The Forensic Doctor Better Than a Detective

At this moment, in the small and silent interrogation room, Li Mountain hung his head, remaining silent for a long time.

Finally, he slowly lifted his head and spoke, ”I’ll talk... I’ll say it all.”

”It was 10 years ago, on a very ordinary night. I only remember Li Tao suddenly rushing out of the house.”

”I got anxious and chased after him, searching all around the village, by the fields, and the riverbank, calling his name, but I didn’t see a trace of him.”

”After an hour or two, I had no choice but to go back home.”

”When I got back and opened the door... I saw him sitting in the corner of the living room, his whole body, hands, and clothes covered in blood, dark red, one patch after another.”

”I was terrified, rushed over and asked him, ’What’s wrong? What happened?’ But he just sat there, staring blankly ahead, completely unresponsive to my words.”

”That look... wasn’t like him at all.”

”How should I say, it was like his soul had been extracted, leaving behind an empty shell, his eyes cold and vacant, making one’s heart shiver.”

Then, Li Mountain rubbed his face hard, his voice even lower, ”I myself... as you know, was diagnosed with schizophrenia many years ago, and I’m particularly sensitive to such states.”

”At that moment, seeing him like that, I was suddenly alarmed: he looked just like he was in a state of illness, yet he never had any history of mental illness, not even once.”

”Seeing the blood on him, my mind was a mess, desperately wanting to think positively—maybe he accidentally injured himself somewhere? Or... encountered some dead cats or dogs outside? I forced myself to believe this explanation, not daring to think deeper, nor ask any more questions.”

”Later, he staggered back and went to sleep.”

”I calmed myself down a bit and noticed a fresh wound on his hand, the blood already coagulated.”

”What made my spine chill even more was that in the pants he changed out of, something hard was stuffed inside... I secretly felt it, it was a knife, and it was... stained with blood too.”

”Later, while he was asleep, I tried to ask him what exactly happened, but he was in a deep sleep, occasionally waking up in a startle, only giving me a glance with that strange, hollow gaze, without saying a word, and then rolling over to continue sleeping.”

”That whole night, he seemed like someone I completely didn’t know.”

Li Mountain lifted his head, pain and regret intertwined in his eyes.

”As a result, the next morning, just at daybreak, the village was in an uproar—a murder had occurred.”

”The moment I heard the news, I felt cold all over, my mind buzzed.”

”I didn’t need to guess; I immediately linked the two events together. But... when I saw Li Tao again, he was already up as usual, washing up, eating, acting naturally as if the person covered in blood with the horrifying eyes last night wasn’t him, just my nightmare.”

”He seemed to have no memory of what he’d done.”

Finally, Li Mountain’s voice was almost inaudible, filled with endless fatigue and remorse.

”At that time... I was really panicked.”

”My wife and I hid in the room and discussed for a long time.”

”We thought, since it had already happened, and he himself didn’t know anything, like a complete blackout.”

”If we said anything, this family would be finished, and he would be ruined completely.”

”We were muddled... In the end, we held onto a glimmer of hope, feeling that as long as no one mentioned it, maybe... maybe it could be as if it never happened over time.”

”Thus, we chose to keep it a secret, and the secret remained for four years.”

Upon hearing this, Director Hou and Director Lu exchanged a glance, nodding slightly where their eyes met.

Indeed, it was exactly as they had anticipated before.

After a brief pause, Jiang An spoke again, his tone steady and clear, ”So, the clothes he wore during the crime and the tools he used, where exactly are they now?”

Li Mountain, knowing he had reached a dead end, made no further concealment. He lowered his head and answered hoarsely, ”In... in the wasteland behind my backyard.”

”I buried them in the ground, just behind the backyard.”

Upon hearing this, Jiang An nodded, but his heart sank.

He was well aware that if such trace evidence is buried in the soil for a long time, due to moisture and microorganisms, the bloodstains might already have degraded, making it difficult to extract effective biological evidence.

However, the general shape of the clothing itself, along with possible residual wear and stains on it, might still be identifiable.

As for the murder weapon, as long as the material hasn’t completely rusted away, it should still be possible to find it.

Jiang An continued to ask, ”There are still a few questions that need to be clarified.”

”Why, during your son’s illness, did he suddenly commit murder?”

”Was there some kind of conflict between him and the victim’s family?”

Li Mountain shook his head and replied dryly, ”No.”

Jiang An observed him and promptly asked, ”Then, did he know the victim’s family? Even if they only met, or had simple interactions?”

Hearing this, Li Mountain slowly nodded, his voice low yet clear, ”Of course they knew each other. That woman... once had a fairly long relationship with my son, Li Tao.”

”The two of them had a good relationship, but in the end, they broke up because of family reasons.”

”Mainly... the girl’s parents resolutely disagreed, thinking our family was too poor to give their daughter a good life.”

”For this reason, Li Tao always held a grudge, unable to forget.”