"Yu Bo?"Meng Chi"s gaze looked startled for a moment; there was coldness in his eyes.
The next moment, he laughed.
"Regarding this person, I"ve already said many times! I"ve nothing more to say!"
"But you bleeping didn"t tell the truth!"
Quan Shaoteng gritted his teeth and kept slamming the table.
His temper was not as good as Bai Muchuan.
His anger was acc.u.mulating, coupled with Meng Chi"s indifferent att.i.tude. He stared at him and rose from his seat with a stance showing that he was about to deliver a fist at him!
Meng Chi snorted coldly as he looked at him directly with no trace of fear.
Although he looked haggard, there was still a shrewd look in his eyes.
Bai Muchuan refused to let go of Quan Shaoteng, who couldn"t stop cursing and swearing.
His pair of cold eyes were looking at Meng Chi, who also returned his gaze.
For a long time, none of them moved their gaze elsewhere—
"D*mn! This b*stard…"
A while later, Quan Shaoteng shook off Bai Muchuan"s hand and sat on the chair, panting a little.
"Fine, fine, fine! I won"t beat him up today! He will pay for killing someone anyway. Did he think he can get away by not admitting to the crime? Hur, how naïve!"
Meng Chi only sat there quietly.
"I don"t know what you are talking about. But there"s one thing you"re right. If I committed a crime, the law will prosecute me, not you—"
It was difficult for Quan Shaoteng to regain his calmness, yet Meng Chi"s words successfully ignited the burning anger within him again. "You—"
"Meng Chi!" Bai Muchuan interrupted Quan Shaoteng and grabbed his arm, and then he spoke to Meng Chi with a stern tone, "Looks like you will not admit it then! Let me tell you this, even if you persist on by refusing to talk, I still won"t let you get away!"
"I know!" Meng Chi opened his mouth slowly. A cold, bitter smile appeared on his face as if he was sighing or as if he was powerless against the situation. "That"s why I don"t feel like saying anything… If all of you said it"s me, then it"s me! I believe the police; I also believe you, Detective Bai…"
…
They got nothing out of him during the interrogation.
Meng Chi"s tepid att.i.tude and unwillingness to cooperate drove them crazy.
Bai Muchuan took all the dossiers related to this case out and placed them on his desk for a re-examination with everyone.
Everyone held the consensus that there was no other suspect at Tu Liang"s death scene.
Meng Chi was the murderer.
"The facts should be clear now! Boss… let"s arrange the evidence and pa.s.s it to the prosecutors. We should quickly lock up that fellow!" This was the first time Tang Yuanchu took part in the case a.n.a.lysis meeting after he recovered from his injury.
Just like Quan Shaoteng, the young man"s blood in his body was burning. He was eager to see how the law would punish the murderer severely. He wished he could shoot Meng Chi in the next second.
"There"s something I don"t understand," said Xiang Wan, a hand propped on her chin, "why would Meng Chi do that? His motive seems a little far-fetched! His att.i.tude of choosing not to talk is even more puzzling."
"There"s no problem with this. We wouldn"t be able to understand an insane man"s thoughts. Maybe it was a spur of the moment when he decided to kill? There are countless cases every year where people kill for no reason and without any warning. Moreover, Meng Chi could have deliberately planned all this…"
Everyone was up in arms about it.
Xiang Wan said nothing more.
After all, she was not a part of the police force.
She could stay in the meeting as a listener and they allowed her to raise her opinion, but there was no need for her to argue with them!
Huff! Bai Muchuan rubbed his temples. "Meeting dismissed. Everyone, get some rest."
The clues in his mind were entangled together. Since he had stayed up throughout the night, he was having a splitting headache.
He headed directly to the washroom after getting out of the meeting room. He turned on the tap, bent down, and let the cold water ran all over his head. A good while later, he shook his head and stepped out slowly.
Xiang Wan waited for him outside.
Quietly, tranquilly, leisurely.
There were some fine red lines in her eyes, but they still looked bright and lively. There was a soothing power in them.
Bai Muchuan smiled at her, took the paper towel from her hand, and wiped his hands.
"I"ve given it a thought. There"s nothing wrong with what everyone says!"
"Yeah." Xiang Wan glanced at his wet hair and tip-toed to wipe his forehead—using her sleeves.
Bai Muchuan looked at her motionlessly with a stunned look on his face.
Xiang Wan smiled. "You want to blow dry your hair?"
"Oh, it"s alright!" Bai Muchuan brushed his damp hair with his fingers. He wanted to laugh but it felt unsuitable at the moment to do so. He turned his head and looked at her deeply. "Are you tired following me around like this?"
Xiang Wan shook her head with a smile. "I"m not tired. It"s actually exciting!"
Bai Muchuan"s stiff face seemed to have slightly relaxed. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders; his tense nerves finally had a moment of peace.
"You"ve seen the dossiers. Any thoughts about it?"
He seemed to want to hear her opinion.
