Chapter 103: Chapter 47: You Underestimated Us, Overestimated Yourself (Seeking Monthly Votes and Subscriptions)
"Two different knives?" Zhao Donglai furrowed his brows upon hearing this.
"Captain Zhao, our team three also has a new situation to report to you," Luo Fei stood up and said.
"Speak," Zhao Donglai nodded.
"Just now, my team and I conducted a simulation of the events on the day of the incident. We found that Lin Gang could only have inflicted the stabbing wound to the lower back if he had delivered an extra blow after the victim fell onto the sofa. However, according to descriptions, Lin Gang was in a state of extreme panic at the time, so we believe it is unlikely that Lin Gang would deliver an extra blow to a victim who had already completely lost the ability to resist," Luo Fei said calmly and steadily.
"What do you mean by this?" Although Zhao Donglai suspected what Luo Fei was implying, he still asked.
"I think that, on the night of the incident, besides Lin Gang and Cheng Zhiyou, a third person entered the crime scene. He entered after Lin Gang left, found that Cheng Zhiyou was not dead, and then stabbed him twice in the lower back," Luo Fei stated his hypothesis.
"A third person? Could it be Cheng Wei?"
"It should be him, because based on Lin Gang’s interrogation, Cheng Wei’s reaction was very suspicious."
The people in the meeting room began to discuss the possibility of a third person at the crime scene delivering the extra stab wounds upon hearing Luo Fei’s analysis.
"You suspect Cheng Wei?" Zhao Donglai looked at Luo Fei and asked.
"Yes, given the current conditions, Cheng Wei has the most motive to commit the crime," Luo Fei affirmed with a nod.
"If it was indeed Cheng Wei who entered the crime scene and inflicted the second injury to the victim, then he would have had to climb over the iron fence at the back of the residential area just like Lin Gang," Yang Su pondered, because the group had checked the surveillance at the entrance of the residential area, and there was no record of Cheng Wei entering or exiting that night.
"If Cheng Wei really entered the crime scene and attacked Cheng Zhiyou again, then the most important things for us now are to quickly gather evidence of Cheng Wei entering the crime scene and identify the most crucial murder weapon," Zhao Donglai outlined the two most urgent points.
"Alright, team one, team four, and the tech team, immediately conduct a comprehensive search of the crime scene, the residential area, and its surroundings to see if evidence of Cheng Wei entering the crime scene can be found."
"Teams two and three, investigate Cheng Wei’s movements on the day of the incident. Find out everywhere Cheng Wei went that day, and as for the knife, it’s very likely a recent purchase by Cheng Wei. If we can find evidence of Cheng Wei buying the knife, it would greatly aid our case," after identifying the possibility of a third person at the crime scene and that the perpetrator might very well be Cheng Wei, Zhao Donglai promptly assigned tasks.
"Does anyone else have anything to add? If not, carry out the tasks as planned," Zhao Donglai asked the people below.
"Captain Zhao, regarding the two wounds on Lin Gang’s lower back, we didn’t clarify this earlier. Should we interrogate him again?" Luo Fei reminded them that previously they all thought the wounds on the victim were inflicted by Lin Gang, and didn’t consider the possibility of another suspect delivering the extra stabs.
"Right, I almost forgot about that. Luo Fei, immediately interrogate Lin Gang again to ascertain whether those two wounds were caused by him," Zhao Donglai instructed.
The meeting ended.
Luo Fei immediately took Lin Gang out for interrogation.
Interrogation Room
"Lin Gang, earlier you told us that you took the knife to steal money and for courage, correct?" Luo Fei asked the haggard-looking Lin Gang before him.
"Yes, that’s it. I originally didn’t think about taking a knife, it was Cheng Wei who reminded me. He said if I had a knife, I could use it to scare people if necessary. I agreed and brought my usual dagger," Lin Gang replied.
"I see," Luo Fei nodded.
"By the way, do you remember how many times you stabbed Cheng Zhiyou?" Luo Fei continued to ask.
Lin Gang shook his head, "I can’t remember that. I only remember that I first stabbed once, then he grabbed my shoulder. I couldn’t shake free, so I stabbed several more times before I pushed him onto the sofa. Seeing he didn’t react, I got scared and ran away."
"Are you sure that after Cheng Zhiyou fell onto the sofa, you didn’t stab him again?" Luo Fei stared into Lin Gang’s eyes and asked.
"No, I wasn’t trying to kill anyone, I just wanted to escape. Where would I have the mind to stab again?"
Luo Fei observed Lin Gang’s natural demeanor, which did not seem like he was lying, and was almost certain that the two stab wounds on the victim’s lower back were not inflicted by Lin Gang.
Team Three Office
Luo Fei had just returned to the office.
"Sun Jun, bring out the map," Luo Fei quickly walked to the case analysis board and urgently said to Sun Jun.
Sun Jun quickly walked to the bookcase at the back of the office and took out a folded map from the desk at the bottom.
He quickly returned and handed the map to Luo Fei.
Luo Fei unfolded the map, revealing a detailed map of Ningjiang.
Luo Fei then pinned the map to the case analysis board with magnets.
Using chalk, he marked out District Six where the victim Cheng Zhiyou was located.
"Here is District Six where the victim was. Surveillance points around District Six are here, here," Luo Fei said as he used chalk to mark the surveillance points around District Six.
"Sun Jun, you and Zhaocheng should go and copy all the surveillance footage from these cameras from the day of the incident. We’ll review the tapes tonight," Luo Fei instructed.