novelaction Chapter 1254 Would you believe me if I said it was a coincidence?
Chapter 1254 Would you believe me if I said it was a coincidence?
Xiao Zhou didn't expose his lie. Instead, he took out the first piece of evidence from the case file—a DNA test report—and pushed it in front of Qin Zhangfeng: "This is the DNA from the inside of the lighter under your motorcycle's driver's seat. It matches the DNA from skin tissue fragments extracted from Zhang Haibin's fingernails with a 99.99% match. This is the test result of the black soil in your motorcycle garage. It's completely consistent with the composition of the black soil at the scene where the body was dumped in the mountains, and it also contains the agricultural machinery lubricant unique to Zhang Haibin's tool bag. You said you went to the agricultural machinery station. How do you explain this evidence?"
Qin Zhangfeng's body trembled violently, as if struck by an electric current. His face paled instantly, his previous arrogance vanished without a trace, and his voice began to tremble: "This...this might be a coincidence! The lighter might have been left in my car by someone else, and the black soil...the black soil might have been something I picked up during my trip to the countryside, it has nothing to do with Zhang Haibin!" This explanation, full of holes, even he himself felt it was weak and unconvincing. After speaking, he lowered his head, his fingers gripping the seam of his suit trousers tightly, his knuckles turning white.
"A coincidence?" Xiao Zhou produced a second piece of evidence—a screenshot of a call record. "At 5:10 PM on August 19th, you called Zhang Haibin using a temporary phone number, using the excuse of 'urgent tractor repair' to arrange to meet him at the Shanlin Agricultural Machinery Station at 3 AM on August 20th. This is a recording of the call after the operator restored it; listen to it yourself." In the recording, Qin Zhangfeng's deliberately lowered voice came through clearly: "Haibin, this is Qin Zhangfeng. A villager's tractor has broken down in the mountains and urgently needs repair. Could you please make the trip tonight and wait for me at the Shanlin Agricultural Machinery Station at 3 AM? Let's go take a look together."
Hearing his own voice, Qin Zhangfeng trembled violently. He abruptly raised his head, his eyes filled with shock and fear, as if he hadn't expected the police to have even found the phone recording. "I...I didn't!" His voice trembled with sobs, all his previous toughness gone. "That...that was a joke I was playing with him. I just wanted him to do me a favor, who knew he'd get into trouble..." Tears welled up unexpectedly, streaming down his cheeks and dripping onto the interrogation record, yet he still refused to admit his crime.
Xiao Zhou produced a third piece of evidence—photos of the scene. The photos clearly showed the traces of the body dumping site in the mountains, Zhang Haibin's body, black canvas fibers, and Qin Zhangfeng's motorcycle tire tracks: "You lured Zhang Haibin to the mountains with a temporary phone number, got into an argument with him near the agricultural machinery station, first hit him on the head with a stone, then stabbed him in the lung with a sharp knife, causing his death. Afterwards, you drove your motorcycle to a gentle slope to dump his body, and also took his black canvas tool bag, attempting to destroy evidence. These traces at the scene perfectly match your motorcycle tracks, lighter, and black soil evidence. Do you still want to deny it?"
Upon seeing Zhang Haibin's body in the photograph, Qin Zhangfeng's mental defenses completely crumbled. He could no longer hold back, covering his face with his hands, suppressed sobs escaping through his fingers, his shoulders trembling violently. "I was wrong... I shouldn't have killed him..." his voice broke, filled with remorse, "He forced me to do it, he was the one who wanted to report me for embezzlement, I had no choice..."
Xiao Zhou softened his tone: "Explain the whole story clearly. This is your only chance to get leniency."
Qin Zhangfeng lowered his hands, his face streaked with tears, his eyes filled with despair. He took a deep breath and began to confess haltingly: "During the years I was the deputy manager of the agricultural machinery company, I took advantage of my position to forge numerous maintenance records and falsely claim over 100,000 yuan in reimbursements. No one noticed until six months ago when Zhang Haibin discovered my misconduct. He came to me with the forged reimbursement forms, saying he would report me to the head office."
“I was terrified. I quickly gave him gifts and pleaded with him not to report me. He agreed at first, but I was still uneasy. On August 13th, he came to me again with an expense report to sign, saying that if I didn't change it, he would report me immediately. I argued with him and we even got into a fight. Later, people from head office came and said it was a ‘work misunderstanding,’ but I knew he wouldn't let it go and would report me sooner or later.” Qin Zhangfeng’s voice was filled with resentment, and a hint of ferocity flashed in his eyes. “The more I thought about it, the more scared I became. If I was reported, I would not only lose my job but also go to jail. My family and my reputation would be ruined. So I thought, I might as well go all the way and kill him to eliminate any future trouble.”
“On August 19th, I went to the city's business hall and got a temporary phone number using anonymous information. I called Zhang Haibin, lying that there was an urgent repair task in the mountains and asked him to meet me at the mountain agricultural machinery station at 3 a.m. I knew he was a responsible person and would definitely come.” Qin Zhangfeng’s voice began to choke. “I prepared a sharp knife and a stone in advance, put them in a black cloth bag, and rode my motorcycle to the mountains. Around 2 a.m., I arrived near the agricultural machinery station and saw that Zhang Haibin was already there. He was still carrying his canvas tool bag, and I thought he was really going to repair the tractor.”
“I pretended to take him to see the tractor and tricked him into going to the woods near the gentle slope. Once we were in the woods, I confronted him, asking him not to report me and offering him money, but he refused, saying, ‘A corrupt person like you deserves to be punished.’ I got angry then and we started arguing. He turned to leave, and I was afraid he would report me, so I picked up a rock and hit him on the head. He immediately fell to the ground.” Qin Zhangfeng’s tears flowed more and more, his voice filled with fear. “I panicked, thinking he was dead, but he suddenly woke up, grabbed my arm and tried to resist. I was terrified, so I took out a sharp knife from my bag and stabbed him in the chest…”
"After I hit him, I saw him lying on the ground, bleeding a lot. I was terrified and ran away on my motorcycle. After driving for a while, I was afraid he wasn't dead or that someone had found his body, so I went back. When I got back, he was already dead. I dragged his body to the bushes on the gentle slope, covered it with fallen leaves, and took his tool bag, throwing it in an abandoned mine in the mountains. I was afraid of leaving evidence, so I also tore off the watch chain from his wrist and threw it in the grass nearby." Qin Zhangfeng's voice grew softer and softer, filled with remorse. "When I got home, every time I closed my eyes, I saw him lying on the ground. I knew I was wrong, but I didn't dare to turn myself in. I could only live in fear every day until you found me."
Why did you leave the toolkit in the abandoned mine? Why didn't you just destroy it?