Chapter 556: Buried Secrets

When the handcuffs suddenly clicked around Liu Qin’s wrists, his eyes widened in shock. Chen Shi said, “Xiaodong, take off your jacket and cover him.”

Liu Qin angrily retorted, “No need! Let everyone see how the police treat people like dirt. When you can’t catch the real culprit, you just grab anyone to take the fall!”

Chen Shi stared into his eyes, aggressively asking, “Do you think my reasoning is wrong?”

“I don’t know what nonsense you’re talking about. I’m clearly a victim, so why am I suddenly a suspect?”

“Liu Qin, I actually feel sorry for you, but the law is the law. If you kill someone, you have to pay the price. Come with us and we’ll talk at the station.”

On the way back to the station, Lin Dongxue kept thinking this had to be a mistake or another one of Chen Shi’s tricks. But Chen Shi’s eyes held a certainty, the kind he only had when he caught the real killer.

In the interrogation room, there was a computer. Chen Shi had Lin Dongxue sit beside him. Once seated, he looked at Liu Qin and said, “Tell us, what did you do on September 25th?”

Liu Qin’s face was tense. “What did I do? You bailed me out that day. After talking to you, I went home, slept, and the next day…”

“I’m not asking about the next day. I’m asking about September 25th. Where did you go after you left here?”

“I went home.”

“Think carefully before you answer.”

“I am thinking carefully!”

“Okay, then I’ll have someone retrieve the surveillance footage from your place and see if it matches.” Chen Shi called Xu Xiaodong and then said, “Before the footage arrives, I have something to show you.”

He opened the computer and played a surveillance video. To everyone’s surprise, it was internal footage from the station. The video showed Liu Qin in the holding room, sometimes pacing and sometimes sitting on the bed.

Liu Qin looked nervous in the video. Around 4 PM, he lay down facing the wall, taking something out of his pocket and manipulating it with his right hand under the cover of his body and the wall.

Chen Shi paused the video. “What were you doing then?”

“Picking my nose.”

“Picking your nose? Okay, let’s reenact it.”

Chen Shi sent a young officer to the same holding room to lie down facing the wall and mimic picking his nose. The live feed appeared on the computer. The officer, given the odd task, was visibly confused.

Chen Shi said, “This is the motion for picking your nose. Your hand was on your chest, and there was a light illuminating your face. What were you actually doing?”

Liu Qin pressed his lips together, his eyes wary.

“I’ll tell you. You were using a cellphone!”

“That’s nonsense. When I was brought in, my phone, keys, and wallet were all confiscated.”

“But there was a mistake. You were first taken to the criminal investigation team’s holding room. When Officer Zhang returned and realized the mistake, you were transferred to the traffic police department. The young officer who transferred you was holding a box with your belongings and detention documents. I questioned him repeatedly. At first, he was scared to admit his mistake, but he later confessed that on the way to the traffic police department, he received a call and took his eyes off you and the box. He didn’t check the contents afterward, just placed you in the holding room.”

Liu Qin started to look uneasy.

“When you were bailed out, you immediately took your phone out of the box. I later recalled this detail and found it suspicious. You were just acting for me. You had the phone hidden in your sleeve, and as you reached into the box, you palmed it, pretending to take it out. The phone was on you the whole time, unnoticed by the police.”

At this point, an officer entered and handed Chen Shi a document, whispering a few words. Chen Shi nodded.

After the officer left, Liu Qin said, “I admit I took my phone back, but what does that prove? I was just bored and playing games!”

“Really? With a phone, you can do anything.”

Liu Qin swallowed hard. Chen Shi picked up a piece of paper, showing its back to Liu Qin. “Our tech department recovered your deleted social media app. Using the registration information, we redownloaded and logged into the app. Here are the chat logs between you and someone. This paper contains those messages. Once I turn it over, you’ll have no more chances.”

Liu Qin’s eyes widened, cold sweat dripping down his forehead. Lin Dongxue glanced at the paper and saw it was blank. Chen Shi was bluffing, but she played along, nodding as if in realization.

This made Liu Qin even more nervous. He clenched his hands and adopted a defensive posture.

“Should I say the person’s name? It’s…”

“Sun Jun!” Liu Qin’s psychological defenses collapsed.

“What did you discuss with Sun Jun?”

“I… I asked him to kill Ah Qiang for me.”

“And after you were bailed out on September 25th?”

“…”

“You immediately went to find Sun Jun and killed him to silence him!”

“That’s not true, that’s not true!” Liu Qin said in panic.

Chen Shi knew that inciting murder and committing murder were different charges. Liu Qin was admitting to the former but not the latter. He was still trying to resist.

“Why would Sun Jun kill Ah Qiang? I have a statement from a tattoo shop employee, obtained just now. The employee confirmed that six months ago, Gu Daqiang dragged a dazed Sun Jun to the shop and had a penis tattooed on his forehead. Afterwards, he paid the employee to keep quiet. Sun Jun wasn’t your friend; he had scammed you. When his scam was exposed, Ah Qiang, out of anger and humiliation, used this method to punish him, making him write an IOU. Sun Jun hated him for this, and you leveraged this hatred. Your offer was to cancel the 200,000 yuan debt if he killed Ah Qiang. For Sun Jun, killing Ah Qiang would not only avenge the humiliation but also erase a 300,000 yuan debt, effectively earning him 500,000 yuan. He was desperate and hounded by debt collectors. Given this opportunity, he agreed without hesitation.”

Liu Qin looked down, hands tightly clasped.

Chen Shi stood up. “As for your motive, it was to avenge Ai Zhen. But there’s another reason for your closeness with Ai Zhen. You were best friends because she knew your secret, the secret that…”

“Stop, please stop!” Liu Qin pleaded.

Chen Shi stared into his eyes and said coldly, “You’re not Mr. Liu, but Miss Liu!”