Chapter 50: Interrogation

Leaving the interrogation room.

“Uncle Li, the tactic you just used, creating a diversion, was incredible—a stroke of genius!”

Li Shaotang waved his hand and chuckled. “Xiao Sen, you exaggerate. It’s just accumulated experience. Once you’ve gained some yourself, you’ll understand.”

“Then, in the future, could I learn more from you?” Zhou Sen asked tentatively.

“If you’re willing to transfer to the Judicial Department of the Police Bureau, I wouldn’t mind giving you some pointers,” Li Shaotang replied, not making it explicit.

“Well, I…” Zhou Sen hesitated, looking troubled.

“Haha, Uncle Li won’t make things difficult for you. I know, circumstances are beyond your control!” Li Shaotang laughed heartily. “Come on, let’s go.”

“Uncle Li, here’s a little travel expense.” Zhou Sen quickly took out an envelope and slipped it into the pocket of Li Shaotang’s leather coat.

Li Shaotang pretended to be angry. “We’re family—why so formal?”

“Since we’re family, Uncle Li, why not accept it?”

“All right, since you insist, I won’t stand on ceremony. If you need anything, just come to me directly or call my office. If your Uncle Lin is busy and misses your call, that might cause delays,” Li Shaotang said.

“Understood.” Zhou Sen nodded. This was exactly the assurance he wanted.

Li Shaotang was notorious in the Police Bureau for his opium habit—it was expensive, and though his income was decent, his financial situation was far from good.

That was his weakness.

...

“Boss, Feiya has confessed. Should we interrogate Susanna next? Who would have thought—a delicate young woman could be so ruthless, all for a bit of money…” Old Six clicked his tongue in disbelief.

“A bit of money? You call that a bit?” Old Six slapped his mouth. “Over a hundred thousand! Anyone would be tempted…”

Zhou Sen knew that money alone couldn’t explain it all.

...

Akiyama listened to Kim Suyoung’s report in silence. Clearly, things had reached a point beyond his control.

“This Li Shaotang is truly formidable. With a few words, he broke Feiya’s defenses. She confessed to conspiring with Susanna to commit murder, and they didn’t even have to use force,” Kim Suyoung said, having observed the entire interrogation.

Akiyama answered, “Few can remain silent under his questioning. His skills in interrogation are well recognized.”

“Feiya has confessed. Zhou Sen will surely move on to Susanna next,” Kim Suyoung said.

“Go immediately and monitor his interrogation. Report any developments at once,” Akiyama instructed.

“Yes.”

As soon as Kim Suyoung left, Akiyama picked up the phone on his desk. “Hello, this is Akiyama. Please connect me to Officer Shibuya immediately.”

...

Inside the interrogation room, Zhou Sen had already brought Susanna in. He intended to strike while the iron was hot and wrap up the case.

Regardless of whether Susanna was a “Soviet” spy, right now she was a murder suspect. His main task was to solve the case and hand her over; what followed was no concern of his. As for identifying her background, he truly didn’t want to get involved.

If Akiyama became angry and stripped him of his “black dog skin,” he would actually welcome it—though, realistically, that was unlikely.

“Susanna, after these days of interaction, I actually thought you were a decent girl. Unfortunately, it seems I misjudged you,” Zhou Sen said to her.

“Officer Zhou, you’re mistaken. I didn’t kill anyone. I had a good relationship with Shcherkin—we were planning to get married…” Susanna hastily defended herself.

“Marriage? You used marriage as a pretext to swindle all his money and then killed him. That way, the money would all be yours, wouldn’t it?” Zhou Sen suddenly pressed her sharply.

“No, I didn’t. He put the money in my name willingly. I never intended to keep it for myself!”

“You never intended to keep it? Do you think Shcherkin was mad—would he really put nearly all his assets in your name?”

“He loved me. I work at a bank. He gave me the money so I could help invest and grow it—for our future together,” Susanna argued.

“Keep spinning your story. Let’s see how many people believe your nonsense.” Zhou Sen scolded. “Susanna, I’ve given you a chance to confess. If you don’t value it, you’ll have to bear the consequences.”

“I’m not lying, truly. You say I killed someone—where’s the evidence?” Susanna demanded emotionally.

“You want evidence?” Zhou Sen sneered. “On the afternoon Shcherkin was killed, did you meet him at the Lucia Café on Station Street? After you parted, you met Feiya, his maid, at the corner park on Gogol Street. You told her something—don’t tell me you’ve forgotten?”

