The Forensic Doctor Better Than a Detective-Chapter 434 - 254: Was It All Worth It?

"Bang," the metal chair rattled noisily.

Li Jian walked out of the interrogation room, heading straight to Interrogation Room 1.

Though the two rooms were only separated by a wall, the special soundproofing made it seem like they were worlds apart.

He pushed open the door, and opposite him, Wang Shantao looked exhausted, slumped on the table like a withered eggplant.

She glanced at the clock on the wall and weakly asked, "Is it time for me to leave?"

Li Jian sat down slowly, his voice as cold and hard as ice.

"Want to leave? No way!"

"A long prison sentence awaits you."

Each word was like a sharp blade stabbing into Wang Shantao.

Wang Shantao looked puzzled, her eyes widened as if she had heard something unbelievable.

"What do you mean?"

"A prison sentence?"

"You think you can get away with murder?"

"I didn’t kill anyone, you can’t frame me."

As soon as she finished speaking, Wan gently placed the evidence bag aside, ready to take notes.

This time, their goal was clear.

Even if the Wang Shantao before them was as eloquent as she was deceitful, she couldn’t escape the law’s punishment with Li Xiang’s testimony.

Li Jian settled down, took out a cigarette, and took a few puffs.

Then, in a deep voice, he said, "Have you thought it over?"

"It’s not too late to speak now!"

"I’ll give you the time it takes to finish this cigarette."

"If you keep being stubborn after this cigarette, we’ll send you straight to the detention center."

His tone seemed to offer Wang Shantao one last chance of redemption.

Seeing the undeniable resolve on Li Jian’s face, a flash of terror crossed Wang Shantao’s face.

She asked trembling, "What do you mean? Can you just accuse someone because you haven’t found the killer?"

Li Jian sneered, "Ha, false accusations!"

"Your accomplice is in the next room, Interrogation Room 2."

"If you haven’t guessed it, I’ll tell you, the person next door is Li Xiang!"

"That night, it was he who took care of He Biao."

With just a few hints, the terror on Wang Shantao’s face grew, as if she were falling into an endless abyss.

By this time, the cigarette in Li Jian’s hand was half-burned, the thin smoke rising like a devil’s dance.

He watched Wang Shantao bow her head in thought, her face clouded like the calm before a storm.

Soon, the cigarette burned to its end.

As Li Jian stubbed out the cigarette, he asked, "Well?"

"Are you going to talk?"

It was like the final warning bell sounding.

Opposite, Wang Shantao stared blankly at him, her gaze vacant, as if her soul had left her body.

Without hesitation, Li Jian stubbed out the cigarette forcefully and tossed it into the trash can.

Then he said in a deep voice, "You’re a smart woman."

"From the beginning, you played the role of a victim, desperately searching for your husband’s killer."

"I never expected you to be so cold-hearted."

"You used He Biao to kill your husband, then got Li Xiang to eliminate He Biao."

"Your method of chain murders really ’impresses’ us."

Wang Shantao’s face turned ashen, as if all her blood had been drained.

"What do you mean?"

"I didn’t kill my husband, I didn’t kill He Biao."

Li Jian retorted, "You didn’t kill your husband?"

"You didn’t kill He Biao?"

Finally, he said, word by word, "You are the murderer."

Upon hearing this, Wang Shantao still had no significant reaction, only her vacant stare fixated on Li Jian, as if she had lost the will to live.

Li Jian maintained a serious expression and continued, "It’s already very clear now."

"Actually, whether you confess or not doesn’t affect our case much."

"However, if you confess, you might be able to get leniency."

"This is your last chance, make good use of it."

Li Jian paused, then added, "Actually, we were puzzled at first too."

"Your husband had cancer, only a few months left. Who would harm him?"

"Until we found his insurance policy, seeing you as the beneficiary, it didn’t feel right."

"However, considering the bond of your marriage, we didn’t suspect you much."

"After all, from the insurance payout perspective, no matter when he died, the money would be yours."

"But I just don’t understand why you were so eager for his death? What drove you to kill?"

For a moment, the interrogation room fell into a dead silence.

As if time itself had stopped flowing.

