Chapter 162: Interrogation and Acting

Hearing Roan's question, Lacey was momentarily puzzled, but she still nodded.
"Yeah, didn't you already know that?"
"I just wanted to confirm it."
Roan handed the folder in his hand to Lacey and explained,
"Remember Jenny's description of Tony's personality traits earlier?"
"Of course."
Hearing this, Lacey said with a serious expression,
"That guy Tony never uses words to persuade women who resist him; he just beats them directly. This shows, on the one hand, that Tony has a strong desire for control and champions violence. On the other hand, it shows that he looks down on women, subconsciously believing that women are weak and vulnerable."
Lacey had spent a long time in the intelligence department. She had some understanding of knowledge like analyzing a target's personality and thoughts based on their movements and behaviors, even if it wasn't very deep.
Still, that was enough for Lacey to navigate the nightlife scene with ease.
It was precisely because of this that Lacey had recently noticed the somewhat complicated dynamic between Mona and Roan—one that neither of the individuals involved had yet realized.
Hearing Lacey's explanation, Roan added,
"Moreover, the multiple wounds on those twenty-two corpses also indicate that Tony greatly enjoys sadism. A person like this, when faced with a woman who holds a higher status than him, controls the initiative between them, yet feels a certain fear toward him—such a person would only..."
Before Roan could finish his sentence, a look of sudden realization dawned on Lacey's face. She gritted her teeth and finished the rest for him:
"He would only become more aroused!"
Roan nodded and immediately followed up:
"However, this situation is also very advantageous for us."
This meant that when facing someone weak, Tony would lower his guard.
"Exactly!"
Lacey slammed the folder in her hand shut, took a deep breath, looked up at Roan, and said in a deep voice,
"How about this, Roan? I'll handle this interrogation alone."
Roan stared intently into Lacey's eyes.
"Are you sure?"
With a solemn expression, Lacey nodded heavily.
"I'm sure."
"OK."
Seeing the determination in Lacey's eyes, Roan pondered for a few seconds and agreed, but did not forget to add,
"Remember to turn on the surveillance cameras first once you enter the room. I'll be watching closely from the monitoring room next door."

"No problem."
In the hallway, Roan quickly scribbled down some interrogation scripts, phrases, and behavioral cues in the folder and handed them to Lacey.
Immediately after, Roan turned around, pushed open the door to another room, and stepped into the monitoring room—a place he hadn't entered even once since joining Special Investigation Squad Five.
If not for this case, Roan would have almost forgotten that Squad Five even had such a room.
After carefully reading the words Roan had written for a moment, Lacey took a deep breath, wiped the serious expression from her face, and slowly pushed open the door to the interrogation room.
Roan had already provided her with the script; now, it all depended on her acting skills.
Inside the interrogation room, a pale-faced Tony sat in a wheelchair, his chest wrapped in bandages, his hands firmly cuffed to the interrogation table.
When Lacey entered the room, she didn't look at Tony. Instead, in accordance with their prior agreement, she turned on the room's surveillance camera.
Not only that, but after sitting down in the chair opposite Tony, Lacey didn't immediately start asking questions. Instead, while pretending to check the folder, she stole glances at Tony out of the corner of her eye, a look of slight discomfort crossing her face.
Tony, whose face had been dark, saw this scene, and a playfulness instantly surfaced in the depths of his eyes.
"Ahem, so..."
After a long silence, Lacey coughed lightly twice. Her voice trembled slightly at first, but gradually grew firmer:
"I'm in charge of interrogating you today, Tony."
Tony stared intently at Lacey, asking in a low voice,
"May I ask your name?"
Lacey instinctively made a motion to shake her head, but quickly caught herself and demanded sharply,
"I am the one interrogating you, Tony! Tell me, what is this case really about?"
Seeing Lacey's reaction, the playfulness in Tony's eyes intensified.
"Sorry, I have nothing to say to you."
Lacey frowned, lowered her head to glance at the words Roan had written, and then fixed her gaze on Tony, saying in a deep voice,
"Why not? Isn't that your hobby? You like torturing women, you like watching them in pain—that feeling drives you crazy, doesn't it?"
Tony didn't answer. The corners of his mouth simply curled up slightly as he quietly watched Lacey.
"You tortured those women; that feeling of doing whatever you wanted and controlling everything captivated you. Especially their expressions and movements right before death—it made you feel like you were the god who ruled over them!"
Following the procedure Roan had written in the file, Lacey continued,
"But you messed up one thing. You forgot that you aren't a real god. When you murdered Jenny, you didn't drive a knife straight into her body like you usually do; instead, you assaulted her in a car. We found the relevant surveillance footage, and only then did you take her to the seaside..."
Hearing this, the slight smile at the corner of Tony's mouth instantly vanished. He slammed his hand angrily against the interrogation table and shouted loudly,
"You're lying! I've never assaulted a woman in a car!"

After shouting, Tony saw the fear in Lacey's eyes disappear, replaced by the exact same playfulness he had seen in his own eyes earlier, and he suddenly snapped to realization.
Bang—
Before Tony could speak, Roan pushed open the door to the interrogation room and walked in. He patted Lacey on the shoulder and smiled.
"Well done, Lacey!"
Lacey shook her head, indicating that it was all thanks to Roan's superb script.
The surveillance cameras had recorded the entire scene just now.
Earlier, when Lacey was describing those things, Tony had listened with a look of enjoyment without refuting it, but the moment Lacey spoke a falsehood, Tony couldn't sit still anymore.
For the jury in court, this had the exact same effect as Tony confessing.
"It's you again!"
Seeing Roan's handsome face, Tony's eyes instantly turned bloodshot, and he instinctively tried to stand up and lunge at him.
Thud—
Unfortunately, Tony's hands were firmly cuffed, and the injuries on his chest had not yet healed, so the moment he tried to get up, he was forced back down into his seat.
Sitting down next to Lacey, Roan skipped the small talk and went straight to the point:
"Talk, Tony. Where is that villa?"
Tony wore a ferocious expression. "You think—"
"During the subsequent arraignments, the court will read my colleague's written statement. You know how much the media loves serial killers."
Roan crossed his hands, interrupted Tony, and said expressionlessly,
"When John eventually learns from the news that it was because of your blunder that his illegal operations were uncovered, targeted by the FBI, placed on the FBI's most-wanted list, and ultimately lost everything... If John manages to stay alive outside of prison, what do you think he will do?"
"..."
Tony didn't answer, so Roan spelled out the final outcome for him:
"He will definitely have someone kill you in prison. You're a dead man."
Hearing Roan's words, Tony's face turned dark and bruised.
Although Tony was a pervert, he only liked persecuting and torturing others. He was more than happy to kill people, but being killed by others...
After a long silence, Tony raised his head and glared at Roan with gritted teeth:
"Damn FBI! I demand that you provide me with protection! The highest level possible!"
Roan remained completely calm.
"You tell me where John and those girls are right now first."