32: Chapter 32 takes after Me 32: Chapter 32 takes after Me Wei Zhenguo repeatedly questioned for over half an hour, untangling the timeline and chain of evidence for the arson case at the waste collection station, before he paused to take a sip of water.
The case was still considered minor and had occurred in Xihong District, which was also Lü Xin’s hometown.
Wen Township was where his maternal grandparents lived.
He also knew the principle that “rabbits don’t eat the grass around their burrows,” so when he got the itch, he’d go to the towns and villages down the river from Wen Township to play with fire.
After setting a big fire, he finally took to his heels and fled.
In Xihong District, Lü Xin was mostly well-behaved most of the time.
It was only recently that he couldn’t resist any longer and set fire to a waste collection station, involving financial losses that may only amount to a thousand yuan.
From the police’s perspective, such a minor case was one of many, a waste collection station catching fire didn’t even warrant filing a report.
Now, with the dangling carrot of high case solving rates, local police stations prefer to solve the case before filing it…
Wei Zhenguo, at any rate, had no control over it.
Even if he were to lead, he couldn’t classify an unclear case as an “arson,” which would be purely self-torment…
Of course, if the case were solved, then arson would be categorized as arson, and not a point less should be added to the score on the combat power rankings.
The total score would even leap up due to it being a series of cases.
Wei Zhenguo narrowed his eyes as he looked at the young man across from him, speaking in a deep voice, “Besides this case, talk about the others as well.”
“There are no others,” Lü Xin said quietly.
Wei Zhenguo chuckled, “Do you think we only know about one of your cases?
If it were just one case, would I bother traveling hundreds of miles in the middle of the night to stake you out?”
According to Lü Xin’s usual character, he would have eight hundred retorts to throw back at this moment.
But whenever he moved and the iron ring on his hand clinked, and his feet always felt cold, the usual retorts that came naturally to him just couldn’t be spoken.
“Arson can carry a sentence of up to 10 years.
In Criminal Law, the charge for arson is exactly that: arson.
You set fires, so confess honestly.
Spend a few years behind bars, behave yourself, and maybe you’ll get out in one or two years.
If you resist and refuse to confess, the story I tell to the prosecutor’s office will change, ten years…
You’re only 20 this year.
In 10 years, you’ll be 30, having spent the best decade of your life in prison.
Do you want that?” Wei Zhenguo had interrogated more criminals than he had met women, and he knew exactly how to hit Lü Xin’s weak spot.
He confessed to the minor cases, aiming to get through this interrogation at the least cost, but for Wei Zhenguo and his colleagues, his confession was the beginning of the dam breaking.
It was like a con artist scamming a customer out of a small sum of money, in order to use that foothold to swindle even more.
Lü Xin’s face was now utterly out of his control, and his head involuntarily jerked forward, filled with regret…
yet uncertain about which moment of the past he regretted.
“Go on,” pressed Wei Zhenguo, his voice bearing down on Lü Xin once more.
The speed of Lü Xin’s confession increased, and his mood, paradoxically, lightened a bit.
It was the relief of the other shoe finally dropping, and the release from fear.
Wei Zhenguo gazed at Lü Xin with an intense look, waiting for him to clearly state the second case, then slowly said, “Continue.”
Lü Xin struggled, “No, I…”
“Remember this case?” Wei Zhenguo pulled out a photo from a thick stack, showing it to Lü Xin once again, this time the photo was from the tractor arson case.
Next to the ignition point of the tractor were Lü Xin’s fingerprints, a very compelling piece of evidence.
Feeling powerless to resist and noticing the stack of photos Wei Zhenguo had just brought out, Lü Xin had no choice but to continue confessing.
Just as Wei Zhenguo had guessed, Lü Xin had somewhat of an antisocial personality.
Since childhood, he enjoyed setting fires, burning insects, and as he grew up, he took pleasure in starting wildfires, deliberately igniting large items or even buildings.
But because he set those fires purely for enjoyment, the time, location, and scope of the fires tended to be random, which made the cases difficult to solve, and he himself had never been caught.
It was inevitable that his audacity grew.
However, when he sat on the cold “tiger bench,” the courage that had inflated over the years burst like a balloon, rapidly deflating.
Wei Zhenguo walked out of the interrogation room with a buoyant step, his excited ebony face beaming with a slick glow, his stomach aching from hunger.
Arson is one of the “eight major cases,” and although the cases committed by Lü Xin were of lesser value, the quantity was still considerable.
In total, five cases had been dug out, which rounded up, equated to a junior criminal of the first rank.
Moreover, there was also a greenhouse arson case worth a million.
The only pity was that the forest arson case didn’t seem to be Lü Xin’s doing, and due to insufficient evidence, they couldn’t pin it on him.
But no matter how you look at it, solving a series of arson cases was a very good achievement.
According to the scoring system of the force ranking list, the greenhouse arson case in Wen County was worth thirty points.
The other cases, depending on their nature, were worth at least twenty points each.
The captured Lü Xin was worth another ten or eight points.
In other words, by handling this set of cases, Wei Zhenguo could theoretically add fifty or sixty points to the Criminal Investigation Team’s strength.
because there were caps on various types of cases, the total points of the Criminal Investigation Team might not increase by as much as sixty, but it would still be very impressive.
Perhaps more points than Wei Zhenguo would earn from a year’s worth of cases.
No matter from which angle, today belonged to those days when the heavens were doling out favors, and all he had to do was laugh and open his mouth to catch them.
Wei Zhenguo remembered Lü Xin’s eyes with gentleness.
Such an obedient criminal; if all criminals were this compliant, the police profession would be much more popular.
Then looking at Jiang Yuan, Wei Zhenguo’s gaze became even gentler, “Doctor Jiang, please make sure to get that fingerprint identification report done later.”
“Sure,” Jiang Yuan agreed without hesitation, then turned towards Wang Zhong beside him.
“We’ll do it together later.” Wang Zhong understood Jiang Yuan’s hint and responded clearly.
Wei Zhenguo nodded happily and added, “I should be taking you out for a meal, but my daughter has already brought me food.
If you need any help in the future, be sure to come to me, and don’t be shy!”
“Not at all, not at all,” Wang Zhong answered hastily, eagerly tugging Jiang Yuan aside, then lowered his voice, “Keep an eye out in a while, I’m not just boasting.”
Soon, a female officer approached briskly.
The female officer had short, neat hair and fair skin.
In contrast with the rough old men around her, she stood out like a shining beer bottle bottom amidst jagged stones.
She drew eyes as she walked straight up to Wei Zhenguo, called out “Dad,” and handed over a substantial food container.
“Alright, no need to deliver next time, I can sort out something to eat myself,” Wei Zhenguo said, but still he opened the food container with a face full of bliss, not caring that it contained canteen food; instead, he smiled proudly at everyone and then patted his head, saying, “I forgot to introduce, Jiang Yuan, this is our new forensic doctor, Wei Yin, my daughter.”
“Hello,” Jiang Yuan nodded politely to Wei Yin.
“Doesn’t feel like it, does it?” Wei Zhenguo was keenly observing Jiang Yuan’s expression.
Jiang Yuan glanced at Wei Zhenguo’s dark face and couldn’t help saying, “Perhaps her skin takes after her mother…”
“The skin actually takes after me,” Wei Zhenguo abruptly pulled up his shirt, revealing his fair belly, and said, “It’s just that my face has tanned.”