Chapter 157 157 How is the child?
Wang Yu and Zhong Xiaoyu reunited with everyone in the evening.
After finishing their meal, everyone parked their car in a more remote parking lot, and then pretended to be tourists, dividing into groups of three or four to get to know the environment of the county town.
After receiving the message in the group, everyone rushed back to the parking lot. They first looked around and saw that there was no one around, then gathered together to listen to Wang Yu and Zhong Xiaoyu talking.
Wang Yu spoke first, "We followed the suspect home and conducted some investigations nearby. We can now confirm that she is a peripheral member of a criminal gang that includes Liu Xiang and Geng Jing."
Everyone understood, but Xu Nian still asked for confirmation, "Are you sure there's a child hiding in the suspect's home?"
This time, Zhong Xiaoyu nodded and said, "Yes, we've conducted a brief investigation of the residential area where the suspect lives. Through household garbage, accounts from residents, and the owner of a nearby shop, we've determined that there are three people living in the suspect's home: two adults and a child. The two adults are a married couple, and the child's appearance and age closely match the missing Yan Xingyu. However, we've heard from residents that the child is not doing well, but we can't confirm the specifics."
One of the older male officers assigned by Captain Zhou said, "Looks like we can't afford to delay any longer. We have to act tonight."
Everyone looked at Xu Nian. He pondered for a few seconds before nodding decisively, "Then we'll act at night. The tentative time of action is midnight, when most residents are asleep and the suspects are less alert. But before that..."
Before Xu Nian could finish his words, the male police officer who had spoken earlier, as if anticipating this, took over and said, "Leave it to us. We will communicate with our colleagues at the local police station to fully understand the situation of the suspect's family and himself to ensure the smooth progress of this arrest."
Xu Nian said, "Thank you for your help!" and then called out a few names. "Qi Bai, Wang Yu, the two of you will be responsible for keeping a close watch on the suspects' residence. If the two suspects leave, report immediately. The rest of you will lie in wait nearby, waiting for the time to act. If anything changes, you will be ready to provide support and arrest them on the spot."
Xu Nian glanced at Guan Xia without saying anything, but then looked at Ji An.
Ji An seemed to have received some signal. He also didn't say anything, but nodded solemnly.
Guan Xia understood immediately upon seeing this. Although she was self-aware and had decided to stay safe and not cause trouble, she did not think Xu Nian was making a big deal out of nothing. He was also worried that the situation would be too chaotic and he would not be able to take care of her, so he had communicated with Ji An before the action to ensure her safety.
So in the following time, everyone centered around the suspect's residence, or they were in the car, or eating barbecue at the entrance of the community. In short, they hid on the spot and were ready to act at any time.
Perhaps the child's condition was really not good. The two suspects, including the middle-aged woman Guan Xia had met before, did not go out for the entire afternoon and evening, until Xu Nian's tentative action time, 0:00 am on August 13.
Prior to this, several criminal police officers assigned by Team Zhou had contacted the police officers of the local police station and had gained as much as possible of the situation at the suspect's home. They shared it with everyone and decided to guard all entrances and exits as soon as the operation began. No matter which direction the two suspects fled from, they would be intercepted and pinned down by the police.
Finally, the time for action arrived. Guan Xia, of course, did not participate. Ji An forced her into the car, which was parked in the parking space downstairs of the suspect's home. She watched the people responsible for the arrest go upstairs.
Listening to the noise coming from upstairs in the quiet of the night, Guan Xia figured nothing would happen and got out of the car.
Ji An also got out of the car and stood next to Guan Xia. Actually, it was Pang Le who wanted to stay to protect Guan Xia at first, but Ji An saw the eagerness in Pang Le's eyes, so he stayed in the end.
A few minutes later, as more and more lights in the residential building came on after hearing the noise, the arresting team finally escorted the two men out of the corridor.
Guan Xia didn't bother to look at the two suspects who were trembling all over and looked ashen. She rushed over to check on the child in Wang Yu's arms.
The child's face was flushed, his eyes were closed, and he was groaning in pain. It was obvious that he was sick.
Without waiting for Guan Xia to ask, Wang Yu said, "We've done a quick check. There are no external injuries, but the forehead is very hot. It must be a high fever. I'll take him to the hospital now."
In order to avoid complications, they did not call for medical support before taking action.
Qi Bai hurriedly caught up with Wang Yu, almost running to the driver's seat, and soon disappeared from Guan Xia's sight while driving the car.
