Chapter 173 Xining Second Prison

After Xu Qingqing finished speaking, Chen Mo immediately understood that the direction of the investigation was correct.

This put his mind at ease considerably.

With these suspicions, they could reasonably take Xiao Nuannuan back for further interrogation.

As mentioned before, the benefit was preventing a high-IQ murderer from continuing to roam free in society.

Another benefit was that with the person detained in the interrogation room, they could be questioned at any time.

In short, the situation was much better than it currently was.

"The suspicious points we've gathered regarding Xiao Nuannuan..."

"Are completely sufficient to take her back for interrogation."

"She had many inexplicable behaviors throughout the entire day yesterday."

"I believe that once we're in the interrogation room, we can pry her mouth open."

Xu Qingqing showed a look of confidence.

In reality, she wasn't entirely sure, but the situation was developing in a positive direction.

Getting a confession and obtaining evidence was only a matter of time.

Therefore, she wasn't panicked at all deep down.

Furthermore, she had taken some time during the investigation to check on the progress of the other two teams.

She found that their progress was slightly lagging behind hers.

This gave them plenty of time to wait.

"Mhm, go ahead and bring her in."

Chen Mo nodded silently.

He didn't plan on going back with Xu Qingqing at this moment.

Again, they still hadn't found any concrete evidence.

Evidence that could prove all of Xiao Nuannuan's unusual behavior yesterday was just a setup for her departure from the hospital.

How to find the evidence?

Actually, during his chat with Long Hao just now, he already had the answer!

That was the evidence in Xiao Nuannuan's hands!

Or rather, the item she used to threaten Yan Lili and force her to jump off the building.

The situation was actually quite clear now.

They could completely simulate Xiao Nuannuan's criminal process.

Her initial goal was likely to break up the relationship between Zhou Ming and Yan Lili.

Then, because she enjoyed the feeling of controlling other people's fates...

She decided to force Yan Lili to commit suicide!

While satisfying her desire for control, it also naturally caused Zhou Ming and Yan Lili to break up, making it physically impossible for them to be together.

After all, once a person is dead, they are separated by worlds; how could they still be together?

Xiao Nuannuan's motive for murder should be something like that.

And regarding the dress they had found that was torn from the outside...

It could basically be confirmed that it was the dress Yan Lili kept after being raped.

He had also been curious before about why she would keep this dress.

From a normal person's perspective, such items should be thrown away.

After all, every time she saw it, she would be reminded of those unbearable past events.

Discarding it would be the proper course of action.

But!

Based on the purchase date of that dress...

It had been at least two or three years.

There was a certain probability that it was because Yan Lili was still a virgin at that time.

Commonly known as her first time.

Since he hadn't specifically asked Zhou Ming how far things had progressed with Yan Lili...

These were all just his personal speculations.

Not only that, two or three years ago, Zhou Ming would have been around 18 to 20 years old.

The above was what Chen Mo believed to be a reason why Yan Lili hadn't thrown the dress away.

And the evidence needed to catch Xiao Nuannuan was right here.

As an ordinary citizen, the first thing to do when harmed is to call the police.

But Yan Lili didn't do that.

This was inherently irrational.

So there must be a certain factor that caused Yan Lili to not dare or be unable to report it to the police after being harmed.

Given that the known murderer was Xiao Nuannuan...

Reasoning backward...

She was good at threatening people.

Therefore, there was a ninety percent probability that the reason Yan Lili couldn't or didn't dare to report it was because there was a video in someone's hands.

One had to consider a question here.

Why would Xiao Nuannuan have a video of Yan Lili being raped at that time?

Combining this with Xiao Nuannuan's goals:

1: To make Zhou Ming, whom she liked, break up with Yan Lili.

2: A love for the feeling of controlling other people's futures.

A video of her being raped might not accomplish the first goal, but it could definitely accomplish the second.

For a young girl with a sense of shame...

A video of her being raped was absolutely unacceptable.

Based on this, a general sequence of events could be derived.

To achieve her goal, Xiao Nuannuan arranged for someone to rape Yan Lili and filmed a video.

She then triggered this matter yesterday.

If they could find the person hired by Xiao Nuannuan back then...

And have them identify Xiao Nuannuan, then she could be detained immediately.

Furthermore, the progress of the case would have almost reached its end.

However, there was still one point of doubt that Chen Mo hadn't quite figured out yet.

That was the fact that the dress was bought a long time ago.

Roughly two or three years ago.

So when did Xiao Nuannuan start executing her plan?

Could it be the time the dress was purchased?

If so, why did she wait two or three years before choosing to act yesterday?

This didn't seem right.

Besides, girls' clothes are different from boys' clothes.

Yan Lili's family situation wasn't great, but that was only compared to wealthy families.

She just couldn't afford luxury goods.

Both her parents worked in the South and regularly sent her living expenses.

In reality, her life wasn't that miserable.

Compared to many ordinary people, she was actually free from worries about food and clothing.

Mentioning this was just to show...

That Yan Lili's financial situation was okay.

As a girl who loved beauty, she would buy a lot of clothes.

