Detective: From the Police Academy

Chapter 217 Who did it?
Above the dense forest, under the stars.

The fire was like a long dragon, burning violently.

The forest fire department immediately organized personnel and after going up the mountain, they found that more than 2,000 people from Shahe County and Pingyang County had already brought the fire under control.

A winding isolation zone was cleared at the edge of the fire to prevent the fire from spreading downwards. Fortunately, there were so many people and they discovered the fire in time, otherwise, it would have been a disaster.

At daybreak, Lu Kangming and Lu Peng sat on the ground, their faces covered in a mixture of sweat and smoke, their trouser legs were covered in mud, and their sleeves were rolled up at their arms.

The two men looked at each other dejectedly, and saw helplessness and deep fear in each other's eyes.

Li Nong and Yao Quan were not much better off. They were both on the front lines, their eyes were red from the smoke, and their throats were so dry that they felt like they were on fire.

The people below brought boxes of mineral water. The two men first handed a bottle to their leader, then picked up another bottle, took a big sip of water, and then poured the rest of the water over their heads.

Lu Kangming took a sip of water and said calmly, "That group of people must have escaped, right?"

Li Nong glanced at his leader, took two steps back, and didn't dare to say anything.

He knew his old boss too well. The calmer he was, the angrier he got.

Yao Quan replied, "This is probably a trick to lure the tiger away from the mountain and attack from the east. There are experts among them. They must have taken advantage of us to put out the fire and fled down the mountain without caring about them."

Lu Kangming glanced at him and said, "You are quite smart. Why didn't you arrange for someone to search the fire?"

Lu Peng heard his complaining tone and said hurriedly, "We sent two teams to guard the entrance to Pingyang County. If they wanted to escape, they may have already fled to Shahe County."

Upon hearing this, Lu Kangming exploded, stood up and put his hands on his hips.

"Lu Huzi, what do you mean?"

Lu Peng rolled his eyes at him and said, "What can I say? Anyway, Pingyang County is guarding the exit. It depends on which direction these four criminals escape to. If they escape to Shahe County, this matter will not be blamed on our Pingyang County Bureau if the higher-ups investigate it."

Lu Kangming was furious and looked at Li Nong and said, "Li Nong, have you sent people to guard our direction?"

Li Nong complained bitterly, his mouth felt bitter, and countless thoughts ran through his mind, thinking about how to deal with it.

Seeing Yao Quan looking at him with some gloating expression, he came up with a plan. If he wanted to cause trouble, he had to find someone at the same level as him.

So he said, "Yao Quan, you are so dishonest. The wildfire is so powerful and about to start, but you still have something to hide? What do you mean? Is catching people more important than putting out the fire?"

Yao Quan opened his eyes wide. Everyone said Li Nong was a rough man, but he didn't expect him to be so thoughtful.

"Li Nong, don't confuse the two. A wildfire is a wildfire, and arresting people is arresting people! We can't delay either. As for our main responsibility, don't you know it? Now the fire has been put out. As long as the people haven't escaped, they must still be on this mountain. If you have the ability, let's continue the search!"

Li Nong was speechless and Lu Kangming's face turned red.

He Bing, carrying a shovel on his shoulder, walked over with his squadron, looking tired.

They had just handed over the work to the forest fire fighter and were extremely sleepy after working all night.

He saw Lu Kangming's expression and hesitated whether he should go and get a bottle of mineral water.

When Lu Kangming saw him, he was furious: "He Bing, come here!"

He Bing's tailbone trembled, and he felt something was wrong. He swallowed his saliva and walked forward.

Lu Kangming pointed at his nose and asked, "Let me ask you, did you bring people to guard the pass down the mountain?"

"what?"

He Bing quickly looked at Li Nong. When the fire broke out, he received instructions from the other party that all personnel should go up the mountain to put out the fire. He did not think so much at the time.

Li Nong looked at his nose with his eyes, and then at his mouth with his nose, as if he was looking for ants on the ground.

"Li Da..."

Lu Kangming was so angry that he kicked him.

"What are you doing all day, kid? You let the fugitive run away when you were chasing him. You went up the mountain to search for him, but you didn't do your job. What are you doing here to put out a fire? What the hell do you want your squadron to do?"

He Bing's face turned red and his neck became thick. He lowered his head and did not dare to speak.

Lu Kangming looked at the dozen people in the first squadron and cursed: "What does your first squadron do? Do you know it yourself? You are the face of my Shahe County, the commando team! If I don't rely on you to catch criminals, do I rely on Xiaomu from the police dog squadron?"

