The Forensic Doctor Better Than a Detective

Chapter 229: Chapter 160: Looking at It from Another Angle

Li Jian glanced at the man sitting on the interrogation chair, feeling a bit familiar.

He thought for a moment and remembered it was the man from the small tavern.

Upon hearing a faint sound of hinges at the entrance, Chen He and Li Yong turned their heads.

Exchanging glances, Chen He and Li Jian nodded to each other.

Then, Chen He patted Li Yong’s shoulder.

”You carry on here, I’ll head out for a bit.”

”Okay, Mr. Chen!”

Thereafter, Chen He followed Li Jian out.

The two reached the corridor, and Li Jian asked, ”How’s it going?”

Chen He shook his head.

”In Interrogation Room 1, Li Yumei was among the bullied female workers.”

”When you sent me the photo, I happened to be in Li Yumei’s living room.”

”So, I brought them back directly.”

”Initially, they concealed their encounter with Chen Minghao from the night before last.”

”However, now they confess to the fight at the time.”

Li Jian nodded and asked, ”Anything else?”

”They both vehemently deny the murder.”

After thinking briefly, Li Jian asked, ”Why did they lie at first?”

”They said it was to avoid suspicion!”

”Avoid suspicion?”

Li Jian asked, ”Did they know Chen Minghao was dead at first?”

Chen He shook his head, ”They didn’t know initially; it was divulged during our investigation.”

Li Jian nodded slightly.

”There must be something abnormal here.”

”Lying without reason surely means there’s something else hidden.”

”Yes, we are hoping to make a breakthrough through this.”

”However, that woman Li Yumei is very tight-lipped.”

”She insists she only concealed their meeting to avoid suspicion.”

”What were their movements after leaving the tavern that night?”

”According to their statements, after leaving the tavern that night, they took a taxi home and slept.”

”But that’s just their explanation; we need further investigation.”

After pausing for a moment, Chen He said, ”But I checked the map earlier and found Li Yumei’s home is very close to Minghao Clothing Factory, less than half an hour on foot.”

”Therefore, we cannot rule out their suspicion for now.”

”What about the incident two years ago?”

Chen He replied, ”Li Yumei described Chen Minghao’s attempted assault on her back then.”

”Initially, he did not succeed due to her strong resistance.”

”Later, a familiar intermediary settled the matter with financial compensation.”

Li Jian looked solemnly out of the corridor.

”It seems now that Li Yumei has a certain motive for the crime.”

Chen He said, ”When discussing the murder motive, Li Yumei insists she didn’t kill.”

”She claims the incident happened long ago, and she has already forgotten it.”

”Regarding the argument that night, did they mention any cause?”

Chen He nodded, ”They did!”

”Around midnight, Li Yumei finished using the restroom and encountered Chen Minghao at the sink.”

”Chen Minghao flirted with her, saying she had become more voluptuous.”

”At that moment, her husband also came out of the restroom, and the two had a dispute.”

Having heard this, Li Jian nodded gently.

”According to the tavern’s surveillance, the confrontation did occur by the restroom sink.”

”Moreover, the server reported the woman repeatedly called Chen Minghao a scumbag, suggesting Li Yumei does indeed have criminal motives.”

After speaking, Li Jian took out two cigarettes, handed one to Chen He, and lit the other for himself.

And so, the two men silently smoked in the corridor.

Then, Li Jian said, ”Regarding the gasoline inquiry across the city, there aren’t any valuable clues.”

”Investigators checked everyone who bought gasoline, but found no clear suspects.”

”A few individuals with criminal records purchased gasoline, but after sorting investigations, they were ruled out as suspects.”

Chen He took a couple of puffs and asked, ”Could the female victim be Chen Minghao’s daughter?”

Li Jian shook his head.

”Jiang An and Zhang Yean went to investigate at Chen Minghao’s ex-wife Li Na’s place and found that Chen Minghao’s daughter is still alive.”

Chen He’s face was filled with doubt.

He asked, ”If she isn’t his daughter, how is it possible her genes are half identical?”

