Chapter 317: He Is the Deputy Station Chief

"Tell me in detail." Yu Dazhang was immediately interested.

That police substation definitely had a problem.

Moreover, Yu Dazhang had also discovered that the person colluding with the criminal didn't seem afraid of anyone investigating him.

"He recalled the name of the police officer who had received him back then."

As Lu Zhongxin said this, excitement colored his tone:

"Back then, at the police substation in Yancheng, there was a culture wall. On it was designed a supervision board, with photos of the substation's leaders and officers posted up. Under each photo were written their names and titles."

If there are two things that make a criminal investigator happiest, they are cracking a case and earning merit, and discovering a new lead.

The veteran criminal investigator Lu Zhongxin was certainly no exception.

As he went on, his eyes lit up:

"According to Fang Peng's recollection, he deliberately stood by the culture wall for a long time. Besides the supervision board, there were also activity silhouettes and various other photos."

"But he only remembered the name Yang Feng — the officer who had received him back then."

"There was also a substation leader. It's been too long, he's forgotten the full name, only remembers the surname Hong."

"It was that substation leader surnamed Hong who led the team to the factory the next day, and he brought Fang Peng along too."

As Lu Zhongxin spoke, he took out a document and handed it to Yu Dazhang:

"This is the statement material that Zhang Sen and I put together last night. It also includes Fang Peng's descriptions of those two people's physical features."

A master is truly reliable in his work… Yu Dazhang took the document and began flipping through it quickly.

Incredibly detailed.

It not only recorded Fang Peng's memories of the substation personnel, but also documented everything he experienced from the moment he entered the substation.

Even the experience of the officer escorting him to the train station afterward was written down clearly.

It was obvious that this statement material had been painstakingly drawn out by Lu Zhongxin bit by bit.

At the very end of this statement, Yu Dazhang noticed a detail.

The ones escorting Fang Peng to the train station weren't only officers — that substation leader surnamed Hong went too. Not only did he go, he saw Fang Peng all the way onto the train.

Logically speaking, such a matter could have been left to an officer.

At most, a substation leader would see him off at the substation entrance, shake his hand, and offer a few words of comfort.

There was absolutely no need to personally escort him to the train station, let alone personally put him on the train.

Something's off… When Yu Dazhang put himself in the other party's shoes, no matter how he thought about it, this behavior felt overly deliberate.

Guilty conscience?

No — someone who can rise to substation leader wouldn't lack that basic psychological composure.

Isn't this more like deliberately exposing himself?

Although this idea sounded somewhat absurd, after mulling it over carefully, Yu Dazhang found it was the most logical explanation he could come up with so far.

Closing the document, Yu Dazhang thought for a moment, then said to Lu Zhongxin:

"Tomorrow we'll go to that substation first to learn the situation, find out specifically who Fang Peng came into contact with back then. The two people he mentioned need special attention."

The next day.

Ma Jian and Liu Miao set out for Yangcheng early in the morning.

Yu Dazhang and the other two, meanwhile, timed it perfectly and arrived at the police substation Fang Peng had visited back then at nine in the morning.

"What can I do for you?"

The three of them had just walked in when they were stopped by the officer on duty.

They were in plainclothes and had driven there in Yu Dazhang's SUV, so the officer didn't recognize them as police.

"We're looking for Officer Yang Feng," Yu Dazhang replied.

Being from the same system, he knew all too well how difficult promotion was at the grassroots level.

The vast majority of officers spent their entire careers at the grassroots level, some even spinning their wheels at a substation their whole lives.

Therefore, in just five years' time, for an ordinary officer to want any significant change in position was basically unlikely.

"And you are?" Hearing they were looking for someone internal, the officer on duty immediately stood up and asked.

Seeing this, Yu Dazhang quickly stepped forward and answered with a smile:

"We're colleagues from Songhai."

As he spoke, he pulled his credentials from his pocket, showed them briefly to the officer on duty, then explained:

"We came this time mainly to find him and learn about a previous case."

While they were talking, Lu Zhongxin quietly drifted to one side and began examining the culture wall on the wall.

"Oh, I see. Then please wait a moment."

The officer on duty finished speaking, picked up the desk phone on the table, and dialed out.

Yu Dazhang didn't move, just stood in place waiting.

Two minutes later, an officer walked out from inside. When he saw the three of them, he paused, then walked up:

"I'm Yang Feng."

"Hello, hello," Yu Dazhang immediately extended his hand and shook the other's:

"Let's find somewhere to talk. This isn't something that can be explained in a word or two."

Yang Feng nodded:

"Alright, follow me."

The three of them then followed him to an office.

On the way, master and disciple exchanged a glance. Yu Dazhang's eyes held a question, and Lu Zhongxin gave a slight nod.

This was what they called unspoken understanding.

What Yu Dazhang was asking with his eyes was: whether the two men's information was on the culture wall.

Lu Zhongxin immediately read his meaning and gave an affirmative answer.

Police substations also have a rotation system.

Its main purpose is to prevent officers from staying in one post too long, getting to know too many people, and thereby affecting the fairness of their work.

It is also meant to prevent corruption.

But such post rotations are not frequent, and the scope of the transfers is small—usually resolved within the substation itself.

The fact that those two men's information was on the culture wall meant they were still working at this substation.

Once they reached the office and everyone sat down, Yu Dazhang asked directly:

"Do you still remember this person, Fang Peng?"

Hearing the name, the officer named Yang Feng showed a thoughtful look, then answered:

"Don't really have any impression of him."

He answered very crisply, which showed he was very confident in his own memory.

"Five years ago, someone came in to file a report at night," Yu Dazhang prompted:

"He said he'd escaped from a factory, and his appearance was a bit unusual—he looked a lot like a patient with Down syndrome."

The duty officers at a police substation come into contact with a great many people every day, so it's normal not to remember, let alone something that happened five years ago.

So Yu Dazhang understood this as well.

While speaking, he also took out Fang Peng's photo and handed it to Yang Feng.

The other man took the photo, and after just one glance recognized him:

"It's him. It's been too long—if I hadn't seen the photo, I wouldn't have been able to recall him."

Yu Dazhang stared at his face and asked:

"How much of what happened back then can you still remember?"

When Yang Feng had answered just now, his expression had been very calm, with no trace of guilt, fear, or panic.

It showed he had a clear conscience about this matter.

This made Yu Dazhang all the more curious.

"Hold on a moment," Yang Feng said, standing up:

"Back then I was on duty at the station, and the report records were all handwritten by me. They should still be on file—let me go look for them."

"All right, thanks for the trouble," Yu Dazhang said politely.

After Yang Feng left, he looked at Lu Zhongxin:

"What's the name of that leader surnamed Hong?"

"He's called Hong Liuwen," Lu Zhongxin answered quickly:

"He's the deputy station chief here."

(End of chapter)