Skin - Chapter 46

Chapter 46 – A Few Seconds Away from the Truth Yet Another Failure

　　Meng Zhao simply treated the wound, then pushed open the door of the monitoring room, walked in, and observed Wu Weihan in the interrogation room through the two-way mirror.

　　Wu Weihan leaned back on the chair, in a very relaxed posture. Perhaps in Wu Weihan’s imagination, the people in the ambulance had already died in a car accident, and his sins had disappeared with the car accident.

　　Thinking of Lu Shichen who was still in the intensive care unit, and looking at Wu Weihan who was so confident, Meng Zhao felt a surge of anger rising up his throat. He clenched his fists, wishing he could drag Wu Weihan out of the interrogation room and beat him up in a place without surveillance.

　　But Meng Zhao knew that at this moment he had to be calmer and more composed than Wu Weihan in order to make Wu Weihan get the punishment he deserved.

　　Seeing Wu Weihan’s relaxed attitude, and having dealt with him before, he understood that this interrogation would not be that simple. It would be extremely difficult to get the truth out of Wu Weihan.

　　The only way is to find ways to break down Wu Weihan’s psychological defenses. Once the psychological defenses collapse, it will be reflected in external actions, and will also play a significant role in future interrogations.

　　Meng Zhao took a deep breath, suppressed his anger, and tried his best to remain as rational as possible during the interrogation.

　　Then he walked over and pushed open the door of the interrogation room. Another police officer who was responsible for recording the interrogation process also walked in behind him.

　　Seeing the door being pushed open, Wu Weihan turned around and looked over, and Meng Zhao also looked at him.

　　Neither of them spoke. Meng Zhao dragged out the chair in front of the interrogation table, sat down, and stared at Wu Weihan with a sharp and scrutinizing look.

　　He carefully studied Wu Weihan’s fearless face.

　　‘How many ugly sins are hidden under this shiny appearance?’

　　‘What other unforgivable crimes has this devil in human skin committed?’

　　At the same time, Wu Weihan was also looking at him, seemingly not believing how capable this young police captain was.

　　The two stared at each other for a moment, and Meng Zhao raised his hand and rolled up his shirt sleeves, revealing the layers of bloody bandages underneath. He said, “Do you know how I injured my arm?”

　　Wu Weihan’s gaze fell on his arm, staring at his wound for a few seconds without saying a word, and then shifted his gaze to Meng Zhao’s face.

　　Meng Zhao took out the mobile phone he had searched from Wu Weihan’s home and put it on the interrogation table: “The shark in Mr. Wu’s home was really fierce. It almost bit off my arm in one bite.”

　　When hearing the word “shark”, Wu Weihan’s eyes changed instantly. Meng Zhao noticed that the relaxed attitude of Wu Weihan had completely disappeared.

　　‘That’s right, the person in front of me must be the murderer, and he is not as calm as he looks. It is possible to break down this person’s psychological defenses!’

　　”I’m really impressed by Mr. Wu’s scheming and anti-reconnaissance ability,” Meng Zhao continued. “I want to ask, what is this phone used for, hiding it in such a hidden place?”

　　Wu Weihan remained silent, as if he had made up his mind to remain silent.

　　Meng Zhao took out another mobile phone, which was taken from the truck driver who died on the spot. He looked at Wu Weihan and said, “Since you refuse to answer, why not guess what this phone is used for? Where is its owner now?”

　　Meng Zhao’s tone gradually became cold and stern: “At 0:24, there were three calls between the two phones, with a total duration of 8 minutes and 48 seconds. I believe no one knows what was said in this call better than Mr. Wu. Do you plan to share it with me?”

　　”It’s a pity that I was also in the ambulance at the time. Would Mr. Wu be surprised to see me here alive?”

　　The lines on Wu Weihan’s arms became visibly tense, and he remained silent. However, Meng Zhao knew that this silence was no longer due to confidence, but because he was afraid – afraid that once he opened his mouth, he would be caught!

　　Meng Zhao slammed the table and raised his voice: “Wu Weihan, do you think that if you don’t say anything, these crimes will have nothing to do with you?!”

