Chapter 1123 - 575: This Is Muscle Memory (2)

In the swirling smoke, Jiang An slowly opened his mouth: "Tell us about how you murdered Li Ailing, and also that fire years ago."

He paused, "Oh, it shouldn’t be called a fire — it was deliberate arson, then made to look like an accidental fire."

After a moment of silence, Zhang Xiang lifted his head, his eyes reddened, "I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you everything!"

"Li Ailing, I really did kill her."

Then, he took a few drags of his cigarette and said: "At that time, after we received the insurance money, we quickly bought two houses in Zhujiang City, one for rent and the other where Li Ailing lived."

"Because her residency registration was canceled, she used another name, Li Qing."

"The name Li Qing was also arranged through a broker who got her a new ID; the address on the ID is in Zhujiang City."

"Actually, our relationship was good originally."

"To prevent the matter from being exposed, I told her never to come back, and I would take the train to visit her every month."

"Back then, 300,000 yuan was quite a lot. We bought a house and had over 100,000 yuan left."

"Originally, I wanted her to use the over 100,000 yuan to buy a storefront and run some kind of business."

"She did buy a storefront, but during the business dealings, she ended up getting involved with another customer."

"Do you think I, as a man, could tolerate that?"

"Definitely not."

"Finally, she came clean with me and wanted a divorce."

"I disagreed, and she threatened to expose me."

"She wanted to confess and take me down with her."

"How could I allow such a thing? So I killed her."

"Later, I exchanged her remains with the ones in the flower bed, mainly to completely bury the secret from back then."

Jiang An asked, "Who planned the fire back then?"

"It was Li Ailing."

"She was quite lazy and materialistic."

"Later, I realized she was someone who got bored easily with the old and sought out the new."

"Living with me, she complained about my low salary and wanted something bigger, so she bought a high-value life insurance policy, and that fire was also her plan and action."

"I was not involved at all, truly not involved."

"That night, I went out drinking with several friends."

"At the time when you asked me about the situation, I found the people I was drinking with to testify."

Qin Feng remembered this matter.

Regarding those who went out drinking together, Qin Feng had questioned them.

Indeed, that night he was drunk to the point of being in a stupor when he returned home.

Jiang An asked, "So, you know nothing about the situation that night?"

"I really don’t know."

"Where did the body come from?"

Zhang Xiang said, "Li Ailing encountered a mentally challenged girl on her way home, who looked quite similar in facial structure, so she brought her home."

"Then used her life to claim the insurance money."

Jiang An asked word by word: "Did you both plan this together?"

Zhang Xiang defended, "I didn’t do anything, I just knew and didn’t report her."

"It’s that simple?" Jiang An’s lips twitched.

"It is that simple."

"I always have a principle, I don’t want to take a risky plunge."

"Even though we were married, I think we absolutely can’t break the law."

"So, I did not participate in this process."

"The murder and dismemberment, including the scene of the fire, using alcohol in the storage room, all were her deeds."

Upon hearing this, Qin Feng and Jiang An exchanged glances.

Two people committing a crime together, with one of them already dead, and the conditions at the time lacking surveillance.

Even if investigated now, 15 years later, it might still not be clear.

This is indeed a problem.

If this interrogation continues, Zhang Xiang might push all the blame onto Li Ailing.

If viewed in the current situation, the murder and insurance fraud were all Li Ailing’s doing, he could at most be considered knowledgeable, not even covering up.

Because Li Ailing and he were spouses, under criminal law, direct relatives cannot be charged with the crime of harboring, it has identity requirements.

Then, Jiang An continued to ask: "Zhang Xiang, I advise you to lay everything bare."

"If your attitude is good, there might still be a slim hope of survival."

"If you continue to hide, we will dig deeply, squeezing out every last piece of information."

"Officer, I truly don’t know."

"That night, I really went drinking with my brothers, and he sent me home. The next day, I found out about the fire."

Upon hearing this, even Mr. Chen and Director Hou, standing outside the one-way mirror, felt a bit helpless.

In some cases, you may feel he did it, but the law demands evidence.

At this moment, everyone believes Zhang Xiang probably participated.

A woman couldn’t commit such acts alone, especially murder and arson, it’s absolutely not something one woman could handle.

But, what to do?

How can he be made to confess all his crimes?

At this moment, in the interrogation room, Jiang An was also rapidly thinking.

He was recalling the arson case from 15 years ago and the body found in the coffin.

Especially the skeletal remains discovered yesterday in the coffin.

Suddenly, Jiang An’s eyes brightened, and he said: "No, you’re lying!"

"Zhang Xiang, do you really think you can escape legal punishment like this?"

Zhang Xiang helplessly raised his head and said: "Officer, everything I said is the truth."

"Back then, I didn’t know how she killed, nor how she set the fire, not even the location of the dumping I knew."

"Really unknown?"

"Really unknown!"

Jiang An said: "You’re a medical graduate, and I am too, only I specialize in forensic medicine."

"Let me tell you, humans have muscle memory."

"When you commit murder, dismember, as a doctor the way you dissect and separate a body is different from a non-medical person."

"At the fire scene, we found separated bones at the joints, the cartilage membrane between them wasn’t even damaged."

"This indicates the person who separated the body is extremely familiar with anatomical results."

"Also, when we found Li Ailing’s skeletal remains in the coffin yesterday, the bone fragments within the joints were similarly not separated."

"This shows the operator’s technique is very skilled, the bone-cutting method is consistent."

After a while, Jiang An said: "If I’m not wrong, Li Ailing should not have studied medicine, but accounting."

"She worked with you in the clinic mainly handling some medication."

"For the two bodies, it was you who dismembered them, do you think I’m right?"

"No, it was her, I didn’t know, didn’t know."

"Didn’t know?"

"If you were unaware of the skull and pelvis buried in the fire scene, why later after killing Li Ailing could you separate the same bones?"

"And the separation location, angle, even shape are completely identical, do you think this is a coincidence?"

Upon hearing this, Qin Feng hurriedly raised his hand to tap the table and said: "Zhang Xiang, don’t try to bluff your way through."

"Our Mr. Jiang studied forensic medicine, with regard to the criminal method, if we present this to the judge, or you do, tell me who do you think the judge would prefer to listen to?"

"Moreover, this muscle memory, just like our police drawing guns, aiming, shooting steps, completely integrates into the muscles."

"You tell me, can you wash off the suspicion on you?"

After a long time, Jiang An said: "Don’t fantasize, the sea of hardship is boundless, turning back is the shore! No matter how you argue, you can’t cover up the facts of that year."

Seeing Jiang An’s determined expression, Zhang Xiang fell into complete silence.

Five minutes later, he lifted his head, his face ashen, and said: "Yes, I confess, I did it all."