Jian Jing carefully investigated and the bold deception strategy was successful.
In Qian Lei's opinion, apart from himself, only Min Manager could have known the details at that time - when he went to the rest area and found her wiping her shoulders with a tissue.
He was mentally defeated and came clean.
Armed with his confession and evidence, Ji Feng began to question Min Manager.
Unlike Officer Gao's pressure on Qian Lei, Min Manager had exceptional psychological resilience that couldn't be resolved with just cold glares and shouting. To cross swords with her required a gradual, step-by-step approach.
Ji Feng was skilled at this task.
As he entered, he greeted her with a smile, "Ms. He, please sit. Would you like some water?" As he spoke, he naturally poured her a glass of warm water. His casual, relaxed attitude easily lowered the defenses of the person being questioned.
Min Manager smiled gently, "Thank you."
"I called you in today mainly to ask you a few more questions. Don't worry, just answer truthfully," said Ji Feng calmly.
Min Manager hesitated slightly before slowly answering, "Alright."
Ji Feng asked, "What was your relationship with Zhao Liqiang?"
"Colleagues," Min Manager replied without thinking.
Ji Feng revealed a hint of aggression, "But according to our investigation, you two were on good terms privately. Otherwise, you wouldn't know so many of his secrets."
Min Manager paused, seemingly embarrassed, "We were just colleagues. Sometimes when he drank too much he would talk nonsense and I didn't take it seriously."
"What did he say?"
"Just complaints, like someone wanted to sabotage him back then, they were envious of his territory," she said. "It was only later I realized he was talking about our club."
Ji Feng nodded, "Do you think he had a motive to kill Dong Liang?"
Min Manager shook her head, "I don't know."
"I hope you can recall again what happened on the night of June 15. What time did you return to the club that night?" he asked.
Min Manager answered without hesitation, "I really can't remember clearly, just that it was before 11 o'clock."
Ji Feng said, "We checked the intersection cameras and didn't capture the taxi you mentioned."
"The driver didn't take the main gate road. I got out at the back door," she explained seamlessly. "Check again, you'll see."
She was sincere in her manner, gazing gently at Ji Feng with clear eyes.
--
Observation Room
Jian Jing leaned against the glass and asked, "What contact lenses is she wearing? The effect is too good."
In contrast, Zhu Yanan was tense, "She seems confident. Could we have made a mistake?"
Lao Gao: "..."
--
Outside the One-Way Mirror
Ji Feng didn't dwell too long on her arrival time. Working at the club every day, she was certainly familiar with the nearby cameras. Finding a drop off point without surveillance wouldn't have been difficult.
He briskly moved on from that question, "After you got to the break room, you didn't leave again, right?"
Min Manager said, "No, I didn't."
"That's not right," said Ji Feng. "We have an eyewitness who said they went to the break room between 11:50 and 11 o'clock and didn't see you there."
As an experienced hostess from the entertainment scene, Min Manager was meticulous and cautious. She didn't immediately reveal any flaws but was dubious, "Looking for me? Who?"
She had her suspicions. If it was Old Zhao, he would have taken the opportunity to probe or even threaten her beforehand. Qian wouldn't say anything without cause, and she and Zhengjie didn't have that kind of relationship. Auntie Liu had always looked down on women like her, so she wouldn't have come to find her for no reason.
It was most likely the police tricking her.
"We can't disclose the identity of the witness, but Ms. He, not only were you not where you should have been, you also appeared somewhere you shouldn't have been." Ji Feng slid over a photo, "Look, are these the clothes you wore that day?"
Min Manager glanced at it and said, "It looks like them."
"According to our investigation, you usually wear skirts you prepare yourself, but on the 15th you said your skirt was stained with red wine and temporarily changed into this black dress from the changing room, right?"
She asked in response, "What's the issue?"
"Do you know if there were any bloodstains extracted from the shoulder straps of this dress?" Though the DNA comparison wasn't back yet, we have reason to believe it's the victim's blood."
Blood could be washed away with bleach, detergent or special cleaning agents, but it tended to fade. So this black dress had only been rinsed with plain water, leaving enough blood traces to be extracted.
Min Manager remained unruffled, "That doesn't prove anything. The dress wasn't only worn by me. Even if it's the boss's blood, it could have been stained previously."
Ji Feng asked her for confirmation, "You're not clear where the bloodstains came from, right?"
Min Manager slowly nodded.
"Then do you know if Tan Hao had a history of allergies?" he began to close in.
She grew increasingly cautious, "I think I've heard that, but I don't remember clearly."
"That's unlikely," said Ji Feng. He slapped a piece of paper on the table and slid it over. "This is a physical exam report from a private hospital. The patient's name is Tan Hao and it includes allergy testing. Please explain."
Min Manager didn't expect them to move so quickly. She glanced at it and said, "Xiao Tan wanted to get tested but didn't want to go to a public hospital. I happened to know a doctor friend and referred them to get a physical exam together."
"Tan Hao said you brought him this report and that you'd seen it," said Ji Feng. "Did you look at it?"
"No," she denied firmly.
Ji Feng patiently asked, "So you didn't know he was allergic to mold and hadn't touched the robe in the suite?"
Early this morning, the technical department's report came back. A large amount of mold was detected on the robe Tan Hao had been wearing. With the recent rainy weather, it was normal for clothing to become damp and moldy, so it hadn't been noticed before.
Min Manager shifted slightly, adjusting her stiff sitting posture.
