In name only: The land of Handong, I shall rule its fate.

Wang Ping'an was drenched in sweat.

"Comrade Ping An, don't be nervous. Just answer my questions one by one in order. I will ask new questions based on your answers."

Qi Tongwei said calmly, offering words of comfort.

"Okay...okay, Director Qi!"

Wang Ping'an, like a student being called on in class, rested his arms on the table and clasped his hands together, barely managing to keep his voice steady. Qi Tongwei's questions were extremely tricky, and if he wasn't careful, he would be the first to fall into the trap.

I will answer your questions one by one.

"First, after Li Tingna's car accident, we deduced from the road surveillance video that he was hiding in an old residential area."

"There were clear signs of life in the rented room, and according to the landlord's testimony, he had been hiding there for almost a year."

"There are two reasons why we failed to find him: First, there was a nearly two-month time difference between the time he fled and the time when Li San committed the crime, so no interception was set up in advance; second, Liu San used fake documents when renting the house, which was not discovered in time."

"Secondly, Li Ting had already withdrawn all 100,000 yuan of the loan in cash for daily expenses, and no remaining money was found in the rented apartment;"

"I give the same answer to the third and fourth points. After Liu San was arrested, the person directly involved in inducing him to commit the crime was not found for a long time. As a criminal investigator, I followed the principle of solving cases based on a complete chain of evidence and kept searching for his whereabouts. I studied Li Tingna's information day and night, so I was able to discover him based on Li Tingna's physical characteristics at the first time."

Wang Ping'an answered cautiously.

"Based on your answer, Comrade Ping An, I have three new questions. Please continue to reply."

Without pausing, Qi Tongwei asked again:

"First, Li Ting's initial intention in borrowing money was to treat his father's illness, and the large amount of debt he owed was enough to illustrate the severity of the illness. However, according to the information I have reviewed, his father continued to receive treatment at the hospital even after the medical expenses ran out, and the person paying the bills was your wife;"

"Secondly, in your statement, Li Tingna fled after discovering you. Given your physical abilities, to escape your pursuit in such a short time, even considering factors like crowds and traffic, you would have needed to be at least ten steps away or even further. At such a distance, could you really recognize Li Tingna, who was deliberately hiding and whom you had never actually met before, at a glance?"

"Third, I retrieved the case filing documents from the municipal bureau from the internal system. In the twenty minutes between when you discovered Li Ting's whereabouts and when the car accident occurred, you did not re-report the case. What were you doing during those twenty minutes?"

As you said, Li Tingna was the direct cause of Liu San's murder case and the target you've been investigating for nearly a year. Why didn't you immediately mobilize the city bureau's resources for a collective manhunt?

Aren't you afraid he'll escape again at this point?

Fine beads of cold sweat appeared on Wang Ping'an's forehead, wetting his bangs, but he still managed to remain calm. "My wife and I personally helped Li's father out of humanitarian spirit and the objective need to investigate Li Tingna."

"For the second question, I can only say that I did recognize him at the time, and his unusual reaction implicitly confirmed my judgment."

"After Li Tingna was out of my sight, my first reaction was to look for him, which took about ten minutes. I then reported the case to the police and filed a report. I also reported the accident to the Feng Bureau by phone, but not long after, the traffic police detachment informed me of the accident."

Ten minutes or so?

Everyone's eyes turned strange; being out of sight for even a minute or two during a chase was extremely dangerous.

"Comrade Fengyang, is that so?"

Qi Tongwei asked.

"Yes."

Feng Yang was equally nervous, giving the other person a sharp glare. "I support your investigation, but you drag me into this," he said. "About five or six minutes before the traffic police brigade announced the car accident, Comrade Ping An told me about it on the phone."

"good!"

Qi Tongwei responded, "Comrade Shiwei, find a few groups of people with similar appearances and builds to test Comrade Ping An and re-analyze the situation at that time."

"What if I don't pass..."

"I recommend that Comrade Wang Ping'an be suspended from his duties and placed under investigation by the supervisory authorities."

Qi Tongwei made a decision in one sentence.

hiss!

No one expected that the first person removed after Qi Tongwei intervened was Wang Ping'an, who had been advocating for reopening the investigation into Liu San's murder case and tracking down key figures involved in the case.

Wang Ping'an's face turned pale.

His whole body began to tremble uncontrollably, and his fists were clenched tightly.

"Comrade Fengyang, please temporarily isolate Wang Ping'an and wait for the testing to begin."

Qi Tongwei continued.

"Yes, Director Qi."

Feng Yang didn't dare to hesitate and immediately arranged for someone to take Wang Ping'an away, otherwise he would be the next one to be investigated by the inspectors.

"Director Qi, do you have any further instructions?"

Feng Yang asked cautiously.

"wait."

Qi Tongwei's voice turned cold. "There are too few clues right now. We need to wait for the test results. I'm willing to trust every comrade in the system, but we also need to be prepared for the worst."

"If the test results are really not ideal, you should cooperate with Comrade Shi Wei and Comrade Wang Bo to conduct an in-depth investigation into the family information of Wang Ping'an, Li Tingna, and Liu San. All your actions should be based on evidence, and even seemingly absurd behavior should be grounded in a self-consistent logical principle."

"In addition, we will conduct investigations in two other areas."

"First, reopen the investigation into the driver responsible for the car accident involving Li Ting. Comrade Wang Bo, you will be in charge of this."

"Second, Comrade Shiwei, you are in charge of confirming what Wang Ping'an was actually doing before he called Comrade Feng Yang."

"The rest will be arranged after Comrade Fang Qi arrives at the Municipal Bureau."

"This is not a blitzkrieg; take it slow and don't rush."

"that's all."

Qi Tongwei hung up the phone.

"Director..."

On the way to Diaozhou, Wang Fangqi looked at Qi Tongwei with some concern.

At this time...

Forcibly suspending Wang Ping'an's mission may seem forceful, but it is not a good choice.

Once it is confirmed that Wang Ping'an is not involved in the case.

He is very likely to become the first head of the relevant unit to be attacked in this Diaozhou incident.

"Did you understand my plan?"

Qi Tongwei didn't dwell on the aftermath. It was just a matter of suspending a criminal investigation team leader's duties. The reasons and procedures were compliant and legal. Why should others attack him so wantonly? Besides, he had the support of Executive Director Lin behind him.

"clear!"

Wang Fangqi immediately nodded, "After I arrive at the Municipal Bureau, I will strictly follow your instructions, Director."

"No!"

Qi Tongwei shook his head and handed over the preliminary investigation documents from the provincial department regarding Diaozhou. "I've assigned you to be the frontline leader of this investigation. This arrangement is not only because I can't fully trust Comrade Shiwei, but also because the Economic Investigation Department is the main force in this case."

"You need to be sensitive to your own cases."

"The plan I've given you is a safety net; how far you actually go depends on you."

"Unlike Chuzhou and Jiangdong."

"The provincial department is the backbone of this operation, and we are the absolute main force driving all cases forward."

"Comrade Fang Qi, do you understand?"

Wang Fangqi seemed to understand, but not quite.

"rest assured!"

"I'm here."