Chapter 482: Old Cold Case

After hearing the woman's words, Han Fei and Xu Mo exchanged a glance.

As police officers, they are well versed in the relevant regulations; the reason the local police have been reluctant to sentence the murderer is that they must follow the rules, not that they truly refuse to convict.

When the mastermind has not been captured, the case indeed cannot be adjudicated.

Thus, the fundamental issue of this case is not the local police's inaction, but their inability.

The regulations are such that even if they want to help, they are powerless; one can imagine the local police are also quite troubled by this case.

It's not that they don't want to help; they can't, because they can't catch the mastermind, so the case must remain pending.

The jurisdiction where this case occurred is outside Han Fei's police station's area, so in principle the case is not theirs to handle.

But now someone has filed a report, giving them the right to intervene.

Cross‑jurisdiction reports are rare but procedurally valid; generally, when a party feels the local authorities are inactive, they may file such a report to have officers from another jurisdiction assist.

Of course, whether officers from another jurisdiction take the case depends on luck; not everyone is that eager—some know it's troublesome yet still rush to help.

The woman is lucky; Xu Mo and Han Fei are exactly such eager helpers—willing to trouble themselves to uphold justice for others.

Moreover, their police station currently has nothing pressing, so they have the capacity to assist.

Han Fei immediately reported the matter to the chief, who then contacted the police station at the crime scene.

When the local police learned that Han Fei and Xu Mo were willing to help with this unsolvable old case, they felt no resentment; on the contrary, they breathed a sigh of relief, as the case had indeed tormented them for a long time.

Han Fei and Xu Mo's reputations had already spread through the police system; everyone knows their abilities, and their willingness to help is a boon. The local police are secretly delighted, for with these two masters assisting, this old cold case might actually be solved.

After coordinating with the other side, Han Fei and Xu Mo set out with several officers and the woman toward the police station in the crime‑scene jurisdiction.

On the way, the officers at their own station had already begun discussing the matter.

"Did you hear? That woman who used to cause a fuss at the station filed a cross‑jurisdiction report; she summoned Xu Mo and Han Fei."

"Xu Mo and Han Fei? Those two are impressive, especially Xu Mo—rumor has it that since he joined our system his case‑solving rate has been 100%, cracking numerous major cases; any case that lands in his hands can't last a day."

"If they come to help, I think this case might actually be cracked."

"Impossible—this case is seven years old, the mastermind vanished long ago; we don't even know if they're dead or alive, how could we solve it?"

"I agree, old cold cases are hard to crack; if this one were easy, it wouldn't have lingered for seven years."

"…"

Opinions among the officers differ on whether the two can solve the case.

Some think it can be solved; others think not.

Around ten o'clock, Han Fei and Xu Mo arrived at the destination.

The local officers had received the news early and were waiting for their arrival.

"Han Team, Team Leader Xu, I've heard of your great reputation; I'm Li, the Criminal Investigation Team Leader here." As they stepped out, the local station's Criminal Investigation Team Leader greeted them.

"Team Leader Li." Both nodded toward Li.

Prior to this, the two sides had never met; Li knew of Han Fei and Xu Mo only from rumors within the police world and was not familiar with them, while Han Fei and Xu Mo did not know Li.

Since they were not well acquainted and had little small talk, the only topic was the case.

"Xiao Wang." Li waved his hand. "Bring the case file over for Han Team and Team Leader Xu to review."

The woman who came with them stared eagerly, "May I come along with you?"

As soon as she finished speaking, several people shook their heads.

"No, that's against the regulations."

Finally, Xu Mo added, "Don't worry, go home and wait; we'll do everything we can for you, and as soon as we have news, we'll inform you immediately."

Seeing Xu Mo speak, the woman barely nodded and stopped pestering the officers.

After she left, Han Fei and Xu Mo finally began examining the seven‑year‑old file.

While they were reviewing the file, Li suddenly said.

"When the case was solved seven years ago, I was already at the police station; I handled it then, so I'm familiar with it. You can review the file first, and ask me any questions afterward."

Both nodded, said nothing, and focused intently on reading.

Soon, they finished reading the file.

Han Fei looked up at Li and spoke first.

"The so‑called mastermind in this case—could it be that the murderer Wang Yi fabricated it? Might he have done so to escape legal sanction?"

The killer's methods were extremely brutal; once the case is sentenced, he would inevitably face the death penalty, so Han Fei suspects the murderer invented a mastermind to survive.

Li shook his head.

"We initially had the same suspicion, so we investigated. What we found is that Wang Yi does have a brother named Wang Bo, and coincidentally Wang Bo vanished mysteriously after the incident... So we can't rule out Wang Yi's claim; he may indeed be just an accomplice."

After a pause, Li added.

"Actually we also considered another scenario: Wang Bo is indeed the mastermind, and Wang Yi is merely an accomplice. Wang Yi actually knows Wang Bo's whereabouts but refuses to disclose them, because he would certainly be sentenced to death. As long as Wang Bo remains at large, Wang Yi can live another day in prison; he stays silent to survive."

When investigating, the police are most vexed by such situations: the murderer clearly knows something yet stubbornly refuses to speak, leaving the police helpless.

At that moment, an inspired Xu Mo suddenly spoke up.

"Can you take me to see Wang Yi? If he knows Wang Bo's whereabouts but is deliberately hiding it, I have a way to make him reveal it."

Hearing this, Li looked at Xu Mo with a startled expression.

"This young man is perhaps overly confident; does he really have a way to make Wang Yi reveal Wang Bo's location? What a joke!"

"One must understand that if Wang Bo is captured, Wang Yi is finished—he will certainly be sentenced to death. In such a situation, even if Wang Yi knows Wang Bo's whereabouts, he definitely won't disclose them unless he's had enough of life."

"But... is that possible? How many people would resent having a long life?"

Nevertheless, even with that thought, Li didn't show it; instead he nodded, "No problem, I'll take you to see Wang Yi."