Chapter 374: Compounding the Crime
Chapter 374: Chapter 374: Compounding the Crime
Xu Xianhui’s heart leaped with joy when she saw Su Qing turn around. She quickly said, "Su Qing, if you agree to forgive me and plead for leniency so I can avoid prison, I’ll tell you the truth about your father’s death. How about it?"
The female officer standing nearby couldn’t help but roll her eyes mentally at Xu Xianhui’s words. ’And she’s a university student? How can she be so ignorant of the law? Even if that young lady writes you a letter of forgiveness and pleads for you, you’re still going to prison. At most, your sentence might be a little lighter. You’ve already broken the law, and you think you can escape punishment without a scratch? Dream on.’
Su Qing couldn’t help but sneer at Xu Xianhui’s words. "You’ve really got it all figured out, haven’t you? Who knows if you’re telling the truth or just lying."
Though Su Qing appeared nonchalant, her mind was in turmoil. ’From what Xu Xianhui is saying, it seems her father’s death wasn’t so simple. Was he murdered?’
Five people went into the mountains back then, but only two returned alive. As for Su Shengjun, he was never seen again, dead or alive. Everyone assumed it was an accident. After all, the deep mountains were fraught with danger, and the chances of encountering a large wild animal were high. ’But what if someone did it on purpose?’
’Who was it? And why would they want to harm Su Shengjun?’
"I’m telling the truth," Xu Xianhui said hurriedly. "I heard it with my own ears back then. Someone wanted to harm your father."
Su Qing narrowed her eyes at Xu Xianhui and sneered, "Xu Xianhui, I really don’t know if you’re clever or just plain stupid. You thought you were being smart, trying to harm me without anyone knowing, but you ended up landing yourself in the police station. And now, you have the gall to say, in front of a police officer, that you know the truth about my father’s death and try to use it as blackmail to get me to let you go. Have you forgotten where you are? You’re being detained at the police station. Do you have any idea what you’re doing? Withholding information about a case is already a crime. And now you’re threatening and blackmailing me—that’s another serious offense. If they combine the punishments for all your crimes, not only will you not get a reduced sentence, you’ll end up spending a few extra years in prison."
In reality, Su Qing was just trying to scare Xu Xianhui. If Xu Xianhui had only known back then that Su Shengjun had been harmed but wasn’t involved herself, then even by withholding information, she wouldn’t have committed a crime. At most, she would just be guilty of minding her own business and staying out of it.
"You... You’re trying to scare me." Xu Xianhui was stunned. She didn’t want to go to prison. In her desperation, she had used the information from years ago to try and trade for Su Qing’s forgiveness. But now the situation was... could her crimes be even more serious?
’How could this be?’
Although Xu Xianhui was a university student, her understanding of the law was weak. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have resorted to taking out high-interest loans, let alone foolishly thought she could get away with secretly harming Su Qing.
"She’s not trying to scare you." Before Su Qing could speak, a male police officer walked into the reception room and said to Xu Xianhui, "Furthermore, if you lie or conceal information from the police, your crimes will be even more severe. I advise you to think carefully and quickly tell us everything you know about what happened back then, down to the last detail. Otherwise, you can expect to rot in prison."
"No, you can’t." Xu Xianhui broke down completely, wailing, "I just wanted a better life! I don’t want to go to prison! Why are you all forcing my hand?"
Su Qing couldn’t help but roll her eyes. ’This woman is a lost cause. Even at a time like this, she still hasn’t realized what she’s done wrong and is blaming everyone else.’
Su Qing looked at the male officer who had just entered. She had seen him earlier; he seemed to be a captain from the Beijing Police Department, with the surname Zou.
"Captain Zou." Su Qing nodded at Zou Ming.
Zou Ming smiled at Su Qing. "Little Su, if you’re not busy, I’ll take you to the reception room to rest for a bit. Don’t worry, we will interrogate her about what happened to your father back then."
"Okay, I’ll have to trouble you then, Captain Zou." Su Qing understood that Zou Ming was asking her to wait at the station so she could find out immediately once they got the story.
Zou Ming then said to the female officer escorting Xu Xianhui, "Take her to the interrogation room first."
"Yes, sir."
Xu Xianhui panicked. "I don’t know! I don’t know anything!"
Zou Ming looked at Xu Xianhui grimly. "Think it over carefully. If you don’t talk, we’ll investigate anyway. And if we find out you deliberately withheld information, the punishment you’ll face won’t be so simple. To put it bluntly, you might never leave prison for the rest of your life."
At these words, Xu Xianhui’s legs went soft, and she allowed the female officer to lead her to the interrogation room.
Zou Ming didn’t take Su Qing to the reception room. Instead, he led her to the director’s office. "The director heard you were here and specifically asked me to come find you. He wants to meet you. I couldn’t say it directly in front of the suspect just now, so I hope you don’t mind."
Su Qing smiled. "Of course not. There’s no need to be so formal, Captain Zou."
Su Qing knew that her nominal position at the Beijing Police Department was just a sinecure—the kind where you get paid without doing any work. Although it had been set up for the needs of a previous case, to outsiders it would look like special treatment. If word got out, there was no telling what people might say. So, naturally, it was better to avoid trouble.
After escorting Su Qing to the director’s office, Zou Ming headed to the interrogation room.
The director of the Beijing Police Department was surnamed Zhou, and his full name was Zhou Chengbing. He was in his forties and was said to have solved numerous cases, making him a highly respected veteran officer. Su Qing had heard Mr. Li mention this Director Zhou before, describing him as a man who saw things in black and white and couldn’t tolerate any misconduct.
"Little Su, come in, have a seat." Zhou Chengbing was very happy to see Su Qing. He was aware of the details of the previous case she had been involved in and greatly admired her courage and abilities. He had been more than willing to give her a nominal position at the department back then, but they had never had the chance to meet.
"Director Zhou." Su Qing greeted Zhou Chengbing with a smile.
"How have you been? Are your studies keeping you busy?" Zhou Chengbing asked with a cheerful smile as he poured her a glass of water.
"They’re manageable," Su Qing replied with a smile.
"That’s good to hear." Zhou Chengbing nodded and then added with another smile, "Speaking of which, you’ve made a great contribution to this current case as well. If you hadn’t caught those men, who knows when we would have apprehended that gang. The later they were caught, the more victims there would have been. In a way, you’ve indirectly saved a lot of people. I have you to thank for that."
"You’re exaggerating, Director Zhou. It was nothing, really."
"Hahaha, you’re too modest to take any credit." Zhou Chengbing had an eye for talent and was very optimistic about Su Qing’s abilities. Especially this time—he’d heard that one of the two men was skilled in hard-style martial arts and was quite formidable. An ordinary person would have been no match for him, yet Su Qing had managed to capture him just like that. ’Wow, this young woman is really something else.’ After a moment’s thought, Zhou Chengbing asked, "Little Su, have you thought about what you want to do after graduation?"