I See Murders Before They Happen

Chapter 89: Chapter 87: Interrogating Cao Hong

Cao Hong’s DNA test results were also back.

It was a match for the DNA in the blood sample collected from a drawer in Su Miaoyi’s residence.

This confirmed that Cao Hong had gone through Su Miaoyi’s home.

However, when asked what he was looking for, he claimed he didn’t know it was Su Miaoyi’s home. He said he had run away and was out of money. Seeing that no one was home, he went inside, intending to take some valuables.

He claimed he put everything back in its place to create the illusion that no one had been inside, thereby preventing the owner from calling the police.

"Take some valuables? The computer was sitting right there on the desk. Why didn’t you take it?" Zhuang Yanzheng didn’t believe him.

Cao Hong said, "That piece of junk computer would sell for five hundred yuan at most. What can you even do with five hundred yuan these days? I’ve never been in such a poor-ass apartment—not even a single piece of gold jewelry. Why would I take a worthless junk computer and let someone find out I’d stolen something? If it was valuable, fine. But since it’s not, taking it would just bring me a world of trouble."

His words left Zhuang Yanzheng silent for a moment.

Su Miaoyi stood outside the interrogation room, watching from behind the one-way mirror.

Her expression darkened when she heard Cao Hong’s words.

Kang Ting, standing beside her, glanced over at her.

"But I never thought I’d end up stealing from you people. Even though I put everything back, I was still discovered. Just my bad luck, I guess," Cao Hong said. "The police were called anyway, and I was found out."

His reasoning sounded plausible, his expression was normal, and no micro-expressions gave away any lies.

Either he was telling the truth, or he was going to be an extremely difficult person to handle.

Getting anything out of him was going to be a real challenge.

"What a coincidence," Zhuang Yanzheng said.

"Who’s to say? It’s just that coincidental," Cao Hong replied.

"Did you delete the community’s surveillance footage?" Zhuang Yanzheng asked.

Cao Hong nodded. "I waited until the security room was empty, snuck in, and deleted that day’s footage, as well as the footage from the camera inside the security room."

Zhuang Yanzheng looked at him. "Do you know Su Miaoyi?"

"I’ve seen her," Cao Hong said.

"Where? When?" Zhuang Yanzheng asked.

"Last year..." Cao Hong narrowed his eyes in thought. "Sometime in June, I think. At the Fengjiang Clubhouse."

"You only saw her once, and you remember it so clearly?" Zhuang Yanzheng pressed.

"She’s beautiful. Anyone who saw her would take a second look. Of course she’d make an impression," Cao Hong said with a chuckle.

Zhuang Yanzheng frowned and tapped his pen on the table twice. "Get serious!"

Cao Hong’s smile vanished, and his expression grew more serious. "She is indeed beautiful, which is why a guest at the clubhouse got some ideas and dragged her into a private room."

Zhuang Yanzheng’s frown deepened.

Su Miaoyi narrowed her eyes. She had no memory of this.

Cao Hong continued, "There was an employee at our clubhouse, a woman named Mo. Su Miaoyi was there looking for her. I’m not sure how, but she was targeted by a guest. That guest dragged her into the private room."

Su Miaoyi had no idea what happened in that private room. She slowly curled her fingers, clenching them into a tight fist.

The one sliver of memory she could recall was of herself standing outside the private room, with Cao Hong’s suit jacket draped over her shoulders.

Cao Hong said, "That Su Miaoyi is a fierce one, too. She didn’t care who the guy was or whether she could afford to offend him. She just grabbed a wine bottle and cracked it over the man’s head. The blood was gushing."

"After she hit him, Su Miaoyi bolted from the private room. The man she’d hit saw blood pouring from his head and, thinking he was going to die, rushed out of the room to get someone to take him to the hospital."

"Just then, Mr. Jiang happened to be walking by the door and saw one person with bloody hands and another with a bloody head."

"Who is Mr. Jiang?" Zhuang Yanzheng asked, though he already knew.

"Jiang Junrui," Cao Hong replied.

"How was it handled afterward?" Zhuang Yanzheng asked.

"Mr. Jiang mediated the situation, and then the Fengjiang Clubhouse took responsibility for the incident, compensating both sides," Cao Hong explained.

"Why?" Zhuang Yanzheng asked.

’From what he knew of Jiang Junrui, this wasn’t his style.’

Cao Hong fell silent.

Zhuang Yanzheng asked, "Who was the guest?"

Cao Hong sighed. "Mr. Jiang’s uncle-in-law."

Zhuang Yanzheng said nothing.

Cao Hong added, "It was something of a family scandal."

