National Forensic Doctor-Chapter 929 - 865: Interrogation Day

Meng Chengbiao was organizing the files one by one, the pile of folders on the right side was already as thick as a roasted whole sheep.

During interrogations, many police interrogators slam a thick file onto the table with a "Duang" sound, but in reality, most of these files are old actors, and some are even temporary actors.

Anyone with a bit of experience, be they criminal suspects or readers, knows very well that in such situations, the other party actually doesn’t have much information. In the end, they rely purely on intimidation and oppression to extract confessions... However, most of the time both sides just mutually cooperate and go through the motions, considering it a success if a confession is obtained.

But this time, the two criminal suspects would definitely not easily admit to being the gang leaders, and Meng Chengbiao truly had accumulated a considerable amount of information.

Eagle Beak Bean and Fengshui Master, or rather their two identities, have no blood on their hands up to now. Their roles were somewhat similar, equivalent to being the organizational secretaries and clerks of their respective branches. Thus, they neither directly participated in the trafficking or production of drugs and had a good opportunity to turn state’s evidence.

Therefore, although these two were in the middle and upper echelons of their gang, they were not likely to get the death sentence.

But if they were to admit to being Purple Crystal and Yellow Crystal, as leaders of the gang, it meant that they would be responsible for members turning state’s evidence, which would most likely result in a death sentence for them.

Meng Chengbiao could almost imagine the upcoming trial scene, which would be a real slaughterhouse, a scene of fierce verbal sparring and hidden dangers.

Meng Chengbiao gently patted the files on the table with his hand.

These were the pieces of evidence he had meticulously prepared.

Although there was already a lot, Meng Chengbiao still felt unsatisfied.

Purple Crystal and Yellow Crystal, each commanding a line within the drug trafficking gang, have committed a litany of crimes over several years, including murder. For an ordinary person, even for a single murder, the accumulated materials could be as thick as a dictionary, let alone dozens of murders and hundreds of various cases.

However, the key issue is not in proving the guilt of Purple Crystal and Yellow Crystal but to prove that Eagle Beak Bean and Fengshui Master are respectively Purple Crystal and Yellow Crystal!

Meng Chengbiao frowned and thought deeply, with an even more serious expression than when he was a fervent sports fan.

"Old Meng, how’s your preparation going?" a gentle female voice asked, coming from interrogation expert Sun Fangyuan.

Sun Fangyuan was about the same age as Meng Chengbiao, but unlike him who hasn’t gotten much recognition in his 20 years as a police officer, Sun Fangyuan was already famous as a female heroine in Shannan Province ten years ago, having received first-class merits and being a Women’s Day representative. She had long been listed in the province’s pool of experts. The number of drug lords she had interrogated could fill a pit.

This time, Director Song Beishou also specially borrowed Sun Fangyuan just to interrogate the two Crystals.

After arriving in Changyang City, Sun Fangyuan had been working day and night to familiarize herself with the case files and study the details of the case... But it wasn’t just about the several hundred to a thousand suspects caught in the Poison Capture Net, even just Eagle Beak Bean and Fengshui Master, along with the case materials involving Purple Crystal and Yellow Crystal, were so extensive that it was impossible to get through them all. Therefore, Sun Fangyuan especially relied on Meng Chengbiao, who had been following Team Meng throughout the case.

"It’s the same old problem, we have evidence, but we still lack substantive proof that Eagle Beak Bean is Purple Crystal and Fengshui Master is Yellow Crystal," said Meng Chengbiao as he rubbed his face, not wanting to seem too distraught.

After all, his partner was a female officer, so it wasn’t good to be too unkempt. Although he still looked the image of overworked exhaustion.

"There are always more solutions than difficulties," said Sun Fangyuan, who had come specifically for this case, and encouraged Meng Chengbiao, "There’s actually a simple way, I just don’t want to use it."

"Oh? What’s the simple way?" Meng Chengbiao was a bit surprised. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm

Sun Fangyuan calmly said, "Eagle Beak Bean and Fengshui Master are already in the middle and high ranks of the drug trafficking group. Could it be that they only deserve a suspended death sentence? If we find enough evidence and communicate well with the prosecutor, we just tell both frankly that we’re seeking the death penalty for them, regardless if they are the Crystals or not. I want to see if they can remain calm."

Meng Chengbiao let out a "Heh": "That’s quite harsh."

Before death, everyone is equal; there’s not much difference between drug lords, drug dealers, and drug addicts. Just like many company bosses still don’t change their foolish ways, and many leaders of units continue to sit idly by, drug lords are just circumstantially the bosses of a gang—saying they’re less afraid of death than little drug addicts is probably not the case.

If they really weren’t afraid of death, the three Crystals wouldn’t need to go to great lengths and ruthlessly dispose of their old buddies who knew them, just to conceal their identities. Even preferring to be inconvenienced in giving orders, just to leave a way out for themselves.

So, Sun Fangyuan’s method is to dig up their way out, which is definitely very practical.

Meng Chengbiao put himself in the shoes of Eagle Beak Bean and Fengshui Master, thinking if he were to be sentenced to "immediate execution," he would indeed swear up a storm.

"However, this plan can only end with executing these two drug dealers. For a sentence carried out in accordance with legal norms, it’s still a bit unsatisfactory. Therefore, I don’t want to use this method," Sun Fangyuan explained further.

