On the interrogation

Although Li Wenxiu and her husband were both arrested, as parents, Ye Min and Meng Cheng both hoped that they would receive the most severe punishment under the law. They were thinking about this matter in their hearts, so in the afternoon, while Liang Juan was still there, Meng Cheng went to the police station to inquire about the situation.

But at that time, transportation was not very convenient. The farm where Li and Xu worked was not close to Donghe County. It took the public security comrades from the farm three or four hours to go there and back by bicycle.

When Meng Cheng ran out of the station, the comrades who went to the farm to investigate the situation had not returned yet, so he was unable to obtain much useful information.

So after breakfast the next day, Meng Cheng went to the police station again.

This time he met with the public security comrades who came to the farm to investigate, and learned from them the entire process of Xu Haiyang buying medicinal materials and making drugs.

At the same time, he also learned that the case progress was stuck again.

In fact, this case is not complicated. Li Wenxiu was caught on the spot in the process of stealing the baby, and important ingredients with anesthetic effects were indeed found in the hot water kettle used by Ye Min and others. It can be said that all the evidence is complete.

The difficulty lies in how to convict Xu Haiyang.

Of course, after the police from Xia Nongchang came back with evidence, the matter became less difficult. They had already obtained all the confessions of the relevant personnel, which was enough to convict Xu Haiyang.

The problem is that Li and Xu had agreed on their statements at some point. Li Wenxiu insisted that Xu Haiyang did not understand Chinese medicine, did not know what the prepared medicine was used for, and did not know that she wanted to exchange the children.

Xu Haiyang also said that he had always thought it was a painkiller because Li Wenxiu always felt pain after giving birth, and she had to pay for her medical expenses for childbirth herself. Their financial conditions were not good, so they had to take the prescription to the barefoot doctor to get the medicine.

He also said that he had never given Li Wenxiu drugs, and he didn't know that Li Wenxiu would be so bold as to switch the baby. If he had known about this earlier, he would have persuaded Li Wenxiu not to go to this step.

Therefore, although the police have evidence that Xu Haiyang hired someone to make drugs, which can prove that he is involved in this incident, they still cannot determine whether he actively participated in this incident.

Whether Xu Haiyang participated in the child swap incident passively or actively will greatly affect his sentence.

The latter will go to jail, while the former may just be subject to labor reform.

Xu Haiyang was originally sent down to a farm, and then sentenced to labor reform. For him, it was just a matter of moving from a farm with relatively rich resources to a farm with more difficult conditions.

Rounding it off, it's nothing.

If not for this, Zhao Zhenghua, the police captain in charge of the case, would not have found it so difficult.

It would be fine if the confessions of Li and Xu were true, but Liang Juan saw clearly that the person who drugged her was Xu Haiyang.

Moreover, they all thought that the probability of Li Wenxiu drugging the patient by herself was not high, and she probably had help. Therefore, they all thought that Xu Haiyang was not innocent, but was highly involved.

If Xu Haiyang cannot be brought to justice this time, not only will Zhao Zhenghua himself be unable to get over the hurdle in his heart, but it will also affect the public security if the news gets out.

When he saw Meng Cheng, Zhao Zhenghua was extremely happy.

Although the public security and the military are not in the same system, Meng Cheng's unit is stationed in a commune under Donghe County, and there is a lot of communication between the two sides. Even many police officers in the county public security bureau and police stations are retired military personnel.

Moreover, after the founding of the People's Republic of China, this area of ​​southwest China has never been peaceful. In the 1950s and 1960s, bandits often appeared. Because it is close to the national border, there are many spies and secret agents, and the public security and the army often cooperate.

Zhao Zhenghua and Meng Cheng had dealt with each other before and were old acquaintances.

But Zhao Zhenghua attached great importance to this case, not only because Ye Min was Meng Cheng's daughter-in-law, and the one who was almost switched was his daughter, but also because this case was not small.

Because there are troops stationed there, Donghe County is generally stable except for the occasional activities of spies and secret agents. There are fewer migrant workers than in other places.

The comrades at the police station are most busy every day with trivial matters like paying the neighbor for one extra kilowatt-hour of electricity used by the public stall or occupying half an inch of your land when building a house.

Compared with these cases, child swapping is not a big case.

In addition, after the military leaders learned about this incident, they were also very concerned about the outcome and specifically called the director of the county public security bureau. After the director learned about it, he hurriedly put pressure on the director. As for Zhao Zhenghua, he had no choice but to take this case seriously.

Now that the case has reached a bottleneck, Zhao Zhenghua has set his sights on Meng Cheng.

