National Forensic Doctor-Chapter 1154 - 1085: Conclusion

"Let’s talk inside the private room."

Jiang Yuan noticed that Li Airu was emotionally charged, but instead of rushing, he calmly led her into the room and gave a subtle signal behind him. Immediately, someone picked up a video camera.

Evidence chain, evidence chain—evidence must form a chain. It’s like writing a book: every character must have origins and resolutions, and every event must begin with the time and place.

Using this method, you can filter out the majority of rumors circulating out there.

It’s a very simple principle: what is someone’s background, where did they come from, what did they do, where did they do it, when did it happen, and how did it turn out...

Jiang Yuan wasn’t worried that Li Aiyuan would withhold the name of the financial backer.

The fact that she was waiting here meant someone had tipped her off. Otherwise, how would a young girl know the squad’s movements, let alone figure out which restaurant members of the task force liked to frequent? If there was a leak, this was a potential source.

For a student like Li Airu to obtain such information, she must have gone through considerable effort. And to go through all that trouble, then wake up early and come to this breakfast spot in full makeup, clearly, she had already made up her mind.

Therefore, the key issue was still the evidence chain. Evidence collection must have a source and verification. Especially for witness testimony, if it wasn’t recorded in a controlled environment like the interrogation center, provisions had to be made to guard against witnesses recanting.

The accompanying officers immediately caught on, some following into the room and others staying outside on guard.

"Go ahead." Jiang Yuan stood calmly under the camera, his voice steady.

This interrogation could only be conducted by him. Everyone understood this. Li Airu rushing over to provide information could only mean she came specifically for Jiang Yuan.

"If the killer has a mastermind behind them, I believe... I believe it’s Chen Zuoye." Li Airu took a deep breath and continued, "Chen Zuoye is the chairman of You Dashi Group, in his late forties, almost fifty. He’s overweight. He harassed my sister several times. Later he even funded a film and had the director invite her to star as the female lead..."

Li Airu didn’t bother with measured pacing. Truthfully, she was more anxious than the police.

Jiang Yuan and the others listened quietly, meanwhile discreetly pulling out their phones to search for You Dashi Group.

As expected, it was an old-type company spanning machinery manufacturing and chemical textiles, employing thousands of people. Naturally, it was a major taxpayer and a key enterprise locally.

But in terms of stature and capability, it was still far inferior to the Jianyuan Group of earlier years.

Seeing the phrase "publicly traded company" in news reports or stock trading apps was one thing; encountering it in real life was another. There were only about 5,000 publicly traded companies in the entire country. In slightly remote areas, it wasn’t even guaranteed a prefecture-level city would have one.

A conglomerate like You Dashi, directly providing thousands of jobs, meant sustaining thousands of households. Add in the surrounding service industries and the taxes it paid, and its presence could very well influence a small local economy.

That said, Lanyue City was somewhat wealthier. The position of chairman at You Dashi Group was still far from wielding unchecked power.

Jiang Yuan and Huang Qiangmin remained unfazed.

If it were a company in Qinghe City, maybe there’d have been a couple of sighs and some crocodile tears shed. But for a firm in Lanyue City? There was no hesitation whatsoever.

Young as she was, Li Airu couldn’t read the expressions of the officers. After her long monologue, she thought they didn’t believe her and quickly added, "I have proof. My sister recorded an audio clip of Chen Zuoye forcing her to drink..."

"Where is it?" Wang Chuanxing asked immediately.

Li Airu quickly responded, "I saved a copy in a cloud drive. I’ll send it to you..."

"Cloud drive copies are unacceptable. It must be the original storage medium. That means if you used a recorder, you need the recorder itself. If it’s a phone, then you must hand over the phone," Wang Chuanxing said, setting a strict standard. For a death penalty case, the requirements for evidence collection would inevitably be stringent.

Li Airu mumbled, "Oh, okay, I’ll bring it later."

The recording was clearly stashed away somewhere. Everyone expected as much and didn’t make a big deal out of it.

At that moment, Liu Jinghui interjected, "Just trying to get someone to drink, or harassment, doesn’t lead to the conclusion that Chen Zuoye is guilty. Do you have any other evidence?"

