Chapter 292: Let Me Guess

That question caught Fang Peng off guard in an instant.

Two days, and he hadn't said a word, so there was no progress to speak of.

Seeing that Fang Peng had no intention of answering, Yu Dazhang continued asking:

"Do you really think we know nothing?"

Fang Peng across from him acted as if he hadn't heard, lowering his head to look at his own fingers, silent.

Confident and unafraid… Yu Dazhang frowned slightly.

The fact that he could stay so calm meant Fang Peng was confident the police couldn't do anything to him.

Hard to blame him — after all, his crimes had gone undiscovered for over two years, which had given him a kind of blind self-confidence.

And Yu Dazhang hadn't really expected to pry anything out of his mouth.

The task force officers hadn't gotten anything out of him in two days, so there was no way he could break him open in a short time.

The questions just now were merely his probe; seeing Fang Peng with the look of a dead pig unafraid of boiling water, Yu Dazhang couldn't be bothered to waste more words on him.

"If you don't speak up, Ruyao and Shu Rujia really can't be saved."

The real contest was only beginning now; Yu Dazhang refused to believe Fang Peng could truly remain unmoved.

Sure enough, upon hearing those two names, Fang Peng immediately raised his head.

A hint of panic surfaced on his face, but he quickly steadied himself:

"Officer, I've never heard of those two people you just mentioned. I think you've got the wrong person."

Lying!

Yu Dazhang noticed that when Fang Peng had just spoken, he made a very slight hunching motion.

When people lie, they unconsciously tighten themselves up; the most common is hunching the body.

At the same time he also raised his arm, seemingly casually placing it across his chest.

That was a protective gesture, also a frequent occurrence when lying.

Impressive mental fortitude, but he was still betrayed by micro-expressions… At this moment, Yu Dazhang had already determined Fang Peng was the primary suspect in the two disappearances.

Or rather, he was the one who did it!

"Did you see that just now?" Yu Dazhang raised his arm to point at Fang Peng across from him, but his eyes were on Ma Jian beside him:

"What a performance — if we hadn't already gathered evidence, he would have fooled us."

Ma Jian hadn't actually spotted Fang Peng lying, but since Yu Dazhang had said so, naturally he had to play along.

"Yeah, not a flicker on his face." He nodded in agreement:

"Anyone who didn't know would really think he was innocent."

Liu Miao, sitting on the other side, seeing the two of them start ribbing him, picked up the thread with equal understanding:

"At a time like this, he still has the nerve to cling to wishful thinking — ridiculous."

Fang Peng watched the three people across from him take turns appraising him, one comment after another, and couldn't help but be stunned.

He seemed not to have expected such a scene inside an interrogation room.

But judging by the relaxed expressions of the three of them, it was as if they really had the evidence.

"You shouldn't have spoken up just now."

Yu Dazhang turned his head and looked at him again:

"When you heard the names Ruyao and Shu Rujia, you were already shaken inside, so instinctively you wanted to defend yourself."

"That's a normal human reaction — if you could even suppress that, you could go be a spy."

His tone carried a hint of mockery, like a teacher scolding a student caught lying, leaving one with no urge to argue back.

As he saw it, the Fang Peng before him was simply provoking the police.

Really thought that by staying silent, the police would have no move left?

Childish!

The man's already in custody — there are plenty of ways.

The reason for speaking to him politely was to observe reason, evidence, and human rights.

If Fang Peng really wanted to play rough.

Heh, the detention center doesn't coddle anyone.

Seeing Fang Peng lower his head and fall silent again, Yu Dazhang wasn't in a hurry to speak, and simply waited.

After about a minute, Fang Peng raised his head, his eyes cold and dark as he looked at him:

"If you have evidence, bring it out."

Hearing his words, Yu Dazhang laughed.

Now that it could be confirmed Fang Peng was connected to the two disappearances, finding evidence was no difficult matter at all.

The reason for rushing to interrogate him was to learn the whereabouts of the two girls through him, and rescue them as soon as possible.

He was caught on November 2nd — exactly half a month ago.

Right now no one was sure whether the girls were still alive, so they had to race against time.

"I know what you're afraid of." Yu Dazhang slowly let his smile fade, his voice gradually turning cold:

"Xiaoyue was killed by you. You're afraid that once the truth comes out, you'll be sentenced to death — that's why you're so indecisive."

"No — you're not indecisive, you've already made up your mind to keep it hidden to the end."

While saying these things, he kept watching Fang Peng's expression.

Sure enough, when "Xiaoyue" was mentioned, Fang Peng clearly had a momentary daze.

Yu Dazhang also saw his fingers twitch slightly, as if wanting to clench into a fist, but he forcibly held back.

All three cold cases are connected to him!

Yu Dazhang didn't know Xiaoyue's full name, but since he had already mentioned the names of the other two victims earlier, when he now spoke the nickname of the last one, Fang Peng couldn't tell the difference at all.

With confidence in his heart, he became even more composed from then on, even adopting an air of looking down from above.

"Stop struggling. Your little tricks can't possibly escape the investigation of modern criminal forensics."

Yu Dazhang wore a look of complete assurance:

"Pull up the surveillance footage from before your arrest, then trace your movements from half a month ago, and finally lock down the places you frequent."

"I bet there's no surveillance around that place, and that's exactly why you're so confident the police can't find it."

When he said this, the Fang Peng opposite showed no expression, but pressed his lips together briefly.

That was a little gesture only made when feeling smug.

Knowing he had hit the mark, Yu Dazhang continued:

"Besides surveillance, we have plenty of other tracking methods. Once we can pin down the general direction of that place, finding the person is only a matter of time."

"Now let me take a guess…"

He caught a flicker of curiosity cross Fang Peng's face, and immediately understood what the other was thinking.

The direction was right!

Now even Fang Peng himself wanted to know whether Yu Dazhang could guess where the person was hidden.

"Places surveillance can't fully cover — the nearest would have to be the outskirts."

Yu Dazhang stared at him, his gaze like a torch:

"Villages and hamlets are out — many villagers now have surveillance at their doorsteps these days, and that's a hidden danger for you."

"And any village with a road through it generally has surveillance at the intersection, so if you chose a place like that, your movements would be exposed just the same."

Why not just come out and say where the person was hidden?

Because Yu Dazhang didn't know either.

All he could do now was voice the locations that came to mind, then use Fang Peng's micro-expressions to eliminate them one by one.

When he mentioned villages and hamlets, Fang Peng's left eye narrowed slightly and one corner of his mouth lifted.

That was a display of disdain and contempt.

It could be ruled out.

"You wouldn't pick somewhere too far either — there's no need; hiding well doesn't necessarily mean hiding far away."

Yu Dazhang went on:

"And the place where the person is hidden has to have a building."

"Ruling out villages and hamlets, the buildings in the near suburbs suitable for hiding someone would be unfinished buildings and abandoned factory warehouses."

"Not only do these two places have no surveillance coverage, but basically no one goes there normally — for you, they're absolutely ideal for hiding a person."

He paused when he reached this point.

Because the Fang Peng opposite still wore that look of disdain, unchanged from before.

Still not right…

For a moment, Yu Dazhang was a bit unsure too.

The direction wasn't wrong.

So what other places on the outskirts could hide a person?

(End of chapter)