Chapter 152

Bad—can't get it back… Yu Dazhang immediately realized something was wrong.

Once those four bodies are cremated, no DNA information can be extracted from them.

This means it will be impossible to determine which ashes belong to which deceased.

The families who lost their loved ones will never accept this.

Imagine it.

The police, trying to comfort the grieving families, said:

"These four urns contain your loved ones. We can no longer tell who is who—just pick one at random."

No one in their right mind would agree to that!

There's only a one-in-four chance of picking your true relative; the odds of choosing wrongly are far too high.

From now on, the families will be paying annual respects to someone they've never met.

The graves they paid dearly for may end up holding the ashes of a complete stranger.

Who could accept this?

How big a heart would you need?

But this problem is easy to solve.

Four words: stick with the mistake.

Since we can't identify them, just divide the four urns randomly among the families.

Don't let them choose—just insist these are their loved ones' ashes.

After all, they have no way to tell the difference.

This approach, though not entirely honorable, will at least quell the unrest and prevent the situation from worsening and spiraling out of control.

"That…" Yu Dazhang didn't want to continue this topic; he thought for a moment and changed the subject:

"Have we traced the destinations and uses of the bodies taken from the funeral home?"

How to explain things to the families isn't his concern—the bureau will handle the aftermath.

He didn't want to be involved in this at all.

After all, sometimes, for the sake of the bigger picture, a well-intentioned lie is necessary.

And Yu Dazhang didn't want to tell this lie.

"We haven't figured it out," the officer said, sounding discouraged:

"Everyone employed at the funeral home has been questioned, and all of them claim ignorance."

"According to their statements, only the deputy director knows the truth."

"The deputy director alone handles all body transactions and transportation—even the director doesn't know the details."

He's tight-lipped… Yu Dazhang found it hard to imagine that in a gang of over twenty people, the most critical link was known to just one person.

"Was the deputy director arrested?"

Yesterday, they hadn't reached that point yet when Yu Dazhang had already left.

Besides, there were too many suspects, and confirming identities takes time.

"He was caught—during yesterday's raid, we brought back the funeral home's deputy director, and his identity has been confirmed."

The officer's expression turned grim:

"But the interrogation isn't going well—he admits to selling bodies, but refuses to reveal where they are."

Haven't used any methods yet… Yu Dazhang didn't believe a funeral home deputy director could withstand police interrogation.

Especially since this was an organized crime.

The deputy director must know his actions couldn't stay hidden.

If so, why refuse to disclose the bodies' whereabouts?

The conference room fell silent.

It seemed everyone was pondering the question.

Yu Dazhang's mind raced, rapidly running through every possible scenario.

In the end, only two possibilities remained:

1. He's buying time for the buyers.

Once the buyers learn the funeral home has been exposed, they'll flee immediately.

If they escape successfully, this lead will be lost.

But why would the deputy director do that?

Wouldn't it be better to confess voluntarily and get leniency?

2. He doesn't want the police to know the exact details of his deal with the buyers.

If the buyers are caught, this secret can't be kept.

I get it… Yu Dazhang's eyes lit up.

He wants to live!

He's holding out because he knows that if the deal's details are exposed, he'll be sentenced to a long prison term.

Or worse—he'll die!

That means their transaction… is monstrously heinous!

As a detective, Yu Dazhang had studied the law.

During Police academy period, he had taken courses in all kinds of laws: criminal law, constitutional law, administrative law, civil law, and more.

Especially criminal law—it was mandatory for every trainee.

He remembered that stealing and trafficking corpses was collectively termed the crime of corpse theft.

A sentence of fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention, or public surveillance.

In other words, the maximum sentence is three years.

That deputy director must have studied this as well.

As long as he holds out and only admits to stealing and selling corpses, he'll serve at most three years and then get out.

And refusing to disclose his accomplices is not illegal.

Please... save... your... 6... 9... book....!

It would only be seen as a poor attitude toward confessing, working against him in the subsequent sentencing process.

Then this would be hard to handle... Yu Dazhang also felt it was tricky.

The deputy director is dead set on resisting to the bitter end.

Next, everyone once again voiced their own opinions.

The officers who had conducted the interrogation the previous night also took turns recounting the contents of the interrogation.

The meeting lasted nearly an hour.

After the meeting adjourned, Li Jun called Yu Dazhang into the office.

After the two sat down on the guest sofa, Li Jun got straight to the point and asked:

"The city bureau wants to take over this case. What do you think?"

"Do I even have a say?" Yu Dazhang was baffled, not understanding what Captain Li meant.

If the city bureau wanted to take over, they could just issue the order directly—why would they consult a subordinate branch unit?

Besides, even if they wanted to consult, they wouldn't ask for the opinion of a mere small-town detective like him.

He still had that much self-awareness.

"Director Liu asked me to ask." Li Jun replied with a smile.

Testing me again, so annoying... Without even thinking, Yu Dazhang replied frankly:

"Since the city bureau wants to take over, let them handle it. I have no objections, and I wouldn't dare have any."

"You really think so?" Li Jun looked at him with a half-smile.

"Of course." Yu Dazhang nodded:

"When I went to help investigate a case at the Qingpu branch before, it was also the city bureau that transferred me there. Obey orders and follow command."

As he spoke, his eyes drifted; he didn't notice Li Jun's gaze, sharp as a blade.

In truth, both of them knew perfectly well.

Director Liu was extending an olive branch to Yu Dazhang.

If Yu Dazhang disagreed with the city bureau taking over and wanted to investigate to the end himself,

Director Liu would transfer him to the city bureau, place him in the city bureau's criminal investigation team, and let him continue investigating this case.

After that, staying on at the city bureau would follow naturally.

Otherwise, it meant giving up this opportunity.

They're all thousand-year-old foxes—everyone understands this game.

"No regrets?"

Li Jun stared at him and asked, seemingly wanting to read something from his face.

"Regret what?" Yu Dazhang appeared bewildered, but inside he was panicking like crazy:

"Captain Li, your question is really strange."

At a time like this, the best response was to play dumb.

No matter what choice he made, he'd offend someone.

Those who love to show off their cleverness and get smug over small wins never end up well.

Yu Dazhang was very satisfied with his current work environment and had no desire to switch places at all.

Better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix...

Many people have only heard this saying but don't know its true meaning.

It means: better to stand out in a lower-level environment than to be unknown in a high-level one.

Besides, Yu Dazhang had never thought of riding the police profession to great success.

(End of this chapter)