin Chao said was all his own sexual fantasy, then this fantasy contradicts his act of calling the police.”

Director Wang didn't understand and hurriedly asked why.

Shen Jiale seemed to have an epiphany, because he remembered what Zhou Yi had taught him earlier: in any case, the first thing to do is to analyze the murderer's motive.

Zhou Yi noticed Shen Jiale's expression and asked, "Brother Jiale, what are your thoughts?"

Shen Jiale tried to analyze: "Does Teacher Zhou mean that... if Zhu Lingling being raped is Qin Chao's sexual fantasy, then it means he likes this kind of thing. Even if he took it as real, he shouldn't have chosen to call the police. The two motivations are contradictory. Isn't that right?"

Zhou Yi immediately smiled with satisfaction and patted Shen Jiale on the shoulder.

Shen Jiale's confidence soared after receiving Zhou Yi's affirmation.

But Director Wang was a little confused and kept asking, "What...what do you mean?"

Zhou Yi explained, "It's normal for teenagers to have sexual fantasies, but most sexual fantasies involve projecting themselves onto the characters, because the purpose of sexual fantasies is to satisfy one's desires through imagination."

"But Qin Chao said that he was tied up and watched Zhu Lingling being raped. This is not a normal fantasy at all. If this is really a scenario that Qin Chao imagined, then he is definitely a cuckold at heart."

"Cuckoldry?" Director Wang and Shen Jiale were both puzzled, having never heard of this term before.

Zhou Yi explained: "Simply put, it is a pathological behavior in which men give their spouses to other men to play with, and then watch from the sidelines to gain psychological pleasure."

Zhou Yi explained frankly, which made Director Wang feel somewhat embarrassed, while Shen Jiale looked astonished, clearly lacking in experience.

Before the internet became widespread, many strange and unusual things were indeed difficult for people to learn about, since the bizarre things people could encounter in their daily lives were limited.

But the internet can bring together all sorts of bizarre things from around the world and put them on display for the public.

"However, this kind of cuckold fetish is mostly seen in married men. It usually stems from the man's poor or defective sexual ability, which leads to a pathological pursuit of psychological satisfaction. For a young and vigorous man like Qin Chao, even if he has seen some similar unhealthy content, he shouldn't have this cuckold fetish mentality."

Shen Jiale chimed in, "Yeah, shouldn't he put himself in the shoes of a rapist?"

Zhou Yi nodded and said, "That's right. Under normal circumstances, he should have identified with the person who committed the rape. But in fact, when he called the police, his perspective was that of the person who was tied up."

“So if he satisfies his psychological pleasure through this kind of cuckoldry-related sexual fantasy, then even if he later confuses fantasy with reality, his psychological state will not change, and he would not report it to the police,” Zhou Yi said. “This is the first possible contradiction.”

Director Wang felt a little confused, but he understood the meaning and it seemed to be true.

"Then... what about the second possibility?"

"The second possibility is what I asked you earlier: whether Qin Chao likes, pursues, or has a crush on Zhu Lingling."

Director Wang quickly said, "I can check with Zhu Lingling and her class teacher later."

"Okay." Actually, this should have been done a long time ago, instead of waiting for Zhou Yi to bring it up.

"Director Wang, we need to verify not only this, but also whether Qin Chao has undergone a mental health examination at the hospital. If he is mentally sound and has feelings for Zhu Lingling, then the second possibility is that Qin Chao is deliberately lying."

"Deliberately lying? Why?"

Shen Jiale said, "That must be because he loved her but couldn't have her, so he wanted to ruin her life."

Director Wang suddenly realized what was going on, and then looked at Zhou Yi with his eyes, asking if that was what he meant.

Zhou Yi nodded: "Officer Shen is right. If Qin Chao is mentally sound and has a crush on Zhu Lingling, then he might be driven to hate by his unrequited love and deliberately ruin Zhu Lingling's reputation through this fabricated story."

This is also why Zhou Yi felt that Director Wang had not done his job properly. When something like this happens, the police station's responsibility is to verify the facts and confirm whether there are any illegal or criminal acts involved.