After a moment of silence, Li Jian said, ”Earlier, Jiang An analyzed from a genetic perspective; the woman might be his twin brother’s daughter.”

Upon hearing this, Chen He was taken aback.

”Is that even possible?”

Li Jian flicked the ash from his cigarette and said, ”It’s just a current hypothesis; it needs factual verification.”

At that moment, Jiang An and Zhang Yean also approached.

Li Jian raised his head and said, ”Jiang An, you’re just in time.”

”Earlier, Mr. Chen and I were discussing the identity issue of the female victim.”

Seeing Chen He’s somber expression, Jiang An had already guessed the interrogation results were not ideal.

Suddenly, Zhang Yean spoke up, ”Li Jian, Mr. Chen, how is Jiangcheng handling the women’s and children’s trafficking cases?”

”I’m thinking of using this method to see if we can find out the real identity of the female victim.”

”Zhang Yean, that’s a viable idea, but implementation is quite challenging.”

”Fighting against women and children’s trafficking is inherently very complex.”

Zhang Yean said, ”Now, there’s a public welfare program online called ’Baby Come Home,’ I’ll take a closer look later.”

Wan gave a thumbs up, ”Junior sister, you’re truly outstanding. Your thinking is very broad.”

A moment later, Jiang An asked, ”Li Jian, how is the gasoline buyer investigation proceeding?”

Li Jian replied, ”No valuable clues were discovered; a few people with prior offenses were involved, but they lacked criminal suspicion.”

Jiang An furrowed his brow in thought.

At this murder scene, it’s confirmed that the killer used gasoline as an accelerant.

Furthermore, Scene Investigation noted scratches on the gasoline can.

But why is there no lead regarding the accelerant clue?

Is it possible the killer bought gasoline elsewhere?

After a long silence, Jiang An said again, ”Li Jian, I heard Wan say earlier that Chen Minghao returned to Minghao Clothing Factory in a red car that night.”

Li Jian said, ”Exactly! But the red number plate was a fake.”

”We haven’t identified the car owner’s details.”

After pondering for a moment, Jiang An said, ”Even if the car has a fake plate, we can track it through its appearance.”

Chen He said, ”However, there are quite a few red cars in Jiangcheng, making the investigation extensive.”

Jiang An analyzed, ”Apart from red, we can still look for other trace characteristics on the vehicle.”

Li Jian Captain thought for a moment and nodded, ”That’s indeed a good idea.”

At this time, Wan came over.

Li Jian said, ”Wan, later we’ll head to the traffic police station again.”

”Brother, are we going again?”

”Didn’t we just get back?”

Li Jian said, ”This time the purpose is different.”

”Last time, we checked the destination of that red car.”

”This time, we’re checking that red car’s starting point.”

A while later, Jiang An analyzed, ”Li Jian, currently there’s no progress in suspect interrogations, and we’ve found no significant leads through Chen Minghao’s personal relations investigation nor suspicious individuals.”

”I’m wondering, is the killer’s target perhaps not Chen Minghao?”

”Not Chen Minghao?”

”Not Chen Minghao?”

...

Everyone looked startled, their eyes wide open, gazing at Jiang An.

After two minutes, Jiang An continued to analyze, ”So far, we’ve investigated Chen Minghao’s factory, social circle, and family, but found no apparent conflicts.”

”Also, the two individuals in the interrogation room seem to have no obvious signs of committing the crime.”

”Now I’m pondering, could the incident have occurred due to the female victim?”

Once Jiang An said this, everyone fell into contemplation.

After a long time, Chen He speculated and asked, ”Jiang An, are you suggesting this might be a crime of passion?”

Jiang An nodded, ”That’s just my current thought, but I believe we can’t rule out this possibility.”

”I’ve always been convinced that every murder has a strong motive.”

”In this case, there are two victims.”

”Through investigating the male victim, we haven’t found apparent conflicts.”

”So, why don’t we investigate the female victim instead?”

”Perhaps from an alternate perspective, we might find the breakthrough to solve the case and trace the suspect.”