National Forensic Doctor-Chapter 852 - 791: Collective Arrest

Pang Jidong had spent quite some time to fully understand the case before he arrived at the hospital to begin interrogating Niu Er.

At this time, both of Niu Er’s legs had been put in casts and adjusted on the hospital bed, and he lay there looking utterly despondent at the ceiling, as though he didn’t care about anything at all.

Pang Jidong turned on the law enforcement recorder and started with an introduction, "We are officers from the Luojin City Criminal Police Detachment... we are now questioning you in accordance with the law..."

Pang Jidong also showed Niu Er the notice of litigation rights and obligations and signed it, then asked him his name, ID number, age, and gender—In novels from years ago, when the police would ask this, there would always be someone who couldn’t help but retort, "Can’t you see for yourself?"

Nowadays, with over 100 genders in Europe and America, even if the domestic versions haven’t been updated, what’s wrong with foresight in asking?

Throughout the interrogation, Niu Er exhibited a disheartened demeanor, appearing as if he did not care about anything, answering questions only when asked but his responses were brief and weak.

Pang Jidong didn’t give it much thought and methodically continued with his inquiries.

Some police officers used sophisticated psychological tactics during interrogations, capable of dissecting a suspect’s inner world as effortlessly as slicing through a meal—often leaving suspects exposed and vulnerable, pulling out their poignant secrets for everyone to see.

Pang Jidong was data-driven, constantly revolving around certain key points when questioning, often pre-establishing his own information then probing deeply, persistently puncturing the suspect’s lies, forcing them to confess honestly. If one were to describe his method, it was more like a chainsaw approach, resolutely and powerfully cutting downward, not blaming the uncooperative but himself if unable to cut through.

Under such circumstances, it was either silence from the suspect—which was not allowed domestically—or it was about whether the stored information sufficed.

When comparing police with criminal suspects, the information was inherently asymmetric. While suspects knew certain things unknown to the police, they could never be sure what the police actually knew or did not.

Especially now with various electronic devices available, details about time, location, and people could often be ascertained indirectly, making fabricating lies tremendously difficult.

A better lying strategy involved falsifying only on a pivotal point, something more real than the nine-truths-to-one-lie approach. However, any question could be broken down into innumerable smaller questions, and once police began to deconstruct these, lying became exceedingly tough.

For example, with the question "Did you kill the person?" the procedural breakdown was "How did you do it?"

Identifying the crime scene was not as simple as just pointing it out; it often required the suspects to reenact the murder or the disposal of the body.

If it was fabricated, aligning the lie with the forensic doctor’s assessment was necessary.

Most murderers fell at this stage.

Niu Er faced even more issues; he couldn’t even continue lying about his drug use.

Pang Jidong said calmly, "Think it over. You’ve transported and sold drugs multiple times, assaulted others... without any merit and an aggravating factor of failing to confess truthfully, your death is merely a matter of time."

Niu Er’s body shuddered almost imperceptibly.

Many people, when in good health and before facing real challenges, fantasize that they are not afraid of death or could accept it—this is a trick played by the brain on humans because life is too brief in this world, barely a century, and without some self-deception, it’s easy to be scared to death.

Thus, embracing death as a return is truly a noble quality, requiring a grand vision and ideals behind it. Han Feizi said, "Once the army is arranged, make the soldiers embrace death as if returning home, but that is not as easy as what Prince Cheng Fu achieves." Even for those accustomed to life and death during the era of the Warring States, facing death was still excruciating.

For Niu Er, a drug dealer, it was naturally difficult to rely on mental strength at this moment.

Pang Jidong continued, "If you honestly disclose the details of the case and name a few more drug dealers that we don’t have on record, this would be considered mitigating, and if the drug dealers you mention are ones we haven’t captured, that would count as merit. With meritorious service reducing the sentence, while life imprisonment can’t be guaranteed, a suspended death sentence is still possible."

"I..." Niu Er’s throat went dry.

