Chapter 46.2: The Murderer Has Been Identified
Municipal Public Security Bureau, interrogation room.
Tan Bingyi didn’t begin the interrogation immediately.
After putting the two of them in the interrogation room, he took his people to lunch first.
This was also a psychological tactic. By leaving the person waiting to be interrogated alone for a while and making them wonder when the axe would finally fall, they would inevitably start overthinking things. Their psychological defenses would gradually weaken as a result.
Jiang Xia and Captain Zeng had eaten lunch early. When they heard that the two had been brought back, they went downstairs together and quietly watched the mother and daughter through the narrow pane of glass in the back door of the interrogation room.
Luo Aihua behaved much like any girl her age would. In the unfamiliar, cold environment, she looked extremely nervous, pressing herself tightly against her mother.
Liu Qiao, meanwhile, sat in the interrogation chair with her head lowered, completely motionless.
Jiang Xia quietly took two steps back and whispered, “There’s something off about this Liu Qiao.”
“I think so too.”
Zeng Jun nodded slightly. His tired, numb eyes had regained their sharpness.
He lowered his voice.
“They’ve been left waiting for nearly twenty minutes now. A normal person would have gotten impatient by now. Who sits completely motionless like that? She’s clearly got something weighing heavily on her mind.”
“This really wasn’t easy.”
Zeng Jun sighed with emotion.
“After all these days of work, we’re finally starting to see a glimmer of hope for solving this case!”
Yes, but it was only the beginning. Even if they managed to get Liu Qiao’s statement, it still wouldn’t be enough. They would still have to tackle the tough nut that was Luo Tianming.
“It would be great if we could get her to reveal something related to the physical evidence.”
Jiang Xia spoke softly. “Then even if Luo Tianming stubbornly refuses to confess, it won’t matter.”
“Let’s hope so.”
As they spoke, Tan Bingyi returned. He nodded to the two of them in greeting, then entered the interrogation room with Chen Dong, one in front and one behind.
Click.
Chen Dong switched on the desk lamp.
The light shone down directly onto the two people’s faces. The stark contrast of light and shadow made the two police officers look particularly imposing.
This also made Liu Qiao nervous. She clenched both hands tightly, so tightly that the veins on the backs of her hands bulged.
Tan Bingyi began with the routine questions.
“State your name, age, and address.”
Liu Qiao stiffly held up four fingers, then one.
“My mother is Liu Qiao. She’s forty-one years old. Her home address is…”
Luo Aihua’s voice trembled slightly as she answered for her mother.
“How old is your husband this year?”
Liu Qiao thought for a moment, then formed the numbers four and five with her fingers.
“How long have you and Luo Tianming been married?”
Liu Qiao continued, forming the numbers one and eight with her fingers.
They had married in 1964, three years after the end of the natural disasters, when things had finally begun to recover in various parts of the country.
The basic information checked out, and they had also more or less established that Liu Qiao’s responses were normal. Tan Bingyi then began turning up the pressure.
“How is your husband’s relationship with your elder brother’s family normally?”
At this question, Liu Qiao’s hands stopped in midair.
After a second or two, she clasped them together and shook them, then used her left hand to mime carrying something over to the right, followed by her right hand carrying something over to the left.
Luo Aihua said, “Mom says our family has a very good relationship with Uncle’s family. We often take things over to their house, and they also bring things to our house.”
A lie.
Tan Bingyi and Chen Dong exchanged a glance. They both saw the same two words in each other’s eyes.
‘She’s lying.’
He didn’t rush to expose the lie. Instead, he continued asking, “Then what was your husband doing on the day the Luo family was robbed?”
This time, Liu Qiao didn’t hesitate at all. First, she gestured a large circle. Then she held an imaginary brick in her left hand and placed it in front of her, while using her right hand to scrape yellow mud over it with an imaginary trowel.
“Dad was building a stove.”
“When did he start?”
