Chapter 487: Chapter 458 It’s Quite Nice to Die Together_1
Mr. Zhao prodded Zhou Ning.
"I’m saying Zhou Xiaozhou, isn’t this Ye Chengchen lying?"
Zhou Ning nodded.
"Seems fragile, but I feel she’s the mastermind."
Mr. Zhao clicked his tongue twice, constantly shaking his head.
"Well then, this whole testimony puts all the blame on Zhang Bo. I wonder what he’ll think when he hears it, saying that she was naive, just deceived by Zhang Bo, and that she was often insulted by Zhang Bo, and had to follow his instructions.
Even when caught red-handed, she could claim that it was Zhang Bo who forcefully grabbed her hand and made her do it, effectively explaining away all our evidence, so she can dust her hands off, without a care in the world?"
Ye Chengchen had already been taken away, Liu Yufei was reviewing the record.
Mr. Zhao was not convinced, and Yang Xuetong seemed to notice something, rubbing his chin and moving closer to Zhou Ning.
"Boss, was what Mrs. Fei and Director Xu did just now on purpose?"
Zhou Ning glanced at Yang Xuetong, who quickly covered his mouth.
"No coercion or bribery was involved, just the presentation of evidence and case facts, and Ye Chengchen refuted it on her own, admitting that what she said was the truth. There’s nothing intentional or unintentional about it. I am actually curious to see how Zhang Bo will react when he sees this testimony and the video of Ye Chengchen’s account."
After Zhou Ning finished speaking, he looked towards the interrogation room. Yang Xuetong stuck out his tongue, while Zhu Xingxing and Mr. Zhao, one by one, gave Yang Xuetong a thumbs up. Yang Xuetong gave them a white-eyed look, everyone understood what Zhou Ning meant.
Getting Ye Chengchen’s nonsensical statement quickly was the key to finding Zhang Bo’s inconsistency, breaking down someone’s psychological defenses is considered the best and most efficient method.
Of course, this approach does not work for everyone; when disaster strikes, some choose to scatter, while others choose to face adversity together. That split-second choice leads to vastly different outcomes.
At that moment, Zhang Bo was brought in by Zhang Ping and others, handcuffed to the interrogation chair, the handcuffs tightened to the maximum, Zhang Bo obviously grimaced towards Zhang Ping, while Zhang Ping seemed oblivious and even checked the chains before leaving.
Xu Dayuan, with his arms folded, sat in front of Zhang Bo.
"All kinds of test results have come out. Over twenty-four hours and you haven’t been released, you should know the reason why. We just interrogated Ye Chengchen, and she confessed everything about how you coerced her into the crime. Yufei, I’m tired of talking, just show him the video directly."
Liu Yufei waved the remote control, and on the TV on the wall of the interrogation room, they played Ye Chengchen’s interrogation process, of course, it had been edited, capturing only the entire process of Ye Chengchen’s own confession.
Watching Ye Chengchen’s aggrieved and very fragile narrative, Zhang Bo’s breathing became unstable, and at the end, he gripped his hands to control the trembling of his fingers.
The video ended, and Zhang Bo hung his head. Xu Dayuan pointed to the enormous camera behind him and said:
"Do you see the camera? This is the camera that recorded everything. I don’t want to waste words; now the chain of evidence is complete. Of course, according to Ye Chengchen’s testimony, you are the mastermind. You coerced Ye Chengchen into killing both children. Do you have any objection to this?"
Zhang Bo still didn’t speak, staring silently at his hands.
Xu Dayuan glanced at Liu Yufei and waved at her, apparently preparing a strong dose of medicine.
"All right, since you don’t object and acknowledge Ye Chengchen’s testimony, there isn’t much else to say. Sign it."
Zhang Bo lifted his head, his expression somewhat dazed, full of confusion as he looked at Xu Dayuan.
"No, I won’t sign."
