Chapter 108: Inconsistent Statement
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Zhao Yu had a drop too much and started to feel dizzy. Nonetheless, as midnight had passed, he lit up a cigarette and did another calculation. After some intense coughing, the system revealed that Zhao Yu had gotten a "Kan-Zhen" hexagram for the day. The explanation was: "Water and Thunder. Thunder hidden within water, equal in strength, indistinguishable by sound and shape, the man shall not be deceived."
It was still impossible to decipher the obscure hexagram explanation, but the Kan-Zhen hexagram had previously appeared before. Zhao Yu clearly remembered that on the day of his training, "thunder" appeared. He wondered if there was any difference between the two "thunders?" Up until this point, Zhao Yu had yet to figure out what "Zhen" represented? He could use this opportunity to study it carefully.
As for "Kan," he already knew that it represented woman. Which woman would he meet? Would it be Yao Jia, whom he thought about day and night, the enemy-turned-friend, Miao Ying, or some other woman?
Zhao Yu sighed heavily. It had been a tough day. He decided that he should get some sleep before anything else! Just as he lied down, his phone suddenly beeped. It was a WeChat message, and surprisingly, it was from Miao Ying!
"Eh? It’s already so late. Why did Miao Renfeng send me a message?" Curious, Zhao Yu opened to check it, and saw that Miao Ying had left him a lengthy message, "Officer Zhao, after the preliminary interrogation, Lin Meifeng has already accounted for her involvement in the crime; however, Lin Meifeng’s statement was inconsistent with our original record. I feel that there’s more to this than what meets the eye. If you have time tomorrow, I hope you can make a trip to our branch!"
What? The statement was inconsistent with the record? What do you mean? Feeling his head aching, Zhao Yu asked, "Where’s the inconsistency?" About ten seconds later, Miao Ying replied with a voice message, "Lin Meifeng said that she used a knife and stabbed Jian Wenli to death, but the autopsy report clearly showed that Jian Wenli died from asphyxiation!"
"Ah? How did this happen?" Zhao Yu froze for a moment and became more awake. Miao Ying followed with another voice message, "Lin Meifeng has already pleaded guilty. She has no reason to make up stories, so I feel that there must be something hidden regarding Jian Wenli’s case, so I had to inform you!"
"Hmm…" Zhao Yu frowned and kept cursing. He was wondering why there was an inconsistency in Lin Meifeng’s statement. While pondering, a thought sprung up and made Zhao Yu suddenly sit up straight. "Oh...don’t tell me...Jian Wenli was not killed by Lin Meifeng? The murderer is someone else!? Oh gosh...if Lin Meifeng is innocent…" At this point, Zhao Yu had sobered up. He quickly sent a message to Miao Ying asking her where she was. Miao Ying replied that she was still at Ruyang Branch interrogating Lin Meifeng.
Zhao Yu could not wait anymore and told Miao Ying to wait for him as he rushed over! Miao Ying had also hoped that Zhao Yu could come over to help, so she did not reject his offer, but just told him to be careful on the way there. Zhao Yu quickly got dressed and was set to go. As it was too troublesome to get the car from the police station, he called for a cab and went straight to Ruyang Branch.
As there was little traffic at night, he reached his destination in twenty minutes; however, the car had gone too fast. Zhao Yu felt nauseous and his stomach was sick. It was already half past two in the morning, and Miao Ying was still interrogating Lin Meifeng to the best of her abilities, not wanting to leave out any details. Hearing that Zhao Yu had arrived, she came out from the interrogation room to receive him and at the same time showed him a statement record.
Miao Ying had not wanted Zhao Yu to join in Jian Wenli’s case, but after his performance during the day, she realized that Zhao Yu was full of ideas and had a unique way of thinking. Since she was met with a difficult problem, she might as well listen to what he had to say. Anyway, Ruyang Branch was the incharge of this case, so she did not have to worry about Zhao Yu claiming credit and such. Plus, it was always better to have one more person’s ideas!
Zhao Yu looked carefully at the statement report, and Miao Ying also handed him that year’s crime record. Miao Ying had already marked the important points on the two documents in red ink. "See," Miao Ying pointed to them one by one, "the victim died from suffocation, but Lin Meifeng said that she used a knife to kill her! The autopsy report showed that the victim indeed had stab wounds, but that she had been covered by a blanket, so the knife did not stab the vital parts. They were basically superficial wounds, and weren’t fatal!
"Also, to make it look like a robbery gone wrong, Lin Meifeng ransacked the valuables in the west bedroom afterwards; however, according to the crime scene report, the east bedroom had also been ransacked, but Lin Meifeng insisted that she had not been to the east bedroom!
"And also here," Miao Ying continued, "the detectives in charge of the investigation that year found some messy footprints at the scene, but Lin Meifeng said that she had put on shoe covers before entering the house, and had not left behind any footprints. Our colleague in the forensics department is doing the verification now…"
How could this be? Faced with the inconsistent statement, Zhao Yu furrowed his brow and began thinking deeply; however, as he had drank too much, he felt his head spinning and his stomach churning, and was unable to focus.
"Officer Zhao," Miao Ying said to Zhao Yu without reservation, "I feel that there are too many inconsistencies with Jian Wenli’s case. We cannot close this case just like that! If Lin Meifeng did not lie, then there could’ve been a third person at the crime scene!"
"You’re right!" Zhao Yu agreed, but he was not capable of speaking properly due to his drunken state. "It could be...this person first strangled Jian Wenli to death before Lin Meifeng came to stab her with a knife. It could also be...this person killed Jian Wenli together with Lin Meifeng. It’s also possible that...Lin Meifeng stabbed Jian Wenli a few times and left the scene thinking that Jian Wenli was already dead! But Jian Wenli had not died, and it was this mysterious third person…" Zhao Yu looked at Miao Ying with blurry eyes, and the churning in his stomach got worse.
"No!" Miao Ying was already in her own thoughts, and she quickly negated some of the previous speculations, "If Lin Meifeng has the intention to protect this third person, then she would’ve taken the rap all by herself, and there would not be any inconsistency in the statement! That means...there was no connection between Lin Meifeng and this mysterious third person. They probably did not see each other at the crime scene...Officer Zhao, I think…"
While Miao Ying was talking, Zhao Yu had leaned to one side and kept pressing on his chest. Once Miao Ying called out his name, Zhao Yu turned around and faced Miao Ying. It could be heaven playing with him, or perhaps his misfortune still lingered, but the moment he turned around, he felt sick and nauseous. Unable to endure anymore, he vomited on Miao Ying!!!