The crackdown on organized crime began with the arrest of the mother-in-law.

Chapter 1419 Zheng Jin's Mental Collapse

Upon hearing the words "Tian Bin is dead," Zheng Jin's body visibly stiffened, a flicker of fear crossing his eyes, but he quickly suppressed it. He slammed his fist on the table and shouted, "What does his death have to do with me? I did go to the convenience store and the area near the park, but I was just taking a walk. Is taking a walk illegal? So what if I got a little mud on me? The area around the park is all grass; it's normal to accidentally get some on your skin!"

Xiao Zhou remained calm, unaffected by his emotions, and looked at him with composure: "Taking a walk? Going for a walk in the West Suburbs Park at 10 a.m. and not returning until after 1 a.m.? Moreover, according to our investigation, you rarely take walks, let alone go to the park this late. In addition, we also learned that you have a gambling addiction, owe a large amount of gambling debts, and have been repeatedly harassed by casino officials, making your financial situation extremely difficult. Tian Bin had been urging you to repay the debts before his death, and you had just borrowed 8000 yuan from him a week before the incident. It's very likely that he was urging you to repay the debts again on the day of the incident, right?"

Zheng Jin's face grew increasingly pale, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, but he still stubbornly denied it: "I did owe gambling debts, and Tian Bin had been pressing me for repayment, but I absolutely did not kill him! I have an alibi! Around 1 a.m. on the day of the incident, I wasn't at the West Suburbs Park at all. I was drinking at my friend Li Lei's house and didn't get home until after 3 a.m. You can ask Li Lei; he can testify for me!"

Xiao Zhou had anticipated that he would fabricate an alibi and was prepared. He said calmly, "Li Lei? We've already investigated. Li Lei wasn't home at all on the night of the incident. He was on a business trip out of town and didn't return until the day after the incident. Your so-called alibi is completely fake!"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Jin's face turned deathly pale, his eyes filled with shock and panic. He never imagined that the police had already investigated Li Lei's whereabouts, and his carefully crafted lie was instantly exposed. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but couldn't utter a single word for a long time, his hands beginning to tremble uncontrollably.

Seizing the opportunity, Xiao Zhou continued, "Zheng Jin, we know you have a prior robbery conviction. In 2018, you were sentenced to three years in prison for robbery and were only released in 2021. After your release, instead of reforming, you developed a gambling addiction and racked up a mountain of debt. Tian Bin repeatedly showed you leniency and lent you money, but what did you do? You were not only ungrateful, but because you couldn't repay your debts, you brutally murdered him. Where is your conscience?"

“I didn’t! I really didn’t kill him!” Zheng Jin’s voice was choked with sobs, yet she still struggled. “Even if Li Lei wasn’t home, I have other alibis! On the night of the incident, I was playing cards at a card room near the neighborhood and didn’t leave until after 2 a.m. The owner of the card room can testify for me!”

"The owner of the card room?" Xiao Zhou took out a transcript and pushed it in front of Zheng Jin. "This is our transcript of questioning the owner of the card room. He said that you were indeed playing cards in the card room on the night of the incident, but you left around 10 p.m., and you didn't stay until 2 a.m. He also said that you looked very flustered when you left, as if you had something urgent to do. Zheng Jin, do you still want to continue making up lies?"

Zheng Jin stared at the interrogation record, his body slumped in the interrogation chair, his eyes filled with despair. He knew that all his fabricated alibis had been exposed by the police, and he could no longer deny it. But he still clung to a sliver of hope, keeping his head down and remaining silent, trying to use silence to resist the interrogation.

Xiao Zhou knew it was time to produce more compelling evidence. He pulled a photo of footprints from the case file and pushed it in front of Zheng Jin: "Do you recognize this? These are footprints we collected at the scene of Tian Bin's murder. The shoe size is 42, the type is athletic casual shoes, the tread pattern is diamond-patterned, the forefoot tread shows less wear, and the heel shows significant wear. When we searched your home, we found an identical pair of athletic casual shoes, the size, type, and tread pattern are exactly the same, and the wear on the shoes matches the footprints at the scene perfectly. How do you explain this?"

Zheng Jin's gaze fell on the photo of the footprints, and his body began to tremble uncontrollably. He clearly remembered wearing these shoes on the day of the crime, and afterwards he had even washed them, thinking that this would destroy the evidence. He never expected the police to still find the shoes and connect them to the footprints at the scene.

“This…this doesn’t prove anything.” Zheng Jin’s voice was weak and lacked confidence. “These kinds of shoes are very common, many people wear them. Just because I have a pair of the exact same shoes doesn’t mean I’m the murderer.”

"Doesn't this prove anything?" Xiao Zhou produced another technical appraisal report. "This is the technical department's appraisal report. We extracted a small amount of soil sample from the seams of your shoe sole. After testing, the composition of this soil is completely consistent with the soil from the lawn at the West Suburbs Park. Furthermore, we also extracted a white fiber from the shoelaces of your shoes. After comparison, this fiber is completely identical to the fiber composition on Tian Bin's clothing and also matches the fiber sample extracted at the scene. Can you explain this evidence?"

Zheng Jin's psychological defenses began to crumble. His forehead and cheeks were covered in sweat, and his breathing became rapid. He raised his head, his eyes pleading: "Officer, I really didn't kill Tian Bin. This evidence might just be a coincidence. You must have made a mistake."

"Coincidence?" Xiao Zhou's tone was serious. "How can there be so many coincidences in the world? We also found a cigarette butt in the crevices of your sofa. The brand of the cigarette butt was 'Yellow Crane Tower,' which is exactly the same brand of cigarette butt we found in the bushes at the crime scene. After DNA comparison, the saliva sample on the cigarette butt matched your DNA perfectly. On the day of the incident, you were smoking at the scene and left the cigarette butt. Is that also a coincidence?"

Upon hearing the DNA comparison results, Zheng Jin's mental defenses completely collapsed. He could no longer maintain his composure, covered his face with his hands, and let out a painful sob. After a while, he released Xia's hands, his eyes filled with regret and despair, tears streaming down his face: "I...I'm sorry to Tian Bin, I killed him."

Xiao Zhou nodded, his tone softening: "Since you've admitted it, tell us the whole story and we'll try to get leniency."

Zheng Jin took a deep breath, wiped away the tears on his face, and slowly said, "I've known Tian Bin for several years. He's the owner of Hongda Convenience Store in Huifeng Community, and I often buy things from him. Later, I developed a gambling addiction, lost a lot of money, and incurred a large amount of gambling debts. I was repeatedly harassed by people from the casino, who even threatened me. I was really desperate, so I started borrowing money from Tian Bin."