Chapter Seventeen First Interrogation

  Liu Hua hung his head and didn't say a word. Seeing him like this, Liu Jianjun's suppressed anger could no longer be controlled, and he slapped the back of his head with a loud slap. The few people present were startled by Liu Jianjun's sudden movement.

  Seeing Liu Huan being beaten by Liu Jianjun without making a sound, Fang felt some pity for him. "Liu Jianjun, what kind of place is this? You say beat someone and then just beat them?"

  When he beat Liu Huan in front of others, it made Liu Jianjun lose face. However, every time he saw Liu Huan, he would think of Wang Ting and wish that Liu Huan was the one who had died instead. "He's my son, he made a mistake, why can't I, as his father, discipline him?"

  Wang Tuo was worried that Liu Jianjun would make a mistake, so he sent him out of the interrogation room. "Director Liu, don't worry, let me accompany Liu Hao instead."

  "You stinky brat, just wait and see how I'll deal with you when we get back." Liu Jianjun straightened out his somewhat disheveled suit and left the interrogation room without looking back.

  Wang Tuo saw Liu Jianjun leave the interrogation room and let out a slight sigh of relief. He really didn't want to take this case. "What questions do you have? If it's not related to the case, we have the right not to answer."

  "Alright, let's start with questioning, name." Guo Yining began the inquiry according to procedure, while Fang You recorded it on the side.

  Liu Hao.

  "Gender."

  Man.

  "Age."

  "Seventeen years old."

  "Liu Hua, last year, which was September 20th, 2014, where were you and what were you doing?"

  "It's been too long, I don't remember." Liu Hao's voice was very small, his body curled up, a manifestation of fear.

  "Think again," said Guo Yining once more.

  Liu Huan kept his head down, and Wang Tuo couldn't see his expression. Since he didn't remember, he wouldn't let the police continue asking questions. "Officer, it's been over a year since the incident you're asking about. It's normal that I don't remember."

  "Okay, so let's talk about this year. From September 25th Friday to September 27th Sunday, where were you and what were you doing?"

  Liu Huan thought for a moment, he really couldn't remember what he was doing on a weekend in September. "If there's nothing going on at the weekend, I'll just stay at home and not go anywhere."

  "Who can prove it?"

  "Wu's mother is always at home."

  "What about National Day from October 1st to October 3rd?"

  At home, Wu's mother has been keeping me company.

  "Where were you and what were you doing on November 9th to 10th last month?"

  "That day I remember, I ate something bad, my stomach didn't feel well, I took a leave for one day. The next day I felt slightly better, so I went to school."

  "Do you remember it so clearly?"

  Liu Huan never looked up, but kept his head down, with both hands clasped together, looking very nervous. "It was during my senior year of high school, a special period, and I only took one leave for the entire year, so I remember that Wu Mama took me to the clinic at the entrance of our community to get some medicine. After taking the medicine, I went to sleep until Wu Mama called me for lunch. In the afternoon, I ran to the bathroom several times, feeling unspirited. Wu Mama made me a bowl of thin porridge, which I ate after taking more medicine, and then I fell asleep again, sleeping all the way until 6 am when I got up to go to school."

  Guo Yining had been observing Liu Huan, looking at how he was behaving now, and it didn't seem like he should be related to the serial murder case at all. He was just a very well-behaved high school student. "Can you drive?"

  When Liu Hao didn't answer the question, Wang Tuo said: "Officer, I'm only 17 years old and don't even have a driver's license, how could I possibly be driving?"

  "Of course I wouldn't say this without basis. Someone saw you driving to Lincheng Airport on November 9th, how do you explain that?"

  Wang Tuo knew that Guo Yining's words were not false, and Liu Hao did not argue, "This seems to have nothing to do with the case we are currently aware of. As a party involved, I can choose not to answer."

  Seeing Liu Hua not responding, Guo Yining took out a photo from the evidence bag and walked to Liu Hua's front, putting one of the photos in front of Liu Hua. "This is the surveillance photo at that time, the person sitting on the driver's seat is indeed Liu Hua. I want to know, you said that day you were taking a leave at home, took medicine and slept for an afternoon, why would you appear at the airport?"

  Wang Tuona took a look at the photo, which clearly showed Liu Hao's appearance and Liu Jianjun's car. "As the person involved, I am now a third-year high school student, and all my energy is focused on next year's college entrance examination. Some things are hard to remember, which is also a normal thing."

  Liu Huan didn't look at the photo, he knew that if the police wanted to find it they would definitely be able to. "That's right, I was driving to the airport at the time."

  "Liu Hao!" Hearing Liu Hao's words, Wang Tuo hastily stopped him, hoping he wouldn't say any more.

  Liu Huan finally lifted his head, looking at Guo Yining with tears in his eyes. "Nothing, I was just worried that you would know I drove without a license, so I lied. That day my dad came back from a business trip, and I hadn't seen him for a long time, so I wanted to go to the airport to pick him up and give him a surprise. Sorry, I did something wrong, I shouldn't have driven without a license, and I wasn't responsible for other people's lives."