The strong men of the first squadron lowered their heads, carrying shovels on their shoulders, their bodies covered with mud. After a whole night, they were indeed very tired.

Lu Kangming felt a little bit sorry when he saw their miserable appearance.

In fact, he also understood in his heart that they were all good comrades and great guys. When encountering a forest fire, how could they not rush forward?

They all serve the people.

Li Nong sighed and felt that he could not continue to be a coward.

"Director Lu, don't blame He Bing, blame me. I didn't arrange it well!"

Lu Kangming glanced at him. He felt that Li Nong was too familiar to him.

The two have been working together for many years. Although they don't have much tacit understanding, this guy almost escaped death when Gu Zhiliang was arrested last time. Moreover, they are in the same camp and can be considered as his loyal subordinate, so he didn't have the heart to scold him.

Lu Peng and Yao Quan on the side looked at each other, feeling somewhat gloating. The difference was that Lu Peng showed his pride on his face, while Yao Quan, who had been educated and was a little more gentle, just felt secretly happy in his heart.

No matter what, this blame cannot be put on Pingyang County.

Lu Kangming wanted to reduce the impact of the incident, so he pulled Lu Peng aside.

Lu Peng gave Yao Quan a look, and the latter quickly followed.

Li Nong couldn't let his leader be in a weak position, so he ran over quickly.

Lu Kangming said, "Lu Huzi... uh, Director Lu, let's go search the mountain again later. If the group of people haven't left the mountain yet, that would be the best. If they escaped, if, I mean, if they escaped to Shahe County, do you think it's possible not to report this matter first?"

If they report to the higher authorities, they do not report to the municipal bureau or provincial department, but to the county magistrate. After all, this unit is the one that pays their salaries and distributes benefits.

It's impossible for them to just ignore something as serious as this.

What Lu Kangming meant was that if these four people really fled to Shahe County, he would immediately call Yang Yunqiao and ask him to seal off the county town and catch them in a trap, so that the matter would be resolved from a big one to a small one.

Lu Peng blinked and Yao Quan pulled his clothes behind him.

The two walked aside and whispered a few words to each other, then burst into triumphant laughter.

Lu Peng came over and said, "Okay, no problem, but Xiao Mu from your county bureau has to be seconded to us for ten years!"

"what?"

Lu Kangming was shocked and cursed in his heart.

Li Nong even shouted out, "That won't work! Xiaomu is our second-class meritorious dog, the mascot of the county bureau, the treasure of the bureau, and the friend of women! Seconded for ten years? It's already five years old. You might as well say, give it to you, Pingyang County!"

Director Lu also complained that Xiaomu was more valuable than the old vegetables in the county bureau, so how could he sell it?

"Lu Peng, don't push your luck. How about I loan He Bing to you? He's the deputy captain! He can do the job of several people."

Lu Peng shook his head: "Forget it, we want Xiaomu, the king of dogs! You guys discuss it, if it doesn't work, I can't help you."

"It's He Bing. I'll sell it to you for twenty years! It's a deal!"

"I want a dog!"

"No, I can only sell people!"

He Bing stood in front of a pile of mineral water bottles with a confused look on his face. He had no idea that he had been betrayed and had been sold for twenty years.

"Captain He."

At this time, Qi Lei walked up to him, picked up a bottle of mineral water, unscrewed the cap, and took a big gulp.

He Bing nodded to his former subordinate.

Qi Lei finished a bottle of water and was about to leave with a box of water, but suddenly saw a few leaders in front of him arguing with each other, so he asked curiously, "What are those old foxes doing?"

"It's all about catching the fugitive!"

Qi Lei was speechless. He quickly put down the cardboard box, slapped his forehead, and shouted, "I was so confused trying to put out the fire that I almost forgot to tell you that we caught the fugitive!"

He Bing frowned and glanced at him: "What did you say?"

Qi Lei repeated, "A few hours ago, all the fugitives were arrested, and now they are in our Seventh Squadron."

He Bing was stunned, and the bottle of mineral water in his hand fell to the ground.

He screamed as if he was stung by a bee.

Just as Lu Kangming was about to compromise with Lu Peng, he saw He Bing running up and yelling in a hurry.

"The people have been caught. Luo Rui has caught all the criminals!"

"What do you say?"

Lu Kangming opened his eyes wide, seeming a little bit unbelievable.

Qi Lei quickly repeated: "Four criminals, three were captured alive, and the other was killed by his accomplice!"

Lu Kangming and Lu Peng looked at each other, while Li Nong and Yao Quan looked at each other.