"His uncle-in-law got his head cracked open, and Jiang Junrui didn’t press the matter?" Zhuang Yanzheng asked.

"His uncle-in-law got his head cracked open while he was cheating on his wife. Mr. Jiang was probably thrilled," Cao Hong said. "He probably thought Su Miaoyi went easy on the guy."

"The truth!" Zhuang Yanzheng said coldly.

Cao Hong fell silent again for a moment. "The police showed up at the Fengjiang Clubhouse that day. Besides, Mr. Jiang’s uncle-in-law was the one at fault. Su Miaoyi wasn’t really hurt, she just had some clothes ruined. Worried that making a scene would attract more police attention, Mr. Jiang had someone take his uncle-in-law away. I was tasked with discussing the subsequent compensation with Su Miaoyi."

Listening to him, Su Miaoyi’s hand slowly relaxed. She turned her head to look at Kang Ting. "Late June of last year."

Those few words were all Kang Ting needed to understand her question. He thought for a moment and said, "June 28th of last year. We went to the Fengjiang Clubhouse."

Kang Ting didn’t elaborate on the reason.

Su Miaoyi nodded.

So the incident happened on June 28th. On the 29th, the IP address of a comment she replied to on a novel app had changed to Jinghai.

She hadn’t replied to any comments on the 28th.

Cao Hong continued, "Things like that are easy to resolve. There was no substantial harm, the Fengjiang Clubhouse has considerable influence... give them some money, smooth things over, and it’s settled."

"But Su Miaoyi didn’t want the money. We offered it, but she refused. Can’t believe someone would refuse money these days."

Zhuang Yanzheng glanced at the notes the other officer was taking.

Cao Hong added, "I had no idea she was with the police."

Zhuang Yanzheng lifted his gaze to look at him.

Cao Hong said, "When I saw her in June, even though she acted ruthlessly, she was very timid. She was trembling the whole time; it didn’t look like she was faking it. But now... she’s changed so much in such a short period."

’He had experienced her formidableness firsthand.’

’She was skilled, calm, and vicious when she struck.’

’Completely different from the woman he’d met in Jiangcheng in June.’

"Where did Mo Xiaoxiao go?" Zhuang Yanzheng ignored his last remark.

Cao Hong answered, "She quit later on. I asked her why she was leaving, but she wouldn’t say. She just insisted on resigning."

Zhuang Yanzheng looked at him. "Mo Xiaoxiao is missing."

"Missing?" Cao Hong looked stunned for a moment. "When did that happen?"

"Why did you come to Jinghai?" Zhuang Yanzheng asked abruptly.

"I picked it at random. It’s not like I’ve only been in Jinghai. I’ve been drifting ever since I left Jiangcheng, just going wherever the road takes me," Cao Hong said.

"It’s been a while now since you searched Su Miaoyi’s home. That doesn’t sound like someone who’s just ’going wherever the road takes him’," Zhuang Yanzheng said.

Cao Hong didn’t answer.

Zhuang Yanzheng pressed, "What’s your purpose for being in Jinghai? You came here for Su Miaoyi, didn’t you? What does she have? What were you looking for?"

"I’m just a fugitive on the run. What purpose could I have? I really didn’t know it was Su Miaoyi’s home. It was truly a coincidence."

"If you were just stealing, and you didn’t get any money from her place, what about other locations? You didn’t just stop there, did you?" Zhuang Yanzheng asked.

"Of course I did," Cao Hong said with a laugh. "You’ve seen my technique for putting things back. You guys can tell, but an ordinary person can’t. And I only took jewelry that looked like it wasn’t worn often. It’s very possible some of those people will go their whole lives without ever realizing something was stolen."

"If no one has filed a report, then of course I’m not going to tell you whose homes I’ve been in."

Zhuang Yanzheng stared at the smile on his face. After a moment, he stood up and left the interrogation room.

Kang Ting entered the interrogation room and began asking about the Shao Dong and Xu Shuxuan cases in Jiangcheng.

Zhuang Yanzheng and Su Miaoyi stood outside.

"Do you think Cao Hong’s story is credible?" Zhuang Yanzheng asked.

Su Miaoyi was silent for a moment. "It’s mostly true, but it’s sprinkled with lies."

A story that mixes truth with lies is always the most believable.

Zhuang Yanzheng nodded. "Judging by Cao Hong’s reaction, it’s very likely something has happened to Mo Xiaoxiao."

"He’s a tough nut to crack. He’s meticulous and unafraid. He keeps giving off this ’kill me if you’ve got the guts’ look. I’m afraid it’s going to be very difficult to get anything out of him," Su Miaoyi said.

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