Chapter 287: What Is the Murder Motive?

"Sure, I can go with you…" the little boy seemed a bit hesitant: "Can you keep it secret? I don't want anyone to know about my relationship with her."

Xu Mo unmistakably nodded.

"Of course, anything related to the case, we will keep confidential."

At this point, most of his doubts about the little boy were already dispelled; he thought the boy was probably not the murderer.

Because the boy was the deceased's kept lover, her kept pretty boy.

Which pretty boy would kill his own patron?

Isn't that just a money issue!

Nevertheless, even after easing some suspicion, Xu Mo still planned to take the boy back to the Police Station for questioning.

He wanted to get some information about the deceased from his mouth, to see if any clue to solve the case could be found.

At the same time, during the questioning, he would further judge whether the boy had any motive to kill.

After a brief chat with the forensic doctor and the Forensic Inspection Section staff, Han Fei came to Xu Mo's side.

Looking at the clean‑looking boy standing opposite Xu Mo and talking with him, he couldn't help but ask, "What's up, Xu Mo, who is this…"

Remembering the promise he made to the boy earlier, Xu Mo chose to quietly tell Han Fei the boy's identity.

Xu Mo leaned over to Han Fei and lowered his voice.

"He knows the deceased; he's the deceased's... boyfriend. I want to bring him back to the Police Station to help our investigation. As a bedside companion, he might know things outsiders don't."

Han Fei, after hearing that, gave the boy a surprised once‑over.

But his expression soon softened.

After all, as a police officer, he's heard and seen many absurd things.

"Then bring him along when we leave, let him help our investigation." After that, Han Fei turned to the boy and said, "Thank you for your understanding and cooperation."

…

Police Station.

Because the boy was brought back only to assist the investigation, he himself wasn't a major suspect.

So it was just questioning, not an interrogation.

Xu Mo never took him to the Interrogation Room at all.

Instead, he brought him straight to his own desk and asked a few simple questions.

"Do you know if the deceased had any enemies?"

"Enemies? I'm not sure there are any, but as far as I know, she barely had a social circle, didn't like going out, had few friends, so having enemies... seems unlikely."

No enemies? Xu Mo twirled the lighter in his hand; if there are no enemies, the killing shouldn't be a vendetta.

Could it be for profit? Maybe the deceased messed with someone's cake, leading to her murder?

That might be a starting point.

Thinking that, Xu Mo asked again.

"What did the deceased do? Did she ever talk to you about business matters, like having any competitors?"

"Competitors? There definitely aren't any!" the boy said resolutely. "She doesn't do business at all, so how could she have competitors."

Seeing Xu Mo still looking puzzled, the boy quickly explained.

"Don't assume she's in business just because she lives in a villa, or think she's a rich second‑generation. Neither is true; she became wealthy because when she was young she married a rich old man, then after she got rid of him, all his assets became hers."

"Well, that's how it is?" Xu Mo suddenly realized.

Yet after learning that, Xu Mo was instantly bewildered.

He suddenly felt a sense of helplessness.

For a moment he didn't even know where to start with the case.

Both the vendetta and profit‑dispute possibilities were ruled out.

One must know that all murder cases boil down to those two reasons.

Either you offended someone and got killed, or you were killed over a profit dispute.

But now, both possibilities have been eliminated.

Then why did the murderer kill?

Was the deceased killed because of infidelity?

That doesn't make sense; her husband is already dead, so there's no infidelity.

At that moment, Han Fei came over holding a document.

He placed the document on Xu Mo's desk and said,

"We briefly reviewed the deceased's social connections. The deceased, Guan Yiliu, fifty‑five, once went overseas when young, later drifted to Yangcheng, abandoned her previous high‑profile job, and married a wealthy businessman there. Our check shows she has almost no friends in Yangcheng and no enemies, so it's not a vendetta."

"Oh, and we also checked the villa's surveillance; it shows that from last night to this morning, no one entered or left the villa where the deceased was."

After that, Han Fei glanced at Xu Mo and asked, "Did you get any useful information from your questioning?"

Xu Mo shook his head.

"No, the answers are much the same as what you found. I did learn a bit more: the deceased had no financial dealings with anyone, so preliminarily it's not a profit dispute either."

"Also, the deceased's husband died long ago, so the killing wouldn't be due to family conflict," Xu Mo added after a pause.

When Police investigate homicide cases, the most common entry points and investigative directions are vendetta and profit disputes.

And from actual outcomes, a murderer usually kills either because they bear a grudge against the deceased, or because the deceased messed with a cake they shouldn't have.

Cases like this, neither a vendetta nor a profit dispute, are indeed rare.

Investigating it is quite tricky.

Moreover, the surveillance captured no useful clues, and Han Fei felt somewhat powerless for a moment.

He did want to examine it more closely.

But the problem is, up to now they haven't found a single breakthrough!

Even if they have strength, there's nowhere to use it.

There isn't even a single usable clue; could it really be suicide? At that moment, Han Fei's brows were already twisted into a "river" shape.

……

Soon, the fingerprint and hair test results collected at the scene came out.

"Han Team, after testing we found that the fingerprints and hairs we collected from the deceased's home all come from the same person, which matches our previous assumption, but the owner of these biological traces is not in our Police database."

If the biological traces aren't in the Police database, it means their owner has no prior record.

But that's not important.

What matters is who left those biological traces.

Han Fei wants to find this person as soon as possible and investigate to see whether the deceased's death is related to them.

This may be, up to now, the only breakthrough in the case.

Originally, Han Fei was thinking of checking the surveillance to see who frequently visits the deceased's house.

But just as he thought about checking the cameras, he suddenly looked at the boy sitting opposite Xu Mo and decided to skip the surveillance: "Do you often go to the deceased's house?"

The latter nodded, indicating he often goes.

Those biological traces belong to him? Han Fei thought.

Come on, the kid looks harmless; if those traces are his, wouldn't that mean the breakthrough we just found would be lost again?

To verify, Han Fei still prepared to have a police officer run a test.

"May I borrow a few of your hairs for testing?" Han Fei said to the boy.

"Sure!" As soon as the words left his mouth, the boy immediately plucked a few hairs from his own head and handed them to Han Fei.

Han Fei handed the hairs to the nearby police officer: "Run a test on them, quickly."

The boy can't leave until the test results are out.

Han Fei casually pulled out a chair and sat opposite the boy, ready to chat and coax some words.

"Don't be nervous; it's just a test. As long as this case doesn't involve you, you'll be able to leave soon. Now I'll ask you a few questions, and you must answer truthfully."