Chapter 22 Chapter 21 The Silent Witness

Bian Ping hugged his shoulders and quietly looked at Fang Mu in the window.He was lying on the hospital bed with his upper body naked, and two nurses were helping him change the dressing.The burnt area on the back exposed red flesh, which looked shocking. "Director Bian." Bian Ping followed the reputation and saw Xiao Wang leading two people walking towards him from the other end of the corridor. "This is Wang Keqin, our deputy director, and this is Xu Tong, the deputy team leader—this is Director Bian of the Provincial Department." Xiao Wang introduced them one by one to Bian Ping. After the two sides shook hands and greeted each other, Bian Ping directly asked about the current situation. .Xu Tong handed Bian Ping a folder and asked him to watch and listen.

"We received a report this morning that there was a gun battle at the Juyuan Steel Plant. When our police officers arrived at the scene, they found the bodies of three men, a man and four girls." Xu Tong said to Fang Munu in the ward, " We didn't expect it to be him either. Also, a Santana sedan was found near the scene with a girl in it. Other circumstances are still under investigation." Bian Ping nodded.At this time, Fang Mu had already put on his shirt and walked out of the ward. He didn't care about greeting Bian Ping, and asked Xu Tong directly, "Where are those children?"

"They are all in our bureau, don't worry. We have obtained the information of the four children from the household registration department, and have notified their parents respectively. You also know that the guardian must be notified to be present when interrogating minor witnesses. Therefore, it is not possible for the time being. Ask them. However," Xu Tong looked at the notebook in his hand, "we can't find any information about the girl in the Santana car, and we don't know who her guardian is." Seeing Fang Mu's furrowed brows, Bian Ping interjected: "According to your request, I brought Sister Zhao along, and the girl named Lu Lu is with her—how is your injury?"

"I'm fine." Fang Mu turned to face Xu Tong, "Several villagers in Lujia Village, Longwei'ao Township are suspected of intentional homicide and cross-border child trafficking. They took control. Also," he added, "there is a villager named Lu Haiyan, and she must be properly protected." Although the GPS had sunk into the dark river together with the rucksack, Fang Mu recalled a little and told Xu Tong the approximate location of that place. "It used to be a place where abducted girls were detained. If necessary, take those girls to identify them."

Without further ado, Xu Tong and Deputy Director Wang said goodbye in a hurry, and Xiao Wang also volunteered to help.Just after taking a few steps, Fang Mu stopped him again. "Did someone call you today?" Fang Mu carefully observed Xiao Wang's expression. "Yes." Xiao Wang answered simply and neatly. "Who?" Fang Mu's heart immediately rose to his throat. "You." Xiao Wang seemed a little puzzled, "Didn't you call me and Chief Bian to come?" "Oh." Fang Mu thought for a while, feeling both relieved and puzzled, and waved his hand at Xiao Wang, "It's okay. Thank you for your hard work."

Looks like no one has caught that drifting bottle.So, how did Jin Yongyu and others know their whereabouts? In the corridor, only Fangmu and Bianping are left. "Did Jin Yongyu catch it?" "The manhunt has been launched in C City and S City." Bian Ping said, "It will be a matter of time before he is caught." After thinking for a while, he asked again, "Did you call the police this morning?" "It's not me. My mobile phone is scrapped." Fang Mu shook his head sadly, "It's Lao Zheng and the others." "Old Zheng and the others? You mean, Zheng Lin, Feng Ruohai and Zhan Hong?" Bian Ping looked around, "Where are they?"

"You are at the scene, did you see a mold filled with molten steel?" Fang Mu's voice suddenly became hoarse. "Huh?" Bian Ping opened the folder in his hand, and in one of the pictures of the scene, a furnace of molten steel that had not cooled down was still emitting heat. "Old Zheng, Xiao Hai, and A Zhan..." Fang Mu glanced at the picture, then closed his eyes tightly, "...it's inside." The folder in Bian Ping's hand fell to the ground with a "click", and his eyes were wide open, staring at Fang Mu, as if he could not understand his words at all.

After a long time, he leaned over to pick up the folder, but his eyes still refused to leave Fang Mu's face, and he asked each word, "What's going on?" Sitting on the bench in the hospital, Fang Mu told Bian Ping exactly what happened.Bian Ping is a person with a pure heart and no expression of emotions or anger.However, as Fang Mu narrated, expressions of fear, relief, anger, and sadness clearly appeared on his face in sequence. After listening, Bian Ping sat silently for a long time, then suddenly got up. "How long do you need to rest?" "Huh?" Fang Mu looked at the good old man Bian Ping in surprise, but at this moment he looked like a King Kong with angry eyes, "No, there is no need to rest."

"Let's go. There are still a lot of things to do." Bian Ping turned around and left, walking vigorously, "We must make them pay the price!" Investigation work is in full swing.In less than a day, part of the conclusions of the investigation and the results of the physical evidence examination have come out.The identities of the three bodies found at the scene have been verified separately. They are all unemployed in S city and have a bad record.A total of five pistols were found at the scene, firing a number of bullets.On one of the pistols, Fang Mu's fingerprints were found, and the fingerprints on the other two matched two of the three dead.The fingerprints on the other two pistols were unknown and covered each other.According to Fang Mu, the fingerprints on one of the guns must belong to Jin Yongyu.The comparison data is being extracted in City C.

