Bewildered Fruit on the Bewildered Tree, You and Me Under the Bewildered Tree

Green Vine City.

After leaving the woman's house, the officers headed straight to the local police station in Green Vine City to use their system to find potential suspects.

On the way.

Li Yunfei looked curiously at Xu Mo.

"How did you figure out that woman was suspicious?"

From the woman's words, Li Yunfei learned that only she knew about Xu Jing going to the neighboring city to find her boyfriend.

Thanks to Xu Mo spotting the woman's suspicious behavior, otherwise, no matter who the officers asked, they wouldn't have been able to gather the clues that narrowed down the suspect pool.

"Instinct," Xu Mo replied, unable to explain exactly why but just feeling that something was off about the woman.

Especially her evasive behavior when asked to think carefully, which clearly indicated she was hiding something but didn't say anything.

The journey was silent.

Green Vine City Police Station.

After explaining their intentions, the officers began their search with the help of the local police.

Since they didn't know whether the suspect was a freshman or a senior, they had to check all students from freshman to senior year.

Ten years ago, the suspect could have been a freshman or already a senior.

If the suspect was a senior, he would have entered the police academy in 2009. If a freshman, it would have been in 2012, the year of the incident.

Between 2009 and 2012, only fifty-three people from Green Vine City had enrolled in the police academy in the neighboring city.

Fifteen of these fifty-three were women, which could be immediately ruled out.

Among the remaining thirty-eight, those with two-character names or names without the character 'Bing' could also be ruled out.

In the end, only three people met the criteria.

Zhou Bingquan, Dong Bing, Chen Xiaobing.

"Only three left after this screening? That makes our job much easier!" an officer exclaimed upon seeing the results.

This trip to Green Vine City was indeed worthwhile.

With the clues provided by Xu Jing's friend, the suspect pool was narrowed down to just three people, significantly reducing the officers' workload. Now, they only needed to investigate these three individuals.

Chen Ke immediately ruled out one of the three suspects.

"It's unlikely to be Zhou Bingquan. Remember, Xu Jing referred to the suspect as 'our little Bing brother' in front of her friend. The character 'Bing' in Zhou Bingquan's name is in the middle, while in the other two names, 'Bing' is at the end. According to naming habits, nicknames or aliases usually use the first or last character of a name, rarely the middle one."

An officer took this a step further after hearing Chen Ke's explanation.

"If that's the case, then Chen Xiaobing's suspicion is even greater. He's simply called 'Xiaobing,' which matches the 'little Bing brother' nickname. Think about it, think carefully!"

"Makes sense. Let's start with Chen Xiaobing," Li Yunfei decided the order of their investigation.

They immediately asked the local police to retrieve Chen Xiaobing's information.

However, the results left them stunned.

The Chen Xiaobing they were investigating had joined the police force in the neighboring city after graduation and died in the line of duty during his third year of service.

"So... do we still investigate him?" an officer hesitated.

Li Yunfei pondered for a moment before shaking his head.

"Let's put him on hold for now. Let's look at Dong Bing next."

It's difficult to investigate a deceased person, as there's no one to question. To investigate Chen Xiaobing, they would have to ask his relatives or friends, which is quite troublesome. It's better to temporarily set him aside and investigate the other two easier targets first.

Moreover, Chen Xiaobing died a hero's death. According to the data, he sacrificed his life to save others from a knife-wielding criminal. He was a hero with a strong sense of justice. For such a righteous police officer, Li Yunfei was not very willing to suspect him of being a murderer.

Next, the officers checked Dong Bing's information.

According to the records, he also joined the police force after graduation, specifically within the Green Vine City public security system.

Based on the information, the officers couldn't determine whether he was the murderer. To uncover the truth, they would need to conduct an interrogation.

After finding out where Dong Bing worked, they set off again.

Qiaobei Road Police Station.

Interrogation room.

Under the watchful eyes of all the officers at Qiaobei Road Police Station, Xu Mo and Li Yunfei prepared to interrogate Dong Bing.

Outside the interrogation room, the officers who came with Xu Mo and Li Yunfei were surrounded by the local officers, creating an awkward atmosphere.

Using someone else's interrogation room to question their own officer... this was indeed quite thrilling!

It was the first time they had ever done something like this, causing their hearts to race.

Inside the interrogation room.

"Do you recognize this person?" Xu Mo presented a photo of the victim, Xu Jing.

"No, I don't."

"Are you sure you don't recognize her?"

"Yes, I'm sure. I don't."

"Alright," Xu Mo nodded. "That's all. Thank you for your cooperation."

He then turned to Li Yunfei beside him: "It's not him. We got the wrong person."

Dong Bing: "???"

Li Yunfei: "???"

All officers: "???"

Confusion tree with bewildered fruits, you and me under the bewildered tree.

This was it?

Over already?

They had come all this way, suspecting Dong Bing of being the murderer, borrowing the interrogation room here to question him, and the interrogation ended as soon as it began.

Xu Mo had only asked two questions, and they were repetitive! Just two questions and he determined that Dong Bing wasn't the murderer?

Not only did others feel puzzled, but even Dong Bing himself was baffled.

Was this guy a rookie officer?

Who interrogates like this?

Saying you don't recognize someone and you believe it? No murderer would admit to being a murderer right away!

You should at least ask a few more questions! I haven't killed anyone; I can withstand your questioning!

In Dong Bing's view, being questioned more thoroughly could completely clear his suspicions, but being asked only two questions would not clear his name and might even have the opposite effect.

Li Yunfei, too, was puzzled.

He whispered, "Isn't this... over just like that? What can you tell from just two questions?"

Unexpectedly, Xu Mo shook his head.

With time, his use of psychology had become more adept. Whether someone was lying or not, he could tell from their expressions.

"Two questions are enough. I asked twice because he's an officer with stronger psychological resilience and wouldn't flinch under interrogation. An ordinary person would only need one question... From his expression, I could tell he wasn't lying. He genuinely doesn't know Xu Jing. If he doesn't know Xu Jing, how could he be the murderer?"

"So, next one."