Chapter 33
Chapter 33
Pei Yuming couldn’t hear what was said after that. He only felt alternating waves of cold and heat, so exhausted that even opening his eyes was a struggle-until he heard someone talking right by his ear.
“Do you want one?” The voice sounded a bit familiar, but he couldn’t remember who it was.
“Hey, are you okay?” the familiar voice asked again.
Pei Yuming blinked and saw the person standing in front of him was that police officer called Xiao Gu.
“What?” He didn’t know why he’d come over.
“Do you want a tissue?” Officer Gu’s patience wasn’t on par with Cao Lei’s. He frowned at him. “I see your face is covered in sweat. The AC is set so low-are you really that hot?”
Pei Yuming accepted the tissue with flattered surprise and silently wiped his face. The helpless terror from before still lingered in his mind; for a moment he couldn’t tell which part was reality, or if all of this was actually just a nightmare.
This sense of unreality persisted until Cao Lei returned, and he gradually snapped out of the earlier fear.
Cao Lei saw the helplessness and unease on his face, glanced at his watch, and asked sharply, “You went back again?”
Pei Yuming thought of the boning knife stabbed into his own neck, that searing pain, and his whole body involuntarily shrank back. Finally, he reluctantly nodded.
Cao Lei was puzzled that Pei Yuming didn’t volunteer what had happened. Logically, if he wanted the police to believe this fabrication, he’d be eager to describe what happened during the “Flashback.” Could he be playing hard to get?
Cao Lei waited in silence for a while. Seeing Pei Yuming still had no intention of speaking, he had to ask himself, “So, what happened this time? You don’t seem very willing to talk. No new leads?”
Pei Yuming was still mired in the heavy grief of being accidentally stabbed to death by his own brother. Hearing Cao Lei’s question, he roused himself and shook his head.
“I know why my brother deceived me.”
“Oh?” Cao Lei immediately looked interested.
Pei Yuming took a deep breath and said listlessly, “He lost a lot of money in the stock market. Left with no choice, he used my wife’s affair to threaten her and got money from her-”
There was a noticeable pause here. He was hesitating over whether to reveal that his brother had also blackmailed money from Lu Dong. This matter was truly too disgraceful. Even though he had been the victim in all of this from start to finish, his own brother doing something so shameless utterly shamed him as well.
Even though it was a police officer questioning him, he still found it too embarrassing to speak of.
Cao Lei saw his hesitation. Of course, he had already obtained the bank statements and spending records of the victims from his colleagues just now. From the flow of funds, he could broadly deduce what had happened.
Most importantly, he actually knew even better than Pei Yuming at this moment just what his brother had done behind his back.
“That’s it? Just that?” he asked deliberately.
Pei Yuming lowered his head, silent for a long moment before he pressed his lips together and said, “My brother actually got money from Lu Dong too. He didn’t dare tell me he was in debt, so he could only find a way from others.”
As a veteran detective skilled in dealing with people, how could Cao Lei not pick up on the partiality in Pei Yuming’s words?
He scrutinized Pei Yuming carefully, feeling even more that this man was unfathomable.
On the surface, he was revealing the wrongs his brother had done against him, yet every sentence carried a defense of his brother. It was as if he was intentionally or unintentionally hinting to the police: See, even if my brother is a total bastard, as his older brother I would never poison him over this. I have no motive to kill.
“Where did you find out that your brother was going behind your back to ask Bai Xue and Lu Dong for money?”
“They told me themselves,” Pei Yuming said honestly. “I went to confront them about the affair. I guess the two of them wanted to gross me out, so they deliberately brought it up to humiliate me.”
“And the stock trading? Did your brother tell you that himself?”
“Yes.”
“Did he say anything else?”
“What do you mean?” Pei Yuming didn’t understand.
“You mean you just believed him when he said he lost it in the stock market?” Cao Lei pointed out sharply. “He’s lied to you before. Didn’t you try to verify it?”
Pei Yuming thought back to the situation and shivered involuntarily. Pale-faced, he said, “No, I didn’t have time. I came back right after.”
The answer itself wasn’t problematic, but Cao Lei had a sharp eye. He could tell Pei Yuming was holding something back, so he pressed, “What happened? Did something occur?”
Pei Yuming couldn’t help but raise a hand to his neck. The sensation of warm blood flowing and vitality ebbing away was vivid in his memory. He recalled his brother’s twisted face as they struggled for the knife-the first time he’d seen that expression in so many years. It would be a lie to say he didn’t resent him, but more than that, he was disappointed. He felt like his sincerity had been fed to the dogs. In the end, his own brother had sided with an outsider against him, all for a mere twenty thousand yuan.
“Lao Pei?” Cao Lei couldn’t let him stay silent. He spoke up to bring him back to the present. “Is it something you find hard to talk about?”
Pei Yuming shook his head and said quietly, “I just haven’t quite recovered… Actually, my brother accidentally killed me while trying to help Lu Dong. That’s why I came back.”
“What?!” Cao Lei’s heart lurched again. Here we go again. He keeps making up these scenarios. Is he trying to justify his own motive for murder? But if that’s the case, wouldn’t that be an admission of guilt?
If Pei Yuming really intended that, then why wouldn’t he just confess from the start? Instead, he’s revealing things bit by bit, which only makes the police more suspicious.
Cao Lei shook his head inwardly. He temporarily pushed aside his speculation about Pei Yuming’s motives. He wanted Pei Yuming to talk more; as the saying goes, the more you talk, the more mistakes you make. Since he was spinning lies, let him spin a full story. Later, he would repeat the questions about the details. He didn’t believe Pei Yuming could answer them all accurately.
“Tell me what happened when you went back this time.”
Pei Yuming trusted Cao Lei from the bottom of his heart. Ever since he was brought into the interrogation room in a daze, only Cao Lei had been willing to listen to him and help him analyze the pros and cons. He felt like he had met a policeman who truly cared about others.
So after telling the most embarrassing parts, he recounted everything else in great detail. During the process, Cao Lei seemed to have forgotten some earlier details and repeatedly asked about many previous events, but Pei Yuming answered them all in an orderly fashion. After all, these things had just happened, and they were still fresh in his memory.
From his perspective, Cao Lei showed no particular reaction after hearing everything; his expression was calm. Though Pei Yuming hoped this person he trusted most would empathize with him, the man was a police officer after all, and must have seen and heard far more explosive and bizarre things. His own business probably didn’t make much of a ripple in the man’s mind.
Of course, this was purely wishful thinking on Pei Yuming’s part.
In reality, Cao Lei was going crazy. He felt that if Pei Yuming kept talking, he might actually start believing in the whole Flashback thing!