3: Chapter 3 Key Evidence

Upon arriving in the living room, Zhao Yang turned his head to look at Xu Yiming.

Xu Yiming had a heavy expression, his tone certain:

“There are no signs of anyone climbing through the windows, the door lock hasn't been tampered with, and there are no stranger's footprints on the floor. There are no suspicious points in this case.”

The literal meaning of these words was almost a declaration that Sun Hongwei was the murderer.

Zhao Yang's heart sank. Had he made a mistake? Had the world deviated from its original path?

Glancing at the three police officers in the bedroom, Zhao Yang immediately understood—

Xu Yiming's words were not just meant for the three officers in the room.

He was also informing him of the higher-ups' attitude toward handling this case.

Zhao Yang warily glanced at the bedroom and quietly pressed the record button on his camera.

He wanted to record any useful fragments of conversation.

Xu Yiming whispered, “This case isn't as simple as those above imagine.”

There was a lot of information packed into that sentence.

Clearly, the superiors had already characterized the case.

As a brigade captain, he was at most a deputy section-level cadre; he had no way to influence the decisions of the leadership.

Xu Yiming saying this was obviously an attempt to use the power of the media to ensure the collected evidence received sufficient attention from the higher-ups.

Sure enough, just like in his previous life, Xu Yiming was still that police officer with a sense of justice.

Zhao Yang naturally understood his intentions. With the camera on his shoulder, he tilted his head and lowered his voice to guide him into revealing useful information:

“Why do you say that, Captain Xu?”

Xu Yiming said, “Before you arrived, He Ping found two unfamiliar fingerprints on the dressing table in the bedroom.”

He Ping leaned in at this moment as well. “The fingerprints are very clear; they were obviously left this morning.”

He glanced at the bedroom and continued:

“There are similar fingerprints on the cash in the nightstand drawer, but they aren't clear enough.”

He Ping's words made some of Zhao Yang's memories from his later life become even clearer.

In his previous life, after Sun Hongwei was released from prison, his status as a full-division level cadre was restored.

Coincidentally, he even became colleagues with Zhao Yang.

He was a first-level researcher at Tongan Television Station, without a substantive position.

In fact, given Sun Hongwei's mental state at the time, he wouldn't have been able to hold a substantive position anyway.

His greatest comfort at work was chatting with Zhao Yang.

Because of this, Zhao Yang learned more of the inside story of the case.

The police had extracted two unfamiliar fingerprints at the scene back then.

Furthermore, they had found a stranger's bodily fluids inside the victim.

However, these two pieces of key evidence were deliberately ignored by the police.

After several consecutive days of interrogation under torture, a mentally broken Sun Hongwei could only follow the police's dictation and write down the 'course of the crime' with his own hand.

His father, Sun Zhendong, suffered a sudden cerebral infarction after seeing the confession, eventually becoming hemiplegic.

His mother could not withstand the sudden double blow and passed away shortly after, harboring deep resentment.

Although Sun Hongwei eventually had his full-division level treatment restored and received state compensation,

fifteen years of imprisonment had already turned this once high-spirited young cadre into a despondent middle-aged man.

He had lost not only his political life,

but also his parents and the love of his life.

Human tragedy could not get worse than this.

In the interviews of his previous life, Zhao Yang had only filmed those two fingerprints.

Because the forensic doctor Jiang Nan was too cold and aloof, and Zhao Yang was not good at dealing with women, he had missed the other important piece of evidence.

Having been reborn, Zhao Yang no longer felt the same awkwardness when facing girls.

He turned his gaze toward the beautiful forensic doctor, Jiang Nan, and raised an eyebrow as he asked:

“Officer Jiang, do you have any findings on your end?”

Jiang Nan was tall, and her police uniform made her look even more heroic and spirited.

Despite the loose uniform, it still couldn't hide the peaks of her chest.

Her neck was fair and slender, and she carried an innate air of arrogance.

Her expression was cold and clear, and her voice was also somewhat indifferent.

