Chapter 152 - 150: He Committed Murder
Lu Xingye was just about to stop them when Zhou Tiancheng held him back. "Don’t worry, it’ll be fine. I’ll go with them and check it out."
Lu Xingye had no choice but to stop. Zhou Tiancheng gave his shoulder a reassuring pat, then turned and followed the officers who had just left to the police station.
Seeing Lu Xingye walk in, Jiang Li asked anxiously, "Lu Xingye, what on earth is going on? Why are they saying Xiao Ji killed someone?"
"Calm down first. It’s probably just a misunderstanding. Captain Zhou went with them to find out what’s going on."
Lu Xingye told Jiang Li what had happened that morning. He said that while there might be some similarities, it couldn’t possibly be Miao Anji.
Jiang Li gradually calmed down. ’Xiao Ji hasn’t gone anywhere, so how could he have killed someone?’
As soon as Yu Huannian returned, Jiang Li wanted to go to the police station to check on things. She couldn’t rest easy otherwise.
Instead of looking at Jiang Li, Yu Huannian turned to the nurse beside them. "Can I be discharged?"
The nurse nodded quickly. "Yes, you can. Once you’re home, just make sure to open the windows for fresh air, drink plenty of water, and get some exercise."
Yu Huannian gave Jiang Li a suspicious look.
Jiang Li’s mouth twitched. ’Does this brat really think I conspired with the nurse?’
After the discharge, Jiang Li and Lu Xingye hurried to the police station.
"Give me my son back! Give me back my son’s life!"
"Ma’am, there’s been a misunderstanding. Please, try to calm down."
"Calm down? How can I be calm?! They said it was him! He’s the murderer!"
Inside the police station, a husband and wife were weeping as they tried to strike Miao Anji.
Zhou Tiancheng stood protectively in front of Miao Anji, doing his best to placate the distraught couple.
Jiang Li walked over to Miao Anji. "Officer Zhou, what’s the situation?"
Zhou Tiancheng looked at her. "It’s fine. We’ve already provided Xiao Ji’s alibi. He can go as soon as they’re done verifying it."
Jiang Li nodded and turned to Miao Anji. "Xiao Ji, are you okay?"
Miao Anji smiled at Jiang Li. "Sister, I’m fine. But they still have my clothes."
Miao Anji glanced at a nearby officer. "You’d better not touch my clothes. If something happens, I won’t be held responsible."
The officer shot a look at Miao Anji, then at Zhou Tiancheng beside him, before finally turning and walking away.
’He thinks he’s so tough with a captain backing him up? If he’s really involved, hmph, not even God himself could help him.’
Jiang Li glanced at the photo of the victim on Zhou Tiancheng’s phone. The flesh all over the body was riddled with crater-like wounds, as if something had gnawed on it.
Lu Xingye looked at the photo. "This looks deliberate."
He pointed to the victim’s face, which only had a few scrapes. "There are bite marks everywhere else, but the face was left perfectly preserved."
"Are you saying someone wanted to frame me... to frame Xiao Ji? Then those cocoons in the cave were also meant for Xiao Ji!"
Jiang Li looked at Lu Xingye. She had previously thought she was the target, but now it seemed it was all directed at Xiao Ji.
’Who could it be?’
A person suddenly came to Jiang Li’s mind. She looked sharply at Miao Anji. "Xiao Ji, was it... your grandma?"
’But she’s so far away, how could she...’
Miao Anji looked at Jiang Li, suddenly unwilling to answer. ’If I tell her, Sister will know I lied to her.’
Jiang Li watched Miao Anji clamp his mouth shut, his face tense as he tilted his head, not daring to meet her gaze.
It was the first time Jiang Li had ever seen Miao Anji act this way. Recalling Miao Jiangling’s sometimes sinister gaze, she grabbed his hand worriedly.
"Xiao Ji, did she threaten you?"