Xu Dayuan leaned forward, staring at Zhang Bo and said word by word:
"What do you mean by not signing? You do not deny Ye Chengchen’s testimony, but you don’t want to sign, is that what you mean? It doesn’t matter; even if you don’t sign, the evidence we have is enough to prove that you are a suspect. At trial, the court will deal with you more severely."
Zhang Bo grabbed his hair and tore at it a few times. Seeing Xu Dayuan stand up, he suddenly grabbed Xu Dayuan’s clothes.
"I’m saying, give me some time, please!"
Xu Dayuan said nothing, just sat back and waited a long while. Zhang Bo lifted his eyes, looked at Xu Dayuan, and then at Liu Yufei before he finally spoke:
"My cellphone, it’s hidden in the zipper of the mattress in the secondary bedroom of my house. Inside it, there are all the QQ chat records between me and Ye Chengchen. We both used alternate accounts, ones not tied to our phones, including private photos we shared and voice chat records."
Xu Dayuan glanced in the direction of the single pane of glass. By then, Zhou Ning had already dialed Ma Liang’s number. The latter almost immediately picked up.
"Ma Liang, go to room 1502’s secondary bedroom. There’s a zipper on the mattress. Look for it; it should be in a very hidden corner we didn’t notice during our search. Check the headboard side, especially near the surface area. Bring the cellphone to the criminal police brigade as quickly as possible."
The sound of Ma Liang running came through, followed by some moving of furniture.
"Director Zhou, I’ve found it. It’s indeed on the headboard side, a zipper on the side of the mattress. There’s a phone inside, turned off and wrapped in a plastic bag. I’m bringing it straight over now."
After hanging up the phone, Zhou Ning looked towards the interrogation room, where Zhang Bo had already started his confession.
"... I met Ye Chengchen at a classmates’ reunion," said Zhou Ning. "I was headed to the restroom when she pulled me into the storage room. She told me she liked me the moment she saw me and it’s a pity I had a wife. Her touch clouded my mind. Ye Chengchen is beautiful, on a whole different level from Zhang Manli."
"After that, I broke up with Zhang Manli. For a while, Ye Chengchen disappeared. I went crazy looking for her, spent a lot of money, and sought out her friends and colleagues one by one. Of course, Chen Meilin found out and was so angry she went into labor early."
"But I didn’t care. Chen Meilin wanted a divorce and to take both kids. I was furious. After all, my mom was crying fiercely and told me if both kids were taken away, she wouldn’t want to live. I didn’t bother with Chen Meilin, but for my mom’s sake, I declared that Zhang Yangrui’s custody would be mine, or she could forget about the divorce."
"Surprisingly, Chen Meilin agreed in the end. We quickly went through the procedures. The next day, I found Ye Chengchen waiting outside my apartment. I pulled her into the stairwell, asking why she had disappeared. She said she only showed up because she knew I was divorced."
"The following months, I was utterly captivated by her, her shyness, her wantonness, her mixed signals..."
Xu Dayuan raised his hand to stop Zhang Bo’s account, since it was getting more salacious by the moment, turning the interrogation into something bordering on a vice squad bust.
"I don’t need the details of what happened in bed between you two. I don’t have time to listen to that. This is the Criminal Investigation Unit. Just get to the part about the murder plot and the whole process, got it?"
Zhang Bo sighed and nodded, continuing:
"Alright, I get it. I can’t remember the exact dates, but around last November, she told me her parents wouldn’t agree to her marrying a divorcé. She tried to persuade them, but they said a divorce didn’t matter as long as the past was clean, without any kids."
"I said I’d give Zhang Yangrui’s custody to his mom, since Chen Meilin had wanted it all along, but Ye Chengchen cried. She said it wasn’t about who gets the kid. It was about not having any kids at all, or else we should break up."
"So we broke up. I couldn’t let go, and hearing her repeated comments, I gradually began to see the kids as a burden that limited my freedom. Later, Ye Chengchen mentioned that the kids probably had accident insurance, right?"
"If they fell from a building, there would be a payout, and we could leave and start anew in another city. Begin fresh, have our own kids. In the heat of the moment, I agreed. From New Year’s to yesterday, we tried three times."