　　Meng Zhao stood up, propped up the table with both hands, and looked down at Wu Weihan opposite him, exerting a silent sense of oppression on him. Then he asked Wu Weihan a series of questions.

　　”Tell me, why were those girls imprisoned?”

　　”What on earth did you want to do by imprisoning them for so many years?”

　　”When did you build that basement?”

　　”Are you the actual owner of that sanatorium?”

　　”You ordered the truck driver to crash into the ambulance. Are you trying to silence the witness?!”

　　His voice became louder and louder, and each question was extremely powerful. After his last sentence, there was even an echo in the interrogation room.

　　Wu Weihan’s fingers, which had been spread out on the table, shrank up and his hands were tightly clasped together. This is a reaction that only occurs when a person is under nervousness.

　　Meng Zhao stared at Wu Weihan opposite him. The silence lasted for one minute, two minutes… He knew that for Wu Weihan at this moment, silence was also a torture.

　　After a moment, he supported himself on the table with both hands and leaned over to Wu Weihan. This time he lowered his voice and whispered in Wu Weihan’s ear: “The driver you hired provided us with a lot of clues.”

　　”And what I am really looking forward to now is, when those girls wake up one by one, what kind of surprises will they bring you?”

　　”You don’t have much time left. Turn yourself in and try to reduce your sentence, or wait for me to dig out more of your crimes. Wu Weihan, it’s your choice.”

　　Wu Weihan clenched his hands tighter and his breathing became rapid.

　　‘That driver… that driver not only failed to complete the mission, but also fell into the hands of the police, and it is very likely that he has confessed himself?!’

　　And the cell phone that he had hidden at home had actually been found by the police…

　　How much evidence did the police have? Would those people he locked up in the basement of the sanatorium wake up at any time? He should have killed them right from the start!

　　‘What should he do…’ These thoughts quickly emerged in Wu Weihan’s mind. Would confessing really reduce the sentence? What would be the result if he remained silent?

　　Because the distance was very close, Meng Zhao could see that cold sweat had already seeped out of Wu Weihan’s forehead.

　　It seems that Wu Weihan was caught off guard by the fact that things were completely out of his control, and he had reached the critical point of total collapse.

　　Meng Zhao stared at Wu Weihan’s lips as they changed from tightly closed to slightly open, as if he was about to say something in the next second.

　　This was a silent confrontation, he was using silence to force Wu Weihan to speak.

　　At this moment, the door of the courtroom behind him was pushed open. The sudden sound of the door opening interrupted the silence at the moment. The highly tense atmosphere in the room just now began to loosen because of the sound of the door.

　　Meng Zhao frowned immediately and turned his head: “Who?!”

　　Someone leaned in from the door. The man was dressed in a suit and said, “Mr. Wu, you have the right to remain silent. I am your lawyer.”

　　Wu Weihan suddenly raised his head and looked at the lawyer, and immediately breathed a sigh of relief as if he had seen a savior.

　　”Who let you in?!” Meng Zhao’s anger was instantly ignited, “Get out!”

　　The policeman who came over hurriedly pulled the lawyer out, apologizing, “I’m sorry, Captain Meng, I didn’t stop him…”

　　Meng Zhao walked over and raised his hand to grab the lawyer’s collar. He was just a little bit away, just a little bit away… He could completely defeat Wu Weihan and get the truth out of him. Thinking of Lu Shichen who was still lying in the intensive care unit with an uncertain life or death, and thinking of the unconscious girls who were rescued from the sanatorium, he wanted to punch the lawyer in front of him to death.

　　He almost gnashed his teeth and said to the lawyer: “Obstructing the performance of public duties has serious consequences. As a lawyer, you should know that you have to bear the consequences, right?”

　　He threw the lawyer to the policeman behind him and said, “Take him away first, and come find me later!”

　　The police took the lawyer away, and Meng Zhao paced back and forth in the monitoring room, unable to calm his anger. Damn it, if he had waited five more seconds, he would have been able to pry the truth out of Wu Weihan, but he failed because of the sudden intrusion of a crappy lawyer!

