Ita Era

Chapter 102 Detention Room

Ding Shi refused the man's offer. That little bitch of a system was everywhere; accepting bribes would definitely deduct work points. Smoking was different—a thousand yuan per puff—that was a transaction, not violating his professional ethics. But since he was already there, Ding Shi still said, "Speak, what is it?"

The man said, “Here’s what happened. Last night at the hotel, a young woman called me begging. You know I’m a kind person, so to make sure she was really poor, I went to her room. It turned out she really was poor, so poor she didn’t even have any clothes to wear. And just then, your colleague broke down the door.”

Ding Shi did a reading comprehension exercise and asked, "Was she a prostitute?"

The man replied, "That's how you define it."

Ding Shi said, "Pay the fine and go home."

The man burst into tears: "Brother, I'm a son-in-law who lives with his wife's family."

Oh, I see. A son-in-law who also frequents brothels is a dead end.

Ding Shi felt a little sorry for this guy. For middle-aged men, who doesn't have a few bad friends and a secret stash of money to cover up their troubles? Although they're not good people, it's better to tear down ten temples than to ruin one marriage.

Ding asked, "Is this a consulting fee?"

The man said, "Of course it's a consultation fee. Brother, can you give me some advice?"

Ding Shi took the money and put it in his pocket, then leaned closer and said, "Call your wife and have her bail you out."

The man immediately denied it: "She really would kill me."

Ding Shi said, "Just say you were originally driving under the influence, but you were worried that going to jail would affect your child's future, so you used connections to change it to soliciting a prostitute. If you really did solicit a prostitute, would you dare to contact her?"

The man nodded repeatedly and thanked him profusely.

Just as Ding was about to leave, the man said, "Wait."

"Ok?"

The man hesitated for a moment, then said in a low voice, "I took a nap after lunch. In my drowsy state, someone said that the Lord would arrive tonight."

After the man finished speaking, he glanced at the coin-operated wall-mounted telephone outside the cell and said, "A woman, speaking in a sinister tone."

This phone is shared by men and women so they can contact relatives or lawyers. With permission from the officer on duty, they can leave their detention cells to make calls. Officers can also use the phone.

Ding Shi asked, "Gloomy?"

The man thought for a moment and said, "The voice is ethereal, not like a living person. I don't know if you understand that feeling. There's no emotion, no fluctuation. That's why I mentioned her."

Ding Shi asked, "Didn't you even glance at it?"

The man replied, "No, there's a tall guy in line behind her."

Ding looked into the cell and asked, "Which tall guy is it?"

The man said, "He's been released on bail. I need to make a call to thank you, buddy."

"Go."

Ding Shi glanced around and saw two uniformed police officers, a man and a woman, in the duty room. He walked to the women's cell on the right, where seven people were being held, most of them in special professions. The volunteer police force had just been established yesterday, and they had conducted a crackdown on illegal activities to train them, which resulted in the arrest of many people.

Among a group of scantily clad women, there was a pregnant woman in plain clothes, who appeared to be around five or six months pregnant.

Ding Shi leaned down and asked the policewoman, "What's the pregnant woman's name?"

After checking, the policewoman said, "Zhang Li."

Ding Shi asked, "What crime?"

Female police officer: "Assaulting a police officer. Around 10 a.m., she punched a patrol officer for no reason on Church Street."

Ding Shi asked, "Have you managed to contact her family?"

The policewoman said, "She made a phone call, and we also tried to contact her relatives. Her husband's name is Wang Jun, and he works at the slaughterhouse. He took sick leave last night to rest at home. Since no one answered the phone at home, we asked the volunteer police officers in the area to go and check, but they found no one at home."

Ding Shi leaned to the other side, pretending to smoke a pipe while observing Zhang Li. Zhang Li was very quiet, sitting obediently in the chair. The other girls whistled at Ding Shi, but she ignored them, keeping her head down and stroking her abdomen with her right hand.

In the absence of any leads, Zhang Li is the most suspicious person. Zhang Li's pregnancy corresponds to the man's prediction of her arrival; Zhang Li intentionally assaulted the police, causing them to take her to the police station detention room.

But these are all subjective assumptions, without any objective evidence to support them. Even if Ding Shi is a beast, and even if it's just a game, Ding Shi shouldn't kill Zhang Li based on such subjective suspicion.

Ding Shi exchanged a few words with the policewoman, picked up the key from the table, opened the door to the women's cell, and said, "Zhang Li, Zhang Li."

Zhang Li looked up at Ding Shi, her eyes seeming to have just woken from deep thought, and she looked at Ding Shi with some confusion.

Ding Shi said, "You can leave now."

Zhang Li slowly stood up and asked, "Can I leave now?"

Ding Shi gestured, "Let's go."

Zhang Li slowly walked to the door, gently stepped over it, and as she passed Ding Shi, she suddenly punched him in the left cheek. Ding Shi opened his left hand, and the small fist struck his left palm. Ding Shi grabbed Zhang Li's fist and pressed her hand down: "I'll take you out."