"Evidence... I have some." Li Airu’s voice grew smaller, her hesitation palpable.

"Everyone else, step out for now," Liu Jinghui waved his hand. Even Huang Qiangmin was ushered out, leaving only Jiang Yuan and Liu Jinghui in the room with her.

Li Airu visibly relaxed.

"If you have clues, share them; it will help us move the case forward," Liu Jinghui encouraged, his demeanor unbothered. He had already deduced the full story of the case but still needed to gather solid evidence. If Li Airu could provide more, all the better.

After a few seconds of hesitation, Li Airu confessed, "Chen Zuoye drugged and raped my sister!"

Having said it, Li Airu looked up at Jiang Yuan and Liu Jinghui, ready to explain the shock she thought she’d caused them.

But both men wore expressions of utter certainty.

Li Airu froze. "You... already knew?"

"We’re further along in this investigation than you might think," Liu Jinghui said, casually feigning sophistication in front of the young woman. "Just share what you know. It might corroborate other leads and help us."

It wasn’t entirely untrue. Information provided earlier by prop master Wang Yuxian and others had already hinted at this, and everything now was coming together in corroboration.

A young girl like Li Airu, being emotionally involved and anxious, spilled everything when faced with Liu Jinghui’s calculated probing.

When she was done, Liu Jinghui called for two officers to escort her home to retrieve the recording device and other evidence.

After all this, Liu Jinghui turned to Huang Qiangmin, chuckling, "Call for Dai Zhi to arrest Chen Zuoye."

"Hmm... We’ll have to wait for the recording to be authenticated before we can proceed. Old Dai will probably still have to brief the upper management," Huang Qiangmin said, clicking his tongue in disappointment. "If only we could pre-sell stocks in these companies, we might have enough to buy a police helicopter."

Liu Jinghui startled. "No need to upgrade so extravagantly. Who would the helicopter be for?"

"To improve the commuting efficiency of Jiang Yuan’s Cold Case Squad and senior leadership," Huang Qiangmin quipped, before shifting his tone. "The case is clear, right? Someone like Chen Zuoye—once we arrest him, it has to be an airtight case."

"The case is clear." Liu Jinghui was diligent on this topic, carefully phrasing his words. "This case splits into two threads. One is that Chen Zuoye drugged and raped the actress Li Aiyuan, who had some audio evidence and kept items like her underwear from that day. But the evidentiary value isn’t strong enough, so she sought compensation from him."

"And he was willing to compensate?"

"Yes, but his initial offers involved demands like companionship or a kept relationship. Li Aiyuan rejected them but didn’t dare set a specific monetary amount."

"Afraid of being trapped."

"Exactly. Chen Zuoye saw an opportunity to accuse her of extortion, which he probably couldn’t pull off."

"Seems fair enough."

Liu Jinghui continued, "Over time, they couldn’t reach an agreement. Chen Zuoye tried to resolve the issue through intermediaries. He approached a lawyer, someone from the industry, and then there was prop master Wang Yuxian, who offered himself up opportunistically."

"Wang Yuxian took the job to leverage Wang Xiang’s influence, but Li Aiyuan wasn’t having it. Meanwhile, Wang Yuxian, having spent the money to pay off gambling debts, couldn’t deliver and couldn’t return the funds. That’s when he came up with murder."

"Did Chen Zuoye know? If he was unaware, convicting him becomes tricky," Huang Qiangmin speculated, already thinking about subsequent prosecution issues.

"Given that Wang Yuxian resorted to murder so swiftly, I believe he had external support," Liu Jinghui reasoned. "It’s very likely Chen Zuoye funded him. From another angle, consider how long Wang Yuxian resisted interrogation. He might have money or promises left for his family, which is why he’s still holding out."

"We can look into it." Jiang Yuan readily agreed with Liu Jinghui’s reasoning. For him, the case was as good as closed. If Chen Zuoye was convicted, this case would conclude successfully. As for whether Wang Yuxian left money for his family or if any benefits were fully recovered, Jiang Yuan didn’t really care.

Liu Jinghui, however, was quite pleased with his final deductions, basking in Jiang Yuan’s recognition. A knight’s actions affirmed by the dragon—was this not the ultimate value of a Dragon Knight?