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Zhang Bin's words were mostly credible, so all we needed to do was find Du Ziguo for questioning to determine whether Zhang Bin was lying. Gu Chen carried Wang An out, and the next person to walk in was Zhao Li. However, Zhao Li had been there before; she hadn’t seen the face of the person who kidnapped her, so she had no idea if it was Zhang Bin. Moreover, that voice had clearly been altered.
Zhang Bin insisted that he had never done such a thing, and it seemed to be the first time Zhao Li had seen him. Yet we did find Zhang Bin's fingerprint in that house, albeit just a thumbprint. Zhao Li noted that Zhang Bin's physique resembled that of the kidnapper, and he had scars on his left arm.
Only Zhang Bin matched all these details, but he refused to admit it.
Zhang Bin's denial was understandable; without absolute evidence, based solely on what we had at hand, we indeed couldn't do much to him. A single fingerprint combined with Zhao Li's uncertain testimony was insufficient to convict Zhang Bin.
Zhang Bin looked at Zhao Li, his tone somewhat pleading: "Zhao Li, can I call you Sister Zhao Li? I swear I didn’t do any of this! If you want me to admit to being a thief, I will. But I am not a rapist; I’ve never even seen you!"
Zhao Li regarded Zhang Bin with some hesitation but replied, "I can't say for sure it was you. Your build is similar. The person who raped me had a scar on his left arm—do you have one? If not, then it definitely wasn’t you; if you do, then it must be you."
Zhao Li remained relatively calm; the interrogation room had excellent soundproofing, and she hadn’t heard the earlier conversation between Wang An and Zhang Bin. Therefore, she was unaware that the man before her indirectly caused her sister Fang Qi's death. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to remain so composed.
Zhang Bin was rendered speechless by Zhao Li’s question. Suddenly, he seemed filled with rage and shouted, "I get it! You all want me dead! You’re trying to frame me! Is that right? You’re Zhao Li? Where’s your ID? Where’s your identification?"
It appeared as though Zhang Bin was suffering from a delusional disorder; he reacted this way towards everyone. His face flushed red, his eyes bulging like saucers as he screamed in desperation, startling Zhao Li. However, she couldn’t be entirely certain that the person with a scar on his left arm wasn’t Zhang Bin.
Zhao Li eventually left, leaving only the three of us in the interrogation room.
Guan Zengbin closed the door and looked at the still-shouting Zhang Bin before slowly saying, "Stop shouting. Are you using anger to mask your insecurity or madness to conceal the truth?"
Zhang Bin glanced at Guan Zengbin and then at me. "I didn’t do any of those things because of them! I admit to what I did—I went to the internet café and vandalized it to force Hao Ren out. I went after Du Ziguo and beat him up. I did go to Hao Ren’s house and broke his windows."
After a pause, Zhang Bin’s voice grew louder: "Du Ziguo drank something—it's not like I forced him to drink it. Du Ziguo used drugs—it's not like I made him use them. I can admit that when I left drugs behind, I hoped he would use them. But can you blame me? Whether he used them or not was entirely his choice."
Seemingly gaining confidence, Zhang Bin raised his voice again: "Yes! And that joke at the dinner table? That was just something I said offhand! If that counts as me intentionally leading him to do something wrong, then does that mean people can’t joke anymore?"
"I’ve done only this much," Zhang Bin shouted. "Everything else isn’t my doing! I didn’t burn down Hao Ren’s house; I didn’t rape Zhao Li! Maybe it was some other rich kid who did it—he paid you off so you’d pin this on me!"
Guan Zengbin looked at Zhang Bin and chuckled. "You’re quite good at making excuses for yourself. Throwing feces on glass might get you fifteen days in detention; breaking someone’s window might also get you fifteen days. There’s no evidence of drug transactions between you and Du Ziguo, so naturally they can’t pin anything on you. You’d be out in a month—nice calculation."
Guan Zengbin sat down and began speaking slowly: "No wonder you're a habitual offender—you’ve brushed up on your legal knowledge. As for other crimes? Burning someone’s house could lead to three years or more; rape could lead to ten years or more depending on severity—add those together and it would surely amount to ten years at least. Forcing someone into drug use? Inciting others to commit rape?"
"You think you'd be out in a month for life imprisonment?" Guan Zengbin scoffed. "You’re quite greedy."
Zhang Bin retorted angrily: "You can think whatever you want; all you want is for me to die! But remember this: twenty years from now, I'll still be standing strong."
In the midst of the conversation, Zhang Bin resembled a hero from Water Margin, but within five seconds, he reverted to his true self, tears streaming down his face as he exclaimed, "I swear it wasn't me! Yes, yes, you should ask Zheng Shuai and Cheng Yimin; they can definitely prove my innocence!"
