Diary of a Criminal Investigator

Although Song Xiaofeng was a bit uneasy, he quickly calmed down.

"I don’t know, Officer. If there’s nothing else, I’ll head back. I still have classes to attend."

Classes?

Wang Zhaokai was a bit taken aback that Song Xiaofeng could calm down so quickly.

"Song Xiaofeng, there’s no rush. Once we’ve clarified everything, you can naturally go back to class."

"What did you do the afternoon before last, which was Saturday after returning home for the holiday?"

"Nothing much, just playing at home."

"Nothing?"

Wang Zhaokai didn’t immediately refute what Song Xiaofeng said.

Just now, while chatting with Li Chao, although he was a bit tense, he didn’t avert his gaze.

However, Song Xiaofeng was different.

His nervousness was not one of facing strangers, but one of facing a police officer.

His eyes were dodgy, never daring to look directly at him.

Until just before the questioning began, Song Xiaofeng seemed to have figured something out.

"How old are you today?"

"Underage."

Hmm?

Wang Zhaokai was momentarily stunned. He had already reviewed this student’s information.

What puzzled Wang was why the other party deliberately emphasized being underage.

Then, he realized.

"Have you read any law books?"

Song Xiaofeng nodded: "I’ve read some. Juvenile offenders don’t go to jail."

Then he said, "At most they are sent to... another school."

"Song Xiaofeng, I have colleagues in Nanwa Village investigating a missing person case."

Wang Zhaokai softened his voice: "Do you know who the missing student is?"

Song Xiaofeng’s expression changed slightly: "I heard, it’s Wang Yaowu from our class."

Wang Zhaokai nodded: "Wang Yaowu’s grandfather said he went to play with a classmate called ’Big Guy’ and never came back."

"Do you... know who ’Big Guy’ is?"

"I... I don’t know..."

Don’t know?

Wang Zhaokai tapped his fingers on the table, producing a rhythmic sound.

But he didn’t say anything.

He just kept looking at Song Xiaofeng, who avoided Wang Zhaokai’s gaze, his complexion changing frequently.

After a while, without Wang Zhaokai saying anything, Song Xiaofeng asked, "Officer, if there’s nothing else, can I go back to class?"

Class?

Want to leave?

Wang Zhaokai sneered inwardly, "Now you want to leave? Too late!"

"Song Xiaofeng, the nickname ’Big Guy’—I can find out who it is by casually asking your classmates."

"Lying to me serves no purpose."

"Tell me, where did you take Wang Yaowu?"

"I..."

Wang Zhaokai waved his hand, interrupting Song Xiaofeng’s excuses.

"Song Xiaofeng, I must remind you of something: next door are two of your classmates also being questioned by my colleagues."

Then, Wang Zhaokai pointed at the white quartz clock on the wall: "See that quartz clock? Whoever among the three of you speaks first, it will be recorded accordingly."

"The one who speaks first can seek leniency."

"Guess who among you three will be the first to speak?"

In reality, aside from questioning Song Xiaofeng, the other two students were merely sitting in the rooms.

But Song Xiaofeng wasn’t aware of this.

Upon hearing Wang’s words, beads of sweat quickly formed on Song Xiaofeng’s forehead.

"I..."

"Song Xiaofeng, don’t rush. We have plenty of time."

At this point, Wang Zhaokai stopped questioning, occasionally glancing at the quartz clock on the wall.

Kids this age have a strong rebellious streak; excessive tactics don’t work on them.

You can’t scare them; they might even be tougher than you.

Thus, Wang Zhaokai employed psychological tactics.

After all, he’s just a kid; even if his intelligence is comparable to an adult’s, his psychological resilience is very different.

Wang Zhaokai had just set a five-minute timer.

The alarm rang, and Wang pretended it was a phone call: "Yeah, got it."

With just those words, Wang stood up and left.

"Where... are you going?"

Wang Zhaokai pointed next door: "Next door, your classmate said you killed the person and wants to show the site."

Killed!

Wang Zhaokai was indeed guessing.

Wang Yaowu was missing, but whether he was dead wasn’t yet confirmed.

But it’s likely something happened; otherwise, he wouldn’t be gone this long.

Using this to provoke Song Xiaofeng might break his last psychological barrier.

"No, no!"

"You can’t go!"

Song Xiaofeng suddenly got agitated: "I’ll talk too!"

"I’ll talk too; the body’s in the greenhouse behind my house. I’ll take you there!"

"Sob... I’ll take you there..."

Wang Zhaokai’s heart jumped.

Really dead?

"Who did it, how was it done, who was involved, explain clearly!"

Wang Zhaokai’s voice suddenly grew louder, his tone very stern.

The previous questioning was just to pry open Song Xiaofeng’s mouth, but many things were uncertain; Wang played a psychological game, so he hadn’t used his usual interrogation techniques.

But now, it’s different. Song Xiaofeng confessed.

Now speculation turned into reality.

From this moment, the investigation entered another level.

Song Xiaofeng was startled by Wang Zhaokai’s loud voice, and faced with his stern expression, he involuntarily revealed the whole truth.

"Saturday afternoon, the three of us tricked Wang Yaowu into playing..."

"All three of us did it together."

"Last week at school, I made him call me ’Grandpa,’ he refused, so I wanted to deal with him..."

Wang Zhaokai took a deep breath; these three kids, just over a verbal argument.

"Old Chen, keep an eye on things."

"I’m stepping out for a bit."

Wang Zhaokai immediately went to the other two offices to separately interrogate the other two students.

Armed with Song Xiaofeng’s confession, it took less than two minutes for the other two students to confess everything.

Indeed, it was a collaborative effort of the three.

After confirming, Wang quickly called Lu Chuan.

"Captain Lu, found him. In the greenhouse behind Song Xiaofeng’s house."

"I’m heading over now."

An hour later.

Nanwa Village.

Song Xiaofeng’s backyard was an area of greenhouses.

Originally, these greenhouses were used for growing vegetables. But with the village’s workforce dwindling and vegetable farming losing profitability, the greenhouses were gradually abandoned.

Lu Chuan and his team had located the greenhouse Song Xiaofeng referred to.

It was clearly an abandoned greenhouse, with some unidentified clutter inside.

In one corner, there was a patch of freshly turned soil.

Dig!

Several detectives started digging with shovels.

The ground inside the greenhouse was relatively hard, so normally, digging would be challenging, but since they were digging into already turned soil, it was easier.

"Captain Lu! Found it!"