The interrogation room.
Lou Sanfeng’s expression hadn’t changed at all, almost identical to when he was brought out from the Water Affairs Bureau yesterday. Such detachnt was beyond the capacity of ordinary people.
Xu Dayuan wasn’t discouraged; after all, the suspect was caught, the evidence was solid—it was only a matter of ti. He calmly picked up a stack of photos and walked over to Lou Sanfeng, placing them one by one in front of him.
"This is a property in Shahekou Nan Island; the land is owned by Yu Xiulian. According to our investigation, Yu Xiulian was your father’s mistress, and also the mother of Chen Gang. I don’t know why he didn’t marry her back then. She married far abroad, but she has already died in 2009.
Here we found the DNA and fingerprints of the Zhu family, three victims from the 4.14.2004 kidnapping case. Even more, inside the aluminum door’s pressure strip on the north side, we found Fang Yue’s fingernail with blood on it; the DNA was remarkably well preserved.
In a secret compartnt on the second floor, we found a triangular military dagger, the murder weapon, and 8.9 million yuan in cash in the garage, of which over thirty thousand had been damaged by mold. Don’t rush; there are many more photos. I will introduce them to you one by one.
As for this severed finger, it’s from Cheng Xinghui, a survivor of the 2.3.2000 kidnapping case. With the most advanced extraction technology available now, we found fragnts of your DNA on it, along with so traces of a special grease used on ships, which was discontinued in 2003."
"Regarding Chen Gang’s matters, as well as the various pictures of Fang Yue that you kept, we have found and clarified them all. I think you have nothing left to hide now. Talk to us about the process; which of the two cases would you prefer to start with?"
Lou Sanfeng didn’t speak, still looking indifferently at Xu Dayuan. His gaze didn’t lower as if everything Xu Dayuan had said had nothing to do with him. This was beyond calmness, edging on disregard, indifference, fearlessness, and disinterest.
Xu Dayuan was neither impatient nor discouraged. He pulled out a chair and sat opposite Lou Sanfeng.
He crossed his legs and smiled, a smile that sent chills down one’s spine.
Staring at Lou Sanfeng, Xu Dayuan lit a cigarette, holding a disposable paper cup in one hand with a bit of water at the bottom, continuously flicking ash into it. He shook his stiff neck, then gestured to Liu Yufei to collect all the photos before he began to speak.
"Ti flies; I’ve been transferred to the city bureau for over a year now. Do you know why I was transferred here? Since you’re not willing to talk, let chat with you for a bit. Have you heard of the Red Dress Serial Murders? Over six years, more than a dozen victims—that case alard the higher-ups.
At the ti, I was just a captain of a criminal investigation team at the Qidong Sub-bureau. But our little team not only caught the murderer, we also found crucial evidence, leading him to confess willingly. That man was abandoned by his parents at his grandfather’s from a young age; nobody cared for or noticed him, growing up in a twisted environnt.
Outwardly, he was an outstanding high school teacher, excellent in teaching, good-looking, from a well-off family; but in secret, he had a twisted character, naturally cruel. Under observation by our team’s forensic doctor, it turned out this man was hiding multiple personalities. Only after we dealt with each one separately did he confess.
I feel like part of his situation is very much like yours. However, there are differences. When you saw Chen Gang under the leadership’s orders back then, I think you genuinely pitied that half-brother of yours. You wanted to help him get out of his plight, even to avoid experiencing what you went through as a child.
It’s just that your choice of thod was wrong, and Chen Gang didn’t heed your warnings. In the end, he decided to let that infant live, sothing you couldn’t understand. Your resentnt made you leave, helping you escape the police chase. However, I don’t understand your feelings for Fang Yue.
From the things you kept in the box on the second floor, we found many of Fang Yue’s photos, as well as posters and pictures, even your graduation group photo. I guess you liked Fang Yue since primary school, right?
But why kill her and her family? Is it because you saw Fang Yue’s happy life and then looked at your own ssy existence, and you wanted to drag her down into the dirty morass? The things you couldn’t have, you’d rather see her... destroyed?"
Bombarded by such questions, Lou Sanfeng’s gaze toward Xu Dayuan lost its previous indifference. He lowered his eyelids and exhaled a breath.
"I didn’t kill anyone; it wasn’t who did it, I don’t know what to say!"
Xu Dayuan was pleased to see Lou Sanfeng reacting; after talking for half an hour, if the man had no reaction, he himself was about to break down.
"Then tell , who did?"
Lou Sanfeng looked confused. The room quieted down, and after so ti, Lou Sanfeng shook his head.
"I don’t know. I’m not in good health; my mind often goes blank. Sotis days go by and I don’t know how they’ve passed. As for Fang Yue, indeed she was a classmate, just a classmate. I didn’t know she was dead. As for that house you’re talking about, I’ve never been there.
I live in a regular two-bedroom apartnt in Tongshan District."
At these words, Xu Dayuan fell silent. He couldn’t tell whether Lou Sanfeng was acting or genuinely couldn’t rember.
Next door, Zhou Ning was staring intently at Lou Sanfeng, noticing how the index finger of his right hand kept scrabbling at the handcuffs, and the skin that was being scraped was already reddening, on the verge of breaking.
"Apprentice, could it be that among multiple personalities, there’s no communication? Or perhaps, has he chosen to make this personality forget everything that another personality has done?"
