Chapter 166 (1/2)
Chapter 166
Interrogation
”What really happened that night, Miss Zhou?”
Zhou Qin raised her head and aze froation room surrounded her like a prison cellThe chair under her felt hard and uncomfortable, but that probably hadin it for hours telling the saain
Zhou Qin looked past the police detective's shoulders at the large, tay mirror carved at the center of thein this entire picture were handcuffs and shackles
Zhou Qin looked at Detective wang onceI know, haven't I?”
The detective sighed”Come on, Miss ZhouI want the truthHow did He Shao really die? And where's the body?”
Zhou Qin's smirked”Oh? So you do believe that he's dead, then? WellI suppose that's progress”
Detective wang shrugged”We're not ruling out other possibilities, of courseIt depends on what you tell us”
Zhou Qin shrugged”I told you the truth”
That wasn't a lieShe did tell Detective wang the truth—the relatively believable truths anywayShe'd left out the parts aboutthe whole tihtning from the sky
UnrealIt was unrealEven to her, so unfold with her oo eyes, all of it seemed unrealIt would be foolish to tell the police the whole truth, since it would further di would believe all thatsaid”Let's just run this through froave hi to doHe was trying to find loopholes in her story, and perhaps get her to revealopened a folder on the table, then pushed a couple of photographs towards herAll the photos were taken at Shengyuan HotelOne was a photo of her speaking with Ding Nan outside the banquet hallAnother one showed her standing beside her Audi, speaking with Li Yundong outside the gatesThe rest were rando conversations with He Shao
Detective wang tapped his finger on one of the photos”We have evidence to show that you, Miss Ding Nan, and MrLi Yundong were the last people He Shao had had contact with before his death” Detective wang raised his brows”assu that he is dead and not kidnapped by an unknown party”
Zhou Qin looked up from the photos”He Shao is dead,” she said in a sharp tone
”Then prove itHelp me understandExplain to ainst the back of her chairShould she show them the video after all? She hadn't planned to do so, but it was starting to seem like she had no other choice
”Let's start with this” Detective wang pushed another photo towards herThis one showed the curb outside Shengyuan Hotel's security boothProbably taken by one of the surveillance cameras in front of the boothThe photo showed Zhou Qin and Li Yundong having a conversation beside her Audi
Detective wang tapped his finger on the timestamp of the photo”This was ten minutes before He Shao drove away frouy”—Detective wang tapped his finger on Li Yundong's i a bunch of death threats” Detective wang reonna have to try harder to help me make sense of all this, Miss ZhouBecause at this rate? Things really don't look good for you and your friendLike I said, you two are the last people He Shao had had contact with before he disa—I mean before he died”
”SureFire away,” Zhou Qin said in a casual tone”What else do you want to know?”
”I want ive me”
Zhou Qin stared at the detective
”Start with this picture” Detective wang pointed at the photo”What were you and Li Yundong talking about at the time?”
Zhou Qin studied the photo for aaway fro outside the gatesSo I pulled over to say hiI asked hi at the hotelHe told me he was on a job”
”What kind of job?” Detective wang asked
”He runs security for President Cao Kefei of Huasheng StudiosHe was there as her bodyguard that night” Zhou Qin gave the detective a pointed look”I'm sure President Cao can verify that”
Detective wang nodded and wrote so down on his notebook”There were two other woatesWho are they?”
”I don't know those tomenI did ask him, but he didn't tell me”
”But they were both with him when you arrived?”
”Yes”
”They were conversing? Exchanging words?”
”Yes”
To be exact, Li Yundong was yelling at those tomen, but Zhou Qin wouldn't reveal that
”Did you knohat they were talking about?”
”No”
”So you didn't e to catch bits and pieces of their conversation?”
”Of course not” Zhou Qin glared at the detective”It's not my habit to eavesdrop on other peopleBesides, their conversation stopped when they sawstudied Zhou Qin for a moment”OkayWhat happened next?”
Zhou Qin suppressed the urge to roll her eyesThis again
”LookI already told you, didn't I? After that the twins fell, and we ran into the building—”
”In detail, Miss Zhou,” Detective wang interrupted”I want it in full detail”
Zhou Qin sighed”FineLetnodded”SureTake your time”
Zhou Qin didn't need any time; she already knehat detail to reveal to the copsEven so, she had to act like she hadn't practiced her story in her head over and over again before she was called into the interrogationThe cops would suspect a lie if her story seean her account of the events that night
”We heard a scream, and then a loud crash” Zhou Qin arched a brow”And as you and your colleagues probably already knew fro to see what happened”
”And? What did you see?”
<hr>
”BloodA lot of blood” That was the complete truth
”M YuWell, I couldn't tell the twins apart to be honest, but I heard Li Yundong yell her name when he ran over”
”Ran over to where?”
”Towards the blood and the body”
Detective wang nodded and flipped through a few pages in his notebook”Li Yundong's prints were on Miss Deng Yu's bodyHis girlfriend's too”
”Well, I'm not surprised that they were” Zhou Qin arched a brow”I mean, if you were in the same situation, wouldn't you at least try to check and see if the girl was still alive? To check for a pulse or vital signs?”
”Of course I would,” Detective wang said distractedly”Go on”
”Not long afterthe first body, there was a second screa for a moment”The second twin fell off a balcony”
Detective wang put down his notebook and sat up straighter in his chair
”AhNow you've reached the part where I don't get,” Detective wang said, studying her face carefully”You said that Li Yundong knew He Shao was the one responsible for the twins' deathsBut ho could he possibly know?”
