Chapter 225

Gu Changzheng raised the corners of his mouth, curling them into a deep, meaningful smile, and asked unhurriedly, "Then, that suicide note from Lou Zhen was also written by your hand, wasn't it?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Zhang Zhiyuan suddenly looked up, a flash of confusion in his eyes, as if he were still immersed in his previous remorse. He stammered in response, "Wha... what suicide note?"

Seeing this, Gu Changzheng couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart. Zhang Zhiyuan's reaction was so genuine—could it be that the suicide note wasn't forged by him? Then who could it be? Could it really be as he had suspected, that Xiao Hai did it? After all, the only people at the scene, besides Zhang Zhiyuan, were Xiao Hai.

Just then, Zhang Zhiyuan seemed to suddenly wake up, his eyes wide and his face full of rage as he shouted, "It was that brat! It must be him! I really didn't expect that, young as he is, his schemes would be so deep!"

Gu Changzheng's gaze was like a torch as he continued to press, "That day on the rooftop, did you and Xiao Hai have a premeditated plan?"

At this moment, the outline of the incident was gradually becoming clear in his mind, but he still needed to confirm his deduction.

Zhang Zhiyuan let out a long sigh, his face full of frustration and annoyance, "Sigh! Even if I say it, I'm afraid you won't believe me. The fact is indeed so; the peyote you found was given to me by Xiao Hai. Before this, I had no idea what that thing was used for!"

"Xiao Hai?" Gu Changzheng gave a bitter smile, "How can you prove that Xiao Hai was your accomplice?"

"Hmph! This kid is smart, but I'm no fool either!" Zhang Zhiyuan sneered, "The things he said when he came to me to discuss setting a trap for Lou Zhen to fall into, I recorded them all! It was to guard against the day this kid tried to play a trick!"

"Oh?" Gu Changzheng hadn't expected Zhang Zhiyuan to have such a card up his sleeve. He asked, "Where is the recording?"

Zhang Zhiyuan said, "In my office, there is a copy of 'Dream of the Red Chamber', and the digital recorder is hidden inside the middle volume."

Gu Changzheng glanced at him, then immediately communicated through his headset to Luo Fei outside, "Go to his office and find the digital recorder."

"Do you mean that Xiao Hai planned the entire incident? Why did he do this? And what about Chen Junyang?" Gu Changzheng asked.

"Because of my father, I met Xiao Hai after I came to Zizhen. Over these years, we became familiar, though we didn't interact much. About half a year ago, one day he suddenly came to the hospital to find me. At first, I didn't know what he wanted, but later he suddenly said, 'Do you wish for my grandmother to die?' This scared me; I didn't know what his purpose was, so naturally, I didn't want to keep talking to him."

"Seeing that I wanted to chase him away, he hurriedly said, 'I know you hate her, and I hate her too. My parents died or were arrested because of her! And she still messes around with men outside all day. I've long since had enough of her!'"

"At the time, I saw he was quite emotional, and I didn't know the details of what he was talking about, so I was very hesitant. But one thing he said struck a chord with me: I also hated Lou Zhen! So, after I waited for his emotions to calm down a bit, I asked him, 'Lou Zhen is your grandmother, how can you do such an unfilial thing? And she actually raised you; I don't believe you could bring yourself to do it.'"

"I was trying to bait him, but who knew he would get agitated again? He said, 'I know how my mother died. If it weren't for her, my mother wouldn't have died. Her raising me is just her owing us, but look at what she turned me into!' That was when I realized he blamed his mother Lou Hongyi's death entirely on Lou Zhen. Then he said he had a plan to kill Lou Zhen without anyone knowing."

"At the time, I certainly didn't believe him, but then he went on to explain his plan. I happened to have a digital recorder, so I recorded the plan he described afterward."

Gu Changzheng looked at him and said, "Such a coincidence?"

Seeing that Gu Changzheng seemed to doubt him, Zhang Zhiyuan hurriedly said, "During that time, I often attended meetings, and I was afraid of forgetting important things, so I carried the recorder with me just in case. Originally, I didn't take Xiao Hai's words seriously, but when I heard he had a plan, I realized he wasn't joking, so I secretly turned on the recorder."

Gu Changzheng and Gao Ye exchanged a look. If it was truly as Zhang Zhiyuan described, then Xiao Hai's viciousness and scheming were indeed beyond what an ordinary person could compare to!

"After Lou Zhen fell from the building, how long did you linger on the rooftop?" Gu Changzheng continued to question. Zhang Zhiyuan said, "I saw her jump, so I hurriedly called Xiao Hai out to help me clean up the letters she had torn up. After everything was cleaned up, Xiao Hai told me to go back first, so as not to attract anyone's attention if I were away for too long, so I left the rooftop in a panic!"

So that was it. It seems the subsequent events were all arranged by Xiao Hai. This kid started out with the intention of splashing dirty water onto Chen Junyang!

"Team Leader Gu! Luo Fei called to say the digital recorder was found, and he has already played it. It is indeed that Xiao Hai's voice inside!" The police officer outside the interrogation room reported the situation on Luo Fei's end through the headset to Gu Changzheng.

At this point, Gu Changzheng completely believed Zhang Zhiyuan's words. Of course, even if the recorder was brought back, the content would still need technical verification. However, the matter was now essentially brought to light, but he still felt uncomfortable in his heart. Perhaps it stemmed from his initial trust in Xiao Hai?

He laughed at himself in his heart. It seems he was just an ordinary mortal after all. Fortunately, he hadn't been blinded by his own preferences!

Now, it was time to "invite" that Xiao Hai to the bureau!

Xiao Hai seemed to have anticipated that the police would eventually find him again. With Zhang Zhiyuan caught, he naturally wouldn't be spared. It was just that he relied on the fact that the police couldn't find evidence, and they couldn't convict him based solely on Zhang Zhiyuan's one-sided story. He just hadn't expected that their conversation had been secretly recorded by Zhang Zhiyuan!

In the interrogation room, Xiao Hai curled up on the hard iron chair. His naturally fair little face now presented a sickly pallor! This was his first time entering such a place, and the solemn, oppressive environment made him feel a bit breathless!

At this moment, Gu Changzheng and Luo Fei appeared in the room. Seeing the two of them, Xiao Hai forced himself to put on a relaxed appearance.

Gu Changzheng smiled, "Xiao Hai, oh, I should call you Lou Xiaohai! We meet again!"

Xiao Hai twitched the corners of his mouth, barely squeezing out a smile. After Luo Fei inquired about the suspect's basic information according to procedure, Gu Changzheng said seriously, "Lou Xiaohai, do you know why you were invited here?" His tone was still extremely polite.

Xiao Hai blinked his eyes, tilted his head and said, "Because of my grandmother's affair?"

"Why did you harm your grandmother Lou Zhen? After all, you were raised by her!"

"What?" Xiao Hai looked surprised, "Officer, your words are too outrageous! Did Zhang Zhiyuan say this?"

Gu Changzheng smiled silently. Although this kid was deep, he was still inexperienced in some aspects. This was equivalent to saying "there is no silver buried here" (a classic idiom for revealing one's own secret)!