Lu Kangming was the first to react and asked loudly: "Why...why didn't you report it in time?"

Qi Lei spread his hands and said, "We just came back with someone, and on the way back, the fire spread, so Captain Luo handed the criminals over to other people to take care of them, and he took people to dig the isolation belt. Besides, we can't contact you through the walkie-talkie, and there is no signal in this mountain."

Lu Kang swallowed his saliva and asked, "Where is the person? Take us there quickly!"

Qi Lei was secretly happy. "It's just ahead."

Half an hour later, when they arrived at the place, Lu Kangming saw Luo Rui and his Seventh Squadron filling the sparks that had not yet been extinguished.

What we see before us are underground fires. If they are not dealt with, they will continue to burn. There is no water in this mountain, so we can only bury it with soil.

They were working with shovels borrowed from the fire department, sweating profusely.

There was a group of people standing behind Luo Rui, but he didn't notice them.

Lu Kangming choked up in his heart, this is a good comrade.

He patted Luo Rui on the shoulder, and Luo Rui was startled and turned around.

"Director Lu, it's you!"

His voice was weak. He was exhausted after being busy for a whole day and night, and his movements were mechanical.

Lu Kangming patted his shoulder again: "I heard that you caught all the criminals?"

Luo Rui nodded: "I haven't had time to report to you yet. I asked someone to take them to treat their wounds, but one of them was killed by his accomplices and fell off the cliff."

"Okay, I get it, take me to see the person!"

Luo Rui stuck the shovel into the soil and led them down.

On a flat ground on the slope below, two criminals were sitting on the ground with their hands tied behind their backs, and a brown Yunnan horse was circling around them. There were four people guarding them. Zhong Shuai and Ding Zuo both had gunshot wounds, but they were not vital. They were simply bandaged and were not in a hurry to take them down the mountain.

If it hurts, just bear with it. If it gets inflamed? Then dig out the flesh.

Who the hell made you so arrogant as to set fire to the mountain?

Seeing the two dejected gangsters, Lu Kangming slapped his thigh, as if he was looking at a giant panda in amazement.

He made a sound of admiration from his mouth.

"Why are there only two? Didn't you say three..."

Luo Rui quickly pulled Lu Kangming and others aside and whispered to them for a while.

Lu Kangming laughed wildly and patted Luo Rui on the shoulder: "You are a very careful person."

Li Nong also said happily: "Haha, Luo Rui, you did a good job. This time we don't have to sell Xiao Mu, and we don't even have to sell He Bing!"

He Bing, who was standing by, scratched his face, his eyes blank.

However, Lu Peng's face turned pale and he looked at Yao Quan, who also had a bitter expression on his face. He glanced at the two gangsters and then at Luo Rui.

He really found it a little unbelievable. You said you could catch one? Okay, you’re awesome.

But you, the 7th Squadron, with only ten people, arrested all the people. What does that mean?
What you mean is that more than 2,000 people went up the mountain to search for the captives, and your squadron took all the credit?
Pingyang County contributed the most manpower and effort, and also participated in the firefighting, but got nothing. Is this acceptable?
Suddenly, the pressure came to the Pingyang County Bureau.

If this fails, I will be embarrassed if the higher-ups investigate.

People are most afraid of comparison. Originally, the two families were of the same level, talking and laughing, and helping each other. But overnight, your neighbor became rich. What would you think?
You have to grab it anyway!
Lu Peng felt bitter in his mouth, thinking of the ancient practice of buying human heads. He pulled Lu Kangming and whispered, "There is a puppy in my county bureau, look..."

Lu Kang understood him at a glance: "Lü Huzi, there is no room for negotiation! You are an old party member after all, how can you do such a thing? Besides, it is not in compliance with the regulations.

Well, since you have worked so hard all night, when the case is solved, I will also mention the contribution of Pingyang County."

After saying that, he looked at Luo Rui with satisfaction: "Okay, take everyone down the mountain, we still have a lot of things to do!"

Luo Rui called a few people and tied Zhong Shuai, who had a leg injury, to the horse's back. As for Ding Zuo, he was handcuffed, tied behind the horse, and walked down the mountain.

Sun Xinghan, who had been hiding, was taken down the mountain by another group of people.

It was not until noon that the large force returned to the county bureau.

The criminal was sent to the hospital by a special person. Luo Rui returned to his rented apartment, and fell asleep on the bed without taking a shower or eating.

Li Nong couldn't rest yet. He organized people and ran to the bottom of the cliff to search for Zhong Daming's body. He endured this for another day.

