Chapter 224: From Arrogance to Fear, the Unraveling Psychological Defense

Upon hearing these words, Jiang Sumei, who had realized that her mother and Zhang Lifang were no longer in the mediation room, glanced at Lin Tian before saying nothing more.

She slowly walked to the seat opposite Lin Tian and the two Chiefs, placing her Hermes bag beside her. She then furrowed her brows deeply and said,

“Officers.”

“You hurried me here, saying my mother needs care, but… where is she?”

“She has severe dementia. If something happens to her, how will you be responsible? Is this how the Criminal Investigation Brigade handles things?”

“If anything goes wrong, I will have my company’s legal team engage with your police force for a more effective discussion.”

Her sharp criticism caused Lin Tian to raise an eyebrow. He then carefully examined Jiang Sumei, who, as the Priest’s sister, was not particularly old—she looked about fifteen years younger than her actual age, maybe in her early thirties.

With regular cosmetic procedures and the apparent aura of a wealthy woman she cultivated, she didn’t appear as old as one might expect. Her figure was well-maintained, and paired with the expensive Hermes bag, she exuded a distinctive intellectual charm.

In the end, money clearly worked wonders, as even in her mid-thirties, she could pass for someone a decade younger.

However, after their first interaction, Lin Tian had already concluded… Jiang Sumei was likely very wealthy—perhaps even extremely wealthy.

But the source of that wealth was certainly a question mark.

From her earlier words, Lin Tian could boldly deduce that, if it were just up to her, Jiang Sumei might not have been able to afford such an expensive Hermes bag, let alone achieve such success.

This wasn’t something influenced by American or Hong Kong TV shows or movies.

In Dragon Country, when summoned by the police, especially criminal investigators, to assist in an investigation, even the wealthiest tycoons would still show some respect when facing three Chiefs in white shirts.

They might bully the lower-ranked officers, but when it came to three white-shirted Chiefs, even the most arrogant rich person would carefully consider their position.

They certainly wouldn’t dare to boldly demand a lawyer, a statement that would have no effect but cause significant irritation.

…

Lin Tian remained unfazed by Jiang Sumei’s accusations and calmly explained,

“Ms. Jiang.”

“Don’t worry about your mother. Just a little while before you arrived, Zhang Lifang already took her home. You may have just missed them.”

“And I have an important case here that requires your cooperation, so please answer everything truthfully.”

“First, I need to ask…”

At this point, Lin Tian paused for two seconds, narrowing his eyes as he stared at Jiang Sumei, whose attitude had been less than friendly. His fingers lightly tapped on the table as he spoke in a cold, sharp tone.

“Ms. Jiang.”

“Did you already know… that your brother, Jiang Sulong, was working as a foreign mercenary for an overseas military group before his incident?”

When Lin Tian asked about her brother, Jiang Sumei, who had earlier been relying on her wealth and arrogant demeanor, froze for a moment. But she quickly regained her previous expression, holding her head high. Although she still appeared sharp, her inner anxiety was hard to conceal.

“So what if I knew?”

“My brother’s identity as a foreign mercenary was completely legal. It followed the formal and internationally recognized channels, and there are detailed records of it.”

“And when the incident happened, the authorities also contacted me for information. Given the special nature of his household registration, I even accompanied you to cancel his registration. Don’t you have a record of that?”

“Then now you bring up this issue again, what are you trying to do?”

“Is there some new policy that forbids the people of Dragon Country from becoming mercenaries, and you want to make an example out of my brother?”

After listening carefully to Jiang Sumei’s words, Lin Tian’s gaze sharpened slightly, and Wang Qi and Huang Qiang, who were standing beside him, also furrowed their brows.

The three experienced individuals had already detected from Jiang Sumei’s words… a very obvious sense of panic and anxiety.

This anxiety was not the kind of subconscious emotional reaction one would expect from being questioned by criminal investigators.

After all, from Jiang Sumei’s earlier sharp questioning, it was clear she wasn’t the type to become nervous just because of the police’s presence.

This indicated that… Jiang Sumei’s current anxiousness must be due to either lying or hiding something.

But her earlier words didn’t seem to require much lying, so it was more likely that she was concealing something.

And this concealed matter must be related to her brother, possibly even involving some special circumstances. Otherwise, why would she be so anxious?

At this moment, Lin Tian decided to stop dragging things out. Leaning against the chair behind him, he lowered his eyes and fixed them on Jiang Sumei. He then expressionlessly looked up and spoke.

“Let’s get to the point, Ms. Jiang.”

“What are you hiding from us about your brother, Jiang Sulong?”

“Speak up. Don’t waste time, you can’t keep this hidden anymore.”

“Do you know that your brother faked his death and had his household registration canceled, or do you know where he’s hiding and what kind of special business he’s involved in?”

“Or… have you known all along about everything?”

Lin Tian’s previously calm tone suddenly turned deep and cold, causing Jiang Sumei to freeze with even more fear and panic.

Then, Jiang Sumei, who was usually very meticulous about her image, subconsciously swallowed.

This showed that Jiang Sumei didn’t have a strong mental fortitude. Her earlier arrogance and sharpness were merely because she felt justified or was putting on an act.

Now that this facade had been stripped away by Lin Tian, she quickly shrank back in fear.

However, she still gritted her teeth and held her ground, forcing herself to look at the three in front of her, trying to stay calm.

“My brother faked his death?”

“I really don’t know what you’re talking about. Seven years ago, our entire family personally brought his ashes back from abroad, and now you’re saying it was a fake death?”

“Heh, fake death? Is it fake to the point that even my mother…”

Before Jiang Sumei could finish, the door of the mediation room was knocked again. A police officer walked in holding a stack of documents.

After glancing at Jiang Sumei, the officer handed the documents to Wang Qi.

“Chief Wang.”

“Here’s the relevant information you asked the Criminal Investigation Technology Section to check.”

Wang Qi didn’t immediately take the documents. Instead, he pointed to Jiang Sumei and coldly snorted.

“No need to look at the documents yet.”

“Officer Lian, please tell us the most important discovery and clues from the materials collected.”

The officer, who had come to deliver the documents, was momentarily stunned and subconsciously glanced at Jiang Sumei.

After quickly organizing his thoughts, he didn’t hesitate and spoke.

“Through tracking and checking the bank accounts under Jiang Sumei’s name, and using the bank’s internal database…”

“We found…”

“Seven years ago, Jiang Sumei’s bank account received a $5,000 foreign transfer on the first day of every month.”

“This transfer habit continued for several years, but in one particular month, it suddenly stopped.”

“The month it stopped happened to be the month following the unexpected death of Jiang Sulong, and the timing aligns.”

“So, it can be confirmed that the $5,000 transferred every month was actually sent by Jiang Sulong.”

“And most importantly…”

“After the regular monthly transfers stopped for three months, on the first day of the fourth month.”

“Jiang Sumei’s bank account suddenly received an anonymous transfer of up to three million dollars…”