Past midnight, Zhoujia Village was still brightly lit.
The officers and the leading sergeant from the Qingniu Town precinct first carefully inspected the crime scene, then looked at the dense crowd of men dressed in black standing before them.
Even as law enforcers, the sight sent a chill down their spines.
Just what was the background of these men in black?
They had never heard of such a dark underworld syndicate in Huai City. Anyone who didn't know better would think they had stumbled onto the set of the movie Kung Fu Hustle, as if the notorious Axe Gang had risen from the ashes.
After waiting a little longer, the sergeant finally breathed a sigh of relief when an officer reported that the police from the city precinct had arrived.
A case of this magnitude was definitely beyond the jurisdiction of their town-level precinct. With the city police here, he could hand it over and be free of this immense pressure.
Five police cars arrived from the city, dropping off about twenty officers. Leading them was a detective from the criminal division, Inspector Li. He was around forty, with a buzz cut and eagle-like eyes, exuding a resolute and no-nonsense aura.
"Is the scene secured?" Inspector Li asked, his voice icy.
"We've locked it down according to protocol, and all involved parties are still here. However, Inspector Li, the deceased, Zhao Biao, is a well-known local entrepreneur," the Qingniu Town sergeant replied.
"I don't need to know who the deceased is right now. I just want to know who offed him, and how."
Inspector Li glanced at the crowd of men in black, frowning slightly.
He thought to himself: These people are too arrogant. They actually killed someone, didn't flee, and even dared to call the police themselves.
After getting a rough understanding of the situation, he looked at Zhang Tao, who was covered in blood.
"Cuff him!" Inspector Li ordered.
Two officers immediately stepped forward to do so.
Just then, Zhao Tianyi took a step forward, blocking their way. "Hold on a moment, Inspector."
As he spoke, he pulled out his ID. "I am Zhang Tao's lawyer, Zhao Tianyi. Before you take any coercive measures against my client, I have a few questions regarding legal procedures that need to be confirmed."
Inspector Li narrowed his eyes. "Speak!"
Completely unfazed by his sharp gaze, Zhao Tianyi pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses and said, "First, I want to confirm if my client has shown any obvious signs of fleeing, committing suicide, or destroying evidence?"
"Not at the moment."
"Second, has the preliminary investigation of this case been completed, and is there sufficient evidence to prove that my client is suspected of a crime?"
"There's a knife stuck in his chest and the man is dead. Is that not enough?"
"No, it's not. There needs to be a complete chain of causality to link the resulting death with criminal responsibility."
"Third, and most importantly, according to the Criminal Procedure Law, if you believe an arrested person needs to be formally charged, you must submit a request to the prosecutor's office for review and approval within three days of detention. Under special circumstances, this can be extended by one to four days."
"I am now formally stating that if you intend to detain my client, I demand a meeting arranged within twenty-four hours, and I expect to see the complete evidentiary materials for the arrest request within three days. Otherwise, I will file an application for case supervision with the investigative oversight department of the Supervisory Bureau."
Inspector Li's face darkened.
This lawyer didn't seem like he was here to follow standard procedures; rather, it felt like he was here to flip the table.
On the surface, not only did the lawyer not plead for leniency, he even gave the illusion that he was more eager to have his client arrested than the police were.
In reality, this was a preemptive strike. It was a disguised way of telling him that this matter had to be handled strictly by the book, not by their usual policing habits.
In particular, the lawyer's demands for a meeting within 24 hours and access to evidence within 3 days were all within legal bounds, designed to buy time and gather information for the subsequent defense.
This way, the opposing side would immediately know exactly what charges the police intended to use to send Zhang Tao to the prosecutor's office, allowing them to prepare a counter-strategy in advance.
Inspector Li became even more certain that this group of men in black was no ordinary bunch. The lawyer they hired was highly skilled.
However, did they really think they could escape the sanctions of the law just like this?
"Lawyer Zhao, are you threatening me?"
"I am merely upholding the legal rights granted to my client by the law."
Zhao Tianyi said, "You can go ahead with your evidence collection and investigation for now. We can talk after you're done. Oh, by the way, we also have some video evidence on hand that we can provide to you."
There were no security cameras installed in the village. Unlike in later years when surveillance was everywhere, the video evidence they provided was particularly crucial.
Of course, the video was a copy.
