Binjiang Police Affairs-Chapter 1206 - 65: Beating the Grass to Scare the Rabbit (Part 3)

At 3:27 AM, the Binjiang City Police Command Hall was still brightly lit.

This command hall was newly built and operational, connected to the surveillance signals of the main intersections in the city, highway exits, and the Bisha Ferry.

Director Chen sat at the command position, staring intently at the surveillance screens, smoking one cigarette after another.

Just before the Spring Festival, a murder took place in broad daylight on the street.

The Beihao Bridge is located in a bustling district; committing murder in such an area has extremely bad implications!

If they miss the "golden twenty-four hours" and let a few murderers escape, how can the citizens have a peaceful and harmonious Spring Festival?

Five hours ago, Mayor Wang personally called to inquire about the situation, demanding swift investigation and resolution, and ensuring that no suspects escape Binjiang. Considering the costs of solving the case, he even promised a special budget of 200,000 for the police.

Secretary Xu of the Political and Legal Committee rushed to the crime scene overnight to understand the incident and the capture status.

Three and a half hours ago, Secretary Lu personally called, saying that the Navy Chief was to visit Binjiang the day after tomorrow morning to pay respects to the old comrades of the Salted Fish's Rescue Boat Team being established and the Navy Retirement Home.

Although he didn't ask about the case details, the implication was clear: capture the murderers before the Navy Chief's arrival!

Solving a murder case in Binjiang is not just a slogan.

Ten years ago, a murder case occurred in the Port District, and the then Police Chief was dismissed for not solving it promptly.

That murder case had significant repercussions, with the then Deputy Director of Criminal Investigation, Captain of the Criminal Investigation Team, Director of Port District Bureau, Deputy Director of Criminal Investigation at the Port District Bureau, Captain of the Criminal Investigation Team at the Port District Bureau, as well as the Director and Criminal Investigation Department Director of the Binjiang Port Police Bureau under the Ministry of Transport—all involved in the case investigation—either retired or were dismissed!

Since then, whenever a murder case occurs, no one dares to treat it lightly.

Although the City Committee and Municipal Government haven't explicitly demanded a timeline for solving cases, if a murder case occurs and isn't solved in the shortest time, the main officials won't last long in their positions.

Given this context, Director Chen's pressure is imaginable.

He extinguished the cigarette and was about to light another when Vice Director Feng's call came through the walkie-talkie.

"Director Chen, Director Chen, Suspect Number Three has been captured, Suspect Number Three has been captured!"

"Where was the capture, and what about the other suspects?"

"Captured at the Jiezhi Gate Checkpoint; Old Wei has already gone there, and we're organizing a force to hunt down the other suspects!"

The seven little punks committed the crime in broad daylight, witnessed by many citizens at the time.

As the Spring Festival approached, grassroots station officers were all on duty, with police and auxiliary police on duty at checkpoints into and out of the city. After receiving the City Bureau Command Center's orders, they responded rapidly, taking less than half an hour from receiving public reports to blocking large and small exits from the city.

Old Wei is very experienced in handling cases and makes decisive decisions. He organized the criminal police to figure out the case's details within one and a half hours, successfully capturing two suspects with the assistance from the Traffic Police Team, Patrol Team, and several branch bureaus.

Now they've captured the third.

Seven people committed the crime, with three captured, which provides accountability both upwards and downwards.

Director Chen slightly relaxed, raised the walkie-talkie, and said, "Interrogate quickly and report immediately once the interrogation results are out."

"Yes!"

...

Captain Wei had been urgently assembling the Major Case Team, Chonggang Branch Criminal Police Team, and Plainclothes Police Team for investigation since receiving orders at 9:30 last night, having moved through six locations as if he were in a battle.

He rushed to the Jiezhi Gate Security Checkpoint and asked loudly as soon as he got off the car, "Where's the person, where is he?"

"Report to Captain Wei, the suspect is inside."

"How did you catch him?"

"He climbed into a large vegetable truck trying to sneak out of the city while we were inspecting the vehicle."

"Did he resist?"

