Ironclad Evidence Is Not Necessarily Mountain-Solid

Halfway through the last class of the afternoon, the classroom door was pushed open and a school staff member walked in, looking anxious.

"This is bad! Teacher Sun's daughter, Xia Xia, is going to jump off the building. Who here is close to Xia Xia? Go quickly and try to persuade her."

What?

Xia Xia is going to jump?

The entire class was startled by the news. Old Sun had been married for many years and only had this one daughter, who wasn't even in elementary school yet. How could such a young child want to jump?

Jiang Yue rushed out of the classroom.

He was a frequent visitor to Old Sun's home and had watched Xia Xia grow up over the years; she was quite familiar and close to him. Hearing that the well-behaved and adorable little girl was going to jump, how could Jiang Yue sit still?

The tallest building in the school, the experimental building, had seven floors.

Xia Xia sat on the edge of the highest floor. With just a slight lean forward, she could fall directly to the ground with no obstruction. The surrounding area was made of solid concrete slabs.

If she fell from this height, the outcome would be absolutely unimaginable.

Old Sun's wife and mother-in-law were already downstairs, crying and begging Xia Xia not to do anything rash, urging her to come down first and talk things through.

Someone had already called the police, and school leaders and staff were gathering from all directions.

Sun Bin's situation had already put the school in a very passive position. If his daughter were to jump and suffer any harm, Yangfan Middle School would truly become infamous.

"Xia Xia, I'm your father's superior. Won't you come down first?"

"That's right, that's right! Xia Xia, if you have any grievances, tell us all, and we'll help you find a solution, okay?"

"Xia Xia, look, Auntie has lots of delicious snacks here. Come down, and Auntie will give you some."

Jiang Yue heard these maddeningly stupid attempts at persuasion from afar and wished he could go over and punch each of them.

For such a young child to be driven to the point of wanting to jump, how much pain and desperate choice must she have gone through? They were trying to tempt a child who wanted to jump with snacks?

"Xia Xia, won't you come down quickly? If you're gone, Mom can't live either."

"Yes, why are you acting like this, child? Now that your dad is gone, your mom's only hope is you. You absolutely cannot be willful." This was Xia Xia's maternal grandmother, known for her gossiping.

It would have been better if Xia Xia hadn't heard them, but upon hearing their words, her little face immediately became agitated.

"Liars, you're all liars! You always say Dad isn't good at this, isn't good at that at home! Now that Dad is being framed and locked up, you don't help him, you just scold him at home. Bad people... you're all bad people, you have no conscience!"

"And you people, my dad doesn't have colleagues like you. My dad is like this, and you don't help him, but you mock him behind his back and say bad things about him. You're all scoundrels!"

As Xia Xia spoke with emotion, she kicked the wall repeatedly with her feet, flailing her small arms in the air. Her whole body was like an overripe persimmon hanging from a tree, swaying precariously, ready to fall at any moment.

"Xia Xia, Mom loves you. Dad made a mistake, but it's not your fault. You can't punish yourself for your dad's mistakes. Come down quickly, Mom promises not to scold you when we get home."

"I'm not coming down! Dad didn't make a mistake, I don't believe it, I don't believe it! Dad is a good person!" Xia Xia covered her ears in anger, shaking her little head frantically, clearly resisting her mother's words.

"If any of you say anything bad about my dad again, I'll jump." Xia Xia cried out.

Jiang Yue pushed aside these bad teammates and walked to the front, ignoring the strange looks from others.

"Xia Xia, don't get agitated, it's me."

"Brother Xiaoyue, do you also think Dad is a bad person?" the little girl asked, wiping away tears, her eyes looking helpless and desolate.

"Your dad is a good person. He's not only a good father but also a good teacher."

Jiang Yue's tone was resolute.

The little girl visibly froze. Even kindergarten children said her dad was a heinous villain, but Brother Jiang Yue said he was a good person?

"Brother Xiaoyue, you're not lying to me, are you?"

"Lying makes me a puppy."

"But why do all the children say my dad is a bad guy, a murderer?" Xia Xia's tears streamed down, her heart nearly breaking as she spoke of this.

"Your dad is too scared to even kill a chicken, you think he'd kill someone? Do you believe that?"

"I don't believe it!" Xia Xia's attitude was firm.

"I don't believe it either. Even if everyone in the world says he's a bad person, I won't believe it," Jiang Yue said quickly.

Jiang Yue's words clearly injected infinite strength into Xia Xia. A child's world is simple; at a time like this, one person's support is worth more than the entire world.