Only Fang Mu knew that the other two fingerprints belonged to Zheng Lin and Xiao Hai. The furnace of molten steel finally cooled completely.Steel ingots were taken out of the mold by workers and placed in the yard of Juyuan Steel Factory.The rough and huge steel ingot looks thick and simple, as if completely forgetting that he once swallowed three policemen in an instant.Fang Mu walked around the steel ingot, reaching out to touch the rough surface.It is cold to the touch.He put his ear on the steel ingot, as if he wanted to distinguish their violent heartbeats from it.However, everything was in vain, it just stood there silently, just like the life it imprisoned.

"It's unbelievable." At some point, Bian Ping stood beside Fang Mu, "Three living people, just like this..." After a long time, Fang Mu heaved a sigh of relief and asked in a low voice, "How is the situation here?" "The owner of the steel factory is Peng Zhongcai, 44 years old. According to the workers in the steel factory, he was the one who dismissed all the workers in the factory that day." Bian Ping handed Fang Mu a photo. A pursuer who shoots through the thigh. "Where are people?" "I'm on the run." Although Bian Ping's words were short, his tone was unprecedentedly firm, "But like Jin Yongyu, he definitely can't escape." In the evening, news from various sources came back one after another.There are good and bad.The parents of the four girls have rushed to City S one after another. The city bureau arranged for them and their daughters to stay in a hotel, and assigned special personnel to take care of them.They are expected to be questioned the next day.The arrest team has brought Lu Tianchang and others under control, but they all have alibi issued by local villagers.Lu Haiyan suffered some injuries, but her life was not affected.As for the detention place in the cave, although the police have found it, the scene has been cleaned up artificially, and there is no evidence to extract. The remains of the three of Zheng Lin are the biggest problem.Although they are on suspension, Fang Mu is still determined to give an explanation to the comrades who died.But Bian Ping told Fang Mu regretfully that with the existing technical capabilities, it is difficult to prove that the three of Zheng Lin were cast in steel ingots, because the high temperature of up to 1500 degrees may have cut off the gene sequence of DNA, making it impossible to recombine. no problem, no problem.Fang Mu gritted his teeth to comfort himself. As long as the testimonies of the four girls are extracted, everything will be fine. Early the next morning, Fang Mu, Bian Ping, and Xiao Wang rushed to the S City Public Security Bureau.The strange thing is that the city bureau, where people come and go on weekdays, is extremely deserted, with only a few police officers staying behind.Fang Mu waited patiently until 8:30, couldn't sit still anymore, got up and went to the criminal police team.Xu Tong is not there.Transfer to the director's office, the director and deputy director are not there.Fang Mu felt a little nervous, so he hurriedly called Xu Tong and Deputy Director Wang, but they all shut down. Bian Ping felt that something was wrong, so he told Fang Mu and Xiao Wang to go to the hotel where the girls and their parents were staying, and wait for news at the city bureau. Along the way, Fang Mu's ominous premonition grew stronger, and he kept urging Xiao Wang to hurry up.After rushing to the hotel, Fang Mu rushed straight up to the fourth floor. As soon as he turned into the corridor, his heart sank.The police who were supposed to guard here have disappeared. Fang Mu cried out inwardly, and rushed to the door of one of the rooms, and suddenly found that the door was actually ajar.He quickly exchanged glances with Xiao Wang, Xiao Wang pulled out his pistol, Fang Mu pushed the door hard, and Xiao Wang rushed in immediately. Hearing "Oh my god", a room attendant threw away the vacuum cleaner in his hand and sat down on the ground. Fang Mu was stunned, and then looked at the room, except for the waiter, there was no one else. "Where are the guests in this room?" The waitress was still in shock, Fang Mulian asked twice before replying tremblingly: "Already... already checked out." "What?" Fang Mu's eyes widened. Xiao Wang put away his gun, and reported three room numbers one after another, "Where are the people in these rooms?" "Also checked out, I just finished cleaning the room." The waitress stood up, "I don't know the details, you can ask the front desk." The reply from the front desk of the hotel was: Around 6 o'clock this morning, the police who had been guarding the hotel left in a hurry.Immediately afterwards, the parents and children living in the four rooms checked out respectively, and their whereabouts were unknown. Fang Mu's mind went blank, he pressed his hands on the counter, unable to utter a word.Xiao Wang was the first to react, and immediately called Bian Ping, asking him to ask the guarding police why they were evacuated. A waiter looked Fang Mu up and down, and asked, "Excuse me, is your surname Fang?" Fang Mu was startled, and nodded hastily. "Are you a policeman?" "Yes, what?" The waiter took out a piece of paper from the counter and handed it to Fang Mu, "This morning, a girl gave it to me. I must hand it over to a policeman named Fang. It should be you." Fang Mu took the paper and unfolded it.It was a