The unlucky First Squadron was also called away. He Bing, who was nearly sold out, looked even more miserable and could fall asleep while standing.

So much so that when Luo Rui woke up and returned to the county bureau, the building was empty.

At this time, it was already six o'clock in the evening, and he strolled to the cafeteria to fill his stomach.

Wow, everyone from Team 7 is here, and they’re eating voraciously, looking extremely excited.

Qi Lei, in particular, was smoking happily, crossing his legs, and listening to these rookies bragging.

"Captain Luo is really amazing. In that kind of terrain, in that kind of environment, and in such a dark forest, he never missed a shot. He killed one person with every shot. Wow."

Fang Yonghui bit his steamed bun and agreed, "Who says it's not true? We are right to follow Captain Luo. Did you see that? The faces of those people in Pingyang County look as if they had eaten bitter gourds."

Yang Bo asked, "Speaking of which, should our Seventh Squadron win a third-class collective merit?"

Speaking of this, more than ten people smiled happily, especially Sun Gong. This guy was responsible for the logistics of the team. He had been a police officer for many years, but he had never received a personal commendation. It had only been a few days, and he could get credit.

He noticed Luo Rui was walking towards this side, and deliberately shouted: "I told you, Captain Luo must be no simple matter. Look, more than 2,000 people were involved in the arrest, but we caught all of them! If you ask me, Captain Luo deserves at least a second-class merit!"

Luo Rui walked closer and patted him on the shoulder: "Don't brag, the credit belongs to everyone. If it weren't for the help of others in searching the mountain, there would be only ten of us wandering around in the mountains for a month and we might not be able to catch anyone."

Sun Gong laughed twice.

This is the truth, and it is what Luo Rui really thinks.

Qi Lei looked at his captain with some surprise. It was rare to see someone so young and yet so humble.

Luo Rui picked up a black bag, threw it on the table, and said, "Everyone has worked hard. Take it and share it."

Sun Gong opened the bag and found that there were more than ten Huazi.

Luo Rui doesn't smoke, he stocked up so many cigarettes for his teammates.

Everyone knew what was going on. Some sighed, and some took one with a smile on their faces.

Smoking is not allowed in the mountains, so at this moment, everyone lit up a cigarette and smoked it happily, even Fang Yonghui had one.

Luo Rui ignored their flattery. After filling his stomach, he took Fang Yonghui and Qi Lei to the interrogation room.

The Shahe County Bureau has special interrogators, but they are all veterans of the First Squadron, and they are still moving corpses in Fenghuangzui.

In addition, the criminal was arrested by the Seventh Squadron, and criminals are naturally afraid of the detectives who can catch them, so this matter was handed over to Luo Rui.

Lu Kangming said a few words to Luo Rui, then followed Yang Yunqiao to the observation room next door.

The first person to be interrogated was Zhong Shuai. He was a spineless person, so he was the first target.

When Luo Rui and Qi Lei walked in, this guy's shoulders were shaking non-stop, and one of his feet was trembling as well. The other foot was in so much pain that he couldn't move because the wound from where a bullet had just been dug out was wrapped in gauze.

Qi Lei held a large stack of documents in his hand and placed them heavily on the interrogation table.

When he came in, this guy randomly found some discarded documents to make up the numbers, so as to give Zhong Shuai a sense of shock.

What I mean is that your case is extremely serious. With so much evidence, it would be unfair to the victim's family if you don't sentence him to life imprisonment or death.

But what he didn't expect was that before he even asked, Zhong Shuai told him the whole process of the crime.

The motive for the crime was simple. Wu Zihui owed them half a year's wages and then ran away with the money. Zhong Daming discussed how to recover the money.

The uncle and nephew found out about Wu Zihui's itinerary from the window where he bought the ticket, and then told Ding Zuo about it.

A girlfriend that Ding Zuo had been chatting with online happened to be a crew member on this train, so he asked Guan Xia to buy them three train tickets from Linjiang City and prepared the tools for the crime in advance.

Ding Zuo bought the gun from a friend. It had been owned by several people and only had five bullets.

As for why they had to get on the bus from Linjiang City, it was because Ding Zuo was in Linjiang City at the time, and Zhong Daming and his nephew came by bus a day in advance, and the three of them discussed it for a while.

Zhong Daming planned to attack in the Baoshan Tunnel, then jump out of the car and escape into Fengya Mountain.

Zhong Shuai said that he later saw the contact person Sun Xinghan and realized that it was this person who was the one who noticed.

Qi Lei patted the table and said, "You are right to ask for your wages, but you don't have to carry weapons and kill people on the train!"

