Chapter 981: Arresting the Real Culprit

Wang Gang!

The killer turned out to be him, the principal of the Experimental Primary School back then.

Qin Meili confessed quite a lot, and the Dark Fragrance Clubhouse she ran didn’t just have Wang Gang as a client.

But speaking only of this case, since Qin Meili had already come clean, there was no need to wait until the next day.

That very night, Wang Gang was dragged out of his own bed by the police and taken in.

In the interrogation room, Wang Gang was still wearing his pajamas, with handcuffs on his wrists.

As for killing Zhang Mengyao back then, Wang Gang made a full confession.

According to Wang Gang, that year when Zhang Mengyao left school she didn’t go home; she was waiting for him at a deserted spot outside the school.

"Zhang Mengyao had only just started working when I took a fancy to her, but I was the principal, it wasn’t possible to just say something to her directly. The people from the Dark Fragrance Clubhouse got her for me."

Wang Gang became a member of the Dark Fragrance Clubhouse about seven or eight years ago, around the time he had just become principal.

"Leave the Dark Fragrance Clubhouse aside for now. Tell us how you killed Zhang Mengyao. Where did you do it? Why did you kill her?"

Wang Gang let out a sigh.

Though killing Zhang Mengyao was five years ago, to Wang Gang it felt like yesterday; he remembered every scene from back then very clearly.

"It was at her place..."

Most of their dates were at Zhang Mengyao’s home; sometimes they would go to a hotel.

"I actually didn’t mean to... it was an accident..."

According to Wang Gang’s account, that afternoon when Zhang Mengyao left school was arranged by him. At the time, Wang Gang was not at school; he had just finished a meeting over at the Education Bureau.

In fact, Wang Gang was supposed to have another meeting that afternoon, but he phoned the school and had the vice principal attend in his place.

That’s also why, when Zhang Hui and the others investigated, they found that among the four people who left school that afternoon, one was the vice principal.

After finishing his meeting, Wang Gang didn’t go straight back to school, nor did he go home; he picked up Zhang Mengyao at a corner outside the school.

The two of them drove from the school to Zhang Mengyao’s home.

From what Wang Gang confessed, you could still match it up with the results of the police investigation.

If the crime scene was Zhang Mengyao’s home, then someone must have driven her in through the underground garage, because the surveillance at the entrance of her complex didn’t capture her.

"After we finished messing around, she told me she wanted me to divorce, then she’d marry me."

Wang Gang asked for a cigarette, took two drags, then sneered: "How could that be possible?"

"I have a wife and kid. My wife’s father used to be the director of the Municipal Education Bureau. Even though he’s retired now, his connections are still there. My daughter is already sixteen. How could I possibly divorce and marry Zhang Mengyao?"

Wang Gang’s mindset was actually simple: he just wanted to play around with her, but he didn’t expect Zhang Mengyao to take it seriously.

"We had a fight, then started grappling. She said if I didn’t agree, she’d report everything to the Discipline Inspection Commission and ruin me."

Zhang Mengyao wasn’t easy to deal with either. Every time they met, she recorded all the stuff that happened in bed.

"She used that to threaten me. I got hotheaded and choked her to death."

After the killing, Wang Gang’s account lined up with what Qin Meili and Wang Biao had said.

Wang Gang called Qin Meili and told her what had happened. After hearing it, Qin Meili told him he didn’t need to worry about the rest—just drive away and don’t bother with anything.

"When you left, did you take anything with you?"

Wang Gang nodded: "Zhang Mengyao’s phone, and the clothes she was wearing that day."

Zhang Hui frowned: "You took her phone because there were videos on it, right? But why take the clothes she’d worn that day too?"

So it really was Wang Gang who took away the outfit Zhang Mengyao had worn that day.

When Lu Chuan and Zhang Hui went to Zhang Mengyao’s home to examine the scene, they made two assumptions. The first was that the spaghetti-strap nightgown she was wearing should be her own.

So if that nightgown really belonged to Zhang Mengyao, then the crime scene ought to be her home.

But if Zhang Mengyao was killed in her own home, then why were the clothes she’d worn that day missing?

Turns out Wang Gang had taken them.

"I... there were my things on the dress. I was afraid it would expose me... so I took it..."

Wang Gang didn’t spell it out, but how could they just let that slide? Every step of the case had to be made clear. Zhang Hui kept pressing, asking what exactly was on the dress, and Wang Gang went through the entire process again.

The old bastard was into some pretty kinky stuff.

He liked seeing Zhang Mengyao in her business outfits, and even when they were doing it she had to have black stockings on.

Sure enough, there was Wang Gang’s saliva on the clothes and on the stockings.

If he didn’t take those things away and Qi Meili’s people failed to deal with them, once the police found them he’d be exposed, so he took them directly.

Besides that, he also took some toiletries, slippers, and other things he’d left at Zhang Mengyao’s place.

"Was it you who had the plaster statue containing Zhang Mengyao’s body sent to the Experimental Primary School?"

There was no way Wang Biao would do that, and he couldn’t have pulled it off anyway.

So the only one who could get a plaster statue delivered to the school was the principal at the time.

Sure enough, Wang Gang nodded.

"Right after the incident it was almost summer vacation. I told them to send the plaster statue to the Experimental Primary School."

"Why?"

This was the part Zhang Hui couldn’t understand at all. She was already dead; disposing of the body would obviously be best. Why send the statue to the school? Wasn’t that just increasing your own risk?

Wang Gang hesitated for a moment: "No particular reason... I just thought... I could take a look at her when I had time."

Zhang Hui...

"What kind of mentality is that? ’Take a look when you have time’?"

Wang Gang sighed: "I was just a bit full of myself back then. I was principal at the Experimental Primary School; my word was law. All the teacher assignments were under my control. More importantly, a lot of people from outside came begging to me."

In the ranking of all primary schools in Haizhou City, the Experimental Primary School was absolutely number one.

The price per square meter of an Experimental Primary School district apartment was five to ten thousand yuan higher than that of other school districts.

So if you didn’t want to spend money on a school district apartment but still wanted your kid to attend the Experimental Primary School, of course you had to go through the principal.

And even if you got into the Experimental Primary School, there were still differences between teachers. When classes were being assigned, which teacher’s class your child ended up in wasn’t up to anyone else. The only person you could turn to was the principal.