I See Murders Before They Happen

Chapter 34: Chapter 32: Evidence

The car stopped in front of the municipal police station.

Su Miaoyi thanked Shen Yanzhou, then got out of the car and ran into the station.

Shen Yanzhou watched her hurried figure, wondering what was wrong.

She had been fine when they went to the pet hospital. Why did she rush over here right after running into the Ji Family?

’Does she have some dirt on the Ji Family?’

’Did they piss her off so much that she’s going to the police?’

Shen Yanzhou didn’t think that was very likely.

Zhuang Yanzheng had only told him about what happened on Xiangyao Street that day, explaining that Su Miaoyi had gotten involved because she looked like Le Yan.

But he hadn’t mentioned why Su Miaoyi was so close to him now.

Or why she was showing up at the municipal police station so frequently.

...

”Zhuang Yanzheng, I saw it,” Su Miaoyi said, slightly out of breath from running.

Zhuang Yanzheng led her to a deserted spot. ”What did you see?”

”A third person,” Su Miaoyi said, taking a deep breath and speaking quickly. ”When Cai Xi stabbed Shi Tianyu in the chest, there was another boy behind Shi Tianyu, holding him. I saw him. Maybe he’ll be a breakthrough.”

Zhuang Yanzheng nodded.

Cai Xi and Cai Ke had gotten their stories straight, erased all traces, and were refusing to confess no matter what.

The other one was alone, which would make him an easier target to crack.

”Also, I heard a name: Zhao Tiantian. From what Cai Xi was saying, she seems to be from their school.” Su Miaoyi told Zhuang Yanzheng everything she had seen and heard. ”It sounds like there was some kind of romantic dispute.”

”We’ll have to make a trip to the school and meet this Zhao Tiantian,” Zhuang Yanzheng said.

”Did none of the students mention this yesterday?” Su Miaoyi asked.

Zhuang Yanzheng shook his head. ”First, it’s possible not many people knew about it. Second, it involves dating, and they were facing the police. Everyone figured it was better to not get involved, so no one dared to say anything.”

Su Miaoyi nodded. That was possible.

Especially when dealing with a family like the Cais.

It was definitely a case of ’the less said, the better’.

”The sketch,” Su Miaoyi said.

Zhuang Yanzheng led her to the sketch artist’s room.

The door to the room was open. As they approached, they saw Lu Zhishen sitting at an easel, drawing something.

Hearing footsteps, he looked toward the door, simultaneously taking the drawing paper off the easel and placing it facedown on the desk.

”What’s up?” Lu Zhishen asked, getting to his feet. ”Did you see something?”

Su Miaoyi nodded.

Zhuang Yanzheng said, ”I’ll leave you to it, then. I’ve got to get back to work.”

Su Miaoyi entered the sketch room.

Lu Zhishen grabbed a pen and paper and sat on the sofa.

Su Miaoyi sat across from him.

Lu Zhishen tied his hair back into a small knot. He glanced up at her. ”Of the recent cases the station has handled, you’ve seen almost all of them. Except for Xiang Lianlian’s case, they’ve nearly all been homicides.”

Su Miaoyi looked at him, feeling like he was pointing out a pattern. ”What do you mean?”

Lu Zhishen shook his head. ”I was just making an observation. Let’s start the sketch.”

Su Miaoyi suppressed her confusion and began describing the face she had seen in the vision.

The two of them worked together in perfect sync.

Su Miaoyi was an expressive person, and her descriptions perfectly matched the details Lu Zhishen was trying to capture as he drew.

As a result, the portrait was finished quickly.

Lu Zhishen took the sketch and went straight to run it for an information comparison.

Su Miaoyi followed him.

The system quickly returned a match.

Chen Mingrui, male, a Jinghai local, currently a student at Jinghai Xianzhe International High School.

”Pull up his information. I’ll take it to Captain Zhuang,” Lu Zhishen said.