"Let’s look at it from another angle, if you don’t come clean, then you’re definitely facing imminent death. Don’t even think about it - and I assure you, your case would be tried very quickly since if it’s just you, the case is simple, and we would transfer it to the prosecution immediately," Pang Jidong half-truthfully stated, but Niu Er was unable to discern.

He was a drug dealer, and this was his first time falling into the hands of the police.

Thus, even though Niu Er had a notorious and brutal reputation on the outside, his personal experience with prison was a blank slate.

"If I identify some people for you, what if you say you already had them on record? Wouldn’t that mean I spoke in vain?" Niu Er had no qualms about using his associates to gain merit; his greater fear was being deceived by the police.

"After making the record, it means the matter is on file. By reviewing the files later, we can naturally know whether we had prior knowledge of this person." Seeing this, Pang Jidong knew that Niu Er had surrendered and directly asked, "Let’s start with your subordinates. Where are they currently?"

...

Beijing.

Narcotics Squad.

Shi Zhonglong rushed into the office and exclaimed, "Keep some people free, we might have a task soon."

"What task?"

"I have to go now, I had previously made an appointment."

"Do we need to work overtime? I really can’t handle more today."

The police officers in the office were writing reports and talking, not taking it too seriously. If it were a formal operation, Shi Zhonglong would have named specific individuals.

Shi Zhonglong grunted and said, "Captain Jiang said they are sending a list over, a list of Niu Er’s acquaintances. We’ll gather a few people and investigate based on those clues. If there are those we can arrest, we’ll round them up."

"Niu Er handed over his guys? Ha, he must be having a tough time," a police officer immediately laughed, the scar extending to his ear looking somewhat terrifying.

Shi Zhonglong turned back sternly and said, "He probably doesn’t want to die. He was hiding them pretty well, and had already started arranging his supplies. I guess his men must have relayed some information to him."

Among drug dealers, there is no honor, and higher-grade drug dealers may not even know where their subordinates sleep at night. Just as Niu Er wouldn’t share information about his safe houses or else he’d have been caught this time.

But some information always leaks.

The scar-faced police officer pursed his lips in a smile, "That’s good, count me in."

"Yu Da joins the fray, one man equals two," Shi Zhonglong gave a thumbs up.

Soon after, Wang Chuanxing knocked on the door and entered the office, exchanging greetings with Shi Zhonglong before handing him a file bag.

"How is it? Any confirmed addresses?" Shi Zhonglong was hopeful.

It would be most satisfying to be able to directly arrest someone, just go straight to the address.

However, such opportunities are rare. Generally, identifying the real identity of a suspect before they are alerted is already quite good.

Many drug dealers don’t even have a long-term phone. Those who have phones often keep them off, and phones used for personal use are carefully distinguished from work phones, without SIM cards. Managing to get hold of such level of information generally means the case is 80% solved.

Shi Zhonglong felt that a list of this level shouldn’t be shared with him; with such detailed information in hand, they would directly make the arrests, no need to pass it to him.

Wang Chuanxing pointed at the files and then glanced at the remaining number of officers in the office, smiling, "There are names of 13 people inside, all linked to addresses or usable phone numbers. Please arrange the arresting officers swiftly. Captain Jiang intends for a group arrest tonight to prevent suspects from changing locations or phone numbers."

"All at once, a group arrest?" Shi Zhonglong was stunned. When was this investigated? How did it jump straight to the arrest stage? And a group arrest, were other units involved too? How many units in total?

For a moment, Shi Zhonglong had seven or eight halos of words hovering over his head.

In an instant, he also realized that Jiang Yuan had never used their narcotics personnel from start to finish. They used some of their information, but if the Image Investigation used people from Luo Jin City, and Jiang Yuan had his own team to utilize...

"Chief Shi, there are 13 people, potentially armed, and some might currently be trafficking drugs. If you don’t have enough officers, let Tao know in advance and we’ll arrange additional staff," Wang Chuanxing considerately said.

"Enough! How could we not have enough for an arrest!" Shi Zhonglong quickly responded, but his mind swirled with even more questions.

Why didn’t I know about this drug bust?