Chapter 1066 - 546: A Detective’s Intuition

At this moment, Director Hou stared at the rhythm of the interrogation in the room, yet an odd feeling could not help but surface in his heart.

In criminal interrogations, catching the suspect off guard and striking when they are unprepared is indeed a common tactic.

Sometimes it is even necessary to resort to certain special means to break through a suspect’s psychological defenses and force the truth closer.

However, in this case, ever since the police joined the investigation, they had never obtained any concrete leads on an eyewitness—so where did this sudden mention of an "eyewitness" in the interrogation come from?

This not only aroused suspicion in Director Hou’s mind, but also caused the other officers in the room to successively reveal looks of confusion and surprise.

Director Hou turned his gaze toward Chen Guan beside him, only to see the man’s expression grave, his brows deeply furrowed as he gave a slight nod, seemingly also lost in thought.

A moment later, Chen Guan said, "Mr. Qin has very likely picked up on some details."

"Perhaps during prior contact, some subtle expression the suspect let slip, an unintentional movement, or a logical flaw in his words made Qin Feng notice something unusual, leading him to infer a high probability of his involvement."

"In the absence of direct evidence, using behavioral analysis and psychological tactics to pry open a breach is indeed a sophisticated path in interrogation."

Hearing this, Director Hou nodded silently.

He recalled that in past cases he had handled, he had also used similar methods to identify lies and search for breakthrough points.

Though this method does not directly provide physical evidence, it can effectively guide the direction of the investigation, and in cases where the evidentiary chain is weak and clues are scarce, it often plays a crucial role.

Its core is not to fabricate facts, but to expose contradictions in the other party’s statements through strategic pressure and observation, thereby breaking the stalemate.

At this time, Jiang An, standing to the side, was not entirely immersed in the conversation between the two a moment ago.

He knew clearly in his heart that the interrogation strategy Mr. Qin was currently using had obviously locked its target onto the Li Xu before them.

But Jiang An’s thoughts drifted further to the next step—if Li Xu really was the killer, then where was the evidence?

The case had already dragged on for quite some time; with the passing of time, the traces at the scene would inevitably have greatly diminished, and the physical evidence that could still be collected was inherently limited;

and if this so-called "eyewitness" really existed, where should they even begin to look?

If they could not even locate the witness, then relying solely on statements and inferences obtained through interrogation would, in the end, make it difficult to construct a solid evidentiary system.

Thinking of this, Jiang An felt a faint, throbbing headache.

The case had clearly entered deep waters: the truth might be close at hand, yet the path to proving it was still shrouded in heavy fog.

He thought of some old cases he had handled in the past; even if the investigators were inwardly certain who the killer was, without objective evidence sufficient to support prosecution, everything could only stop at conjecture.

What the judicial system relies on has never been intuition or speculation, but a complete, rigorous chain of evidence that can withstand scrutiny.

From "believing who it is" to "proving who it is," spanning this distance is often a long and arduous process of producing evidence.

At this moment, Qin Feng’s brows were tightly knit, his hands folded on the cold tabletop, his gaze sharp as a torch as he fixed it on Li Xu on the other side of the glass.

The interrogation had entered a critical phase; he decided to apply further pressure and quicken the pace.

"Li Xu, I’ll ask you again: on the night of the incident, did you ever leave the site or not?"

Li Xu responded almost the instant the words fell.

He leaned his body forward, his hands waving repeatedly, his tone rapid and full of resistance: "No, absolutely not! I never went out!"

"Really didn’t... really."

Qin Feng’s expression did not change, but his mind was already turning quickly— the more eager Li Xu was to deny, the more likely he was hiding something.

Without betraying anything, he shifted the direction of his questioning and cut into another seemingly ordinary detail: "Fine, we’ll set that question aside for now."

"Then tell me truthfully, who exactly were drinking with you that night?"

Li Xu paused briefly, as if recalling, or as if weighing his words: "At the time... Wang Can and Li Yong went out midway, and in the dorm, it was just me and Yang Fei, and Chen Ke from the next dorm."

He slightly changed the direction of his words and took the initiative to add, "That excavator was actually Chen Ke’s."

"Both of us operate excavators on the construction site, and around then my machine happened to be in the factory for repairs and parts replacement."

When he heard the word "excavator," Qin Feng’s gaze suddenly sharpened.

If someone had operated that excavator at the time of the crime, or even merely entered the cab, it was highly likely that the boom’s angle and height would have been subtly altered.

And this might well be a key link in cracking the case.

"So," Qin Feng pursued the question, "did you have the key to that excavator on you at the time?"

"No! How could I!" Li Xu shook his head again and again. "Just like with car keys, everyone keeps their own excavator keys. How could I possibly have his key?"

Qin Feng leaned forward slightly, his gaze locking tightly onto Li Xu’s eyes: "In other words, you never entered that excavator’s cab that night?"

"Of course not!" Li Xu denied almost without thinking. "What would I go in there for? There was no need at all!"

As these words came through the speakers, Jiang An in the observation room suddenly stiffened.

His arms, originally folded, slowly dropped, his gaze snapping toward Li Xu behind the one-way glass as the corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily.

A line of investigation that had once been neglected flashed through his mind at that moment like a bolt of lightning.

Yes, the outdoor scene had been exposed to wind and sun for months, and the trace evidence there was likely long since obliterated and hard to find, but inside that excavator’s cab there was a good chance of a forgotten "time capsule."