"Is that so?" I replied to Zhang Bin. "Where are Zheng Shuai and Cheng Yimin?"
Seeing that I was engaging with him, Zhang Bin quickly responded, "They should be waiting for me at a place called Smooth Daily Rental on East Min Road Street. They usually accompany me when I go out to change my bandages. But today is the anniversary of us staying there for a whole month, so they went out to buy groceries and cook. I came alone."
"They must be there now; you will definitely see them," Zhang Bin said with a pleading tone.
I nodded without saying much more.
Guan Zengbin spoke up, "Confess for leniency and resist for severity. I advise you to cooperate; otherwise, by the time we gather evidence, it will be too late for you."
Zhang Bin bit his lip and fell silent.
As we stepped outside, we saw Wang An holding Zhao Li, both in tears, while Gu Chen looked on helplessly. After inquiring, we learned that Zhao Li had just discovered the truth about her sister's death. Wang An appeared calm, perhaps because he had already cried enough or because he was the only man left in the family.
A few young female police officers approached to offer comfort. I patted Gu Chen on the shoulder, signaling him to follow us.
After giving Gu Chen the address, he drove us away.
In the car, Gu Chen remarked, "Zhang Bin is quite an interesting character; he does things but doesn't dare to admit them. Just look at how desperate he looks; I really want to see what his face will be like once we find absolute evidence."
Guan Zengbin frowned and said, "This person is truly cunning and dangerous; he's a habitual offender. Without absolute evidence, people like him will never confess. Regarding that incident... there might be another theory."
I was intrigued and asked, "What is it?"
Guan Zengbin mimicked my gesture, twirling his fair fingers through his hair: "He indeed set fire to the house because no one was there; that's why he dares to deny it—there's no evidence. That incident was Zhang Bin forcing Du Ziguo to take drugs; he deliberately got Du Ziguo addicted so that his subsequent drug use would seem justified."
"In this way, he can completely wash his hands of any guilt," Guan Zengbin continued. "He took Du Ziguo to the hospital for bandage changes just to show that he didn't coerce Du Ziguo; he wanted others to see that Du Ziguo willingly followed him. This would provide cover for whatever he said next."
"He merely mentioned it casually at the dinner table," Guan Zengbin added while resting his chin on his hand. "But we don't know what really happened. When Du Ziguo's addiction kicked in, he could do anything. The treacherous Zhang Bin kept telling Du Ziguo that if he raped his own sister, he'd give him drugs."
Gu Chen interjected, "How many people have died because of drugs?"
Guan Zengbin nodded in agreement. "Exactly. So many lives have been ruined by addiction; Du Ziguo is no exception. At this moment, Zhang Bin gave him the task of raping his sister. But after Du Ziguo did it, Zhang Bin backed out because his goal was to ensure this family would never find peace—he wanted them destroyed."
I furrowed my brow as I listened to Guan Zengbin's words; something about this seemed hard to accept.
I spoke up, "So all of this is because Hao Ren sent him to the police station?"
Guan Zengbin nodded and said, "Some people are just narrow-minded, and some are simply malicious. Zhang Bin himself knew that he went to find Du Ziguo only after being stabbed twice by Wang An. With new grudges added to old ones, Zhang Bin is capable of anything."
"Then there's one question," I said, looking seriously at Guan Zengbin.
"What question?" Guan Zengbin asked.
I slowly replied, "If everything you say is correct, then as long as we find Du Ziguo, the truth will come to light. Even if Du Ziguo has become an addict, when the drug isn't affecting him, he still understands things clearly. Was it his own delusion, or did Zhang Bin indeed give him such a strong suggestion?"
"But since Zhang Bin dared to be so defiant in the interrogation room, claiming he did nothing wrong, there’s only one possibility," I shifted my tone coldly.
"What is it?" Guan Zengbin asked.
I sighed, "That means there are no witnesses left. If everything was done by Zhang Bin, but the person involved is dead, it will be difficult for us to know the truth. If Zheng Shuai and Cheng Yimin were accomplices as well, the three of them might have already woven a complete set of testimony to counter our interrogation. And this testimony would have no flaws."
"So?" Guan Zengbin asked worriedly. "Is it possible that Du Ziguo is already dead?"
I nodded seriously. "Previously, all four came together to change the dressing, but this time only Zhang Bin came alone. What happened to the others? Did they really go grocery shopping?"
Gu Chen looked at us through the rearview mirror and asked, "Where did Hao Ren go again?"
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