237 Court

 

I looked at the officers who were as young as I was. I saw his brows slowly relax like he had the leg on me. He looked at me. “Fine, since you like to play with logic so much, then I’ll entertain you.” He raised two fingers. “1, you’re lying; 2, the gun manager is lying. You agree, yes?”

Clearly, the man was trying to lead me into a trap. Even though I knew that I could only follow his lead. “Yes, but I am not lying. Because of my mental history, if I need to carry a gun, I need to put in a request. Everyone in the special task force knows that.”

“Special task force?” The officer laughed. “Based on my knowledge, this unit is not even official. Other than Zhao Silin, no one is official with law enforcement. Of the three members, you’ve killed someone, Guan Zhenglin is missing, and Zhao Silin is facing his superior’s wrath. Who do you think can save you?”

He scratched his head. “Oh wait, there’s one more. Gu Chen, but he has been moved back.”

“To the military?” I asked.

“Yes.” The man answered.

When I heard that, I was agitated. At this crucial moment, Guan Zhenglin disappeared, I was treated as a murder suspect, Captain Zhao was gone, Gu Chen was moved back. At that moment, everyone I knew was gone. The special unit crumbled just like that. Who was so powerful to know about the movements inside the station? And who released the info on the members?

My rationality told me that the killer wouldn’t have framed me without absolute confidence. No matter what I said, they had already found evidence to convict me. But I still didn’t get why the killer did this. I was silent as I thought about this.

Then the officer took out an A4 paper. I looked over, and it was a gun application form. My signature was on it. To my surprise, the handwriting was indeed mine. If I were sure I didn’t write this, I would be convinced too. I pulled on my hair. This was getting stranger and stranger. I never wrote this, but the handwriting was mine. I said, “Someone could have mimicked my handwriting. This can’t prove anything.”

The officer knocked on the table. “You still won’t admit it. The gun manager has agreed to testify against you. He said he had indeed handed you the gun, and you gave him this form.

“The gun’s number, the bullet’s number, and witness’ statement all match.” The man smiled. “If someone was at the crime scene and could verify your statement, then you might be spared imprisonment, but do you have that?”

I shook my head and said slowly, “No, I have no witness.”

The officer sat back down. “Then it’s over for you. There are no fingerprints on your gun. When Duan Jingliang caught you, you were wearing gloves. You are a cop. You should know what that means. I am not the judge, so I can’t convict you. That’s all my question.” He closed the file and said, “Even though you are not an official officer, we belong under the same system. I need to remind you, no matter what happens, you are in great danger.” I knew that.

The officers stood up. He walked out and said, “My name is Wen Ruozi. Actually, I’m a consultant like you. If you really didn’t do this, perhaps, we can cooperate in the future.” Then he left without turning back.

Wen Ruozi, I believed I heard that before, but I couldn’t remember where. In the next three days, no friend came to see me. Sister Mary and Captain Zhao would know about this, and so would Gu Chen. And the police would inform my stepfather, but no one came to see me. It was like I had been forgotten.

Four days later, I was sent to court. The prosecutor was charging me with premeditated murder. Standing in the defendant’s booth, the police had assigned me a lawyer, but my attention was in the room. I looked around. Other than Sister Mao, there was not one familiar face. When the court was called to order, everyone stood up and became quiet. I didn’t expect that one day I’d be standing here. “The court is starting for Wu Meng’s murder case…”

My head was buzzing like there were thousands of flies in my ears. I said nothing and allowed the persecutor to present all the evidence.

“Attorney general, this is the gun, gun number, and bullet number the suspect Wu Meng used to kill the innocent officer. It was Zhao Silin who permitted Wu Meng to own a gun. The documents are all here.”

If I was convicted, as the person who permitted me to use a gun, Captain Zhao would be fired. Suddenly I realized perhaps the killer wasn’t gunning for me but the whole special task unit. Guan Zhenglin was kidnapped, Gu Chen was moved out, Captain Zhao and I were caught in this case, the team was over.

“Defendant, do you have anything to say?” The judge asked. I shook my head. “Persecutor, please continue,” The judge said.

“For the detective team, every member has their own gun. And they have to apply for the gun before each operation and after each operation, every member has to write down a report on the times they have fired the gun and where. This is Wu Meng’s gun application form. We have compared it to Wu Meng’s normal handwriting. It is confirmed that the suspect has written this form.”

I said, “I haven’t written this.”

The persecutor stood up, “Your honor, please allow me to summon my first witness.”

“Go ahead.”

The first witness was the gun manager at Dong Xing City Police Department. I had met him several times, but since I didn’t use a gun, I didn’t know him that well. But when he saw me, he said confidently, “That’s right, he was the one who handed me the form. Wu Meng, he doesn’t know me, but I know him.”

I looked at the fat officer and said, “Nonsense, when I have made this request? I have no history with you. Why are you framing me.”

The fat officer shrugged. “That’s right. I have no reason to frame you. I am a member of the law, and we pursue the truth. I swear under the book that the suspect Wu Meng has indeed handed me the application form. The form has the city’s insignia, so it can’t be fake.”

“That is correct.” The judge confirmed.

The persecutor continued, “Based on the witness testimony from Duan Jingliang, at the crime scene, there was only the suspect and Fang Tong’s body. The crime scene was enclosed, so the killer had no chance of escaping. When Duan Zhengling arrived, the suspect was holding the gun that killed Fang Tong. This is the evidence statement.” The persecutor said.

“Defendant, do you have anything to say?” The judge asked.

I took a few deep breaths. No matter what I said, it was pointless. The persecutor was right. This was the reality they saw but was seeing believing?

Since I didn’t say anything, the persecutor continued, “We have both material and human witnesses. And based on our investigation, Wu Meng has paranoia. When he acts up, he will see himself as a criminal. When Wu Meng is in this state, he might kill.”

“But I’ve been cured after 1 year of treatment,” I said.

“That’s not true.” The persecutor countered. “We’ve looked into the Second People’s Hospital and found your patient’s records. Zhao Silin hauled you out of the mental hospital even though you hadn’t recovered fully.”

I wanted to say something, but he was right.

“But now I am normal and have no intention to kill,” I said.

The persecutor shook his head. “But we have a witness that says otherwise. Your honor, I wish to summon my second witness.”

“I’ll allow it.”

I recognized this second witness, and he was Xiao Liu’s righthand man. When we were hurrying to Xing Dong Village, he sat on the other side of the uncle persona. At the time, I did threaten the killer, but it was for a very good reason.

“He did threaten the killer.” The witness said, “There were two other officers in the car, and we both heard Wu Meng say it. He used his police identity to threaten the killer and said that he could change the testimony if he wanted to. He openly misused his power, and we both heard it.”

“I only did that because I was desperate to save my friend!” I countered, “You were there. Didn’t you realize how dangerous it was back then?”