eurekapd Chapter 1520 Interrogation of Li Dequan, Breakthrough in the Case
Chapter 1520 Interrogation of Li Dequan, Breakthrough in the Case
Before he could finish speaking, he saw Xiao Wang standing at the door, and Li Ming and his team behind him. When he saw the police uniforms they were wearing, the handcuffs and batons in their hands, and their sharp, serious gazes, the sleepiness and impatience on his face vanished instantly, replaced by shock, panic, and confusion. His face turned deathly pale, his eyes darted around, his body involuntarily took a step back, and his lips trembled slightly, unable to utter a single word for a long time.
The scar below his right eye was particularly noticeable in his panic, and he looked utterly disheveled. He knew in his heart that the police had found him, definitely because of Zhang Baoqing's matter, and he knew he couldn't escape.
“Li Dequan, we are police officers from the Municipal Criminal Investigation Detachment. We suspect you of intentional homicide. Please come with us and cooperate with our investigation!” Li Ming stepped forward, his expression serious and his tone firm. He showed his police credentials and stared intently at Li Dequan, giving her no chance to escape.
Upon hearing the words "intentional homicide," Li Dequan trembled even more violently. His face turned ashen, and his lips trembled as he finally managed to squeeze out a sentence, his voice hoarse and filled with deep panic: "Police...police officers, I...I didn't kill anyone, I didn't kill Zhang Baoqing. You...you've made a mistake, you must have made a mistake..."
As he spoke, he took another step back, his eyes darting around, avoiding Li Ming and the team members' gaze. His hands involuntarily clenched together, his fingers gripping tightly, his knuckles turning slightly white from the force—these reactions betrayed his guilty conscience, revealing that he was the murderer of Zhang Baoqing.
"A mistake?" Li Ming sneered, his eyes sharpening. "Li Dequan, are you still trying to deny it? Three days ago, you and Zhang Baoqing had a heated argument about money downstairs in his apartment building. You threatened him, saying you wouldn't let him off the hook. Afterward, Zhang Baoqing went to the convenience store, bought water and cigarettes, and walked towards the ditch. He was never seen again. Zhang Baoqing was stabbed in the abdomen with a single-edged weapon and died, his body dumped in the ditch on the north side of the eastern section of Jianshe Road. You always carry a long fruit knife with you, which is a single-edged weapon. We have a motive, a tool, and the time to commit the crime. And you still say we've made a mistake?"
Li Ming's words, each one like a sharp knife, pierced Li Dequan's heart. Hearing Li Ming recount the argument he'd had with Zhang Baoqing three days prior, and mention the fruit knife he'd been carrying, Li Dequan's face turned even paler. He nearly collapsed, his eyes vacant. He kept repeating, "I didn't kill him, I didn't kill him. It was him, he cheated me out of my money, he forced me. I didn't want to kill him, I really didn't want to kill him..."
His tone was filled with panic, guilt, and despair; all his previous excuses were gone, and his face showed a pained expression. He held his head in his hands, squatted on the ground, and his body trembled uncontrollably.
Seeing this, Xiao Wang and his two teammates immediately rushed to Li Dequan's side. Before he could resist, they swiftly restrained his hands, binding them behind his back and handcuffing him. Li Dequan did not resist or struggle; he simply squatted on the ground, burying his head in his hands and crying incessantly, repeatedly muttering, "I didn't want to kill him, he forced me, he cheated me out of my money..."
“Take him away!” Li Ming said firmly.
Xiao Wang and his team immediately rushed forward, pulled Li Dequan up from the ground, and led him towards the stairwell. Li Dequan kept his head down, his face pale, his eyes vacant, he did not resist or speak, but his body trembled incessantly as the team members led him down the stairs, out of the construction site, and into a police car.
Meanwhile, Li Ming led three other team members into room 302 and conducted a thorough search of the room, looking for tools used in the crime and related physical evidence. The room was very simple, containing only a bed, a table, a chair, and a worn-out wardrobe. Clothes and miscellaneous items were scattered on the floor, making it look very messy.
The team members had clear divisions of labor and searched every corner of the room methodically, leaving no detail overlooked. Li Ming focused his search on Li Dequan's wardrobe and bed, looking for the long fruit knife he always carried.
Soon, a team member found a long fruit knife under the bed. The knife was about 20 centimeters long, with a sharp, single-edged blade, perfectly matching the characteristics of Zhang Baoqing's abdominal wound. A small amount of faint, dark red stain remained on the blade, suspected to be blood. The team members immediately sealed the fruit knife in a sealed evidence bag, labeled it, and stored it properly, preparing to send it to the laboratory for bloodstain analysis to confirm whether the blood on the blade was Zhang Baoqing's.
Then, the team found a black jacket in the corner of the wardrobe. There were faint, dark red stains on the cuffs, suspected to be bloodstains. This jacket was similar in style to the black jacket that Mr. Liu had mentioned Zhang Baoqing had worn three days earlier, but after confirmation, it belonged to Li Dequan. The team sealed the black jacket in a sealed evidence bag, labeled it, and stored it properly, preparing to send it to the laboratory for bloodstain analysis.
In addition, the team found a worn wallet in a drawer of the table. Inside the wallet were some coins and a photo of Li Dequan and Zhang Baoqing together. In the photo, the two were smiling broadly, appearing to have a very good relationship, a stark contrast to what Wang Dama had said about their frequent arguments. Furthermore, there was an IOU in the drawer, stating that Zhang Baoqing borrowed 50000 yuan from Li Dequan, agreeing to repay it within three months, but the date on the IOU had already passed six months. Clearly, Zhang Baoqing had not repaid the debt as agreed, which was likely the reason for their frequent arguments and Li Dequan's motive for murdering Zhang Baoqing.
Li Ming picked up the IOU and examined it carefully, his eyes hardening. All the evidence pointed to Li Dequan; he was Zhang Baoqing's murderer. Li Ming placed the IOU into a sealed evidence bag and marked it. Then he said to his team, "Alright, search complete. Properly store all the collected evidence and send it to the lab for testing to confirm whether the bloodstains on the knife and jacket are Zhang Baoqing's. Also, secure all the evidence to provide strong support for subsequent interrogations and case solving."