Case Closed

Chapter 7 - Leave the Doctor Out of This

The office remained silent as Yunlan continued to observe the cowering Officer Feng. 

The rest of the members remained in their seats save for Lin Jing who is now analyzing the bags of bodies they found.

Instead of the interrogation room, Yunlan made Officer Feng sit on a metal chair and placed a small table in front of him, this set-up positioned amongst the workers' tables. 

The officer may be a suspect but other than the fact that they found him looking at a fresh bag of chopped bodies they have no other reason for keeping him locked in.

After Wei Lan contacted Chief Wang Ying and informed him of the situation, silence settled in the office.

Lao Chu stood up, making both Gou Changcheng and Officer Feng flinch. He made his way beside his chief who had been staring at the guilty officer with a blank look.

"Let's bring him to the interrogation room," Lao Chu said causing Yunlan to give a start before looking at Lao Chu with wide eyes.

"No need! No need," Yunlan replied hastily. "There's no need to call Doc. Besides he might be asleep now. It is nearly 12 midnight after all."

Chu gave his Chief a pointed look before shrugging and going back to his chair. The rest of the members just pursed their lips, knowing exactly where their chief's thoughts were.

Seeing the members' reaction, the chief tried to think back as to what he just said. It sounded right in his ears and not at all a cause for the kind of reaction his coworkers had given him.

He proceeded to go through the interrogation using his own methods, he sat opposite Officer Feng. He placed both elbows on the table, waiting in silence for the officer to meet his gaze. 

The said officer shifted nervously in his seat, and if it was possible, made himself look even smaller. Still looking down, his quivering lips finally made a sound.

"I did not do it."

Yunlan straightened his back. "Did not do what?" he asked.

The officer looked up, his eyes glistening with unshed tears. His hands were shaking uncontrollably as his face started losing its color.

"I did not kill them," it was cracked and pleading. "It wasn't me. I just found that bag today. I was doing my rounds. You can even ask the office of my schedule and my route."

No one said anything. Officer Feng looked at one face to the other to see if they believed him but none reflected the emotion he had hoped for. The only face that revealed emotion was Gou Changcheng but he quickly shifted his eyes to Yunlan's face.

"So, why did you run?" Yunlan asked, his face remaining passive.

The officer dropped his gaze. "I was," he started and took a deep breath before continuing. "I was scared. I was doing my nightly rounds. The chief had assigned us to it in order to avoid finding the contents of the bags already rotting. And if possible, catch the killer while he is trying to dispose of his victims. My night started, as usual, it was dark and the flickering lights were started to get on my nerves but, I tried my best to keep walking. Then, I heard a thump from somewhere so I followed the direction and found the bag. I was so scared that I couldn't move. Then, suddenly someone turned up and jumped at me. That scared me so I ran."

Yunlan looked at him, but the officer still refused to meet his gaze.

"I think we should call the Doctor." Zhu Hong suggested, breaking the silence that was once more trying to settle amongst the groups.

The rest of the group gave little nods of approval.

Seeing that everyone was bent on calling the doctor, Yunlan scratched his head. He still doesn't trust Dr. Shen Wei, despite his beautiful blue eyes.

He's been trying to find out more about the Doctor these past few days while waiting for developments on his case, but somehow. The information he dug up is pretty much the same as the information already provided by the Doctor's file.

Like an already finished and published novel with no backstories or anything else.

That is why he is so suspicious.

And also, the reason why he'd prefer the Doctor to be uninvolved with cases before he's done investigating.

"How about this?" Yunlan proposed, standing up and patting Officer Feng's shoulder, "We'll let Officer Feng, sleep in the interrogation room, so he can think things over, and continue talking to him tomorrow when he's no longer shivering like he is now."

His members looked on blankly.

"Then, we'll call Dr. Shen to help us. That way, it's morning and we won't disturb his sleep." He finished, grinning broadly.

Everyone seemed to agree that this was for the best and prepared to end the day.

Yunlan made Lao Chu stay just in case something happens. Zhu Hong and Wei Lan prepared a blanket and a pillow for Officer Feng on the sofa in the interrogation room and left with the others. Only Da Qing and Lin Jing remained since they had already made the office their new home.

"Will you call Chief Wang Ying?" Officer Feng asked before going inside his sleeping room.

"We left him a message saying you've been arrested by us." Lao Chu replied, then he closed the door and locked it.

The next morning turned out to be a bright day and the members arrived an hour or two earlier than usual despite their lack of sleep the previous night.

Zhu Hong arrived first and promptly preparing the interrogation room and organizing the case files of the serial murders. Wei Lan helped as soon as she arrived.

Officer Feng looked probably looked better than he did yesterday when he was arrested. But, it was clear that his sleep was not a good one and in the brighter light of morning, he looked, more or less, pale and stiff.

They left him alone in the interrogation room. Making him sit and think things through. And if he really was the killer, mounting pressure on him too.

Lack of attention often causes serial killers like "the Butcher" to lose their cool and calm.

The Butcher is a nickname an article in the newspaper had pegged this serial killer. The article was small. Probably because people don't really care about what goes on in the dumpsites and the people that live there.

"Do you think it's him?" Xiao Gou asked his Chief as they stood behind the one-way glass window of the interrogation room.

"Obviously, it's not." Lao Chu answered for Yunlan. "You think that coward is capable of hacking people into tiny bits!" his voice is laced with eyes as frowned at the newbie.

"Then, shouldn't we let him go?" Xiao Gou asked wide-eyed

The rest of the team with the exception of Zhu Hong, Wei Lan and Sang Zhan who aren't there, just rolled their eyes. Then, Yunlan explained.

"He might not be the killer but, we need him to talk. He knows something." His chief gave Gou Changcheng a side glance and a wink. "And it's something that is supposed to be secret."

"How about Dr. Shen, shouldn't he be arriving soon?" Lao Chu suddenly asked.

"No, I said leaver the doctor out of this." Zhao Yunlan said a bit more firmly than he intended.

"I should be left out of what?" A clean low voice with a soothing timbre asked.

The member turned to see that Dr. Shen Wei has entered the control room of the interrogation room with Zhu Hong behind him looking at her chief with pursed lips.

~Author's Note~

I don't keep promises.

I'm sorry.