Wang Shantao’s eyes flickered back and forth, as if weighing the pros and cons, struggling with a life-and-death decision.

Ten minutes later, she let out a long sigh, as if she had laid down all her burdens.

"I’ll speak! If I speak, will there be leniency?"

"Leniency has principles. It depends on the extent of your confession and whether it’s what we want to hear."

Wang Shantao gritted her teeth, seeming to make up her mind to face death.

"That’s right, I indeed used He Biao to kill my husband, and then used Li Xiang’s hand to eliminate He Biao."

Li Jian lit another cigarette, listening as if to a story, waiting quietly for more.

Through the wisps of smoke, he watched Wang Shantao’s expression.

Then, Wang Shantao said, "My husband and I have been married for many years but never had children."

"Though our feelings were okay, this always weighed on my mind."

"He had another woman outside behind my back, but I pretended not to know."

"Especially the mother-in-law in the countryside, her heart was more venomous than a snake, insinuating daily, calling me a hen that can’t lay eggs."

After a slight pause, Wang Shantao continued, "Originally, my husband only had a few months to live."

"But somehow, he found out he could undergo liver transplant surgery and wanted to use all the family money for the operation."

"You know too, such surgery is extremely risky, likely to end up with nothing."

"We had no children, if he died, how could I live alone as a woman?"

"After thinking it over and over, I executed this plan."

As she spoke the last words, her eyes reddened slightly, as if recalling those painful pasts.

Li Jian exhaled a puff of smoke and asked, "Why choose He Biao and Li Xiang?"

Wang Shantao smirked bitterly and said, "He Biao is just a brute."

"I knew he’d been interested in me for a long time, even confessed to me, but I didn’t think much of him."

"An ordinary worker, what future does he have?"

"But in this matter, I felt he would risk his life for me."

"That night, while my husband was asleep, I called He Biao over, opened the door for him, and together we killed my husband."

Li Jian pressed on, "Was your husband awake when He Biao came in?"

Wang Shantao nodded and replied, "He was asleep when we came in."

"However, for some reason, he woke up later!"

"Still, we managed to bring him down, and He Biao drove the body to the mountain to dump it."

"The next day, I reported him missing."

Wang Shantao shook her head, "I didn’t expect you to find out."

Li Jian furrowed his brows deeply, as if caught in a tangled mess, and continued to ask, "Then why did you kill He Biao?"

A trace of ruthlessness flashed in Wang Shantao’s eyes, momentarily reverting back to the cold-blooded killer she was.

"He went too far."

"After killing my husband, he wasn’t satisfied with the occasional liaison, he wanted me to marry him."

"What a joke?"

"How could I marry a worker earning only 3,000 a month?"

"His money wasn’t even enough for my cosmetics."

"I decided to cut my losses, lured him to the riverside under the pretense of a date."

"He was delighted, thinking we were going for a tryst."

"Actually, I had been in touch with Li Xiang privately."

"In my heart, Li Xiang was my ideal man."

"He had money. Before his divorce, I wanted to be with him, but he hesitated."

"Later, after his divorce, still having feelings for me, he agreed to my request."

"I told him if he helped me get rid of He Biao, I would be with him."

"He agreed."

"That night, when you were looking for me, I contacted Li Xiang and had him deal with He Biao."

"I initially planned to go with him, but I was taken away by the police, so he acted alone."

"But it went smoothly, He Biao died."

She showed a trace of pride on her face, as if proud of her ’cleverness.’

Li Jian puffed on his cigarette, looking expressionlessly at the woman before him.

After a long while, he asked gravely, "Was all of this truly worth it?"

Wang Shantao’s lips curled into a mocking smile, as if mocking the absurd world.

"Worth it!"

"When a woman loses her husband and has no children, living a lonely life until old age, then you understand that kind of pain and hardship."

Her eyes were devoid of tears, as if they had long dried up.

The interrogation room fell silent again, as if shrouded by a veil of sadness.

After a long while, Li Jian extinguished his cigarette with a low, firm voice, "What awaits you is the severe punishment of the law."

"I hope you reform well inside and come out a new person."