Chapter 111 - 111 109 Eyewitness

111: Chapter 109 Eyewitness 111: Chapter 109 Eyewitness Wen Township hadn’t seen this much excitement in a while. The last time so many residents happily gathered around to watch was when the feed store on the east side of the road caught fire. Flames shot into the sky, drawing a large crowd for rescue, with the smell of roasted corn wafting for miles, greatly enhancing everyone’s sense of participation. Chen Fan’s five-metal shop was also a well-known establishment in Wen Township, representing the highest end of the local heavy industry and possessing certain core technologies. Sometimes, nearby repair shops would even seek technical support from it. “I never expected the five-metal shop to be involved in that.” The surroundings were in disarray, filled with locals discussing in the local dialect. Jiang Yuan occasionally understood a phrase and, surprised, turned around to ask, “Involved in what exactly?” “You’re an outsider, you wouldn’t understand. They were involved in that,” a local said with a hehehe chuckle. “Not in that, in that other thing,” another local corrected. “Ah, it’s that thing within that thing...” someone else chimed in standing out. Despite the tight security, no shots were fired. Jiang Yuan glanced down at his cell phone; almost 20 minutes had passed. By now, if the suspect hadn’t fired any shots, they likely wouldn’t at all, or they didn’t have a gun. After waiting a moment longer, Jiang Yuan’s phone buzzed to life. “Come on in. The fish isn’t big, but it’s feisty,” Liu Jinghui’s voice couldn’t hide his excitement. “Alright. Be right there,” Jiang Yuan was also curious about this person’s circumstances and wondered how much they could influence the case. The police officers cordoning off both sides of the shopping street began to withdraw, allowing the public to enter and dispersing the crowd. The shop owners along the street rallied their spirits, summoning all their energy to hawk their wares: “Mops for sale, basins for sale, stainless steel shovels...” “Beer, sunflower seeds, soft drinks...” “Brooms, mops, pot scrapers, roach and rat poison, dog plasters...” “Selling chicks here... good chicks...” Each owner tried to take advantage of their colleagues’ offering to the heavens to create a climax in sales. Police officers from various places stopped to watch or got enthusiastically dragged into the shops by the owners. Two snipers leisurely climbed down from the rooftop. The older sniper was calm and collected, like a languid gecko. The younger one seemed a bit dejected, looking around as he climbed down, probably regretting that he hadn’t been able to play a more significant role and that a second-class merit had eluded him. Behind the five-metal shop, within the confines of a tall red brick wall reinforced with a concrete wall, it looked quite sturdy. Although the surrounding shops and residences all had a tendency to get close to the five-metal shop and squeeze into the remaining space, they were all blocked by the shop’s red brick wall. Only after entering the back yard of the five-metal shop could Jiang Yuan see a dimly lit but spacious workshop. The most conspicuous was a CNC machine tool; there were also very old, second-hand lathes, boring machines, and other machinery... In one corner of the workshop, there were a large number of express boxes piled up, revealing various machined parts such as gun barrels, gunstocks, pressure gauges, air pumps, valves, screws, washers, and so on. And on a few tables covered in black leather where the lighting was better, several air rifles, yet to be assembled, were visibly placed. “This brazen?” Jiang Yuan was surprised. The entirety of Wen Township’s shopping street was no larger than a place with a thousand bodies, and now it was filled with over a hundred police officers. The glaring density of the force and the ongoing production of firearms seemed somewhat incautious. Chen Fan said dejectedly, “I was just about to clean up.” “How would you clean up? Is there anything in this workshop of yours that’s not banned?” Director Liu scoffed, casually pointing around and saying, “You’ve already got a dozen assembled guns here, not to mention all these parts. Why do you have so many? Have you gone mad?” Chen Fan muttered, unable to speak out. He wanted to defend himself but also feared being hit. An hour ago, he had been a happy five-metal shop owner; now, a life in prison loomed before him, the change in his emotions too complex to describe. And deeper down, there was something even more frightening. He felt both lucky and panicked. Director Liu’s tone grew more solemn, “As I said earlier, don’t even think about resisting us. Resisting won’t do you any good. You know how firearms are defined, right? Anything over 2 joules per square centimeter is considered a firearm. Do you know how many firearms are here?” Chen Fan shivered but remained silent. Director Liu laughed haughtily. Previously, he would have simply had Chen Fan taken away. But this time, his goal wasn’t Chen Fan; it was the more significant serial murder gang. So now, it was crucial for Chen Fan to start talking. After pondering for a short while, Director Liu continued, “You’re not talking, so I’ll tell you. According to our firearms control regulations, scattered gun parts are defined as follows: sets of parts that can be assembled into a complete gun are counted as one firearm. If they can’t be assembled into sets, then every thirty pieces are counted as one firearm. Now you, you own this factory—how many pieces are in here?” Chen Fan trembled, looking at Director Liu in disbelief. Director Liu looked at Chen Fan with a sympathetic gaze. Actually, Director Liu had lied; the way he described counting parts was applicable to the smuggling of firearms, not the manufacturing of firearms. But Chen Fan had evidently not studied this area. Director Liu confidently concluded this from Chen Fan’s reaction, and he felt immensely relieved. According to his plan, if Chen Fan had known the details—if he knew how the Criminal Law differentiated between illegal firearms manufacture and smuggling in terms of component parts—then Director Liu would have simply played the bad cop and turned the interrogation over to someone else. Now it seems that Chen Fan, being ignorant about the business, indicates that he’s a youth who has never undergone reformation in prison. Indeed, he still has significant weaknesses on the path of crime, and that was an