Chapter 29: The Na City Case (Part 22)

Damp night air drifted in through the iron-barred window of the interrogation room, carrying with it the mournful wail of a train whistle in the distance.

At that moment, an instruction came through the police officers' earpieces from the adjacent room: "Alright, Lao Jin, the forensic team is here to relieve you. You two can step out."

The two officers exchanged a glance, then rose and exited.

Jia Wenming looked at them with suspicion, as if sensing that his end had arrived. He lowered his gaze to the cold, gleaming handcuffs on his wrists, his nails scratching against the metal tabletop with a faint, piercing sound, like a trapped beast clawing at its cage.

Moments later, Li Rui and Wen Rou walked in.

Without a word, Wen Rou walked straight up to Jia Wenming and placed a photograph before him.

"This is your daughter. Do you recognize her?"

Panic flickered in Jia Wenming’s eyes, followed immediately by rage. He barked, "What are you doing? Why are you touching my daughter! Damn it! If you have the guts, come at me!"

Wen Rou replied coldly, "Rest assured, we haven't done anything to her. On the contrary, to protect your daughter, we ensured our operations were discreet."

"What does that mean?" Jia Wenming asked, flustered. He seemed to suspect something, yet dared not follow the thought to its conclusion.

"You should have known this day would come sooner or later," Wen Rou said, before returning to her seat.

This was a tactic she and Li Rui had agreed upon: to break down his psychological defenses right from the start. Although the man was devoid of humanity, he still held a sliver of warmth for his wife, his daughter, and his mistress.

Jia Wenming froze for a moment, then asked, "Have you arrested my wife, too?"

Li Rui spoke up, "Jia Wenming, at this stage, are you still unwilling to talk?"

"Heh," Jia Wenming suddenly laughed with an arrogant air. "What is there for me to talk to you about? Since you already know everything, why waste your breath?"

"Your life is worthless and your crimes are unforgivable, but don't you care about the two women in your life?" Li Rui, having anticipated this response, waited for him to continue. "Li Junyan is your lawfully wedded wife. She bore you a lovely daughter and even killed for your sake. Do you want her to meet the same end as you?"

Wen Rou seized the opportunity to add, "Even if you don't care about your wife, you should at least think of your daughter. She is still so young; if both her parents are gone, how do you expect her to survive?"

The tag-team effort of Li Rui and Wen Rou struck a vulnerable chord in Jia Wenming. He gritted his teeth, visibly struggling.

"Damn it!" Jia Wenming muttered resentfully. He looked up and asked, "If I talk, can Li Junyan be spared from the death penalty?"

"That depends on the specific circumstances of her crimes. You must trust that the law will provide a just verdict," Wen Rou replied.

Seeing his continued hesitation, Li Rui added, "Don't worry. Regardless of the outcome, we won't stand by and watch your daughter suffer. You are a beast, but your daughter is innocent. We will apply for social assistance for her; at the very least, we won't let her starve."

Jia Wenming let out a breath of relief and uttered a few words: "Give me a cigarette."

Li Rui took a cigarette from his pocket, stepped up to him, held it to his lips, and lit it.

Jia Wenming inhaled deeply, bit down on the filter, and slowly exhaled a ring of smoke, savoring the moment with visible enjoyment.

Only then did he speak: "You aren't the local police."

Li Rui had just sat back down and felt slightly surprised, but he admitted it readily. "That's right. We're from Na City."

"I knew it," Jia Wenming smiled. "I've seen the police in Hang City. They don't have the scent you carry."

"What scent?" Li Rui asked.

"The scent of death!" Jia Wenming suddenly leaned forward, staring at Li Rui as if fixating on prey.

Li Rui swallowed hard and replied calmly, "You were a good hunter, but unfortunately, you chose the wrong path."

Jia Wenming bit the cigarette, letting the smoke drift before his eyes. Through the haze, their gazes gradually blurred.

"You've had your smoke. It's time to talk," Li Rui said.

Jia Wenming flicked the half-finished cigarette to the floor and said with an arrogant air, "Fine. Since you're officers from my home turf, I suppose I owe you that much."

"Good. Let's start from when you began doing business," Li Rui said.

"No problem," Jia Wenming replied.

"Actually, I wasn't always like this. I used to be a law-abiding citizen," Jia Wenming sneered. "Like most children from ordinary families, I entered the farm machinery factory as a worker right after high school. But I wasn't content with such a dull, routine life. A man should go out into the world, make a name for himself, and acquire more wealth and higher social status."

"So, I took a leave of absence and went into business. I tried buying and selling pigs and cows, but things didn't go as planned. Not only did I fail to make money, but I also ended up deep in debt. Later, I opened a candy factory, but that went bust shortly after. Products didn't sell, money couldn't be recouped, and my debts rolled up like a snowball," Jia Wenming recalled his past with eerie calmness.

"Officer, perhaps you can't understand me. If a person spends their whole life experiencing setbacks and failures, wouldn't you say their mindset would change?" Jia Wenming asked and answered himself: "I don't know about others, but I definitely changed. It was from that moment that my mindset shifted—it became twisted."

"I resented the unfairness of fate. I felt that Heaven had cheated me and that the people around me were blocking my path to success. There was a beast inside me, and under the nourishment of this mindset, it began to grow wildly, as if it wanted to devour me."

Rain outside the window slanted against the glass, leaving behind fine, watery trails.

Li Rui raised a hand to interrupt his increasingly manic narrative. "Heaven is fair to everyone. Don't make excuses for your crimes."

"You could have lived a stable life, but you only wanted to slack off. You used your silver tongue to maintain illicit relationships with several female workers in the factory, which is why you were fired. It had nothing to do with being 'unwilling to be mediocre,'" Li Rui struck at the core of his excuses. "But you remained unrepentant, lazy, and greedy, obsessed with finding a way to get rich without work, eventually leading you down the path of crime."

Jia Wenming suppressed his anger, took a deep breath, and adopted an air of defiance, saying, "Officer, there's nothing left to discuss then."

Li Rui scoffed, "If you won't talk, that's fine. I will. In the summer of '07, your life had fallen into extreme chaos and hardship. Yet, you still didn't choose to change your situation through legal, hard-working means, choosing instead to embark on a path of sin."

He paused before continuing, "After trying your hand at theft and 'honey traps,' you set your sights on those on the fringes of society: the sex workers."

"In an earlier instance of soliciting, you robbed a streetwalker. Although you were detained, it made you realize that robbing streetwalkers was much faster than doing business. So, you began using your charm to lure various women home to rob and murder them."

Jia Wenming lifted his head, as if something had seized his throat. A flash of surprise and unease crossed his eyes.

"You often prowled their activity areas at night, approaching them under the guise of a client. You used honeyed words and a facade of gentleness and consideration to gain their trust. You spoke words of concern for their lives, showing understanding and sympathy, making these women, who had suffered so much in a cold world, mistakenly believe they had met a 'different kind of customer.'"

"You always coaxed your victims by saying, 'I know things aren't easy for you. I just want someone to talk to, someone to keep me company. I won't mistreat you.' And just like that, one woman after another was deceived by your facade, followed you to your rental room, and stepped into a trap of death!"

Hearing Li Rui's words, Jia Wenming narrowed his eyes, murderous intent surging. But his hands were restricted by handcuffs; murder had become nothing more than a delusion.

"Who told you all this?" Jia Wenming snarled.

"Man proposes, God disposes," Li Rui said calmly.

"It must have been that hag, Yu Meili!" Jia Wenming shouted in anger.

"Didn't you like her?" Li Rui asked.

Jia Wenming scoffed, "I should never have kept her around back then!"