Chapter 1143: Still chickened out

After returning to the old city, Director Luo Lan appeared much more relaxed. Although Mr. Bo Te did not give him any promises here, he understood one thing.

As long as he shows his due value, Mr. Bo Te will cover for him.

Therefore, he now wants to transform into a vicious dog, crazily biting Lan Si to cause some trouble for Senator Ke Li Fu Lan.

Making him unable to pose any threat to Mr. Bo Te's general election. Even from the perspective and stance of a politician, Director Luo Lan thinks about this matter: if he could force Senator Ke Li Fu Lan to voluntarily reach some deals with Mr. Bo Te, that would obviously be better than just making him flustered.

Director Luo Lan wants to play his role well, so as soon as he returned to the old city, he began to watch Lan Si, including those people he saw that day; he began to arrange for people to investigate them.

There must be a reason for Lan Si to meet these people. It is impossible for him to meet these people for no reason, and this must involve the problem of crime.

Finding a way to—not to say send him in—but make him have no energy to do other things and threaten his safety; as long as he can do these, Director Luo Lan's goal can be achieved.

So he actively began to investigate matters related to Lan Si here. It is not that he didn't consider going to other places to investigate, such as New Jincheng or Laizhou, but the difficulty of investigation there is very high.

And if he is not careful, he will expose the information of the personnel there. They seem to have set up some very special plan, arranged for some people to enter the periphery of the Lan Si family to go undercover, and have initially gained the trust of their peripheral person in charge.

It might still take some time to penetrate their interior, but with the cooperation of the Federal Investigation Bureau, Director Luo Lan believes this will be fast, so that side will not move for the time being.

The New Jincheng side also moved, but the effect might not be very good because they have been investigating Lan Si, but have not found any concrete evidence of crime.

He has now detached from the most basic stage of violent crime and started to become... a higher level of crime.

The lowest level of crime is taking a dagger to the street, finding someone, using the knife to hold against their body, and making them take out the money in their pocket.

And high-level crime is using various different social identities to do greater evil, which is also the evil that Director Luo Lan has always pursued and wanted to eliminate.

Those high-sounding people, they might be philanthropists, might be bishops, might be big capitalists, or even some officials and the like.

On the surface, they are bathed in the sun, exuding holy radiance, but in secret, they are the incarnation of evil.

There are many such people, and they are also very common in the federation.

In terms of investigation, the former is easily caught and sent to the dock.

But the latter is very difficult to catch.

Not only is evidence difficult to obtain, but more importantly, there is the resistance from society.

Some are things that investigators can resist, but there are also some that they have no way to contend with.

Lan Si belongs to the second type; his crime level has become higher and more difficult to deal with.

Perhaps some of his measures here in the old city will become a breakthrough.

Just when he was happily investigating the information of these personnel related to Lan Si, Mr. Bo Te suddenly made a phone call to him in his busy schedule.

"Notebook?"

"What notebook?"

Director Luo Lan himself didn't know what happened yet, but on the side of some sensitive people, they had already heard some wind.

This guy Fu Lan has a ledger. The ledger records the distribution plan of criminal profit funds for each quarter, as well as how to transport them to different accounts.

This notebook was originally just a simple ledger, but now, it has become not simple.

Even if there is no detailed explanation on it that this is money-power trading, the directionality of these capital flows is too damn clear. Sometimes, the people at the bottom of society, the voters, what they need is not the truth at all, but "what they think"!

Who the hell has nothing to do and will chase after the truth?

What they pursue is just to be able to satisfy all their fantasies about certain problems, just like some people always think that the federal government is dark, officials are dark, the entire world is a conspiracy, and the president is actually a lizard alien wearing human skin, and they have already ruled the world...

This is the truth that meets people's needs, not those real and cold things.

People only need to believe that this ledger is the situation of interest transmission, then the people on the ledger, one counts as one, their political life will immediately end.

No voter will support these officials who trade money for power, and even less will vote for them. Their future in the political arena will end here.

This is more explosive than some secret news Director Luo Lan dug out from Bo Bu's mouth, and it is also news that makes people unable to ignore it. So immediately, Mr. Bo Te's phone call came over.

Director Luo Lan listened to these contents roughly, and he was a bit dumbfounded, "He is despicable, Mr. Bo Te, and also very low-class, very disgusting. He pushed these things I haven't done onto me."

"I swear to God with my family that there is no ledger at all, and there is no problem with the account bookkeeping. These are all fake."

Mr. Bo Te was silent for a moment, "I can believe you, but it is difficult for others to believe you. They will continue to doubt you. This is very bad, but it is not too bad."

This sentence was said in a messy way and looked very difficult to read, but in reality, its expression was very direct—the only person you can rely on now is me, so you have to be more obedient.

Director Luo Lan said "Um," "Then what should I do now?"

Mr. Bo Te didn't have too much thought, "Do it according to the things you said before. Do it well. Such rumors will always have a day when they are punctured."

"Focus on work, don't worry about other things. Some people are stupid, but some people are smart and can see these things clearly."

After ending this not-so-happy phone call, Director Luo Lan smashed the desktop fiercely, but the trouble of the matter was far more than that.

In mid-September, Lan Si's legal team officially sued the New Jincheng Police Department in court. After nearly a month of evidence collection work, they obtained concrete witness testimony and confessions from about twenty police officers of different races, genders, from this country and immigrant countries, and with different beliefs, and they were willing to testify in court.

For these people at the bottom of society—federal police are also a kind of underclass in a certain sense—their days are actually not easy.

