Film and Television World Life Record

Li Mu nodded: "Captain Luo, have you checked on Yue Wei?"

Captain Luo said, "We investigated. He makes a living by driving an unlicensed taxi and sometimes brings girls to his house to stay overnight. As for the claim that no one has ever escaped, that's probably just him bragging."

"As for what he did when he was an auxiliary police officer, we have no evidence and can't say anything."

Li Mu nodded: "Captain Luo, I do have some questions about this case."

Captain Luo said, "You said..."

Li Mu said, "Take Yue Wei, for example. He's an unlicensed taxi driver. How much money could he possibly make, and why does he go to bars so often?"

"Putting that aside for now, he lives in our district, but the bar he goes to is on the other side of the city. Is it really necessary for him to travel across the city to go to a bar?"

Captain Luo frowned and nodded.

Li Mu continued, "There's another point. According to their confession, Liu Xiaoli went to Yue Wei's house at 10:30 and didn't come out until 3 or 4 in the morning. Isn't that too long? If it were regular prostitution, she should have left after getting the money."

Captain Luo hesitated and said, "Could it be an overnight stay?"

Li Mu said, "That's even more unreasonable. For such a young girl, isn't two hundred for the whole night too cheap?"

Captain Luo frowned even deeper; this was indeed a problem that couldn't be explained.

After thinking for a moment, he said, "Yue Wei has always said that the conflict stems from the issue of payment for prostitution, with the woman complaining that he didn't pay enough. Does that explanation make sense?"

Li Mu said, "What you said makes sense. I have another question, Captain Luo, please take a look."

Captain Luo laughed and said, "Speak!"

Li Mu said, "As you know, Yue Wei used to be an auxiliary police officer. Normally, since he used to be an auxiliary police officer, and he was brought to the station by our police, shouldn't he first talk about this experience to clear his name and try to get closer to our police? But he didn't mention it at all in our police station."

Captain Luo pondered, "That makes sense. If it were a normal person, and they were brought to the station, they would definitely mention their experience as an auxiliary police officer to build rapport and clear their name. But he didn't seem to mention it here."

Seeing Luo's expression, Li Mu continued, "Based on our investigation and understanding of Yue Wei, he is a very strange person. He rarely goes out, doesn't interact with others, and has hardly been home for over ten years. These things are nothing special, but when put together, they are a bit odd."

Captain Luo frowned even more deeply. Having worked in the criminal investigation team for so many years and seen so many cases, Yue Wei's characteristics did indeed give him a familiar feeling. This person seemed to be really not simple.

Li Mu continued, "Captain Luo, Yue Wei used to be an auxiliary police officer. For people who have worked in our line of work, it's not difficult to disguise a rape case as a prostitution case, especially when the target is a woman who frequents bars and isn't very discreet."

"If he really did rape her, it's not impossible that he would force Liu Xiaoli to give him two hundred yuan afterwards."

Captain Luo nodded silently: "What you said makes sense, but the police rely on evidence. No matter how strong the suspicion is, it won't work without evidence. In Liu Xiaoli's case, none of the evidence can prove that she was raped."

"We cannot convict him simply because we have doubts."

Li Mu said, "So, based on the current evidence, this case can only be handled as a prostitution case."

Captain Luo nodded: "Our criminal investigation team has too many cases on hand. Without evidence, we can only leave it at that for now. We can continue the investigation later if we get any leads."

Li Mu asked, "How long will they be locked up?"

Captain Luo said, "According to our usual practice, Yue Wei and Liu Xiaoli will be fined and detained for five days for soliciting prostitution and engaging in prostitution."

Li Mu said, "Captain Luo, could you do me a favor?"

Captain Luo said, "What kind of help? Just don't break the rules!"

Li Mu laughed and said, "No, it's like this. Next, I want to find out more about Yue Wei in private. Could you detain him for a little longer to give me more time? If we have any clues, we can work together."

Captain Luo hesitated for a moment. He also felt that Yue Wei was not simple, but the criminal investigation team had too many cases and could not waste too much time and energy on this matter, since Li Mu wanted to investigate.

"Alright, Director Li, I'll do my best within the bounds of principle."

Li Mu smiled and said, "Then I'll have to trouble Captain Luo."

After chatting for a while, Li Mu said, "Captain Luo, is Liu Xiaoli still here? I'd like to talk to her and see if we can find any clues."

Team Leader Luo readily agreed, "No problem, I'll arrange it for you."

……

Half an hour later, in the interrogation room, accompanied by a colleague from the Criminal Investigation Brigade, Li Mu looked at the agitated Liu Xiaoli and said gently, "I heard that your statements to the criminal police are always different. Why are you lying to the police?"

Liu Xiaoli burst into tears: "Uncle Chen, they don't believe me. They kept asking me questions, it's obvious they don't trust me. I just wanted to make things sound more serious so they would take it seriously. But the more I talked, the less convincing it became, and that's how it ended..."

Li Mu then asked, "There were some questions I asked you yesterday that you were embarrassed to answer. Now, in front of the Criminal Investigation Team, could you please answer them to help us with our investigation?"

Liu Xiaoli was silent for a moment before saying, "Okay! Actually, I don't know how to say it. When I woke up, I found out that he was a pervert. I had a boyfriend before who was a pervert. When you meet someone like this, you know you can't escape. You might as well go along with him, satisfy him, and then run away. So I coaxed him and tried my best to cooperate with him."

