Chapter 758

A group of people huddled in a several-dozen-square-meter apartment smoking, the smoke rising visibly, the range hood humming, but the smoke showed no signs of decreasing.

Click.

A key was inserted into the door lock.

The police officers smoking didn't even lift their heads, basically all silently scrolling on their phones.

There were plenty of people lying in wait at the door. If the petty thief lured back had the ability to escape—if he could escape, that would be a good thing no one dared to imagine. One could blindly guess that he definitely had a major case on his back; otherwise, what kind of person with special skills would hide their identity and live in an apartment in the capital as a petty thief?

Thump, thump.

Someone sighed softly.

The sound of the petty thief being pinned against the wall indicated that this blind box hadn't yielded a prize.

"Bring him over." Huang Qiangmin said lazily.

He hadn't been a detachment leader for over a year and hadn't been in contact with such grassroots cases for some time.

The newly caught thief walked through his rented apartment, feeling only that the floor and ceiling were familiar, while the surrounding police uniforms looked like an apocalyptic scene. If he saw so many police uniforms in a dream, he would probably be scared awake.

Upon arriving, the thief easily located Huang Qiangmin and Jiang Yuan in the smoke-filled environment. It was simple; just like in the detention center, the one sitting in the best-ventilated spot was the boss.

"Your brother pointed you out; you should have guessed this." Liu Wenkai said lazily: "Well, what do you have to say?"

"I... what do I need to say?" The newly caught thief looked timid.

Liu Wenkai curled his lip: "Be honest. You're the last one, you know? There are four of you in your group, and three have pointed you out. For example, what were you doing last night at 10 o'clock?"

"I... I was soliciting a prostitute." The thief lowered his sinful head.

"15 days. Right. Where did the money for the prostitute come from?"

"I picked up a few electric bike batteries."

"How did you pick them up? Come on, tell me in detail."

"I... I stole..." As the thief spoke, he recounted the time, location, and specific operations. He had been to prison before, so since he had been pointed out, he had nothing to worry about and decided to be straightforward.

Liu Wenkai recorded it in the file and added: "You're a professional battery thief, right? What other cases have you done?"

"Who... who's a professional battery thief!" the thief said indignantly: "I... I'm an actor."

"What do you act in?"

Handcuffed, he said: "I act in everything. I used to hang around Hengdian, then someone brought me to the capital. The cost of living here is too high, and I have a criminal record, so I can't deliver food or anything. I have to live, but I tell you, one day, I will act in a great movie that thousands of people admire..."

"You're already 25."

"So what if I'm 25!"

"If you go to prison at 25, after 15 years, you'll be 40. Is it still in time to act in a great movie that thousands of people admire?" Liu Wenkai asked sincerely.

"15 years..." The fourth thief was frightened, his voice turning hoarse: "Why 15 years..."

"You committed burglary, your companions have all confessed, saying you were carrying a knife at the time, which means armed. You committed multiple burglaries, and the stolen goods you obtained weren't small, you sold them for tens of thousands, right? The amount is huge! And you're a recidivist with a criminal record..." Liu Wenkai had plenty of experience interrogating such petty thieves. With a mix of truth and lies, he recited the scriptures, and few weren't afraid.

The thief who wanted to be an actor slumped, unable to help but say: "Those corrupt officials who embezzle hundreds of millions don't even get 15 years, why should I get 15 years?"

"Just because corrupt officials do things worse than you doesn't mean what you did isn't bad enough. You were in someone else's house in the middle of the night with a knife... is it unjust to sentence you to 15 years? Do good people have to wait for you to kill corrupt officials before they can seek justice—of course, it's possible you won't have to serve 15 years." Liu Wenkai smiled slightly.

The thief was stunned, looked at the somewhat familiar, lecherous smile, then looked at the room full of people, his brow furrowing, and many legends from the film and television industry flashed through his mind involuntarily.

Afternoon.

Jiang Yuan hummed a tune as he took away two boxes of physical evidence.

The number of people pointed out by the thieves had reached 20, keeping Wu Junhao and Liu Wenkai so busy they couldn't handle it all, and they had sent everyone out to make arrests.