Guan Xia finally had time to look at the two suspects. To her surprise, they did not look ignorant. Although they were shaking so much that they could hardly stand, and only the detectives who were holding them up prevented them from collapsing to the ground. They did not cry out for justice, but just stared at the ground with pale faces and dejected expressions. It seemed that one could pry open their mouths without any interrogation techniques.
In fact, it was really easy to get the confession. They were almost pushed into the interrogation room together. Before they could even put him on the interrogation chair, the middle-aged woman collapsed first, crying and shouting in a state of collapse, "I'm telling you, I'm telling you, I really didn't know the child was abducted. If I had known the child wasn't hers, I wouldn't have agreed to anything she said."
The two criminal police officers, one male and one female, assigned by Captain Zhou were responsible for interrogating the middle-aged woman.
The male police officer was rather thin, while the female detective was muscular. With some effort, she helped the middle-aged woman sit down on the interrogation chair. Then, she returned to her position, frowning and sternly demanding, "Tell me clearly, who is this woman you're talking about? How did you get the child? How did you make the deal with her?"
Perhaps stimulated by the word "transaction", Guan Xia stood outside the interrogation room and watched the interrogation process. Seeing the middle-aged woman tremble all over again, she waved her hands hurriedly as if to correct herself, saying, "It's not a transaction, it's not a transaction. Don't say that. I was deceived. I was just helping out. She said that a relative's husband and wife were both sick, and her parents-in-law were not local and couldn't take care of the child. She was busy with work and couldn't take care of the child either. That's why she asked me to help take care of the child for a few days. It won't be long, at most one or two days, someone will take him away. I really didn't know the child was abducted. If I had known earlier, I would never have dared to do such an illegal thing."
The interrogating policewoman's expression remained serious as she asked, "Let me ask again, who is this woman you're talking about? How did you get to know her?"
The middle-aged woman rubbed her fingers nervously, her expression still looking devastated, and she spoke about the situation in a somewhat incoherent manner.
After listening for a while, Guan Xia finally understood the whole story of how this middle-aged woman and Liu Xiang met.
According to the middle-aged woman, she and Liu Xiang met the year before last. She had been feeling unwell before, but because she was afraid of spending money and didn't have much time to work, she kept putting it off and didn't see a doctor. Later, when her menstrual blood volume was extremely heavy every time, she had to go for a check-up.
As a result, the money was not enough, but her condition was very serious and she had to undergo surgery. She was sitting on a chair in the hospital corridor, crying helplessly, when Liu Xiang helped her. She not only comforted her, but also lent her money and told her not to worry and to pay it back slowly.
That amount of money may not be much for Liu Xiang, but it is already a huge sum for her. She pays back some every month, and has not paid it off for two years in a row. For this reason, the two have been in contact. Liu Xiang is a good person and visits her from time to time, invites her to dinner, and brings her some clothes and daily necessities.
So at the beginning of this month, when Liu Xiang asked her to help take care of a child at a relative's house, she agreed without thinking. Her husband did not doubt it and even bought some daily necessities for the child. She did not deliberately conceal it from others. Her neighbors and acquaintances in the community all knew that she was helping her friend take care of the child.
The interrogating policewoman pressed the issue, "Did Liu Xiang not confess and ask you to conceal it?"
The middle-aged woman shook her head. "She didn't say anything. From beginning to end, she just asked me to help her take care of the child for a few days. That's why I didn't suspect the child was abducted."
The interrogating policewoman then asked, "Then how did you later find out that the child was abducted?"
The middle-aged woman cried again, "Because the child has been comatose and sick, and they still can't wake him up. Who would be willing to leave a child this sick with a stranger? Plus, when I went to see her, she seemed kind and tried to comfort me, but she never mentioned taking the child back. I felt something was wrong."
"Also," the middle-aged woman paused, hesitated for a few seconds, and then added, "And the medicine she gave me is not right."
When she heard the word "medicine", the policewoman's eyes became sharper. She stared at the middle-aged woman and asked, "What medicine?"
The middle-aged woman started crying. "I don't know what medicine it is. It's just a white bottle with a label I can't quite read. I can only see it vaguely says something to supplement the child. She told me that the child is lacking something and needs to take that medicine every day. Don't take too much, just a small pill will do. The child will fall asleep after taking it, and this is the time for him to recuperate. She told me not to disturb him and that the child will be taken away in a day or two at most. But it's been three days now, and the child still hasn't woken up. He's had a high fever and still hasn't woken up. What kind of medicine can make a child not eat or sleep for three days? Even if I'm stupid, I know that the medicine is wrong."