Tan Bingyi continued pressing her. “Did he leave at any point?”
Liu Qiao’s eyes instinctively darted to the side. She swallowed, shook her head once, paused, then shook it again.
Luo Aihua translated, “Mom says she doesn’t know the exact time, and he didn’t go out.”
The attempt to conceal something was far too obvious. Tan Bingyi pressed his hand against the table, restraining himself as he continued to confirm, “You must have a general idea, right? Around what time in the morning? When did he finish?”
Liu Qiao pursed her lips. After thinking for a moment, she formed the number nine with her fingers, then clasped both hands beside her face and mimed sleeping.
“He started repairing it at nine in the morning and didn’t finish until the next day.”
“The stove was damaged badly enough to take that long?”
“It wasn’t that bad at first. A few bricks around the mouth of the stove had collapsed. While repairing it, they discovered that the inside was also somewhat damaged, so he took part of it apart and rebuilt it. That’s why it took so long.”
“Then when did he take it apart?”
“Apparently… around noon.”
“In other words, only a few bricks around the stove opening had collapsed, yet Luo Tianming started working at nine in the morning and still hadn’t finished by noon?”
Tan Bingyi had finally found a discrepancy with Luo Tianming’s statement. He gave a cold laugh.
“Liu Qiao, tell us the truth. Was Luo Tianming actually at home repairing the stove that morning?!”
Liu Qiao’s previously calm face instantly turned pale.
She frantically waved her hands, first forming the number ten, then miming the action of carrying bricks. Even Luo Aihua didn’t know how to interpret it.
“Mom, Mom says it was at ten that he took it apart. Dad went to get some bricks, and she—”
“Enough!”
Tan Bingyi rapped his fingers against the table.
“You don’t need to keep covering for your husband. Your statements don’t match at all. Tell us the truth!”
Liu Qiao’s hands stopped in midair.
She had no idea how she could continue hiding things for her husband.
From the day they got married, she had known that Luo Tianming had always looked down on her.
He wouldn’t even go out with her. He was embarrassed that she was mute and thought taking her outside would only make them the subject of ridicule.
The two of them had married simply to have someone to share a household with. Aside from the necessities of eating and getting dressed, he rarely said a word to her.
Liu Qiao didn’t really care. She was disabled and had never been easy to marry off in the first place. They had both been twenty-three at the time, and the men who had come to ask for her hand were either disabled themselves or widowers with children.
Among them, Luo Tianming had been the best choice.
Besides, he didn’t have any particularly bad habits. They could just live their lives like that.
He couldn’t be bothered to understand her, and she had no interest in paying attention to him either.
But the two of them still lived under the same roof.
Back when his parents were still alive, she had already known that her husband resented them for favoring his elder brother. Later, when the family split up, the two brothers still maintained an outwardly cordial relationship, but her husband had always been jealous of how well his elder brother’s family was doing while his own family had nothing.
What parents could ever treat all their children exactly equally?
It was understandable that her husband was unhappy, so Liu Qiao simply paid no attention to it.
Their life went on normally like that for three years.
Until that day came.
When she heard the news that day, Liu Qiao’s heart immediately sank.
She had sensed that something was wrong. The time of the robbery happened to coincide exactly with the time her husband had been out. And although he had returned with grief written across his face, there had been a hint of satisfaction hidden in his eyes.
It was completely different from the excitement he used to show whenever something unfortunate happened to his elder brother’s family.
He hadn’t said a word.
And Liu Qiao had pretended not to notice anything either.
What else could she do?
The youngest child in their family had only been six years old. She didn’t even have a job. Without him, how could she possibly support three children?
She could only keep it hidden.
Fortunately—fortunately, she was mute.
Nobody paid much attention to her.
And that had allowed her to keep the secret all the way until now.
But now she had absolutely no idea how she could keep hiding it.
Luo Tianming had never told her anything!
Luo Aihua was at a loss as well.
