A madman in France? How come he's always at crime scenes!

Feishui City Bureau.

"What did the higher-ups say?"

Zhang Ze looked at Meng Jiang, who had just hung up the phone, and his eyebrows told him it wasn't good news.

"Fuck you!"

Meng Jiang turned around and slammed his phone on the table. Wu Liang, who was standing nearby, seemed to hear the creaking of the glass.

No one spoke in the meeting room. After a long silence, Meng Jiang finally suppressed his anger and said:

"Zheng Yuan's side can't hold on any longer."

Zhang Ze's expression darkened.

"The official line of the arrest warrant?"

"The process is moving forward again. We can continue to investigate peripheral clues, but we can't keep dragging the main case on."

"That's a nice way to put it," Zhang Ze said irritably. "Why don't you just tell us to stop dragging Tan Yongren into this? All this beating around the bush makes me suspicious..."

Before he could finish speaking, Zhang Ze let out a cold snort.

Meng Jiang calmed himself down and sighed.

"The city's leadership team will be reshuffled next year. The Cao Yang case has already had a significant social impact, and the higher-ups don't want to create another Tianyue case at the end of their term."

"Then it's better not to investigate at all. Everyone can just turn a blind eye, and everyone will be happy."

Zhang Ze sneered.

Li Mu sat in front of the computer, his face also looking unwell.

"Judge Zheng has already weathered the storm to the end by dragging things out this long. If he delays any longer, the prosecution will have to give an explanation."

On the other side, Wu Liang was leaning back in his chair pretending to doze off. He was now Cao Yang's defense lawyer, and his presence here was already somewhat awkward.

Meng Jiang looked at the whiteboard.

"Now there's only one problem: how do we establish the framework that Cao Yang didn't commit the crime alone?"

The meeting room fell into deep thought. After a while, Li Mu suddenly spoke.

"By the way, Captain Meng, didn't we see someone handing something to Cao Yang in the infrared light?"

Before Meng Jiang could speak, Wu Liang, who had been silent all along, coughed softly.

Several people looked at him.

"Just a reminder, Attorney Cao Yang is still sitting here."

Li Mu looked displeased.

"Attorney Wu, you actually took on that persona? Wasn't it supposed to be to stall for time?"

Wu Liang shook his head.

"Officer Li, I really didn't mean to sabotage you. Captain Meng didn't even keep a complete record at the time to prevent the plan from being leaked. Not uploading it to the system is equivalent to not following the proper evidence collection process."

"Even if I manage to cover it up for you, if the truth comes out later, we'll all be in deep trouble."

Zhang Ze pursed his lips.

"You're quite honest."

Wu Liang shrugged and looked at Meng Jiang.

"Captain Meng, this can only give you directions, not put it on the table. If you really want to establish a framework, you need to provide substantial evidence."

That's absolutely right. Although everything is pointing in the same direction and everyone knows the facts, as long as we can't form a chain of evidence, we can only remain at the level of suspicion.

Zhang Ze slammed his teacup heavily on the table.

"Damn it, that Cao Yang kid really doesn't know what's good for him. He opened his mouth and said everything he wanted. How can a person's mouth be so hard to pry open?"

Wu Liang didn't say anything more. He reached for a stack of materials on the table and examined them carefully before suddenly speaking.

"How's the investigation into Zhang Haitian going lately?"

Zhang Ze was stunned for a moment.

"Why are you asking him that?"

Since we can't open the door, we'll have to try the window.

Li Mu pushed Zhang Haitian's investigation records over to him.

"Nothing new, they're keeping their mouths shut, they must have coordinated their statements beforehand."

Wu Liang didn't speak, but looked down and flipped through the pages one by one.

The police retrieved all sorts of information, including vehicle tracks, project transactions, money transfers, and even hotel check-in records.

Seeing that he was translating slowly, Zhang Ze couldn't help but say:

"We've seen all of these."

"Um."

Wu Liang responded but ignored him, which made Zhang Ze glare at him with a sneer.

A few minutes later, his finger suddenly stopped on a page of call details.

"What about this one?"

Meng Jiang looked up.

Wu Liang turned the paper over.

"Starting in July, there were many phone records between Zhang Haitian and Cao Yang, with the longest interval being only seven days. However, since September 10, Zhang Haitian has not taken the initiative to contact Cao Yang again."

"The 9/15 Project has been kept secret, and the only information known to the outside world is about the hospital shooting that occurred on September 22."

"Assuming that Zhang Haitian really knew nothing about what happened after Cao Yang stole the car, as he claims, he would have only learned of Cao Yang's crime after Cao Yang's arrest warrant was officially posted on September 24th at the earliest."