Guan Xia understood immediately. In order to keep children quiet, human traffickers usually feed them sleeping pills during transportation to avoid arousing suspicion. Obviously, in Liu Xiang's original plan, the child would only be kept for one or two days. The child's drowsiness would not attract attention in a short period of time, but over time, it would naturally arouse suspicion.
It seems that Liu Xiang's plan changed. The child was not taken away within the expected time, which aroused the suspicion of the middle-aged woman. This was how Guan Xia and others discovered it.
The interrogating policewoman then asked, "Who is the person who came to pick up the child? What are their appearance characteristics?"
The middle-aged woman shook her head. "Liu Xiang didn't say anything. She just said that the person who would come would be someone who looked quite wealthy. He was her relative's family, so I didn't have to worry about it. As long as he said he was coming to pick up the child, I should just hand the child over to him."
After that, the female police officer who was interrogating her continued to ask many questions, but it was obvious that the middle-aged woman really didn't know much. She didn't know much about Liu Xiang, and even less about the child. The interrogation was not suspended until her psychological defenses collapsed again and she burst into tears.
Guan Xia and the others immediately started a discussion.
"That's not right," Pang Le was the first to ask doubtfully, having obviously been thinking about it for a long time. "How could Liu Xiang do such a thing without instructing her to conceal the child's whereabouts as much as possible? From what we've found out, she seems to be a very cautious person. How could she be so foolish?"
"That means she didn't forget to explain," Zhong Xiaoyu said. "Perhaps she was confident the police wouldn't be able to track her down. Or perhaps she was certain the middle-aged woman didn't know much, and that just a day or two wouldn't arouse suspicion, so she didn't specifically explain. Who could have imagined that something would go wrong?"
Jiang Yingyao pondered and continued, "That's a possibility. I heard Xu Nian say that Liu Xiang usually smiles all the time and seems to handle everything with ease. She really seems to be very confident. Plus, five years have passed since Ning Xin and her daughter disappeared, and no clues have been found. I guess it's really possible that she's so sure nothing will happen that she doesn't care about these details."
"That's the law of nature," Pang Le continued. "So, this time, we made an emergency arrest, not only did we find important evidence, catching the person red-handed, but we also very likely caught the buyer as well. After all, the person who came to pick up the child didn't show up, right? If we act quickly and keep the news secret, then don't we have a good chance?"
Guan Xia's eyes lit up when he heard this. Ji An smiled and said, "Don't worry, Captain Zhou and his branch have already sent people here, as well as the local police station and criminal investigation team. They will definitely be able to suppress the news and catch the big one by sifting through the grass and hunting rabbits."
As they were discussing, they heard the door open. They turned around and saw Xu Nian and Lu Tingfeng coming in.
Guan Xia hurriedly asked, "How was the interrogation result over there? Did you get it smoothly?"
Xu Nian said, "It went very smoothly. The male suspect obviously knew even less than the female suspect. According to his confession, he only knew that his wife had a wealthy friend who was not only wealthy but also very kind. He had helped his wife before, and later asked his wife to help take care of a relative's child. He didn't think much about it and agreed. Who knew that the child was abducted?"
Guan Xia said: "The two of them said something similar, it seems to be true."
Guan Xia thought of something and asked, "By the way, did Wang Yu call? How is the child?"
Xu Nian replied, "I've already called. Wang Yu said the child is a little weak, but not in life-threatening condition. However, further diagnosis is needed to determine the specific condition."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, as long as the child was okay. What they feared most was that they were a step too late and the child had already suffered irreversible damage.
The child was rescued, the two suspects were caught, and the interrogation results were obtained. Guan Xia and the others naturally focused all their attention on the person who was discovered so far and was considered the core figure of the entire criminal gang.
It was almost two o'clock in the morning when the confessions of the two suspects were obtained, but everyone decided to return to Shangshuang City that night.
Of course, most of the people who came to support Captain Zhou and his branch stayed to be responsible for the subsequent arrest of the buyer.
On the way back, Guan Xia received the news that Fan Ya, Ge Qing and Gao Cuicui had been arrested and had confessed.
Guan Xia was not surprised, but she was very anxious because she was too curious. She was curious about what Liu Xiang had said to the three girls and what kind of lies she had made up to make these three girls help Liu Xiang so wholeheartedly.
As soon as he parked the car in the parking lot of the Nanping Branch, Guan Xia ran upstairs.
Xu Nian and his team followed closely and quickly obtained confessions from Fan Ya and the other three.
Guan Xia read Fan Ya's confession first. It could be seen from her confession that Fan Ya was greatly shocked at first and found it difficult to accept the police's statement. It took her a long time to digest it before she began to speak out.
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