At her age, she already understood some things. Over the past few days, the police had repeatedly come to investigate the death of her uncle’s granddaughter, and she had overheard quite a bit. She had even felt sorry for the baby and hoped the police would catch the murderer.
But now, why did it sound as though her own father was the murderer?
Boundless panic washed over her. Luo Aihua grabbed her mother’s sleeve and cried out, her voice trembling with tears.
“Mom, Dad was repairing the stove at home, wasn’t he? How could he have gone to Uncle’s house and str*ngled his grandniece? Slow down when you gesture. Let me explain everything to the police!”
Liu Qiao remained motionless for a long time.
How was she supposed to say it?
‘If you tell them, you’ll lose your father.’
“Liu Qiao.”
Tan Bingyi understood perfectly well why she was resisting. He said bluntly, “You can refuse to tell us anything, but the evidence we have is already enough for us to summon Luo Tianming for questioning. Once we confirm that he committed the crime, your knowing about it and refusing to report it would constitute harboring a criminal. Do you understand?”
“And you’re harboring a murderer. That’s an extremely serious offense. You’d face a minimum sentence of three years. By then, these children will have neither a father nor a mother. How are they supposed to live?”
Liu Qiao’s expression finally changed.
Her eyes flickered. She raised her head and slowly began gesturing.
Tears suddenly streamed down Luo Aihua’s face.
Choking back sobs, she said, “Mom says… she really doesn’t know.”
“That day, Dad went out to get some bricks and came back after a while. He was very happy when he returned.”
“After what happened to Uncle’s family, Dad… was secretly very happy.”
Tan Bingyi frowned slightly.
“Is that all? You never saw a duplicate key or any money or anything like that?”
Liu Qiao shook her head.
“That’s all,” Luo Aihua said. “Mom never saw any key, and she never saw Dad come home with a lot of money either.”
This was more or less what they had expected. If Luo Tianming’s spending habits had suddenly changed, they probably would have caught him three years ago.
Luo Tianming really was cautious.
From this perspective, Liu Qiao might really have been telling the truth. She may have only suspected something without being certain that Luo Tianming had actually committed the crime.
Based on the statements they had so far, they could only establish that he was a suspect with reason to be investigated, not that he was the actual culprit.
The key and the money were both small and easy to hide or destroy. Unless Luo Tianming confessed and led them to the evidence himself, they still wouldn’t be able to close the case.
The real battle was only beginning.
Tan Bingyi steeled himself.
It didn’t matter. They had already come this far. What was there left to be afraid of? Just arrest him and interrogate him!
Tan Bingyi shot to his feet, found a telephone on the first floor, and called the officers stationed around Luo Family Street.
No more watching.
Arrest him directly!
—
At the Luo family’s home.
It was mealtime, and Luo Tianming’s eldest and second sons had both returned home for lunch.
Luo Tianming seemed somewhat distracted, but he still forced himself to put on a welcoming expression.
“Officers, why don’t you eat with us? You helped make this meal, after all. We can’t exactly eat while you just stand there watching us.”
“Sure. I’m getting a free meal out of it too.”
Old Qin didn’t stand on ceremony. He ladled himself a bowl of soup and said, “It’s nice to have a hot meal today. No need to gnaw on steamed buns.”
“Yeah, you police officers have it pretty tough, running around every day.”
Sitting in the main room, Luo Tianming subconsciously glanced toward the stove. He sighed, then casually tried to probe for information.
“By the way, Officer, when will my wife be coming back? There’s still so much work at home waiting for her.”
“She’ll be back once they’re done questioning her.”
Old Qin chuckled amiably. “You two have a pretty good relationship, huh? You’re that worried about her?”
Luo Tianming’s expression stiffened for a moment before he put on another concerned look.
“She’s not in very good health, after all, and she doesn’t usually go out much.”
“Ah.”