"Xiao Tan mentioned to us that he'd been hospitalized for allergies before, but it was just in passing. As for the robe, I'm even more confused," she asked back calmly. "Officer, why do you seem to be treating me as a suspect?"
She shook her head and sincerely said, "I have my own business, I would never do anything illegal for a man I barely know."
"Ms. He, I don't want to suspect you either," said Ji Feng earnestly. "But we have witness testimony that you appeared in the victim's room that night, and the clothes you wore have the victim's bloodstains. That's too much of a coincidence."
Min Manager pressed her lips together, her thoughts racing.
Was it Qian or Xiao Tan?
"Could Xiao Tan have been mistaken? When I called for the boss outside the door, he probably heard me and thought I was inside," she offered a reasonable explanation.
Ji Feng asked, "So you mean he framed you?"
"Of course not, but Xiao Tan wasn't himself that night. Making a mistake is possible," she said.
Ji Feng shook his head and abruptly changed the subject, "Let me ask you again, what was your relationship with Zhao Liqiang?"
Min Manager was taken aback.
From his tone, it was Old Zhao? So that's why they kept asking about their relationship?
This was bad. Based on what she had said before, she and Old Zhao were close. Old Zhao had even made drunken slip-ups. There was no discord between them.
"Did Old Zhao say he saw me?" she probed. "When was this? I don't know about it."
--
Observation Room
It was obvious Zhu Yanan had relaxed, "She took the bait."
Jian Jing sat in the chair drinking coffee and complained, "So slow, an hour to get a statement."
"The enemy is crafty," Lao Gao explained the process. "First be friendly, then attack. Finally, fake them out so they fall into disarray before striking the fatal blow."
Jian Jing remarked, "Ji Feng's not good at much, but he's the best at setting traps."
"Interrogation is a technical skill," Lao Gao righteously defended his colleague. "It would take me three hours."
She made a face and continued watching.
--
Ji Feng began to analyze the case: "Now, there is this possibility about the case. Listen to this.
"Around 10:50, you entered the victim's room, tricked him into the living room with some excuse, and then used a prepared ceramic object to strike his head. The victim was drunk and unable to resist, was severely injured and fell to the ground. Then, you entered the bedroom and injected an anti-allergy medication into Xiao Tan's body and pressed his fingerprints onto something. Of course, it's also possible you had already figured out a way to leave his fingerprints on it beforehand.
"However, when you wanted to leave, you heard footsteps outside the door. You locked the door and heard Zhao Liqiang's voice. Fortunately, you had recorded an audio clip beforehand - which was supposed to be something you and someone else heard after you left, to help establish your alibi - and you decided to use it prematurely to create the illusion that the victim was still alive.
"Unfortunately, Zhao Liqiang heard the sounds of an argument and was afraid something bad had happened, so he immediately went to find Qian Lei to open the door. You knew your plan had gone awry, so you decided to take a risk and stay in the room, adjusting the angle of the sofa to create a visual blind spot for yourself.
"Everything went as you expected - when the people outside came in, their attention was drawn to the corpse, and you took the opportunity to slip away. But you didn't expect that someone would notice your tracks."
Ji Feng placed a file on the table. "This is his confession. Do you have anything you want to explain?"
Min Manager said with difficulty, "Is there any evidence?"
"There is a witness."
"What if his testimony isn't credible enough?" Min Manager retorted.
"You mean he's falsely accusing you?" Ji Feng asked in surprise. "Why would he do that?"
With things having reached this point, Min Manager didn't care much anymore. She took a risk and said, "Zhao Liqiang had been pursuing me, hoping I would be with him. I rejected him several times. Because of this, he resented me in particular."
As she spoke, her train of thought became smoother.
Now that she thought about it, it was possible that when Zhao had suddenly proposed to her earlier, he had already planned things out. If she refused, he could say a few words to the police to apply pressure and force her to agree.
Yes, that must be it. He was short on money but was convinced he would succeed with Jin Cuihua Palace.
Min Manager raised her head, looking straight into the eyes of the policeman opposite her, eyes unwavering.
He had a grave expression, brows slightly furrowed, seeming to be judging the truth of her words. Seeing him like this, she couldn't help but feel a glimmer of hope - if they had solid evidence, the police certainly wouldn't be acting this way.
It was worth gambling on.
"I remember two people discovered the corpse. It doesn't make sense that he saw it but Qian and Xiao Tan didn't, right?" Min Manager went all in and directly said, "He's talking nonsense."
Ji Feng looked thoughtful. "What are your relationships with Xiao Tan and Qian Lei?"
Min Manager said, "My relationship with Xiao Tan is quite close, but I'm not familiar with Qian Lei, we're just ordinary colleagues. He had no reason to cover for me at all."
"Is that so?" Ji Feng smiled slightly. When forced into a corner, a desperate man will do anything. "But the one providing testimony is Qian Lei."
Min Manager's smile froze.
"You two aren't unrelated either." He continued unhurriedly. "He used to work as a security guard at the complex you lived in. According to the property management office, he helped you find lost items before, and you specially thanked him. Later, he was fired because of his criminal record, and you also spoke on his behalf."
"Qian Lei said he was grateful to you for not discriminating against him, and for helping him find a job. So when he saw you appear in the victim's room, not only did he pretend not to see you, he also helped block the view of the other people."
Ji Feng asked, "Do you have anything else you want to explain?"
The interrogation room was silent as the grave.
Author's note: Min has evil intentions when digging for gossip, while Ji Feng sets traps when he does it.