"There was a fourteen-day gap between the last time he contacted Cao Yang."

After listening to Wu Liang's explanation, Meng Jiang finally understood what he meant, but still frowned slightly.

They had previously paid attention to this, but because there were too many excuses to explain it, they didn't make it a major focus.

Wu Liang seemed to see through his thoughts and slowly said:

"Although this evidence is rather weak, Zhang Haitian has no idea what we know..."

As he spoke, he picked up his water glass, took a sip, and chuckled softly.

"As Cao Yang's current lawyer, I certainly cannot advise you to use non-existent evidence to intimidate people."

"But if someone has something to hide, how they interpret things after hearing a little bit of information is none of my business."

Meng Jiang raised an eyebrow:

"You mean, inducement to confess?"

"Hey, Captain Meng, you can't just say things like that, it's against the rules!"

Wu Liang quickly waved his hand, then put on a serious face.

"As a lawyer, I must seriously remind you that the interrogation room is monitored and recorded in the entire process."

"It's unlikely that the line suddenly malfunctioned and then happened to be fixed just as the suspect was confessing."

Li Mu chuckled and quickly turned his head back to the computer screen.

Meng Jiang pursed his lips, a rare smile appearing on his face, stood up, and casually pulled out the page of call log.

"Zhang Ze, mention Zhang Haitian!"

……

Zhang Haitian has been through a lot these past few days.

The police have been investigating him, but he has consistently stuck to his initial story.

I didn't know the people, I lost my keys, and my car was stolen.

As for what Cao Yang did with that car later, he knew nothing.

But as soon as I entered the interrogation room today, I saw Cao Yang being escorted by an auxiliary police officer to another room next door.

The two passed each other at a short distance, Cao Yang staring blankly at the floor, not even glancing at him.

When Zhang Haitian saw his sickly appearance, his heart skipped a beat.

The door closed.

"Please sit down."

In the interrogation room, Zhang Ze pointed to the interrogation chair, his tone unusually gentle.

Zhang Haitian sat down, his eyes still glancing incessantly towards the door.

Meng Jiang sat in the presiding judge's seat, without even exchanging pleasantries, and snorted through his nose before directly opening the documents.

Zhang Ze poured him a glass of water.

"Don't be nervous. Today we're just checking a few details. As long as you behave yourself, everything will be fine."

Seeing that he was easy to talk to, Zhang Haitian quickly spoke up.

"Officer, I've already said before, I'm really not familiar with Cao Yang."

"I know, I know," Zhang Ze nodded repeatedly. "You said you lost the car keys, but you don't know how Cao Yang got the car. You don't know what he did in the car afterwards either. See, we remember everything."

Meng Jiang looked at him coldly, his tone completely unlike Zhang Ze's easygoing manner.

"Zhang Haitian, let me make this clear first: I'm not here today to listen to you recite a script. I advise you to confess honestly!"

Zhang Haitian's face stiffened, and Zhang Ze quickly raised his hand to calm him down.

"Old Meng, don't scare people. Old Zhang isn't the main culprit either. If there's a problem, it's better for him to explain it sooner rather than later."

"But I'm fine!" Zhang Haitian quickly interjected. "Officer, I'm really fine. I'm just unlucky; that guy surnamed Cao stole my car. I had no idea he'd go and do something like murder!"

Meng Jiang snorted and pushed a photo over.

The photo shows his gray van.

"Not familiar with them? Bad luck?"

"But we've already checked, and you and Cao Yang talk quite frequently."

Meng Jiang sneered, "Starting in July, the longest interval between you two never exceeded seven days. But after September 10th, you suddenly stopped contacting him. Am I right?"

Zhang Haitian's expression changed.

"I...I was busy during that time."

Meng Jiang sneered.

"Someone who used to contact you every week has suddenly stopped calling?"

"He doesn't contact me every week," Zhang Haitian said anxiously. "He just calls occasionally to recruit people or something. I'm not familiar with him, really not familiar."

Zhang Ze slowly leaned back in his chair.

"Old Zhang, that's not a good point."

"Being close to someone doesn't necessarily mean it's a big deal. Everyone has a few fair-weather friends. Making a phone call, borrowing a car, or helping out with small things doesn't necessarily constitute a crime."

He paused, then pushed the call details in front of Zhang Haitian.

"But you clearly know him, yet you insist you don't. You know that can easily drag you into trouble, right?"

Fine beads of sweat appeared on Zhang Haitian's forehead.

Meng Jiang didn't give him any time to process the situation. Seeing the other party hesitate, he slammed his hand on the table.