This led to a problem.

That white dress was likely something Yan Lili had just recently bought.

A boy could wash and wear one piece of clothing over and over for a long time.

But that wasn't the case for Yan Lili in this case.

According to the officers' investigation of her home...

It could also be seen indirectly that she had quite a lot of clothes.

And she would give away clothes she no longer wore to others.

So.

He believed that the white dress was likely bought by Yan Lili not long before she was raped.

Again, Yan Lili was someone who didn't like old clothes.

She preferred to give clothes away after wearing them a few times.

Based on this, deducing the time Yan Lili was raped wasn't a very complicated matter.

So, finding out the purchase date of the clothing now...

As well as Xiao Nuannuan's personal social network, was the key to whether they could solve the case next.

Xu Qingqing had already taken men to arrest Xiao Nuannuan.

Only the few people from his team remained.

Soon, he spoke his thoughts aloud.

And as soon as he spoke, he received everyone's agreement.

"That really makes sense."

Sun Yi thought for a moment and then gave an affirmative reply.

Using the timing of the dress to determine the timing of the rape...

Was completely sound logically.

Chen Mo didn't want to waste too many words on this.

It was enough that everyone understood his meaning.

...

...

In the following time...

The Xining police cooperated with their team to investigate these two clues.

The results were also quickly investigated.

Regarding Xiao Nuannuan's social network, as soon as she was identified as a suspect...

A detailed investigation had been conducted.

So, the information on Xiao Nuannuan's social network was already available.

Instead, the most time was spent investigating Yan Lili's white dress.

But the good news was that they confirmed the purchase date and even found the shop where it was bought.

According to the shop owner, the dress was a very popular style from two years ago.

The reason he remembered it so clearly was that Yan Lili's dress had made him quite a bit of money at the time, so it left a deep impression.

However, when it came to the customer Yan Lili, the shop owner stated he wasn't sure.

This was normal and an answer that everyone found reasonable.

Two years had passed.

If he could still remember a specific customer, that would be weird!

"The dress was purchased two years ago."

Chen Mo muttered to himself.

Then he turned his gaze back to Xiao Nuannuan's social network.

It recorded everything from her birth to her university graduation and even her situation after starting work.

It was very detailed.

Since the focus this time was her personal social network...

The file also marked individuals who were familiar with her.

This included their personalities and current situations.

"This person is a bit strange."

Chen Mo pointed his finger at the profile of a man named Niu Youli.

From the data, this person was in his thirties and from the same village as Xiao Nuannuan.

Chen Mo felt that the saying 'the face reflects the heart' could be applied to this person.

An aquiline nose, a very strong ferocity in his eyes, wearing a prison uniform, facing the camera directly.

This was a photo taken when Niu Youli entered prison.

Behind him was a line for measuring height.

"Are you talking about the fact that he went to prison?"

Long Hao also looked over; during the previous investigation, he knew that Xiao Nuannuan knew such a person.

But he hadn't thought about it from this perspective before.

So, having a friend among one's acquaintances who had gone to prison wasn't anything to be surprised about in itself.

But things were different now.

What they were looking for now was a rapist.

And this rapist was likely hired by Xiao Nuannuan.

In that case, Niu Youli's sudden appearance in Xiao Nuannuan's social network...

Became rather significant.

"This guy is a hardened criminal."

"He's been in and out of prison multiple times over ten years, either for robbery or for fighting and brawling..."

Long Hao said as he glanced at Niu Youli's information.

"A hardened criminal is better; if he wasn't, a normal person really wouldn't dare to take on a rape job."

"Wouldn't you say?"

Chen Mo's face showed a look of relief.

His mood was indeed good now.

Before, when he started arranging for people to investigate Xiao Nuannuan's social network to find the person she had instructed to rape Yan Lili...

He hadn't held much hope.

Because for this kind of thing, as long as you find the right person...

And give them enough money.

Someone would be willing to do it.

Therefore, the person hired by Xiao Nuannuan...

Didn't need to know her at all.

And certainly didn't need to appear in her social network.

That would be the safe way to do it.

And Xiao Nuannuan was a smart person; there was no way she wouldn't have thought of that.

Once Yan Lili reported being raped...

The police wouldn't be able to trace it back to her.

But the current situation indeed showed that Xiao Nuannuan hadn't taken precautions in areas where she clearly knew there was danger.

Did she not think that much at the time?

Anyway.

It wasn't important anymore.

What was important...

Was the upcoming meeting with this Niu Youli.

This person was from the same village as her.

And had committed multiple crimes.

Such a person completely fit the criteria for being hired by Xiao Nuannuan.

He had no respect for the law.

And was extremely desperate for money.

This could be seen from the fact that he had entered prison multiple times for theft and robbery.

As long as he was given enough money, he would do anything.

Therefore, Niu Youli was currently under extreme suspicion.

"Where is he currently being held?"

Long Hao closed the file.

Then he looked at Wu Tian and Sun Yi.

He remembered that it was the two of them who had investigated Niu Youli.

"In Xining Second Prison."