Attending ex-girlfriend's wedding, arresting the groom's officer on the spot

"It wasn't me! Zhou Ming accidentally did it himself, I didn't tell him to kill anyone!" Tang Hu suddenly became agitated, struggling violently. "I just wanted him to scare Zhao Jianjun and get the report back, I didn't mean to kill him..."

"So you admit you instructed Zhou Ming to go to the attic?" Zhang Hui seized on the loophole in his statement and pressed on relentlessly, "How did you know Zhao Jianjun would go to the attic? How did you know he had a backup of the report? You gave Zhou Ming 50,000 yuan so he could run away, right?"

Tang Hu's mental defenses completely collapsed. He slumped back in his chair, tears suddenly streaming down his face: "It was me, it was all my fault... but I really didn't mean to kill him."

Zhang Hui softened his tone: "Let's start from the beginning and explain everything clearly."

“Ten years ago, the reactors in the synthesis workshop should have been replaced long ago, but the factory didn’t have the money. To get a promotion, I had to suppress the reports. Zhao Jianjun wrote three reports saying there was a problem with the equipment, but I withheld them all and warned him not to meddle. Later, the reactor exploded, and he injured his hand. I could only shift the blame onto him, saying he had violated regulations, so I could keep my supervisor position.” Tang Hu’s voice was hoarse, filled with regret. “I’ve been living in constant unease for the past ten years. I never expected him to come back and overturn the case.”

“Three months ago, he came to me with the appraisal report and said that either I would publicly apologize and compensate him 200,000 yuan, or he would report me to the Discipline Inspection Commission and ruin my reputation. I had just been promoted to deputy factory director, how could I let him ruin me? I thought of Zhou Ming. He owed me 30,000 yuan in gambling debts and had not paid it back. Moreover, Zhao Jianjun had reported him for stealing equipment parts back then, and he also harbored resentment towards Zhao Jianjun.”

“I found Zhou Ming and asked him to do me a favor, teach Zhao Jianjun a lesson, get the report back, and I would write off his debt to me and give him 50,000 yuan to go to another place to hide for a few years. At first, he was unwilling, saying he was afraid of getting into trouble. I threatened him that if he didn’t agree, I would sue him for theft back then and make him go to jail for a few more years. Only then did he reluctantly agree.”

“The day before the incident, I found out that Zhao Jianjun was going to Li Dahai’s dormitory to get something, so I told Zhou Ming to wait in the attic at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, saying that Zhao Jianjun would definitely pass by there. I also gave him a wide cloth belt to ‘control Zhao Jianjun’, and found an old sweater of Li Dahai and told him to leave it at the scene so that we could frame Li Dahai.”

“On the night of the incident, I stayed at home, feeling extremely anxious. At one o’clock in the morning, Zhou Ming called me and said that he had strangled Zhao Jianjun to death. I was so scared that my legs went weak. I told him to take the money and run away to a neighboring province and hide there, never to come back. I even had my driver take him there and bought him a train ticket, but I didn’t expect you to still find out.”

After Tang Hu finished speaking, he covered his face with his hands, his shoulders trembling uncontrollably. Zhang Hui looked at him without a trace of sympathy: "For your own official position, you not only framed Zhao Jianjun, but also instigated others to commit murder. Have you ever thought about Zhao Jianjun's family? His daughter is still in school, and he is the only breadwinner of his family."

"I know I was wrong, I really know I was wrong..." Tang Hu's sobs grew louder and louder. "I'm willing to compensate his family, I'm willing to go to jail, please give me a chance."

“Chance? Zhao Jianjun has been wronged by you for ten years. His right hand is permanently disabled. He didn’t even have a chance to seek justice. What right do you have to ask for a chance?” Zhang Hui stood up and gestured for the recorder to organize the confession. “Your actions constitute intentional homicide. You will face the full force of the law.” As Tang Hu signed and fingerprinted the confession, the interrogation room door opened, and Lu Chuan walked in. He looked at Tang Hu’s disheveled appearance, his eyes icy: “You have not only ruined Zhao Jianjun’s life, but also your own family. An official should uphold justice for the people, but you, for your own selfish gain, have disregarded human life. Your crime is unforgivable.”

As Tang Hu was taken away, the setting sun streamed through the interrogation room window, casting long shadows on the floor. Zhang Hui stood by the window, watching the police car carrying Tang Hu drive away, finally letting out a sigh of relief. Zhao Jianjun's innocence had been redressed, and the murderer had been brought to justice. This belated justice, though heartbreaking, also brought peace of mind. He knew that this was the mission of a police officer: to uncover the truth with evidence, to punish evil with the law, and to ensure that everyone who has been wronged receives fair treatment.

A few days after the Tang Hu case was closed, the Criminal Investigation Detachment received another report that a body had been found in the ruins of an urban village in the suburbs.

At 3:17 PM, the phone rang urgently in the office of the Municipal Criminal Investigation Division. Lu Chuan had just finished a case debriefing meeting and was rubbing his throbbing temples when he answered the phone. Immediately, the construction site manager's voice, trembling with tears, came through the receiver: "Captain Lu, something terrible has happened! In the urban village demolition area in the western suburbs, our workers dug up a body while cleaning up the garbage! It's completely decomposed!"

"Preserve the scene as it is, assign someone to guard it, and no one is allowed to approach! We'll be there in twenty minutes!" Lu Chuan's voice tightened instantly, and he grabbed his police uniform as he hung up the phone. The sky outside the window was terribly gloomy, and a downpour was brewing, which would undoubtedly make the on-site investigation even more difficult. "Yang Lin, Yang Sen, take all the investigation equipment and set off immediately! Wang Shuai, contact the local police station to cordon off the surrounding area and retrieve surveillance footage from the demolition area and nearby locations!"

The sirens shattered the tranquility of the city as four police cars sped through the traffic. The demolition area of ​​the urban village in the western suburbs was a scene of devastation; broken bricks, steel bars, and dilapidated furniture were piled among the ruins. Several makeshift police tapes kept the onlookers—workers and villagers—outside, their faces etched with terror. Old Zhou, the worker responsible for guarding the site, was deathly pale. Seeing Lu Chuan get out of the car, he immediately rushed to greet him.

"Captain Lu, you've finally arrived!" Old Zhou's voice was still trembling as he pointed deep into the ruins. "It's over there. This afternoon, we were clearing construction debris from area number three. The excavator had barely dug down half a meter when it hooked something. At first, we thought it was an old sack, but when we got closer... oh my god, it was a human arm!"

Following the direction Lao Zhou pointed, Lu Chuan saw a dark brown limb, covered with tattered woven bags, on a pile of freshly dug soil in the center of the ruins. Yang Lin and Yang Sen, already dressed in full surveying gear and carrying heavy survey kits, strode over, their feet treading on thick dust, each step extra careful.

"Team Leader Lu, preliminary assessment indicates the body has been buried for quite some time. There are signs of damage from an excavator at the scene, so we need to preserve its original state first." Yang Lin crouched down, took a high-powered flashlight from his investigation kit, and shone the beam on the severed limb. "The body shows obvious signs of decomposition, and the clothing is badly damaged. Don't move it yet; let's investigate the surrounding environment first." (End of Chapter)