”Co just minutes after the twins fell to their deaths”
Zhou Qin decided to leave out Li Yundong's clai on a balcony fifteen floors up
”Fair enoughBut chasing after a car? A BMW sports car, ave her a skeptical look”You expect me to buy that?”
Zhou Qin smirked”What can I say? He's fast”
Detective wang stared at her through narrowed eyesA moment later, he leaned forward and placed his elbows on the table”You hiding so from us, Miss ZhouI know you are”
Zhou Qin smiled”I don't see what I have to hide” She crossed her legs under the table”The way I see it? The sooner I can get out of here, the better”
Detective wang's eyes narrowed even further”We know there's souy, Miss ZhouWe've seen the footages”
Oh you have no idea, detectiveNo idea
Zhou Qin shrugged”Then there's really nothing left for me to tell you, is there? You've seen the evidence of his abilities, so you already know that he's fast enough to keep up with a sports carWhat else do you want from me?”
”What I want to knohether any of the evidence presented to us have been ta expression spread across Detective wang's face”With your resources, I don't think it's that hard to hire a team of hackers to mess with the traffic cams”
Zhou Qin smiled”Is that an accusation, detective? Do I need to call 's s back a BMW sports car, stopping it fro? This is real life, not a scene from a Captain America movieNo human is capable of a feat like that”
”What do you want me to say? He just is,” Zhou Qin said in mild exasperationShe felt utterly exhaustedPlus, hershe'd witnessed”And ould I tamper with the traffic cams, detective? What would be the point?” Zhou Qin shook her head”Even if I did hire a hacker to e with soed it to so completely normal and innocuous rather than what you saw”
Silence fell upon the interrogation rooe of He Shao's car was found,” Detective wang said a minute later”How did you knohere to find hihedThis was the part where she had to lieShe wouldn't just make stuff up, of courseShe was s the truth
”Shortly after Li Yundong ran after the BMW, his girlfriend passed out in front of the hotel”
”Why did she pass out?”
”Shock,” Zhou Qin said confidently, even though she didn't have a clue why Su Chan passed out
”Go on”
”I booked a rooht her to the rooot an email notification from the university's foru that they saw Li Yundong running past the calance”You can check the forums and also the time the post was ot up and knocked on the tay mirror twiceThen, he walked back towards the table and sat down”And then?”
Zhou Qin shrugged”I knew that if so past the campus, then He Shao's car lanced at the detective briefly”That was under the assu after He Shao's car” Zhou Qin crossed her arms in front of her chest”By then, it became obvious to me what He Shao was up to” Zhou Qin snorted”He was clearly driving towards the city liot into my car and drove over there as fast as I could”
LiesZhou Qin didn't even knohere He Shao went until that girl—one of Li Yundong's weird friends—called, asking her to bring Su Chan over to some field at the roadside as quickly as she could
Detective wang flipped through his notebook again”You told the police counman on the run, in that particular area” Detective wang held her gaze”And you also told hi in and out of the area for at least half an hour”
Zhou Qin uncrossed her ar's eyes narrowed”How did you even know that He Shao had a gun?”
Zhou Qin suppressed a sThe solution was obviousLieTell more liesBelievable lies concocted fro to the university, I kept checking the forums for any updatesA few students counshots in the area” Zhou Qin exhaled”I knew it had to be He Shao”
Detective wang shot her a skeptical look”And that's when you called? Youto the scene?”
”Yes”
”So you weren't even there at the scene when the shots were fired,” Detective wang said
”Obviously”
”And yet you dee cleared his throat”to convince the commissioner to set up a blockade? There could've been witnesses to verify He Shao's supposed getaway”
”I did what I judged to be right” Zhou Qin leveled a cold gaze at the detective”You don't know He Shao as well as I doThatwhen he's desperate” Zhou Qin smirked”How can I, a responsible citizen of this country, allow innocent bystanders to get injured, or worse, killed by a loose gunman when I know I have the means and resources to prevent further casualties?”
Satisfaction coursed through Zhou Qin when she saw the twitch on Detective wang's eyebrows
”I can totally understand that if your request applied only to civilians,” Detective wang snapped”But you told the commissioner not to allow any armed officers to enter as well”
Zhou Qin s ave the tay ues really want to be put in a position where you're forced to fire your weapons at He Shao?” Zhou Qin smirked”Do you really think your careers would survive the wrath of the He fa went pale
Zhou Qin chuckled”YeahI thought as 's pale face”If you guys injure or kill He Shao, you'll o, your reputation as cops would be ruined” Zhou Qin shrugged”Either way, it would be the end of your careers” Zhou Qin smirked”You're welco cleared his throat harshly”You said you were in your car, heading over to wherever He Shao was going”
”That's correct”
”Were you aruys think she was stupid? ”No I wasn't aral for private citizens to own firearms in this country”
”Then as your plan? What were you planning to do when you did catch up to him?”
”To talk to him and convince him to turn himself in, of course” Zhou Qin smiled”Like I said, I'm a responsible citizen”
The detective eyed her skeptically”But you were also an unarmed woman about to confront an arround” Zhou Qin crossed her arms confidently”He wouldn't dare har pulled out two more photos from his folder and slid theave the photos a brief glanceEr Lu and his mother, both of whom He Shao had murdered
”Do you know these two victims?”
”Not personally,” Zhou Qin answered”But I know the lady runs a vegetable stall at the marketThehad a rathershall we sayantagonistic relationshi+p with the male victim”