ebookland Chapter 1113 Arrest of Chen Youcai
Chapter 1113 Arrest of Chen Youcai
“At 3 p.m. on July 15, I saw Chen Youcai wandering around in the stairwell, holding a piece of paper in his hand, which looked like a photocopy of Zhao Hongwei’s ID card. He was muttering, ‘Now let’s see where you can run.’” She pointed to the surveillance camera at the corner of the stairs. “Although the footage was blurry, you could see that he did have a white piece of paper in his hand, and the size matched the ID card.”
The surveillance footage, enhanced by technology, blurred faces, but the name "Zhao Hongwei" was faintly visible on the piece of paper in Chen Youcai's hand. Xiao Wang suddenly realized that Chen Youcai not only knew the secret of Zhao Hongwei's faked death but also possessed his true identity, which he used as leverage to blackmail him. Furthermore, after discovering the problem with the warehouse steel bars, Zhao Hongwei might try to retaliate by exposing Chen Youcai's stolen goods dealing, ultimately escalating the conflict and leading to his death.
The setting sun sank once more beneath the eaves of the tenement building. In Xiao Wang's notebook, Chen Youcai's name was circled three times in red, next to a list of all the suspicious points: the steel pipe matching the murder weapon, Chen's unusual behavior around the time of the incident, threatening remarks, fingerprints and fiber evidence, knowledge of Zhao Hongwei's secrets… Each clue, like a vine, coiled around the tightly closed door of room 301. But Xiao Wang knew that this was not enough to pinpoint the killer. The missing steel pipe, Chen Youcai's whereabouts on the afternoon of July 15th, and the content of his last phone call with Zhao Hongwei—the truth still awaited to be revealed.
Now it is basically confirmed that Chen Youcai is the criminal suspect and has a strong suspicion of committing the crime. Upon learning this, Xiao Wang decisively decided to arrest Chen Youcai.
The incandescent light in the interrogation room cast Chen Youcai's shadow on the wall. His cuffs were still stained with machine oil from the scrap metal recycling station, and his hands rubbed repeatedly against the armrests of the interrogation chair, his knuckles turning white from the force. Xiao Wang pushed a "Leave of Absence Slip for July 15th" in front of him; the creases at the edges of the paper matched the attendance sheet perfectly. "Tell me, where did you go that afternoon?" Xiao Wang's voice was as steady as a rock, but his gaze was fixed on the other man's pupils—psychologically speaking, a liar's pupils contract within 0.3 seconds of being asked a question.
Chen Youcai's Adam's apple bobbed violently, and a stiff smile forced a smile: "I was sleeping at home. I had a terrible headache that day." His gaze flickered to the security camera in the corner, his eyelashes casting a fan-shaped shadow beneath his eyes. Xiao Wang suddenly raised his voice: "The recycling station's security camera captured you pushing away a steel pipe at 9:12. It was 5 centimeters in diameter and 80 centimeters long. Where did it go?" Chen Youcai's shoulders jerked as if burned by those words, his hands instantly clenching into fists.
Assistant interrogator Xiao Li slapped a photo of the steel pipe onto the table at the opportune moment. The rust patterns in the photo overlapped with the spectral data of the metal scraps extracted from the scene. "This steel pipe is unique in the warehouse," Xiao Li tapped his pen on the "Inventory Shortage Record," "One was missing during the inventory count on July 16th. You said it was sold for scrap metal, but there's no record of that transaction on the scale." Chen Youcai's breathing suddenly became rapid, and the air in the interrogation room was filled with the mixed smell of his sweat and engine oil.
Xiao Wang used a "decreasing questioning" technique, skipping the core question of whether or not murder occurred, and instead asking about details: "Why are there Zhao Hongwei's fingerprints in the bed of your tricycle?" He pulled up the fingerprint comparison report, where the red matching mark looked like a bloodstain. "There were also dark blue fibers, with a warp and weft density of 120x80 threads/inch, which perfectly matches his work clothes. You can't exactly say he climbed into your bed himself, can you?"
Chen Youcai's fingernails dug deeply into the wood grain of the handrail: "He borrowed my car to haul things last month, and those fingerprints were left then." His speech suddenly quickened, but his eyes darted around. "The fibers... they might have blown in from the wind. There are scraps of cloth everywhere at the junkyard." Xiao Wang noticed that when he said "last month," his right index finger unconsciously tapped three times—a typical stress response when lying.
At 11 p.m., the interrogation reached a stalemate. Chen Youcai fell silent, repeatedly saying "I don't know" no matter what was asked. Xiao Wang told Xiao Li to wait in the break room, staying behind alone to confront Chen Youcai. He turned off half the lights, plunging the interrogation room into a dim, shadowy atmosphere—this was the "environmental pressure method," where darkness amplifies the suspect's unease. "Zhao Hongwei's father came to identify the body today," Xiao Wang said in a low voice, as if whispering, "The old man's eyes are swollen from crying. He said he only had this one son, and he thought he was dead and secretly cried for eight years."
Chen Youcai's Adam's apple bobbed, and Xiao Wang seized the opportunity to drop crucial evidence: "We found that altered IOU in the metal box under your bed." He pushed the photo of the IOU over, "'Paid in full' has been crossed out, and 'liar' is written next to it. Zhao Hongwei's bank statement shows that he paid back 1 yuan in January 2023. Why are you still holding onto this IOU?" Chen Youcai's breathing became erratic, and his chest heaved like a broken bellows.
At 1 a.m., Xiao Wang changed tactics and laid out Zhao Hongwei's call records: "At 10:03 a.m. on July 15, he called you for 47 seconds." He pressed the record play button. Although there was no content of the call, the sound of a forklift from a scrap metal recycling station could be clearly heard in the background. "What are you arguing about? Did he say he was going to expose you for receiving stolen goods?" Chen Youcai suddenly coughed violently, as if he had choked on his own saliva, and the chains on the interrogation chair rattled loudly.
Xiao Li burst through the door with new evidence—a CCTV screenshot provided by the landlord—showing Chen Youcai holding a photocopy of Zhao Hongwei's ID card. "How did you get this?" Xiao Li zoomed in on the screenshot. "You knew his secret about faking his death, so you used this to blackmail him, didn't you?" Chen Youcai's pupils suddenly contracted, and he abruptly covered his face with his hands, sobs escaping through his fingers: "He framed me! That batch of steel bars was stolen goods he deliberately obtained, causing me to be fined 20,000 yuan!"
Xiao Wang knew that Chen Youcai's defenses were starting to crumble, so he immediately used empathy: "I understand your anger; anyone would be angry if they were cheated." He poured Chen Youcai a glass of warm water. "But you need to explain clearly what exactly happened that afternoon. Did Zhao Hongwei discover the problem with the steel bars in the warehouse and try to use it to threaten you?" These words hit the nail on the head. Chen Youcai's shoulders slumped, and tears mixed with snot streamed down his face.
“He came to see me on the afternoon of July 15th,” Chen Youcai’s voice was hoarse as if it had been sanded, “saying he was going to report me for receiving stolen goods and demanded 7 yuan as hush money, or he would hand over a copy of his ID card to the police.” He suddenly slammed his head on the table. “I was furious, so I took a steel pipe from my tricycle and smashed it against his leg… He fell and hit his head on the steps, and he died instantly!”