Chapter 167: The Expert Cleared Up Doubts
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Just as Jiao Hai was about to be brought away, Zhao Yu suddenly went back to his original thought and recalled the word, “expert”! He had seen Jiao Hai’s records. This fella had been sentenced not only because of one kidnapping murder case, but because he had also taken part in numerous kidnapping cases prior to murder. Thus, he could be called an “expert” in this trade. Zhao Yu thought to himself, “Since this opportunity is rare, why don’t I learn a thing or two from this ‘expert’?”
“Of-officer, it’s really not me! Really not me…” Jiao Hai cried out and his body almost collapsed. Two prison officers held onto him and put him back into the seat.
“Alright alright!’ Zhao Yu said. “I already know that you have nothing to do with the Mianling Case! I only want to ask you about something else now!”
“Ah! What…what do you wanna ask me? Please say! As long as I know, I guarantee…”
“Cut the crap!” Zhao Yu cut him off. “Let me ask you, the kidnapping that you did previously, after you got the hostages, how long did you take before calling the families?”
“Ah! Well,” Jiao Hai was puzzled, and said as he pondered, “that depends on the situation, the best time is after one night, and not over twenty-four hours!”
“Right!” Zhao Yu nodded. He also thought this way. If they waited more than twenty-four hours, the police would make a case out of it. After one night was enough for the family members to be worried.
“Then…if the family members were called after three days, what kind of situation would that be?” Zhao Yu asked again. As the details of the Mianling Case had never been announced to the public, Jiao Hai had no idea that Zhao Yu was talking about the Mianling case.
“Well…well…” Jiao Hai thought it over carefully, but shook his head after a long while, “It’s difficult to say! There could be many kinds of situations.”
“Such as?”
“Such as?” Jiao Hai frowned. “Erm…the kidnappers threatened the parents after they finished spending the money and needed more? Or…the hostages escaped and got caught again? Or…there were internal conflicts among the kidnappers? There are too many possibilities!”
“Oh…” Zhao Yu could not help but shake his head. He had thought of all these possibilities before. It was very likely for accidents to occur after kidnapping five children and one adult. Therefore, it was unlikely to determine whether the kidnappers were professional based on the fact that the phone call was made after three days.
“Then…what about the vehicle?” Zhao Yu asked again. “Would the kidnappers take the vehicle of the hostages too?”
“No!” Unexpectedly, Jiao Hai said with certainty this time. “That’s called robbery, not kidnapping! No one kidnaps without bringing a vehicle, even if it was a stolen vehicle! Anyway…the kidnappers that I know, no one would take the vehicle! Only a desperate fugitive will do that!”
“Fugitive!?” Zhao Yu pondered carefully over Jiao Hai’s words, trying to find something important in them.
“Then…” After much thought, Zhao Yu asked again, “Under what situation do you think the kidnappers would kill the hostages?”
“Erm…well…” Jiao Hai’s lowered his head as his lips started to tremble. “Of-officer, why are you asking me this? Haven’t you already investigated me? The woman that I kidnapped had a serious heart disease, we did not cause her death on purpose! We kidnappers merely want money, none of us really want the hostages to die!”
“Oh…” Zhao Yu recalled that the hostage whom Jiao Hai kidnapped had indeed died from a sudden illness. It was also because of this that Jiao Hai was not given a death sentence immediately!
“Just for money, kidnappers do not want to kill the hostages!? Can this logic be used on the Mianling case? Why did the Mianling case kidnappers kill the hostages? There were five children among them…” Zhao Yu wondered.
“Jiao Hai!” Zhao Yu felt that he had gotten something from Jiao Hai and decided to tell him straight that he was here for the Mianling Kidnapping Case investigation. If he was able to help in the investigation, Jiao Hai could be able to get a lighter sentence.
Jiao Hai’s eyes lit up after hearing this. He quickly expressed his willingness to cooperate and would say everything he knew. After that, he quickly told Zhao Yu his professional analysis, “Officer, there are only a few reasons to kill the hostages! Number one, the family members refused to cooperate or called the police! The kidnappers gave up hope and killed the hostages! Number two, which is also the most common, the hostages saw the faces of the kidnappers, so the kidnappers killed the hostages in fear of being exposed!
“But to be frank, it’s killing someone after all! They wouldn’t do that unless they really had no other choice! Even if their face had been seen, it’s not necessary to kill. Actually, for professional kidnappers, they would look for targets prior to planning the kidnapping and they would never strike people they know! They would escape far away after getting the money, so it wouldn’t be such a big deal if their faces were seen!
“As for the third possibility, it would be like in my case where the hostage has a fatal disease, or the hostage gets into an accident trying to escape! But this is very rare! The fourth possibility, like the Mianling Case, erm…” Jiao Hai said seriously to Zhao Yu, “Officer, I feel that it’s quite possible that the Mianling Case has to do with the fourth possibility!”
“Oh? Tell me about it!” Zhao Yu urged.
“Seeking revenge!” Jiao Hai said emotionally, “Officer, I’ve seen the news and I know that the remains have been found! They killed so many children. What else could be it other than revenge? Also, I think those people all had mental problems and were psychopaths! Only people like that would do such a thing! Damn it! They already got the ransom and still killed the hostages!?” Jiao Hai said with his eyes wide, “There’s no sense of morality or credibility at all! Even if it’s for revenge, there would be no need to do this. Although we are all kidnappers, I feel that such people are a disgrace!”
“Ah!?” Zhao Yu did not expect to suddenly hear so many new terms. “Seek revenge? Mental problems? Psychopaths? Really? A few mad men were able to plan such a seamless kidnap? What hatred? To leave no survivors? What hatred could cause this?” Zhao Yu’s thoughts suddenly went wild. The Mianling case seemed to have become even more complicated!
“Officer,” Jia Hai seemed eager to contribute, “I feel that there’s something wrong with the driver! You should check on him thoroughly!”
“Hmm? Why?”
“Heh heh, if I were the one doing the Mianling case, I would only want to kidnap the children!” Jiao Hai said seriously. “That driver was totally useless. Why would I wanna kidnap him too? I would have left him behind after kidnapping the children, and let him inform the family members! At most, I would have stabbed him and used his blood to scare the parents so that they would hand over the money! No matter what, I would never take him with me! It’s definitely a hidden danger taking such a strong young man along! So, this person must have been linked to the kidnapping! I’m sure of it!”
Huh!? Hearing Jiao Hai’s words, Zhao Yu frowned even deeper! Was this kidnapping expert’s deduction correct? Could the already dead Niu Weiguang really have had some dark secret?
After this, Jiao Hai continued his analysis of the Mianling case. There were many inconsistencies between what he said and what the police had previously thought. Zhao Yu was unable to tell who was right and who was wrong in such a short period of time.
After Jiao Hai was taken away by the prison officers, Zhao Yu stayed in the interrogation room and continued to analyze the information he had just received. He wrote down the information, and Jiao Hai’s and his own theories in his notebook, and tried to figure out a new direction for the investigation.
Although the case was still bewildering, Zhao Yu felt that he had gotten another step closer to the truth behind this Qinshan Number One Cold Case! This feeling was similar to when he was faced with the Lost Hand Case. He felt that the truth was hidden within the information that he had gotten, but he was not able to figure it out yet!
Zhao Yu continued sitting in the interrogation room for a long time until the prison officers came to remind him. However, just as Zhao Yu stepped out of the room, he suddenly thought of the word “expert” again. Another strange idea appeared in his brain! “Right! How could I forget, there’s another expert in this prison! Why don’t I also take him over and get his opinion!?”