latelenovela Chapter 919 Case Transfer
Chapter 919 Case Transfer
Song Jianchao gestured as if he was strangling someone, “He ripped off my hat and scratched my neck while he was struggling—” He pulled open the collar of his hoodie to reveal three dark red scratch marks, “but he quickly ran out of strength.”
"And then?" Li Ming stared into his eyes.
“Then I put the body in a tricycle and took it to the seafood market.” Song Jianchao licked his lips. “I knew that Chen Dahai and those old geezers Wang Jianjun and Li Guoqing didn’t get along, so I threw the body into Chen Dahai’s fishpond, hoping they would fight like dogs.” He suddenly laughed out loud, “I didn’t expect you guys to actually investigate those idiots. What a waste of time.”
It turns out that Song Jianchao used to work in the seafood business at that seafood market, but he later switched careers.
Li Ming then asked, "Where did the nylon rope used to dispose of the body come from?"
“It was taken from Wu Hailong’s toy factory,” Song Jianchao said nonchalantly. “This is my second-hand plan. If you follow the trail or investigate Liu Weiguo’s connections, you’ll likely find Wu Hailong.”
"I have a question for you. Did you have drugs added to Liu Weiguo's son's chemotherapy drugs?" Wang Fang suddenly asked a bombshell question.
Song Jianchao's expression changed, and his pupils shrank sharply: "You..."
“We detected amphetamine in the medicine,” Li Ming pressed, “You wanted to keep Liu Weiguo under your control forever, so you gave him money to ‘save his son’ while adding poison to the medicine, making him dependent on you, right?”
Song Jianchao's defenses finally crumbled. He lowered his head and fell silent. The interrogation room was quiet, save for the ticking of the wall clock. Li Ming knew that while this confrontation was a temporary victory, a more arduous battle lay ahead—the drug trafficking network of the Nanyue people, the channels of Haizhou Port, and the accomplices yet to be exposed all needed to be extracted from this man's mouth.
“Song Jianchao,” Li Ming said, tidying up the notebook, “you have the right to remain silent, but everything you say can be used against you in court. And we will hold you accountable for every life lost.”
As she walked out of the interrogation room, Wang Fang whispered, "The man from Nanyue he mentioned..."
“I know.” Li Ming looked at the sunlight at the end of the corridor. “But first, let Liu Weiguo’s family know that the murderer has been brought to justice. Also, we need to report the relevant information to Director Qin.”
Three days after Song Jianchao's arrest, Dongchuan City was shrouded in a biting cold wind. At nine o'clock in the morning, three police cars sped towards the abandoned warehouse complex in the north of the city. The plane trees outside the car windows had long since lost their leaves, leaving only bare branches trembling in the wind. Li Ming sat in the back of the escort vehicle, looking at Song Jianchao through the iron bars of the window—he was wearing a black hood, huddled in his seat, the outline of his scarred face vaguely visible in the shadows.
"We've arrived, Warehouse B-07." Wang Fang's voice came through the walkie-talkie. Li Ming nodded and got out of the car first, and a cordon was quickly set up around the warehouse. The escorting police officer removed Song Jianchao's hood, and he squinted to adjust to the light, a cold smile creeping onto his lips: "Didn't expect him to be back so soon."
"Behave yourself!" Xiao Zhang shoved his shoulder. Song Jianchao staggered forward, his leather shoes crunching over the shards of glass on the ground. He stopped in front of the rusty iron gate, raising his chin: "This is it, the place where my talks with Liu Weiguo broke down."
Li Ming gestured for the forensic investigator to turn on the powerful flashlight, and Song Jianchao was forced to take a half step back by the blinding light. "Tell me the details of what happened that day." Li Ming took out his notebook.
Song Jianchao licked his chapped lips: "He pushed the door open, and I waited for him here." He walked to the center of the warehouse and kicked aside a Transformers toy. "He put the goods here and said he was quitting. I pretended to inspect the goods, but I had already prepared the rope—" He suddenly squatted down, his fingers tracing the bloodstains on the ground. "He rolled here while struggling, and that's when his fingernails scratched me."
Wang Fang frowned as she took notes, her gaze sweeping over the emergency exit sign on the wall. Although the bloodstains on it had been cleaned up, it still glowed under the luminol solution, like a wound that would never heal.
"And then?" Li Ming pressed.
“Then I dragged him onto a tricycle,” Song Jianchao pointed to the railway tracks in the corner of the warehouse, “and went out from there, along an abandoned railway branch line, where there would be no surveillance.” He stood up and dusted off his knees. “After dragging him to the seafood market, I went in through the back alley and dumped the body into Chen Dahai’s fishpond—didn’t you check that?”
Li Ming stared at Song Jianchao's profile, trying to catch a trace of remorse in his expression, but only saw impatience. As the escorting police officers prepared to put him in the car, Song Jianchao suddenly turned around, his gaze falling on the police badge on Li Ming's chest: "Captain Li, do you think you've won just by arresting me? The goods from Nanyue are still floating at sea."
At 2 PM, in the Criminal Investigation Division's conference room, Director Qin Chuan was reviewing thick case files, the ashtray piled high with cigarette butts. Li Ming stood in front of the projector, the screen flashing photos of the Liu Weiguo case, Song Jianchao's interrogation records, and preliminary clues about a transnational drug trafficking network.
“Song Jianchao has confessed to murdering Liu Weiguo. His motive for disposing of the body was to frame his colleagues at the seafood market and interfere with the investigation.” Li Ming pointed to the map with a laser pointer. “Currently, the chain of evidence is complete, including video surveillance, DNA comparison, and eyewitness testimonies.”
"What about the drug network?" Qin Chuan tapped the table. "Any progress on 'Old Ghost' from Nanyue, whom he mentioned?"
“There is no direct evidence yet,” Li Ming said, pulling up Song Jianchao’s call records. “But we found that he makes a call to a Nanyue number every Friday night at 10 p.m., and the call lasts no more than 30 seconds. The anti-drug squad has intervened and is tracing the source of the signal.”
Wang Fang added, "The Transformers toys found in Liu Weiguo's warehouse, which were used to smuggle drugs, were manufactured in Haiphong City, Nanyue, which matches Song Jianchao's confession about 'sea transport.' We suspect that 'Old Ghost' was responsible for the overseas supply, while Song Jianchao controlled the domestic distribution channels."
Qin Chuan nodded and turned to Chen Li, the head of the anti-drug squad: "After you take over, focus on investigating the logistics channels of Haizhou Port, especially containers related to toys and aquatic products. The subsequent diagnostic process will be handled by you."
At 7 p.m., Li Ming walked into the forensic building. Zhang Lin was in the autopsy room compiling the final report on Liu Weiguo's case. The Transformers toy on the stainless steel table stared with empty eyes, and trace amounts of ecstasy powder remained in the plenum.
"Drug dealers are truly deranged." Zhang Lin took off his gloves. "Do you think Liu Weiguo knew that the toys he sold contained the drugs that killed his son?"
Li Ming remained silent for a long time before turning and walking towards the parking lot.
Regardless, Liu Weiguo still harbored ambitions for Xiangshan after his release from prison, but life forced him to return to his old ways of drug trafficking, which is harmful to both himself and others.
Isn't that how he got himself killed?