Chapter 162: Alarm

Liu Wenkai took out a comb again, smoothed his bald head, then returned to the interrogation room to continue questioning.

At his reminder, the technical officer from the Criminal Science Team immediately fetched the suitcase to the conference room.

A clean white cloth was laid over the long table in the conference room. The items from the suitcase were taken out one by one, arranged, labeled, and photographed.

Jiang Yuan and three other technical officers, dressed in white lab coats, wearing gloves, goggles, and masks, silently observed the evidence on the table.

A blue scarf, a roll of climbing rope, two T-shirts, a leather belt, a stainless steel hammer, a first-aid kit, a toiletry bag, a towel, a razor…

To be honest, just a minute ago, everyone had assumed the suitcase contained spare clothes and daily essentials for travel.

It looked like it too.

But now, Jiang Yuan looked at each item and saw them all as weapons.

The scarf and rope could be used to strangle someone, but it requires skill—back in the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Jiajing was nearly strangled to death by palace maids with a rope; they lost their grip, so he survived, and they were all flayed alive.

The hammer, needless to say, if placed on a construction site, is considered a safety tool—but if used to kill, it becomes a small meteor hammer.

As for the razor and the medicines in the first-aid kit, they're even harder to explain.

No need to explain them—Jiang Yuan went straight to collecting evidence and let the evidence speak for itself.

Fingerprints on the rope, scarf, and even the stainless steel hammer were hard to extract; if given to Wang Zhong, he'd be busy for a while.

For Jiang Yuan, it was much simpler.

He extracted the fingerprints, then proceeded to collect DNA…

Once the suitcase was fully organized, they went to the surveillance room and heard Li Jianye already boasting.

"I usually just travel around, enjoying the beauty of our motherland."

"When I'm short on cash, I pick someone from the list who owes high-interest loans, go straight to them, demand payment—usually get a few thousand yuan. If it's not enough, I make them take out a loan on the spot and withdraw it from an ATM."

"Question me? All I have to do is beat them up. Oh… this time was an accident. I don't usually kill people. This time, that kid was just too tempting…"

"I stabbed him once and he fell dead. If I'd known, I should've wrapped him in cloth first before stabbing—would've left no marks."

In the surveillance room, over a dozen police officers gathered around watching.

Hearing Li Jianye's voice, Wu Jun couldn't help saying, "This guy knows he's going to die. We just don't know how many cases he's tied to…"

Huang Qiangmin nodded slightly and said, "So you must collect evidence with even greater care…"

Mid-sentence, Huang Qiangmin's phone rang.

He answered it, then walked out of the surveillance room, saying "Yes, yes, yes…" all the way.

No need to ask—it had to be a superior.

No one paid it much mind. With a fresh murder case, plus cold cases, plus fugitive issues, it was natural for leadership to take notice.

Soon after, Huang Qiangmin returned, his expression strange and grave.

"Chief Huang, what's going on?" Wu Jun asked, puzzled.

"The ministry's alarm was triggered. Someone from the ministry wants to come take a look." Huang Qiangmin shook his head. "You need to organize the evidence properly and show it to them later."

Wu Jun couldn't believe it: "Which case triggered the ministry's alarm?"

"I don't know." Huang Qiangmin stretched lazily—he was feeling relaxed now.

If the ministry wants to take the case, let them take it.

If the provincial bureau came asking for a case, Huang Qiangmin definitely wouldn't hand it over.

But the ministry was different—they could easily award second-class or first-class merit, had ample funding, and were generally welcomed by grassroots units.

Handing them the case wouldn't cost him anything—he'd still get his due credit.

And it'd save trouble.

In the interrogation room, Liu Wenkai stroked his hair as he listened to Li Jianye's boasting.

He still had to play along and let Li Jianye keep talking.

Criminals who knew they were doomed always had a strong desire to perform—he'd seen it many times and understood it well.

He once met a farmer who killed a friend over a petty dispute in the fields; during interrogation, the man wept bitterly, eager to recount farming techniques, afraid no one would remember them later.

To him, criminal records were a way to preserve his legacy for eternity.

Li Jianye grew more and more excited.

Smoking the cigarette offered by the detectives, Li Jianye sighed: "Indeed, my criminal career… hasn't been perfect…"

He was now using the word "career" to describe his life.

The junior detective beside Liu Wenkai scribbled furiously—this testimony would carry legal weight.

Liu Wenkai encouraged him further.

Soon, Li Jianye volunteered: "Travel groups are great. Cheap fees, accept cash, and include meals and lodging…"

"How do you handle the problem of too many people and too much chatter in a travel group?" Liu Wenkai asked, posing a sharp question.

Li Jianye nodded slightly. "You've thought of it well—it's simple. Just join a cheap group."

"A cheap group?"

"Cheap groups are full of old men and women, all with dim eyesight. What's the point of worrying about numbers? They can't even tell who you are. Honestly, I should've joined a cheaper group this time—I was careless."

"Even if you joined a cheap group, you still wouldn't escape."

"Not necessarily. I just never planned to kill. If I'd truly intended to kill, I'd have chosen my group more carefully."

"How so?"

"For example, buy two large suitcases. After killing someone, bring back only the key parts—like the head or fingers. Then, ride the tour bus to some scenic spot, dump the parts, and even gods couldn't find them."

Li Jianye chuckled happily: "Think about it—where do travel groups go? When I traveled to West Guangdong years ago, I saw those caves and burst out laughing…"

He smoked calmly: "If you get on good terms with the tour group, you can often ask them to help carry suitcases. Once, I killed a child and put the whole body inside a travel suitcase."

Liu Wenkai's skin crawled—he forced himself to endure Li Jianye's confession, then said coldly: "Was the Haibin Case yours?"

The Haibin Case got its name from human finger bones first discovered on a beach at a resort.

Subsequently, four more similar cases turned up, and blood traces left by the killer were eventually found—but since then, the Haibin Case killer vanished without a trace.

"Er… that's just an old reputation. Didn't expect you'd recognize it." Li Jianye burst into loud laughter.

He felt satisfied.

Most importantly, he needed to claim his most significant case.

Liu Wenkai's earlier warning about being "falsely credited" was exactly what Li Jianye feared most.

What if, after he was executed, someone else took credit for his crimes—or worse, got on the news? That would be unbearable.

Without needing Liu Wenkai to prompt him, Li Jianye began recounting the details himself.

Outside the surveillance room, Huang Qiangmin and the others exchanged glances.

No wonder the ministry's alarm was triggered—the Haibin Case was already famous, a case under direct ministry supervision.