Chapter 50: This woman is not a simulated criminal!

Chapter 50: This Woman is Not the Simulated Criminal!

Twenty minutes later.
Inside the expert panel office.

Following a hurried and intense pursuit, the experts were now seated, with Zhao Xiaoyue sitting opposite them.

Both sides pondered the situation carefully and felt that something was amiss.

Cui Liwan mused to himself. Although he had harbored doubts when he first received Duan Yu's phone call, considering that the simulated criminal was cunning and elusive, and given Duan Yu's resolute tone on the other end of the line, he had temporarily suppressed his misgivings and directly ordered an emergency capture.

That was how they had managed to apprehend the suspect just as she was trying to flee.

However, now that the dust had settled and everyone had a moment to catch their breath, the doubts he had previously pushed down all rushed back to the surface.

Within the expert panel, only Duan Yu had brushed past the person suspected of being the simulated criminal before the distribution center was bombed.

Although Cui Liwan had never seen the criminal himself, he had heard Duan Yu mention that the suspected culprit was clearly a man, not a middle-aged woman.

Furthermore, this woman named Zhao Xiaoyue, firstly, was too short to match Duan Yu's description, and secondly, lacked a sturdy build, her physical frame entirely inconsistent with that of the suspect.

Most importantly, the purpose of the criminal identification exercise organized by Cui Liwan was to root out a potential mole within the police department.

Therefore, almost all the primary subjects in the photographs he provided were police officers from the Jinling Municipal Public Security Bureau.

Only a small fraction of the photographs featured portraits of local residents with existing criminal records, used as an expansion group to increase the sample size and improve the accuracy of the identification.

Yet, the woman they had dragged back was clearly not someone from the public security bureau.

Cui Liwan figured she must have belonged to the expansion group.

In other words, rather than catching a mole within the police department, they had stumbled blindly and found a criminal from the other collected information instead!

"That doesn't sound right, Elder Cui."

Qin Ming had also realized the anomaly by now. He leaned close to Cui Liwan's ear and lowered his voice:

"Why do I feel like this woman doesn't fit the characteristics of the simulated criminal at all..."

Cui Liwan pondered for a few seconds:

"But Xiao Qin, do you remember her reaction when we caught her? It was identical to how a real suspect reacts when cornered by the police."

Hearing this, Qin Ming wavered somewhat:

"Could she have disguised herself to get into the distribution center?"

"And speaking of which, we've supposedly caught the virtual criminal, so why hasn't anyone from the production team come to announce the news yet..."

Across from the expert panel.

Zhao Xiaoyue sat behind the table, glancing around at her surroundings. Looking at the cup of tea placed before her, she wore a face full of confusion.

The police nowadays... actually treat criminals this way?

If a vicious killer like her had been caught twenty years ago, she would likely have had a hood slipped over her head and her hands bound tightly behind her back before being dragged away.

Or she would have been securely locked to an iron chair, confined to an interrogation room, and placed under the strict supervision of police officers.

Instead, only her right hand was cuffed to the table, leaving her other hand completely free.

She hadn't been locked in an interrogation room either; she had been brought into this office with utmost politeness.

What was going on?

Zhao Xiaoyue looked at the experts whispering among themselves across the table, completely baffled.

At that moment, Qin Ming spoke to Cui Liwan from the other side of the table:

"Elder Cui, true or false, we'll find out as soon as we ask."

Even if they were unsure whether the arrest was correct, under reasonable suspicion, the police were legally permitted to detain a suspect for forty-eight hours.

With that, he stood up, placed both hands on the tabletop, and locked eyes directly with Zhao Xiaoyue.

"If you have anything you'd like to confess, you can say it now."

Qin Ming said indifferently.

As expected, it was time for an interrogation... Hearing this, a trace of disdain flashed in Zhao Xiaoyue's eyes:

"Hah, I suppose the police have already investigated almost everything; there's no need for me to introduce it."

"I have no reason to keep up appearances anymore. I admit it—I did it. You can judge and sentence me now."

It was her!

Qin Ming exchanged a glance with Cui Liwan.

They had assumed that given the temperament of this simulated criminal, she might at least put up a psychological battle or something.

They had never expected her to confess so generously.

However, there was still a hint of petty cleverness in her words—for instance, she was taking all the blame entirely upon herself.

As if she were trying to shield the other members of the simulated criminal team.

"You did all of it by yourself? Heh."

Qin Ming sneered, indicating that he wouldn't even believe the punctuation marks in her statement.

"Do you think you're Superman? All we can confirm right now is that you are one of them!"

?

Thinking she hadn't heard correctly, Zhao Xiaoyue stared at Qin Ming:

"What did you say?!"

Playing dumb, keep playing dumb... Qin Ming walked around behind her and cut straight to the point:

"You blew up the distribution center, didn't you?"

Zhao Xiaoyue: ??

"What else did you do? Could it be that you were also the one who left the playing cards inside the skeletal remains?"

Zhao Xiaoyue: ???

Cui Liwan silently took a sip of tea from across the table and added:

"Tell us, who breached the police's information firewall, hacked into Public Security Bureau Director Guo's cell phone, and kidnapped his daughter?"

Zhao Xiaoyue: ????

"Your accomplices—where are they right now?"

She smiled helplessly, raised her free hand, and ruffled her dark hair, letting a few stray strands fall across her face.

"Officer, I have no idea what you're talking about."

"As for accomplices, though, I did have one twenty years ago, except I abandoned him a very long time ago."

Twenty years ago... This time, it was the expert panel's turn to fall into deep contemplation.

Qin Ming turned his head slightly and whispered to Bai Su:

"Well? Can you tell anything?"

At that moment, however, he noticed that Bai Su's gaze fixed upon the woman had turned incomparably solemn.

Gone was her previous relaxed demeanor.

"There's a problem."

Bai Su lowered her voice:

"There is a trace of madness in this person's eyes, and that chilling aura doesn't look like it's being acted out."

"I've only ever seen that kind of look on one type of person."

"What kind of person?"

Qin Ming asked.

"Inmates in prison... murderers."

Bai Su frowned and said:

"Officer Qin, I don't know if you've ever observed prisoners behind bars, but the eyes of murderers are completely different from those of criminals who haven't taken a life."

"When they look at people, it's as if they are looking at meat on a cutting board, or livestock ready for slaughter. There is an indifference that stems from the very marrow of their bones."

"Just like this woman."

Hearing this, Qin Ming was slightly startled:

"You mean..."

Before he could finish his sentence, he heard Cui Liwan's cell phone ring suddenly and shrilly beside him!

The caller ID showed Wang Yanxing, who was currently investigating the crime scene at Zhao Xiaoyue's home.

"Excuse me, everyone, I need to take this call."

Cui Liwan stepped out of the expert panel office.

Once outside, he tapped the answer button and asked:

"Brother Wang, what is it? Did you find something over there?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Wang Yanxing's slightly hurried voice came through the other end of the line.

"Elder Cui, I just found an old diary from twenty years ago in her room."

"In it, this woman wrote down the entire process of how she planned her murders!"

Twenty years ago... In other words, this had nothing to do with recent events.

Cui Liwan's pupils suddenly constricted.

This woman was not the production team's simulated criminal!