Chapter 1576 Whose Fault Was It?
After Li Ye followed Xiao Lu to the branch office, a Captain Pang warmly shook his hand.
"Hello Comrade Li Ye, this is Pang Zhongxian. I really appreciate your assistance this time. The portrait you provided has been a huge help to us. I've been so worried about catching these bastards these past few days that I'm almost losing all my hair."
Looking at Captain Pang's gray hair, Li Ye believed in his eagerness to solve the case. Anyone would feel immense pressure to solve such disgusting cases that could easily lead to death.
However, Pang Zhongxian continued, "Comrade Li, when you're identifying the suspects later, don't listen to their babbling. These people are like dogs; the louder they bark, the more cowardly they are."
“.”
Li Ye was stunned, not understanding what Pang Zhongxian meant.
However, once he arrived at the scene of the identification, he understood completely.
In the early 1990s, many government departments in mainland China faced severe financial difficulties, and for a period of time, even the payment of salaries encountered various problems.
The one-way mirror used in Hong Kong and Taiwanese movies to identify suspects is an absolutely unnecessary luxury and would almost never appear in mainland China's public security departments.
In Li Ye's case, the identification of the suspect took place face-to-face in a room, which lacked protection for the privacy and safety of the witness.
So when Li Ye faced the suspects who had been "invited," they immediately started making a racket like monkeys that had been given a shot of liquor.
"Captain Pang, it looks like you're looking for someone to identify us? What kind of major case do you have that you're dealing with, one that needs to be solved within a limited time, and you're making innocent people like us take the blame?"
"Yes, Captain Pang, we're all unfortunate people. We can't be wronged anymore, or we really won't be able to survive."
“.”
"You've been wronged?"
Pang Zhongxian coldly glanced at these people, then sneered, "In my life, I, Pang Zhongxian, have never wronged a single innocent person. You all know what you've done. Confessing now will earn you some 'turning yourself in' credit."
"We didn't commit any crime, so why should we turn ourselves in? At most, we played a few rounds of Pai Gow, but a few cents or dollars doesn't really count as gambling."
"Exactly, what are we compared to this? There are plenty of filthy things going on in Red Romance, why don't you, Pang Zhongxian, bother to catch them?"
“.”
As these people's words became increasingly outrageous, Pang Zhongxian stopped paying attention to them and nodded to Li Ye instead.
One of the suspects immediately threatened Li Ye: "Young man, you're so young, but your eyesight must be pretty good. Take a good look at us, and don't be mistaken. We have so many brothers here, we won't allow you to wrongly accuse someone."
"Tch~"
Li Ye smiled sarcastically and pointed to the person he remembered most vividly.
His bio-hard drive still works very well, helping the forensic artist to create portraits that are almost perfectly accurate.
Therefore, Li Ye estimated that when Pang Zhongxian captured that person, he was already preparing to write a report of merit, because the drawing was so lifelike that if Li Ye were to make it up, it would never be so accurate.
When the man saw Li Ye pointing at him, he immediately became enraged and cursed, "You little brat, are you blind? How dare you say that I'm a bad person and that my ancestors were poor farmers for eight generations? If I really committed crimes, would I have been a poor farmer for eight generations?"
Li Ye could see the look of fear in the other person's eyes, as well as obvious bravado masking weakness.
This is exactly the same characteristic he described to Xiao Lu back then.
At this moment, Li Ye didn't talk to him, but instead pointed and pointed at six people in a row.
"This one, this one, this one, and this one—these six people were at the crime scene that day. Among them, the one with long hair hit Jiao Zuowang on the shoulder with a plane."
Jiao Zuowang was the burly man who fought bravely against those thugs that night. If he hadn't been strong enough and fought so hard for his wife and children, Li Ye might not have made it in time when he passed by.
Li Ye pointed out these six people in succession, which not only caused an uproar among the thugs at the scene, but also surprised Pang Zhongxian, Xiao Lu and others.
When Li Ye provided the portrait, he said he "remembered the appearance of one person," but now he remembers seven people in total?
Li Ye explained calmly, "That day was at night, and I stared at the main culprit for a long time, so I can clearly remember his appearance. I only glanced at these others, so it would be difficult to create a composite sketch. But now that we're face to face, I can still recognize them."
"Great, great, that's wonderful!"
Pang Zhongxian and the others rubbed their hands together excitedly.
They were arrested all at once when these people were gambling together, and unexpectedly, so many fish were caught in one net.
It's important to understand that the difficulty of the subsequent investigation is completely different when you catch one suspect versus seven suspects.
Seven people mean seven mouths. If you confess even a little slower than the others, you won't get a chance to confess.
Drinking is all about brotherhood, and confessions are all about brotherhood. It's estimated that with Pang Zhongxian and his team's professional interrogation techniques of "defeating them one by one," they'll soon be able to dig up the fact that they stole a few sticks when they were eight years old.
"Thank you so much, Comrade Li. You've been a huge help to us."
"It's alright, it's nothing. We'll contact you again if anything happens."
"Alright, alright, we'll intensify the interrogation these next couple of days. Once we solve the case, I'll definitely treat you to a good drink."
“.”
After Li Ye finished his business, Pang Zhongxian, Xiao Lu, and others saw him off, expressing their gratitude as they walked.
Li Ye felt quite relieved, after all, these people were too hateful. Just like Jiao Zuowang, who was walking peacefully with his wife and children, but almost lost his life.
In the 1990s, how many kind-hearted people were bullied to the point of tears by such people? To achieve the stable and harmonious social environment we see thirty years later, it will take a lot of hard work from many people.
However, when Li Ye was taken to the entrance of the branch office, he saw a large crowd of seventy or eighty people gathered there.
However, judging from their fearful and anxious expressions, and the fact that they were blocked outside by a security guard, it was clear that these people were not there to cause trouble, but rather to come in a panic after learning that their family members had been "invited" in.
Some of them recognized Pang Zhongxian and, seeing him escorting Li Ye out, rushed over, crying, "Captain Pang, we've been neighbors for over ten years! How could you arrest Xiao Sanzi? Don't you know that kid? He's always been an honest child!"
“That’s right! Our factory hasn’t paid wages for six months. Life was already tough enough. If you bring my husband in here, the neighbors will gossip about us! We can’t just take advantage of honest people and torment them.”
"Old Pang! What exactly did my son do wrong? Give me a straight answer. If he really did something wrong, I'll break his legs myself without you having to lift a finger."
"Hey, don't worry, this is just a crackdown on gambling. If they weren't gambling, they'll be back in two days at most."
"Can we pay the fine now and let the child go home immediately? The child is timid; I'm afraid he'll develop health problems after being here! Please, I beg you!"
A group of panicked and anxious family members surrounded Pang Zhongxian, crying and pestering him incessantly. In order to lull the crowd into a false sense of security, Pang Zhongxian did not tell them the truth and instead made up a whole mess of things.
These people were so preoccupied with harassing Pang Zhongxian that they didn't notice Li Ye, allowing Li Ye to leave quietly.
Sigh~
Looking out the car window at the elderly, his wife, and his children, Li Ye's initial thrill from solving the case vanished instantly.
Those thugs, no matter how long they haven't been paid, don't deserve any pity. Even the petty thugs who collect protection money at the school gate are guilty, let alone these bastards who beat women and children to death.
But these elderly people and children are truly heartbreaking.
Men are supposed to be the pillars of their families, and no matter what difficulties they encounter, they should grit their teeth and support their children. However, this has become a shadow over their lives.
Whose fault is this, really?
(End of this chapter)
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