Da Jianzi sat in the interrogation room, surrounded by a group of fierce and menacing people, each looking as if they had a personal vendetta against him, as intense as a feud over the murder of a father.
Especially Sergeant Fang, who had pressed his head down the whole way there, not allowing him to look up. Da Jianzi couldn’t believe there wasn’t some personal grudge involved.
Having never seen such a spectacle, Da Jianzi was acutely aware of the gravity of the situation and was quite frightened.
Moreover, the pair of shoes he was wearing belonged to himself, and with the investigator’s unequivocal assertion, he had no defense and eventually confessed.
After several more rounds of relentless questioning, a physically and mentally exhausted Da Jianzi implicated another accomplice, Ah Hong, a 16-year-old boy who had been caught playing mahjong with him.
In another interrogation room, after being pressed for over three hours, Ah Hong also admitted to his crimes, but when asked if there were any other accomplices, he refused to speak any further.
Da Jianzi firmly declared that it was just the two of them, leading to a deadlock once again.
Fang Zhenyue massaged his temples, feeling both annoyed and headachy.
As he walked out of the interrogation room, You Zhaohua urgently spoke up, “Just two people? How could they overwhelmingly overpower Ding Baolin and the female victim? There must be other accomplices.”
Fang Zhenyue looked back at him and said, “Let’s find more evidence.”
With that, he turned back to Office B.
As the investigators walked in, they immediately noticed something new on the whiteboard—
During the time of the arrests, the ‘Red Circle Ghost Hand’ appeared again.
It was not only drawn over the names of Da Jianzi and Ah Hong but also over two other names previously checked, young men who had worked as bouncers at a dance hall with the male victim, Ding Baolin.
Moreover, outside these four circles, there was an empty circle.
“It seems someone suspects that besides Da Jianzi and Ah Hong, the other two might also be the murderers, and… estimates that there are five murderers,” Fang Zhenyue said, facing the whiteboard. He erased the empty circle, stepped back, stared at the other two names for a while, dropped the eraser, and then walked out of the office back to the interrogation room.
“Hey? Brother Yue, you—” Liu Jiaming followed back, just reaching the door as he brushed past Fang Zhenyue, puzzled as to why he was returning, then turned his head and saw the two new red circles on the whiteboard, “Damn!” He immediately quickened his pace to catch up with Fang Zhenyue.
…
In Interrogation Room 1, Lin Wangjiu was wearing down Da Jianzi.
In Interrogation Room 2, You Zhaohua was shouting and banging the table at Ah Hong.
Fang Zhenyue stood outside the two interrogation rooms for a while, then decisively entered Ah Hong’s room, pushing the door open and immediately saying to You Zhaohua:
“Da Jianzi has confessed, and the other three murderers have been identified. Prepare for the arrest.”
“Really?!” You Zhaohua suddenly stood up, his eyes shining with excitement.
“Uncle Jiu and the others have already gone to execute the arrest—catching people in their sleep, they can’t run away. I’ll talk with Ah Hong.” Fang Zhenyue circled the table and sat in the spot previously occupied by You Zhaohua.
Just then, when he mentioned the other three being caught, Ah Hong’s fists, resting on the table, instantly clenched, his expression turning unnatural.
If Ah Hong had noticed a wrong number, he should have realized Fang was lying and wouldn’t have reacted so nervously.
So now, it can be almost certain that there are indeed three accomplices still at large.
Fang Zhenyue lounged back in his chair, looking at Ah Hong, playfully taunting:
“Bet you didn’t expect this, clinging to silence, yet sold out entirely by Da Jianzi. How stupid, loyalty is worthless.”
“Anyway, I’m not yet eighteen, they can’t sentence me to death. A few years inside, behave a little, and I’ll be out soon,” Ah Hong was instantly enraged, the betrayal by Da Jianzi leaving him feeling ashamed and pained.
Fang Zhenyue shrugged, “The female victim’s death was gruesome, and once the police and media sensationalize it, painting you all as brutal as devils, guess what the jury will decide?”