At the same time, Zhao Tianyi gave a brief recount of what had happened.
To Inspector Li's ears, it could only be described in one word: professional!
"Lawyer Zhao, have you worked in criminal investigation before?"
"Self-taught."
Zhao Tianyi replied, "Inspector Li, I know you rely on evidence when handling cases. You've roughly seen the evidence by now. Furthermore, there are two to three hundred people at the scene who can testify that Zhao Biao's gang broke in with weapons first, took hostages first, and attacked first."
"This evidence is sufficient to support a preliminary judgment of self-defense. If you now criminally detain Zhang Tao under the pretext of intentional injury leading to death or any other charge, you would be making a presumption of guilt against a defender under circumstances where the evidence is clearly questionable. I suggest you think this through carefully."
His words carried heavy weight.
So heavy that the entire courtyard fell silent.
A young officer behind Inspector Li couldn't help but speak up. "Lawyer Zhao, what do you mean by that? It's not up to you to decide what charges we use!"
"Xiao Chen."
Inspector Li stopped him and took a deep look at Zhao Tianyi. "Fine, we'll do this by the book. Zhang Tao, you are now verbally summoned to the police station to cooperate with the investigation. This is not a detention. Your lawyer may accompany you, but everyone else will be taken back for statements. Anyone suspected of a crime will be detained accordingly."
Zhao Tianyi: "I also demand that the entire process be audio and video recorded, and that I be allowed to supervise and document the interrogation."
Inspector Li: "Approved."
The two men, originally standing in opposition, unexpectedly shook hands in tacit understanding. To an outsider, it would look as though they had some sort of special relationship.
Only they knew that they had met their match and needed to take each other seriously.
If the other party were just some petty lawyer, Inspector Li wouldn't have bothered with him. But given the current posture, he didn't dare show the slightest negligence.
Likewise, from just this one encounter, Zhao Tianyi realized that Inspector Li was an experienced veteran detective who would not be easy to deal with.
What they didn't know was that this handshake was witnessed by a neighbor peeking from the second floor across the courtyard.
The neighbor even saw the men in black actively helping the cops escort away the lackeys Zhao Biao had brought, leaving them utterly shocked.
Once the convoy had completely departed and the entrance to Zhou Juan'er's house fell completely silent, the nearby villagers, unable to sleep, gathered around and began chattering all at once.
"I don't know if you guys saw it, but I sure did. The lead cop just shook hands with that man in black wearing glasses."
"Holy crap! Are you serious?"
"They really did, and they shook hands several times too."
"What does this mean? Are the cops in cahoots with these guys?"
"Don't you get it yet? Zhao Biao was tough enough around here, right? But he was wiped out just like that. When the cops showed up, not only did they not arrest those men in black, but they even shook hands with them politely. What does that tell you?"
"It tells us that these guys in black have a much bigger background than Zhao Biao."
"Zhao Biao was just a local thug, only good for bullying us. Look at these guys, look at their lineup and their composure. They killed a man and didn't even run. Even the cops had to play by their rules when they arrived. Could they be just your average gangsters?"
"No wonder they gave us a hundred bucks. That wasn't just hush money; that was money to buy our lives. It means take the cash, keep your mouths shut tight, and pretend we saw nothing tonight. Zhao Biao died on his own."
"Zhao Biao really hit a brick wall this time. Not only did it cost him his life, but does this mean everything in our village is about to change? With these guys backing Juan'er's family from now on, who would dare cross them?"
"We'd better be polite when we see Juan'er's man in the future, or we'll be in deep trouble! Just think about what happened to Zhao Biao."
"Say no more. Tomorrow I'm using this hundred bucks to buy some gifts and taking them over to Juan'er's place."
"I'm going too. I wouldn't feel right spending this money on myself."
"........."
The group practically came to a unanimous agreement, just waiting for the Zhou family to return tomorrow so they could show up at their door with gifts in hand.
Excuses were easy enough to find. As neighbors, after such a huge incident, it was only natural to show some concern, wasn't it?
As the saying goes, a close neighbor is better than a distant relative! Round it up, and they were practically family!
Seeing so many people eager to curry favor with the Zhou family, someone couldn't help but sigh, "Things in Qingniu Town, no, probably all of Huai City, are about to change. And from the looks of it, it's going to be much darker than Zhao Biao's reign!"