“So what? I’m Shcherkin’s girlfriend; it’s normal to know his maid. That day, Shcherkin’s stomach was upset, so I bought some medicine and asked Aunt Feiya to take it home, reminding him to take it at night. Is there a problem?”

“Was the medicine you gave Feiya really for his stomach?”

“What else would it be?”

“Then why didn’t we find this medicine or bottle at the scene? We also checked Shcherkin’s records—no history of stomach issues. How do you explain this?”

“Shcherkin drank often—his stomach was always bad. Just because there’s no medical record doesn’t mean he didn’t suffer. I saw he was uncomfortable, so I bought him the medicine.”

“Now the medicine and bottle are both missing. You can say anything you want.”

“You can check at the pharmacy to see if I bought stomach medicine that day,” Susanna said.

“Of course you’ve been to the pharmacy and bought medicine. But whether what you gave Feiya was actually from the pharmacy is another matter.” Zhou Sen pressed coldly. “Do you think we’d bring you in for questioning without substantial evidence?”

“Officer Zhou, this is all your conjecture and speculation. I didn’t switch the medicine, and I certainly didn’t kill anyone,” Susanna insisted.

“I’ve spoken to Grisha. That night, you left the apartment for a while after she fell asleep, and that time coincides exactly with Shcherkin’s time of death. How do you explain that?” Zhou Sen changed tactics, refusing to argue further.

Susanna hesitated, but quickly regained her composure, showing no significant emotional response.

This surprised Zhou Sen. Either she truly hadn’t done it and was calm, or Susanna had remarkable psychological resilience—if so, she might actually have received special training and be a Soviet spy.

The thought made Zhou Sen uneasy. He had caught and interrogated her; if blame was assigned later, it would all fall on him.

But there was no turning back now. He had to see it through.

He was dealing with a murder case, with no connection to espionage. There was no need to invite trouble.

“Officer Zhou, is it not allowed to get up at night to use the bathroom?” Susanna’s tone shifted.

Even Zhou Sen, no matter how slow, noticed the obvious change in Susanna’s attitude. It was a stark contrast to the gentle, innocent image she had shown earlier.

“Denial is useless. After you killed Shcherkin, Feiya cleaned up the scene for you. Then you created the illusion that the killer entered through the chimney, didn’t you?”

“Absurd!”

“Feiya is a good maid, meticulous in her work. Unfortunately, she was too thorough—she even wiped the fingerprints off Shcherkin’s glass. It’s probably just habit, but that’s what exposed her.” Zhou Sen spoke as he watched Susanna’s expression.

His words struck a nerve—a subtle frown crossed Susanna’s face, noticed by Zhou Sen. It wasn’t surprise or fear, but a sense of unexpectedness.

Susanna kept silent. She seemed to realize that the more she spoke, the more mistakes she would make, so she simply shut her mouth.

“You don’t have to speak. Next, we’ll search every place you’ve been. Once we find the murder weapon, you can be convicted even if you refuse to confess,” Zhou Sen said.

Susanna still ignored him.

Zhou Sen knew that continuing would yield nothing more unless he resorted to force. After much consideration, he refrained from ordering it.

Not that he couldn’t, but—once begun, there would be a second, a third…

Best not to start at all.

Someone knocked at the door. Zhou Sen paused the interrogation.

Leaving the room, Ye San came up to him. “Bro, Xiao Hei has news.”

“Oh? Where is he?”

“That kid’s hiding in the Thirty-Six Shacks, with a bunch of dock workers,” Ye San said.

“Let’s go,” Zhou Sen said without hesitation.

“Bro, wait. That place is a slum—dangerous and filthy. Ordinary police wouldn’t dare enter. If we go in and they recognize us, we might end up in trouble,” Ye San quickly pulled Zhou Sen back. “Besides, we don’t know his exact location—the area is huge.”

“So what should we do?”

“I think he’s only hiding there temporarily—not planning to stay. We can wait until he comes out,” Ye San suggested.

“How long do you expect me to wait?” Zhou Sen was impatient; he needed to catch Xiao Hei as soon as possible.

“Boss, I have an idea,” Old Six chimed in.

“Go ahead.”

“I know some influential people in the Thirty-Six Shacks. If we ask them to hand him over, they’ll know better than to offend the police. Besides, we just need to ask Xiao Hei a few questions—he’s just a pawn. What we really want is the one pulling his strings.” Old Six explained.

“So you mean, use their connections to find Xiao Hei and question him?” Zhou Sen understood.

“Exactly. Once we figure out who’s behind Ye San’s troubles, we can deal with Xiao Hei later,” Old Six nodded.

“Fine. Let’s do it your way.” Zhou Sen agreed without hesitation.