"Zhang Haitian! Cao Yang took your car to the hospital, shot you, and drugged you. Now you think you can absolve yourself of all responsibility by saying you're not familiar with him?!"

"Officer, I really didn't know he was going to do this with the car!"

Zhang Haitian was startled by his sudden outburst, and his voice unconsciously rose.

Zhang Ze caught it immediately.

"See, this statement is much more practical than the one before."

Zhang Haitian was stunned for a moment, then realized that he had said the wrong thing.

"You not knowing he was going to do this after borrowing the car is a completely different matter from you not knowing him at all. You still have a chance to explain yourself."

Zhang Haitian's lips trembled, and he was almost about to follow Zhang Ze's lead.

But when it reached that opening, it abruptly stopped.

"I...I knew him before, from the construction site! He asked to borrow my car, but I refused. Later, I lost the keys and the car too, but I didn't notice..."

The more he spoke, the weaker his voice became.

Meng Jiang's face turned completely cold.

"Zhang Haitian, do you think we've been sleeping soundly these past few days and haven't found anything?"

Zhang Ze sighed, as if he felt sorry for him.

"Old Zhang, this is not a good choice."

"Officer, everything I've said is true..."

"Let's put aside the truth for now." Zhang Ze picked up his pen and tapped on the record sheet. "You just admitted that you had contact with Cao Yang around September 10th, and you also admitted that he borrowed your car."

Zhang Haitian froze.

"I...I didn't mean that..."

"Then what do you mean?!"

Meng Jiang shouted again, making Zhang Haitian tremble with fear.

"What do you take the interrogation room for? Someone you can just swallow back what you've said?!"

Startled by his words, Zhang Haitian's breathing became erratic, and his gaze darted around.

Zhang Ze moved the water glass a little closer to him.

"Old Zhang, let me tell you the truth. This is a huge deal, bigger than you can handle. Cao Yang is definitely going to be executed. What about you? Don't you care about your wife and kids? Are you going to jump into this mess with this kind of person?"

Zhang Haitian swallowed hard, about to speak, when Meng Jiang opened another document and said coldly:

"We've already found accounting issues related to your transportation company's cooperation with Hongyuan Industry regarding those cards under your name. Do you think that just because we don't mention Cao Yang, everything else is clean? We're ready to fight you to the end."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Haitian's pupils immediately contracted.

"Officer, those are all normal engineering transactions!"

"I was just mentioning it briefly, why are you in such a hurry?" Meng Jiang sneered. "What are you feeling guilty about?"

Just then, there was a gentle knock on the interrogation room door.

The auxiliary police officer who had been holding Cao Yang down peeked in and whispered a greeting.

"Team Leader Meng."

Meng Jiang frowned.

"What is it?"

The auxiliary police officer glanced at Zhang Haitian, then at Zhang Ze, but didn't speak immediately.

Zhang Ze immediately got up and went over.

The auxiliary police officer whispered a few words in his ear.

Zhang Haitian was sitting in his seat, his back almost completely soaked with sweat.

You can't hear a sound, but you can clearly see that Zhang Ze's eyes have changed.

It seems like... a surprise?

Zhang Haitian's mind went blank.

Did Cao Yang say that?

Impossible, why would Cao Yang say that?

How could someone like him obediently confess to the police?

But Zhang Haitian had clearly seen Cao Yang's expression when he was taken into the interrogation room next door.

He looked so dejected...

When a person is about to die, what is there that they won't do?

Zhang Haitian dared not think about it anymore; his thighs began to tremble uncontrollably.

After the auxiliary police officer left, Zhang Ze did not return to his seat but stood by the table organizing materials.

Meng Jiang placed the folder under his notebook and glanced up at Zhang Haitian.

"Sit here and think it over. We can talk again when you've figured it out, but I'm warning you, time is running out."

After saying that, he got up and walked towards the door with Zhang Ze.

Even though it was just a tiny room, Zhang Haitian felt that the two people's footsteps were gradually fading away.

If Cao Yang really spoke up, he would become the one thrown out to block the gun.

By then, the authorities will have cleared everything away, leaving you with no one to complain to.

Her lips trembled, her mind filled with Cao Yang's sickly face.

Even he couldn't handle it, so why should I clean up his mess?

If the police really investigate further, who will protect themselves? Who can protect themselves?

What about my wife and children?

"etc!"

When he shouted it out, Zhang Haitian was startled.

Meng Jiang's hand was already on the doorknob. He stopped walking and didn't turn around.

Zhang Ze turned his head and glanced at him.

The man on the interrogation chair was pale, his hair was soaked with sweat, and the last glimmer of hope in his eyes had completely disappeared.

"I...I'll talk!"