Zhong Shuai trembled and said, "Yes, that's what I told my uncle, but it's not that easy to ask for wages! Besides, my uncle was selfish and wanted us to take the money for ourselves. But I swear, this was all my uncle and Sun Xinghan's idea, and it has nothing to do with me!"

Luo Rui stared at him and asked, "Who killed Guan Xia?"

Zhong Shuai stammered, "I... I don't know, the tunnel was too dark at the time, and the emergency lights were turned off by Ding Zuo's girlfriend.

I was standing guard at the junction of the carriages, and I had no idea they were planning to kill anyone. I only remember someone snatching the axe from my hand, but I didn’t see clearly who it was. Then, my uncle told me to close the door of the junction.”

Luo Rui looked at the passenger inquiry book for carriage 13 and found that only two people entered door 13 of carriage 11 at that time.

Although all three gangsters ran into carriage No. 13, one of them was indeed keeping watch outside.

Guan Xia died in the corridor, with the back of her head smashed by an axe and another axe hitting her from behind.

If Zhong Shuai was keeping watch in the corridor, then he could not be ruled out as a suspicion. Moreover, through comparison of surveillance images, the axe that chopped Guan Xia's back was held in Zhong Shuai's hand.

Luo Rui continued to ask: "Then let me ask you again, who killed Wang Jialing, the female passenger in carriage No. 13?"

Zhong Shuai was startled.

"They killed another person? I... I really don't know. I only know that they killed Guan Xia, and we didn't talk about this in the mountains. Officer, you must believe me..."

……

Compared to Zhong Shuai, Ding Zuo is more tough-talking. He has experience in interrogation and knows what he can say and what he cannot say.

"Officer, yes, it was me and Zhong Daming who entered bed No. 11, but I didn't kill anyone. I remember very clearly that Zhong Daming chopped a woman with an axe, and then we robbed her money and ran away."

Luo Rui sneered: "Zhong Daming? Zhong Daming said you did it, but you said he did it! Who of you is lying? Zhong Daming just told me that you snatched the axe from him, then chopped Wang Jialing twice with the axe, and also beat her! Be the fucking honest!"

Qi Lei on the side blinked and glanced at Luo Rui with a little surprise.

Good man, you are better at lying than me. Zhong Daming’s corpse is stinking now. How can I tell you this?

However, it is not against the rules to deceive the suspect during the interrogation.

When Ding Zuo heard this, he shouted, "Where is Zhong Daming? Ask him to come and confront me!"

Qi Lei snorted coldly and turned the laptop screen towards him.

"Do you think they escaped? Do you think we are just idlers? Let me tell you, Zhong Daming was shot and is lying in the hospital. This is your accomplice, Sun Xinghan, take a look for yourself."

Ding Zuo took a closer look and found that Sun Xinghan was sitting in a tiger chair, talking incessantly to the interrogator. His expression showed nothing but an admission of guilt.

Ding Zuo's face suddenly fell.

Luo Rui imitated Qi Lei and slapped the table with his hands.

"Ding Zuo, it will do you no good to resist stubbornly. Be honest and tell me why you wanted to kill Wang Jialing and Guan Xia?"

"what?"

Ding Zuo's face was pale and bloodless. He swallowed his saliva and said, "I really didn't kill anyone. Guan Xia must have been killed by Zhong Shuai!
I admit that I swung an axe at a woman in Carriage 13, but I only swung it once, and the axe was blocked by the iron bed, so I couldn’t kill her at all!

Luo Rui looked down on him and said, "Forget it, let me show you something. Do you think that just because the train is in a tunnel and can't be captured by surveillance cameras, you can push the death penalty onto someone else?"

Luo Rui took out a dozen photos and threw them on the table.

This is the scene captured by the surveillance camera in carriage No. 13 when the train was about to exit the tunnel.

Some of the original photos were completely dark and nothing could be seen.

But the remaining photos have been processed with image enhancement. They were just sent by Zhao Ming from Haijiang District. Luo Rui had asked him for help before on behalf of the county bureau.

Although the photo is blurry, you can see Ding Zuo walk out of bed No. 11 and snatch the axe from Zhong Shuai.

When Zhong Shuai walked to the corner where the carriages were connected, there was a ray of light outside the window when the carriage in front of the train was about to exit the tunnel.

Ding Zuo raised the axe and smashed it hard on the back of Guan Xia's head.

Guan Xia staggered twice and held onto the windowsill.

Ding Zuo raised the axe again and chopped at her back...

(End of this chapter)