However, the words she spoke were quite shocking.

“Who would be in the mood to have sex one more time before killing their wife? It's not like they haven't done it before.”

As Jiang Nan spoke, she warily glanced toward the bedroom and quietly lifted the sample bag in her hand.

Zhao Yang stumbled, the camera nearly sliding off his shoulder.

He hadn't expected this ice-cold beauty to be so sharp-tongued; he had been completely deceived by her appearance.

Zhao Yang didn't know how to respond to that.

But the meaning in her words was clear: like Xu Yiming, she had her own views on the case.

Zhao Yang then asked, “Officer Jiang, when will the DNA test report be out?”

Tongan Municipal Public Security Bureau was one of the first Municipal Bureaus in the entire Jianghan Province to possess DNA testing equipment.

However, at this time, there was no such thing as an automated on-site rapid DNA testing system.

Jiang Nan took a deep look at the camera on Zhao Yang's shoulder, her tone remaining icy.

“Maybe tomorrow morning, maybe before work ends tomorrow afternoon. It depends on the need.”

A simple laboratory test could potentially be completed in 6 to 8 hours.

If there was a large backlog of cases and important samples cutting the line, sometimes one couldn't get the results for a week.

Jiang Nan saying this clearly meant she was prioritizing this sample.

Since her view of the case differed from her superiors, it was even possible she would work overtime through the night.

Zhao Yang knew that if he was even a little slow, he might not be able to get his hands on the DNA test report.

He nodded. “Alright then, I'll head over to your brigade tomorrow morning.”

By the time he got the report and rushed to Ningzhou, the capital of Donghai Province, to find Sun Zhendong, it would be the afternoon of the following day at the earliest.

During these two days, Sun Hongwei would just have to suffer a bit.

Hopefully, he would be the same as before and hold out for as long as five days.

None of that mattered; as long as his father didn't get so angry that he suffered a stroke, the final outcome would definitely change.

On the way back to the Television Station, Zhao Yang did something unprecedented and bought two packs of Chunghwa cigarettes to go see the Deputy Director in charge, Li Hongyi.

In the office, Li Hongyi was dangling a cigarette from his mouth, his eyes fixed on the screen as he traded stocks.

Hearing the knock, he gave a lazy response: “Come in.”

Seeing it was Zhao Yang, Li Hongyi's eyelids lifted slightly:

“You kid, it's been nearly three years, and this is the first time you've proactively come to see me. Speak, what is it?”

The Television Station had fewer than 50 employees in total, so everyone was very familiar with each other.

Therefore, Li Hongyi spoke very directly.

Zhao Yang placed the two packs of Chunghwa cigarettes next to the bulky CRT monitor and chuckled:

“Director Li, it's actually not a big deal. It's just... I want to borrow the hidden camera for a bit.”

Around 2001, DV camcorders had only recently hit the market, and camera sizes had decreased significantly, making secret filming possible.

The hidden cameras at this time were poorly made, essentially a small camera inside a briefcase with a pinhole lens on the side.

They were easily spotted, yet outrageously expensive.

Tongan Television Station only had one, and it was personally kept by Li Hongyi.

To use the hidden camera for an investigative report, one not only had to submit a report explaining the reason but also say a lot of flattering things.

In his previous life, Zhao Yang didn't like sucking up to people, so he had never borrowed it once.

Seeing the Chunghwa cigarettes, Li Hongyi didn't even ask what it was for and simply grinned:

“Ha, I thought it was some big deal. Go ahead and use it, just return it when you're done.”

Li Hongyi was still the same Li Hongyi.

Zhao Yang had already anticipated that as events unfolded, the next day's interview might not go smoothly.

He had to bring two cameras, one in the open and one hidden, to catch the other party off guard.

Unsurprisingly, as soon as Zhao Yang and Tian Ye arrived at the Technical Brigade the next day, they were blocked.

This is an AI-generated drawing of Jiang Nan.