Fatal Counterattack - Chapter 5: Starting to Understand
“Sounds good! Cheng, you and Sun Ke bring him there, Yang and I will take care of the rest.” Brother Gang said as he lit a cigarette.
“Got it, Brother Gang, Brother Yang, stay safe and protect the scene. Take the flashlight, I’ll call the forensic pathologists when I get back to the station.”
Without further ado, especially since the scene needed to be protected immediately, Cheng Ze lifted Zhang Zichen from the ground and waved towards Sun Ke.
“Let’s go back quickly. The car’s over there.”
Brother Yang didn’t waste any time either. He briefly examined the scene and then roughly marked the areas around the body.
The night wind of SJZ City’s winter could make people shiver deep down the bones, not to mention the west side wasn’t very populated which made the wind even colder. Zhang Zichen couldn’t help as he shivered and stumbled after being picked up from the ground.
“Kid, what else do are you hiding from me?”
“You really want to know?”
Cheng Ze drove the car and immediately started asking more questions. Zhang Zichen helplessly sat in the back with Sun Ke.
“Of course! Explain now!”
Cheng Ze felt as if he was being played and yelled in a masculine and protective voice in front of Sun Ke.
“Okay, I also know that there’s a big hole in your left sock…”
“…”
For a second, Cheng Ze was so angry that he forgot how to speak. His gentleman-like face instantly changed colors.
“Well, it’s not that hard, when you squatted down to examine the corpse, the heel of your left foot was shown… Uh… you’re the one who asked me to speak…”
Squeak.
The police car driving in on Piedmont Avenue suddenly made a big S shape.
“That’s not what I’m asking about!!! I’m interrogating you! You! Kid! I asked if you knew anything about the crime scene!!!”
After being embarrassed in front of the girl he like so much, he couldn’t stand it anymore. Cheng Ze didn’t care that Sun Ke was still in the car as he roared angrily.
“Cheng Ze, what’s wrong… pay attention to your driving… and you, stop thinking you’re funny. Be serious.”
Sun Ke was also taken back by the sudden movement from the car, and then she looked at Zhang Zichen.
“Oh oh… sorry… sorry.”
Zhang Zichen showed an apologetic expression, but his eyes seemed to be full of joy.
After the joke, Zhang Zichen’s muddy face returned to its normal calmness.
At this time, Cheng Ze and Sun Ke were in no mood to keep talking, so the rest of the ride to the police station was quiet.
“Ke, go inform Captain Lou and ask to use one of the interrogation rooms. There are so many people these days.”
Cheng Ze started being impatient right after he got off the car. Being able to finally talk seriously to the biggest suspect of this murder case made Cheng Ze very excited.
“Okay.”
His face was full of doubts and suspicion as he took Zhang Zichen, who was still handcuffed, from Sun Ke.
“It’s just a joke… I wasn’t lying. And I can promise that the dead man has nothing to do with me. I just happened to pass by.”
After getting off the police car, Zhang Zichen’s series and calm face gradually turned into a smile again.
“I’ll ask you one more time before going to the interrogation room. Did you investigate me before?”
Cheng Ze said in a low voice while pulling on Zhang Zichen towards the station. He seemed to be transparent in Zhang Zichen’s eyes.
“What do you mean? I’m just a nobody from the streets. Why would I bother to investigate what you cops are doing?”
Zhang Zichen showed a helpless expression, but this expression made Cheng Ze really want to beat him up.
“Then how do you know me so well? Even Sun Ke doesn’t know…”
“Isn’t it written on your face?”
Cheng Ze glanced at Zhang Zichen’s carefree and smiling face and grew angrier.
“Answer my question! Or else you’ll be the one in trouble, not me!”
Zhang Zichen shrugged his shoulders helplessly. He raised his hand and rubbed his nose bridge as he explained, “I felt the handcuffs on my hand. The keyhole doesn’t have many scratches, which meant you don’t usually open and close this handcuff with the key. You don’t look much older than me, so you must be a new police officer who got into position not too long ago.
“However, on the grooves of this handcuff, it is full of scratches, and it’s probably because you used some metal to practice locking it. It’s not really possible to do so in the police station, and from the number of scratches there are, you must be trying to practice on the tubes of your heater. By doing so, I believe your neighbors didn’t like the noises very much. There are also numerous scratches on the surface of this handcuff, which meant you carelessly placed it wherever you were, or even often placed it with your keys. I looked at your leather shoes, they were already very old, but you took care of them very well.
“On your shirt, there are marks on your collar, but you tried to wash them very clean. I then compared your brand to the ones on Brother Yang and Brother Gang, they should be the same ones that you received from your job. When you pressed me on the ground, I felt that your hands were full of calluses, this had to do with the fact that you worked on the farm as a child, which also meant that your family is very poor.
“Since you are a police officer right now and not on the farms anymore, that could only mean you had excellent grades and successfully graduated and became a police officer. It’s not important but frequent practices with the handcuff and your old yet clean clothes, plus your low self-esteem means you’re not married, or even dating anyone.
“I believe the police department knows about that, and that’s why you got a single-person apartment. However, you have an interesting red bracelet on your arm. You definitely didn’t buy it, but you don’t even have a girlfriend to give one to you. So why do you have it? I thought it was probably because of your sister.
“Do you have an older sister or younger sister? I remembered the calluses on your hand and knew that you had a little sister. Because your family spent all the money for you to go to college, I guess your sister has no other choice but to stay at home now.”
“…”
Cheng Ze didn’t speak as he listened to Zhang Zichen’s speedy explanation. In the end, he looked down at the red flower bracelet on his wrist.
“You buckle onto the flashlight in your side pocket and clean your leather shoes and shirt very neatly. When got out of the car, you got up after pressing me down, you carefully organized your hat and straightened your jacket. This means that you do things simple and quick. As for your family, your grades, your constant practice with the handcuff, and beauty like Sun Ke beside you, I believe you really want to do your job better than anyone else.”
After Zhang Zichen finished, he raised his eyes and looked at the back of Cheng Ze’s head, not knowing what he was thinking about in silence.
“Cheng Ze, Captain Lou says the only interrogation room left is the one behind the office lobby.”
Sun Ke came from the corner in front and looked at Cheng Ze’s low-spirited face.
“Okay, thanks Ke.”
But as soon as she heard Cheng Ze’s cheerful reply, Sun Ke’s puzzled face immediately disappeared.
Even though it was already late at night, the office lobby was still very noisy. Police stations at the end of the year seemed to be always like this.
“Captain Lou, I’ll bring the person there. Did Sun Ke tell you? We also need some forensic pathologists there.”
When Cheng Ze led Zhang Zichen by the office lobby, he shouted at a gray-haired man sitting on the side.
“Yeah. Let Sun Ke take care of the things over there, you hurry up and finish what you have on your hands.”
Captain Lou didn’t raise his head. Instead, he pushed up his reading glasses with one hand and signed a document in front of him with the other.
After leaving the office lobby, the empty interrogation room was right in front of them. The quiet Cheng Ze who was walking in front of him suddenly turned his head and said to Zhang Zichen.
“I don’t have a low self-esteem about anything.”
“So that’s why I said it isn’t important.”
Zhang Zichen’s eyes met Cheng Ze’s. However, this time, Zhang Zichen did not conceal the calmness and the sense of having everything under control in his eyes.