"Ms. Lin, please try to recall carefully, what did you do that night?"
In the hotel room, a male and a female police officer, the male named Mao Ji and the female named Zhao Yin, both members of the task force, sat across from Lin Feifei for a second round of questioning.
"You've asked me this question several times already. My answer remains the same: I was extremely scared at the time and, in a panic, kicked him. When I saw him fall, I hurriedly ran out to get help."
"Ms. Lin, we're just following procedural questioning, no need to get excited. Why didn't you choose to call the police at that time?"
Repeated questioning is actually a deliberate police tactic.
If the suspect is lying, their statements are likely to be inconsistent over time, revealing possible dishonesty.
"I'm not excited. I didn't choose to call the police because I didn't want to waste public resources. That matter was resolved under Wu Jie's persuasion, so there was no need for me to kill him. Moreover, what benefit would killing him bring me?"
Lin Feifei felt quite helpless, seeing the police's approach meant they had listed her as a suspect, but only she knew that she was also a victim.
The two officers exchanged glances, took out a photo from a bag, and asked, "Do you remember this item?"
In the photo was a package of a drug named phenobarbital. Lin Feifei took it and glanced at it, "Yes, I know. I've been under a lot of pressure lately and often suffer from insomnia, so I got some sleeping pills. Is there a problem with that?"
The environment in the photo was her room at the Geya Hotel, and the photo was taken by the police at the time. Many items in her room were photographed.
"The autopsy report for Yue Zheng is out. He died from respiratory failure. The forensic analysis found phenobarbital in his body. After drinking, alcohol causes the central nervous system to first excite, then depress. Combined with phenobarbital's severe suppression on the brain, this caused double suppression of the central nervous system's normal function, leading to respiratory failure and death."
"What?"
Lin Feifei sat up in shock, unable to remain calm: "How can that be? Could you have made a mistake?"
"The forensic results are not likely to be wrong. If you have doubts about the results, you can apply to send the samples for further testing at the provincial level, but I doubt there'll be any difference."
The officer's tone remained calm. They were primarily there to observe Lin Feifei's reaction, as they had found the box of phenobarbital in her room.
"I didn't kill anyone. Someone must be framing me!"
"Our police will investigate this thoroughly. Who else entered your room that night?"
"Me, my assistant Xiaoe, the hotel manager, Yue Zheng, his agent Wu Jie, his assistant Xiaowen, and many others—you should be able to see all this on the surveillance. There were quite a few people, anyway."
Lin Feifei carefully recalled that quite a few people had indeed been in the room that night. After all, with such an incident, there were plenty of curious onlookers.
The police officers asked a few more inconsequential questions before taking their leave. Their next stop was Wu Jie.
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Wu Jie's interview transcript:
"Wu Jie, what was your relationship with the deceased Yue Zheng?"
"I was his agent."
"What were you doing after 10 PM on the night of January 15th?"
"I've already explained this to you. We heard Lin Feifei shout, so we came out of the hotel room..."
Wu Jie once again detailed the events of that night to the police, despite having done so multiple times already.
"Then who do you think the killer of Yue Zheng is?"
"Isn't it your job to find the murderer? Am I supposed to guess? If I say Lin Feifei is the killer, would you believe me?"
"Why do you think she's the killer?"
"While I don't know Lin Feifei very well, she's known to react aggressively to sexual harassment. There was once a fan who got inappropriate with her, and she stomped on his foot with her high heels."
"How did Yue Zheng get back to his room in the end?"
"He was dead drunk and kept clutching his groin; a few of us helped him back to his room."
"Did he have any particular reactions then?"
"Does groin pain count?"
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Xiaowen's interview transcript:
"Xiaowen, what kind of person was Yue Zheng?"
"He was very talented, just made the kind of mistake typical of men."
"What mistake?"
"Lustfulness. He divorced at forty-five and married a woman twenty years younger, making others envious."
"How did Yue Zheng get back to his room?"
"We carried him in together."
"Who was the last to leave the room?"
"Probably me. After taking off his shoes, I covered him with the quilt and then closed the room door."
"Did he have any adverse reactions at that time?"
"He was intoxicated. I hadn't seen him that drunk in a long time!"
"If Yue Zheng was murdered, who do you think is the most likely killer?"
"Lin Feifei."
"Why do you say it was her?"
"Why not her? It wasn't the first time Yue Zheng pursued her, but he was always rejected. This concert, the special guest wasn't supposed to be Yue Zheng, he volunteered himself to the company. I don't know if there was some inside deal; his affairs aren't usually shared with me."
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Yu Chengzhang first sent Huang Shunan from the Hongqiao Police Station to the detention center and received a call from Zhao Jianguo en route, stating that Renmin Hospital reported the surgery was successful for the little boy, who is currently in ICU under care, and should be fine.
As long as the person is saved, with current medical conditions, there should be no major issues.
So he rushed back to the director's office immediately to report on his work.
"Director Song, the situation from this morning is clear. An auxiliary police officer at Hongqiao Police Station caught a thief during work, unexpectedly finding the thief's accomplice was an A-level wanted criminal pursued by three provinces, brutal and bloodthirsty, who took a boy hostage. Finally, the criminal tried to create chaos to escape by slashing the boy's neck causing heavy bleeding, aiming to buy time to flee. Fortunately, there was a professional doctor on the bus for first aid, and auxiliary policeman Li Xiang bravely chased after the fugitive and managed to catch him."
Song Jun understood the ins and outs of the matter and asked, "How's the child?"
"The surgery was very successful, and the boy was saved."
"And how is the auxiliary police officer, was he injured?"
"He wasn't injured. He's quite clever and quick; he grabbed a broom from a sanitation worker to chase the suspect."
"Alright, it's good everyone's okay. This case has attracted considerable attention from Jinghai City residents. Issue a police report promptly and coordinate with police from the three provinces to form a joint task group and keep the suspect in Jinghai for trial."
"So... how should the auxiliary police officer be handled?"
"The Inspectorate will have a conversation with him first. If there are no issues, have the station file a report, reward him as appropriate, and recognize his accomplishments."
"Understood!"