Tao Lu was naturally happy about this; these small cases were originally the most time-consuming, and criminal police officers spent most of their time on them day in and day out.

Tao Lu was internally pleased that the Ningtai people were willing to help with this work, and Huang Qiangmin didn't mean to ask for extra payment, expressing it in a very friendly way. Tao Lu just took these as a testament to everyone's friendship.

At the same time, Jiang Yuan also organized the evidence from the thieves' residence thoroughly.

This homicide-level search, which also uncovered two other suspects with records for theft, made Cui Qishan and the others exclaim that it was a waste.

The jurisdiction of the Zheng Guang Bureau had over 2 million people, and that was just the census data, not counting the daily flow of shoppers and workers. In such a large jurisdiction, the trace examination center of the Zheng Guang Bureau had fewer than 40 people, and no one dared to say their level was on par with Jiang Yuan's.

In this environment, Jiang Yuan spent an afternoon searching the residence of a thief—or more accurately, the residences of four thieves—which was somewhat puzzling.

Team Leader Tang of the technical investigation unit, however, had resigned himself to it, staying until off-duty time, exhaling a long breath, and saying to Huang Qiangmin: "It's time to go back. The technical investigation vehicle needs to be cleaned up too."

"Alright. See you tomorrow." Huang Qiangmin didn't hesitate to hand over another pack of Zhonghua cigarettes; compared to a technical investigation vehicle, what were cigarettes?

Team Leader Tang declined, smiling: "I'll try my best to come tomorrow, but whether I can come depends on the leaders' arrangements."

He didn't like doing small cases too much either. Everyone has a need for a sense of achievement, and naturally, they are more willing to use the skills they've worked hard to learn in places that need them more.

Huang Qiangmin smiled, tucked the Zhonghua cigarettes back into his pocket, and watched Team Leader Tang leave.

The next day.

Below the brownish-red residential building, a technical investigation vehicle pulled up hesitantly.

The one who opened the door and came out was still Team Leader Tang.

"Political Commissar Huang." Team Leader Tang sighed upon meeting: "You have too much influence."

"A 7-million-dollar technical investigation vehicle, and we saved them 1 million." Huang Qiangmin smiled and patted Team Leader Tang's shoulder: "Besides, it's not just about one vehicle."

Team Leader Tang took the cigarette Huang Qiangmin handed him, lit it, and laughed: "It doesn't feel appropriate to call him Detective Jiang anymore; this is the God of Wealth Jiang."

"If you can solve cases, you're a god." Huang Qiangmin said calmly: "When I was young, Changyang City got a new bureau chief. They offered a 500,000 reward for solving a cold homicide case, with money distributed based on contribution, and there were detailed rules. At that time, there was a mass murder case that we managed to crack, and the officer who contributed the most got over 200,000."

"200,000 back then was a lot, right?"

"If you bought a house in the capital, the housing price in the four urban districts of the capital at that time was about 3,000 to 4,000 per square meter, so you could buy 50 square meters. Do you know why I have such a deep impression? Old Qin and I actually came to the capital to look at houses." Huang Qiangmin was full of emotion.

"Did you buy one?"

"No. We bought in Changyang City. 1,399 per square meter, with a 10% discount, it came to 1,260. Old Qin got over 240,000 and bought a 200-square-meter house; that was the biggest house we had ever seen at the time."

"200 square meters is awesome, the housing prices in Changyang City aren't low now, right? Your colleague made a fortune, prepared the house for his children, and lived a good life afterward, right?"

"He sacrificed himself afterward. His family sold the house when it was 3,000 per square meter, which was considered making a little money."

Huang Qiangmin held a cigarette, preparing to smoke. He flicked his lighter, rubbing it several times, but it wouldn't light.

He held the unlit cigarette between his fingers.

Team Leader Tang patted Huang Qiangmin's shoulder hard: "Hey, housing prices don't have much to do with us; being alive is good enough."

Snap.

The fire lit.

The cigarette was lit.

Huang Qiangmin took a deep puff and exhaled rings of smoke.

It was as if three people were smoking together.

Old Qin was also exhaling smoke rings, cursing: "Old Huang, that spendthrift of mine, if he could have waited two years to sell, it would have been 11,000 per square meter; at least he could have left them more money..."