External factors included witness and physical evidence. But evidence held more weight because human witnesses had issues of authenticity. What you see might not be the truth. Plus, humans were creatures of emotions. They were subjective. However, physical evidence was objective. Of course, there was the case of framing, but they were more reliable than human witnesses.
Internal factors refer to the suspect’s personal factors, like whether the suspect had the time, capability, and motive to commit the crime. These three were the most common internal factors.
After both internal and external factors matched, the suspect would be sent to court, and the judge would decide the severity of the punishment.
The suspect’s testimony didn’t really play a part because they were the most untrustworthy personnel in the whole incident.
In my case, all the external and internal factors pointed at me. The gun and the bullet came from my assigned firearm and ammo case. The witnesses came from different departments, and they didn’t know each other, so they couldn’t collude. I had the time to commit the crime, and I was caught red-handed. I was capable of committing the crime, and I knew how to fire a gun. I had the motive because they said I had paranoia.
I closed my eyes to pull on my hair. I knew the person who framed me had to know the law process very well. He had prepared everything for my downfall, and there was no loophole. This was not something a common person could have done.
All the evidence pointed towards me. I believed if I were convicted, as that lawyer said, I would be locked up for life if I wasn’t shot. However, I refused to take the fall for the things I didn’t do. Thankfully, I had told everything I needed to do to the lawyer. But until now, I wasn’t sure if Sister Mao would help me. Honestly, the relationship between Sister Mao and me was strictly transactional. When I was still a member of the Special Task Group, she would help me, but what about now? I had no idea, but Sister Mao was my only hope.
As I expected, the judge couldn’t come to my judgment immediately but called for another court meeting three days later, and I knew these three days were all that I had. By then, I would be sent to a bigger prison, and I wouldn’t be able to do anything there.
“The court is adjourned, and the second court meeting will be held three days later.”
After that, I was brought back to Dong Xing Station’s detention center. In the afternoon, Sister Mao’s lawyer came to find me. I looked at him and said, “Have you relayed everything I told you to Sister Mao?”
The lawyer nodded. Even though he was deeply concerned, his movements were calm not to attract the suspicion of the officers. His brows were locked. His hand pressed on the table. “Have you considered the consequence? If you don’t do this, there is still a chance for things to turn around.” He leaned forward and glanced towards the door. “But once you do this, you’ll be turned into a fugitive.”
I nodded. He shook his head like I didn’t understand him. “Boss Mao wanted me to preserve your life as much as possible. If you proceed with this, they can shoot you, do you understand? They can fire you down on the street without warning.”
I smiled. “There’s no need to scare me. I was once a part of a Special Task Force. I know the consequence. It’s not as serious as you said.”
“But it’s not as easy as you think!” He said, “Plus, you’re the main suspect now. Even if everything is arranged, how do you plan to escape?”
I sighed and said, “Do you have a cigarette?”
The lawyer nodded and took one out. “Why do you need it?”
“What are you doing?” The officer outside shouted, “You can’t smoke in here. Put that away!” I looked at the lawyer and the officer. I leaned my body forward and said, “Light it.”
“Huh?” The lawyer looked at me.
“Quick!” I urged. The officer was unlocking the door. The lawyer looked at me and finally lit the cigarette. The police charged in. The cigarette fell on the table. The officer pinned the lawyer to the side and tried to grab at the cigarette. I was handcuffed, but it didn’t affect my movement. I grabbed the cigarette and sent it into my mouth.
Instantly, the heat of the cigarette spread on my tongue. I could feel my mouth blistering. I wanted to open my mouth to spit the cigarette out, but I knew if I did it, the plan would fail. I closed my mouth with my hands so that I wouldn’t cough out the cigarette. I tossed and turned the cigarette with my tongue. After making sure the cigarette fire had died, with a swallow, I ingested the cigarette. I started to struggle on the chair. The officer clearly hadn’t seen this before. He was flustered. He screamed, “The suspect has ingested a cigarette!”
The struggle and the scream attracted the attention of many officers. A senior officer walked over. When he saw me rolling on the ground, he asked, “What’s wrong?”
The officer said, “He swallowed a cigarette.”
“What?” The senior officer gasped, “A burning one?”
“Yes!” The officer said, “He lit it and swallowed it. His insides must be burning up.”
The senior officer took out his flashlight. “The two of you pin him down. I’ve seen this before. They’re hiding the cigarette under their tongues and pretend to be injured. But they’re totally fine.”
The two officers looked at each other before moving to apprehend me. The senior officer uncuffed me and grabbed my hands. He tried to pry my mouth open. I sucked in all the pus from the burnt marks. I felt the blood pooling in my mouth. When the senior officer got my mouth open, I spat him full of spit and blood. The blood splattered on the senior officer’s face before it trickled down. The senior officer was annoyed and worried. He ordered. “What are you people standing there for? Send him to the hospital. He has vomited half a liter of blood already!”
The two officers picked me up and hauled me out.
I was still in great pain, but internally, I sighed in relief. I knew the police station wouldn’t have the equipment to check for internal burns, so they had to send me to the nearest hospital. With that, I had the chance to leave. I was led outside. One officer went to drive the cruiser. Then I was pushed into the car.
As I got in the car, someone walked over. He was Zhang Qinrui, Captain Lee’s people. He was a coroner. If he checked my injury, he’d know what happened. He ran over and said, “What’s wrong? I heard a suspect is injured.”
Zhang Qinrui got into the car, and the engine started. I knew that if he saw my injury, he would notice the problem. I quickly closed my mouth with my hands and acted to be in great pain.
“It’s you?” Zhang Qinrui asked, “What’s wrong?”
Naturally, I couldn’t speak.
The officer answered, “He swallowed a burning cigarette. I saw it clearly. His throat and mouth are blistered, and he vomited blood on the ground.”
The officer didn’t see the blisters on my throat because I only swallowed the cigarette after the fire died off. But in his panic, the officer assumed things in his mind.
I worked my injury and felt my mouth fill up with blood again. Even though the injury wasn’t serious, it was incredibly painful. This reminded me of scientific research. Humans couldn’t actively bite their tongues off because no one could sustain the pain.
This time I didn’t hack the blood out but allowed it to leak through my fingers.
The cruiser drove faster.
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