Chapter 162: Unexpected Gain

Cao Yang was slightly stunned and said in confusion, "Officer, you must be joking. I'm doing just fine, aren't I?"

"Come with us to the police station, and we'll tell you the details," Li Hui said.

"I can't just leave right now; I still have my shop open," Cao Yang said, looking somewhat troubled.

"Is your life more important, or is your shop? Why are you so clueless about what's good for you?" Li Hui scoffed.

"Officer, if you really have something to say, just spit it out. Why do we have to go to the police station?" Cao Yang frowned.

"What we have to say involves a criminal case. Your grocery store has people coming and going all the time. What if someone overhears us?" Han Bin countered.

"Alright then, wait a moment, I'll go change my clothes," Cao Yang dropped those words and turned to walk toward the backyard.

Han Bin and Li Hui followed closely, one right after the other, into the backyard.

As soon as they entered the backyard and walked a few steps, Li Hui couldn't help complaining, "It's already the end of the month, why are there still so many flies?"

Han Bin frowned, noticing that there were indeed many flies in the yard. Upon closer inspection, a large number of flies were swarming around an open space on the left side of the yard.

The left side of the yard was a small vegetable plot planted with coriander and scallions, but the southern portion was left empty with nothing planted there—yet that was precisely where the flies were most concentrated.

Han Bin walked closer and caught a faint foul odor. Some maggots could even be seen wriggling in the soil.

Flies flying in the air and maggots crawling on the ground—Han Bin keenly perceived that something was wrong. He pointed at the ground and gave Li Hui a meaningful look.

Li Hui understood, picked up a shovel leaning against the wall, and walked over.

"Officers, let's go," Cao Yang said as he walked out of the house.

"Cao Yang, why is this patch of land empty?" Han Bin asked.

"Oh, I used to grow leeks there. My daughter was too naughty and pulled all the leeks out, so I didn't replant anything," Cao Yang explained.

"The scallions and coriander are right beside it, and they look to be growing quite well. Why didn't your daughter pull those up?" Han Bin retorted.

"My daughter doesn't like eating leeks," Cao Yang replied.

This explanation was far too perfunctory. It was possible for a mischievous child to pull up vegetables, but the likelihood of pulling up only one specific kind while leaving the rest completely unharmed was very slim.

Shortly after discovering the headless corpse, the special investigation team had been searching for Li Tao, but Li Tao had vanished without a trace. Earlier, the members of the Third Team had discussed and analyzed that Li Tao might have fled in panic, fearing that his hiring of a hitman would be exposed.

Han Bin felt that this possibility was low. Li Tao had been persistent in his obsession with killing Cao Yang; since hiring a killer had failed, it was very likely he would resort to other methods.

Now, another possibility emerged: Li Tao was already dead.

With this thought, Han Bin said to Li Hui beside him:

"Dig."

Li Hui walked over to the open patch of ground and began shoveling the soil.

"Officer, what are you doing? Why are you digging up my yard?" Cao Yang hurried over and demanded.

"We are investigating a case involving hired murder. Please cooperate with the police," Han Bin said.

"Don't scare people," Cao Yang grabbed the shovel, blocking them to prevent any further digging.

At this point, there was no need for courtesy. Han Bin touched the tactical baton at his waist and shouted, "Get over to the wall!"

"Don't... don't resort to force, let's talk this out," Cao Yang waved his hands defensively and retreated to the wall.

"Interlace your fingers behind your head and squat down," Han Bin commanded.

"Yes, yes." Cao Yang was terrified out of his wits, sweat already beading on his forehead.

With Han Bin keeping a close eye on Cao Yang, Li Hui could dig with peace of mind. With the very first shovel full of dirt, even more maggots were churned up. Li Hui dug continuously for a few more strokes, reaching a depth of about half a meter, when the shovel struck something solid and could go no further.

Pushing aside the layer of soil, a piece of black plastic sheeting was revealed, crawling densely with maggots. Using the shovel to slice open the plastic wrap, a decaying human leg was exposed inside.

Even though Li Hui had mentally prepared himself, he still couldn't help taking a few steps back—the stench was simply overwhelming.

Seeing Li Hui's reaction, Cao Yang stood up from his squat and craned his neck to peer over.

*Crack!*

With a sharp sound, Han Bin flicked his tactical baton open, pointing it right at the bridge of Cao Yang's nose: "Don't move! Get down on your stomach!"

"Ah! What's wrong?" Cao Yang panicked completely.

"Down!" Han Bin ordered sternly.

"I, I..."

