My Lovely Wife is a Forensic Doctor - Chapter 166

Chapter 166 Who Was the Real Murderer?
“What? Luo Mingan was not the murderer? H-How is that possible?” Liu Xiaofan’s eyes widened in disbelief. “But he admitted to it! He even turned in the murder weapons!”

Mu Yu wiped away her tears and explained, “There’s no fingerprints on the blade, so there’s a possibility that it’s not the weapon.”

“He had a very strong anti-reconnaissance ability. He would have wiped away the fingerprints when he got back from the murder. Anyway, the murder weapon he handed in was shaped similarly like the one used at the scene. If he was not the murderer, how could he have submitted a similar murder weapon? If he was not the murderer, why would he admit to it? He’d get the death sentence for it!” Liu Xiaofan was puzzled.

Mu Yu only replied with a heavy sigh as she looked at her colleagues moving away Luo Mingan and Kiki’s bodies through teary eyes. She really had no mood to explain to Liu Xiaofan.

Sensing her sadness, Qin Jinhuan hugged her gently and felt her body trembling. He immediately took off his jacket and put it on her.

“Huan…”

“It’s alright.” He pressed on her hand that attempted to return the jacket. He then whispered to the pale Rong Jian, “Let’s go back.”

Rong Jian shook his head. “You should leave with Yu. I wish to chill by myself for a little longer here.”

However, Mu Yu was worried to leave Rong Jian alone, so she instantly told Qin Jinhuan, “Huan, why don’t you leave first? I’ll stay with Chief Rong.”

Hearing that, Rong Jian flashed a dry smile. “Yu, I’m fine. Don’t worry.”

“Chief Rong…” Liu Xiaofan looked worried as well.

“Fan, you should bring our people back to the camp. I’ll be back soon.”

“Oh, okay.” After some hesitation, Liu Xiaofan chose to stay quiet and left the rooftop with his colleagues and the bodies of Luo Mingan and Kiki. Soon, only Rong Jian, Mu Yu, Qin Jinhuan and Huang Bo were left there. Accompanying them were the two terrifying pools of blood.

“Boss, s-should I turn myself in to the police?” Huang Bo broke the silence abruptly with an anxious tone.

“Turn yourself in?” Mu Yu was taken aback at his sudden suggestion.

“I was the one who fired the shot to Kiki’s leg.”

“You have a gun? It was you?” She was beyond shocked. Since Huang Bo was not a member of the police force, he had violated the law for carrying arms. On top of that, he fired a bullet and hurt someone, which would add to his charges.

“When you pushed away Chief Rong, I thought that Kiki would stab you. So…” Huang Bo realized that Rong Jian was staring at him too, which added to his nervousness, so he gradually stopped speaking. He was not afraid to take the responsibility for his actions, but he didn’t want to get his boss into trouble too. After all, Rong Jian had warned him about it a few times.

Originally, they were very wary about guns and never carried those weapons on them, unless it was absolutely necessary. Over these days, he had been carrying a gun on him as self-defense against Qin Wentao. He never thought that the event would unfold like how it did tonight.

“I’ll deal with this matter.”

“Yes, Boss.” Seeing that Qin Jinhuan did not intend to blame him, he finally let out a secret sigh of relief. Next, he anxiously glanced at the entrance to the rooftop; he had ordered a subordinate to take some fresh clothes from the car for Qin Jinhuan. Knowing that his boss was a little obsessive with cleanliness and would not wear others’ clothes, Huang Bo always prepared a set of fresh seasonal clothes in the car for situations like tonight.

“Huan, do go home with Yu. I’ll stay here a bit longer to clear my mind.” Rong Jian saw that Qin Jinhuan had lent his jacket to Mu Yu. The night was late and the temperature had dropped drastically. Without moving, Qin Jinhuan questioned him, “Do you have some unresolved questions or are you still dwelling on the gunshot that you fired?”

Rong Jian furrowed his brows. “Yeah, all of that.”

“What questions are you mulling about? We can discuss it. I have some questions myself too,” Mu Yu swiftly interrupted as she took off the jacket that Qin Jinhuan had put on her.

“Young mistress, there’s no need to take it off!” Huang Bo promptly stopped her. “Our men are delivering another one for the boss.” As he spoke, footsteps were heard hurrying toward them.

