Blank Charge

Jin Zhou didn’t answer immediately, pretending to examine the photo, buying himself some time to think.

Yang Shiyu was cautious, wearing a baseball cap, ensuring that nearby surveillance cameras wouldn’t capture his face. He had parked his car on a secluded street, presumably intentionally avoiding the cameras to conceal his whereabouts.

From that perspective, it seemed highly likely that the police had no information about Yang Shiyu. Naturally, Jin Zhou became the only link point to him.

… How did he become the weakest link?

After a moment, Jin Zhou put down the photo and looked at Ren Wenli calmly, saying, “I don’t know him.”

“Are you sure?” Ren Wenli raised an eyebrow, clearly not fully believing Jin Zhou’s words. “You seemed quite close.”

“Just because we were close doesn’t mean I know him, right?”

Jin Zhou vividly remembered that after they left the building, Yang Shiyu had always walked ahead without saying a word to him.

As for the place where they got into the car together, Jin Zhou was confident there were no surveillance cameras. If the police had obtained the license plate number, they would have already identified Yang Shiyu, and they wouldn’t be questioning him like they were now.

Ren Wenli still didn’t fully believe and continued to scrutinize Jin Zhou intently. After a while, seemingly unable to find any loopholes, she shifted her focus to another breakthrough point and asked, “When did you get home last night?”

Jin Zhou thought for a moment and replied, “Around eleven.”

The slum area and the old neighborhood weren’t far apart, and both had complex terrains with limited surveillance coverage. The time it took Yang Shiyu to drive Jin Zhou home wouldn’t have been much different from the time it would take Jin Zhou to walk home.

It depended on whether Ren Wenli would persistently pursue the details of how Jin Zhou went home.

Ren Wenli fell silent, flipping through the information in her hand, while Jin Zhou tensed his back in a place where she couldn’t see.

Fortunately, after the suffocating silence, Ren Wenli circled back to Jin Zhou’s motive for going to the building and asked how Jin Zhou knew the precise address of Wang Darong’s house.

“I asked around with the photo,” Jin Zhou secretly breathed a sigh of relief, casually lying about the method but maintaining the same expression as before, without revealing any flaws.

“Don’t you trust the police?” Ren Wenli changed her sharp gaze to a more casual tone, “The police will figure out your parents’ case.”

“It’s not about trust.” Jin Zhou finally seized the opportunity to sigh, releasing the tension in his heart, “I just don’t want to passively wait for updates.”

Speaking of which, Jin Zhou and Ren Wenli’s acquaintance had a touch of drama.

A customer had once come to Jin Zhou’s auto repair shop requesting a bumper and windshield replacement. Jin Zhou noticed the dent on the bumper and a large indentation on the windshield, which raised his suspicions. After asking a few more questions, Jin Zhou discovered cleaned bloodstains in the trunk, exposing a hit-and-run body disposal case.

At that time, Ren Wenli was still working at the police station and couldn’t believe that Jin Zhou, a mere mechanic, could find out all the details of the case.

As they gradually became more familiar, Ren Wenli also witnessed Jin Zhou passing the judicial examination.

Therefore, it wasn’t strange to Ren Wenli that Jin Zhou would investigate his own parents’ case, and she knew that trying to stop him would be useless.

The conversation gradually veered away from the murder case, and Ren Wenli timely interrupted and pointed at Yang Shiyu in the photo, asking Jin Zhou, “Think carefully, does this person have any distinctive features?”

At that point, Jin Zhou completely relaxed because Ren Wenli evidently believed his words.

He cooperatively picked up the photo again and thought, “Apart from being handsome, what other distinctive features could this person have?”

But he still furrowed his brows slightly and shook his head, saying, “What’s wrong with this person? Is he the killer?”

Ren Wenli looked helpless and replied, “Not sure.”

The atmosphere between the two noticeably changed.

Previously, Jin Zhou had been constantly questioned without finding an opportunity to inquire about the case. Now, Ren Wenli started answering his questions, indicating that the interrogation was over, and their conversation had turned into a casual chat.

“When I left last night, I heard a child crying in the building,” Jin Zhou took the initiative to discuss the case.

“When did you hear it?” Ren Wenli asked.

Jin Zhou pointed to the time on the surveillance photo.

“That’s about right. Other neighbors also heard it around that time,” Ren Wenli pondered as she picked up the photo. “But you helped us determine the specific time.”

Other people who heard the crying wouldn’t have checked the time, so only when Jin Zhou turned around and happened to be captured by the surveillance, could it help the police pinpoint the exact time.

“Is this the time of the crime?” Jin Zhou asked again.

Ren Wenli nodded, “The child was frightened and couldn’t provide much information, but we can confirm that he was locked in the bedroom by the perpetrator while he committed the crime in the living room.”

That matched the rumors among the residents that the perpetrator committed the crime while the child was at home.

Jin Zhou followed up, “Could Wang Darong be the perpetrator?”

Ren Wenli looked at Jin Zhou inexplicably and said, somewhat helplessly, “Stop speculating randomly. This case has nothing to do with Wang Darong.”

Jin Zhou awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. Actually, he also felt that it was unlikely, but he was afraid of overlooking that possibility.