"He tied my hands, and I told him I would cooperate and ask him to loosen the ties. I didn't struggle at all, so I didn't have any injuries. But he was such a pervert. He tortured me for three or four hours, and then he said that no girl from his place could escape him, and that's when I got scared."

Li Mu said, "He told you all this. If it's true, he definitely won't let you go. How did you escape?"

Liu Xiaoli said, "He didn't let me leave. After we finished, he told me to take a shower. I knew it was almost time, so I dawdled and didn't go. That's how it got to the scheduled time."

Li Mu pressed further, "Until what point?"

Liu Xiaoli said, "I often go out alone and am afraid of running into bad people, so I set up a timed automatic dialing function on my other phone at home to call my phone. If I don't come home by 2:30 in the morning, it will automatically dial my number. I dawdled until 2:30, and sure enough, my phone rang."

“I lied to him and said it was my roommate calling. She said if I didn’t come home by a certain time, she would call me and if I didn’t answer, she would call the police. So he let me answer. I told him I was at the house of the guy I met at the bar and would be back soon. He believed me, hesitated for a moment, and then let me go.”

"He slipped me two hundred yuan before I left. I was afraid he wouldn't let me go if I didn't take it, so I did."

Li Mu nodded: "What you did is right. Whether what he said is true or false, protecting yourself is the most important thing."

Liu Xiaoli nodded through her tears: "That's what I think. I really didn't prostitute myself. I only accepted the two hundred yuan to keep him quiet."

Chapter 393 United Front

Li Mu comforted Liu Xiaoli, saying, "Don't worry, we are investigating your matter and will definitely clear your name."

Li Xiaoli said, "Thank you, thank you all."

……

After the questioning was finished and they left the interrogation room, Captain Luo was waiting outside. He smiled and said, "Not bad! There are many things we couldn't get out of you, but we've told you."

Li Mu smiled and said, "Captain Luo, do you think what Liu Xiaoli just said is true?"

Captain Luo frowned and thought for a moment: "It doesn't seem like a lie, but we police officers rely on evidence when handling cases. We can't just charge it with rape without any evidence."

Li Mu said, "Of course, but I believe we can find evidence."

Just then, the phone rang.

"Hey, Li Dawei, what's up?"

Li Dawei said, "Chief Li, Yue Wei might be a repeat offender; Liu Xiaoli won't be the first."

Li Mu said, "Why do you say that? Have you discovered something?"

Li Dawei said, "Didn't you tell me yesterday to look through old files and police reports when I had nothing to do? I actually found a clue. In our city, fourteen years ago, there was a girl who reported to the Qianjie Police Station in the county that she had been raped by Yue Wei at his home."

"The outcome was the same as Liu Xiaoli's; the police were unable to determine whether it was consensual or rape, and the case was eventually closed."

Li Mu said, "That's good. It's been a lot of work to find such important information."

Li Dawei said, "It's not hard work."

Li Mu smiled. He was indeed pleasantly surprised that Li Dawei was able to find information about the case so quickly.

According to the plot, although Li Mu knew about this old case from more than ten years ago, the bureau had too much information on this matter, and it was hard to say how long it would take to find it.

Li Dawei proved himself capable, uncovering the old case in just one day.

Li Mu instructed, "Okay, find out that girl's contact information or workplace and send it to me via mobile phone."

Li Dawei said, "Okay, I'll check it right away."

Soon, Li Dawei sent over the girl's information. Fortunately, she was still working in the city and didn't need to travel to other places to find out more.

Li Mu glanced at Captain Luo and said, "We've found another clue. Captain Luo, would you like to come and take a look?"

Captain Luo asked curiously, "What clue?"

Li Mu said, "According to our investigation, this is not the first time Yue Wei has done what Liu Xiaoli did in our city."

"Fourteen years ago, a girl went to the police station to report that she had been lured to Yue Wei's home and raped. Just like this time, no conclusive evidence could be found, and the case was eventually dropped."

Captain Luo frowned, his expression somewhat grave: "If this is true, the possibility that Yue Wei raped Liu Xiaoli is much higher."

Can things be confirmed?

Li Mu said, "I was just planning to meet that girl and ask her about the specific circumstances. Captain Luo, why don't we go together and hear about her experience, and compare it with Liu Xiaoli's situation?"

Captain Luo hesitated for a moment, then glanced at his watch: "Alright, I don't have anything else to do anyway, I'll go with you."

After leaving the Criminal Investigation Brigade, they drove to a rest room in a foot massage parlor, following the information they had found. It was the place where the girl had worked years ago.

As Li Mu was surveying the surrounding layout, a girl in work clothes ran in: "Which customer requested me?"

Suddenly seeing police officers sitting inside, he was so frightened that he turned around and ran away.

Li Mu stood up and said, "Lin Cuicui? Don't run away."

Lin Cuicui had no choice but to stop: "It's me. Officer, I didn't do anything."

Li Mu said, "We know you didn't do anything, don't be nervous. We have something to ask you. It's not convenient here, could you come with us?"

After hesitating for a moment, Lin Cuicui finally agreed.

The group went to the nearest police station, Balihe Police Station, for questioning. Li Mu asked, "According to our police records, fourteen years ago, you reported being raped by Yue Wei. Could you elaborate?"

Lin Cuicui avoided eye contact: "It's been so many years, I've completely forgotten."

Li Mu said, "Forgot? It's not that easy. You reported rape and illegal detention back then, how could you forget something like that?"