"One time my mom came back suddenly, another time Chen Meilin came to pick up the kids early – both times, the plan wasn’t completed. She was desperate to completely break things off with me, so I talked to Chen Meilin about the kids staying with me for a day."
"Ye Chengchen prepared a second-hand cell phone for me in advance. She said it was bought from a computer city and told me to swap the SIM card so it wouldn’t be traced. Even if the police investigated, it would look like an accident.
"She also told me to ditch my old phone. I couldn’t bear to throw away my new Apple phone, so I hid it instead. I had no idea it would be what proved my innocence now."
"Yesterday morning, right after my mom left, I heard knocking at the door. I hurried to open it. Ye Chengchen, in a tracksuit and down jacket with a hood, came in. I didn’t even recognize her at first. Then she began ordering me around."
"She told me to pick up my elder daughter without getting scratched while she went to pick up Zhang Yangrui. We went to the master bedroom, and I hesitated when we got there. The kids struggled and screamed, and Ye Chengchen kicked me, grabbed the hand I was using to hold the child, and shoved hard against the screen. The child just fell like that."
"Before I could react, Zhang Yangrui was thrown down as well. Seeing me cry at the window, she cried too, saying it was all for a better future. The hard part is just this moment. She told me to hurry downstairs and cry for help, to ask neighbors to call 120 or 110, and everything would easily pass."
"After saying that, Ye Chengchen checked the room and left quickly. My mind was blank. The first thing I saw when I rushed down was people trying to save the kids. I was shocked. I thought the kids hadn’t died, and I never expected the police to be involved. That’s what happened. It wasn’t me. It wasn’t me who did it. I didn’t want to kill anyone!"
Zhang Bo cried, hugging his head and repeatedly banging it against the small desk, making loud thuds, but no one stepped forward to stop him.
At that moment, with a bang, the observation room’s door was pushed open. Ma Liang, holding a cell phone and with bright eyes, looked towards Zhou Ning.
"Director Zhou, the cell phone has arrived!"
Zhou Ning quickly called out to Mr. Qu.
"Mr. Qu, check the cell phone content. Good work, Ma Liang. Once the content is sorted out, just send the screenshots directly to the room next door."
Out of breath, Ma Liang carefully closed the door and moved behind Mr. Qu. Everyone gathered around. The phone had no password. They got into QQ and saw two linked accounts, one named Chanafanghua and the other named Ali.
Mr. Qu promptly clicked into the Ali account, which had just one friend named Yingying. Their chat history was quite extensive, filled with restricted videos, photos, and frequent voice messages.
Seeing this, Mr. Qu looked up at Zhou Ning.
"Director Zhou, the voice messages can’t be forwarded, but I can record them and send them along. With this volume of content and the level of detail in the discussions, we can fully prove that the senders are Ye Chengchen and Zhang Bo themselves."
Zhou Ning glanced over and nodded.
"Send it!"
Mr. Qu quickly completed the task, and moments later, the information was sent to Liu Yufei’s computer. Several beeps echoed in the interrogation room. Liu Yufei opened the content, glanced at it, and passed it to Xu Dayuan. He looked over each item, then closed his laptop.
"We’ve seen the evidence on the phone, you have nothing else to add, do you?"
Zhang Bo shook his head, his face breaking into a strange and intriguing smile that felt chilling to look at.
"No, is this proof enough? Will Ye Chengchen receive the death penalty like me? The same kind, either by shooting or lethal injection?"
Xu Dayuan didn’t speak, just gestured to the clerk, Mr. Shan.
"Sign here. Rest assured, I’ll have the files sent to the prosecutor’s office as quickly as possible. I will also explain the particularities and social impact of this case to our bureau leaders, to ensure it is processed severely and swiftly. Of course, you have the right to appeal, that’s your prerogative."
Zhang Bo laughed, leaning back in his chair and gazing into the distance.
"Dying together isn’t so bad."