Old Qin responded casually while controlling how much he ate. At the same time, he gave Cheng Tao, who was burying his head in his food, a chopstick tap and motioned for him to eat less.
Otherwise, it would be rather inconvenient when they had to do some strenuous activity later.
Luo Tianming suddenly said, “Hey, Officer, what if I go to the Municipal Public Security Bureau to pick her up?”
Old Qin said, “Sure. We’re going back there later anyway. We can go together.”
Luo Tianming immediately fell silent.
He quietly finished his meal.
Although Luo Tianming’s two sons were somewhat puzzled, they didn’t think much of it. After eating, one went to work and the other went to school, leaving Luo Tianming alone in the house.
It was empty and quiet, with a chill that seemed to creep down his spine.
He felt that he had covered his tracks well enough.
They hadn’t discovered anything back then, and now, three years later, they were still running around asking questions like headless flies.
With so many people around, why had they singled him out?
And why did they even have to question a mute?
Luo Tianming was beginning to panic.
No one knew what he had done. He had never told the mute woman anything either. She shouldn’t know.
But the two of them were husband and wife, after all. What if she had noticed his private curses, or the barely concealed satisfaction he’d shown when things went his way?
Could she really have noticed nothing?
Luo Tianming didn’t know.
Would she give him up?
Perhaps she would.
Those police officers were pretty good at questioning people. Lying to them wasn’t easy.
Regret began to well up inside Luo Tianming.
If he had known this day would come…
He should have been more careful.
Luo Tianming gradually felt an itch on his forehead.
He reached up and touched it, only to find that his hand was covered in sweat.
“It really is hot today.”
Seeing the veteran detective staring at him, Luo Tianming forced a smile.
“Look at me. I’ve only been standing out in the sun for a little while, and I’m already sweating this much.”
“Yeah.”
Old Qin’s smile remained warm and amiable, but his eyes never left Luo Tianming.
“Why don’t we stop standing in the sun, then? Let’s go inside and cool off for a while.”
“I—”
Luo Tianming hesitated for a moment, just about to agree, when a local patrol officer suddenly came running over from outside.
“Officer Qin! Captain Tan just called. She confessed! Arrest Luo Tianming immediately!”
Before the words had even left his mouth, Luo Tianming’s expression changed. He instinctively turned around and tried to flee toward the wall.
But he hadn’t even taken two steps before Old Qin and Cheng Tao, who had been keeping a close eye on him, lunged forward together and slammed him to the ground.
Excitedly, Cheng Tao pulled out his handcuffs and slapped them onto Luo Tianming’s wrists.
Old Qin stood up. With his wealth of experience, he immediately pressed the patrol officer for details.
“So Liu Qiao confessed everything? Did she identify any physical evidence? If so, I’ll find it all and bring it back with us.”
“Uh, no.”
The patrol officer shook his head.
“Captain Tan only said to bring him back.”
So they still had no evidence!
Lying on the ground, a glimmer of hope flared up in Luo Tianming’s heart. He shouted, “Let me go! I haven’t done anything! You’re framing me!”
“Didn’t do anything? Then why did you run?”
Old Qin let out a cold snort. After all that painstaking investigation, they had finally caught the bastard!
He had even been capable of murdering his own grandniece. He wasn’t human!
But people like this never confessed until they were faced with hard evidence. Without physical evidence, getting this man to open his mouth was going to be extremely difficult.
But where had he thrown the key he had used to enter the house that day, and the money and ration coupons he had stolen?
Old Qin scanned the courtyard, his gaze suddenly landing on the stove.
Come to think of it, hadn’t this bastard glanced at the stove several times while they were eating?
And if he remembered correctly, hadn’t Luo Tianming also been repairing the stove on the day of the crime?
His mind stirred. Driven by a powerful hunch, he walked toward the stove.
“Xiao Wang, don’t leave yet. You and I are going to take this stove apart first!”
At those words, the color drained from Luo Tianming’s face.
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