Diary of a Criminal Investigator-Chapter 394: Do You Think You Can Handle It?

Chapter 394: Chapter 394: Do You Think You Can Handle It?

Solving a case is often like this, crucial clues are usually discovered inadvertently.

No one would have thought that the crime suspect would be found through the comparison of a half-face photo and the owner of a motorhome.

Once the target is identified, finding the person is not that difficult, especially when the person has a vehicle.

The order had just been issued when a photo was found of the last time the suspect left Haizhou City via the highway toll station.

The killer disposing of bodies at the Warehouse Valley landfill one and two months ago indicates that they stayed in Haizhou City for some time.

All traffic road photos are stored for more than three months. The traffic police simply entered the license plate number into the system and found their trail.

"Tianzhou City?"

After leaving Haizhou City, the suspect got on the highway heading to Tianzhou City.

"We have already contacted the traffic police over in Tianzhou City. Twenty-three days ago, the vehicle exited the highway at Tianzhou City’s toll and hasn’t been on the highway since. The suspect is most likely still in Tianzhou City."

Of course, traveling by motorhome doesn’t necessarily mean using the highway. Not re-emerging from the highway entrance only suggests a high probability, not certainty, of remaining in Tianzhou.

"The traffic police over there are already investigating, if there’s news..."

Bzz bzz.

Ren Qiang was reporting when his phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Uh-huh, good, thank you!"

Ren Qiang took the call in front of Qin Yong, which meant it was surely related to the case.

Indeed, after hanging up, Ren Qiang excitedly reported: "Captain Qin, we’ve found him!"

Two hours later, at a motorhome camp in the South Suburb of Tianzhou City.

"Is this the vehicle?"

"The license plate matches, it’s him."

Outside the camp, Qin Yong personally led the team to make the arrest.

"Alright, confirm the target. Team one and two will circle around; team three, approach head-on. Initiate the capture operation immediately."

Eighteen robust men formed three teams, surging toward the motorhome camp like a tide.

The suspect was pinned down on a deck chair.

"You..."

The suspect was just about to shout when Ren Qiang whipped out his credentials: "Police!"

"Hu Zhigang, you’re under arrest!"

At the moment Hu Zhigang saw the credentials, he went entirely limp, ceasing his struggle and allowing Ren Qiang and the others to control him.

A few people were inspecting the vehicle externally and quickly made a discovery.

"Captain Qin, there’s a body inside the motorhome!"

Upon boarding, Qin Yong saw an open freezer with two dismembered corpses inside.

With one glance, Qin Yong confirmed that the method of dismemberment was identical to that of the bodies found in the Warehouse Valley landfill.

Ren Qiang led Hu Zhigang into the motorhome: "Any more?!"

"No, they’re all here."

"Take him away!"

Hu Zhigang was escorted back to Haizhou City, along with the motorhome.

Lu Chuan and Liu Guodong spent an hour conducting a crime scene investigation of the motorhome.

"We found the murder weapon, and we discovered traces of Wang Lili’s and Su Xiaochen’s blood in the freezer."

Additionally, Lu Chuan found traces of blood from three other individuals, neither belonging to Wang Lili nor Su Xiaochen, nor to the two bodies inside.

This suggests that Hu Zhigang’s freezer has held at least three more people.

The identities of the two bodies in the freezer were quickly confirmed.

One was a missing person from Baozhou City half a year ago, and the other was from Tianzhou City, whom Hu Zhigang had killed only ten days prior.

Interrogation Room.

"Hu Zhigang, it’s time. Speak up, how many people did you kill?"

"Just two, you’ve all seen them, lying in the freezer."

Hu Zhigang sat slouched in the interrogation chair, manipulating his left thumb with his right thumb and forefinger, completely unfazed by Ren Qiang’s questioning, speaking in a dismissive tone.

Such types, Ren Qiang had seen many.

They had nothing to lose.

But now in the interrogation room, it’s not just anyone’s backyard.

"Hu Zhigang, if you’re still not truthful at this point, not coming clean, do you think you can really get away with this?"

"Officer, I never planned to escape. The two people I killed are in the freezer of my motorhome. It’s a done deal; do what you will."

A done deal?

Ren Qiang got up, lit a cigarette, and walked over to Hu Zhigang, separated by stainless steel bars.

"Want a smoke?"

"Thank you."

Taking the offered cigarette, Hu Zhigang inhaled deeply with a sense of enjoyment: "How did you discover me?"

"How we did it is beside the point. Let me tell you where you’re going next."

"Isn’t it prison?"

"No, no. First, you’re going to be held in a detention center. Prison is where you’ll end up last, and you won’t stay there long because you’ll face execution."

"Is there a difference between a detention center and a prison?"

"Of course there’s a difference!"

Ren Qiang leaned against the bars, speaking softly as if narrating a story.

"Prisons are strictly managed. Once inside, you have to comply with rules. No one dares to stir up trouble or do anything secretly. Plus, you’re a death row inmate; chances are you might get a single cell, but..."

"Detention centers are different."

Ren Qiang glanced at Hu Zhigang and continued: "You’re a graduate student?"

Hu Zhigang nodded: "Yes, I used to be a surgeon, specifically in orthopedics, then I went out to work in cosmetic surgery for a while."

"You don’t need to say, we’ve thoroughly investigated your history, including why you left orthopedics and shifted to cosmetic surgery."

"You know?"

"Of course, we know. Because of a surgery, you were scapegoated, and the hospital forced you to resign, right?"

Suddenly, Hu Zhigang laughed: "You know that much, then tell me, wasn’t I wronged?"

"The incident involved the dean’s daughter; why was I left holding the bag in the end?"

"Is that why you killed her?"

Hu Zhigang’s expression shifted as he replied: "Don’t accuse me wrongly of that; I didn’t kill her."

"Didn’t kill her?"

"We found traces of seven different people’s blood in your motorhome’s freezer."

"Apart from Su Xiaoman from Zhangzhou, Wang Lili from Huangzhou, and the two inside the freezer now, there are at least three whose identities remain unknown."

"The dean’s daughter of that hospital disappeared five years ago. Are you claiming it had nothing to do with you?"

"Evidence, you lack evidence to accuse me unjustly."

Accuse you unjustly?

"Alright, let’s not discuss that. Let’s talk about the detention center, given your situation..."

"Not cooperating with the case will prolong your stay in the detention center, potentially half a year or even a year."

"Do you know what kind of people are kept in a detention center?"

"Petty hooligans, robbers, thieves, dregs of society roaming the streets; nothing compared to a murder case."

"Outside, if you accidentally bump into someone while walking, what should you say?"

"You should say sorry, and the other person says it’s okay."

"But in a detention center, you can’t say that..."

"You have to say... Are you fucking blind?! Didn’t you see you bumped into me?!"

Ren Qiang suddenly raised his voice, startling Hu Zhigang.

"Otherwise, you’d be carrying shit, living in a toilet... Do you think you can handle that?"