Meanwhile, Zhuang Yanzheng had also made a new discovery.

...

A little after eight in the evening.

Zhuang Yanzheng entered the interrogation room.

A night had passed. Cai Ke’s hair was a mess, the color was drained from his face, and his temper was growing shorter by the minute.

When he saw Zhuang Yanzheng, he shouted in a hoarse voice, ”It’s been over twenty-four hours! Can’t I leave yet?”

Zhuang Yanzheng sat down.

Seeing him sit, Cai Ke yelled, ”I’m definitely going to file a complaint against you!”

Zhuang Yanzheng just looked at him.

Cai Ke glared at him viciously, a savage grin finally spreading across his face. ”Zhuang Yanzheng, don’t think I don’t know what you’re trying to do.”

”Why don’t you tell me, then? What am I trying to do?” Zhuang Yanzheng asked.

”You and Shen Yanzhou have been thick as thieves since you were kids, and the amusement park on Qingyang Road is a Shen family development project,” Cai Ke said. ”With something like this happening, the Shen family must be in the hot seat now, right? Are you trying to find a scapegoat for this whole mess?”

Zhuang Yanzheng let out a soft chuckle. ”It seems you’re quite well-informed about the Shen family’s current situation. What, are you connected to all that news online?”

”No way!” Cai Ke shouted, then calmed himself slightly. ”Why? Did you find some connection to me?”

Zhuang Yanzheng lowered his gaze to the file in his hands. ”Shi Tianyu and Cai Xi were in the same class. Cai Xi had a crush on a girl, but that same girl had a crush on Shi Tianyu.”

”Zhuang Yanzheng, are you just making up stories now?” Cai Ke asked.

Zhuang Yanzheng ignored him and continued, ”Because of this, Cai Xi was constantly targeting Shi Tianyu, bullying and isolating him at school, both openly and secretly.”

The reason no one dared to tell the police about Zhao Tiantian was that more than half the class had isolated Shi Tianyu because of Cai Xi.

Because most of them had participated in the isolation.

”Impossible!” Cai Ke yelled.

”Listen to me,” Zhuang Yanzheng said sharply.

Cai Ke met his gaze and instantly became a bit more subdued.

”Last Sunday afternoon, Cai Xi and his friend, Chen Mingrui, ran into Shi Tianyu near Qingyang Road. As soon as Shi Tianyu saw them, he turned and ran. When he reached the abandoned amusement park, Shi Tianyu climbed over the fence. Cai Xi and Chen Mingrui followed him over,” Zhuang Yanzheng said.

”Then, they started fighting in the park. Cai Xi took out a knife and stabbed Shi Tianyu in the chest.”

”Having killed someone, Cai Xi and Chen Mingrui were terrified. They hastily concealed the body in the amusement park, climbed back over the fence, and went home.”

”In the early hours of Monday morning, you avoided the surveillance cameras, climbed into the amusement park, and buried the body.”

After Zhuang Yanzheng finished, Cai Ke snorted. ”Do you guys solve all your cases just by making up stories with your imagination?”

”This... is Chen Mingrui’s confession. This is blood extracted from under the victim Shi Tianyu’s fingernails, which matches Cai Xi’s DNA.” Zhuang Yanzheng took out the reports one by one. ”And this... is your DNA, from the blood you left on the sharp point of the fence when you climbed over.”

”And this—the murder weapon, recovered from your house.” Zhuang Yanzheng held up an evidence bag containing a black folding knife.

He had been waiting for these results so he could apply for a search warrant and go to the Cais’ house.

That was why he’d come so late.

Thankfully, the municipal station had advanced equipment. Otherwise, he would have had to wait several more days, letting the Cais act arrogantly for that much longer.

Cai Ke stared at the documents, and at the knife. He was silent for a moment, then began to deny everything vehemently. ”This is all just stuff you made up! You think I’ll believe it? You’re framing me! You’re framing me!”