Hao Ren stopped Wang An from talking and then he spoke into the mic, “People might know this or they might not, but I am the adopted father of these 4 poor children. For the past 2 months, I was not home because I have lost my job, and I lost my job because of a thief.” Hao Ren looked around before he continued, “It happened about 2 months ago. I captured 3 thieves at an internet café and sent them to the police station. But after they were released, Zhang Bin attempted a targeted revenge on me. He used underhanded tactics to make me lose my job.”
Hao Ren ruffled Wang An’s hair and smiled, “I studied martial arts from my master since I was young so I had no problem dealing with a few petty thieves but my master often told me that the importance of martial art iis in the art. We are physically stronger than others but that does not mean we are superior to others. We study martial arts to preserve justice, not to beat up others. I often told Wang An that he is much too easily-provoked.” Hao Ren looked at Wang An, “He reminds me of myself when I was young. My master guided me. He told me that martial arts are to help others from their misfortune. We should do everything we can to help others. And I did everything I could to help my family.
“Zhang Bin targeted me so I thought if my departure could get him to stop, then I was willing to part with my family temporarily.” Hao Ren continued, “At the time, a friend was looking to hire at Dong Xing City. He needed me for 2 months and would pay me 10000 RMB. It was almost Lunar New Year but the allure of the money was too strong. I need the money to support my children, to send Xiao Qi and Wang An to school.
“I left Wang An with Teacher Zhao and Xiao Qi lived with her friend. Xiaoli and Zigui were both adults, they should be able to take care of themselves. Then I departed for Dong Xing City, one was to earn money, and two was to evade these young men, who were led by Zhang Bin.”
Hao Ren sounded saddened and helpless. “But I didn’t expect that I would come back to this tragedy 2 months later. The 4 children have had a hard time. When I adopted Du Zigui, it was winter and he was only 4 or 5, crawling through the garbage to look for food. Xiao Qi was my second adopted daughter, she was abandoned by her parents when she was young. She didn’t like to speak but she had a kind heart.”
Hao Ren’s tears flowed like a river. “The most difficult part of their lives should be over already, they finally saw hope but they were extinguished just like that. I heard that Zhang Bin has been released because there is not enough evidence. I am a man who has not learned many things. If that is what the police say, then I won’t hold Zhang Bin responsible for anything.”
“No way!” Wang An shouted, “It was he who killed my brother and sister!”
Hao Ren shook his head, “Wang An, I haven’t even gotten to you yet. How could you kill someone innocent? Have you forgotten everything that I’ve taught you? When did I tell you to grab knives to kill people?”
Wang An didn’t answer but his face was set in determination.
Hao Ren sighed, “My dream is to open a dojo, to teach people how to take care of their bodies so they could live until over 100 years old, so the weak can protect themselves, but now I realize how foolish that dream is. Physical prowess is not enough to protect oneself because to destroy a person, one can do more than destroy their health.
“Zigui, Xiao Qi.” Hao Ren wept. “I apologize to you, I hope you’ll finally find peace. And Xiaoli and Wang An, I’m sorry for not being there when you most needed me.” Then the family of 3 hugged each other and cried. Some in the crowd started to cry too. This was indeed a touching scene.
Teacher Zhao continued in a shaking voice, “If we cannot ensure the safety of a Good Samaritan, then why is the country promoting the value of good morality? A family has been ruined, 3 lives have been lost because of this but the culprit is still outside the law.”
Teacher Zhao pointed at me and demanded agitatedly, “Officer Wu, I know this is your case. Tell me, what evidence do you still need? Are these statements not enough? Are these pictures fake? Answer me!” The reporters all turned to me and hoped to get my statement on the case.
I was not expecting things to turn out like this.
“I’ve heard that Zhang Bin has colluded with the police, I didn’t believe it before but it looks like it’s true!” Someone shouted, “We demand the truth, we demand the truth!” I knew avoidance was not going to solve anything so I hopped onto the stage and grabbed a mic. “Everyone calm down. We’re still in the middle of the investigation. From available evidence, we cannot confirm fully that Zhang Bin is the killer. Give us a bit more time to prove it or an innocent person might die. How can we strip a person of his life so easily, that makes us no different from killers.”
