Animal Detective-Chapter 70: Why Get a Divorce?

Chen Chao pulled out a chair and sat down.

Only then did he ask in a measured voice, "Li Shanjie, what was the point of this whole spectacle?"

’If it was just about revenge for going to prison, if he hated Zhang Qin, Chen Zhongyuan, Zhang Jian for arresting him, and even the obstetrician Liu Ying, and if he no longer cared about living, then he should have just gotten it over with.’

’Disguise himself as a taxi driver to kidnap Zhang Jian and kill him outright.’

’Then, he could have charged into Mingshi Garden and Xia Ba Village, hacked Chen Zhongyuan and Zhang Qin to death, and then killed himself.’

’That’s what a deranged lunatic who doesn’t care about life or death would do.’

’But Li Shanjie...’

’He made things far too complicated.’

"Why? I want that bitch dead!" Li Shanjie’s eyes widened in a glare.

Then, he quickly shook his head. "No, I can’t let her die. Death is too good for her. A life sentence, let her rot in prison until she dies. Yes, that’s it."

His expression was crazed, and his words were a jumbled mess.

But he immediately regained his composure and asked, "Officer, don’t you have the video? The evidence is irrefutable. We killed him together. There’s no way she can get away with it, right?"

In the observation room, everyone frowned.

"He’s a madman,"

Zhang Jian muttered beside him.

Inside the interrogation room, Chen Chao paused for a moment before asking, "You shouted earlier that Zhang Qin blinded herself back then. Do you have any proof of that?"

At the mention of this, Li Shanjie’s expression twisted with rage again.

"Don’t talk to me about proof! It’s because I had no proof that I ended up in prison!"

"But Zhang Qin... she might have fooled you, but she can’t fool me. I’ve been thinking about it for five whole years. I know exactly what I did, and what I didn’t do."

"I didn’t appeal because I knew it would be useless. There was no proof, you see!"

"You all felt sorry for her, so you believed her story. Nothing I said mattered."

"Fine! I took the fall!"

"But I couldn’t let her get away with it. I did my time, so she has to do hers!"

"That’s why I set a trap. Officer, listen to this. Tell me what you think of my plan."

At this, a smug expression spread across Li Shanjie’s face.

"I thought about it. I couldn’t just get direct revenge. I don’t care if I live or die, but if I just hacked her to death, wouldn’t that just make her the victim?"

"Besides, that would be letting her off easy. So, I had to make her a criminal, too."

"I know she hated Chen Zhongyuan. Did she think getting rid of me meant she could have a good life with him? She was dreaming. Chen Zhongyuan is nothing but a coward. Not like me. Sure, I hit her, but I loved her, you know?"

Chen Chao almost scoffed.

’Loved her?’

’And that’s why he beat her?’

Li Shanjie continued, "So I got a video camera. I tied them both up. I knew she’d pull her old tricks, try to find a way to pin everything on me. She’s a clever one."

"So you see? She said all the right things, that she wanted to start over with me, even helped me come up with ideas. But what happened? The second we were outside, she bolted. She wanted you all to gun me down!"

"That way, she could get away scot-free again and push all the blame onto me."

"But she never expected it. I knew what she was planning. I had set up the camera, and I didn’t chase her. If I had, you definitely would have opened fire."

"Officer, wouldn’t you call that being too clever for her own good?"

As he said this, Li Shanjie began to cackle.

Chen Chao said nothing.

But Shen Xin noticed a muscle twitch in Chen Chao’s cheek; his expression wasn’t entirely natural.

Clearly, he was deeply shaken.

And when you considered Li Shanjie’s story and re-examined the preceding events...

...it seemed to add up.

Zhang Qin had pretended to cooperate with Li Shanjie. But when it was time to escape, if she had truly been on his side, dead set on getting back together with him, she wouldn’t have suddenly started shouting and struggling to get away.

It was possible that, just as Li Shanjie claimed, she wanted to use the police to kill him.

Under those circumstances, if Li Shanjie had chased after her, the sniper would have fired without a doubt.

After all, he was still wearing explosives!

If Li Shanjie had died, Zhang Qin would have once again become the victim, able to pin everything on him.

But she hadn’t counted on Li Shanjie setting up a camera and recording the entire incident.

She also had no idea that the police had used Da Mei for reconnaissance and already knew the explosives were fake.

She was acting on incomplete information, which led her to make a move she believed was her best option.

And in doing so, she fell right into what Li Shanjie called his "perfectly laid trap."

In the interrogation room, Li Shanjie let out a long, smug laugh before adding, "Officer, I’ll admit to everything I did. You have the video anyway, so sentence me however you see fit."

"I just have one request. Can I watch you interrogate Zhang Qin? I’m dying to see her reaction."

"Do you think she’ll deny it to her dying breath?"

He snickered.

"You can forget about that."

Without asking any more questions, Chen Chao stood up and walked out of the interrogation room.

He entered the observation room and glanced at Li Shanjie, who was still trying to cozy up to Zhao Tianxing in the hopes of watching Zhang Qin’s interrogation. Chen Chao gave a wry smile. "Lao Sun, what’s the play now?"

Sun Zhao sighed. "What’s the play? He’s confessed, and the evidence is irrefutable. What more can we do?"

"As for all this talk about his so-called ’trap’... honestly, I’ve seen wannabe masterminds way more ridiculous than him. He’s nothing special."

Chen Chao realized he had a point.

Zhang Jian had been rescued. Chen Zhongyuan was unfortunately dead, but the killers had been caught.

From the police’s perspective, the case was closed.

Li Shanjie’s motives and his so-called trap weren’t really that important.

"So, we interrogate Zhang Qin again?" Chen Chao asked.

Sun Zhao nodded.

Compared to Li Shanjie, Zhang Qin was far calmer.

She remained silent when Chen Chao entered the room.

"Zhang Qin, silence won’t help you," Chen Chao said gravely. "We have the video. It captured everything with perfect clarity. So even if you don’t say a word, we can still prosecute you."

That finally got a reaction out of Zhang Qin.

"He really recorded it?"

Her voice was still hoarse.

Chen Chao nodded, brought over the video camera, and fast-forwarded to the part where she made her move, showing her the clip.

Zhang Qin stared at the screen, then suddenly, she began to laugh.

She laughed so hard her whole body trembled, and she couldn’t stop.

Chen Chao watched her for a moment, then asked, "Zhang Qin, according to Li Shanjie, you’re the one who blinded your left eye all those years ago. Is that true?"

"That’s right. I did it myself."

She admitted it without a hint of hesitation, then went right back to her uncontrollable laughter.

Chen Chao frowned. "Then why didn’t you just divorce him?"

’She was abused for six years, and in the end, she resorted to blinding herself.’

’It worked, it put Li Shanjie in prison.’

’But she paid for it with her own eye.’

’And there was a much simpler option: divorce.’

At his question, Zhang Qin’s laughter abruptly ceased. She snapped her head up, fixing her one remaining eye on Chen Chao in a dead stare.

"Why would I divorce him?"

she retorted.

Chen Chao was taken aback.

Zhang Qin snorted. "I know. You must think I’m an idiot. For six years... that man beat me for six years, and you’re wondering why I was so stupid. Why didn’t I just divorce him and be done with it all?"

"No! I couldn’t divorce him!"

"If I divorced him, then what? He’d just find some other woman, get married again, and live happily ever after."

"I couldn’t let him be happy."

"I had to stay by his side, right in his face. I wanted to torment him. I wanted him to see me every single day and be reminded that I cheated on him, and that everyone was whispering and laughing about him behind his back."