I Asked You To Simulate A Crime, And You Pulled Off The Perfect Crime? - Chapter 17

At 10:30 PM, the ticket seller was brought to the city police station.

Since she lived in the city, she arrived faster than the other witnesses Chen Shu mentioned. Sitting in the third interrogation room, she looked confused.

“Li Cui, 45 years old, from Haicheng, bus ticket seller, employed for ten years.”

Across from her, Wang Zheng’s voice rang out. He tossed the documents in his hand onto the table.

“Officer, I… I haven’t done anything wrong. Why did you bring me here so late at night?”

Li Cui stammered. She had been sleeping soundly when the police suddenly knocked on her door. Anyone would feel uneasy in that situation. Even if she had done nothing wrong, her mind couldn’t help but wander to bad possibilities.

Wang Zheng ignored her question and asked directly, “You know Chen Shu, right?”

“Chen Shu?” Li Cui furrowed her brows and thought for a moment. “Yes, I know him. He once took my bus, the one going to Jinfu Village.”

“You see hundreds, if not thousands, of passengers. So many days have passed, yet you remember him so clearly?” Wang Zheng pressed further.

Li Cui quickly explained, “Officer, did he do something wrong? I don’t have any special connection with him. It’s just that on April 2nd, he and his sister took my bus. I mistook them for a couple, so he left a strong impression on me.”

“Are you sure it was April 2nd?”

Wang Zheng stared at Li Cui. His piercing gaze made her uncomfortable, as if ants were crawling all over her body.

“Yes, I’m sure it was April 2nd.”

“What time?”

“7:30 AM departure.”

“Li Cui, think carefully before you answer. This is a serious matter. If you lie or help him falsify evidence, you know the consequences,” Wang Zheng warned in a calm but firm tone.

Li Cui quickly said, “Officer, I swear I’m telling the truth.”

“Alright,” Wang Zheng waved his hand. “Sorry for disturbing you. I’ll have someone escort you home.”

As the iron door of the interrogation room closed, Wang Zheng sat alone, his expression complex.

It had been years since he last felt this way, completely at a loss.

An hour later, a knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. Wang Zheng got up and stepped outside. It was Qin Min, he had brought the rest of the witnesses overnight.

“If one person lies, they can make it seem like the truth. But if several people lie together, there will always be holes,” Wang Zheng muttered as he walked into the interrogation room of a middle-aged couple.

They were the owners of the rural guesthouse Chen Shu mentioned.

“When did you see Chen Shu?”

The woman answered, “April 2nd. He and his sister came to Jinfu Village to see the rapeseed flowers.”

Her husband nodded. “Yes, I remember them well. That afternoon, Chen Shu even helped me butcher a lamb. You know how it is, most city folks visiting the village don’t want to get their hands dirty, but he was different.”

“What did you eat for lunch?” Wang Zheng asked.

“Boiled radish and stir-fried potatoes,” the woman replied.

“So many days have passed, and you still remember exactly what you ate?”

“Officer, our menu is always the same unless customers pay extra for something special.”

“When did they leave?”

“The next morning.”

“What time?”

“7:30 AM. There’s only one bus going back, and everyone in the village knows that.”

Wang Zheng’s frown deepened.

Then, he suddenly turned to the husband and asked urgently, “Tell me, the lamb you butchered, was it male or female? How much did it weigh? How much did you sell it for? No thinking, answer now!”

The man was startled by Wang Zheng’s raised voice. “Uh… male! It was a young lamb, just over ten pounds. I rounded down the price, so it was 180 yuan. That night, we roasted it for them and even gave them four extra side dishes.”

Silence. The entire interrogation room fell into silence. Wang Zheng had no more questions. He hadn’t expected them to coordinate their story so well, down to the smallest details.

“Why is he even asking these questions? Wang Zheng, are you dumb? The dates are wrong, so this whole interrogation is pointless.”

“Exactly! It’s a fact that Chen Shu and his sister were in Jinfu Village on April 2nd. They didn’t lie.”

“This is driving me crazy! This investigation team is so unreliable.”

“This episode is unwatchable. The actors are bad enough, but now even the detectives are making dumb mistakes.”

“We can only count on Su Haoran now. Hopefully, he finds the body soon.”

“Captain Wang, the village chief of Jinfu Village, is too old to travel at this hour. Should we wait until tomorrow?” Qin Min, who had been observing, received a message from an officer.

Wang Zheng thought for a moment and said, “If he can’t come, call him. We need answers tonight before they try any more tricks.”

“Captain Wang,” Qin Min hesitated. “What if we got it wrong? Maybe Chen Shu isn’t the second suspect. What if we’ve been focusing on the wrong person all along? What if Su Xiaoxiao deliberately misled us, shifting attention to her brother, while the real accomplice is someone else?”

“No, no, no,” Wang Zheng shook his head. “That doesn’t make sense. This morning, when we interrogated Su Xiaoxiao, her eyes told me that her brother was hiding something. I’m certain of it.”

“But you saw it too, none of these witnesses are lying. Every word checks out. On April 2nd, Chen Shu and Su Xiaoxiao weren’t at the crime scene. Someone else was!”

“Wait,” Wang Zheng changed the subject. “Chen Shu said he took the bus to the village on April 2nd. What about his bus ticket?”

“He has it. He even showed the evidence earlier, his and Su Xiaoxiao’s tickets, plus photos of them in the rapeseed fields. Everything checks out,” Qin Min said helplessly.

“No, no… they definitely killed the victim,” Wang Zheng insisted.

His conclusion wasn’t based on a gut feeling. It came from years of experience as a criminal investigator, sharpening his instincts through countless cases.

He left the room and entered the adjacent interrogation room where Chen Shu was being held.

Chen Shu sat in the chair, the dim light casting shadows across his face. His voice carried a mix of anger and innocence as he glared at Wang Zheng and demanded, “Officer Wang! Witnesses, evidence, I have everything!”

“Where’s yours?”