Zhou Ning shook his head. Regarding this area of knowledge, he had studied related materials extensively during this period, especially those research papers published after 2020, which offered more detailed explanations.
He had discussed this with Li Chengbin, who had even suggested that he make it his research area, but he didn’t pursue that. Instead, he focused on the tiline of autopsy procedures as his research direction, as that was what he was supposed to do.
"Each sub-personality in multiple personalities is independent and distinct from one another. When one personality erges, the others automatically recede. At any ti, there’s always one dominant personality in control, which ’takes shift’ and directs behavior. There never exists a chaotic state where multiple personalities struggle for control."
Which personality takes control strictly follows the principle of "the personality that is best suited to the current environnt and needs will activate and erge." This is essentially the psychological equivalent of the survival of the fittest.
If we understand multiple personalities through the analogy of a ’chaleon,’ it might be more vivid and intuitive. Take Lou Sanfeng, for example, who uses a rather dian personality to deal with work, a timid, lowly personality to gain sympathy and dependence, and a cold-blooded, murderous personality to kidnap and kill.
At its core, multiple personality disorder is a psychological phenonon where one frequently shifts personalities to adapt to the environnt, a psychological effort to adapt. Although the shifts are continuous, there still exists a primary personality; one is not completely unaware of their experiences—hence, his act is deliberate.
"Do you rember when Cui Guanglin was being interrogated and he finally said in a panic, ’Keep your voice down, don’t let that Cui Guanglin hear us, or he will co out for revenge.’"
Liu Yongxin had an epiphany and slapped his thigh.
"I’ll call Mr. Qu over. The equipnt here is complete; we might as well bring the software and use it on Lou Sanfeng."
Zhou Ning didn’t stop him; after all, this was a typical case, and it wouldn’t hurt to try. However, multiple personalities are genuine in all their expressed attitudes, whether one can detect this is another matter.
Pulling out his phone, Zhou Ning sent a ssage to Liu Yufei, briefly sharing his thoughts, along with an introduction to multiple personality disorder. Of course, he also explained his final judgnt, and added a sentence:
"His parents and his younger brother, Chen Gang, could be his weaknesses. We could use this angle to manipulate him, and even suggest that their deaths are sohow related to him—it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to accuse him."
Liu Yufei glanced at her phone and then stood up, bringing it over to Xu Dayuan, who nodded after a quick look.
"The property you ntioned, we’ve been there, do you know why you weren’t interrogated yesterday?"
Lou Sanfeng shook his head.
"I don’t know."
"We’ve reviewed your movents over the past month through traffic departnt surveillance. We visited the two properties under your na. One carries the sa style as a military camp, but the clothing inside is different from your usual style, so it’s not your residence.
"The other, although frequently occupied, is just a dwelling. Apart from clothes, none of your important possessions are there. What puzzles , though, is why so many of your father’s leftover dications from his past treatnts remained in your car. Is it so kind of morial?
"We had the components of these dicines analysed and this is quite interesting—none of them match what’s on the label; they’re all vitamins. Did you switch your father’s dication? Was it because he was forcibly retired, or did he do sothing to you?"
Lou Sanfeng didn’t respond, but his picking at the handcuffs halted. He looked up at Xu Dayuan, then smiled.
Xu Dayuan smiled too. Any reaction is good encouragent; he was in no hurry.
"We analyzed the footage of you in your room last night and consulted relevant dical experts. You didn’t sleep, kept scraping the wall, and repeatedly tapping your toes—a cycle that just went on and on. It’s classic OCD.
"When you’re forcing yourself to repeat an action, your mind isn’t blank. You’re suppressing the urge to do sothing else. Especially in soone with multiple personalities, it’s often about repressing the ergence of another personality.
"So you shouldn’t sit there, looking indifferent to everything I say, with an expression of grievance. These thods might work on your father, but they’re useless on the police. I’m telling you all this not because I want you to confess anything.
"Let reiterate, all the evidence we have now is very comprehensive. Let’s set aside the 2.3 kidnapping case from 2000, and just focus on the 4.14 kidnapping case from 2004. What was the route you chose? How were the ssages delivered to the contractor? How did you manipulate Zhu Yantao to leave the Polar Ocean World?
"Desperate to save his child, he lost his ability to judge, feeling nothing but guilt. Then you led Zhu Yantao to Xiaofengtai and threw down four bags of money from the overlook.
"And all you had to do was wait below, collect all the bags, and speed off towards Nan Island on your motorboat. Actually, I should say towards the direction of Nan Island, because at a hidden spot within the scenic area’s bay, you had already stashed a car, abandoned the motorboat, and transported the money bags away by car.
"I must admit, your plan was quite perfect. With the technology available at that ti, it would have been impossible to crack the case, especially with the interference of external factors. You obtained the money, the mistress’s property, and Fang Yue...
"But you had no one to share it with. Your dad died, your brother died, your mom died, and it’s all because of you. You’re the one who sowed the seed, so you have to suffer the consequences, just like now. Even if you try to pretend you have a ntal disorder, without a family mber’s request--tch, what a pity!"
Lou Sanfeng clutched the edge of the interrogation table. With each word uttered by Xu Dayuan, his breathing grew heavier, his veins bulged more prominently, and his eyes turned bloodshot.
"Shut up, just shut up!"
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