Zhang Li suddenly went berserk: "No, I won't go out, he'll beat me to death. No, I don't want to go out, no!" First she shouted, then yelled, and finally she became hysterical and sat down on the ground without a care in the world.

The police officers all gathered around, and a policewoman knelt down to comfort her. Zhang Li grabbed the policewoman's hand tightly and pleaded, "Don't send me away. Wang Jun will beat me to death. He will beat the child to death."

The performance was incredibly vivid and profound, without any artificiality. It was clearly a domestic violence case; Zhang Li sought refuge at the police station to ensure a smooth delivery. Her husband, Wang Jun, took leave from work and searched for her in the small town.

Ding Shi said, "Okay, you don't have to go back. You can stay here."

Because of Ding Shi's words, Zhang Li regained her composure and stood up with the help of the policewoman: "Thank you, thank you for saving my son and me."

Ding Shi frowned: "Mother and child? How do you know the fetus is male?"

Zhang Li was a little flustered: "I prefer boys, but mother and daughter are fine too."

Ding Shi said, "Please take her to see a doctor. We need to gather evidence to sue her husband for assault."

Zhang Li hurriedly said, "No, I don't want my child to have a father who's in jail."

Ding Shi was somewhat confused. He had told Zhang Li to leave, and her fearful expression didn't seem fake. When Wang Jun's name was mentioned, she trembled as if she had seen a demon. But Zhang Li was clearly hiding something. What should he do? Did he really want to waste his time here?
The male police officer whispered in Ding Shi's ear, "Officer Ding, this kind of domestic violence victim is not uncommon."

"Which kind?"

“They were beaten by their husbands, but lacked the courage to leave them. In many similar cases, we had already arrested them and were preparing to send them for trial, but they suddenly changed their statements because they didn’t know where to go after their husbands went to jail. They were afraid of their husbands, but they couldn’t leave them.”

The policewoman took Zhang Li back and then came over and said, "She still has a long time before her due date, let her stay here."

While Ding Shi was pondering, the night shift patrol officers arrived. As an undercover officer, Ding Shi also went to the meeting room, where the chief explained the situation. Just as they were about to dismiss the officers, Ding Shi raised his hand, walked to the podium, and said, "Hello everyone, I've been promoted."

"Haha." The NPC responded with a supportive laugh.

After Ding Shi and the others' laughter subsided, he said, "I would appreciate it if you could keep an eye out for a man named Wang Jun during tonight's patrol. This is his photo from the file. He may be dead and may be looking for his pregnant wife."

With no objections from his colleagues, Ding expressed his gratitude, and the night shift patrol officers officially began their shift.

"Officer Ding, you have a phone call."

Ding Shi walked to the open-plan office next door to answer the phone: "Hello."

Yu Yuan said, "Ding Shi, I only have 12 people here. Most of them are here to gather information about the game and don't intend to risk going to the slaughterhouse." Ding Shi asked, "What about the smaller group?"

Yu Yuan said, "A small portion of them are dressed in red."

Ding Shi asked, "Where is Wang Meng?"

Yu Yuan said, "Wang Meng went to fight for territory with the boss this morning. One of the guys on the other side was a madman who used a gun. He's still in the hospital."

Ding Shi sighed, saying that being a street thug is even more dangerous than being a policeman. After all, if a policeman sees a madman with a gun, he still has the ability to resist, or at least knows how to run away.

When a thug encounters a madman with a gun, nine times out of ten he'll bet that the madman is out of bullets. There's no way around it; intelligence is what it is. Anyone whose brain isn't filled with shit and piss wouldn't become a thug.

Even a shrewd leader like Wang Meng is often forced to act recklessly by others. That's just how it is in the world; sometimes you're not in control of your own destiny.

Ding Shi said, "I don't have any leads... Could you ask Hongyi to go to Black Moon Street and help me find someone named Wang Jun?" Wang Jun and Zhang Li live on Black Moon Street, and Zhang Li also works on Black Moon Street.

Ding Shi then retracted his words: "Forget it, the Grim Reaper's methods are despicable, so try not to go out."

Yu Yuan was surprised: "Wang Jun from Black Moon Street? He's my neighbor."

Ding Shi: "Tell me, what's going on?"

Yu Yuan said, "This morning I ran into Wang Jun when I went out to throw out the trash. He was locking the door and leaving, and I saw that he had a sharp knife in his hand. When Wang Jun saw me, he greeted me and said that he had borrowed a knife from the slaughterhouse and would return it later. Then he asked me if I had seen Zhang Li. I said no, and he left."

Ding asked, "What time is it?"

Yu Yuan said, "Around 8:30 in the morning."

