Police officer Chen Shu

Chapter 76 Calling for the Rising Sun
The group returned to Zhongshan Institute.

Chen Shu arranged for Zhu Chaoran to take Zheng Tianyou to his office on the second floor and detain him alone.

He went to the duty hall and found the intern Xu Lei, assigning him to take statements from the gamblers. He planned to keep the identification records of Zheng Tianyou and his relatives, as well as the interrogation records of the suspects operating the casino, for himself and Wang Chongming.

Upon hearing Chen Shu's arrangement, Xu Lei said with a grin, "Senior, I've been interning at Zhongshan Institute since the summer vacation, almost half a year now. I've handled at least eight or ten thousand records. I don't dare touch the interrogation records, so please hand over those key identification records to me."

"You're so glib; where did all these statements come from?"

Chen Shu was a little surprised by Xu Lei's initiative. Generally speaking, students who come to the police academy for internships have the mentality of "the less trouble, the better" and just coast through the year. It is rare to see someone as proactive as Xu Lei in volunteering.

He lowered his head and thought for a moment, then agreed, "Okay, we'll do the first identification record together, and you can do the rest by yourself."

Police stations at the grassroots level are severely understaffed, and sometimes when taking statements, it's impossible to have two police officers present as required by regulations. Within the absolute 24-hour time limit, the only compromise is to have a police officer accompanied by an auxiliary police officer to take statements.

The bottom line is to ensure that any questioning or interrogation is conducted under surveillance video.

Chen Shu walked to the doorway of the plainclothes police office on the first floor and called out to a middle-aged man sitting inside, "Brother Jie, do you have any spare people here? Can you squeeze in a few?"

The "Brother Jie" that Chen Shu was calling out was Zheng Jie, the captain of the plainclothes team at Zhongshan Police Station. Although he was still a police auxiliary officer, he had been with Zhongshan Police Station for fifteen or sixteen years and was very humble and considerate in his dealings with others.

He always actively participates in any tasks at the station without hesitation. Under his arrangement and management, the plainclothes officers under his command are well-organized and have rarely caused any incidents.

Zheng Jie, who was busy checking the accounts, looked up and smiled apologetically at Chen Shu: "Wang Chongming took everyone away. Now there's only Uncle Yao who guards the gate and Xiao Mi in the detention room. What's wrong? Is there anything I can help you with?

Zheng Jie is a senior officer, and unlike other auxiliary police officers who respectfully address officers as "Officer So-and-so," he calls them by their first names. When he encounters officers older than him, he adds "Master So-and-so."

Chen Shu waved his hand and said with a smile, "There are a lot of team members working overtime tonight, so I'll have to rely on you to coordinate things. Oh, by the way, Xiao Lin stayed up quite late tonight with me taking my girlfriend to school, so could you please give him half a day off next Monday?"

"Okay, got it. Why didn't this kid bring it up with me himself?"

"Young man, you're a bit shy. Well then, Brother Jie, you go ahead and get busy."

At this moment, the duty officer, Ma, rushed over from outside the station. He glanced at Yu Yu, the community police officer sitting at the front desk, and then hurried over to Chen Shu, whispering a few words in his ear.

"The gamblers being transported were secretly throwing cash out of the car. The driver noticed this when he saw a large amount of paper scattered on the back of the car in his rearview mirror. It was dark at the time, so he didn't see it clearly until he saw a large crowd gathered and making a fuss in the back. The cash had been scattered all the way."

Upon hearing this, Chen Shu was both amused and exasperated. These people were probably all seasoned veterans, having been in jail before. They knew that once they reached the detention room at the police station, they would be thoroughly searched, and since the cash in their hands was too hot to handle, they simply threw it away the whole way.

The "Public Security Administration Punishment Regulations" stipulate that the punishment for gambling ranges from a mere NT$500 fine to direct administrative detention.

The difference between light and heavy is like heaven and earth. The police's main reference standard is the amount of money gambled by those involved in gambling.

Chen Shu understood Ma Suo's impatience. He was about to be transferred and couldn't afford to make any mistakes.

After a moment of contemplation, Chen Shu pulled Ma Suo to the interrogation room in the case-handling area and said in a deep voice, "This has already happened. The money was thrown on the street and picked up by the public. It's impossible to get it back."

Fortunately, the incident happened at night, so the video footage was probably unclear, and the people who found the money probably didn't say anything. So, the only thing we need to pay attention to now is the media's written reports.

"The only thing we can do is have the branch's publicity department contact our local Douyin and Weibo influencers as soon as possible and ask them not to report on this lightly." Officer Ma looked troubled. "If we bring this up with the branch leadership, wouldn't it make it seem like our initial on-site handling was inadequate?"

Chen Shu frowned and said, "Director Ma, if this matter hasn't been exposed, it's just an internal issue within our public security bureau, and we can discuss it behind closed doors. But if it spreads to the public, the impact will be many times greater."

"Sigh." Director Ma sighed heavily, nodded, and sat down to contact the duty officer at the branch office.

After closing the door, Chen Shu left the interrogation room and dialed Wang Chongming's number: "Brother Wang, are you aware that the gambling money was thrown on the street?"

"Understood. I've suspended the transport of people and started searching them again. How should we handle this?" Wang Chongming's voice sounded anxious on the phone.

After all, he was the one who organized this gambling case today, and he is the person primarily responsible for any problems that arise in the case.

Chen Shu said, "Ma has already contacted the branch bureau leaders to speak to several local media outlets."

Wang Chongming said, "Ma Suo was really decisive this time. It's a good thing he's still willing to step forward in his current situation. Now I'm just worried that those people who picked up the money will spread it online. Sigh!"

It's true that Ma is about to be transferred out of the police force, but today he is also the duty leader of Zhongshan Police Station, so he still has to rely on connections to help Wang Chongming with his case.

Chen Shu said, "Brother Wang, don't worry. It was already evening when it happened, so the video footage definitely wouldn't be clear. Just text won't have much reach or impact. This has already happened, but the case isn't over yet. We still need to focus on clearing up the rest of the situation."

"Okay, I understand."

"Brother Wang, there's one more thing. I'll send you a list via WeChat later. You should search these people first and then arrange for a separate vehicle to take them all to the station. I'll start taking their identification statements now."

"Okay. I'll arrange it right away."

After hanging up the phone, Chen Shu calmed himself down and called Li Chaoyang: "Chaoyang, what are you doing?"

"Senior, I'm having dinner with my friends."

"Have you eaten? Have you been drinking?"

"No, I just came out to get some pizza today."

"You're going out for pizza? You're not with a female friend, are you?"

"Hehe. I can't hide it from you after all. By the way, senior, what's up? Is there a case at the station?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to call and chat. You go ahead and do your thing, I'll hang up now."

Li Chaoyang is going on a blind date, which is a huge deal, a life-changing event! We absolutely cannot let him come today!

If the girl knew that we work on duty and overtime every day, she'd probably run away immediately!
Chen Shu sighed inwardly, thinking, "In the end, it was I, your senior brother, who shouldered everything."

(End of this chapter)