　　Behind him, another police officer who was in charge of recording the interrogation also walked out of the interrogation room and closed the door: “Captain Meng, are you still going to continue the interrogation?”

　　”What kind of interrogation is this?” Meng Zhao glanced at Wu Weihan on the surveillance screen and cursed, “How can we interrogate him?!”

　　In just a few seconds, Wu Weihan in the interrogation room had rebuilt his psychological defenses. Because of the timely arrival of the savior, this psychological defense must be stronger than before, and it would be harder than climbing to the sky to destroy it again.

　　And the words just delivered by the lawyer were really crucial. He conveyed a message – Wu Weihan only needed to remain silent, and other people would help him solve the rest of the problems.

　　Meng Zhao suppressed his anger, opened the door of the monitoring room and walked out. The police officer in charge of recording followed him out and said, “Captain Meng, will there be any problems with the interrogation just now?”

　　”What’s the problem?” Meng Zhao said in a bad tone.

　　”That’s what you said. The driver provided a lot of clues. Didn’t the driver die on the spot? Could this be a case of false confession?”

　　”Isn’t the phone a clue from the driver? How else do you think we can interrogate him?”

　　The policeman who had taken the lawyer away came back at this time. Facing the furious Meng Zhao, he was a little afraid to speak.

　　”What’s going on?” Meng Zhao stopped and asked sternly, “How can you be a policeman if you can’t even stop a lawyer?!”

　　”I’m sorry, Captain Meng,” the policeman apologized repeatedly, “Many people were responsible for sealing off the sanatorium tonight, and the rest were interrogating and guarding the staff of the sanatorium. The bureau was short-handed, and I noticed someone walking towards the interrogation room when I was guarding the staff. By the time I caught up with him, it was too late… Besides, I didn’t expect him to really walk directly into the interrogation room. This has never happened before. Breaking into the interrogation room without following the procedures will bring responsibility, and may even ruin their career. Who would have thought that he would work so hard for Wu Weihan…”

　　”Nonsense, didn’t you think about who his father is?” Meng Zhao waved his hand irritably and sent him back. “Okay, go and get busy first.”

　　Because of the lawyer’s interruption just now, the investigation process once again came to a standstill.

　　It is unknown if and when those rescued from the basement of the sanatorium will ever wake up;

　　It also seems that the staff of the sanatorium were indeed unaware of the basement imprisonment;

　　Although the phone used by Wu Weihan to talk to the truck driver was found, the content of the conversation could not be found because the phone had been specially processed, and it was impossible to prove that Wu Weihan hired someone to kill someone…

　　Although all clues point to Wu Weihan, and judging from his reaction, he is indeed the real culprit who caused the current situation, there is no substantial evidence that can directly convict Wu Weihan.

　　‘Evidence, evidence must be found…’ Meng Zhao’s brain began to think rapidly. He must find at least one substantial piece of evidence to send Wu Weihan to the detention center before Lu Shichen wakes up.

　　Meng Zhao sorted out the clues from beginning to end.

　　The first case was Zhou Yan’s murder, but there was no evidence to prove that Zhou Yan’s case was related to Wu Weihan;

　　Later it was Zhao Tong’s case, but Zhao Tong committed suicide ten years ago, and the gang responsible for the bullying was bought off by Wu Weihan.

　　Then there were the missing cases of Xu Yingying and Xu Yulin, and the other girls rescued from the basement of the sanatorium…

　　And all the staff of the sanatorium, the truck driver who died on the spot…

　　‘No, something is missing, from the beginning of the case to now…’

　　‘Lin Lang!’

　　This name appeared in Meng Zhao’s mind.

　　Lin Lang had not left her house for ten years. What happened to her back then must not have been anything much luckier than Xu Yulin and Xu Yingying…

　　If Lin Lang could be made to speak, or perhaps, if Lin Lang still had evidence of Wu Weihan’s evil deeds ten years ago, then the current deadlock would definitely be broken!