She had come all this way, not just for the simple goal of sending two souls to the underworld.

Meng Chengbiao raised his eyelids; the conversation had circled back.

Sun Fangyuan smiled at the sight and said, "If the simple methods don’t work, we’ll just have to use a complicated one."

Meng Chengbiao looked up at Sun Fangyuan, took a sip of water from his cup and, seeing that Sun was waiting silently, he sighed softly and played along, "What complicated method?"

"To deal with this type of person, I have two moves. One of them, I call ’sincere heart for a sincere heart.’ Just talk to them earnestly, treat them well, tell them the truth. Dripping water wears through stone. There’s a high probability the suspect will confess," said Sun Fangyuan, looking at Meng Chengbiao and gauging his level of understanding.

Sun Fangyuan’s strategy sounded a bit far-fetched, things like sincerity – modern people don’t really believe in that, let alone a drug lord.

But in reality, experienced criminal police officers all know to use this tactic. It’s quite typical, like during a manhunt; when police officers catch a suspect outside, they tend to be warm and considerate, buying the suspect’s favorite food if he’s hungry, getting him drinks he wouldn’t treat himself to if he’s thirsty, and if a smoking suspect wants a cigarette, they’d even light it for him in person.

There’s a similar tale about the pork cutlet rice of Japanese detectives, which supposedly originated from the famous post-war kidnapping and murder case, "the Yoshinobu Kidnapping Incident," where the police bought the criminal a bowl of pork cutlet rice during interrogation, which touched him so much that he confessed his guilt.

Hence, even the most ruthless criminals, although they must be sent to hell, also have a sincere heart.

For an interrogation expert like Sun Fangyuan, using sincerity to touch the heart of a criminal is not a basic skill, but it’s certainly an essential skill on the path to advancement.

If Meng Chengbiao didn’t understand, Sun Fangyuan was prepared to use him as a tool.

Meng Chengbiao did understand Sun Fangyuan and recognized his method. He said, "This approach could take a lot of time."

"That’s why it’s called ’dripping water wears through stone.’ What’s the longest time you’ve held out?" Sun Fangyuan asked.

"15 days," explained Meng Chengbiao. "A homicide case."

"My longest was 22 days. A theft case," Sun Fangyuan shared part of their credentials as interrogation experts with Meng Chengbiao and suggested, "Since we both have experience, I propose we use this tactic. I’ll take care of the geomancer, how about you handle Eagle Beak Bean?"

The geomancer almost managed to escape and seemed a bit more cunning than Eagle Beak Bean, who was captured directly. Additionally, the significance of amethyst was somewhat higher than that of citrine, so Sun Fangyuan’s allocation was somewhat generous.

Meng Chengbiao did not object, saying, "Are we going to use such a gentle approach for both? Can Director Song wait that long?"

"Before they handled amethyst and citrine, they were also reckless fugitives. Intimidation and pressure might not necessarily be effective." Sun Fangyuan’s feminine aura intensified as she said, "I can withstand the pressure from Director Song; can you?"

"Interrogation is mainly led by you, so let’s follow your plan," Meng Chengbiao said without showing much fervor, leaving Sun Fangyuan slightly disappointed.

"Then, our safety net strategy is ’sincere heart for a sincere heart,’" Sun Fangyuan confirmed, and then tapped the file in front of Meng Chengbiao, adding, "For the second move, we’re relying on Captain Jiang."

Meng Chengbiao responded with an unsurprised "Oh." Everyone is a farmer, and who wouldn’t feel itchy to borrow a sight of an extra-large combine harvester stopping in the village?

Unless the plot of land is just too small, making it difficult to speak up, the rest should at least get a refusal out and be content to go back to work.

"If Captain Jiang can produce more evidence to prove the connection between amethyst and Eagle Beak Bean, or to prove the association between the geomancer and citrine, our interrogation will have them by the throat," Sun Fangyuan said with a smile, adding, "Of course, they might not even need us then, but we still have to give this approach a try, right?"

"Captain Jiang must already be working on it. But these two guys have covered their tracks very thoroughly. If there were solid evidence, they would have been dealt with by now," said Meng Chengbiao, repeating Sun Fangyuan’s prior statement, "Otherwise, there wouldn’t be any need for us."

"That’s true, so we need to provide Captain Jiang with more evidence through our interrogation," stated Sun Fangyuan as she got up and said, "Let’s start with the safety net strategy."

While Meng Chengbiao was still in a daze, Sun Fangyuan had already entered the elevator empty-handed.

That afternoon.

Meng Chengbiao walked out of the interrogation room with a straight back and vigorously knocked on his own battered back.

"Team Meng," a passing police officer called out, holding a meal tray.

"What’s this?" Meng Chengbiao sniffed a good aroma.

"Oil-splashed noodles. Team Sun asked to make it," the officer replied, "She specifically wanted a chef from West Mountain, made and delivered fresh. I have to hurry over, if the noodles get soggy, Team Sun will be unhappy."

"Ask one more thing, is it the suspect who wanted the oil-splashed noodles? Is he from West Mountain?" asked Meng Chengbiao urgently.

"Seems so. And they asked for garlic with it."

"Alright. Go ahead," said Meng Chengbiao with a furrowed brow, realizing that starting with dinner, they had indeed managed to pry something out of him.