Chapter 61: Chapter 60: The Vow! The Arrest
Wang Hu was silent. He wanted to say something, but no words would come. He was stuck, wanting to speak yet holding back.
He had become a criminal investigator thirty years ago, always operating under the principle of being stern and impartial. He’d cracked all sorts of major cases, eventually rising to the position of Captain of the Criminal Investigation Detachment.
He knew that a criminal investigator needed to maintain a necessary sense of composure.
He knew even more so that a good detective had to be hard-hearted.
Over all these years, witnessing countless tragic cases had forged Wang Hu’s heart of stone.
But today, that stone...
...was cracking.
"Stop investigating. I just want my daughter to live. I’m begging you..."
Jiang Hai knelt and wept, a horrifying bloody mark already forming on his forehead.
Xu Huo and Qian Hua struggled for a good while before they managed to pull him to his feet.
The moment he was up, Jiang Hai broke down completely, slumping into a chair and burying his face in his hands. His choked sobs were unrelenting.
His appearance was comical. He’d endured many disdainful looks and been secretly cursed at.
He was a clown, the clown in the crowd.
’But who would ever want to be that kind of clown? There was no other choice.’
Now, this clown with the wild afro was slumped helplessly in the chair. Tears streamed through his fingers, smearing his makeup.
Dye, tears, blood, and sweat mixed into a turbid mess, dripping onto the floor.
Xu Huo leaned against a nearby wall.
Qian Hua stood in the doorway, his head bowed so low his face couldn’t be seen.
Wang Hu stood in a corner. He lit a cigarette, and the smoke wreathed his face, obscuring his expression.
The precious golden hours ticked by, second by second, in the heavy silence.
Wang Hu wondered how it had ever come to this...
A man, begging the police not to investigate a case, just so his daughter could live...
’Kneeling and begging the police to drop a case... How absurd is that!?’
A wave of anguish washed over him.
Wang Hu’s mind raced. He thought about those charity associations in Linlan City, about the deceased Zhou Dapeng, and about Jiang Hai and the others.
And he thought about the police force itself.
He mulled it over for a long time. Finally...
TSS~
He pinched out the burning cigarette between two fingers.
RRRIP!
A harsh ripping sound immediately followed.
"I’m taking this on."
Expressionless, Wang Hu tore the epaulets from his shoulders and placed them on the table in front of Jiang Hai.
Level 2 Police Chief.
The result of his life’s work.
"From this moment on, if I don’t solve these two matters, these epaulets..."
As he spoke, Wang Hu’s expression suddenly turned ferocious.
"You can throw them in the trash!"
"And this white shirt... I’ll burn it in the station house!"
With that, his face ashen, Wang Hu turned and walked out, his white shirt now bare of its epaulets.
Jiang Hai didn’t react. It was as if he’d heard nothing, remaining frozen in the same position.
Xu Huo glanced at him, shook his head, and followed Wang Hu out.
The interrogation room was being recorded. The footage from just now would undoubtedly be submitted up the chain of command.
And when that happened, there was no telling who would end up watching that video...
This was 2003, and the scrutiny on men like Wang Hu was intense. That one act of kneeling would almost certainly trigger a massive sweep, not just in Linlan City... but across all of Hanhai Province!
As for the case itself...
’It doesn’t matter that Jiang Hai won’t cooperate.’
’His very existence confirms that we’re on the right track. That’s the biggest benefit!’
’He isn’t the only one who can provide information.’
’Others can, too!’
The police refused to believe that Jiang Hai was the only one who knew what the killers were doing.
If enough people knew, one of them was bound to cooperate and talk.
And even if they didn’t, it would just take a bit more effort to investigate.
They could have the support staff investigate Jiang Hai’s movements and phone records. It would be easy to find the other persons of interest.
As for whether they’d delete their records...
’Go ahead.’
’Go ahead and delete them.’
’It won’t make a sound, but we’ll get you all the same!’
’The phone company has backups of all your records. With high enough clearance, a single query gets a perfect hit.’
Sure enough, the information came through quickly.
When Wang Hu walked out of the holding room, an inexplicable pressure descended upon the entire detachment.
Even the support staff’s efficiency shot up by nearly twenty percent.
Countless officers fanned out, canvassing the hospitals and questioning members of the Mutual Aid Association.
The massive police effort sifted through countless pieces of information, one by one.
Until...
...
「That same day, October 5th. 8:47 PM.」
"Found them!"
At the shout from one of the support staff, everyone who had been dozing off was instantly wide awake.
Xu Huo shot to his feet, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
The high-intensity work was taking a mental toll, but thankfully, this kind of screening work had been offloaded to the support staff. Otherwise, his brain would have probably crashed.
"Who is it?!"
Wang Hu demanded in a deep voice, his expression terrifyingly grim.
He hadn’t been in a good mood since leaving the holding room and had shown no intention of resting.
"Sun Lai, Ke Shengjie, Zhao Dazhuang, Liu Mou, Zhang Jie, and Song Si."
The officer at the computer reeled off six names.
"Details," Xu Huo said.
"Right. Of the six, Sun Lai was an employee at Zhou Dapeng’s chemical plant. Has severe, late-stage leukemia. The specific conflict is unknown, but it’s suspected to be related to finances."
"Ke Shengjie and Zhao Dazhuang were employees of Sun Qin. They’re painters, one with late-stage and one with mid-stage lung cancer. Specific conflict is unclear..."
"Liu Mou’s motive is clear. His name came up in relation to the deceased, Zhao Guo. The wastewater discharge from Zhao Guo’s chemical plant caused his illness..."
’Zhou Dapeng, Sun Qin, Zhao Guo...’
’The three people who were bombed to death!’
"So it is revenge..." Qian Hua’s heart sank as he muttered to himself.
"What about the other two!?"
Xu Huo pressed urgently. The remaining two suspects clearly pointed to two more targets.
"Zhang Jie has leukemia, and Song Si has mid-stage lung cancer. Song Si used to be a miner. He’s the only one of the six with knowledge of explosives."
The officer quickly concluded.
"The people they have conflicts with are the owners of a chemical plant and a power plant, respectively. Their names are Tai Su and Zhang Jiaccheng..."
"Give me their exact addresses!" Wang Hu ordered.
Wang Hu was seething with frustration. He felt this "disaster" of a case was completely senseless.
The entire city was suffering because of a few people’s private greed...
When Zhang Jian got the news, he was about to burst a lung!
A case that had drawn close attention from the Capital City and brought unprecedented pressure...
...and its source was likely just a matter of tens of thousands, or a few hundred thousand, yuan!
To them, with all this pressure, that money was jack shit!
No, it was less than jack shit!
And what’s more, it was very likely money the perpetrators were owed in the first place, yet it all culminated in this tragedy...
Over a dozen people had been killed or injured!
All because of a little bit of money...
"Arrest them first!"
Grabbing the detailed files, Wang Hu said gruffly, then rose and immediately got into a police car. His white shirt was still bare.
The six killers were blinded by hatred; they wouldn’t waste any time.
In all likelihood, a third explosion would happen tonight. Even a fourth and fifth murder scene could follow close behind.
’Those two can die, but they should die on an execution ground.’
"Split up. We’ll handle both targets simultaneously..."
With the order given, a fleet of police cars surged out, racing toward the target addresses.
"Make the arrests!"
Time... was running out.