Chapter 13 Chapter 13 Comrade Xiao Ji is not modest
"...Li Guoping is a selfish, ungrateful person!"
With a click, Ji Yinhe pressed the button on the recorder.
The tape stopped spinning and the interrogation room was so quiet that only a few soft sobs could be heard.
"Your nephew Li Jian has confessed, and our technicians have found the insulation equipment and will soon be able to detect fingerprints," Ji Yinhe said softly. "We have both witnesses and evidence. Of course, you can insist on denying the crime, but if you tell the truth, your sentence might not be so severe."
Li Guoping's face was as pale as gold paper as she sat on the interrogation chair. Her fingers pinching the hem of her clothes could not stop trembling. Two lines of tears hung on her already haggard face. She looked more than ten years older than the photo in the factory annals.
"I..." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
When she opened her eyes again, there was a hint of mockery in those charming eyes.
"Li Jian is right, I am selfish." Li Guoping's voice was hoarse, and she asked with a wry smile, "But what's wrong with being selfish? Isn't the purpose of life to live for oneself? I've worked hard for most of my life, why should I do it for others?"
“…”
Neither Cheng Mo nor Ji Yinhe answered.
"You know what? I used to have good grades, but my parents wanted my brother to go to high school and college. They couldn't afford to support two college students, so they sent me to a technical secondary school. They let me start working in a factory early, living in the dormitory and eating in the cafeteria, so they could save their wages to support my brother's education!"
"Hahaha! But my brother didn't live up to his expectations and couldn't even get into high school! Who do you blame? Is it me?"
Li Guoping's lips trembled violently, and the resentment buried deep in his heart burst out from deep within his body like poison.
"Over the years, I received nothing from my family. It was through my own hard work, giving up my marriage, and working day and night as a salesperson that I was able to climb from a small employee to the position of general manager."
"In front of others, I'm the respected Mr. Li, but behind my back, that family is like a blood-sucking leech, constantly asking me for money and even accusing me in front of my employees of not supporting my parents and taking care of my family!"
"I've been supporting my brother my entire life! I gave him an 8,000 yuan red envelope for his wedding, and when he wanted to install a phone, I paid another 5,000 yuan for the initial installation! Last year, when Li Jian needed to buy a house in Shanghai, I shelled out another 400,000 yuan! But cancer is incurable, and that's all I have left. Am I going to throw it all down the drain?"
Her face was frighteningly pale, she was gasping for breath, and her chest was heaving violently.
"Li Guoping!
Cheng Mo frowned, trying to stop her from continuing to talk about these family grudges, but Ji Yinhe quietly raised her hand and pulled his sleeve.
"Let her talk. After she lets out her anger, she'll get down to business. Besides, the motive for the crime is also important, isn't it?"
“…”
Cheng Mo paused for two seconds, looked away and nodded.
"...If it weren't for you policemen, I would have left Jiangtan with the money and gained my freedom!"
Li Guoping roared, and a hint of color finally appeared on his lifeless face due to excitement.
"You simply don't understand what that box means to me! Yes, even though it's stolen money, it's also the first time in decades of my life that I have money I can control myself. It's truly my property! It's my passport to freedom, my ticket to leaving that vampire family! Hahahahahaha——"
Her expression was wild and weird, and her laughter hovered above the entire interrogation room.
Che Zhiwen outside was alarmed and couldn't help but come in to check the situation, but was pulled outside the door by Tang Ci who had just rushed back from the compressor factory.
After a long time, the interrogation room became quiet again.
The metal handcuffs clanged, Li Guoping raised her wrists and quickly wiped away the tears hanging from her chin.
"Here." Ji Yinhe handed over a few pieces of toilet paper.
Li Guoping didn't answer it. He sniffed and turned his face away.
Ji Yinhe put the paper on the table and sighed softly, "Mr. Li, after hearing about your experience, I think it's really not easy for you."
Li Guoping sneered, "What do you know?"
"—I understand why you threw that suitcase into the river." Ji Yinhe's calm and gentle voice sounded, "I think, for you, that money is both a passport to freedom and your hope of living a carefree life in this life. You are not afraid of the stolen money being confiscated, but you don't want that hope to fall into the hands of us police, be written into the newspapers by reporters, and become the topic of conversation after dinner... So you would rather it sink to the bottom of the river, right?"
Li Guoping was struck by her words and his whole body trembled violently.
"But Mr. Li, ill-gotten gains are ill-gotten gains."
Ji Yinhe handed the autopsy photos of Zhang Chunbo back to her.
"That money is stained with blood and will never truly belong to you. Even if you really leave Jiangtan and fly away, carrying such a heavy sin, I don't think you can necessarily gain the freedom and happiness you imagine."
Li Guoping's expression was as if someone was strangling her throat.
"If only Zhang Chunbo hadn't seen anything..." She managed to squeeze out a few words, picked up the toilet paper on the table, and wiped away her tears.
After a while, Li Guoping lowered his eyelashes.
"——Okay, I'll explain."
"It's not complicated, actually. There are so many ways to embezzle money in my position... I stole some public funds from the factory by issuing false VAT invoices and freight invoices for reimbursement, and using fake returns."
"After I got the money, I couldn't keep some evidence, so I burned it in the middle of the night. Zhang Chunbo discovered it, and fearing it would be exposed, I thought of electrocuting him with high voltage electricity. This way, no one would know, and no one would suspect me."
"Li Jian kept asking me for money during that time, so I taught him how to modify the circuit..."