"No, with so many of us, he wouldn't dare resist even with ten times the courage." The deputy director of the Jiezhi Gate Police Station, never expecting to capture a murderer, couldn't hide his excitement.

"Well done, great job." Captain Wei patted his arm and walked into the checkpoint's duty room.

A young man in his early twenties, wearing a black cotton jacket, squatted in the corner.

His hands were already cuffed, watched by two police officers and an auxiliary police officer.

Captain Wei gestured for the police to lift the suspect, then shouted, "What's your name? Raise your head and answer my questions!"

The suspect, startled, nervously raised his head, "Wei Xuexiang."

"Where are you from?"

"From Jianfu."

"Jianfu is big, where exactly in Jianfu?"

"Tianpu."

"Do you know why we captured you?"

Wei Xuexiang hesitated, then drooped his head, saying, "I know."

Captain Wei pressed, "Know what?"

"We... we beat someone up."

"Just beat someone up?"

"I... I didn't even make a move; it was Lin Yonggui and the others who did."

"Besides Lin Yonggui, who else?"

Wei Xuexiang hadn't expected the Binjiang Police to act so quickly and was terrified, saying, "Lin Shuisheng, Gu Chenchen, Gu Yu, Zhang Hao, and... and Li Xiaowu."

"Think carefully before you speak!"

"And Lin Shuiqing."

"Where are they?"

"I don't know."

"Don't know?"

"We started running together, but then someone shouted murder, I got scared and just... just ran desperately, and eventually lost them."

"Did you commit murder?"

"No, we didn't kill anyone; we... we just wanted to teach Wei Liangcheng a lesson, and I didn't even get a chance to make a move."

"Why did you want to teach Wei Liangcheng a lesson?"

"He had issues with President Zhang, talked bad behind President Zhang's back, borrowed money from President Zhang without returning it, and even stole his clients. President Zhang is good to us, so we wanted to stand up for him."

Details can be slowly interrogated later; the urgent task is to capture the remaining little punks.

Captain Wei grabbed his hair, stared at him and asked, "Which direction did you run in at that time?"

"The bus station."

"Where did you realize you lost them?"

"At the entrance of the People's Hospital."

Dawn was approaching.

When daylight comes, citizens will either be commuting or shopping for the New Year, and people will be everywhere, making it even harder to apprehend them.

Captain Wei wasted no time, taking the city map from the Major Case Team Leader, spreading it out on the desk, and drawing a circle with his pen: "Immediately notify the Chonggang Branch to organize forces to search this area."

"Yes!"

"We can't loosen up at the hardware market and steel market; continue organizing forces for the arrest. Make it clear to their fellow countrymen that any information must be reported immediately. Anyone found hiding or harboring them will be held criminally responsible."

"Understood!"

"Dawn is approaching, we must strictly guard the bus station and ferry terminal!"

...

The beef noodle stand at the west gate of Number Four Pier, Binjiang Port, was getting crowded with more people coming to eat. All four small tables were occupied.

Chinese ports are the most efficient in the world.

Even close to the Spring Festival, on New Year's Eve, loading and unloading go on as usual, unlike ports in developed Western countries where workers often rest or even strike at the drop of a hat. Also unlike some ports in Southeast Asia and Africa, where dockworkers are always loafing around.

Employees of Number Four Pier, having worked nearly all night, found the unit's midnight snack unappetizing, so they took turns treating each other to beef noodles.

Han Yu kept his back to them, not daring to look up, because among the dozen or so dockworkers eating noodles, at least half knew him, including his brother-in-law's former subordinate at the Port Authority.

He kept signaling to his senior brother to hurry up and act.

The reason Xu Mingyuan hadn't acted yet was that he wanted to observe a bit more, to know if the partners of those two Jianfu people were nearby.

As for whether those two Jianfu people were the murderers the Command Center wanted to catch, Xu Mingyuan was not doubtful; he was almost certain they were.

Their shoes were very dirty, and there was a lot of mud on their pants, indicating they hadn't dared to take the main road but had run along the river.

