Chapter 130: Chapter 130: Second Encounter

Interrogation is psychological warfare, and yet it’s more than that.

Especially during the pre-trial examination, ninety-nine percent of criminal suspects can’t withstand this phase.

However, not all suspects have a weakness, so those who do withstand it are quite a few in number.

Generally speaking, suspects who haven’t committed capital offenses are the easiest to get a confession from.

Since they’ve already been caught, being honest and striving for a lighter sentence is the most sensible approach.

Some murderers, after committing their crime, always feel they can get away with it, but in reality, under a seasoned pre-trial examiner, it only takes a few words before they become illogical and contradictory.

The toughest situation is when the evidence is insufficient and the suspect refuses to speak.

Take Wu Congwen, for example.

Wu Congwen’s identity was confirmed based on the fingerprints collected by Lu Chuan near the edge of the water trough at Zhao Dong’s cattle pen.

However, although the fingerprint had five points of identification, it couldn’t be used as conclusive judicial evidence.

Convicting someone without any confession is extremely challenging.

It requires methodical analysis and investigation of Wu Congwen’s movements and whereabouts over time.

This would surely consume a lot of manpower, resources, and finances.

But if Wu Congwen could talk, everything would become simple.

Moreover, there must be someone behind Wu Congwen, and if he doesn’t talk, how can we investigate the people behind him?

Phone call records, WeChat chat logs, bank transfer records, and so on are all being investigated by Li Donglin’s team.

But so far, there has been no significant progress.

Therefore, the current priority is to make Wu Congwen speak.

But the reality is, after being captured, Wu Congwen doesn’t say a word.

Why did he kill Wang Liang’s wife and others?

Where did the gun come from?

Who is behind the scenes, among other things?

He doesn’t say anything about anything.

Clearly, Wu Congwen knows he is involved in multiple murders.

If he talks, the evidence will be overwhelming, and he will die sooner.

If he doesn’t talk, the police will keep investigating, and maybe he can delay his death a bit longer.

This is a strategy many hardcore criminals use.

They will never confess all their crimes at once.

Instead, it’s like squeezing toothpaste, a little bit today, a little bit tomorrow.

There have been death row inmates who stayed in custody for over a decade.

Why aren’t they executed immediately? Because their cases are never fully explained.

There’s always something new to uncover.

Wu Congwen requested to see the police officer who injured him, namely Lu Chuan, and this isn’t an unusual request either.

Many hardened criminals specifically ask for the person who caught them to conduct the interrogation.

They remain silent with anyone else but will eventually confess to the person who apprehended them while chatting.

Ten minutes later.

Lu Chuan arrived at Li Donglin’s temporary office on the first floor.

“Hello, Director Li.”

“Take a seat, take a seat.”

Seeing Lu Chuan enter, Li Donglin broke into a wide grin, warmly welcoming him.

Li Donglin wasn’t that old. With his meticulously groomed hair and well-fitted police uniform, calling him a dashing middle-aged man wasn’t off the mark.

But that is, provided he doesn’t smile.

Li Donglin had the kind of face that looks fine when serious but a bit unsettling when he smiles.

Of course, Li Donglin wasn’t often seen smiling, and Lu Chuan had been dealing with him for a month or two.

This was only the second time he saw him smile.

The first was at the celebration dinner after Chen Gang, Wang Liang, and others were captured and the case was solved.

Lu Chuan sat on the edge of the couch, back straight.

“Captain Qin has briefed you, right?”

Before meeting Li Donglin, Qin Yong had already informed Lu Chuan about the interrogation situation with Wu Congwen.

Lu Chuan nodded, “Yes, I’ve been briefed.”

“Good, the suspect wants to see you, presumably because you captured him.”

Li Donglin personally poured hot tea for Lu Chuan, and Lu Chuan stood up to thank him, “No need to be nervous.”

“I’ve seen many such suspects.”