Cao Yang wanted to say something, but upon seeing the baton in Han Bin's hand, his courage failed him. He complied and lay flat on the ground as instructed.

Han Bin stepped forward swiftly, planting his knee firmly in the middle of Cao Yang's back to prevent him from getting up, and cuffed his hands before finally letting out a sigh of relief.

"Get up."

As he was hauled to his feet, Cao Yang shouted, "You're police officers, but you can't just slap cuffs on people randomly! I'm going to report you, you're outright humiliating me!"

Han Bin dragged Cao Yang to the edge of the pit: "What is this?"

Cao Yang glanced down, his legs turned to jelly, and he collapsed heavily onto the ground in a heap.

...

Half an hour later, Zheng Kaixuan arrived at the scene accompanied by forensic pathologists and the technical team.

The corpse had decomposed severely to the point where facial recognition was impossible; confirming the victim's identity would rely entirely on DNA profiling.

Han Bin and the others escorted Cao Yang back to the sub-bureau.

Inside the interrogation room.

Cao Yang was utterly flustered, his hands trembling violently.

Han Bin opened his record notebook and began the routine questioning: "Name, age, gender, ethnicity..."

"I... my name is Cao..."

Cao Yang stammered for a long time, utterly failing to spit out a complete sentence.

Han Bin walked up to the table and waved a hand: "Don't be nervous. Take a few deep breaths."

After a short while, Cao Yang finally managed to calm down somewhat:

"Cao Yang, my name is Cao Yang. I really didn't commit any crime, I'm 40 years old..."

"Whose body is that in the yard?" Han Bin asked.

"I don't know, I really don't know."

"Is the deceased Li Tao?" Han Bin pressed further.

"Li Tao? I don't know him, why would I kill him?"

"You may not know him, but he knew you, and even hired someone to kill you. Therefore, you have a very strong motive to kill him," Li Hui chimed in.

"I really didn't! I'm a very cowardly person; I don't even dare to turn off the lights when I sleep alone at night. How could I possibly murder someone?" Cao Yang's voice carried a crying tone.

"Then explain this to me: why did an extra corpse suddenly appear in your own courtyard?" Han Bin questioned.

Cao Yang hesitated for a moment, opened his mouth, and then lowered his head.

"Speak."

"I don't know what to say," Cao Yang muttered.

*Knock, knock.* The interrogation door sounded twice before swinging open. Qiao Ziming from the forensic department walked in and handed a report to Han Bin.

"Thank you."

Qiao Ziming nodded, glanced briefly at Cao Yang, and walked out.

Han Bin lowered his head to read through the document carefully. It was the autopsy report of the deceased: the time of death was estimated to be around August 30th, and the cause of death was poisoning.

Having read the report, Han Bin felt confident in his grasp of the case and asked, "Where were you on August 30th?"

"I don't remember clearly."

"Think."

"That day, that day... I remember, I think I went out of town for work."

"Where did you go? What time did you leave? Who can verify this?"

Cao Yang recalled for a moment: "I left at eight in the morning, with two guys from the same village—one named Zhao Xuxin and the other Wang Zishan."

"When did you return?"

"Around the tenth or so of September."

Han Bin pivoted back to the original topic, pressing him about the corpse. Cao Yang once again shut his mouth and refused to speak.

Twenty minutes later, Han Bin suspended the interrogation.

Although the special investigation team had been dissolved, the Third Team was permitted to continue using the office to wrap up the hired murder case.

As soon as he stepped into the office, Zheng Kaixuan cut straight to the point: "How did the interrogation go?"

"Cao Yang refuses to confess. He provided an alibi that we'll need to verify," Han Bin said.

"Whenever we bring up the corpse, this punk plays dumb. There's definitely something wrong with him," Li Hui snorted.

"Do you guys think the deceased is Li Tao?" Sun Xing asked. Having suffered a previous blunder, he had become much more cautious.

"Judging from the current circumstances, the likelihood of the deceased being Li Tao is very high. But to confirm it, we still have to wait for the DNA comparison results," Zheng Kaixuan spread his hands.

"Tsk tsk, if that body really turns out to be Li Tao, this case is something else. Li Tao hired a killer to take out Cao Yang, but failed to kill him. Instead, the two killers turned on each other and ended up costing one of them his life," Li Hui remarked.

"Still, looking at Cao Yang's cowardly demeanor, he doesn't seem like the type who would dare commit murder," Wei Zimo observed.

Li Hui reached out and patted Wei Zimo's shoulder with a smile: "Buddy, remember one thing: never bully a meek person, otherwise, you won't even have time to regret it."