Since that was the case, there was no need to continue inquiring about the case. However, before leaving, Jin Zhou still needed to cover his tracks.

“If the perpetrator was committing the crime at that time,” Jin Zhou pointed to the time on the photo again, “then it means the person in front of me has no suspicion, right?”

“Even if he isn’t suspected of committing the crime, his appearance is still suspicious,” Ren Wenli said.

Jin Zhou thought that Yang Shiyu was really unlucky. He had come and gone without a trace, and no one would have noticed him. However, he unexpectedly became involved in a murder case, attracting the attention of the police for no apparent reason.

“Could it be a thief?” Jin Zhou intentionally diverted the topic in his mind and apologized to Ren Wenli, “These residential buildings have poor security. Aren’t thieves often scouting around?”

“It’s possible,” Ren Wenli nodded. “We still need to confirm it.”

Jin Zhou breathed a sigh of relief. As long as Yang Shiyu wasn’t the perpetrator, the police wouldn’t keep insisting on him.

But just in case, he still had to inform Yang Shiyu.

After leaving the Public Security Bureau, Jin Zhou drove back to the auto repair shop and then walked to the courthouse.

The courthouse’s lobby displayed information about the day’s trials. Jin Zhou looked around and found that Yang Shiyu didn’t have a trial that day. For a moment, he didn’t know where to find Yang Shiyu.

The phone in the judge’s office could be dialed by anyone, but most likely, it would be answered by a judge’s assistant.

Forget it, Jin Zhou immediately dismissed the idea.

He wasn’t here to pick up his ‘wife’ after work. Why bother with all the effort?

After hesitating for a while, Jin Zhou took out his phone and searched for a long-sealed phone number.

The ringing tone sounded three times, and Yang Shiyu’s cold voice came from the other end, “Hello?”

Jin Zhou looked at the screen of his phone in disbelief, confirmed that he didn’t dial the wrong number, and then put the phone back to his ear, “You didn’t block me?”

A long time ago, when Jin Zhou was drunk, he constantly called Yang Shiyu and scolded him mercilessly. Since then, Jin Zhou had always thought that Yang Shiyu had blocked him, but now it seemed that Yang Shiyu wasn’t as petty as he had imagined.

“What’s the matter?” Yang Shiyu’s tone was flat, with no fluctuations. If Jin Zhou were to translate it, those three words would probably mean: What’s your problem?

“Did you sleep well last night?” Jin Zhou stubbornly held on but the result was quite evident – Yang Shiyu hung up the phone directly.

Jin Zhou cursed under his breath, then called Yang Shiyu again. This time, Yang Shiyu answered quickly, but didn’t say anything, as if silently urging Jin Zhou: This is your last chance.

“There was a murder in the apartment building we went to last night,” Jin Zhou said, “I just came back from the police station.”

The sound of a chair being moved came from the other end of the phone, followed by the footsteps of shoes on the ground. After a while, all background noises disappeared, and Jin Zhou heard Yang Shiyu ask, “And ?”

“Did you deliberately avoid the surveillance?” Jin Zhou was walking back on the road and subconsciously observed his surroundings. “The surveillance didn’t capture your face, but it captured the footage of you with me.”

Yang Shiyu didn’t respond, probably recalling the details of that night.

“I said I don’t know you, and the police didn’t suspect me,” Jin Zhou said, “but they might still find something about you.”

“No, they won’t,” Yang Shiyu said calmly, “I chose a route with the least amount of surveillance along the way. If it weren’t for you, they wouldn’t even know where to start.”

Jin Zhou: “…” Well, this made him seem even more like a clueless teammate.

But just then, a flash of insight crossed Jin Zhou’s mind. He stood still and asked, “How do you have so much experience with this?”

Yang Shiyu didn’t understand Jin Zhou’s meaning. “What?”

“Do you often conduct private investigations like last night?” The various fragments gradually formed a complete puzzle, and Jin Zhou instantly cleared his thoughts. The corners of his mouth couldn’t help but curl up with a pleased smile. “I knew it. That’s why you bought a car. It seems like you have a lot of free time, Judge Yang.”

Yang Shiyu still didn’t react much. “What are you talking about?”

“You bought a car because you often go out to investigate. Your appearance, sensitivity to surveillance, all indicate that this isn’t your first time doing this,” Jin Zhou continued walking, heading back. “Let me guess again. You already knew that there were hidden secrets in my parents’ case, so you’ve been secretly investigating, right?”

Yang Shiyu couldn’t personally investigate every case. If he had to specify a particular special case, it could only be Jin Zhou’s parents’ car accident.

In fact, the reason why Yang Shiyu went to the apartment building last night was also to investigate that matter.

There was silence on the other end of the phone. After a moment, Yang Shiyu’s indifferent voice sounded, “You’re overthinking.”

Jin Zhou wouldn’t be easily dismissed like that. He asked again, “What case was my dad handling back then? Who were his enemies?”

This time, Yang Shiyu’s voice completely turned cold. “I’m busy.”

The call abruptly ended there. Jin Zhou frowned and muttered to himself, “Tsk,” hanging up the phone. He Isn’t cute at all, just hanging up on me like that.