Firstly, he was the victim and must want to bring Li and Xu to justice more than he did; secondly, he could even interrogate spies, so maybe he could find a way to pry open the mouths of Li and Xu.

Zhao Zhenghua was not wrong. Upon learning that Xu Haiyang might be okay, Meng Cheng immediately took the matter to heart and quickly made a decision that he wanted to meet the couple separately.

…

The first person Meng Cheng saw was Xu Haiyang.

Xu Haiyang has always been a person who pays attention to his image. Even after being demoted, he would try his best to keep himself neat and tidy. But after being arrested, he could no longer care about these things. When he was taken into the interrogation room, his hair was messy, his clothes were full of wrinkles, and his shoulders seemed to be hunched. He looked much older than his actual age.

But Meng Cheng didn't care too much about Xu Haiyang's image. As soon as he saw him in the interrogation room, he rushed up and punched him hard.

Xu Haiyang was originally sitting quietly on a stool, but after being hit by a punch, he fell to the ground along with the stool, and he screamed in pain.

Meng Cheng did not stop there, but went up and grabbed Xu Haiyang by the collar, half-lifted him up, and punched him in the face again and again, each punch hitting the flesh.

The process happened so quickly that by the time Zhao Zhenghua could react, Xu Haiyang had already been beaten black and blue.

Zhao Zhenghua's face suddenly changed. Violent interrogation is a taboo. If it goes wrong, he will be punished! If he had known that Meng Cheng would react like this after seeing him, he would never ask him for help no matter what he said.

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, Zhao Zhenghua shouted at the young police officer standing there in a daze: "What are you still standing there for? Pull them apart!"

While yelling, he rushed forward and hugged Meng Cheng's waist. Together with the stunned police officer, he pulled the two men apart and dragged Meng Cheng out of the interrogation room.

When they got outside the interrogation room, Zhao Zhenghua pushed Meng Cheng forward, closed the half-open door, raised his head and asked sullenly, "Do you know what you were doing just now?"

Meng Cheng was so crazy when he beat people in the interrogation room, but now he calmed down quickly and said calmly, "I held back."

"Is what you told me the same thing?" Zhao Zhenghua said angrily, pointing at the interrogation room, "Do you know that this is called violent interrogation? If this gets out of hand, we will all be punished? Do you still want to wear this military uniform?"

Meng Cheng simply asked back calmly: "Who told you that this is called violent interrogation?"

Zhao Zhenghua couldn't help but roll his eyes: "Do you think I'm blind and can't see that you were beating someone just now?"

"I did beat someone just now, but that was just my way of expressing my anger towards the criminals as a victim of a sex-switch incident. It had nothing to do with the interrogation."

This excuse...it's possible to get away with it if you insist.

But... Zhao Zhenghua asked: "Even if you beat Xu Haiyang as a victim, you must remember that you are a soldier. If this matter gets out of hand, do you still want a future?"

It would have been better if he hadn't said that. When he heard this, Meng Cheng, who had been calm throughout the beating, was filled with anger. He pointed at the interrogation room and said, "If this kind of person can get away with harming my wife and daughter while I'm out there risking my life, and I hesitate to even beat him up, then I'd rather take off this military uniform!"

Zhao Zhenghua was silent. As a friend, he certainly hoped that Meng Cheng could remain rational at all times. But he also knew that Meng Cheng was a human being with feelings. It was impossible for him not to be angry when his daughter was almost switched.

He has never been a coward.

Zhao Zhenghua sighed: "Then let's proceed to the next interrogation."

Meng Cheng looked grim, but his tone was firm: "I will pry open his mouth."

Zhao Zhenghua believed that he had the ability, but was afraid that he would continue to beat people after entering, so he was a little hesitant. Meng Cheng saw it and took the initiative to say, "I won't hit him again."

"Can I trust you?"

Meng Cheng did not swear or swear, but begged Zhao Zhenghua to believe him, saying only, "More than anyone else, I hope that he will be severely punished by the law."

He could beat Xu Haiyang, but he couldn't kill him.

Not only for his future, but also for his wife and two children, he could not let them live with the stigma of being a relative of a murderer.

Understanding Meng Cheng's intention, Zhao Zhenghua hesitated and said, "Okay, you continue the interrogation later. I'll go see how Xu Haiyang is doing first."

…

When Meng Cheng returned to the interrogation room and saw Xu Haiyang, his first words were: "Do you know why I dared to beat you?"

Xu Haiyang received many beatings after the Great Movement, but none of them hurt as much as this one. Therefore, he shuddered when he saw Meng Cheng and did not dare to speak when he heard the questions.

