Chapter 627: Shadows of Inconsistency

Book: Chapter 627 – Too Implausible (Update 5)

Hospital Ward. Lin

Xiao Yu stared at the man lying in a hospital bed, deep in a stupor.

Zheng Xiangyu, 35, the general manager of a certain three-star hotel and its owner.

When he was brought to the hospital, his body bore multiple wounds.

Each leg was stabbed seven times and each arm four times. He was weak and drowsy, rendering police inquiries on the incident details impossible.

Judging by his injuries,

Xiao Yu realized that the female assailant hadn’t intended to kill Zheng Xiangyu.

Otherwise, the stab wounds wouldn’t be isolated to his legs and arms.

They would have targeted vital areas.

Thus, a question arose.

If the female attacker never meant to kill, why assault a police officer?

Why try to kill one at all?

Isn’t that peculiar?

While Xiao Yu mulled over this, Zheng Xiangyu’s wife arrived.

She wept uncontrollably as she tenderly cared for her husband at his bedside.

Admittedly, the 27-year-old couple seemed perfectly matched.

Zheng Xiangyu’s wife was not only beautiful but also graceful.

Zheng Xiangyu himself was quite dashing.

After a brief glance, Xiao Yu exited the ward and returned to the Criminal Investigation Team.

Interrogation Room.

Xiao Yu eyed the disheveled woman, her hair a mess and her head bowed, handcuffed in the interrogation room.

Chen Rong, 24, a Bincheng native, unemployed and with no prior criminal record…

“Why did you kill him?”

His former subordinate, Guo Qiang, nodded to Xiao Yu before starting the interrogation of Chen Rong.

Sitting aside, Xiao Yu prepared to see what could be gleaned from the questioning.

“I never intended to kill anyone,” she replied.

Slowly lifting her head, Chen Rong’s face twisted into a crazed, fierce expression. “I just didn’t want him to get away.”

“Get away?” Guo Qiang paused in surprise.

Xiao Yu squinted and said, “Go check on… Zheng Xiangyu.”

Guo Qiang exited the room and returned a few minutes later, his expression odd as he informed Xiao Yu, “The immigration papers for Zheng Xiangyu and his wife have been processed. They plan to leave the country soon.”

Something wasn’t right… A glint flashed in Xiao Yu’s eyes as he looked at Chen Rong and coldly asked, “You don’t want Zheng Xiangyu to leave, do you?”

“Yes,” she answered.

Chen Rong sneered, nodding, “If he leaves, my brother’s death will have been in vain.”

“You mean…”

Xiao Yu pressed, “Are you saying that Zheng Xiangyu killed your brother?”

“I don’t know,” she replied.

Chen Rong growled, “I’m only suspicious—not certain it was him. I was in the middle of questioning when you cops burst in… Damn it, damn it—why did he have to show up?”

Damn… Xiao Yu clearly sensed that Chen Rong’s mental state was unstable.

He refrained from pressing further.

Instead, he called for the Forensic Department to send over an Authentication Expert specializing in psychological evaluations.

By six that evening, the results were in.

Chen Rong was diagnosed with chronic depression with a lengthy history.

Moreover, when the police reviewed her full medical records,

they were astonished to find that at 19, she had suffered from renal failure.

Just six months ago, she had been bedridden.

Her kidney transplant surgery had only recently concluded.

The operation cost a staggering 630,000, with 500,000 allocated to the donor’s kidney fee.

Kidney donations even come with a price?

Indeed. Donations are classified as either voluntary or compensated.

Further investigations unearthed an even stranger issue.

Chen Rong’s parents died when she was thirteen, and she was raised by her older brother, who was five years her senior.

Coming from a modest background, at 19 her brother even sold their family home to fund her treatment.

Over the years, they spent over 700,000 solely on her medical bills.

Why spend so much?

Because Chen Rong’s kidney disease was bilateral renal failure. Without a donor, the expenses are astronomical.

So here’s the dilemma.

The siblings had exhausted their assets on treatment, and her brother was still just a taxi driver.

He barely earned enough each month.

So how did they manage a 630,000 surgery?

Investigations revealed that this money had been deposited into Chen Rong’s patient account at the hospital three years ago.

A full one million!

Xiao Yu sensed something was deeply amiss.

Where had the money come from?

The police had probed this before, but to no avail.

At that time, Chen Rong’s brother had deposited cash into her account.

The day prior to the deposit, he had committed a crime—attempting to kidnap a wealthy businessman’s wife.

But he kidnapped the wrong person.

How did the police even learn of this?

After completing the kidnapping, Chen Rong’s brother called the businessman to demand ransom.

However, the businessman returned home to find his wife safe and sound, and then reported it to the police.

Subsequently, the police conducted a city-wide manhunt for Chen Rong’s brother.

Both the suspect and the kidnapping victim went missing.

It wasn’t until six months later that, in a pond on the outskirts, a taxi along with the bodies of the suspect and the victim were discovered…

It was suspected that Chen Rong’s brother, Chen Guodong, after committing murder, took his own life!

But since the case details couldn’t be confirmed at the time,

the incident became a cold case that has lingered unresolved.

Something was terribly off… Xiao Yu set down the case file.

He had uncovered too many inconsistencies.

First, where did the million in cash from the Chen family come from?

Second, if the Chen family was so affluent that medical fees were no issue, why did Chen Rong’s brother resort to kidnapping a businessman’s wife?

Finally, even if the kidnapping failed, why murder? And why commit suicide?

Clearly, his crimes didn’t warrant a death sentence. Surrender could have spared him a harsh penalty.

What motive could drive you to kill?

And what motive could drive you to take your own life?

Most importantly, the suspect’s sister was bedridden at the time.

You exhausted every effort to save her, proving your love.

How could you possibly abandon your gravely ill sister and then choose suicide?

Thus, Xiao Yu could only consider one possibility.

Murder!

Both the suspect and the kidnapping victim had been killed by someone.

Then Xiao Yu’s mind became entangled in knots.

A new question emerged.

Does the murderer suffer from a serious mental illness?

Why murder a kidnapper and his victim?

Moreover, at the time, the suspect, Chen Guodong, was in hiding after the failed kidnapping.

Who could possibly track them down?

If it were murder, not only would they need to locate them, they’d have to kill them and dispose of the bodies along with the taxi in a pond…

Xiao Yu’s mind trembled.

No. An ordinary person would find such a feat nearly impossible.

In fact, pulling off this plan single-handedly would be almost unthinkable.

Could it truly have been suicide… Xiao Yu felt his brain was about to explode.

He thought the entire case was utterly implausible!

Wen

Xue