The autopsy results showed that Xiaohai was killed at around 12 a.m. on May 7, 2016, when Xiaohai had just returned home. All members of the task force who did not have an alibi around this point in time, and whose physical characteristics matched those of the criminal suspect, were all included in a special list.

There are ten people in this list, and unfortunately, Xia Shi and Zhao Xiaolin are among them. And what made Gu Song most unacceptable was that among these people, Xia Shi was the most suspicious of committing the crime.

On the morning of 9 May, there was mixed news from the Technical Section. Happily, the Grim Reaper mask that Qi Ruonan brought back from the scene of the crime successfully detected the suspect's DNA on it. Sadly, this DNA just matches one of the people on the list.

This person is none other than Gu Song's new partner, the son of Director Xia, and Officer Xia Shi who was transferred from Branch F to the Criminal Police Detachment of the City Bureau more than a month ago.

For a while, all the unfavorable factors pointed to Xia Shi, who was controlled by the police as the number one suspect in the two homicides.

However, the ensuing interrogation did not go well.

Xia Shi flatly denied that he was the "night killer" the police were looking for, insisting that the death of Zhou Tiancheng and his wife and Xiaohai's death had nothing to do with him. He didn't know what the Grim Reaper Mask was all about, and he didn't know why his DNA was on that damn mask. He agreed with Gu Song's speculation that the murderer who killed Xiaohai was mixed with the members of the task force, but that person would definitely not be him.

No matter how hard Qiao Sheng tried to persuade Xia Shi to confess and be lenient, Xia Shi said the same thing over and over again. In the end, Xia Shi didn't bother to speak again. He sat quietly in the interrogation room, smoking cigarette after cigarette, as if there was only one boring thing left in the world to pass the time.

On the morning of May 10, Qiao Sheng and one of his subordinates came to the smoky interrogation room again. He sat opposite Xia Shi, looked at him with very complicated eyes and said, "Xiao Xia, I have known you for so many years, and I have long regarded you as my younger brother. I don't want to, and I can't bear to watch you suffer in this place. You can tell me the truth today, did you kill Xiaohai or not? ”

After experiencing both physical and mental torture, Xia Shi's body was already quite tired. He slowly raised his head, looked back at Qiao Sheng's gaze with bloodshot eyes, and helplessly spit out two words: "No." ”

"And how do you explain that mask?" Qiao Sheng clenched his fists, feeling angry and anxious in his heart. He didn't want to believe that Xia Shi would do such a thing, but now, whether in terms of the motive for the crime or the evidence obtained at this stage, Xia Shi was the most suspicious of committing the crime.

Xia Shi shook his head, still insisting on his answer, "I've never seen that mask before, and I don't know why it has my DNA on it." Team Joe, if I were a murderer, do you think I would be stupid enough to leave such a dangerous thing at the scene of the crime, waiting for you to arrest me and go to jail? ”

"The so-called wise man must make a mistake in a thousand thoughts. Maybe you just didn't think about leaving evidence against you on the mask. ”

"Evidence ......" Xia Shi muttered these two words, and suddenly sneered a few times, "Team Qiao, can I ask, what substance did you detect on that mask?" ”

"Your saliva." Qiao Sheng replied.

"Saliva?" Xia Shi frowned, as if he had some idea what was going on. "If the murderer had been a colleague close to me, he would have taken my saliva from the cup I used to drink water, the gum I chewed, the cigarette butts I smoked, and then transferred it to the mask by some means. Since this murderer is determined to blame me for all his crimes, he will take great pains to do so. ”

"It's a possibility." Qiao Sheng said matter-of-factly, and then changed the conversation, "But it's also very likely that you accidentally got it yourself, such as when you sneeze or cough." Haven't you just had a cold in the last few days? ”

Xia Shi snorted coldly and didn't answer, Qiao Sheng continued: "Xiao Xia, I really want to help you, and Director Xia doesn't want to see you like this. From the time you were locked up until now, Director Xia was so worried that he didn't even sleep, as if he had aged a lot overnight. You've got to tell me the truth, or we'll ......."

"Team Joe......" Xia Shi interrupted Joe, "I'm telling the truth. If you want to help me, then bring Gu Song, I want to talk to him alone. ”

A few hours later, Gu Song walked into the interrogation room alone. Although the two have not been able to see each other's good since the day they met, they look forward to watching each other's jokes all day long. Now that Xia Shi really had an accident and was locked up in this small and dim interrogation room as the number one suspect, Gu Song's mood couldn't be happier.

He never imagined that two people would sit face to face in such a way. What kind of international joke is this, it makes people feel that everything has become unreal.

Silence spilled between the two. They looked at each other silently, no one spoke first, and no one made any movements first, as if time had frozen like that. Perhaps at this point, people sitting outside the interrogation room, anxiously waiting for things to move forward, would find it strange that they could not understand what the two men were thinking.

Finally, Gu Song still couldn't hold back his emotions, and smiled sarcastically Xia Shi, "I didn't expect that you would have today." To be able to see you in such an embarrassed way in my lifetime, I feel that I have no regrets in life. ”

Xia Shi frowned unhappily and said in a cold voice, "Gu Song, I know that our relationship is not good. You can watch as many jokes as you like, but I ......."

"Wait." Gu Song suddenly made a stop gesture, "I know what you want to tell me." You didn't kill anyone, you were framed. The person who framed you is hiding next to you, and you want me to help you find that bastard and give you a clean slate. Actually, you don't have to call me over at all, because I was going to find out about it. ”

Xia Shi was very surprised by these words. He looked at Gu Song in a daze, and before he could ask why, Gu Song rushed to explain: "Don't get me wrong, I'm not doing this to help you." I just want to catch that arrogant murderer and make another big contribution, saving you is just a matter of incident. ”

"Why?" Xia Shi still couldn't help but ask.

Gu Song was stunned for a moment, "What why?" ”

"Why do you believe me? At the scene of the crime that day, you said you only believed the evidence. Now that all the fingers are pointed at me, why do you think the murderer is someone else? ”

"Because I'd rather believe you than the so-called evidence." Gu Song replied with a smile.

In fact, what he really wanted to say in his heart was that the murderer's intention to leave the Grim Reaper mask at the scene of the crime was too obvious, as if it was just for the police to find out Xia Shi's DNA from above.

If Xia Shi is the murderer, he will definitely not leave anything unfavorable to himself at the scene of the crime, even if he puts the mask symbolizing his identity next to the corpse and provokes the police, he will definitely dispose of the mask cleanly and leave no information.

Today, Gu Song and Xia Shi have known each other for seven years. Although they have never considered each other friends, one thing that has to be admitted is that they do know each other very well.

If Xia Shi was a night killer, the police would never have captured him so easily. Gu Song is still very confident in Xia Shi's "ability to commit crimes", after all, this person is so similar to himself.

The stupid mistakes you won't make, you won't make in the summer. So, isn't it obvious that the murderer is someone else?