Once it's confirmed that no rape occurred, students like Qin Chao are usually only given a warning and then released, as long as they haven't caused too much harm.

But the school shouldn't just let it go like that; at the very least, they should closely monitor the psychological state of Qin Chao and Zhu Lingling.

"Director Wang, after this incident, have there been any negative comments about Zhu Lingling in her class?"

"I think... I don't think so."

"Probably" means that I don't know.

Director Wang quickly tried to justify himself by saying, "The main thing is that this happened right at the end of the semester, when teachers and students were busy with final exams. After the exams, we had a holiday."

"Director Wang, I suggest you ask Zhu Lingling and Qin Chao's homeroom teacher to find out how the two are doing after this incident, especially Zhu Lingling. If there are any rumors about her being raped, then it's highly likely that Qin Chao did it."

"After all, the school didn't make a fuss about it, right?"

Director Wang immediately shook his head: "Absolutely not."

"Hmm, it wasn't the school that said it. It couldn't have been Zhu Lingling who told others, could it?" "Oh, I see. If there are rumors, then it means Qin Chao spread them!"

Zhou Yi nodded: "Yes, that's exactly what I mean."

Qin Chao called the police, and the police came to the school to investigate. That was all fine, but Zhu Lingling was called to the dean's office for questioning, which certainly couldn't escape the attention of her classmates.

The spread of rumors within a collective ecosystem is astonishing.

Young students, in particular, are very curious but have limited understanding of society, making them prone to spreading false rumors.

Zhou Yi had encountered something similar when he was in high school.

At that time, there were two classmates, a boy and a girl, who had feelings for each other. After a long period of ambiguity, they finally started dating.

Before long, news of the two having a relationship spread throughout the entire grade, with even some details of the process described in great detail.

The news quickly reached the teachers' ears, causing an uproar at the school.

Despite the girl crying and swearing to her teacher and parents in the teacher's office that the two did not cross the final line.

But public opinion can be a powerful force, and the final result was that the girl was forced to take a year off from school.

Later, Zhou Yi heard that the girl did not continue her studies after a year, but instead left her hometown to work in another city, entering society at a young age.

But in reality, this girl's academic performance was quite good; she could at least get into a junior college and take a different path in life.

As for the boy, he received a disciplinary action, but continued to study at school as usual.

This incident not only did not become a psychological burden for him, but it even became something he could boast about.

Although this male student did not get into university in the end, he later went into business with his elders and did quite well.

Years later, Zhou Yi finally learned the truth about what happened back then.

The two did indeed start dating early and had some intimate interactions, but at the last minute, the girl became afraid and ultimately didn't continue.

So the boy went back to his dorm, where his roommates teased him. To save face, he lied and said he had already had sex with a girl, and the story quickly spread.

Then the rumors spread, and eventually, the situation spiraled out of control.

It's hard to say whether the male student told that lie intentionally or unintentionally.

But that's human nature; you never know what people will do for what reason.

Hearing Zhou Yi's second possibility made Director Wang feel a chill run down his spine.

If that's the case, then if any problems arise later, I'll definitely be the first one held accountable.

He said impatiently, "Officer Zhou, I'll go find their homeroom teacher in a bit."

"No! I'm going to visit Qin Chao and Zhu Lingling's homes today!"

Zhou Yi nodded: "Yes, it's best to intervene in these kinds of things as early as possible."

At this moment, Shen Jiale asked, "Teacher Zhou, didn't you say there were three possibilities? What about the third one?"

Director Wang immediately looked at Zhou Yi, "That's right, Officer Zhou, what other possibility could there be?"

If Zhou Yi hadn't given him this analysis, he wouldn't have thought of a second possibility, so he was very curious about what the third possibility was.

"As for the third possibility..." Zhou Yi hesitated for a moment and said, "To be honest, I haven't figured out this third possibility myself, because there are too many logically flawed aspects to it."

The more Zhou Yi said this, the more curious Director Wang became, and even offered him a cigarette, urging him to tell him quickly.

"Actually, the third possibility is also very simple: Qin Chao didn't lie."

"Huh?" Director Wang felt a bit confused. How did this turn out to be that he wasn't lying?