Ah Hong’s hands were cuffed, he clenched his fists on the cold table, staring at his handcuffs, grinding his teeth.
Fang Zhenyue smiled slightly, leaned back, and crossed his legs again, saying:
“Da Jianzi gets credit for his report, and his guilty plea looks good, so he won’t have to die. While you lot might rot in there, he could be out in a few years.”
Running his fingers through his hair, he took a deep breath, effortlessly withdrawing his taunting expression. Looking at Ah Hong again, he appeared sincere and full of sympathy:
“If you can provide more information than Da Jianzi, like retracing the crime process, who acted first, who proposed it, who was in charge of dumping the body in the lake, who inflicted the fatal injuries… and detail what each person did, report it all. I guarantee you’ll live longer than Da Jianzi.”
Ah Hong looked up, despite the air conditioning being so high, he was still sweating.
His fingers constantly rubbing his fists as he looked at Fang Zhenyue, clearly struggling a lot.
“But you better hurry, otherwise if Da Jianzi makes a detailed statement next door first, you’ll be completely useless,” Fang Zhenyue chuckled again, displaying a casual demeanor that he didn’t particularly need Ah Hong to say anything.
If there really was an experienced old crook sitting across from him, he would likely see through Fang Zhenyue, who without enough evidence, would not be wasting so much talk on him.
If the police really had core evidence, they wouldn’t need to fuss over these trivial matters with him.
But as Fang Zhenyue walked into the interrogation office area, he had made a choice: to bluff young Ah Hong instead of the seasoned Da Jianzi.
Teenagers, always so rash, fearless like a calf not afraid of tigers, more excited than anyone when bold.
But when they face significant shocks, feeling fear and pressure, they are also more likely to waver.
Fang Zhenyue patiently waited.
You Zhaohua could see Fang Zhenyue’s intention; his eyes rolled as he loudly declared, “I’ll go see how many Da Jianzi has recruited,” before pushing the door open and leaving.
Upon seeing this, Ah Hong suddenly felt an impulse to stop You Zhaohua. His tightly wound nerves finally snapped, and his body lurched forward as he urgently said:
“I confess, Sir, I remember everything. Da Jianzi is sure to pass the buck to us, but it was he who started it.”
“That day we were originally going to play pachinko—”
“You guys? Who are ‘you guys’?” Fang Zhenyue slammed the table, visibly impatient and irritable.
Once Ah Hong started talking, his psychological defenses were nearly gone. His mind entered a state of panicked obedience; whatever others intimidated him into answering, he would respond.
“Brother Dajian, Brother Xiaozhou, Bigfoot, Ah Tu, and me—” As Ah Hong listed the five names, Fang Zhenyue interrupted again:
“What are these nicknames? Don’t they have real names? Zhao Zujian, Liu Zhouhe, speak their names, who are you referring to as Brother Dajian? Do you want us to call him Brother Dajian too?”
Fang Zhenyue mentioned Zhao Zujian, and circled another new name ‘Liu Zhouhe’ in red, subtly implanting the information that ‘we have already grasped these people’s names’ into Ah Hong’s mind.
When Ah Hong confessed, he dared not conceal anything further:
“Right, Zhao Zujian, Liu Zhouhe, Wang Boqi, Zhang Jintu, I…I…Zhang Dehong, we were going to play pachinko. When we passed through Kings Park, we saw Big Lin Brother and his girl sitting on the grass, and Da Jian… Zhao Zujian suggested we should go and mess with Big Lin and his girl. Previously, Big Lin… Ding Baolin got along well with us, we did everything together. Then suddenly, he withdrew, started working on his own, saying he wanted to earn a living honestly. Da Jian… Zhao Zujian was very upset, so we went over to confront—”
“Let me ask you first,” Fang Zhenyue interrupted Ah Hong again, not giving him a chance to straighten out his thoughts or slowly regain logic and rationality.
He intended to keep Ah Hong’s mind muddled, maintaining a state of confusion to easily extract more crucial clues.
