flstandardbreds Chapter 1370 Surprise Interrogation, Major Discovery
Chapter 1370 Surprise Interrogation, Major Discovery
"Li Laosi, do you know why we arrested you?" Xiao Zhou placed a glass of water in front of Li Laosi, his tone calm. Li Laosi picked up the glass and took a sip, his eyes darting around: "I don't know, I just collect scrap metal, I haven't broken any laws."
"You didn't break the law?" Xiao Zhou placed a mediation record in front of him. "On May 18th, you had a dispute with Zhang Jianguo over the tricycle repair fee. You threatened him, saying you would make it impossible for him to stay in Qingling Lake. Did you say that?" He then took out a photo of the motorcycle. "This red motorcycle is yours, right? On the afternoon of July 10th, you repaired the mudguard with dark blue alkyd enamel paint at 'Xiao Li Motorcycle Repair' shop. Is that true?"
Li Laosi's fingers gripped the water glass tightly, his knuckles turning white: "So what if I said it? He owes me money and won't pay it back, so what's wrong with me yelling at him a few times? The motorcycle is mine, I'm fixing my own bike, what's it to you?"
“Whether it has anything to do with us or not, you know perfectly well.” Xiao Zhou showed a screenshot from the surveillance video. “At 9:23 PM on July 10th, you rode this motorcycle out of the village towards Qingling Lake; at 1:17 AM, you returned covered in mud, with obvious mud stains and reed fibers on the motorcycle. And Zhang Jianguo’s time of death was between 10 PM and 11 PM on July 10th, and the location of his death was right in the reed marshes of Qingling Lake. Do you dare say this is just a coincidence?”
Li Laosi's breathing became rapid, and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead: "I...I went to the lake to collect scrap metal. There are discarded fishing nets there, and I wanted to pick them up to sell for money. It was windy at night, and I accidentally fell into the mud, which is why I got dirty."
"Do you need to wear a helmet when collecting discarded fishing nets? Do you need to carry a black bag? Do you need to come back at 1 a.m.?" Xiao Zhou bombarded him with questions. "Furthermore, we found a pair of size 41 wavy sneakers at your recycling station, and the sole pattern perfectly matches the footprints at the crime scene; in your bedroom drawer, we found a belt with two symmetrical decorative buckles, which perfectly matches the characteristics of the weapon deduced by the forensic doctor; the bloodstains under the motorcycle seat, after preliminary testing, are highly similar to the DNA of the deceased Zhang Jianguo. How do you explain this evidence?"
Upon hearing the word "DNA," Li Laosi's psychological defenses completely collapsed. His legs went weak, and he slumped into the interrogation chair, his head hanging limply, repeatedly muttering, "I didn't mean to, I didn't mean to..."
Seizing the opportunity, Xiao Zhou softened his tone: "Li Laosi, if you confess your crimes now, you can still get leniency. According to Article 67 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China, if someone voluntarily surrenders himself to the authorities after committing a crime and truthfully confesses his crimes, he is considered to have surrendered himself and may be given a lighter or reduced punishment. If you can cooperate with us to find the tools used in the crime and explain the details of the crime clearly, it will greatly help your sentencing."
Li Laosi raised his head, his face covered in tears and snot, and said in a hoarse voice, "I really have a grudge against Zhang Jianguo. Not only did he force me to pay back the repair fees, but he also spread rumors that I stole things and ruined my reputation. On the evening of July 10, I saw him riding his electric bike past the scrap yard. I thought he was coming to collect debts again, so I hid behind a tree by the roadside. When he passed by, I called out to him and told him that I had no money and asked him to give me a few more days. He disagreed and even said that he would go to the police station to report me for stealing farm machinery parts."
"And then? You had an argument?" Xiao Zhou pressed.
"Yes." Li Laosi nodded. "We started arguing, and he pushed me. I panicked and took off my belt and strangled him. When he resisted, his fingernails scratched my arm, and he even kicked and broke my motorcycle fender. I tightened the belt until he stopped moving, then I let go. I was terrified, so I dragged him into the reeds and threw him into the water, thinking that way no one would know."
"Where are the tools used in the crime? Where are the belt you used and the wrench Zhang Jianguo brought?"
“I hid the belt under the pile of bricks in the backyard of the scrap yard, and the wrench… I threw it into Qingling Lake. I don’t remember the exact location, but it was in the water near the reeds,” Li Laosi said. “After I got home, I washed my clothes and the motorcycle, and even had the mudguards sprayed with paint to try and cover up the traces, but I didn’t expect you to find them anyway.”
Xiao Zhou immediately dispatched his team to the pile of bricks mentioned by Li Laosi, where they indeed found a black leather belt with two symmetrical decorative buckles. A small amount of dark red residue was found on the buckles, which preliminary testing identified as bloodstains. Meanwhile, DNA testing results from the technical department also came in: the bloodstains under the motorcycle seat matched the DNA of the deceased, Zhang Jianguo, perfectly, and the black cloth in the recycling station's drainage ditch matched the fiber composition found under the deceased's fingernails.
The case had made a major breakthrough, but Xiao Zhou did not let his guard down. He knew that there were still some doubts in Li Laosi's confession: Zhang Jianguo went to the abandoned dock to collect a debt, but besides Li Laosi, was there anyone else he had an appointment with? Was Li Laosi's claim of "stealing agricultural machinery parts" true? In order to clarify these questions, Xiao Zhou decided to continue the interrogation and at the same time arranged for his team to conduct a comprehensive search of Li Laosi's scrap yard to find more evidence related to the case.
The interrogation room was still dimly lit. Li Laosi lowered his head, his hands trembling uncontrollably. Xiao Zhou looked at him and said sternly, "Li Laosi, you must tell the truth about everything. There can be no hiding anything. When Zhang Jianguo went to the abandoned dock on the night of July 10th, besides you, did he look for anyone else? What exactly did you steal in your so-called 'stealing of agricultural machinery parts'? And who did you sell them to?"
Li Laosi's body visibly trembled, and after hesitating for a moment, he said, "Actually... Zhang Jianguo went to the abandoned dock not only to find me. He also had contact with a guy called 'Guilao,' who was in the illegal sand mining business. Zhang Jianguo helped him repair the engine of his sand dredger, and 'Guilao' owed him a repair fee that he hadn't paid. I only found out about this by chance when I overheard them on the phone."
"Who is this foreigner? What is his real name? Where does he live?" Xiao Zhou keenly realized that this might be another breakthrough in the case.
“I don’t know his real name, I only know that everyone calls him ‘Guilao’ (meaning ‘foreigner’), and he usually hangs around Qingling Lake, driving a blue sand dredger,” Li Laosi said. “The farm machinery parts I stole were sold to ‘Guilao’, and he used them to repair the sand dredger’s engine, paying me a few hundred yuan each time. Zhang Jianguo probably found out about this, which is why he threatened to report me.”
Xiao Zhou immediately reported this new situation to Li Ming.