Chapter 77 The Hidden Story of That Year

"Confess truthfully, and receive a lighter sentence!"

"Conceal the truth, and face harsher punishment!"

Inside the interrogation room, Xiao Zhang turned on a desk lamp, shining it directly onto Song Wei's face.

Song Wei, who had been acting cavalier, instantly became uncomfortable and covered his eyes with both hands.

"I hope you will take this seriously."

Click.

The light was turned off again.

"Do you know Lin Dahai?"

"I do."

"He is dead. Did you know that?"

Upon hearing this, Song Wei's expression shifted, and he subsequently let out a hearty laugh.

"Dead? Good riddance!"

There was a sense of satisfaction in his tone, as if a villain had finally met his end, accompanied by a trace of relief.

"Feng Juan is also dead. She was beaten to death by Lin Dahai."

Silence.

The air in the interrogation room instantly fell silent.

Song Wei's fists slowly clenched, then relaxed.

A look of realization appeared on his face: "So, you suspect that I killed Lin Dahai?"

Xiao Zhang nodded, neither confirming nor denying.

"First, you once liked Feng Juan, and you went to prison because of her."

"Second, you have money and ability, yet you remain unmarried to this day. We suspect that you are still in love with Feng Juan."

"Third, you knew that Feng Juan was frequently subjected to domestic violence, so you took action against Lin Dahai."

After finishing his statement, Xiao Zhang silently watched Song Wei's reaction.

It wasn't just him; Chen Mo and Long Hao in the hallway were also closely observing his Micro-expressions.

Because, based on the time of death for both victims at the scene, Feng Juan was beaten to death first, and then Lin Dahai was killed by having steel nails driven all over his body.

If the murderer was indeed Song Wei, then he would have already known about Feng Juan's death last night.

"Looking at it this way, I really do seem quite like the murderer."

Even with all the evidence Xiao Zhang presented, Song Wei remained completely unruffled.

He maintained a calm and composed posture.

"Why don't I give you some more evidence that proves I'm the murderer?"

"How about that?"

When he said this, Xiao Zhang was left stunned.

Who would rush to take suspicion upon themselves?

What a clever retreat to advance.

"If I just say I'm not the murderer, you certainly won't believe me."

"And I certainly can't say that I no longer love Feng Juan."

His meaning was simple and clear: I cannot prove I am not the murderer, but I don't mind giving you police all the information.

Using this to demonstrate his willingness to cooperate actively.

"I understand what you mean. Tell us what you know."

Xiao Zhang reached out and made a gesture of invitation.

"In reality, I bear a great deal of responsibility for Feng Juan marrying Lin Dahai."

As Song Wei spoke, a look of annoyance and anger appeared on his face.

"You should have seen my file. Back then, Liu Lin was harassing her after evening self-study and even hit her, so I stepped in to help."

"After I went to prison, a buddy who came to visit told me that Feng Juan had mistaken Lin Dahai for the person who saved her."

"Lin Dahai stole the life that should have been mine!"

"Does this count as evidence that I would kill Lin Dahai?"

His words made those watching the interrogation feel slightly astonished.

At the same time, the question that had been lingering in their minds was also resolved.

That was why Lin Dahai didn't cherish Feng Juan and would constantly beat and scold her!

The truth was that the person who saved Feng Juan back then was definitely not Lin Dahai.

But!

"You are lying. This case involves Feng Juan, so as a person involved in it, she must have known the situation of your case!"

Song Wei nodded without any denial.

"Yes. After I heard from a friend that Feng Juan had eloped with Lin Dahai, I asked someone to look into it."

"Back then, this case was suppressed by the Feng Family, and the person who stepped forward on Feng Juan's behalf was actually always the lawyer hired by her family."

"From beginning to end, Feng Juan never knew that the person who saved her that night was me!"

After finishing, a bitter smile appeared on his face.

Lamenting the unfairness of fate.

"Didn't you tell her yourself?"

"I did, but by then she was already pregnant with a child, named Lin Xixi, right?"

"So, for the sake of the child, she chose not to divorce."

At this point.

The situation was clear.

And Song Wei's suspicion had grown even greater.

Whether it was the motive or the ability to commit the crime, both were fully sufficient.

"Everything you've said only makes us more certain that you are the murderer."

"If you are not the murderer, then what you've said is of no help to us in finding the real killer."

Xiao Zhang finally made his stance clear.

Telling Song Wei not to play the 'hiding in plain sight' game.