“Why didn’t Liu Zhouhe, Wang Boqi, and Zhang Jintu join you guys for Mahjong?”
“Liu Zhouhe and Zhang Jintu have families, and Wang Boqi was watching a shift today at—” Ah Hong had just begun to speak when Fang Zhenyue interrupted him again:
“Watching a shift? Where?”
“Mong Kok’s Furama Nightclub—”
“What about Liu Zhouhe’s family?”
“Located in Shek Kip Mei, Yuen Chow Estate, it’s a Spanish-style three-story Ding house—”
“Is Zhang Jintu’s home in Nanshan Estate?”
“Yes, and sometimes he would also visit his girl, who lives in D Block, Unit 312, Kangbao Gardens in Sham Shui Po—”
“What’s his girl’s name?”
“Ah Ling—what was her name again? Bai something Ling.”
As soon as Ah Hong finished speaking, Fang Zhenyue immediately got up, pushed Gary back into his seat with a “continue the interrogation,” and left the interrogation room.
Ah Hong, somewhat bewildered, watched Fang Zhenyue leave, and after being questioned by Gary for a good while, suddenly realized that brother Dajian might not have said anything, but he had told everything.
Sitting dazedly for a long time, he suddenly covered his head and started crying in fear.
Gary patiently waited for him to finish crying, then continued the interrogation.
Ah Hong sat there woodenly, answering whatever was asked, with no longer any resistance or struggle left in him.
…
…
Fang Zhenyue led the team to capture the suspects overnight.
You Zhaohua cooperated throughout, unusually curbing all his rebelliousness and pride. Following his own team and Sergeant Fang’s commands—east meant strike east, west meant strike west.
The two teams, divided into three groups, captured Wang Boqi at the Furama Nightclub, lifted Liu Zhouhe from his bed in Shek Kip Mei, and caught Zhang Jintu trying to jump out of a window at his girlfriend’s house in Sham Shui Po, Kangbao Garden.
At 5 a.m., all three were brought to the Yau Ma Tei Police Station, starting a new round of interrogation.
By 8 a.m., the detectives from team A and B, having not slept all night, were all spirited and bright-eyed.
The murderers were all captured, with consistent and rich statements. Even the toughest, Da Jianzi, softened after his brothers confessed.
By half past eight, Fang Zhenyue led the team to complete a reenactment of the case and then detained the five suspects.
In the nightmare of the public, the King’s Park Murder Case, which had lingered for half a year and had become a thorn in the police’s side, was finally perfectly solved.
…
Liu Jiaming returned to the office, collapsed in his chair, and started loudly complaining, “Ah, why hasn’t Jiayi come to work yet? I’m starving to death.”
After howling a couple of times and seeing no response, he reached for the phone to call Yi Jiayi, to share the good news and also to ask her to bring him food.
Just as he picked up the handset and before dialing, a hand pressed down on his, pushing the phone back into place.
“Brother Yue?” Liu Jiaming turned his head, confused.
Fang Zhenyue thought for a moment and said, “Just tell Jiayi you’re hungry, don’t talk about the case.”
Although puzzled, Liu Jiaming was used to doing whatever Brother Yue said, so he obediently followed.
After hanging up the phone, he then saw Fang Zhenyue write down the name Zhang Jintu on the whiteboard—this was the only murderer they hadn’t called to the station for interrogation yet, and the only name not previously on the board.
“Brother Yue, haven’t all the murderers been caught? Why are you writing on the whiteboard again?” Lin Wangjiu had just come back from a smoke.
Fang Zhenyue turned around, wrote a few fabricated names, and then placed the marker back in its slot.
He placed his hand on the back of his neck, stretched lazily, and said with a lazy smile:
“Set a trap, catch the ghost that’s drawing circles.”
It’s time to wrap things up.
“?” Lin Wangjiu.
“!” Gary.
“…?” Liu Jiaming’s eyes widened, could it be that Brother Yue suspects…
“???” Sanfu had only dozed off for a few minutes, suddenly alert to the atmosphere around him, he lifted his head and looked around bewildered: What? Catch what?