  Guo Yining put a photo of Yang Liu in front of Liu Hao, "Do you know this woman?"

  Liu Huan picked up the photo, took a look, and then shook his head, "Don't recognize, never seen before."

  Guo Yining stared at Liu Huan, her eyes fixed on his every move. "Haven't you seen her? She was also at the airport that day, just a short distance in front of you. Didn't you see her?"

  Liu Huan shook his head again, "No, at that time I didn't notice the people around me, I just stood not far away from the exit and watched for my dad, I didn't pay attention to anything else."

  Guo Yining then put the photos of the first three victims in front of Liu Hao, asking him to carefully identify them. He shook his head and said he didn't recognize any of them.

  Just as Guo Yining was about to ask the next question, Yang Rong knocked on the door and walked in. Guo Yining saw that Yang Rong had a file in her hand, so she went over, and Yang Rong said a few words in front of Guo Yining with her head down. Guo Yining nodded, took the file handed over by Yang Rong, and Yang Rong gave Liu Huan an angry glance before turning around and leaving.

  Guo Yining returned to his seat, staring at Liu Huan. At this time, Liu Huan lowered his head again. After a long silence, Guo Yining spoke up again, "This is the report just released by our law and politics department. It was extracted from the burn on your left arm. Underneath the burn, there's another layer of injury, which is an animal scratch. After careful examination, we found that at the wound where you were scratched, there's residual DNA. After comparison, it's a cat's DNA. Although you cleaned the wound and covered it with burns, some things still remained. How do you explain this?"

  Wang Tuo didn't know about the cat's situation either, "It's just a cat's DNA, what's strange about that?"

  "We found a cat that had been brutally killed near Liu Huan's home, and after forensic examination, the method and force used by the cat killer were consistent with those of the serial killer in the previous case. It was not an imitation crime, so we inferred that the cat killer and the serial killer are the same person."

  Upon hearing Guo Yining's statement, Wang Tuo sighed inwardly. He had known all along that he shouldn't have taken this case. Now it was too late. "The victim is only scratched by a cat and has nothing to do with the animal abuser. Please don't assume I'm the animal abuser without evidence. I can sue you for defamation."

  "Why did he use a burn to cover up the wound from being scratched by a cat? This is clearly an attempt to cover up his guilt, with a thief's heart being uneasy."

  Liu Huan, who had been silent all along, was emotionally agitated. "I'm not covering up the scratch, I really accidentally scalded myself, you have to believe me."

  Wang Tuo patted Liu Huan's shoulder, hoping he wouldn't get too excited and say something wrong while being led away by the police. "Liu Huan, don't be agitated, rest assured I'm here for you. If they frame you, I'll definitely clear your name in court."

  Guo Yining walked up to Liu Huan, gathered the documents and arranged the four victims' photos in order, placing them in front of Liu Huan. "Liu Huan, rest assured that as police officers, we will not wrong a good person nor let a bad one go free. If you are innocent, we will naturally set you free. However, if these cases were committed by you, I hope you understand that leniency is for those who confess, while severity awaits those who resist. You'd better think carefully before answering my questions."

  Liu Huan didn't look at the photo in front of him, but instead lowered his head and grasped the hem of his clothes with both hands.

  The current evidence is too little and it's impossible to make Liu Huan speak, if there were more irrefutable evidence, the case would be much smoother.

  Guo Yining asked Liu Hao a few more questions, and he was able to answer them smoothly, without leaving any openings for attack.

  Under the lawyer's request, Liu Jianjun paid the bail and took Liu Hao back home.

  Kuo Yin Ning arrived at the interrogation room next door to the listening room. Wu Hui was standing inside, with one hand against the wall and his head bowed in thought.

  As for Liu Hua's case, due to the presence of lawyers, Guo Yining has not taken any measures. "What to do, didn't expect this young man to have a pretty solid psychological defense line."

  Wu Hui had been monitoring the entire interrogation process, and for Liu Hao, he had a new understanding. Either this case was not done by Liu Hao, or Liu Hao was really good at hiding, so that he didn't find any flaws. Although it was like this, but he could confirm that this serial killer must be Liu Hao. Now what's lacking is evidence. "No worries, we didn't plan to get any confession today anyway, just to obtain evidence to prove my guess. At least now we've found the direction to crack the case, not like before."

  "Although it is said so, but I am still not reconciled. Think about it, he can't control his murderous nature now. I'm worried that what we did this time will stimulate him and the next case will happen again soon." Guo Yining's concern was not unreasonable.

  Liu Huan is an extremely intelligent person, but his intelligence has blinded him. "What you said is right, he always thought he was perfect and that you wouldn't be able to catch any evidence of his crimes. With such arrogance, after today's setback, he will definitely commit another crime again. At that time, you must assign someone to keep a close eye on him."