"Huh?" Miao Anji froze for a second, then nodded repeatedly. "Ah, yes, Sister! It was her! She’s actually a wicked old woman. She hits and scolds me whenever I don’t obey."
As he spoke, his eyes reddened, and he looked at her with a wronged expression.
Jiang Li’s heart ached looking at him. ’No wonder he seemed so off back in the cave. He must have been abused.’
Zhou Tiancheng emerged from an inner office, his expression grave.
"Officer Zhou, can we leave now?" Jiang Li asked, looking at Zhou Tiancheng.
Zhou Tiancheng pressed his lips together and shook his head at Jiang Li. "The lab results show that the silver ornament belongs to Xiao Ji."
"It also matches the spot where one is missing from his clothes. He’s still a suspect, so he can’t leave yet."
"But don’t worry. At the very least, we have his alibi. That gives us a day to find other clues."
As they spoke, Miao Anji was led away again.
"Captain Zhou, even if you’re a captain, you can’t show favoritism to a suspect."
The local police director, Wang Jiawei, strode in from outside. The incident had caused a huge stir and was already public knowledge. Failing to resolve it quickly would be bad for his department’s reputation.
"Director Wang, we have an alibi. You shouldn’t be so hasty."
Wang Jiawei’s gaze swept over the group before finally landing on Zhou Tiancheng. "We have both a witness and physical evidence..."
"What do you mean you have a witness and evidence? The surveillance footage only shows someone from behind. How can you prove anything with that?"
"Our officers found the clothes in his cabinet. What more is there to argue about? As for the alibi you provided..."
"...couldn’t I just as easily suspect that he fabricated some unnatural proof just to get himself off the hook?"
"TSK!" Zhou Tiancheng grimaced. ’This old bastard. He’s just trying to quell public opinion by wrapping this up hastily.’
"What, Zhou Tiancheng? You looking for a fight?" Wang Jiawei roared, pointing a finger at him.
’This kid must have stepped in some dogshit to get so lucky recently. His precinct’s performance stats have been skyrocketing, and now he thinks he can stick his nose in my department’s business.’
"Officer Zhou." Jiang Li stepped in front of Zhou Tiancheng and faced Wang Jiawei. "Unless you can produce conclusive evidence..."
"...then I can stir up public opinion myself. When tourists see that you can’t guarantee their safety here, who do you think will dare to visit?"
Wang Jiawei stared at the woman before him. "The evidence is conclusive—"
"The ’conclusive evidence’ you’re talking about is nothing more than a single silver ornament. Are there any fingerprints on it? A DNA match? Do you have a clear shot of my brother’s face?"
"Following your own logic, I could just as easily suspect that you saw my brother’s Miao attire, got some ideas, and simply took an identical ornament off his clothes yourselves."
With that, Jiang Li pulled out her phone and aimed it at the director. "D City Police Department: Inept investigation, randomly arresting passersby and framing them as killers. Public safety in this region is severely lacking. We urge the public to be vigilant."
Wang Jiawei couldn’t believe Jiang Li had the audacity to threaten him directly inside his own police station.
"Director Wang, I hear it’s almost the end of the year. Are you sure about this?" Zhou Tiancheng stood protectively in front of Jiang Li, staring at Wang Jiawei with a deadpan expression.
Wang Jiawei’s face flushed red with anger. He pointed a trembling finger at them, utterly exasperated. "Fine. Fine! Fine! We’ll just see how long you can keep up this tough act."
After his outburst, Wang Jiawei turned to the officer behind him. "Go! Get the specialists over here to run every possible test."
Zhou Tiancheng looked at Jiang Li. "If they can’t produce conclusive evidence within twenty-four hours, they have to let him go."
Jiang Li nodded. "Miao Jiangling has been following us this whole time. She’s probably hiding in some corner right now."
"What we need to do now is lure the snake out of its hole."
Jiang Li took the small, still-living snake out of her bag.