Meng Cheng didn't care whether he spoke or not. After pausing for half a minute, he continued, "Because you are going to die. Even if the higher-ups knew that I used illegal means during the interrogation, they would not punish me for a death row prisoner."

When he heard the word "death row prisoner", Xu Haiyang's pupils shrank and he opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

Li Wenxiu said that if the truth was revealed, she would try her best to protect him, and what he needed to do was to try his best to get himself out of this matter.

The interrogation room was not big, only about five or six square meters at most, with only a table inside and a light bulb hanging above it. When Meng Cheng, the recorder, and Xu Haiyang sat down on both sides of the table, they could clearly see the expressions of the people opposite them under the strong light.

Although Xu Haiyang was beaten black and blue, Meng Cheng could still see the subtle changes in his expression. He sneered and asked, "Why, you don't believe me? Between labor reform and life in prison, everyone would choose the former. But Xu Haiyang, do you really think Li Wenxiu can be on the same page with you and use her life to exchange for your labor reform?"

Xu Haiyang's pupils contracted again and his lips moved again.

"What? You think that Li Wenxiu will not be sentenced to death if the plot fails?" Meng Cheng waved his hand outside the glass window. After a while, someone brought in a stack of newspapers. He flipped through them and read, "In 1970, a group of drug traffickers were arrested in Shanghai. The criminals were sentenced as follows: Zhang XX, death penalty, Li XX, death penalty, Chen XX, death penalty..."

Meng Cheng read out four case reports in a row before Xu Haiyang spoke, explaining in a pale tone: "We are not human traffickers, we..."

"You said you are not human traffickers, so you are not? Who knows if you will sell my daughter or raise her after you succeed in switching the baby?"

"We didn't!"

"You can still say that you have not committed any crime, but go out and ask, will anyone believe this? Moreover, you said that you were deceived, how would you know what Li Wenxiu was thinking?"

Meng Cheng flipped open the newspaper, took out a copy, pushed it in front of Xu Haiyang and said, "In this case, the criminals committed a crime for the first time, and it failed, but they were still convicted of child trafficking. Do you think they haven't thought of this way of getting away with it? Xu Haiyang, let me tell you, the basis of the law is facts, not just a few empty words from you."

At this point, Meng Cheng took back the newspapers, folded them all up and said, "I'll tell you the truth. Li Wenxiu has confessed that you were the one who ordered this and that she was coerced. With her testimony, it's wishful thinking for you to get away with it. The only difference is whether you are the principal offender or an accomplice."

Meng Cheng paused, and his sharp eyes met Xu Haiyang's directly: "Let me put it more clearly. You and Li Wenxiu, one will be sentenced to death and the other will go to jail. Do you think she can really give up her life for you?"

Xu Haiyang finally panicked and asked hesitantly, "What did she say?"

"She confessed quite a bit," Meng Cheng leaned back so that his line of sight was slightly higher than Xu Haiyang's, looking down on him. "She said that it was you who brought up the idea of ​​switching the children because life on the farm was too hard and you didn't want your daughter to be born into such a life."

Xu Haiyang's face changed suddenly. Although he resisted the urge to say anything, Meng Cheng knew that he had guessed correctly from his expression. He continued, "She also said that you gave her the drug. You asked her to pretend to fall down to attract Liang Juan's attention and then put the drug into the thermos. She came forward to swap the children because she was coerced by you. Before she did it, you threatened her with the two children. If the matter was exposed, she would choose to get you out of this matter..."

"She lied!"

Seeing Meng Cheng explain everything in detail, except that he and Li Wenxiu had reversed their roles, Xu Haiyang believed him completely. He could no longer sit still after hearing this. He stood up with his hands on the table and shouted in a low voice: "She is the mastermind! I tried to persuade her, but she didn't listen and insisted on doing this. What can I do?"

The police officer standing nearby saw this and stepped forward to hold Xu Haiyang's shoulders and said, "Sit down!"

"I really didn't mean to hurt anyone!"

Looking at the man wailing in pain in front of him, the warmth on Meng Cheng's face gradually disappeared, but his tone was still calm: "It's useless for you to say that you are not the mastermind. After Li Wenxiu changed her confession, your two confessions are not only contradictory, but also full of doubts. Unless you confess everything and the police verify that you are not lying, you may be able to save your life. Otherwise, only death awaits you."

Meng Cheng stood up, looked down at the bruised man in front of him and said, "Do you want to tell the truth or die with a confession full of mistakes? You decide for yourself."

After saying this, he turned around and walked out of the interrogation room without waiting for Xu Haiyang to speak.

Just as he opened the door to the interrogation room, Xu Haiyang's decision echoed behind him: "I confess! I confess everything!"