novelaction Chapter 662 Dawn (68)
Chapter 662 Dawn (68)
For more than a month afterward, Yan Zhen was summoned to the Municipal Public Security Bureau multiple times to assist in the investigation.
The case of Yan Yi's death was simple in structure, but Chu Huian refused to cooperate, so the police could only start with the people around her. Even Aunt Zhang, who had been fired, was called back from her hometown to be questioned.
When Aunt Zhang learned that Yan Yi had been killed, her initial shock was followed by an undisguised look of terror on her face.
"The wife actually killed the husband..."
Aunt Zhang was a shrewd but honest person. After a little questioning by the police, she told them everything she knew.
“It was the husband who attacked the wife first.” Aunt Zhang wiped away her tears and recounted what happened on the day she was fired. “The husband had someone tamper with the wife’s car, almost killing her. The wife was very sad and angry, saying she would not let the husband off the hook, and even kicked me and Miss Zhenzhen out.”
Following this lead, the police soon apprehended the "mechanic" who had tampered with Chu Huian's car at the 4S shop.
After interrogation, the "repairman" confessed to taking money from Yan Yi and damaging Chu Huian's car.
Officer Zhang sensed something amiss: "Someone tampered with Chu Huian's car. Was Yan Zhen the first to notice?"
"Yes, if it weren't for Miss Zhenzhen, Madam might have been in a car accident that day."
After thinking it over, Officer Zhang summoned Yan Zhen again.
At the Municipal Public Security Bureau, Yan Zhen followed the policewoman into a private office, where Officer Zhang was waiting for her.
Upon seeing her, Officer Zhang smiled and said, "Xiao Yan is here. Have a seat."
Yan Zhen had just finished school and was still wearing her school uniform. She took off her heavy schoolbag and sat down in the chair in front of her desk.
"Uncle Zhang, is there any new clue?" Yan Zhen asked.
Officer Zhang didn't rush to answer. He took a bottle of yogurt from his drawer and pushed it in front of Yan Zhen: "This was given to me by the victim's family when I was on duty. I'm too old to drink this kind of sweet stuff. You can have it."
Yan Zhen picked up the yogurt and saw that this brand was a bit pricey, with a small bottle costing twenty yuan.
"Thank you uncle."
Seeing Yan Zhen tear open the yogurt lid and start drinking it with the small spoon attached to the lid, Officer Zhang finally spoke: "Today I spoke with Zhang Xiaomei, the nanny who used to work for the Yan family. She provided some information. Yan Yi had the idea of killing Chu Huian before his death and even put it into action. You should know about this, right?"
Yan Zhen paused in his action of scooping yogurt with a small spoon.
Officer Zhang spoke as if he were having a casual chat with Yan Zhen, his attitude so friendly that it carried no sense of pressure: "Yan Yi hired someone to sabotage Chu Huian's car brakes, and it was you who noticed something was wrong and stepped in to stop him, thus preventing Chu Huian from having a car accident. Why didn't you tell us such important information before? Xiao Yan, what were you worried about?"
Yan Zhen bit her yogurt spoon and didn't speak for a while. Instead of answering Officer Zhang's question directly, she asked in return, "My mother... if it's confirmed that Yan Yi's death is related to her, how will she sentence her?"
"It's hard to say," Officer Zhang said. "When sentencing someone for instigating another to commit murder, we need to take into account factors such as the instigator's specific role in the joint crime and the causal relationship between the instigation and the crime committed by the victim."
Yan Zhen's eyes darted around, the small plastic spoon she had bitten was covered in teeth marks: "Then... will it be a death sentence?"
Officer Zhang asked, "Are you worried that she will be sentenced to death?"
"..." Yan Zhen sighed and put the yogurt he had only taken a few bites of on his desk.
"Xiao Yan, you know something, don't you?" Officer Zhang said gently. "I can understand your desire to get Chu Huian a reduced sentence, but concealing the truth is definitely not a wise choice. The longer the case drags on, the worse it will be for Chu Huian."
Yan Zhen gradually succumbed to his gentle gaze. She placed her hands on the desk, rested her forehead against the edge of the desk, and after a long while, choked back tears and whispered, "If I hadn't been frightened by my mother that day and had tried to persuade her a little more, my father might not have died."
Officer Zhang exchanged a glance with the policewoman in the office, knowing that Yan Zhen had given in.
The policewoman poured Yan Zhen a cup of hot water in a disposable cup. After drinking it, Yan Zhen's emotions gradually calmed down, and she told her what she knew about the inside story.
"My dad and mom have been arguing about divorce for quite a long time. There are two reasons why they can't reach an agreement. One is that my mom doesn't want to get a divorce. She feels that she has been with my dad from scratch and worked hard for so many years. Now that she is old, she is going to be abandoned. This is a shameful thing."
Another issue is the disagreement over the division of assets. My dad feels that all the family's wealth was earned through his own hard work and has nothing to do with my mom, so he's only willing to give her 20%. The two sides have been arguing repeatedly because of these two reasons, and they fight every time they meet.
“In the past, when they argued, my dad would just leave if things got really heated. But ever since my dad’s girlfriend got pregnant, their relationship has become more and more tense. My dad’s girlfriend, Ms. Cheng, once came to my mom’s house to provoke her. My mom also went to see her. Later, Ms. Cheng had a miscarriage at my mom’s beauty salon. The conflict between my dad and my mom completely erupted. My dad hit my mom in public.”
“I never dared to tell my mom. My dad talked to me in private and told me to persuade my mom to accept the divorce, or he would kill her.”
Officer Zhang paused, then quickly asked, "When did this happen?"
Yan Zhen thought for a moment and said, "The second Thursday of last month."
Officer Zhang asked astutely, "You remember it so clearly?"
"Yes, because my mom hit me that day."
Officer Zhang quickly took notes while steer the conversation back on track: "Let's start with the matter of your father contacting you privately."
“My dad’s expression was terrifying when he talked about these things. I was worried that he would really hit my mom, so I thought I would try to persuade her. But my mom was in the hospital at that time and was very irritable. When I went to see her that day, she flew into a rage at me over a small matter and even hit me… I didn’t dare to say anything.”
My dad didn't get any feedback from my attempts to persuade my mom, which probably meant she wouldn't listen. A few days later, my mom encountered the issue of the 4S shop damaging her brakes. This angered her, which is why she...
At this point, Yan Zhen became emotional, "I only found out later that my mother had met with a lawyer before going to the 4S store and drafted a divorce agreement. She didn't want to get entangled with my father anymore and agreed to only split 20% of the property in the divorce... After my father's accident, I regretted it many times. If I had been brave enough to persuade my mother to divorce him that day and promptly informed my father that my mother had agreed to the divorce, would they have ended up like this now...?"
As she spoke, she burst into tears, filled with self-reproach.
The policewoman handed Yan Zhen a tissue and patted her shoulder to comfort her.
At this point in the conversation, Officer Zhang understood why Yan Zhen had been hiding the truth.
Out of professional instinct, he thought for a moment and said, "These things are beneficial to Chu Huian. Since you want to get her a reduced sentence, why haven't you told us?"