He waved his hand and said, "No way. The two policemen questioned Zhu Lingling in front of me, and she denied it herself. It can't be that Qin Chao is mentally sound and Zhu Lingling is mentally unstable, so she wouldn't even know what happened, right?"

Zhou Yi smiled and said, "That's why I said I haven't figured out this third possibility myself. But we criminal police officers are all rather suspicious and tend to think of the worst-case scenario."

"Oh, so that's what happened."

"Director Wang, if Qin Chao and Zhu Lingling made a home visit today, please let me know the details tomorrow."

Director Wang nodded confidently and said, "No problem, I'll go in a bit. As for understanding the specifics of yesterday's class, I'll make arrangements now and try to give you feedback as soon as possible."

“Okay, then I’ll trouble you. Um…” Zhou Yi pointed to the list of teachers and students that had been organized on the table and asked during class, “Could we take a photocopy back with us?”

"No problem, I'll have someone make copies right away." With that, Director Wang stood up and called out, "Teacher Cai, could you come here for a moment?"

The police car slowly drove out of the art school gate, and Director Wang wiped the sweat from his forehead and waved goodbye to the police car.

He sighed helplessly and turned to enter the school gate only after the police car was out of sight.

Little did he know, he wasn't the only one watching the police car leave.

Across from the school gate, under the shade of a tree at the street corner, a pair of eyes watched the departing police car.

Meanwhile, in the police car, Zhou Yi, sitting in the passenger seat, was flipping through a photocopy in his hand, carefully identifying the names line by line.

Shen Jiale, who was driving, looked hesitant, as if he wanted to say something but was also a little timid.

"Teacher Zhou, should we go back to the Municipal Bureau or the Branch Bureau now?"

Zhou Yi checked the time and said, "Let's go back to the Municipal Bureau. I'll have Ding... I'll have my girlfriend wait for me at the entrance of the Municipal Bureau dormitory. We're moving tonight."

I already discussed this with Shen Jiale yesterday, so there's no need to hide it from him.

"Okay, I'll head to the Municipal Bureau then. Where do you guys live?"

"The residential area near the Municipal Bureau is called Ping An Jia Yuan."

"Oh, I know that neighborhood. It's quite close, and it seems to be a relatively new neighborhood, with a nice environment."

When the neighborhood was mentioned, Zhou Yi immediately thought of Bai Lin and her inexplicable experience back then.

Whether out of curiosity or because his job gave him a skepticism about illogical things, he decided he would have to look into it when he had time.

So he said, "Brother Jiale, can you do me another favor?"

"Teacher Zhou, I mentioned the reporter's case file to my uncle, but he said it would take two days because he has to go on a business trip in the next couple of days."

"Oh, okay, no rush. Let's handle Wang Xinkai's case first."

Shen Jiale asked curiously, "Is there something else going on?"

Zhou Yi looked up and said, "Yes, I need to investigate a six-year-old case."

"An old case?" Shen Jiale quickly replied, "Old cases are handled by Captain Zhong's team, but Captain Fang said Captain Zhong... his brain..."

"It's my fault for not being clear. It's not an old case of this magnitude, but a case involving detention for prostitution. I think it was handled by a local police station." The old cases hanging on Zhong Ming's side were naturally all murder cases.

"Prostitution, what's the name of the person involved? I'll go check it out." Although Shen Jiale was very curious as to why Zhou Yi wanted to investigate a prostitution case from six years ago, as these were all small-scale cases at the grassroots level, he now admired Zhou Yi immensely. He would investigate anything Zhou Yi asked him to do without hesitation.

"All I know is that the prostitute who was dealt with was named Bai Lin, but I don't know anything about the client."

"Bai Lin... that's a pretty easy name to remember. I'll look it up when I get back to the station."

"Okay, thank you for your hard work," Zhou Yi said, continuing to look down at the list in his hand.

Shen Jiale glanced at it and finally couldn't help but ask, "Teacher Zhou... is Qin Chao on the list of students looking for summer tutoring classes at art schools?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yi looked up at Shen Jiale in surprise.

(End of this chapter)