"Then Zhang Hongbo started playing tricks, doing some kind of Xiaoyao Gong... I heard he died while ascending to heaven, so a lot of police came to the factory. I felt something was wrong, so I went to the docks and hid on a boat to eavesdrop, hoping you wouldn't find out about me. But before I could even get away, you caught me."
She ended her statement of her crime with a sigh of despair.
*
"Well done."
Outside the interrogation room, Tang Ci gave Ji Yinhe a look of praise.
One has to admit that she showed great talent in the first case she handled.
If it were an ordinary new police officer, upon hearing the captain's praise, he might be humble and say that he was lucky and thank his leaders and colleagues for their support.
However, Comrade Xiao Ji just chuckled without any modesty.
"Thank you, Captain Tang. I also think I did a good job."
Tang Ci couldn't help but shake his head and took the confession book handed over by Cheng Mo. "Okay, pass it to the economic investigation personnel for verification."
Cheng Mo went to answer. Xiao Wu walked over and said, "I've contacted the detention center. Their people are on the way and will be here soon."
"Okay." Tang Ci let out a long breath.
From behind came the metallic sound of handcuffs and shackles colliding.
Zhang Hongbo and Li Guoping, who were taken out of the interrogation room by the police respectively, met in the corridor.
The two stopped and looked at each other.
There was a loud thunder, and a purple lightning exploded outside the window. The sky quickly turned cloudy, and raindrops as big as beans fell again.
"Chunbo! Are you seeing this in heaven?" Zhang Hongbo's gaze passed through the green wall skirts and looked towards the sky, tears streaming down his face. "Brother, I have redressed your grievances!"
Li Guoping stared at him expressionlessly, as if staring at dead silence.
“…”
The prison van from the detention center arrived at the city bureau compound. Ji Yinhe followed Li Guoping, Li Jian, Zhang Hongbo, Lao Liu, and the mute cremator, and watched them walk under the sky.
What awaits them is prosecution by the procuratorate and trial by the court.
"Comrade, please come over and sign!" The prison guard at the detention center checked the information and shouted to Ji Yinhe.
"Hey, here they come!"
Ji Yinhe was not wearing a raincoat, so he could only put his hands on his forehead and rushed into the dense rain.
"There were five of us in total. Sign here, here, and here." The prison guard held up an umbrella beside the car. "You solved the case so quickly. Thank you for your hard work."
"It's not hard, it's my duty." Ji Yinhe smiled and handed the pen back with both hands.
The rain became heavier, as if the sky had cracked open and it was pouring down. The air was filled with the same slightly fishy smell as that night.
The five of them climbed into the prison van one after another mechanically without saying a word.
The door slammed shut, and the bright red taillights lit up in the gray rain and fog.
Ji Yinhe did not turn around and go back, but stood silently in the rain, staring at the red light slowly driving out of the city bureau.
Her hair was wet and stuck to her forehead. She wiped the water off her face, and suddenly a big black umbrella was extended from behind her.
Tang Ci stood behind her, one hand in his pocket and the other holding the umbrella handle, with a barely visible smile in his slightly lowered eyes.
"How was it like working on your first case?"
"Honestly, it's a bit complicated." Ji Yinhe thought for a moment. "I'm excited to be part of the investigation, and I'm happy to have found clues. But after learning about the suspect's motives, I feel that everyone has their own difficulties... But I understand that crime is crime, and no matter how hard life is, you must not hurt others!"
A resolute look appeared on her face, making her already beautiful features appear even more breathtakingly full of vitality.
Tang Ci couldn't help but look at her for a few more seconds.
"Captain Tang, let's go back—"
Ji Yinhe turned around, glanced at the umbrella above his head, was stunned for a moment, and suddenly burst into laughter.
"Advanced Family Planning Worker! Hahahahaha Captain Tang, I didn't realize you're married and have kids!"
"..." Tang Ci looked at the large red printed characters on the cloth, touched his forehead, and explained, "I just picked this up from the office. It must be Lao Che's umbrella..."
His voice became smaller and smaller, and if you listened carefully, you could hear a hint of guilt.
But Ji Yinhe took a long stride and ran briskly into the office building, shaking off the rain on his head.
"You might have to stay and work overtime." Tang Ci, who was following behind her, said as he folded his umbrella. "You did well this time. Director Rao said there will be a case review meeting tomorrow. You will make a summary speech on behalf of Team One. Prepare well!"
Ji Yinhe: “…”
After lunch, everyone packed up and went home, leaving her alone at her desk, resting her head on her propped-up arms, spinning a pen while staring blankly at the spread-out stationery.
Although both are writing materials, a business report and a speech written for Director Rao are completely different things.
She wanted to write it well and seriously, showing all the highlights of this case-solving work.
Moreover, the Municipal Bureau had a slide projector, and she thought that if she could combine photos and diagrams in her report, it would be both vivid and interesting.
Ye Qing and Lao Tian can provide relevant photos of the deceased and evidence, but the case-solving process is all on the blackboard, which is a mess and few people can understand it except those in the team.
And you can't carry such a big blackboard into the conference room...
The slender jade-like fingers tapped the table lightly a few times.
During the Spring Festival, the TV stations were broadcasting "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and "Get High". Mr. Ji and Ms. Lian were too lazy to visit relatives and friends for dinner, so they stayed at home watching TV day and night, and even drew pictures to analyze the plot.
At that time, they seemed to be writing and drawing on the letter paper, and were talking about what "butt kicking" they could do!
Ji Yinhe's eyes lit up, and he immediately grabbed a pen and paper, stuffed them into his backpack, and strode out of the office.
——No matter what strange name that kind of picture is called, it is perfect to use that layout to show the process of solving a case!
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