piece of memo paper from a hotel, with a few lines written on it, the handwriting was beautiful, but very scribbled, and it was obvious at a glance that it was written in a hurry. Fang Mu only took a few glances, and his whole body trembled.He bent down, put his head on the counter, and made a roaring sound from his throat, as if something was stuck in his trachea. Everyone was petrified, Xiao Wang hurriedly supported him, and asked repeatedly: "What's wrong with you, are you alright?" Fang Mu pushed him away, and walked out of the hotel with a pale face, "Go, go back to the Municipal Bureau!" The jeep rushed into the yard of the Public Security Bureau of City S like lightning. Before the car stopped, Fang Mu jumped out of the car, rushed up to the third floor, turned into the corridor, and went straight to the meeting room at the end of the corridor. Only Bian Ping, Sister Zhao and Lu Lu were in the huge conference room.Seeing Fang Mu rushing in suddenly, the three of them were startled and stood up hastily.With a livid face, Fang Mu snatched the folder from Bian Ping's hand without saying a word, then pulled Lu Lu up like a chicken, and dragged her to the inquiry room regardless of her kicking and struggling. Sister Zhao hurriedly stopped him without knowing it, but she couldn't stop Fang Mu who was already close to madness.He locked Sister Zhao and Bian Ping in the interrogation room, pushed Lu Lu to sit on a chair, took out the interrogation transcript from the cabinet, and threw it on the table. "Who brought you to City C, Lu Tianchang or Lu Dachun?" Lu Lu trembled with fright, curled up on the chair, and looked at Fang Mu in horror. "Who locked you in the Baixin Bathing Palace?" Fang Mu didn't seem to hear Sister Zhao and Bian Ping's violent knock on the door, and he didn't even notice that Lu Lu didn't answer his question at all.He just wrote crazily on the interview notes, asking questions like he was possessed. "Aside from Jing Xu, who else raped you?" "Who else is locked up with you, do you know their names?" "Did they mention where they're going to sell you?" "Among the people you've met, is there anyone surnamed Liang?" ... Suddenly, without any warning, Fang Mu threw the interrogation transcript on the wall, and the thick interrogation transcript fell apart with a crash, falling to the ground in various places.He grabbed his hair, leaned his elbows on the table, and squeezed out a few words through his teeth, as if telling himself: "Don't do this, calm down...don't be like this..." However, this is of no use at all.A few seconds later, Fang Mu slapped the folder he snatched from Bian Ping on the table.His eyes were dazed, and he quickly opened the folder like a spasm of his fingers, murmuring indistinctly: "Okay, you don't want to say it, do you? Okay..." He held up a photo of the suspect. Although he looked at Lu Lu, his eyes were empty. "Do you recognize this person?" Lu Lu's body leaned back as far as she could, almost embedded in the chair, trembling uncontrollably. "I don't recognize it? Okay." Fang Mu threw the photo aside and muttered to himself as if he couldn't control it, "It's okay, it's okay..." He picked up another photo with a frantic expression, "What about this one? Don't recognize it? Okay... what about this one?" Each photo didn't stay in Fang Mu's hands for more than a second. He seemed eager to get the confession he wanted from the girl, but he didn't give Lu Lu any time to think. Bian Ping and Sister Zhao had already opened the door of the interrogation room, and they stared at the crazy Fang Mu in a daze. Soon, all the photos were "recognized", and there were scattered photos and documents on the table and on the ground.Fang Mu stared at the terrified girl in front of him, his chest rose and fell sharply. Suddenly, he roared: "Why don't you speak?!" Before he finished speaking, Fang Mu jumped up and reached out to grab the girl's neck! Before his hand touched the girl, he heard a "pop"—Sister Zhao's hand fell heavily on Fang Mu's face. "What are you going to do?" She hugged Lu Lu and asked Fang Mu angrily. Fang Mu's face was turned to one side, and the end of that roar turned into a choked sob. Bian Ping felt sad, and stretched out his hand to pull his shoulder, "Fang Mu, calm down..." Fang Mu turned around abruptly and shook off Bian Ping's hand. "Calm down? How can I be calm? All the witnesses are gone, if she doesn't speak again..." Fang Mu, who was in tears, questioned Bian Ping loudly, as if the latter was the creator of all mistakes. "Then you can't treat Lu Lu like this!" Sister Zhao said loudly, hugging Lu Lu even tighter, "This child is pitiful enough..." "I lost three brothers! Three!" Fang Mu's eyes bulged out horribly, and he yelled hysterically, "They don't even have a bone left!" After the roar, there was a dead silence in the interrogation room.Sister Zhao looked at Fang Mu in surprise, but couldn't say another word. The roar seemed to have exhausted Fang Mu's strength, he shook a few times, and slumped down on the chair. A ball of paper rolled from his palm to the ground. Bian Ping leaned over to pick up the ball of paper, unfolded it, and read softly: "Uncle Fang, someone gave Dad a lot of money. We are going to move to a far away place. We will be leaving soon. Thank you to the three unknown police uncle." Hearing the last sentence, Fang Mu couldn't control himself anymore and burst into tears.