opportunity not to be missed. Liu Jinghui immediately picked up a screw from the table beside him and said, “With so many parts you have here, if I were to count all of them, and if I were to fabricate them all by the standards of firearms, how many guns would that make? You’d be eating prison food for life.” Chen Fan struggled to raise his head, his face turning deathly pale. Jiang Yuan looked at him and felt somewhat frustrated. Chen Fan clearly had the capacity to independently manufacture mechanical products and the ability to earn money, yet he chose to fabricate firearms and had started doing so without even reading the relevant sections of the Criminal Law—of course, had he read them, he might have decided not to manufacture firearms. Liu Jinghui continued, “We didn’t come here just to catch you. Cooperate with us, give up some of your suppliers and clients, and the parts here that can be considered general-purpose, I’ll count as general-purpose...” Chen Fan grasped at this like a lifeline, hurriedly saying, “Yeah, these parts are manufactured for other purposes, not for making guns.” “It doesn’t matter what you say,” Liu Jinghui looked at him coldly. Under Liu Jinghui’s gaze for several dozen seconds, Chen Fan lowered his head once again. Seizing the moment, Liu Jinghui immediately brought Chen Fan to the Wen Township police station, put him on the “tiger bench,” and began an impatient interrogation. The tiger bench somewhat resembled a larger version of a baby’s high chair, designed to secure the wrists, ankles, and back. The baby chair is meant to prevent infants from falling while eating, while the tiger bench is to prevent a suspect from becoming agitated and acting irrationally. Director Liu’s interrogation skills were nothing extraordinary within the scope of the provincial headquarters, but they were far too sophisticated for a criminal like Chen Fan, who had never even been in a detention center. Within just an hour or two, Chen Fan spilled the beans, selling out his suppliers and clients thoroughly. At that time, Chen Fan still thought he had been caught for his involvement in manufacturing firearms. Liu Jinghui took a sip of water, adjusted his emotions, and delivered the most lethal thrust of the day, “You’ve made so many air guns; didn’t you ever think of hunting or something?” “No... just occasionally, hunting a rabbit or something,” Chen Fan said with trepidation, not daring to deny it completely. “We found more than just rabbits in your house,” Liu Jinghui had prepared long for this thrust and wouldn’t allow Chen Fan to dodge it easily. “That’s impossible, definitely not...” “This is a minor issue, it’s meaningless for you to lie,” Liu Jinghui suddenly frowned, appearing as if he felt wronged. Chen Fan quickly recalled, perhaps there were still some uneaten wild chickens left in his fridge? He often went hunting in the mountains, following his uncle, and occasionally going up the mountain to test his guns. Once up there, it was natural to shoot whatever he saw; it was impossible not to shoot a wild chicken if he saw one. As hunting became frequent, there were always leftovers that he hadn’t gotten around to eating. Then Chen Fan remembered the medicinal liquor he had steeped, which contained eagles and snakes. In fact, it was common for households to steep liquor with venomous snakes, and in Wen Township, quite a few people used eagles for steeping liquor. Those who had been caught usually just had their goods confiscated and were fined, but at this point, Chen Fan felt he could only admit even more. Under Liu Jinghui’s gaze, Chen Fan bravely admitted, “I might as well confess, I have hunted eagles as well, for liquor steeping.” “What else?” “I’ve also shot birds, just a few sparrows and such.” “Then you might want to think about it some more...” After extracting information about several pieces of game from Chen Fan, Liu Jinghui slowly sheathed the interdiction’s second heavy sword of the day, “Where did you hunt these?” Bewildered, Chen Fan answered forcefully, “Just around our township.” “Does Wen Township have these animals?” Liu Jinghui looked into his eyes. Chen Fan faltered, murmuring, “Yes, there are.” “Have you ever been to Mount Wulong?” “No,” Chen Fan immediately shook his head, his motions quicker than before, and more agitated. He then started to defend himself, “Mount Wulong is a nature reserve. I definitely wouldn’t go there. I just roam around home.” Liu Jinghui’s expression suddenly turned grim as he said in a deep voice, “You’ve never been to Mount Wulong? Yet we found a mineral water bottle with your fingerprints on it in Mount Wulong.” Only then did Chen Fan suddenly realize he had been caught because of the fingerprints; his face turned white in an instant. At that moment, he had the sudden urge to bolt, but as he struggled, he felt his hands and feet were bound. His back turned cold, his face pale, he looked at the large words in the interrogation room: leniency for those who confess, severity for those who resist. He closed his eyes and clenched his teeth, saying, “I, I...” “Think it through before you talk,” Liu Jinghui, having gleaned some of Chen Fan’s thoughts from his expression, saw that he was about to lie and cut him off directly. Chen Fan fell silent. Liu Jinghui allowed the atmosphere in the interrogation room to solidify before quietly asking, “How many have you killed?” Chen Fan’s heart trembled, panic surging within him. “If you don’t speak up, I’ll have to count them all against you...” “That won’t do!” Chen Fan felt he had figured it out; he swallowed nervously and cautiously said, “I’m just a go-between, really, I should be considered a witness, just a tainted one.” The concept of a tainted witness doesn’t exist in the country. Liu Jinghui, of course, didn’t elaborate, just looked at Chen Fan and said, “So what did you see?” “I... I saw them killing people,” Chen Fan said in a low voice, his emotions extremely intense. Witnessing murder had put a great deal of psychological pressure on Chen Fan. Jiang Yuan, at that moment, stood outside the interrogation room, watching the surveillance footage, seemingly calm as he casually twirled a pen in his hand with great dexterity. His fingers were slender, and the pen spun like the blades of a fan. Upon hearing the suspect begin to speak, Jiang Yuan’s pen fell, clattering to the floor. Bending down to pick it up, he straightened himself, and in that moment, his heart settled back into place.