"Xia Xia, everyone else is saying your dad is a bad person right now, so we should find evidence to prove he's not. Think about it, if you jump down, who will find evidence for him? If your dad is eventually proven innocent, and he comes out only to find you gone, how heartbroken will he be? Do you want to see your dad cry and miss you every day in the future?"

Xia Xia's little heart wavered.

Yes, Dad needs help the most right now, and I need to help Dad!

Brother Xiaoyue is right, if I die, how sad will Dad be when he comes back? I can't make Dad sad and upset.

"Good girl, just sit there and don't move. Brother will come up to get you. We'll go together to help your dad find evidence."

Xia Xia's emotions clearly calmed down.

Jiang Yue reached the scene as quickly as possible and carried Xia Xia down.

"Brother Xiaoyue, you didn't lie to me, did you?"

"I didn't lie to you."

After going downstairs, Jiang Yue handed Xia Xia over to his teacher's wife. He thought for a moment, and there was something he felt he had to say, so he couldn't help but speak.

"Teacher's wife, you should know best what kind of person Teacher Sun is. Xia Xia is close to her father. At this time, you should stand with Xia Xia."

The implication was obvious. You've cursed Teacher Sun for so many years, and now that he's in trouble, you're still cursing him? And in front of your daughter? How cruel is that to a child?

Scattered applause rang out at the scene.

It was only then that the police sirens wailed as they arrived at the scene.

The crowd gradually dispersed. In a corner of the playground, Jiang Yue teased, "Officer Han, why are you everywhere?"

"This really isn't my jurisdiction. I heard it was Sun Bin's daughter, so I came to take a look."

"You arrested the father and then came to watch her jump off a building? That's too cruel!"

"What are you saying! This isn't a personal vendetta. It's a serious criminal case, how can I disregard the law? Besides, the evidence is overwhelming."

"Heh."

Jiang Yue remained noncommittal. "If it were before, I wouldn't disagree with you. After all these twists and turns, haven't your views on overwhelming evidence changed at all?"

"What do you mean?" Officer Han frowned.

"What you see with your own eyes, what the surveillance cameras capture, isn't necessarily real. You saw the death of that female car owner this morning. Did the surveillance cameras capture it? No!"

"But... Sun Bin's case is a separate matter. The evidence at the scene is sufficient."

"Fingerprints? Bodily fluids? Hair?" Jiang Yue scoffed. "I'll ask you one thing, how do you explain the black-and-blue handprints on the female car owner and Xiao Yi, using your methods?"

"Have you heard of vengeful ghosts leaving their mark, or wiping out entire households?"

"No..."

"By the way, did the person who went to the morgue confess?"

"No, but according to the fingerprints at the scene..." Officer Han trailed off, unable to continue.

Jiang Yue stared at him with a half-smile. "I knew it, it's still the same old routine. It seems the experiences of these past few days haven't affected you enough."

"You mean, all this evidence can be faked?"

"Normal humans definitely can't fake it, but what we're facing might no longer be just normal humans."

Officer Han fell into deep thought.

In fact, another murder case occurred that morning, with almost identical circumstances. The killer was easily apprehended, but this killer also kept protesting their innocence and refused to confess.

And the DNA comparison with the evidence at the scene perfectly matched the killer's characteristics.

Three consecutive cases.

Two homicides, one morgue desecration.

The surveillance footage and on-site evidence were both overwhelmingly sufficient, truly ironclad. Yet, none of the three suspects confessed; they all continued to claim their innocence.

Officer Han was indeed suspicious. He had seen many criminals cry foul before. But three consecutive cases like this, all with suspects claiming innocence, made him feel something was amiss.

"Officer Han, how did my teacher claim his innocence?"

"He said he did go to New Moon Bay that day for a home visit to a student, and that student was you. At the time, you, Director Luo, and I were at Director Luo's place watching the Year Eater, right? He said he left the residential area afterward and was by the river watching people fish during the time of the incident. Unfortunately, the section of the river he mentioned had a surveillance camera that was conveniently out of order for a long time, and there were no cameras elsewhere."

"If there's no surveillance, can't you conduct an on-site visit?" Jiang Yue asked, displeased.

"The evidence in the case was too conclusive, everyone thought it was unnecessary. Also, there have been too many incidents these past few days, and no time for a visit."

"That still doesn't justify disregarding human life, does it?"

Officer Han gave a wry smile. In the past, when handling such serious criminal cases with such ironclad evidence, there would be no need for further complications.

The surveillance video, hair, bodily fluids, and fingerprints at the scene alone were more than enough.