Li Donglin evidently wanted to prepare Lu Chuan mentally before meeting the suspect.

This was not only a protection for Lu Chuan but also a procedural requirement.

The reason why the interrogation process follows strict procedures and is recorded is not only to protect the suspect’s rights, preventing the use of illegal methods during interrogation.

On the other hand, it’s also to protect the officers involved in the interrogation.

In the Criminal Investigation Team, there are officers dedicated to pre-trial examinations, though it’s not that they only handle pre-trial exams.

There are only a few officers responsible for interrogations.

They all belong to the action unit. Wang Shuai from Team One and Zhang Hui from Team Two are qualified to question suspects.

Individuals like Lu Chuan or Liu Guodong, after a suspect is captured, typically have no interactions with them, let alone see them.

Because a variety of unpredictable things might happen.

For example, threats.

When someone who hasn’t been sentenced to death makes threats, how would a policeman with no specialized training react?

Police officers are human too, with wives, children, parents.

No matter whether the threat is real, or whether the suspect has the ability or guts to make good on it, once they hear it, won’t they always remember it?

For a suspect sentenced to death, threats are useless because they won’t get out.

But a few curses wouldn’t matter, right?

Wouldn’t the average person feel psychological pressure hearing that?

Interrogation and questioning are different.

Interrogation faces evil directly.

Questioning discovers evil.

Li Donglin wasn’t in a hurry; he chatted leisurely with Lu Chuan.

“Most of these ferocious criminals consider themselves to have a chivalrous spirit, willing to take the fall themselves, refusing to reveal who is behind them even if it means death.”

“They want to see who caught them, throw out a few harsh words, claim that if there’s a next time, they won’t get caught again.”

“Wu Congwen didn’t study much but got into fights from a young age. After dropping out, he lived on the streets for a few years, carrying an outlaw’s aura.”

“His wife and child were sent abroad early on, and his parents passed away long ago.”

“Such a person thinks he has nothing to lose, nothing to threaten him.”

“He knows he has committed capital offenses, and there are certainly more murders than just the four he’s accused of.”

“I’ve already had people start investigating his whereabouts; it’ll just take longer.”

“As for the crime evidence aspect… you don’t need to worry.”

“Lu, what I mean is…if you don’t want to see him, you don’t have to. You understand what I mean?”

Clearly, in protecting Lu Chuan and investing resources into investigating Wu Congwen, Li Donglin was willing to choose the latter.

In his view, Lu Chuan was evidently valued much more than Wu Congwen.

He would rather delay the investigation than let anything happen to Lu Chuan.

But clearly, Lu Chuan didn’t take it that way: “Thank you, Director Li, for your concern.”

“But since he wants to see me, then let’s meet. I caught him once in the alley, haha, with his shooting skills, I’ll surely catch him a second time!”

This is a psychological advantage; if you succeeded once, why couldn’t you succeed a second time?

If Wang Shuai hadn’t stepped into Lu Chuan’s line of fire, it’s uncertain if Wu Congwen would have had the chance to shoot.

Lu Chuan’s basic on-site shooting skills were no joke.

“Haha! Good!”

Li Donglin clapped his hands in approval, “Exactly, you’re the cop, he’s the robber, what’s there to fear?!”

“Let’s go, time to meet Wu Congwen!”

Interrogation Room.

Wu Congwen’s left leg was fractured and in a cast; his left wrist was bandaged and rested in a sling around his neck.

Indeed, the guy was left-handed.

His two intact limbs were shackled to the interrogation chair.

Lu Chuan sat across from Wu Congwen, dressed impeccably in his police uniform.

An unmoved Wu Congwen suddenly looked up, staring at Lu Chuan with eyes as sharp as an eagle’s.

Faced with those fierce, bright eyes and the ruthless expression, Lu Chuan remained unflinched.

A tiger might be ferocious, but when caged, it can still be tamed.

“You… wanted to see me?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep