The Dropped Dagger

Fortunately, this was 1994, and regulations were not yet complete. Moreover, the social security situation at this time was very complex, with gangs running rampant and street fights being a common occurrence. Additionally, the state had not yet cracked down hard on the private possession of firearms, so police at that time were not only equipped with guns but also kept them personally. Thus, Lian Chi and his colleague still had their guns on them after work.
Otherwise, with just Lian Chi and Shen Jian She, they might not have been able to suppress this group of thugs.
Consequently, the middle-aged man’s expression stiffened immediately.
In the next second, he and his accomplices raised their hands in surrender.
The group of young women standing nearby did the same.
Lian Chi: "..."
Shen Jian She: "..."
Lian Chi: "It has nothing to do with you all. Go home."
The young women: "Yes, yes, thank you, officers."
Although they had guns, they didn't have handcuffs.
Furthermore, they had no vehicle to take this group back to the Police Bureau.
Shen Jian She turned to ask the barbecue stall owner, "Boss, do you have any rope? Give us a few strands, and while you’re at it, call the police."
"I already called."
The owner picked up some rope used for tying firewood from the ground and handed it to them.
At this moment, the middle-aged man realized he had kicked a hornet's nest, and the alcohol in his head dissipated almost entirely.
"Officer, it’s all a misunderstanding."
"We haven't killed anyone, really, never killed anyone."
"We were just bragging."
The young women who were running away: "..."
Suddenly, they didn't want to leave anymore.
Because the way these thugs changed their faces was better than watching a play.
Lian Chi and Shen Jian She quickly tied them all up: "Those words—save them for the Bureau; we’ll verify them later."
Not long after, Yang Yi Ran arrived with reinforcements.
With their help, the middle-aged man and his group were taken back to the Bureau.
Lian Chi brought Chen Du into the office first, then opened the unfinished barbecue box: "Sorry, Little Du, I made you have a bad dinner."
"It’s okay."
The child blinked his large, sparkling eyes: "Just now, Daddy and Uncle Shen were so cool, even cooler than the main characters on TV."
"I’ve decided. When I grow up, I want to be a policeman too, to punish the bad and protect the good."
Lian Chi burst out laughing. A child not even seven years old already knew about punishing evil and promoting good.
He patted the child’s head: "Daddy believes you will definitely become a great policeman in the future."
"Eat a bit more. Once you’re full and I’m done with work, I’ll take you to the movies."
The child nodded vigorously: "Okay!"
When Lian Chi arrived at the interrogation room, Shen Jian She and the team had already begun questioning the middle-aged man.
The man was desperately claiming his innocence: "I really haven't killed anyone."
"I was just bragging."
"At home, I don't even dare to kill a chicken."
Yang Yi Ran also arrived quickly, handing Lian Chi a file: "We checked. This guy is named Lao Hong. Including this time, it’s his fourth time in prison. The previous three times: twice for fighting and causing trouble, resulting in concussions, and once for theft, where he was caught by the homeowner and also beaten until he had a concussion."
Lian Chi and the others: "..."
They instinctively looked at the middle-aged man’s head.
Well, that’s a sturdy head.
The middle-aged man: "..."
How embarrassing.
But clearly, now was not the time to worry about that. He hurriedly continued, "Yes, I’ve committed some things, but I really haven't killed anyone."
Shen Jian She tapped the dagger sealed in the evidence bag: "Then why did you say you just killed someone a few days ago using this very knife?"
The middle-aged man: "...I found this knife last night. It was covered in blood at the time, so I made up the story about killing someone with it just to show off to my brothers."
Lian Chi and the team looked at each other and quickly reached a conclusion.
This middle-aged man was likely just bragging.
Shen Jian She couldn't help but feel disappointed.
He thought they had stumbled upon another major case.
Lian Chi glanced at the dagger; its design was exquisite, certainly not cheap.
He said to Yang Yi Ran, "Ask him exactly where he found it, then post a lost-and-found notice."
Yang Yi Ran: "Yes, Brother Lian."
Lian Chi stood up to leave.