“Boss, here’s your jacket.” A man who was panting had handed over a new piece of clothing. It was obvious that he ran all the way up. It was within Qin Jinhuan’s expectation, so he put on the new jacket himself, after which he helped Mu Yu to wear the jacket and button it up. He gestured for Huang Bo and the other men to wait at the entrance of the rooftop before turning back to Rong Jian in assurance.

Rong Jian looked down for a while. When he gazed up again, he was more composed. He turned and asked Mu Yu, “Yu, why do you think that Luo Mingan wasn’t the murderer?”

“He told me that he had killed Sun Meilan as a practice, which was a very forced explanation. You’ve probably heard him as well. He was wealthy and had a legal identity, which explained why he could deal with the police calmly. Nevertheless, he still felt anxious and guilty within. He dared not make any trouble.”

“The main reason he came to An City was to find his own daughter and make it up to her. Based on those two reasons, it was rather impossible for him to take the risk and murder someone, much less one who had not affronted him in any way. I believe that he was not a vicious man. If not, I would have died under his knife ten years ago.”

Qin Jinhuan took over the conversation. “Perhaps the motive behind killing Sun Meilan was not about revenge, but as a preventive measure?”

He noticed that Mu Yu was looking at him puzzledly, so he immediately clarified, “Didn’t he hide the fact that he had been to An City three months ago?”

Mu Yu finally understood what he was getting at. “You suggested that Luo Mingan was afraid that he’d fail to murder Zhao Yongli. In order to use the time difference to get out of it, he chose to take the risk and murder Sun Meilan who was unrelated to him. Is that what you meant?”

“Huan’s deduction was a little far-fetched.” Rong Jian intercepted, “Before his death, Luo Mingan clearly said that the reason he came to An City was to find his daughter, instead of seeking revenge on Zhao Yongli, which meant that he did not plan to kill Zhao Yongli in the beginning. This would contradict Huan’s suggestion that Luo Mingan killed Sun Meilan as a precaution.”

Mu Yu agreed with Rong Jian’s reasoning, “Plus, killing Sun Meilan is a very risky behavior. No matter how meticulous one is, nobody could guarantee a 100% success rate. After all, the risk of being caught for two murders is higher than one. Even if he committed the perfect crime, why did he have to kill someone who had nothing to do with him?”

“In conclusion, I don’t think that Luo Mingan was a vicious person. He killed his wife out of rage in the past. There was no reason for him to kill people randomly.”

Rong Jian nodded. “The forensic report had confirmed that the methods of the two murders are highly similar, which means that we are looking at one murderer here. If Luo Mingan wasn’t the murderer in Sun Meilan’s case, then he was innocent in Zhao Yongli’s case too.”

When the two arrived at the same conclusion, Qin Jinhuan felt annoyed at being left out and he retorted, “If both of you believe that Luo Mingan did not commit the two murders, why would he admit to the crimes himself? He knew that he would face the death sentence! The nature of these two murders was more sinister than the murder of his wife!”

Rong Jian sighed softly. “That’s something that I have not figured out yet.”

“I think I know why.” Mu Yu’s sudden comment shocked Rong Jian and Qin Jinhuan, who both stared at her in astonishment.

“It was because of Kiki.” When Mu Yu was speaking, she cast her glance at the pools of blood not far from her that were coagulating by now. “He waited until Kiki had turned herself in to admit to the murders; no earlier and no later. That’s because he thought that Kiki had killed Zhao Yongli. His confession was out of protection for his daughter, hoping to take the blame for her, which was his way of making it up to her.”

Qin Jinhuan then questioned her suggestion, “Didn’t Luo Mingan confess that the trigger of the murder was when he witnessed Zhao Yongli calling for Kiki’s service? Then, he followed Zhao Yongli back to the Qing Tian Group building. If so, he would have known that Kiki didn’t kill Zhao Yongli. Even if he didn’t follow Zhao Yongli back in time, he could have figured out himself that a petite woman like Kiki couldn’t possibly take down a huge man like Zhao Yongli.”

“What if Kiki hired an assassin?” Mu Yu pondered. “I heard Officer Liu telling me that Kiki had worked for a long time at the Camphor Forest and had a lot of connections. It wouldn’t be hard for her to hire an assassin.”