My words raised not a ripple among the mob. They were only willing to hear what they wanted to hear. The voices of the minority were always ignored. Individual power was small but the mob mentality was scary. No one wanted to be against the mob.
Teacher Zhao looked at me and said, “I only know that all the evidence says Zhang Bin is the killer. If the law cannot protect us, if the law won’t bring the criminals to justice, why do we need the law?! If the police don’t uphold justice, then we’ll find our own justice.”
The situation spiralled out of control. Gu Chen pulled on my arm and said, “It’s pointless to say anything now. Let’s go before the conflict escalates.”
I nodded. Suddenly lethargy overwhelmed me. As we walked out, we could hear the crowd curse at us, claiming that we were harbouring Zhang Bin, we were dogs of the rich, calling us the scum of the earth. Even though we weren’t, these words landed heavily on our hearts. Even when we had left the conference, the crowd’s angry shouts still echoed in my ears.
In the car, Guan Zhenglin took out her phone. She said, “Now not only Zhang Bin, even you’re famous at Elm Town.”
“Me?” I was shocked.
Guan Zhenglin nodded. “Everyone is calling you the corrupt police. You not only didn’t help the victims but instead defended the killer. Someone even said that they would beat you up if they ran into you on the street.” I shrugged helplessly.
Guan Zhenglin continued, “But you are still far less popular than Zhang Bin. Someone had released Zhang Bin’s information online. He is 21 years old, 1.75 tall, and 130 jin. He is not a local and came from out of town. He is an orphan and started to steal when he was young. He currently lives at Shun Chang Daily Rental and his phone number is…”
I frowned because this information was different from the post attached to the murder video. This post was entirely real. Zhang Bin had been detained many times and I looked through his case files before. The information on the internet was 100 percent correct, including his latest address and phone number. There couldn’t be that many people who knew that Zhang Bin had moved to Shun Chang Daily Rental, other than the police, it would be Cheng Yimin and Zheng Shuai. So this information might be offered by them.
They were clever because while they were a group of 3 thieves, only Zhang Bin was mentioned. So they needed to extricate themselves quickly from the relationship with Zhang Bin or else the mob might come after then. This meant that Zhang Bin really had no one to rely on anymore. Even his old friends and partners had abandoned him.
Gu Chen said, “Even though I think Zhang Bin is the culprit, he has managed to do it so that he doesn't leave behind too much evidence. But with so many testimonies, can’t we just close the case? The citizens of Elm Town will not rest until the case is closed.”
I was silent. “No. Without concrete evidence, we can’t close a case. In investigation, witnesses are the most unreliable because different people have different perspectives of the same issue. We cannot do things based on the demand of the loudest voice.”
Gu Chen argued, “But now other than yourself, no one is willing to believe that Zhang Bin is innocent.”
I shook my head. “I never said Zhang Bin was innocent. I merely refuse to conclude a case without a complete investigation. We are the police, we cannot jump to conclusions, if we do, justice won’t be fair anymore.”
Guan Zhenglin sighed, “But the pressure is on. If we do not solve the case soon, the public ire will definitely turn to us.”
I closed my eyes and used my fingers to massage my temples. My mind was in shambles. The echoes of the crowd were still bouncing inside. At that moment, my phone rang.
“Captain Zhao? Did you find something?” I answered.
Captain Zhao answered. “We found something at Dong Xing City. I found the IP address, it was a computer at an internet café, but the cameras here are on maintenance so there is no footage inside the café. However, the traffic cam outside did show that Hao Ren had once visited his café. There is no proof that he was the one who released the video by Du Zigui.”
After a pause, Captain Zhao added, “Or rather, this is not enough proof that Hao Ren was the one who released the video.”
1 comment:
Someone is acting like a vigilante? So Hao Ren approaching Zhang Bin might be planned too
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