The morning quickly passed, and Ren Qiang’s investigation was nearing its end. He was now talking to Qin Xiaoyu, Zhang Xiao’s best friend in the class, to gather information.
"Qin Xiaoyu, I’ve heard from the teacher and classmates that you are Zhang Xiao’s best friend and share everything with each other. Did you notice anything unusual about her yesterday?"
Qin Xiaoyu was not very tall and had a sweet appearance, but at this mont, perhaps because her best friend had jumped off a building, her face was pale, and she seed sowhat listless.
"She... she didn’t have... didn’t have anything unusual, just... just as usual."
Ren Qiang sighed. These students were all teenagers, and when he had just asked a few classmates about the situation, so of the timid ones had the sa stuttered responses.
Moreover, they had been taught that when in trouble, they should seek help from the police.
However, coming into contact with the police because of a homicide was probably the first, and possibly the only ti in these students’ lives.
The psychological pressure that a homicide brings is actually much greater than that of other cases.
Whether it’s the case handlers or the people being questioned during the investigation, they all experience a certain level of psychological stress.
The vast majority of people in this world have nothing to do with homicides; they only see them on television or in movies.
Seeing it and experiencing it firsthand are completely different feelings.
"Do you know if Zhang Xiao had a boyfriend?"
"A b-boyfriend?"
Qin Xiaoyu’s emotions suddenly beca a bit agitated: "This... this... I don’t know, really, I don’t know."
Hmm?
Ren Qiang’s nerves suddenly tensed.
He had just asked Qin Xiaoyu a few questions. Her replies, though sowhat stuttered, were emotionally stable, but she suddenly beca agitated when asked about the boyfriend issue.
"Xiaoyu, don’t be nervous or agitated. Uncle is just following protocol. You’re Zhang Xiao’s best friend, and no one knows more about her than you do. Xiaoyu, don’t be nervous. Please tell Uncle what you know, okay?"
Ren Qiang’s voice was very magnetic. He wasn’t much older than Qin Xiaoyu’s father.
The deep voice and police uniform seed to give Qin Xiaoyu a sense of security.
"I... I really don’t know if she had a boyfriend. Zhang Xiao never ntioned it to ...but..."
Seeing Ren Qiang’s encouraging gaze, Qin Xiaoyu continued, "She... well, there is a boy outside the school who likes her. I’ve heard her say that, and every Sunday when school is out, soone picks her up at the school gate..."
Qin Xiaoyu’s words made Ren Qiang feel like he had captured so unusual information.
"Do you know who this person is?"
"I’ve seen him a few tis."
"Since when did this outside person start picking up Zhang Xiao?"
"About... about four or five months ago..."
"And... and I’m actually not Zhang Xiao’s best friend."
"Oh? But your classmates and teachers all say you two are very close."
"We are indeed close, but Zhang Xiao’s best friend is her junior high school friend, who’s in class three."
"What’s her na?"
"Li Hui."
Ten minutes later, Li Hui appeared in front of Ren Qiang.
Compared to Qin Xiaoyu, Li Hui’s face was even paler.
She almost couldn’t sit still in the chair when she saw Ren Qiang.
"Officer... I don’t know... I really don’t know... Xiaoxiao she... sobs sobs sobs."
Ren Qiang hadn’t asked anything yet, but Li Hui had already started crying.
With no other option, Ren Qiang had to call in a female officer to comfort Li Hui.
But he didn’t call in Li Hui’s teacher, because it was obvious that Li Hui seed to know sothing.
It took a while before Li Hui cald down from her agitated state.
"Li Hui, regarding Zhang Xiao’s situation, could you tell us sothing? Just now you said you didn’t know... what don’t you know?"
"Early this morning... before Xiaoxiao jumped off, it was and her who went to the dormitory rooftop."
Hmm?
Lu Chuan found the extra footprints on the rooftop—were they Li Hui’s?
"Why did you go to the rooftop with her?"
"Because... Officer, if I tell you, can you keep it... no, keep it a secret for Xiaoxiao?"
"Alright, go ahead, we will definitely keep it confidential; this is part of our job."
"Okay, then I’ll tell you. Yesterday afternoon..."
As it turns out, the two of them t in the cafeteria during lunchti yesterday and agreed to go to the rooftop at midnight; Zhang Xiao had a secret to tell Li Hui.
"In the past, when we were unhappy, we’d climb up to the rooftop too."
"Last night, Xiaoxiao told she didn’t want to live anymore because she... she was pregnant."
"I talked to her for a long ti. Later, I got too tired and left first. She said she wanted to be alone for a while, so I went back to the dormitory."
"She said she didn’t want to live, and you didn’t try to persuade her?"
"We often said things like that. I often didn’t want to live either. I didn’t know she was serious. If I had known... sobs sobs sobs..."
After a while, they finally cald her down.
Ren Qiang continued to ask, "Do you know who got Zhang Xiao pregnant?"
"Chen Gang, the person’s na is Chen Gang. We t him when we were learning piano. He was our piano assistant instructor and was especially nice to Xiaoxiao."
"Xiaoxiao’s family... her parents have been fighting and arguing ever since she was young, and they seldom cared for her. In junior high, she went to a small dining table after school, and on weekends she went for lessons and piano practice. After starting high school, she lived at school, and her family only dropped her off at tutoring over the weekends..."
"Xiaoxiao said that Chen Gang was especially nice to her, but she got pregnant. If her parents found out, they’d definitely beat her to death..."
Ren Qiang exchanged a look with the female colleague who was interrogating with him. This matter...
Sigh.
They took Li Hui’s footprints and fingerprints and sent them directly to the Criminal Investigation Team, where Lu Chuan was still conducting a forensic analysis.
If what Li Hui said is true, then with Lu Chuan’s comparison, it should match directly without having to go through the system.
"Send soone to Chiba Art School to gather information from Chen Gang."
According to Li Hui’s account, after returning from the rooftop to the dormitory due to fatigue early this morning, only Zhang Xiao was left on the rooftop.
Afterward, she jumped off the building.
From this process, Li Hui is not the murderer, and although Chen Gang caused Zhang Xiao’s pregnancy, this did not directly lead to her death. She committed suicide.
Of course, this is just a hypothesis, assuming Li Hui did not lie.
However, Ren Qiang believes this conclusion should be correct.
Because Li Hui had no motive to kill Zhang Xiao, and because Zhang Xiao feared parental punishnt due to her pregnancy, jumping off the building is not uncommon among high school students in this age group.
anwhile, Zhang Xiao’s parents, while sorting through their daughter’s belongings, found a letter under her pillow.
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