The Forensic Doctor Better Than a Detective

The air was filled with a silent tension, all focus concentrated on Li Mountain, waiting for him to open the gates of his inner thoughts.

Time ticked away in the silence, like a tightening string.

One minute, two minutes, three minutes...

Suddenly, Li Mountain raised his head and squeezed out two words from his throat: "I’ll talk."

These brief and clear words pierced through the stagnant air like a shining light.

Jiang An and Zhang Biao felt a surge of excitement at the same time—a breakthrough had been made!

However, their long professional training quickly pushed this surprise back into their hearts, their expressions unchanged.

Jiang An only slightly leaned forward, his tone calm as usual, as if the long wait had never happened: "Go on, we’re listening."

Li Mountain took a deep breath, his gaze wavering, and began to recount haltingly: "When I was eight, I took two yuan from the neighbor’s windowsill."

"When I was fifteen, once... I accidentally saw Cuihua from next door taking a bath."

"At thirty, I lost money playing cards, feeling frustrated, and when I passed someone’s cornfield on the way home, I picked a few ears of corn..."

"And then, once I found two hundred yuan on the road, I didn’t find the owner, and kept it myself."

His voice grew quieter, and after saying these things, he hung his head.

Hearing this, Jiang An and his colleague exchanged a glance, their faces momentarily revealing incredulous expressions.

This was not at all the response they had expected, and it was vastly different from the direction of the clues they had.

Subsequently, Jiang An slowly raised his hand and gently waved it in the air, "These trifles need not be mentioned for now."

"We’re here today to understand some more serious past events—those involving homicide."

"Homicide?" Li Mountain’s eyes widened suddenly, his voice revealing obvious panic and confusion.

"What homicide? I-I haven’t killed anyone!"

"Officers, what I did were really just minor infractions, not nearly enough to warrant jail time..."

"Right, I can pay compensation! I still remember whose corn I stole before, I’ll compensate, I’ll pay them ten times! In total... roughly two hundred yuan, I can give it to you to handle!"

As he spoke, he became more agitated, almost standing up from the chair, his fingers unconsciously clutching the hem of his clothes.

Jiang An observed his reaction, knowing that continuing to question this way would only lead to a stalemate, so he suddenly changed strategy, raising his right hand and gave a heavy slap on the table.

Li Mountain trembled slightly: "Don’t avoid the main point, conjuring nonsense here."

Jiang An watched him intently, his tone calm yet oppressive, "Since we’ve found you, it naturally means we have substantial evidence."

"Now I ask you—have you ever suffered from any mental illnesses?"

The words "mental illness" seemed to trigger a hidden nerve.

Li Mountain’s brow furrowed suddenly, and a mix of surprise and unease flashed across his face.

He was silent for a few seconds before admitting in a low voice: "Yes! But I’m cured now. I’ve long recovered."

"Well, during your illness," Jiang An leaned forward slightly, his gaze sharp, "did you ever exhibit uncontrollable, even harmful behavior towards others?"

This question was like a key, suddenly opening the doors to the memories Li Mountain had been trying hard to suppress.

He seemed drained of energy, collapsing and shaking his head slowly, his voice filled with helplessness and remorse: "I didn’t want to either... Sometimes back then, I really couldn’t control myself."

"When I came to my senses, I realized I’d made mistakes... but every time after the event, I’d go to apologize, make amends."

"Really, you can ask them... you can investigate..."

Jiang An looked at him with a calm gaze, speaking slowly: "I understand you might see this as abrupt."

"But ten years ago, there was an atrocious murder in your village, you should remember, right?"

"A family of three was killed on the same night. Do you have any impression of this incident?"

Upon hearing this, Li Mountain visibly tensed, quickly nodding in response: "Yes, yes... the case was widely talked about back then, I naturally heard about it too."

"However... hasn’t it always remained unsolved? The murderer seems to have never been caught."

"Indeed not," Jiang An continued, his tone level but each word distinct, "because the murderer could very well be right in front of us."

As soon as these words fell, Li Mountain suddenly stood up from his chair, his face flushed, emotions suddenly agitated: "Suspect, suspect me?"

"How could that be possible! Ten years ago, I was only in my early forties, no matter how muddled, I couldn’t do something like that!"

"Yes, I admit... Sometimes, when my temper flares, I might overreact, even get physical... but I dare to swear I’ve never killed anyone! I couldn’t bear even one life, let alone a family of three!"

At this point, Zhang Biao beside him suddenly lifted his head, interjecting coldly: "You yourself are mentally unstable, how can you be so sure you didn’t commit any crimes during a loss of control?"

Li Mountain seemed pinned in place by this remark, his face changing from red to pale, his mouth opening but unable to utter a sound.

After a brief silence, he clenched his fists, his voice trembling yet striving for clarity: "I know myself... my family knows too."

"Even during those years when I wasn’t well, my family was always watching over me, they can testify to what I did or didn’t do."

"The line between harming and killing someone, no matter how confused I was, I couldn’t cross it—that incident, it’s absolutely impossible that I did it."

"Not killed anyone? I’m afraid that’s not something you can conclude unilaterally."

Jiang An’s steady voice echoed in the interrogation room, his gaze as sharp as an eagle’s, fixed on Li Mountain opposite him.

"We have revisited every detail of the case from back then and conducted a comprehensive check of the surrounding areas."

Jiang An’s tone was smooth yet each word was clear, "The results show you are highly suspicious."

"In both geographical terms and familiarity with the surrounding environment, you are highly suspect."

"Moreover, you were in your prime then, physically strong, agile, fully capable of committing the crime."

"Faced with these objective facts, do you still insist you have nothing to do with this case?"

This string of meticulous and progressively tighter analyses was like a net that tightened around Li Mountain.

The man opposite fell into long silence, staring directly at Jiang An, emotions roiling in his eyes, yet he kept his lips tightly sealed, not saying a word.

Jiang An exchanged a glance with Zhang Biao beside him.

Both of them acutely sensed the air growing heavy—as if the previous circuitous probing and psychological groundwork had reached its boiling point.

The seemingly trivial questioning had been merely an intro to the main event, the real confrontation was just about to begin.

The interrogation room once again fell into silence.

Ten minutes later, Li Mountain raised his head.

He swallowed, his voice low and heavy: "Alright, I’ll talk."

"That couple... it was indeed I who killed them."

As these words fell, Jiang An and Zhang Biao both felt a shock in their hearts.

Despite their step-by-step guidance leading to this moment, the confession, when it finally arrived, still managed to take them aback.

This longstanding unsolved case with scant clues, did it truly find a breakthrough at this moment?

At the same time, behind the one-way mirror in the monitoring room, Director Lu and Director Hou, who had been intensely observing, stepped forward almost simultaneously.

In their faces flashed incredulous surprise, quickly replaced by a strong sense of joy: could it be that this long-standing cold case has, on this day, been resolved in such a manner?

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