You're supposed to be a security officer, what case are you solving?

Chapter 158 Rashomon!
He Jinbo quickly drove back, picked up the cat at the village entrance, and sped back to the city.

Back at the North City Branch, it was already dawn.

The temperature dropped sharply, and even the stray dogs that used to openly mate with female cats in the branch office compound disappeared.

After a quick breakfast, the criminal investigation team held a brief meeting.

Lu Shaohua arrived very early, looking refreshed and energetic, like a rooster crowing in the morning.

The investigation into the arson and murder case at the guesthouse is nearing completion, two days ahead of the week allotted by the municipal police bureau.

Yang Guochang gave a week because the provincial department heard that the seven bodies were burned beyond recognition and the scene was completely burned away, making it impossible to conduct an investigation.

Therefore, the provincial department needs to mobilize resources and dispatch professional personnel to solve the case, which takes time.

Unexpectedly, the Chengbei Branch only took five days to apprehend the perpetrators.

"My team is even more powerful than the police officers in the provincial department!" That's how Lu Shaohua feels right now.

Of course, he also knew in his heart that all of this was due to clues found by Yang Jinwen.

Therefore, he adored Yang Jinwen.

However, since the older staff had worked hard all night, he couldn't let them down and encouraged and praised them.

Lu Shaohua pulled He Jinbo aside and asked in a low voice, "This case is over. Director Yang promised you a deputy branch chief position, so you'll have to go to the municipal bureau by the end of the year..."

At this point, He Jinbo waved his hand: "Director Lu, I can't go."

"What?"

Lu Shaohua was stunned. A deputy branch captain of a city—what kind of person was that? He Jinbo actually refused? Was this old man still asleep?
Lu Shaohua immediately said, "If you're not going, how can Zheng Kang sit in your position? How can Jiang Jianbing become the deputy team leader?"
And most importantly, how will Yang Jinwen get promoted? Let me tell you, barring any unforeseen circumstances, Yang Jinwen will become the son-in-law of the Wen detachment leader. You think about it carefully.

He Jinbo sighed, "Director Lu, this isn't just my decision. Lao Zheng and Lao Jiang aren't particularly interested in promotion either; they both feel more comfortable staying at the Chengbei branch. As for Yang Jinwen, we'll see when the time comes."

"piss off!"

Lu Shaohua felt as if he were being strangled: "Get the confession first, then we can talk about this."

"By the way, don't rush the trial. The prosecutor's office is coming soon, and they'll need to observe. This is a major case, so we can't be careless."

"I know."

Lu Shaohua looked into the conference room and saw Yang Jinwen intently looking at his laptop, with only Maozi beside him; the other old-timers were all far away.

"It's lonely at the top," Lu Shaohua sighed, put his hands behind his back, and walked towards his office.

The prosecutors in charge of this case are He Qing and Fang Ming.

The interrogation began as soon as the two men arrived.

The first person to be interrogated was Zhao Xiong. He was handcuffed in a tiger chair, his head hanging down, looking listless.

He Jinbo tapped the table before he looked up.

"Zhao Xiong, can we talk?"

"What are you talking about?" Zhao Xiong grinned lewdly. "About me sleeping with my sister-in-law in the cowshed? And getting caught red-handed?"

He Jinbo slammed his fist on the table: "You better behave yourself! Where were you on the night of the 9th?"

Zhao Xiong shook his head: "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Stubborn, huh! You saw it yourself when we arrested you. We also apprehended Kou Yong, and Gou Hao and his sister Gou Li are in the interrogation room next door. Should we let the four of you discuss things before confessing?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Xiong's expression turned flustered.

He Jinbo continued, "Let me tell you, the reason we questioned you first was to give you a chance, so don't be ungrateful."

If you refuse to back down, we'll find Kou Yong; I believe he'll be more cooperative than you.

You only get one chance. The four of you are guilty of murdering seven people and setting fire to the bodies. Your crimes are heinous!

Look who's sitting in this interrogation room! These are our prosecutors; who among you will survive depends on who behaves honestly!

Zhao Xiong glanced at the man and woman sitting against the wall, both holding pens and staring at him expressionlessly.

Immediately, he pursed his lips and said, "Spare my life, and I'll confess."

He Jinbo taunted him: "Whether you live or die depends on how much you confess."

Zhao Xiong said, "I only killed one person; the others were killed by Gou Hao."

"Let's start from the beginning."

"The four of us are from the same town. Gou Hao and Gou Li are a bit older than us. Gou Hao runs a video arcade in the city."

After graduating from junior high school, Kou Yong and I often came to the city to visit Gou Hao. He was the leader among us, and we often helped him settle things at the video arcade.

On the 8th, Gou Hao came to me and said that his sister had been impregnated by someone and that we should get rid of that person.

I thought we were childhood friends, from the same place, so it wouldn't be right not to help each other.

So Kou Yong and I agreed.

On the night of the 9th, Gou Hao asked us to go to the Anan Hotel to keep an eye on a man named Du Licheng.

When Kou Yong and I rode our motorcycles there, we ran into Du Licheng and a woman coming out, and they even took a taxi to the guesthouse.

