Chapter 76
Chapter 76
“…Our investigators found potassium cyanide crystals stored in a vitamin bottle…”
Pei Yuming’s lips moved. A dark glimmer flashed through his eyes, too quick for Cao Lei to notice. Privately, he felt a rush of relief. Thank goodness his memory was decent. After all this back-and-forth, he still hadn’t forgotten what Cao Lei had said. So, with confidence, he replied, “There was. Some was left.”
Cao Lei narrowed his eyes and studied Pei Yuming closely. He did not seem especially concerned with the answer itself. He had a vague feeling, though he could not tell if he was overthinking it, that Pei Yuming had somehow become even harder to read after confessing than he had been before.
The thought only skimmed across his mind. Cao Lei immediately caught the logical flaw in Pei Yuming’s statement and asked, “According to you, you poured out the wine in your glass to create an alibi. Then after you successfully poisoned everyone, why didn’t you dispose of the poison left in the bottle? Why leave it in the bedroom where you slept? Wouldn’t that make the police even more suspicious?”
“…”
This time, Pei Yuming’s expression did not just go blank. His brain nearly formatted itself. He had noticed the cause, but forgotten there was still an effect. He had used his brain, yes, but only barely. He had truly protected the front and left the back exposed.
“Well…” He frowned awkwardly and, for a moment, could not think of any way to explain it.
But Cao Lei pressed him hard. “Lao Pei? Answer me.”
“I, I…” Pei Yuming grew flustered under the pressure. In his panic, even his neck flushed red, which only made Cao Lei more doubtful. Had this man actually killed them or not?
“Hm?”
Pei Yuming gritted his teeth and barely managed to squeeze out, “I actually wanted you to think I had been framed. Also, that bottle was hard to get rid of. I was afraid you might find it later, and then I wouldn’t be able to explain myself.”
That reason was more or less plausible.
“So you messed up the house for the same reason?”
“Yes.”
“Then, according to your plan, who did you originally want to frame for this?”
That question was not easy to answer. Leaving aside whether he had ever thought about it, as soon as he gave an answer, Cao Lei would definitely ask for details. Judging by the level of professionalism Cao Lei had shown so far, Pei Yuming felt he would expose himself within two sentences.
Forget it. After thinking it over, he finally shook his head. “I never thought about that. As long as you couldn’t be sure it was me, that was enough.”
Dodging again. Cao Lei could not help rubbing his chin. He could not quite understand why Pei Yuming had clearly already confessed, yet still looked as if he was hiding something.
After weighing it for a moment, Cao Lei finally asked the question everyone cared about most. “What was your motive for killing them?”
Motive?
That truly stumped Pei Yuming. He considered the odds of making something up on the spot that could fool Cao Lei, and they seemed practically zero.
He really had not expected that, after taking all the blame in one go, he would still have to answer so many difficult questions.
If he went back on his confession now, would Officer Cao want to strangle him?
If Officer Cao really did want to strangle him, that would be wonderful. Then he would not have to rack his brains cooperating with this interrogation anymore.
At that thought, Pei Yuming’s mood grew even heavier than before. In that Flashback world, he had at least been able to jump off in a fit of anger. Here, he glanced at the big iron chair with the divider in front of him, then stole a look at Cao Lei across from him. He could not even bash his head against a wall if he wanted to.
“Hm?” Seeing that Pei Yuming still showed no sign of answering, Cao Lei pressed him again.
Pei Yuming was just about to give up and make something up at random when a familiar gleam suddenly flashed before his eyes. In that instant, he actually felt a little moved.
The girl’s choked sobs came right after, and the Man in Black’s aggressive, bullying face was right there in front of her.
Pei Yuming had already been struggling over whether he should go home. Now, the moment he thought of Bai Xue, the moment he thought of that house filled with lies in every corner, he felt physically sick.
Just as he was sinking deeper into his own bleak world, the commotion beside him grew louder and louder.
Pei Yuming was about to move farther away when the girl who had been pressed up against him suddenly went quiet. He glanced over on instinct and saw the Man in Black gripping her thin wrist in a death hold. From the look of it, he was trying to drag her toward the door. His mouth was filthy, too. He kept shouting that he was taking her to the police, but every sentence ended with another insult thrown at her.
In an instant, a surge of rage with no clear source shot straight to Pei Yuming’s head. His cheeks drew taut with fury. He shoved aside the passengers packed around him, drawing several complaints along the way, but he seemed not to hear a word. He forced his way straight toward the Man in Black and the girl, and before anyone could react, he abruptly shoved the Man in Black.
Because he was too angry, he put every ounce of strength into that shove. The Man in Black was sent crashing into the subway doors on the spot.
As luck would have it, the train had just finished slowing down and come to a stop. Before the Man in Black could even process what had happened, the subway doors slid open with a beep. He had been leaning back against the door, and now his entire upper body toppled straight out of the train.
The sudden turn of events scared the color out of the Man in Black’s face. Just as he braced one hand on the ground and tried to get up, Pei Yuming strode over him in one long step. Under the stunned gazes of the surrounding passengers, he reached down, seized the Man in Black by the collar, and dragged him straight out.
By the time the subway staff reacted and moved to stop him, Pei Yuming had already dragged the Man in Black to the opposite side. Judging by his expression, he was holding nothing back. The Man in Black fought desperately the whole way, but he could not even manage to stand.
Behind them, station staff gave chase, and a large crowd of passengers followed to watch the spectacle. Pei Yuming had clearly made up his mind not to let him off. Then, under the eyes of people who were half watching for drama and half sick with worry, he dragged the Man in Black with him and jumped straight down onto the subway tracks on the opposite side.
“…”
The entire subway station erupted over his reckless, life-risking move. Every staff member in the station was terrified. Fortunately, they were professionally trained. Some contacted the next train and told it not to enter the station, while the rest jumped down in unison to rescue them.
Of course, the most bewildered person was still the Man in Black, one of the people directly involved. The drop from the platform to the tracks was not especially high, but it was all solid steel and concrete down there. Dragged down by Pei Yuming like that, the Man in Black hit the ground so hard he nearly coughed up blood.
Thankfully, the station staff reacted quickly. In less than three minutes, they hauled both Pei Yuming and the Man in Black back up. It had been dangerous, but fortunately, there were no casualties. They did not even delay the next train.
Only after the subway patrol officers took both men away did the usual crowding and calm gradually return to Line 3.
After they got into the police car, the Man in Black, still shaken, refused to sit beside Pei Yuming. In the end, the police officer was decent enough to sit between them and separate the two.
But whether the Man in Black had been frightened out of his wits or not, every time Pei Yuming’s hollow, indifferent gaze swept over him, he could not help jolting and crying out.