Liu Jiale licked his dry lips and grinned, "Ye Zeming got what he deserved for all his evil deeds. How else could he have died from such a light bump?"
"Are you sure he hit the workbench?" Fang Rui repeated.
"Is that important? I killed him, I admit it. Judge me however you want, just stop interrogating me!"
Fang Rui paused the questioning and left the room to find Mu Mian.
"Mu Mian, you mentioned earlier that the victim had a wound on his head that was inflicted before death. How was that wound caused?"
Mu Mian retrieved the autopsy report and turned to the photo of the wound.
"It's an impact injury. Based on the shape of the wound, the object should have been oval-shaped. I suspect it was a sculpture. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the murder weapon at the crime scene."
"Is there any possibility it was caused by hitting the edge of the workbench?"
"Unlikely. If it had hit the edge of the workbench, the wound shape wouldn't be oval."
"Thank you. Liu Jiale is lying. It's very likely that Ye Zeling killed him, and Liu Jiale is taking the blame for her!" Fang Rui patted Mu Mian's head and left with the report.
Mu Mian was stunned for a moment, then reminded Fang Rui unhappily, "Patting heads stunts growth. Also, the victim..."
But Fang Rui had already left.
He really is an impatient person! But Mu Mian knew Fang Rui would come back to see her later.
When Fang Rui returned to the interrogation room, Liu Jiale had already entered a state of refusing to answer any questions.
Fang Rui's eyes fixed on Liu Jiale, "The one who killed the victim wasn't you, but Ye Zeling, right?"
"What does this have to do with Zeling? I killed him, I confess! What more do you want?"
"Then please answer again, how did Ye Zeming die?"
"I told you, I was very angry at the time, so I pushed him. He hit the workbench and died shortly after!"
"But our forensic results don't show that," Fang Rui took out the autopsy report and showed Liu Jiale the photo. "This wound was clearly caused by hitting the floor. You don't even know how the victim died, are you sure you killed him?"
Liu Jiale immediately defended himself, "I was too panicked at the time, I remembered wrong. Now I recall, his head hit the floor, making a very crisp sound."
"I just lied to you. Actually, it was caused by hitting a sculpture," Fang Rui said to Liu Jiale. "You don't know the details of the case at all. The killer isn't you, you're just trying to take the blame for Ye Zeling, aren't you?"
"I'm the killer, I killed him! Am I an idiot? How could I possibly take the blame for that bitch Ye Zeling! I hate her so much I could kill her too!"
Zhang couldn't help but feel some sympathy for Liu Jiale. Being this devoted to someone who doesn't care about you is too pathetic.
"Ye Zeling doesn't like you, she likes her brother," Zhang couldn't help but remind him. "Even if you take the blame for Ye Zeling, she won't like you!"
Liu Jiale clenched his fists in anger but remained silent, seemingly confident that the police couldn't prove whether it was Ye Zeling or him who pushed Ye Zeming down.
Fang Rui said, "Liu Jiale, your plan was perfect, but do you know why we still guessed the truth? It's because of Ye Zeling. She insisted that the victim was murdered, she insisted that we investigate."
Liu Jiale's eyes widened instantly, as if struck by lightning, and he froze.
"Why do you think she did that?"
Liu Jiale still didn't speak.
"If your plan had succeeded, you both would have been innocent, and Ye Zeling would have been blackmailed by you with this incident. She would have been under your control for the rest of her life. On the contrary, if the case was solved, you would definitely take the blame for her voluntarily. This way, Ye Zeling could successfully escape punishment and have a free life."
"No, you're talking nonsense, Zeling wouldn't do this to me!"
Fang Rui continued to attack his psyche: "It seems Ye Zeling is much smarter than you. Her plan is what you'd call a perfect crime."
Liu Jiale was on the verge of a mental breakdown, but he still defended Ye Zeling: "Zeling didn't mean to, she accidentally pushed her brother, who knew it would turn out like this. She only committed manslaughter."
"Then why did you create the fire and explosion?"
"It was all my idea. We were too panicked at the time. Later when we calmed down, we were blinded by the huge benefits.
Ye Zeming had bought insurance for himself, with Zeling as the beneficiary. But if the insurance company found out that Zeling killed Ye Zeming, she wouldn't get a penny of compensation. And there would be no way to repay the debts Ye Zeming owed!
We created the fire to ensure Ye Zeming's body would be discovered quickly, so the insurance company would pay us the compensation."
Liu Jiale detailed the process of the crime:
When Ye Zeling discovered that her brother was addicted to gambling and owed huge debts, she completely broke down. She lost her temper with her brother, and when Ye Zeming tried to comfort her, she pushed him away forcefully. Unexpectedly, he lost his balance and crashed into a huge sculpture on the table.
Ye Zeling left the villa in a panic but encountered Liu Jiale, who had come to collect debts, outside the villa. Seeing Ye Zeling in a state of panic, Liu Jiale asked her what happened. After learning that Ye Zeling had accidentally killed Ye Zeming, Liu Jiale immediately said he would help Ye Zeling handle the situation.
Liu Jiale loved reading detective novels, so his mind quickly came up with many ways to dispose of the body.
He originally planned to cut the body into small pieces and hide them inside a batch of plaster sculptures. He first cut off Ye Zeming's genitals with a knife, and out of anger, he smashed them with a hammer. But when he saw the bloody wound, he became scared and didn't dare to dismember Ye Zeming further.
But then he thought of an even more clever method.
First, he and Ye Zeling put Ye Zeming's body in a freezer and set it to the lowest temperature. This way, the body wouldn't decompose, and the forensic experts wouldn't be able to determine exactly which day Ye Zeming died.
He had Ye Zeling imitate Ye Zeming's voice and call Ye Zeming's colleagues and friends every day, creating the illusion that Ye Zeming was still alive.
In the early hours of the day of the incident, he placed the frozen Ye Zeming near a window. From that position, one could vaguely make out that it was Ye Zeming, but couldn't see the details clearly. This further reinforced the illusion that Ye Zeming died on June 12th.
Then he left the villa and deliberately found a spot directly facing a camera in the library, giving himself a solid alibi.
The reason he deliberately left his previous residence and went into hiding was to add another layer of protection. If the police discovered the truth, he could more easily take the blame for Ye Zeling. He loved Ye Zeling so much that he didn't want her to be harmed in any way.
On June 12th, he set up the fire-starting device and deliberately piled up many paint cans and turpentine near the workbench. He closed all the windows so that when the fire started, it might cause an explosion, further damaging the body.
According to his plan, the firefighters would treat it as an ordinary fire. Even if someone became suspicious, the body would have been burned, making it difficult for the police to determine if the body had been frozen, let alone pinpoint the exact time of death.
But an unexpected situation arose. The police investigating the case were very capable, and they unraveled the truth bit by bit.
Ye Zeling learned from the female officer protecting her that the police had confirmed Ye Zeming was murdered and had made significant progress in the investigation.
Ye Zeling told him this. He immediately planned a staged attack on Ye Zeling in the street, so the police investigation would shift focus to him. If the truth came out, he could reasonably take the blame for Ye Zeling.
His plan was perfect, ensuring that Ye Zeling would definitely escape punishment. He never expected that the one who would make his plan fail would be Ye Zeling, the very person he had been trying to protect.
Liu Jiale's face turned ashen. He knew Ye Zeling didn't love him, but he never imagined she could be so vicious. Indeed, both siblings were demons.