Zhang Li was arrested at 10 a.m. for assaulting a police officer. It's speculated that she was forced into jail to avoid Wang Jun after discovering he had found her. However, there are many loopholes in this story. Why didn't Zhang Li report the incident? It seems she preferred to hide in the police station rather than let Wang Jun go to jail.

Wang Jun discovered that Zhang Li had been arrested and that he wanted to kill her... If he were Wang Jun, he would definitely stand guard outside the police station and wait for Zhang Li to come out.

Thinking of this, Ding Shi said a few words to Yu Yuan, hung up the phone, walked out of the police station, sat by the flower bed, lit a cigarette, and began searching for suspicious persons in the surrounding area. He sat there for half an hour without finding anything.

……

At nine o'clock in the evening, Ding Shi was still clueless. He had searched both buildings again but found nothing. Fortunately, the NPCs were all quite simple-minded, and no one suspected or questioned Ding Shi's strange behavior.

Ding Shi returned to the detention cell, where only non-police personnel were present. He, as a police officer, had no experience in solving cases, nor had he received any formal training. However, being part of a criminal organization, he was intimately familiar with various criminal methods. He occasionally encountered members of cults, usually driving them away violently and avoiding any transactions. Therefore, Ding Shi's understanding of their criminal methods and organizational structure was extremely limited.

A patrol officer led a man into the detention cell, had him sit down, and began paperwork.

"Name."

"Wang Jun."

"Oh?" Ding Shi immediately sat down next to Wang Jun and asked, "What did he do?"

“Public urination,” the patrol officer added, “right in front of the police station, right in front of me.”

Ding Shi asked, "Were you searched?"

"We searched, but found no dangerous items."

Ding Shi said, "Please stand up."

Wang Jun stood up cooperatively, and Ding Shi conducted a body search on the spot. Sure enough, there were only some everyday items: a contact list, matches, cigarettes, keys, a few coins, and a few hundred-yuan bills.

Ding Shi asked, "Do you know Zhang Li?"

Wang Jun nodded: "My wife."

Ding Shi said, "She happens to be at the police station as well."

Wang Jun nodded again: "What a coincidence."

Ding Shi looked Wang Jun over for a while and said, "Judging from your clothes, you're not the kind of person who would urinate anywhere. You can tell me what's wrong, and maybe I can solve your problem."

Wang Jun asked, "You?"

Ding Shi leaned closer to Wang Jun: "I've had three girlfriends, and I beat them all to a pulp. You seem to be one of them, but you don't know how to hit a woman, otherwise, would she have dared to come to the police station for help?"

Wang Jun looked disgusted and confused, leaning back and saying, "Officer, I have no problem."

Ding Shi asked, "Don't you beat your wife?"

Wang Jun: "Of course we won't fight."

Ding Shi asked again, "Then do you want to kill your wife?"

Wang Jun was taken aback, but quickly replied, "I haven't thought about it. Don't talk nonsense. I've been married to Zhang Li for many years, and I haven't even laid a finger on her."

Ding Shi leaned back, creating some distance between himself and Wang Jun. He stared at Wang Jun for a while, then turned his head and said, "Take him inside."

The officer said, "Officer Ding, he only needs to be fined 100 yuan."

Wang Jun was alarmed. He reached into his pocket and quietly crumpled three hundred-yuan bills into a ball.

Ding Shi said, "He has no money."

Wang Jun nodded: "I have no money."

The officer said, "You can contact your family and friends, otherwise you will be detained for 24 hours. Even if you are detained for 24 hours, you will still be prosecuted afterwards to recover the fine."

Wang Jun said, "I am willing to be detained."

The police officer looked at Ding Shi, who nodded and said, "Take him there."

Wang Jun was taken to the detention cell, where there are now only three people. Only two women remain in the women's detention cell.

Time passed slowly, and an hour went by. People came and went in and out of the detention room. At 10:40, there were three women in the detention room and three men in the detention room.

Wang Jun quietly flipped open the insole, took out a piece of utility knife, and placed one end of it into a cigarette box. The box contained more than ten cigarettes, which became a natural handle. The utility knife was very thin, and hiding it under the insole wouldn't be noticed, provided the handle wasn't carried.

Wang Jun coughed twice, twice, twice. He then went to the iron gate and shouted, "Officer, I need to make a phone call."

The male police officer stood up, opened the door, pointed to the telephone on the wall, and then sat back down.

Wang Jun inserted a coin and began dialing a phone number.

At this moment, the last woman to enter the female detention cell, who was about 25 years old, said to the policewoman sitting in front of her, "Hello, I would like to make a phone call."

The policewoman glanced at the phone's location and said, "Someone's there."

Girl: "I can wait in line."

The policewoman put down her pen, picked up the key on the table, and opened the iron gate. The girl came out. Before the policewoman could close the door, Wang Jun rushed in front of her, pushed her aside, and squeezed into the women's detention cell.

Zhang Li looked up and saw Wang Jun holding a utility knife. She was immediately terrified and shouted, "Help!"

(End of this chapter)