Xiang Wan contemplated for a while. "There"s definitely something about Meng Chi, no doubt about that. However, the reason he refused to cooperate and how he did not even bother to explain himself; it might be because he knew that… it is useless even if he tried to defend himself."
"Mm? Why do you say that?" Bai Muchuan looked at her.
"He knew very well what happened then. If it was useless to explain himself, he might as well drag it out…" Xiang Wan"s eyebrows furrowed slightly while she a.n.a.lyzed the situation. "However, when I heard Laowu and the others cursing and swearing at him, I suddenly had a thought."
Bai Muchuan"s eyes lit up. "What thought?"
Xiang Wan bit her lower lip slightly. "Could Meng Chi be related to that disaster 20 years ago? Not to mention, does he have a stable mental health?"
Regarding her question, it was not indicated in any of the dossiers.
Xiang Wan"s thought was very timely.
Bai Muchuan nodded and squeezed her hand.
"I"ll let them investigate this. Let me send you back to the hotel first!"
…
He got a case to look into.
Xiang Wan also had her job to do which she didn"t want to delay.
Both of them bought some food back to the hotel. Both of them then rested for about slightly more than an hour before he left after receiving a call.
Xiang Wan slept till the sky was a little dark.
There was no sound at all in the stillness of the room.
She sat on the bed and looked at the windows, feeling a little confused.
What was the time now?
She took her mobile phone to check the time.
She then realized that she had slept for a long time.
However, after this sleep, she felt so much more energetic!
"Lord Editor, treat me to dinner!"
She yawned and sent a message to Fang Yuanyuan. Then she left the bed to wash her face before turning on her laptop and started to write her chapter for the day.
One of the most pleasant things about writing a novel was that she could create stories at will. In this case, her plot had deviated from reality.
She did not want to change that and totally did not follow what the case was heading to in real life into her novel. Rather, she followed her heart. In her story, the detective that "sacrificed" himself came back to life after an emergency operation. Consequently, he could also see his wife and daughter who rushed over a good distance to see him, reunite, and embraced each other…
It might have been because she wanted to make up for the regret she felt within her.
Xiang Wan let Tu Liang live on in her story.
The police even commended him for his bravery and he lived happily with his wife and daughter…
Once she uploaded the chapter, an overwhelming feeling surged within her as if she had accomplished something amazing.
…
Writing a novel was wonderful.
If she didn"t like the plot, she could just delete them and rewrite it.
If only life could be like that, that would be really great.
…
In less than two minutes after Xiang Wan uploaded the chapter, she received Fang Yuanyuan"s message.
"I"ve bought food! Hurry and come over!"
Xiang Wan had not had dinner yet, and she was feeling hungry.
She put a piece of chip into her mouth as she punched her reply. "Okay! Be right there."
After that, Xiang Wan called Bai Muchuan.
She had guessed that he could not join her for dinner.
Therefore, when she heard that he had to work overtime, she was not disappointed at all.
"Alright, don"t forget to have your dinner, okay? Don"t starve yourself!"
"Mm," answered Bai Muchuan, "I"m at the hospital, the one where Xie Wanwan is staying."
"Eh?" Xiang Wan"s first reaction was that Xie Wanwan was in trouble again.
"Meng Chi"s mother is here to see her," he continued, "I came over there to learn more from her."
"I see!"
Meng Chi"s mother was Xie Wanwan"s adoptive mother.
Something major happened to Meng Chi and Xie Wanwan. That was why she flew to Xi City to visit them. Since she could not visit Meng Chi for now, she would definitely come to visit Xie Wanwan at the hospital.
It was understandable that Bai Muchuan had gone there at this time.
While Xiang Wan packed up her stuff, she asked, "Any findings so far?"
"There is." Bai Muchuan"s voice seemed to be lower. He paused and she heard footsteps which he might be walking to somewhere so as to talk to her. "Meng Chi is indeed a little related to the disaster back then," he spoke softly, "but it"s not direct."
So he really had a connection with the tragedy.
Just that it was not directly related to him.
"So how is he related to it?"
Bai Muchuan deliberated for a moment; he seemed to hesitate for a while.
"I talked to his mom for a while and tried to sound her out. She told me that back then, she went to Jin City for a tour and came upon that disaster. However, she did not bring Meng Chi along…"
Sound her out?
Xiang Wan noticed how he had used these words.
Weren"t the police supposed to ask her about it directly?
Why was Meng Chi"s mom an exception?
Xiang Wan replied carefully, "Anything else then?"
Bai Muchuan responded nonchalantly, "Mm, I"m busy at the moment. I"ll talk to you later!"
"… All right then!"
Somehow, Xiang Wan felt something amiss.
If Meng Chi"s mom was in that coach, by right, Meng Chi should also be one of the targets.
He should be the victim, not the perpetrator…
However…
Wasn"t Cui Ming, the one who carried out his plans to seek revenge on those who were on the coach, already dead!?
Who would frame Meng Chi and continue his plans for revenge?
…