“If that’s the case, it would actually match the fact that she failed to explain the murder process and the weapons used. Based on the facts, it’s highly likely that Kiki was behind this,” Qin Jinhuan concluded and glanced at Rong Jian in anticipation.

“Yu’s reasoning was quite sound. There’s a possibility that Luo Mingan wanted to take the blame for Kiki. However, I have another question,” Rong Jian paused before continuing, “Try to reverse-engineer the process. No matter if Kiki killed Zhao Yongli herself or hired someone to do it, we had never suspected her from the start. Instead, we were looking at Luo Mingan as the suspect and even dispatched some men to look for him at Huacheng. Why would she turn herself in?”

Mu Yu suddenly came to a shocking realization. “Did she find out about our search for Luo Mingan in Huacheng? Maybe she mistakenly thought that Luo Mingan was the real murderer so she came forward to take the blame for her father? After all, she only had three months to live due to AIDS. Was she trying to sacrifice her life in exchange for her dad’s freedom?”

“That’s possible. Since both father and daughter greatly despised Zhao Yongli, both had the motives to kill him. Tragically, they both mistakenly thought of each other as the real murderer. In the hope of saving each other, both of them turned themselves in.”

“The father thought his daughter had killed somebody. He thought that he already had a criminal record, so he wanted to use this punishment to exchange for her freedom for the rest of her life? The daughter, on the other hand, thought that her father was the murderer. Thinking that she only had three months to live, she decided to take the blame and guarantee his freedom. What a strong father-daughter bond!” Qin Jinhuan suddenly felt wistful.

Most fathers on earth cared about their children and would not hesitate to sacrifice themselves to protect the kids. In comparison, Qin Jinhuan and Qin Chengxi’s father was unbelievably selfish and only cared about his personal gains.

Rong Jian sighed and concluded, “So, none of them was the murderer.”

“Chief Rong, I don’t get it.” Mu Yu was the only one who was still analysing the case.

“What is it?”

“Kiki was unclear of the details of the murder, but Luo Mingan knew everything. He gave us details which matched the information in our hands that were not released to the public. Don’t you think that’s a bit strange? If Sun Meilan’s case did not happen, I would have believed that Luo Mingan was the murderer.”

Rong Jian flashed a faint smile. “I was puzzled at first, but I’ve figured it out now.”

“Oh? What is it?” She asked him in a hurry.

“Luo Mingan did not kill the man, but he saw the murderer at the scene.”

“Huh?” Mu Yu was not the only one to be shocked; Qin Jinhuan was taken aback as well. “If so, why didn’t he point out the murderer? Why did he turn himself in?”

“For the same reason: he thought that Kiki was the one behind everything, that she’d hired an assassin. I am sure that Luo Mingan must have seen the murderer interacting with Kiki before. The guy could even be a professional assassin because the method of the two cases was very meticulous, and no trace was left at the scene. This showed that he had a good anti-reconnaissance ability.”

After a pause, Rong Jian continued to dissect the issue, “On the night of the twenty-second, Luo Mingan saw that Zhao Yongli had shamelessly ordered Kiki’s service. At that time, he already had the intention of killing Zhao Yongli, so he went home to prepare the weapon. When he managed to sneak into the canteen of the Qing Tian Group building, he was shocked to find out that someone had targeted Zhao Yongli before him. He hid in a corner and witnessed the murder. Since he used to deliver water to the building, he must be familiar with the environment. That was the reason he could elaborate on the process. When the murderer left, he cleaned up his traces at the scene and immediately left too. He was either too excited or nervous because his back was caught on the surveillance camera.”

Mu Yu paused for a long time before asking, “So, does that mean we have to investigate everyone who had interacted with Kiki before the twenty-second to find the murderer?”

“That’s too much work. If the suspect is a professional assassin, he must have a day job as a cover and won’t easily let the police notice him.” Rong Jian sighed. “Plus, everything is just my guess. Now that Kiki and Luo Mingan are dead, we have nowhere to start on.”

“Are we closing the case?” The moment Mu Yu asked Rong Jian, his phone rang and he immediately took the call. He looked pleasantly surprised. “She wants to see me? Great, I’ll head over now.”