"Comrade police officer, although I may not be a good person, I would never do something as heinous as murder! You have to believe me!" Zhou Bingquan desperately explained.
"Yes, I do hate her, but our grievances aren't deep enough that I would have to kill her. I don't understand why you would suspect me."
"Can't just because she cheated on me during our relationship, you automatically think I killed her, right? You can't be so hasty! Isn't that wrongfully accusing an innocent person?"
"Besides, our issues are ancient history. Even if I truly hated her, I wouldn't have waited this long to kill her. If I were going to do it, it would have been back then. It's been so long, why would I suddenly decide to take her life now? I'm not crazy!"
After hearing Zhou Bingquan's explanation, Li Yunfei's eyes lit up. Perfect, even the motive for murder is now clear! The real murderer is definitely Zhou Bingquan!
Zhou Bingquan's explanation not only failed to dispel Li Yunfei's suspicions but actually had the opposite effect. Now, Li Yunfei suspected him even more... He had a grudge against the victim!
From Zhou Bingquan's words, Li Yunfei learned that Xu Jing had cheated on Zhou Bingquan during their relationship, which could very well be the trigger for this murder.
There are numerous examples of loving couples turning to murder because of infidelity. As a police officer, Li Yunfei had encountered and heard of many such cases.
In Li Yunfei's view, Zhou Bingquan must know that Xu Jing died ten years ago because he was the one who killed her. The reason he mentioned those things was to mislead Li Yunfei into thinking that Zhou Bingquan didn't know Xu Jing's true time of death, thus clearing his own suspicions.
Seeing Li Yunfei's expression change, Zhou Bingquan was dumbfounded. "Brother, what kind of look is that? I really didn't kill anyone!"
How come the more he explained, the more unclear he became?
However, the next second, before Li Yunfei could even begin questioning, Xu Mo shook his head again.
"It's not him. We've got the wrong person. The murderer of Xu Jing is someone else."
Xu Mo could tell that Zhou Bingquan wasn't lying; he wasn't the murderer. Zhou Bingquan didn't even know Xu Jing's time of death.
Li Yunfei: "???"
The murderer isn't Zhou Bingquan?
He was the last of the three suspects! Who else could it be?
The police officers outside the interrogation room were also greatly puzzled. What was Xu Mo thinking?
Because of Zhou Bingquan's previous explanations, the other officers, like Li Yunfei, also believed he was the murderer. Unexpectedly, Xu Mo once again stated that Zhou Bingquan was not the murderer.
With two of the three suspects already interrogated, if Zhou Bingquan isn't the murderer, then could the real murderer be Chen Xiaobing, who had died in the line of duty? That shouldn't be the case...
Realizing that Xu Mo was speaking up for him, Zhou Bingquan looked at Xu Mo as if he were a lifeline.
"Comrade police officer, I really didn't kill anyone!"
"I know," Xu Mo nodded. "But you can't leave yet. We need your cooperation to recall the events from back then."
"Sure! Ask away! I'll tell you everything I know!"
Xu Mo stroked his chin and thought for a moment.
Among the three suspects, they had already interrogated two, neither of whom was the murderer. As for the other one, Chen Xiaobing, who had died in the line of duty, Xu Mo believed he was unlikely to be the murderer. A killer wouldn't have such a strong sense of justice.
Considering that Xu Jing's remains were found in a small grove near the Police University's playground, the murderer, even if not one of the three suspects, must have been a student at the Police University.
After all, burying the body on the spot is the common practice of most murderers. If the murderer wasn't a student, he would have found a secluded place to bury or destroy the body rather than risk being discovered by bringing it into the university campus and burying it there.
"You said Xu Jing cheated on you. Who was the person she cheated with? Was he also a student at the Police University?"
"Yes, yes, yes. The person she cheated with was a student at the Police University. He was a senior to me and came from a wealthy family." Zhou Bingquan nodded vigorously, very cooperative.
"What's his name?"
"Lin Tian! It was him who actively pursued Xu Jing. Perhaps Xu Jing was attracted by his wealth."
At this point, Xu Mo turned to look at the one-way mirror in the interrogation room.
Chen Ke, who was standing outside the interrogation room by the one-way mirror, immediately understood Xu Mo's intention and quickly found an officer to look into the person named Lin Tian.
"Oh, right, comrade police officer. That Lin Tian is a pervert! After he stole my girlfriend, I made some inquiries and found out he had a hobby. He liked to torture small animals. The stray cats and dogs he encountered would either die or lose a layer of skin. This kind of pervert... I think he's the murderer!" Zhou Bingquan said with certainty. "He was later expelled from school because of this incident."
"And I heard that he wasn't good to his previous girlfriends either. He would hit and scold them at will, often resorting to violence..."
At that moment, the door to the interrogation room was opened from the outside.
It was Chen Ke who entered.
He was holding a printed document.
"Take a look at this. This is the Lin Tian he mentioned. He's right. Lin Tian was given a severe reprimand and expelled from school during his senior year for killing stray cats and dogs on campus. Because of this, he didn't become a police officer. This Lin Tian... is also suspicious!"
Xu Mo glanced at the document and then said to Chen Ke, "I can't leave right now. Why don't you take a few officers and bring this Lin Tian to the police station?"
"Sure," Chen Ke didn't say much and turned to leave the interrogation room.
"How about it, comrade police officer? I was telling the truth, wasn't I? Lin Tian is a pervert, and the murderer must be him. I'm innocent. I really didn't kill anyone." After Chen Ke confirmed his words, Zhou Bingquan was excited, thinking that his suspicions should be completely cleared now.
Xu Mo didn't respond.
Li Yunfei, who was on the side, also looked at Xu Mo in surprise.
Just a moment ago, he thought Xu Mo was acting rashly, believing Zhou Bingquan to be the murderer.
But now, he no longer thought so. Because there was someone with a greater suspicion—Lin Tian!
A person who enjoyed killing stray cats and dogs for fun was very likely to have murdered a human being.
This meant... Xu Mo's judgment earlier might have been correct!
Zhou Bingquan might really not be the murderer; the murderer was someone else...