Sweeping Mouse Ridge – Chapter Three : 4

The so-called “confrontation” referred to a face-to-face interrogation of the criminal suspect. Du Jianping repeatedly reviewed all the work he had done since the crime, the witness testimonies, and the evidence he had collected, only to realize that everything was prepared—except for himself.

Having been a police officer for decades and solved hundreds, even thousands, of cases, the opponent he was about to face was the most troublesome, the most daunting, and—he would never admit to others—nerve-wracking person he had ever encountered. Ten years ago, they had crossed paths. Back then, Zhou Liping was a high school student, a major suspect in the “Western Suburbs Serial Murders” case. After his arrest, he remained silent, like a zombie, thinking he could escape legal punishment. And he actually did escape, receiving only a ten-year prison sentence! This was something Du Jianping would regret for the rest of his life.

Each criminal was like a bar of soap. If you didn’t hold onto it tightly the first time, it would slip through your fingers and roll into some ditch or dark corner, escaping justice and appearing in society as a law-abiding citizen. Under the sunlight, its shadow was no darker than anyone else’s.

Therefore, capturing Zhou Liping again was almost a miracle, but it also meant that Du Jianping was facing a top-tier expert with exceptional criminal skills and counter-investigation techniques. It would be worth noting that Zhou Liping had thoroughly experienced all the police’s interrogation techniques, including psychological warfare, cross-examination, disrupting biological clocks, and polygraph tests. In other words, he was familiar with everything about the police, while everything about him was completely foreign to them…

The best illustration of this was the search of Zhou Liping’s residence. Despite Lin Fengchong leading the team and assigning Chu Tianying, a highly skilled crime scene investigation expert, as his deputy, they found nothing in Zhou Liping’s house. It was a one-bedroom apartment on the top floor of a dilapidated residential building. Standing at the door, the entire room was clearly visible: a single bed, chair, folding table, and wardrobe—all in an old-fashioned wood grain color, exuding the typical atmosphere of a rental apartment. Besides a few clothes, the wardrobe contained an umbrella, a backpack, and several small flags left over from his time as a traffic warden. Under the mattress were over two thousand yuan in cash and an Industrial and Commercial Bank of China savings card, which already held tens of thousands of yuan. A search under the bed yielded three pairs of running shoes and a set of detachable electroplated dumbbells. A neighbor confirmed that Zhou Liping was an avid fitness enthusiast who ran in the neighborhood every morning and evening. In the summer, he had seen him shirtless, lifting dumbbells, his muscular physique glistening with sweat, his door half open.

Li Ziyong specifically called Du Jianping to ask, “Have you found the handgun?”

Du Jianping’s answer disappointed him.

The technical department practically packed up the entire room and took it all away, but after examining every single hair on the floor under a microscope, they still couldn’t find a single piece of physical evidence linking him to the Sweeping Mouse Ridge Case. Furthermore, the staff responsible for reconstructing the scene unanimously agreed that, based on the placement of items, the handling of trash, and especially the folding of the bedding, Zhou Liping showed no abnormalities from the night he returned home until he left for work the next day.

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All of this caused Du Jianping a huge headache. Evidence, in law, was a very complex concept, but ultimately it could be divided into two types: direct evidence and indirect evidence. Direct evidence was evidence that directly connected the suspect and the crime, while indirect evidence required several detours to establish the connection. Whether in an interrogation or a judicial judgment, the most valuable evidence was always direct evidence. However, all the evidence the police had obtained so far was circumstantial, not direct: the most valuable piece of evidence was the CCTV footage of Zhou Liping driving a Spire through the traffic lights at Qingshikou East Lane. What else was there? Nothing!

He could not exactly tell the judge in court, “Because he committed murder before, the four bodies on the Sweeping Mouse Ridge are likely his doing too!”

Therefore, the only hope was a face-to-face interrogation to pry Zhou Liping’s words out.

