Chapter 112: Mist

After Gong Zheng finished speaking, he looked up at the ceiling. Hu Jinquan saw the tears in his eyes, as if he was comforting his daughter in heaven!

Hu Jinquan asked: "You said that when the car passed the flood drainage ditch section, you took the initiative to wake up Hou Hongbo and let him get out of the car to urinate. What if he got out of the car and solved it on the spot? Wouldn't you have no chance to take action?"

"Heh!" Gong Zheng looked at Hu Jinquan flatly: "If he got out of the car and solved it, I would get out of the car and say I also wanted to urinate, and then I would pull him to the ditch embankment together. When I pushed him down, I would say he fell down accidentally, and no one could prove that what I said was a lie, right?"

Hu Jinquan was a bit angry. He was obviously trying to find a way to excuse this man in front of him, but the other party was like he had lived enough and was trying his best to prove that he had killed someone!

"You told us on the night of the crime that Hou Hongbo got out of the car because he received a strange text message, and according to our investigation, there was indeed a number that sent a text message to his mobile phone during that period. How do you explain this?"

"Then I don't know. Maybe it was a coincidence. I did hear his phone ring and confirmed it was the sound of a text message. Because I thought you would check his phone sooner or later, I told you directly. This is also to make you not suspect me."

"Good, then I ask you again, why did you want to kill Hou Hongbo?" Hu Jinquan asked.

Gong Zheng suddenly stared at Hu Jinquan and said: "He killed my daughter and made my wife crazy. If I don't kill him, heaven and earth will

"Since you knew he was the one who harmed Gong Xiaoyue, why didn't you call the police?"

"Heh!" Gong Zheng laughed miserably. "Call the police? I had no evidence! So many years have passed since the incident! Where was I supposed to find evidence? Besides, by then, my Yueyue was already gone!" Speaking of this, Gong Zheng suddenly withered away visibly, like a deflated ball. He lay there like a dead fish, his mouth opening and closing, yet unable to make a sound. Perhaps over these years, his tears had long since run dry in some lonely corner!

"So! I had to kill him with my own hands! To avenge my Yueyue!" At this moment, Gong Zheng spoke through gritted teeth as if possessed by an evil spirit.

"How did you know that the person who harmed Gong Xiaoyue was Hou Hongbo?" Hu Jinquan continued to ask. By now, he already believed that Hou Hongbo had been killed by Gong Zheng, but there were still some details that needed to be clarified for the sake of a complete chain of evidence. Deep down, he still hoped that through further questioning, he could find loopholes in Gong Zheng's story.

"On the morning we found out something had happened to Yueyue, she said that in her daze, she had smelled a strong, milky scent. I had heard from others that this was the smell of people who used meth long-term. So, I started looking everywhere for such people, hoping to get news about that man from them. Later, perhaps Heaven opened its eyes; one day, exactly four months after Yueyue's incident, around 10:00 PM, I picked up three thugs at the entrance of Snow Wolf Valley. When the three of them got into the car, I smelled that milky scent, and I immediately became alert, listening carefully to their conversation."

"The three of them got in, and one said they were going to New World. Another said it was too expensive and suggested going to Moon Village (a foot massage parlor). I saw that these people didn't look like rich men, and sure enough, the other two said it was still too expensive. Then, then one of them said he hadn't spent money to play with a female student..." Gong Zheng's voice trembled noticeably at this point!

"The one who said that was Hou Hongbo! I heard someone call him Hu Hansan at the time, and later I found out that was his nickname. It was that beast! Later, the three of them argued for a long time without reaching a result, so they had me drive them home. It just so happened that I found out where he lived! From that day on, I followed him every day, thinking about where to make my move, but not long after, that beast disappeared! I looked for him everywhere, asked around everywhere, and only later found out he had been arrested for theft! Lucky for him! He lived a few more years!"

Hu Jinquan looked at the man before him who had almost nothing left and couldn't help but sigh inwardly! A single moment of poor judgment had turned a simple rape case into a greater tragedy involving three lost lives and the ruin of several families! It had even caused a girl in the prime of her youth to fall!

After leaving the interrogation room, he returned to his office listlessly, just in time to run into his master, Lu Haoxuan, who had returned to the bureau.

During this period, he had thrown himself heart and soul into the Hou Hongbo case, to the point where he hadn't seen his master for several days. After Gu Changzheng was suspended for investigation, he had developed some opinions about this master, whether intentionally or not, and those opinions stemmed from the fact that he hadn't argued strongly for Gu Changzheng's case! He was the type of person who couldn't hide his feelings on his face, yet he didn't want to show any disrespect in front of his master, so this period had been truly awkward and uncomfortable.

Meeting Lu Haoxuan now, Hu Jinquan called out "Master" and was just about to leave when he heard Lu Haoxuan say, "Jinquan, how is that drowning case going? Any new progress?"

Hu Jinquan said, "Mm, it's almost closed!"

"Oh? Good efficiency! Come, tell me about the case!" Lu Haoxuan said.

Hu Jinquan felt that his master seemed to be in a good mood today, and besides, he should have reported the case to him anyway, so he entered Lu Haoxuan's office.

Half an hour later, after Hu Jinquan had recounted the details of the case, Lu Haoxuan picked up the file and began to read it carefully again.

Before long, Lu Haoxuan put down the file and said, "Jinquan, do you think the motive for Gong Zheng killing Hou Hongbo holds up?"

Hu Jinquan looked at him with some surprise and said, "Master, Gong Zheng has sufficient reason to kill Hou Hongbo. If it were anyone else, no one could endure that!"

"Is that the reason you believe he had the ability to carry out the murder of Hou Hongbo all by himself?" Lu Haoxuan said unhurriedly.

"What do you mean, Master?" Hu Jinquan was even more confused. Gong Zheng had sufficient reason to kill the other party; could it be that he wasn't the one who killed him, yet he was pushing himself toward a death sentence?

"Based on the evidence reflected in the file, there are three aspects of this case that haven't been explained clearly!" Lu Haoxuan said loudly.

Hu Jinquan habitually took out his notebook, preparing to record his words.

"First, that text message sent to Hou Hongbo's phone before he was killed was not a coincidence, and Gong Zheng's two different accounts of this matter must contain a lie. As for why he lied, that remains to be verified! And as for that text message, if the owner of the phone were any of Hou Hongbo's friends, it would make sense, but it happened to be a number registered with a stolen ID card, which can only mean that the person who sent the message was feeling guilty!"

"Second, Gong Zheng accidentally learned of Hou Hongbo's movements, then was able to precisely get him into his car, and was able to predict in advance that Hou Hongbo would definitely pass by that flood drainage ditch, and was able to immediately come up with a perfect illusion to make it look like Hou Hongbo had accidentally fallen into the water. Do you think that with Gong Zheng's ability, he could pull that off?"

"Third, and this is the most important point: from the investigation into Gong Zheng, it can be seen that he is a person with an introverted personality who is somewhat indecisive. This can be seen from how he handled things after Gong Xiaoyue's incident; he was always hesitant and overthinking. If he were a decisive person, perhaps the course of this matter would have been different!"

As Hu Jinquan listened and took notes, a layer of cold sweat couldn't help but break out on his back!