They looked panicked, glancing around while eating noodles, casting occasional looks towards the Number Four Pier yard, likely pondering whether they could slip onto a ship and escape by water.

Xu Mingyuan was silently glad that Salted Fish wasn't wearing a police uniform; if he were, they probably wouldn't have dared to come over. Suddenly, Salted Fish's phone rang.

Xu Haoran instinctively raised his head and pretended to be calm as he asked, "Brother Xu, are you paying, or should I?"

Xu Mingyuan realized that the call might be from Director Wang and knew that among the dock workers eating noodles, someone might recognize Salted Fish, so he dared not wait any longer. He stood up and said, "Of course I'll pay. Today it's on me; next time it's your turn."

"Alright."

Xu Mingyuan picked up a roll of paper, tore off a piece, wiped his mouth, pretended to throw away trash, and quietly walked behind one of the suspects.

Xu Haoran stood up as well.

Han Yu still didn't dare to move, afraid of being recognized by the Old Brothers of the Port Authority.

Although Xu Mingyuan was now well-off, he remained frugal in his attire, wearing the dark blue inspection uniform issued by Customs, which without the arm patch, looked similar to the Port Authority's work clothes.

In fact, people working at docks and shipyards all favored this kind of dark blue work uniform.

Since transferring to Customs, Xu Haoran had always followed Xu Mingyuan's example, including in matters of dress.

The two suspects assumed they were dockworkers and continued to discreetly watch the Yanjiang Road direction, thinking about their next move, when Xu Mingyuan suddenly grabbed one of them by the neck, and with a loud bang, the suspect and the entire small table were pinned to the ground.

"Don't move. We're the police!"

"Did you hear that? Stay put!"

A former Criminal Investigation Team Captain and a former Deputy Battalion Commander in the field army, either could handle the two suspects alone.

The beef noodle stand owner and a few dockworkers eating noodles hadn't even reacted when the two suspects were firmly pinned to the cold ground by Xu Mingyuan and Xu Haoran.

"What's going on?"

"Don't wrongfully accuse good people."

"Why are you shouting? We won't wrongly accuse a good person, nor will we let a bad person go!"

Han Yu had full confidence in his senior brother and Brother Haoran's skills, so he hadn't even thought about going to help. He stood up, grinned, and said, "Director Jiang, Master Wang, don't worry, we're conducting an investigation."

Deputy Director Jiang of Number Four Pier at the Port Authority snapped out of it and asked in surprise, "Salted Fish! When did you get here?"

"I arrived before you guys."

Han Yu greeted the officers and workers of Number Four Pier and signaled the beef noodle stand owner not to be afraid before pressing the call button on his phone and bringing it to his ear with a smile, "Director Wang, we caught two motorcycle thieves earlier tonight, and now we've caught two more suspects while eating beef noodles."

Wang Wenhong asked in shock, "Are they the suspects the Command Center wants to apprehend?"

"They should be." Han Yu squatted down, using the streetlight to look at the suspect pinned by his senior brother, and laughed, "Height, body type, accent, and age all match the suspect characteristics Director Liu reported, and one of them even has bloodstains."

"Keep an eye on them, we'll be there soon."

"Alright, hurry up, we didn't bring handcuffs."

The two suspects, though they didn't understand the Linghai dialect, realized they'd been caught red-handed, trembling in fear, not daring to shout or struggle anymore.

With rich experience in handling cases, Xu Mingyuan, worried about making a mistake, asked sternly in Mandarin, "Do you know why we're arresting you?"

Han Yu saw the suspects didn't dare to respond and reminded, "Did you hear? Answer the question!"

"Yes."

"What do you know?"

"We... we were fighting."

"Just fighting?"

"Yes."

"Where did you fight?"

"Beihao Bridge."

Fighting at Beihao Bridge aligned with the details.

Xu Mingyuan seized the moment and asked, "Why are just the two of you here? Where are the others?"

The suspect realized it was no use lying, miserably admitting, "We split up while running. I don't know where they went."

"You don't know. Then why did you buy so many stewed eggs?"

"We... we wanted to go home and buy some eggs to eat on the way."