Chapter 545: The Crime Process

Lu Baoqiang lowered his head and said, “That day, we made the Japanese bow three times. When they left, Fujiwara was cursing. My Japanese isn’t good, but I understood the swear words. I was also quite drunk, and I thought, ‘How dare this little Japanese disrespect us in our own country!’ So I went to his place and shouted at him, then vomited right there. After that, I sobered up and left.”

Chen Shi asked, “Didn’t you say you were going to take Old Wang back home?”

“Yes, I ran into Old Wang at the convenience store buying soda, so I helped him back home, then I went online.”

“Did Old Wang know you vomited?”

“Yes!”

Lin Dongxue noted this down. Chen Shi said, “I hope this time you’re telling the truth.”

“I swear, this is the absolute truth!”

As they were about to leave, Chen Shi glanced at the smoky internet cafe and said, “Young man, let me give you a piece of advice: What you do in your free time determines who you become. If you really want to surpass Wang Baoqiang, use your downtime to improve your acting skills.”

After leaving the internet cafe, Lin Dongxue said, “It’s rare to hear you give advice.”

“Everyone has dreams when they’re young, but because they think they have a lot of time, they often waste it.”

“Did you have dreams when you were young?”

“They’ve already come true.”

“What?”

“Winning the heart of a beautiful woman!” Chen Shi laughed.

They didn’t go to find Old Wang right away, as the evidence was still insufficient, but Old Wang had now become the prime suspect.

Over the next two days of investigation, they found that Old Wang had once purchased a large number of Japanese language textbooks online and passed a Japanese language exam. Additionally, he sold his family’s house, and the money was unaccounted for.

Chen Shi decided it was time to bring Old Wang in. That afternoon, Wang Ying sat in the interrogation room.

Before the interrogation began, a police officer came in and asked Old Wang to change into a pair of slippers, measuring his foot size. It matched the size of the footprints left at the crime scene, and his shoes were exactly one size larger.

Chen Shi and Lin Dongxue sat in front of Old Wang. Chen Shi picked up a photo, “Old Wang, these footprints were found at the crime scene and match your foot size. How do you explain that?”

“There’s nothing to explain,” Old Wang said slowly, “There are plenty of men with size 40 shoes.”

“But according to your friends, you used to have a pair of leather shoes that left similar prints, but we didn’t find them during our investigation. How do you explain that?”

“I have nothing to explain.”

“Your alibi has already been disproven. No one can confirm you were sleeping in the dorm that night.”

“I drank about three taels of liquor that night. Everyone knows my tolerance. After dinner, I was dead drunk.”

“Really?”

“Absolutely!”

Chen Shi stood up and paced in front of him. Old Wang nervously picked at his hands. Chen Shi said, “Let me tell you a story. An unsuccessful extra meets a Japanese man on set. He plans to move to Japan, and the Japanese man offers to help but says it will cost a lot of money. The extra keeps sending money, believing the promises. One day, a friend of the Japanese man reveals the lies. The extra, furious, kills the Japanese man and his friend in a fit of rage.

“After the murders, he panics and goes to a warehouse to find a tricycle. There, he sees a Japanese officer’s uniform, remembers what happened at the dinner table, and realizes the next day is September 18th. He disguises the bodies as apologizing Japanese officers. That night, he and his roommate pretend to urinate near the disposal site and report the bodies!”

Old Wang listened, sweat dripping down his face, rubbing his hands on his legs. Chen Shi stared at him, “This method of crime is quite crude, underestimating the police’s insight. Now that you’re here, listening to my story, you should know how far our investigation has progressed. If you confess now, there’s still a chance!”

Chen Shi was bluffing; they didn’t have the key evidence. But interrogation is like playing poker—the opponent doesn’t know your hand.

To Chen Shi, Old Wang didn’t seem to have a strong psychological resistance.

Old Wang swallowed hard, trying to stay calm, “I can provide a clue. Lu Baoqiang was at the crime scene that day. I’ve never mentioned this before.”

“Really?” Chen Shi sneered, “Where is the scene?”

“Under the Japanese guy’s house…” Old Wang suddenly widened his eyes, looking up at Chen Shi.

Chen Shi sneered, “I don’t think I mentioned that was the crime scene. How did you know?”

After a brief silence, Old Wang’s spirit broke. He covered his face and cried, “I didn’t intend to kill anyone. That Japanese guy was so smug, I couldn’t stand it!”

Lin Dongxue let out a long breath, and the police outside were secretly excited. The suspect was finally about to confess.

Chen Shi handed Old Wang a cigarette. He took it with trembling hands, lit it, and Chen Shi returned to his seat, quietly watching him.

Halfway through the cigarette, Old Wang said, “I met Tamura in 2014 when he asked me for directions. We couldn’t communicate verbally, so we wrote on paper. We chatted for a long time. He was a special actor from Japan, looked quite… sleazy, perfect for playing Japanese officers in anti-Japanese dramas. He quickly found a crew willing to hire him. Then he mentioned me to the assistant director, so I joined the crew too. On set, we were mortal enemies, fighting to the death, but off set, we were good friends. He didn’t understand anything about China, and I helped him a lot. Later, during a break, he said, ‘Wang-san, do you want to visit Japan?’ I had never been abroad, so I agreed!

“Visiting Japan for a few days was great, especially seeing Chinese food everywhere. But the dishes were laughable—potstickers, mapo tofu, green pepper beef. They were just common home-cooked dishes! I said I could do that too. At that moment, I thought, I’m just an extra in China, but if I open a restaurant in Japan and make money, I could bring my family over. Tamura knew my thoughts and said it was hard to immigrate to Japan, but there was a way—marriage. He had a sister, Tamura Yukari, who was paralyzed and bedridden. If I married her, I could immigrate and she would have someone to care for her.

“At first, I refused. No matter how bad my situation was, how could I marry a disabled person? But Tamura showed me a medical certificate, saying his sister had only a few years to live. If I married her, she would pass away in a few years, and I would become a Japanese citizen. Then I met her. Although she was disabled, she was pretty, had a nice voice, and was educated. Honestly, I could never get a woman like her if she weren’t disabled. So, I agreed…”