To gain a deeper understanding of their adversary, Du Jianping personally questioned Zheng Gui, the CEO of Mingyi Public Relations Company, asking him to describe Zhou Liping’s work and life. After compiling and verifying the information, the following points were roughly confirmed. First, Zhou Liping was able to work at Mingyi Public Relations Company because of a recommendation from a woman named Sun Jinghua. Sun Jinghua was the conference and exhibition manager of a high-end hotel in the city, and most of the meetings and events Mingyi Public Relations Company planned for its clients were held there, so Zheng Gui always gave her face. On his first day at the company, Zhou Liping mentioned that he had served many years in prison for murder. Zheng Gui was startled, but he couldn’t go back on his promise to Sun Jinghua, so he hired him anyway. When asked about his skills, he said he had learned to drive and repair cars in prison. Since the company had three cars but no permanent drivers, Zheng Gui made him their full-time driver. Secondly, Zhou Liping was usually very quiet. Aside from his good relationship with Xing Yunda, the son of Xing Qisheng, he had no personal relationships with anyone else at the company. However, Zheng Gui liked his tight-lipped nature and always took him along on business trips. Thirdly, Zhou Liping didn’t have a girlfriend. He always kept his distance from female colleagues at the company, just as they treated him. Fourthly, Zhou Liping genuinely liked children. Once, Zheng Gui personally witnessed Zhao Wu visiting him at Building D of the Runtang High Tech Incubation Park. That evening, Xing Qisheng called Zheng Gui, furious. Zheng Gui had to plead with him to calm things down and then severely reprimanded Zhou Liping, who remained silent.

The above, instead of dispelling the mystery surrounding Zhou Liping, actually deepened it, especially his relationship with Xing Yunda. This led the police to once again focus their attention on Xing Yunda, who had no opportunity to commit the crime. Was Zhou Liping’s motive for murder instigated by a disobedient son? If so, why implicate three innocent children? Furthermore, there’s a fourth point: Zhou Liping “likes” children. This “like” was far from simple… Years of police experience led Du Jianping to suspect that Zhou Liping, who had a history of rape and murder charges, might have committed this crime because Xing Qisheng had concrete evidence of child molestation or even rape and therefore killed them to silence them!

Thinking about this, Du Jianping felt a surge of anger rising within him. He drank several mouthfuls of tea from his enamel mug before calming down and asked Lin Fengchong, who sat opposite him, “Zhou Liping, what has been his behavior since his arrest?”

Lin Fengchong replied, “Everything’s normal.”

“Normal?” Du Jianping put down his enamel mug. “How is it normal?”

“Eating, drinking, defecating, urinating—anyway, his one-bedroom apartment isn’t much bigger than a single cell, and he seems quite comfortable there,” Lin Fengchong said sarcastically. “He’s also very stable emotionally, not making a fuss, not asking when he’ll be interrogated, as if he knew this day would come, except—”

Lin Fengchong hesitated for a moment, then Du Jianping said impatiently, “Just say what you think!”

“I just feel like he knows he’s done something wrong, but it’s not a big deal…”

“Nonsense!” Du Jianping glared at him. “Four lives, and it’s not a big deal?!”

“Don’t rush me; I’m just analyzing it for you,” Lin Fengchong said with a smile. “In the know, Zhou Liping is a seasoned veteran criminal; he’s been through the deepest waters, so he knows exactly what he’s done and what punishment he’ll receive—he has a crystal clear plan. If he really killed four people in Sweeping Mouse Ridge, he’d definitely be shot. Anyone would be nervous, but he doesn’t seem nervous at all. He’ll probably only be detained for ten days or half a month before being released.”

Du Jianping paused for a moment, then sighed: “Tell the pretrial department to interrogate Zhou Liping immediately. You’ll participate too. I’ll watch the whole thing from the monitoring room next to the interrogation room. I refuse to believe we can’t crack this tough nut!”