Yang Yi Ran continued the questioning: "Speak up, where did you find it?"
The middle-aged man: "Right on the riverside road. At that time, a motorcycle came from Fengshui Road, going very fast. There happened to be a large pothole on the riverside road, and the bike hit it so hard that both the rider and the bike flew up. The dagger fell out then..."
Yang Yi Ran: "Did you see what brand the bike was?"
The middle-aged man: "No, but I saw his left... no, his right hand had a very large black mole, as big as a palm."
"Officer, I’ve told you everything. Can I go now?"
Yang Yi Ran: "Disturbing public order in the middle of the street and you want to leave peacefully? Stay here for a few days!"
Bang!
The door slammed shut, and the voices of Yang Yi Ran and the middle-aged man were completely left behind by Lian Chi.
Sure enough, when Lian Chi returned to the office, Chen Du had finished washing his hands.
"Full? If you’re full, Daddy will take you to the movies."
Chen Du: "I’m full."
Lian Chi took Chen Du to the cinema, buying him a box of popcorn from a roadside stall on the way.
While Lian Chi was relaxing, Xu Zheng Ye and his team were busy to the point of exhaustion.
Originally, he had planned to see Bureau Chief Cheng this morning to request the transfer of Lian Chi and Shen Jian She to the 3rd Brigade, but as soon as he reached the office, Vice Leader Lu Yong Yuan rushed in to report a crime on Fengshui Road—two bodies had been found by the river.
So he immediately led his men to the scene.
The case was neither complex nor simple.
The victims were a middle-aged man and woman of similar age.
The female victim was stabbed in the back, and the male victim had his throat slit. The killer had even desecrated the bodies after the murder.
It was clearly a revenge killing.
Through the employee ID on the female victim, they identified her as Tan Mei Hua, 35 years old, who had divorced her husband a year ago due to domestic violence.
To leave, she had given up custody of all four children.
The man was a blind date introduced to her by her workplace recently.
According to her colleagues, the two had arranged to meet at the Fengshui River yesterday to discuss marriage.
At this point, everyone knew to investigate the victim’s ex-husband.
Therefore, Xu Zheng Ye boldly declared he would solve the case within two days.
But unexpectedly, the victim’s ex-husband had a perfect alibi.
He worked at the Steel Factory, and over a dozen workers on the night shift testified that Xiong De Hai was in the factory all night, only going to the bathroom twice and never leaving the gate.
Later, they discovered Xiong De Hai had a twin brother named Xiong De Jiang, who used to work at the Steel Factory.
Xu Zheng Ye speculated that Xiong De Jiang might have taken his brother’s place for the night shift while Xiong De Hai secretly went to the Fengshui River to murder the victims.
They went to Xiong De Jiang’s house, but the neighbors all testified that he was home all night and never went out.
Based on intuition and Xiong De Hai’s attitude in the interrogation room, Xu Zheng Ye was certain Xiong De Hai was the killer.
But Xiong De Hai adamantly denied the crime, making Xu Zheng Ye so angry he couldn't sleep until two in the morning.
"I don't believe we can't get anything out of him."
So at three in the morning, he went back to the Bureau to interrogate Xiong De Hai.
But still, there were no results.
Most importantly, without enough evidence, they could only detain Xiong De Hai for a maximum of 24 hours.
Therefore, at noon the next day, when Lian Chi and Shen Jian She were having lunch with Team Leader Wu of the 2nd Brigade, Team Leader Wu recounted the case.
"I heard that Xiong De Hai didn't even finish high school. I don't know where he got such strong mental fortitude."
"Fengshui Road?"
Lian Chi suddenly took note of the location.
Because the name sounded familiar.
Shen Jian She asked, "The murder weapon still hasn't been found?"
Team Leader Wu replied, "I heard the 3rd Brigade searched the houses of both Xiong brothers and the crime scene but found nothing."
Hearing this, Lian Chi blurted out, "Have they determined what kind of weapon the killer used?"
Team Leader Wu: "I heard from the Technical Team it was a dagger or a fruit knife or something."
Lian Chi: "Huh?"