Most of the detectives in Yide knew Li Yun and the members of the detective club, so they didn’t cause them much trouble. The three drunks were in their cell, while two of them were transported to the nearby hospital.
“Did you really have to kick that hard?” asked detective Dan. “The hospital just called me, three broken ribs. The other guy got four broken ribs and a broken nose.”
“It was just in the moment,” Li Yun replied. He honestly didn’t know his own strength, it wasn’t like he had been in the gym in awhile. He exercised, but he hadn't sparred with anyone in a long time.
“Self-defense detective!” Zhang Mi cried. “We have proof that they attacked us first.”
“Well, they can still press charges, but it probably won’t be much since you have proof,” replied Detective Dan. Excessive force was not allowed, even when it was self-defense.
"It wasn't excessive!" Zhang Mi replied again. "Just from the clips, you can see that those guys collapsed from a simple tab. They are clearly drunk, weak, and even a little kid can give them injury."
Detective Dan nodded again and continued scribbling down notes in his report. As they waited for him to complete the paperwork, Li Yun and Rouxi caught sight of a middle-aged man dressed in a plain brown suit. He was talking to the officers about how he was late the other day and his client was a pain to deal with. The most interesting feature was the mole on his cheek.
“That really couldn’t be that guy?” Wu Ling asked as she followed their line of focus and caught sight of the man.
After reviewing Bobo’s case, she seemed to notice a lot more people with moles on people's left cheeks. She was experiencing the Baader–Meinhof phenomenon or frequency bias. It wasn't that there were more people with moles on their cheeks, but that she was more aware of it.
“Detective, who is that man over there?” Li Yun asked after watching the man's casual and simple demeanor.
Detective Dan turned to his side and took a peek, “Oh, that’s Mr. Wan, one of the public defenders. He had been around for a while.”
“For how long?”
“Probably twenty years ago? Pretty decent guy.”
“A family man?”
“I think so, talks about his wife and two kids often. Why are you curious about him?” Detective Dan's paused scribbling and looked curiously at Li Yun. He had worked with Li Yun long enough to know that anyone could be a suspect.
Li Yun used the fear line to confirm that Mr. Wan had unusual yearnings that he would like to keep hidden from everyone. He explained the situation to Detective Dan. Sensing that the case was far more complex, the police planned to scope out Mr. Wan’s house in the morning with Bu Tao.
“Why did he have to bring this up on the weekends?” Bu Tao grumbled to himself, looking at the house near the edge of town through a scope.
Bu Tao yawned. There was nothing better to do on a Saturday morning than staring at a small house on a large spacious lot. Police work wasn’t like in the movies or tv, it was actually boring as hell. Especially all the time waiting outside in a hot unconditioned car.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
“Captain, the suspect left for the market with his family, should we enter?” One of the detectives' voices echoed through the radio.
“Team 2, proceed to enter.”
Bu Tao gave the command, and the officers snuck into the house. There wasn’t anything unusual, so they continued looking around, eventually, it led them into the basement.
“We have time, make sure you inspect any potential hidden door,” Bu Tao instructed over the radio.
The officers knocked on the perimeter walls, listening for any strange echo. There wasn't anything unusual, so they inspected the floor.
"Find anything?" Bu Tao got out of the vehicle and prepared to head inside himself.
“Uh, captain, we found a boy…”
Bu Tao swore.
What they found was a hidden chamber, built like a fallout shelter. Inside, was a twelve years old boy chained to the concrete wall like a prisoner. The boy was frightened when he heard the police enter. He cowered in his little corner, scared by what they would do to him. Bu Tao immediately instructed the remaining officers to detain Mr. Wan and his family in separate cells.
That week, Bu Tao had to deal with all the news and press related to the case. There were nine bodies buried in a separate part of the chamber. Most of the bodies were orphans. The latest victim was also an orphan, so there was little press when he went missing almost two years ago.
Ms. Wan swore she had no knowledge that her husband had a secret chamber. Her eyes flooded with tears and she begged to see her children during the entire interrogation. There was a mixture of shock and disgust whenever the police asked about her husband. Mr. Wan also said the same thing, that he had no knowledge of the underground chamber.
“I really have no idea!” Mr. Wan was in disbelief in the interrogation room. His face was disheveled and his voice quivered with shock.
"Mr. Wan, if not you, how is it possible for a young boy to be locked up in your basement?" Asked Bu Tao. "Your 8-years old girl, your 4-years old son, or your wife?"
"My wife?" Mr. Wan's questioning voice sounded like an honest everyday man who just realized his wife might not be who she said she was.
“Mr. Wan, are you implying your wife is behind this?” asked detective Dan.
“No! It can’t possibly be,” Mr. Wang shook his head, still not understanding the situation. “When we bought the house, she wanted to renovate it. So she hired people to renovate our home, but I never thought this would happen.”
“You got to be kidding!?” Li Yun was pissed after hearing what Mr. Wan said in the interrogation video.
“He knows we can’t use the victim’s testimony since he was blind, mute, and illiterate,” said Bu Tao. “The chamber has the DNA of everyone in the household. This case isn’t going to be simple.”
They also couldn’t use Bobo as a witness with his current condition. The opposing lawyer could easily discredit the testimony of someone with a mental disability. Mr. Wan was a public defender, so he knew the ins and outs of the trial. With a good lawyer, he could pin everything on his wife.
The sick bastard had planned everything from the beginning, along with putting his wife's name in the contract when they started renovating their house. He knew his crime was gruesome enough to warrant a death sentence. His wife and even children meant nothing to this man. They were simply a disguise to hide his sick obsession with young boys.
The monster was still afraid of death, and pain. Li Yun thought about all the undetectable poisonous compounds he could use to make this son of a ***** life miserable for the rest of his life.
“Don’t even think about it,” Bu Tao warned Li Yun.
“What do you mean?” Li Yun asked, feigning ignorance.
“I am not sure, but whatever you’re thinking, it’s probably illegal,” Bu Tao responded. “I’ll handle this case from here, if anything happens, I’ll contact you.”
Li Yun nodded. He would wait and see how the police and justice system handle the case first. The following week, Li Yun was pleasantly surprised that he completed the mission.
Completed mission to exorcise 100 spirits.
Reward: Qi Visualization to a small perfection.
He wondered how Bu Tao was able to solve the case.
BuTao: I told the guy that his best bet is a life sentence if he confesses. Otherwise, there will be worse consequences.
LiYun: How did you manage to convince him?
LaoTao: I showed him a video of that Yudan guy. I told him there was a crazy nutjob on the loose who liked to go after criminals that slipped through the justice system.”
Li Yun wasn’t sure whether he should be offended, but he was impressed Bu Tao managed to make the guy confess on his own. Maybe the justice system wasn’t a complete failure. Or, he should at least trust that someone like Bu Tao and the police will perform their duties.