Chapter 371: The Killer Isn't Him Either?

"Comrade police, I'm not a good person, but I could never commit murder! You have to believe me!", Zhou Bingquan explained vigorously.

"Yes, I do resent her, but the grudge between me and that woman hasn't deepened to the point where I must kill her; I don't understand why you suspect me."

"It can't be that just because she cheated on me while we were dating you think I killed her, can it? You can't be so reckless! Isn't that framing a good person?"

"Besides, our affair is ancient history; even if I truly hated her, I couldn't wait until now to kill her—if I were to kill, it would have been back then. That was so long ago; how could I now go after her life over something from years past? I'm not even ill!"

Hearing Zhou Bingquan's explanation, Li Yunfei's eyes lit up. "Great, now we even have a murder motive! The real killer is Zhou Bingquan!"

Zhou Bingquan's explanation not only failed to dispel Li Yunfei's suspicion, but had the opposite effect; now Li Yunfei suspects even more that he is the murderer… He has a grudge with the victim!

From Zhou Bingquan's words, Li Yunfei learned that Xu Jing had been unfaithful during her relationship with Zhou Bingquan, which could very well be the spark for this homicide.

Cases where a lover kills the other for infidelity are not rare; as a police officer, Li Yunfei has encountered and heard many such cases.

In Li Yunfei's view, Zhou Bingquan must know that Xu Jing died ten years ago, because he himself killed her, and he deliberately said those words to mislead himself into thinking Zhou Bingquan didn't know the true time of Xu Jing's death, thereby clearing suspicion.

Seeing Li Yunfei's odd expression, Zhou Bingquan was instantly stunned. "Big Brother, what's that look? I swear I didn't kill anyone!"

"Why does it keep getting darker, the more he explains, the less innocent he seems!"

Yet the next second, before Li Yunfei could speak, Xu Mo beside him shook his head again.

"It's not him; you've got the wrong person. The killer of Xu Jing is someone else."

Xu Mo saw that Zhou Bingquan wasn't lying; he wasn't the killer, and Zhou Bingquan didn't even know the time of Xu Jing's death.

Li Yunfei: "???".

"The killer isn't Zhou Bingquan either?"

"He's the last of the three suspects! If it's not him, who could it be?"

The officers outside the Interrogation Room were also baffled—what on earth was Xu Mo thinking?

Because of Zhou Bingquan's earlier explanations, the other officers, like Li Yunfei, also thought he was the killer; they didn't expect Xu Mo to again state that Zhou Bingquan is not the murderer.

Two of the three suspects have already been interrogated; if Zhou Bingquan isn't the killer, could the real murderer be the fallen officer Chen Xiaobing? That shouldn't be the case…

Realizing Xu Mo was speaking for him, Zhou Bingquan looked at Xu Mo as if he were a lifeline.

"Comrade police, I truly didn't kill anyone!"

"I know.", Xu Mo nodded. "But you still can't leave; we need you to cooperate and recall what happened back then."

"Alright! Ask away! I will say everything I know!"

Xu Mo stroked his chin and thought for a moment.

Among the three suspects, they've already interrogated two, and neither is the killer; as for the other, the fallen officer Chen Xiaobing, Xu Mo believes it's highly unlikely he's the murderer—a killer wouldn't have such a strong sense of justice.

Since Xu Jing's remains were found in a Small Forest beside the Public Security University track, even if the killer isn't one of the three they suspect, he must be a student of Public Security University.

After all, most killers bury the body on the spot; if the murderer weren't a student, he would have chosen a remote, scarcely trodden place to hide or destroy the corpse, rather than risk being discovered by bringing the body onto campus and burying it there.

"You said Xu Jing was unfaithful back then; who was the person she cheated with, also a student of Public Security University?"

"Yes, yes, the person she cheated with was a student at Public Security University—a senior a year above me, from a wealthy family," Zhou Bingquan nodded repeatedly, fully cooperative.

"What's his name?"

"Lin Tian! He was the one who actively pursued Xu Jing back then; perhaps she was attracted to his family's wealth."

Upon hearing that, Xu Mo turned his head to glance at the one-way glass of the Interrogation Room.

At that moment, Chen Ke, standing beside the one-way glass outside the Interrogation Room, instantly understood Xu Mo's meaning and immediately asked an officer to look up the man named Lin Tian.

"Oh, right, comrade police, that Lin Tian is a pervert! Back then he broke into my wall corner and I investigated, discovering he has a fetish: he likes to abuse small animals; stray cats and dogs on campus that he touched would either die or shed their skin. This kind of pervert… I think he's the killer!" Zhou Bingquan said with certainty. "He was later expelled from school because of this."

"Moreover, I heard he's not good to his former girlfriends—if he feels like hitting, he hits; if he feels like scolding, he scolds, and he often resorts to fists and kicks…"

At that moment, the Interrogation Room door was opened from outside.

The person who opened the door was Chen Ke.

He was holding a printed document in his hand.

"You two take a look; this is the Lin Tian he mentioned. He's right—Lin Tian, in his senior year, was caught abusing stray cats and dogs on campus, received a major demerit, and was expelled. Because of that, he never became a police officer. This Lin Tian… is equally suspicious!"

Xu Mo glanced at the document, then said to Chen Ke.

"I'm stuck here; why don't you take a few officers and bring Lin Tian to the Police Station as well?"

"Alright.", Chen Ke said, and without further comment turned and left the Interrogation Room.

"How about it, comrade police? Everything I said is true, right? Lin Tian is a pervert, the killer is definitely him, I'm innocent, I truly didn't kill anyone." After Chen Ke confirmed his words, Zhou Bingquan exclaimed, "With this, my suspicion should be completely cleared!"

Xu Mo said nothing.

Li Yunfei on the side also looked at Xu Mo with a surprised expression.

Earlier he thought Xu Mo was messing around, believing Zhou Bingquan was the killer.

But now he no longer thinks that, because a more suspicious person has emerged—Lin Tian!

Someone who enjoys torturing stray cats and dogs for fun undoubtedly has a high likelihood of killing a person.

Looking at it this way… Xu Mo's earlier judgment seems correct!

Zhou Bingquan might truly not be the killer; the murderer is someone else…