Chapter 854: Cleared of Charges

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The next portion of the interrogation was more similar to what Zhao Yu and the others had expected. Shortly after Xie Tongguo was dismissed from the company, his father, who had been ill for many years, died.

Xie Tongguo then sold the house to his uncle, paid off the debt that he owed to many people, and rented a small house in a remote place. By that time, he had 90,000 yuan left.

From that moment on, he started to exact his revenge. Xie Tongguo’s description of his killing process was consistent with the crime scenes. He had copied Han Kuan’s 11 Kills almost exactly!

The murders of Zhan Jiankang, the first victim, and Hao Lili, the second victim, went smoothly. He followed both of these victims at night, and when the opportunity came, he rendered them unconscious with ether. Then, he used his tricycle to transport the victims bodies to the crime scenes that he had chosen in advance, where he killed the victims. Then, he made the crime scenes look like suicides.

However, when it came to Sun Peibin, the third victim, due to the fact that Xie Tongguo was not good at handling electrical appliances, there was a complication and it did not go as smoothly as planned.

As Zhao Yu suspected, Xie Tongguo had carefully chosen the place where he would commit the murder. Then, he opened the door with the key that he had stolen from the agency.

In order to make it look like that the victim had broken into the abandoned house himself, then committed suicide by touching the electric switch, Xie Tongguo intentionally broke the door lock.

However, he did not expect that Sun Peibin would awake unexpectedly. So, he failed to electrocute Sun Peibin!

When Sun Peibin woke up, he recognized Xie Tongguo immediately, then had a fierce fight with Xie Tongguo. Since Xie Tongguo was young and strong, he was eventually able to knock Sun Peibin out and replace the wire to electrocute him!

After Sun Peibin was electrocuted, Xie Tongguo was not sure whether Sun Peibin was really dead. So, he stayed there for more than two hours just to be sure. It was only after Sun Peibin’s body had turned completely cold that he cleaned up the scene and left.

In fact, Xie Tongguo already knew that when the police found Sun Peibin’s body, they would immediately know that it was a murder. Therefore, he figured that he’d better change the place where he put the body, maybe even bury it. This way, he figured that it would arouse less suspicion.

However, since he was determined to copy the overall plot of 11 Kills, he left Sun Peibin’s body there, even at the risk of being caught by the police! However, what he could not understand was that even after more than half a month had passed, there was no news that the police had found the corpse!

This was a great surprise to Xie Tongguo. After all, there were people who lived near the place where Sun Peibin had died and the house’s door was open. Also, because it was not particularly cold at that time, the corpse surely would have started to smell!

So, he wondered why no one had found the body yet. Of course, he was not complaining, as this was good news for Xie Tongguo.

After he realized that he was not going to get caught for the first three murders, Xie Tongguo started to plan his fourth murder, completely forgetting about Sun Peibin.

However, Xie Tongguo had definitely learned a lesson from Sun Peibin’s case. After deciding to freeze Pei Zhi to death, Xie Tongguo not only carefully inspected the scene, but he also patiently observed Pei Zhi’s daily routine and did not rush into action.

Finally, one evening, he got the perfect opportunity. That night, the outdoor temperature in the Golden City had dropped to minus 17 degrees, and Pei Zhi and his friends had been drinking all night at a local pub!

Feeling that this was a godsend, Xie Tongguo followed Pei Zhi, who was completely drunk, from the pub. Then, when Pei Zhi was about to get home, he used ether to render him unconscious. After that, everything was easy.

Xie Tongguo didn’t even have to resort to violence, as he just abandoned Pei Zhi in the abandoned factory nearby. And… That was it… His mission was completed!

As it was such a cold day, Pei Zhi was frozen to death before he even woke up from his drunken stupor! After Pei Zhi’s death, Xie Tongguo had successfully completed the four murders according to the book’s plot.

It could be said that Xie Tongguo’s serious psychological deficiencies and lack of communicative competence was the main cause of the tragedy. However, if the people involved in this case had been less indifferent, less selfish, and more concerned about Xie Tongguo’s feelings, perhaps this cruel serial murder case would never have happened!

After the interrogation, Zhao Yu and others returned to the temporary office. Once they got there, Wu Xiumin turned to tell Zhao Yu, “Just now, deputy leader Miao and I asked Xie Tongguo about Han Kuan. From his reaction, it appears that he really has no connection with Han Kuan!”

“Yes,” Miao Ying agreed. “Xie Tongguo said that he had never seen Han Kuan and his wife since he sold his house!”

“Oh…” Zhao Yu nodded. “So… It was purely accidental?”

Ran Tao scratched his head and said, “But… Don’t you think that it is quite uncanny that the two cases happen so close in the same time period? To be honest, it seems that Xie Tongguo indirectly helped Han Kuan. Without Xie Tongguo’s case, Han Kuan would not have been able to invite us here!”

He then added, “In fact, Han Kuan wasn’t much help to us in solving this case. Although he said a lot about his book, it was entirely by our efforts that we were able to catch Xie Tongguo!”

Miao Ying came up to Zhao Yu and said with great seriousness, “I think that we should take a thorough look at Xie Tongguo’s father’s death! After all, that’s why Xie Tongguo committed the murders. Han Kuan’s father and Xie Tongguo were neighbors, so Han Kuan had to know about Xie Tongguo’s father’s death. If Han Kuan knew that Xie Tongguo stole his manuscripts and that Xie Tongguo had psychological problems, would it be possible that he did something secretly?”

“Hmm…” Zhao Yu thought about this for a moment, then nodded and said, “Xie Tongguo’s case would indeed benefit Han Kuan! If Han Kuan secretly instructed him or offered him help…”

“And…” Zeng Ke interrupted, “Don’t forget about Han Kuan’s case! If Han Kuan is really a part of this, maybe his own case is related to Xie Tongguo as well!”

Wu Xiumin then said earnestly, “Well… From my professional point of view, Xie Tongguo did not lie to us. He really seems to not have known Han Kuan well! Think about it, Xie Tongguo has already pleaded guilty and admitted that he killed four people. There is no reason for him to protect Han Kuan.”

“Wu, have you watched the TV drama ‘Crime Scene?’” Ran Tao asked Wu Xiumin, his voice filled with great excitement. “In that TV drama, there is a masked instructor, who specializes in laying trap for others. He then forces them to kill people! Is Han Kuan possibly like this? Or… Did he commit the crime via something like anonymous letters, the Internet, or something of that sort?”

Wu Xiumin shouted, “Don’t waste your breath on spewing such meaningless nonsense, okay? When Xie Tongguo killed these last two victims, Han Kuan was already in the detention center!”

“Um… This…” Realizing she was right, Ran Tao was speechless.

At this time, Zhao Yu suddenly remembered something and asked Zeng Ke, “Didn’t the Longjiang police send Zhang Jingru’s original recording here before? What about the examination? Have the results come yet?”

Zeng Ke smacked his forehead, as he had clearly forgotten to tell his boss the results, and he quickly took out the report and said, “Team Leader, the people in the Evidence Department confirmed that the recorded confession was not edited. The voice is indeed Zhang Jingru’s! Their results are the same as mine.”

Wu Xiumin then pointed to the whiteboard and said to Zhao Yu, “That means that the second investigation goal can also be removed! Now, there is only one left!”

Zhao Yu put his hands on his waist and exhaled heavily. Although he had expected this outcome, he was still very depressed to see such a result, as it meant that Han Kuan could be acquitted! Whether he killed his wife or not, he could still escape punishment for his crime!

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