We followed them, and after Du Licheng and the woman went inside, I went to a public phone and called Gou Hao over.

Gou Hao was also riding a motorcycle, holding a hammer in his hand.

We went into the guesthouse; I remember it was around nine o'clock at night.

The guesthouse owner was asleep at the table and didn't even notice us.

We went upstairs by ourselves, knocking on each door one by one.

Du Licheng and the woman lived in room 206.

As soon as the door opened and Gou Hao confirmed it was him, he took the hammer in his hand and hit him on the forehead.

After knocking the man down, Gou Hao didn't let him go, repeatedly slamming his fist into Du Licheng's head. I had never seen him so angry before; he actually killed someone.

The woman inside the room was terrified and started screaming. Kou Yong and I quickly restrained her.

After killing Du Licheng, Gou Hao told the woman not to call the police, to leave quickly, and to pretend she didn't see anything.

The woman agreed and walked out with her bag.

Kou Yong and I thought that was the end of it, but before the woman even left the house, Gou Hao punched her on the back of the head.

The woman fell to the ground, and Gou Hao pounced on her, hammering her to death.

Zhao Xiong paused here, then continued, "After killing those two people, Kou Yong and I planned to run away as soon as possible. But then a man living next door heard the noise and opened his door to come out."

At the time of the murder, the door was not closed, and he saw everything.

Left with no other option, Gou Hao killed him as well.

He killed three people, waking up the owner downstairs.

We met him in the stairwell. Kou Yong and I knew that if the boss got away, we would be implicated as well, so we cornered him.

The boss begged us not to kill him, saying there was money in a drawer downstairs, and we could take it all, but he should be spared.

Gou Hao was blinded by rage. Kou Yong and I were relatively calm at first, but later, for some reason, we also seemed to be possessed and directly pinned down the boss.

He killed four people in a row...

At this point, He Jinbo immediately interrupted him: "Who killed the guesthouse owner?"

"Me." Zhao Xiong lowered his head.

"You keep talking."

Zhao Xiong closed his eyes and said, "Four people died at once, but we weren't scared at the time."

Gou Hao said, "Let's hide the body first, then wait. I'll go back and get gasoline, and burn the guesthouse down so no one will recognize it."

So we carried the four bodies to the storeroom and then went downstairs as if nothing had happened.

After Gou Hao left, Kou Yong sat behind the counter at the guesthouse, and I went upstairs to look for things.

I carefully searched the belongings of those four people and found a considerable amount of money, especially in Du Licheng's briefcase, where there was over a thousand yuan in cash.

Adding to the money we found at the guesthouse, Kou Yong and I felt that as long as we weren't caught by the police, having this much money was definitely a good deal.

I remember it was around 10 p.m. when a man came to check in.

At that moment, Kou Yong panicked and handed the key to that person.

After that, we went upstairs and killed that person too; it was Kou Yong who did it.

After killing the person, we dumped the body in the storage room.

Just as I went downstairs, another man came in.

At this point, Yang Jinwen, who was standing to the side, spoke up: "What did that man look like?"

"Not very tall, a little over 1.7 meters, with a fair and clean face."

Did he check into a hotel?

Zhao Xiong shook his head: "No, we don't know what he was going to do. Anyway, he kept looking upstairs, and after a few minutes, he ran out."

After that, a man and a woman came. The woman was probably a prostitute. I wasn't on the first floor at the time; Kou Yong gave them the key. After they went upstairs, Kou Yong came up with a hammer and killed the two of them as well.

No, the man was killed first, and the woman was killed later.

The woman was terrified and said she would do anything as long as she wasn't killed.

Kou Yong then did *that* to that woman…

The woman was lying face down on the bed, so she couldn't see what was behind her.

As soon as Kou Yong finished, he raised the hammer and struck her on the back of the head.

Meanwhile, in another interrogation room.

Kou Yong's interrogation was also taking place simultaneously, contrary to He Jinbo's claim that Zhao Xiong was interrogated first.

Kou Yong said, "I'm sure that man doesn't look like he's staying at a hotel, nor does he look like he's catching a train the next day."

When I killed him, he was wandering around in the corridor, seemingly looking for someone.

After killing him, I searched his body and found a dagger inside.

Jiang Jianbing squinted, exchanged a glance with Xu Guoliang, and then asked, "Which man? Who are you talking about?"

Kou Yong replied, "It was late at night that day, and I couldn't tell who was who. When I killed him, my mind was completely blank."

"Did you kill the man and woman in room 202?"

Kou Yong shook his head: "It wasn't me, it was Zhao Xiong who did it. He stayed behind the counter the whole time, watching the movements outside the door. I was hiding in the shadows."

After the couple checked into the hotel, he went upstairs and knocked on their door. As soon as he entered, he killed the man.

I heard a woman screaming, so I ran over and found the man lying on the ground, his face smashed by a hammer.

Zhao Xiong told me to hold the woman down. The woman was terrified and said she would do anything.

Then, Zhao Xiong unbuckled his belt and mounted the horse.

"That bastard, after he was done, picked up the hammer from the bed and hit the woman on the back of the head."

"How many times did he hit him?"

"Three blows, and his brains were smashed out."

(End of this chapter)