Clearly being the murderer but pretending to be innocent and cooperating with the police to lower suspicion.

"I know. In reality, I should have been the murderer, but I don't know who took action first."

As he spoke, he licked his lips.

During his twelve years in prison, his emotions had been a blank slate.

The only thought he had was of Feng Juan, with her ponytail, wearing her school uniform, smiling brightly while bathed in sunlight.

He had never regretted his impulsiveness back then.

The only thing he felt was hatred for Lin Dahai stealing the life that was supposed to be his!

Whether it was his younger self or his current self, if he encountered the same situation as back then, he would still make the same choice.

"What do you mean? You were planning to kill Lin Dahai but hadn't taken action yet?"

Xiao Zhang frowned. If this really was a case of hiding in plain sight, then this Song Wei was too clever.

Even he, without any evidence to prove that he wasn't the killer, began to waver internally.

...

Outside the interrogation room.

Long Hao's brows were tightly furrowed; this move by Song Wei was truly unfathomable.

To say he was a suspect, the suspicion was too great; to say he wasn't, he was rushing to take suspicion upon himself, acting as if he was cooperating but truly wasn't the killer.

"This guy is a bit formidable; I completely cannot read him."

As he finished speaking, he looked at the human lie detector beside him.

"His reactions throughout were flawless. Unless he has been trained, what he said might be true."

Chen Mo pondered for a moment and gave his own thoughts.

In fact, the highest level of lying is seven parts truth and three parts falsehood, even if Song Wei's denial of being the murderer was entirely false.

But that line about him planning to take action but someone else getting there first—the expression of relief shown during that part was real.

This reaction was the emotion one should have after serving twelve years in prison, finally getting out, and not wanting to go back in.

Words can be faked, but subtle expressions cannot deceive people.

"So, you are more inclined to believe that what he said is true?"

Long Hao's face showed a look of conflict; the main issue was still that this person was full of suspicion, and there was not a shred of evidence to prove he was innocent.

He couldn't even find an excuse not to suspect him.

Chen Mo also understood what Long Hao was struggling with at this moment.

After thinking for a moment, he found a reason.

"There is actually one point that can prove he isn't lying. When I was looking at Song Wei's file, I saw that the assets under his name were in the process of being transferred."

"I didn't mention it at the time because I thought he planned to kill the person and then run away with the money."

"But Xiao Zhang brought Song Wei back so easily, which was unexpected. From that perspective, Song Wei doing the asset transfer work should indeed be, as he said, because he wanted to kill Lin Dahai."

"But the asset transfer hasn't been completed yet..."

After saying this, Long Hao also rubbed his chin and began to think.

What Chen Mo said was very easy to understand and could also match up with Song Wei's answers.

The asset transfer work started a few days ago, which shows he indeed had the intention to kill.

But the asset transfer hadn't been completed, which in turn leads to the fact that it was impossible for Song Wei to have taken action early.

The risk is too high!

Unless he is an idiot, gambling that the police wouldn't be able to trace it back to him.

But judging from his answers just now, he is clearly not an idiot.

On the contrary, he is a shrewd person who is good at using 'retreat to advance'.

"Is it possible that Song Wei originally did intend to transfer his assets and then kill the person, but then last night he happened to run into Feng Juan being subjected to domestic violence, and then acted out of anger?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Mo immediately shook his head:

"Lin Dahai stole the formula a month ago, and Song Wei also admitted that he saw Feng Juan when he was investigating back then, which is why Lin Dahai hadn't been retaliated against until now."

"From this, we can see that he has known about Feng Juan being subjected to domestic violence for a long time. The critical assets haven't been transferred yet; he is a smart person and wouldn't have acted impulsively."

Long Hao pursed his lips upon hearing this.

That is true.

"If that's the case, domestic violence indeed wouldn't make Song Wei suddenly lash out and kill, but what if he discovered at that moment that Feng Juan had already been beaten to death?"

"That would at least cause an emotional fluctuation in him, right?"

He hadn't failed to consider this point.

"If he were the murderer, Xiao Zhang wouldn't have been able to bring him in so easily."

Long Hao blinked his eyes.

That's right!

How could I have forgotten that!

Comparing hiding away versus playing 'hiding in plain sight' with the police, it goes without saying which carries more risk.

Looking at it this way, the murderer might really not be him.

Just at this moment.

Rapid footsteps came from a distance.

"Captain Long, Brother Mo, Feng Juan's brother, Feng Tianlei, has arrived. We just brought him to the questioning room."