Chapter 327

"Counting it all up, that's four death sentences, four life terms, over a dozen with over ten years—I'd guess fifteen or sixteen—and another dozen or so with five years or more, plus a few with three years…" Liu Jian counted through the list like executing condemned prisoners, his tone clearly cheerful.

He wasn't just counting the eighteen current parking lot guards, but also those who had retired and the hooligans who ran with them. The total number was substantial, keeping the Criminal Investigation Brigade busy for several days.

Only a unit the size of the Criminal Investigation Brigade could handle this; if it were the Ningtai County CID team, they'd have to drop all other cases and spend months just on these.

Liu Jian didn't need anyone to prompt him—he grinned and continued: "Never had such a satisfying case. These few with three-year sentences? Let's push them back a bit. Let's focus first on the death sentences. Once we're done with those, we can gather more evidence and try to upgrade those three-yearers to ten."

Yu Wenshu laughed: "So these dozen or so five-yearers are getting a free pass."

"Let me check if I have time later. I'll talk to them again—if they're willing to plead guilty and accept punishment, five or seven years might be enough. If not, we can put them in the supplementary investigation queue. Jiang, what do you think?" Liu Jian now treated Jiang Yuan with deep respect—he was truly a good partner in work.

"I have time for anything. If you need supplementary investigation, feel free to call me." Jiang Yuan said: "I prefer to solidify a case properly."

"That's a good habit," Liu Jian clapped in agreement. "I feel the same—better to digest one case well than to swallow too many and choke."

Jiang Yuan nodded. "I believe a person must be held accountable for their actions. If, because of us, they get a lighter sentence, then when they get out of prison, they won't reform—they'll just feel lucky. So for cases we can solidify, there's no need to be lenient. Those who deserve harsh punishment shouldn't get lighter sentences due to other factors."

Liu Jian laughed heartily: "That's a good mindset. But the families of the accused might see it differently."

Jiang Yuan said: "If the families of criminals truly care about them and have influenced them, then they've done something wrong—including their understanding of sentencing."

"That logic is perfectly reasonable." After years handling criminal cases, prosecutors and police had long exhausted any sympathy for criminals—replaced by the gruesome images of victims. Liu Jian wholeheartedly agreed with Jiang Yuan.

If a single murder case might still have room for wrongful conviction, the criminal gang formed by Jianyuan's parking lot guards had no justification for leniency whatsoever.

Someone might argue: "He got off track, was young and foolish, followed others around, got into fights, beat people, stole things, insulted men or women—why should he get ten years, or even death?"

But from Liu Jian and Jiang Yuan's perspective, it was more than enough.

Accidental crimes happen once or twice—but not three or four times. And the law only punishes crimes with solid evidence and complete chains of proof. A petty thief who made a living stealing and was later convicted of stealing tens of thousands of yuan—complaining about his sentence? What a joke.

If we only talked about morality and ignored the law, we'd have to count every unsolved crime he ever committed—and life imprisonment wouldn't be too much.

The Jianyuan parking lot guards—every single one of them—were the kind who bullied classmates in school, harassed street vendors while wandering the streets, groped young women when drunk, beat up boyfriends when resisted, cut off other drivers on the road, slapped people during disputes, and cursed their mothers and fathers. They only differed in the specific crimes they committed—theft, robbery, molestation, rape, assault—due to personal preference and ability. In terms of character and humanity—executing all of them might be cruel, but none of them were innocent.

Letting most of them live is a requirement of civilization's self-restraint—not because they didn't deserve death.

The more criminals die, the happier everyone will be—including their families.

Liu Jian now looked at Jiang Yuan with intense admiration; if the prosecutor's office hadn't lost too much power, he'd have pulled Jiang Yuan over right away.

Any department that needs investigations loves a technical prodigy like him.

Yu Wenshu cleared his throat twice: "Uh… Jiang Yuan, didn't you say you were going to interrogate Zhang Xiang?"

"Oh… I'll join in. After lunch, once the detention center's mealtime ends." The main interrogation was over, but Zhang Xiang still hadn't explained the tire-slashing. Jiang Yuan planned to re-interrogate him with Meng Chengbiao.

