frightfiction Chapter 1522 Motive for Murder, Solving the Case
Chapter 1522 Motive for Murder, Solving the Case
At this point, Li Dequan could no longer control his emotions and broke down in tears. His cries were shrill and desperate, sounding particularly jarring in the dim and oppressive interrogation room. His body trembled uncontrollably, his hands gripping his hair tightly, his face filled with pain and remorse, as if he were about to be completely consumed by it.
Seeing Li Dequan break down in tears, Li Ming remained silent, only nodding slightly to signal him to calm down and speak slowly. Xiao Wang picked up his pen, ready to take detailed notes, his eyes fixed on Li Dequan, waiting for him to confess to his crimes.
About five minutes later, Li Dequan gradually calmed down, his crying subsided into soft sobs. He slowly lowered his head, wiped away his tears, his lips still trembling slightly, and slowly began to confess to all the crimes he had committed in murdering Zhang Baoqing.
“Zhang Baoqing and I are both from Zhoukou, Henan. We’re from the same hometown and have known each other since childhood. We’ve always had a good relationship. Half a year ago, I came to this city and worked as a bricklayer at the Xingfu construction site. Later, I contacted Zhang Baoqing and learned that he was also in this city and was working as a cook at a nearby construction site. We started contacting each other frequently, often eating and drinking together, and our relationship became even closer.” Li Dequan’s voice was still hoarse, tinged with lingering sobs, and every word he spoke seemed extremely difficult. “My family is not well-off. I have elderly parents and young children to support, and the livelihood of the whole family rests on my shoulders. I work like a bricklayer on the construction site, working myself to the bone, but I don’t earn much money even after a month of hard work. I have to be extremely frugal to barely make ends meet.”
"Six months ago, Zhang Baoqing came to me with a troubled look on his face. He said he wanted to open a small restaurant, but he was short 50000 yuan in start-up capital. He asked me to help him and lend him 50000 yuan. He patted his chest and guaranteed that he would pay it back within three months and would not delay my use. He also said that once his restaurant was open, he would ask me to come and help him, so I wouldn't have to work as a bricklayer on the construction site anymore, and he would pay me a higher salary."
“I hesitated for a long time. That 50000 yuan was my savings of several years, the money I had set aside for my family in case of emergency, and the money I had planned to use to treat my mother’s illness. My mother has been sick for many years and has always needed to take medicine. I originally planned to save enough money to take her to a big city for a proper medical check-up. However, Zhang Baoqing is a fellow villager who grew up with me. He begged me and made such a good promise. I really couldn’t bear to refuse him.”
“I thought, we’re from the same hometown and have been friends for years, he wouldn’t lie to me. Besides, he said he could pay it back in three months and it wouldn’t delay my mother’s treatment. So, I softened and lent him all 50000 yuan. When I lent him the money, I made sure he wrote an IOU and signed it, just in case something unexpected happened in the future.”
“In the first month after I lent him the money, Zhang Baoqing would call me often to tell me about the preparations for his restaurant. He said the renovations were almost finished and it would open soon. He also told me to wait a little longer and that he would treat me to a meal when it opened. I was quite happy for him at the time, and I felt that I hadn’t helped the wrong person. I was looking forward to his restaurant opening soon so that I could go there to help and ease the burden on my family.”
“But after a month, Zhang Baoqing rarely called me anymore. Sometimes when I called him, he would either not answer or say that he was too busy and hang up after a few words. He never mentioned repaying the money or opening the restaurant. I started to feel uneasy, but I was too embarrassed to urge him. I thought he was probably really busy and had too many things to do for the opening, so he didn’t have time to think about these things.”
"Three months passed quickly, and Zhang Baoqing still hadn't mentioned repaying the money, nor had he told me about the restaurant opening. My mother's condition worsened; she was often in so much pain that she couldn't sleep and desperately needed money for treatment. I was at my wit's end, so I went to Zhang Baoqing and asked when he could give me the money for my mother's treatment. But to my surprise, his face changed instantly when he saw me, and he stammered for a long time, unable to utter a complete sentence. After my repeated questioning, he finally told the truth—he had no intention of opening the restaurant at all; the 50000 yuan he borrowed from me had all been gambled away."
I was stunned when I heard that. All the blood rushed to my head, and I was trembling with rage. That was my hard-earned money, saved up over several years—my mother's life-saving money! I grabbed his collar, demanding to know why he had lied to me, why he had gambled away my mother's life-saving money. He, however, seemed completely indifferent, even scolding me for being stingy, saying it was just 50000 yuan, and he could pay me back slowly later.
Looking at his shameless face, my anger and despair grew stronger. I started arguing with him, and the argument escalated. I threatened him that if he didn't return the money to me soon, I would call the police and ruin his reputation. But he wasn't afraid at all. Instead, he threatened me back, saying that if I dared to call the police, he would kill himself and me, and that he would go to my hometown and harm my family.
Three days ago, in the afternoon, I went to him again to ask for money, and we got into another heated argument downstairs at his apartment building. The angrier I got, thinking about how he had betrayed my trust, how my mother desperately needed medical treatment but we had no money, and how all my hard work over the years had been for nothing. In a moment of rage, I lost my mind and forgot everything. I happened to have the long fruit knife I usually used for peeling fruit on me, and instinctively pulled it out and stabbed him in the abdomen.
I was too excited at the time and didn't control my strength at all. After stabbing him, he clutched his stomach and collapsed to the ground, his face turning deathly pale. He kept screaming for help and begging me for mercy. Seeing him bleeding, I panicked and realized the enormity of my mistake. Afraid of being discovered and arrested by the police, I quickly knelt down and checked his breathing, only to find that he wasn't breathing anymore.
I was terrified, my mind went blank, and all I could think about was disposing of the body and covering up my crime. I looked around and saw that it was getting dark and there was no one around, so I quickly dragged the body along the path north of the ditch to the ditch on the north side of the eastern section of Jianshe Road. Because the ditch was full of silt and sewage, the body was quickly partially covered by the silt after being thrown in, making it difficult for anyone to find.
After disposing of the body, I rushed back to the scene of the argument, cleaned up the bloodstains, and then hurriedly returned to the construction site dormitory. I changed out of my blood-stained clothes and hid them in a corner of the wardrobe. I also hid the blood-stained fruit knife under the bed, planning to dispose of these things in a secluded place after things calmed down, completely destroying the evidence. These past few days, I've been restless, unable to eat or sleep properly, constantly worried that the police would find me. I never expected that you guys would still find me.”