Concerned for Jiang Yuan's safety, Yu Wenshu nodded seriously: "Interrogate thoroughly if needed. Call me if you need help."

Jiang Yuan nodded and continued working.

So many people, so many cases—most were exposed by each other, or betrayed one another. Many still required Jiang Yuan to verify and find evidence.

Beyond that, Jiang Yuan still needed to uncover his own cases. Since they were all cold cases anyway, clearing out these few individuals at once yielded more solved cases than if he'd handled them one by one—they were basically a treasure trove of guards.

Jiang Yuan needed to extract as many cold cases as possible from them, especially the four guards expected to receive death sentences—he needed to fully understand what they'd done.

Otherwise, when he returned to these cases later, the suspects might already be executed, wasting time—and possibly leaving cases unsolvable.

Otherwise, when you encounter these cases again, the suspects will have been injected to death—wasting time, and you might even face unsolvable cases.

Meng Chengbiao obtained the interrogation warrant and went with Jiang Yuan to the detention center to interrogate Zhang Xiang.

Unlike in the police station's own interrogation center, detainees brought from the detention center were directly escorted into the interrogation room and securely locked into the interrogation chair, facing the officers across the room.

Here, the interrogation posture was more formal. Meng Chengbiao followed procedure, primarily gathering evidence.

Zhang Xiang answered obediently for a while, then grew annoyed: "Just sentence me already. Why are you asking me everything? Don't you know anything? Do you expect me to confess it all?"

"If you don't talk, we'll investigate. But this attitude will worsen your sentence," Meng Chengbiao said sternly.

Zhang Xiang sneered: "I've already killed two people. How much worse can you make my sentence? Kill me twice?"

Jiang Yuan frowned. Logically, it was true—murder and arson resulting in two deaths meant certain death. And the more cases Zhang Xiang confessed to, the slimmer his chance of survival. Under these circumstances, how could they continue interrogating?

Jiang Yuan frowned as he listened; logically, it was true—murder and arson resulting in two deaths meant certain death. The more cases Zhang Xiang revealed, the slimmer his chance of survival, and under such circumstances, how could interrogation continue?

Meng Chengbiao's weathered face gleamed oily under the light, as if he hadn't washed it that morning. He heard Zhang Xiang's words but showed no reaction, simply asking: "What do you want?"

Zhang Xiang didn't hesitate: "I want to play chess on weekends."

Meng Chengbiao looked at the detention center officer beside him.

The officer explained: "We usually organize movie nights on weekends. Only those with full evaluation points and good behavior can go to the game room."

"Can we add him?" Meng Chengbiao smiled. "Could you arrange it?"

"Alright. Since Ningtai's Jiang Yuan is here, I'll tell his custodian." The officer glanced at Jiang Yuan and smiled warmly. Detectives who solved cases as easily as drinking water—everyone was happy to make things easier for them.

Meng Chengbiao immediately thanked him, then turned back to Zhang Xiang, sternly saying: "You heard what we said. You can play chess on weekends—but answer me one question."

Meng Chengbiao immediately expressed his thanks, then turned to Zhang Xiang and said sternly, "You heard what we said. You want to play chess this weekend? Fine. Answer me one question."

Meng Chengbiao asked: "Who told you to slash the tires?"

Zhang Xiang fell silent.

Meng Chengbiao frowned and shouted: "Zhang Xiang!"

"I can't say," Zhang Xiang shook his head.

"Was it Jianyuan's upper management?" Meng Chengbiao pressed, staring into Zhang Xiang's eyes.

Zhang Xiang simply closed his eyes.

Meng Chengbiao tried various methods, asking repeatedly—no effect.

Clearly, the temptation of weekend chess was not equivalent to answering this question.

Meng Chengbiao looked at Jiang Yuan.

"Let's go back," Jiang Yuan said, uninterested in pressing further. If necessary, they could ask again after arresting Jianyuan's senior management.

Meng Chengbiao glanced at Jiang Yuan.

"Let's just go back," Jiang Yuan said, too lazy to ask further; if all else failed, he could wait until they captured the senior executives of Jianyuan Pharmaceuticals and continue questioning then.