For these police officers, as long as the money is in place, there is nothing that cannot be betrayed.

After all, not betraying is just because the chips are too few, and betraying is being fed full.

This lawsuit triggered great social attention. In addition to Lan Si continuing to wave the gold coin offensive to buy space in the media of the Social Party camp, this was indeed the largest "people suing officials" in the past two years.

Lan Si officially sued the Chief of the New Jincheng Police Department. The Federal Jinzhou State Court accepted this lawsuit. Because it involved the person in charge of local law enforcement, the local court needed to avoid it.

Lawyer Luo Ben used some of his connections and abilities to finally let the state court try this case, and the attention of the case became higher.

The police chief was also temporarily suspended from work. He needs to wait until the trial ends and the court makes a not-guilty verdict for him before he can continue his police chief work.

If it was just losing the job, actually he was not that desperate. He could completely use this opportunity to go to the Federal Investigation Bureau to be a deputy director or something.

The director of the Federal Investigation Bureau, the position under Luo Lan's ass, is directly appointed by the Presidential Palace. Of course, now Congress also has the right to nominate.

But deputy directors and the like are all decided by Luo Lan, this director.

Whoever he wants to be his deputy, that person is the deputy director. The police chief believes that if he really lost his job to protect Director Luo Lan, he would pull him up no matter what.

He is not afraid of losing his job; he is afraid of going to jail.

Because once he goes to jail, his life is basically finished, and he is very likely not to come out.

Many people, before coming to the federation, through various channels, learned that federal people do not discriminate against people released from prison, and some companies even actively accept them, as if federal society is a society of truth, goodness, and beauty.

But in reality, it is not like this. Having been to jail in the federation also means life is finished.

Any boss will not hire a person with a criminal record and a prison record. This is related to personnel management problems. These thorns might become the first roar against exploitation and oppression.

It is also possible that they are the employees who punch them first, so having been to jail is absolutely not wanted.

And those more important positions, government agencies, are even less likely to want these people. They will do a background check on every person who enters the government department to work, but they never say these things.

If the federal government is really so tolerant of people released from prison, why hasn't a prisoner released from prison jumped out to run for president?

Even a cat, a dog, can run for president, why can't a prisoner released from prison?

With the "popularity" of the police chief, even if he could come out alive from the regional prison full of people he caught, those people would not hire him.

So he absolutely cannot go to jail!

That is not going to jail; that is the door to hell!

He absolutely does not want to push open that door!

The first trial attracted the attention of many people. This is a public trial. It is said that the public gallery can be sold for money.

From a few dollars to hundreds of dollars, there are always some people who hope to know this news at the first time.

In this era of backward information transmission, people are more willing to participate in various activities on the spot, perhaps because of the atmosphere, and being able to know some fresh things faster, which is convenient for them to... show off before the newspaper is published.

Especially the middle class, having "inside information" is one of the sharpest ways for them to open social interaction, and there is no one else.

Many media, reporters, and television station people came to the court scene early. Accompanied by the entry of both sides, the things people wanted to see began to be presented.

This is not the first time Lawyer Luo Ben has appeared in the state court. The Supreme Court justice even took a few meaningful looks at him.

Before the court opened, the Supreme Court justice and Lawyer Luo Ben actually met privately. They can be considered old friends, both teachers and friends.

They are alumni who graduated from the same school and have had contact at the alumni association. The previous Luo Ben was sharp and very dazzling. Wherever he went, he was the focus of people.

At that time, the Supreme Court justice talked to him, saying that he couldn't always walk with his head held high, which would make him fall. He had to learn to walk with his head down, at least he could walk steadily.

At that time, the high-spirited Lawyer Luo Ben couldn't listen to these words at all, until he fell heavily.

This time, the Supreme Court justice smiled and hugged him, ritualistically, and praised him for finding a very reliable backer.

Everyone knows he is serving Lan Si, and Lan Si and Senator Ke Li Fu Lan and these people are in the same group.

Even if Mr. Bo Te wins the election and becomes president, as long as Senator Ke Li Fu Lan's basic board is not bad and Lan Si is not in trouble, he will become the backbone of the Social Party in Congress, or even a "leader figure."

When walking on the back, you need such a banner-like role to tell people that the Social Party has not fallen, and will continue to compete.

Backed by such a big shot, the peers who were enemies of Lawyer Luo Ben before have no way to deal with him.

The Supreme Court justice is a selfless person. He will not lean toward him because he knows Lawyer Luo Ben. He will handle it impartially.

After briefly introducing today's case, the police chief stood in the dock.

He actually didn't want to come here. He applied for a non-appearance trial, which is to cover a layer of cloth around the dock so that people couldn't see the person inside.

This kind of application and permission exists, but today his application was rejected. The reason is that he is a law enforcer, a manifestation of government credibility, and should not be afraid to face the public.

At this moment, he stood there, his face appearing pale and numb.

Lawyer Luo Ben came to his side, "You need to swear on the Bible."

Most federal people believe in God and also believe that they will go to hell or the kingdom of God after death. In court, if they cannot swear on the Bible that every word they say is the truth, then what they say will not be believed by the jury or the judge.

In fact, this practice is ridiculous in the eyes of some people, especially those who lie through their teeth, but this thing is one of the processes of federal justice; otherwise, there wouldn't be a Bible placed by his hand.

The police chief glanced at the Bible by his hand. He slowly pressed his hand on it. Countless thoughts appeared and extinguished in his mind. After intense ideological struggle, he decided to tell the truth. Anyway, this matter is not his responsibility. He has no need to take the blame for other people's things, and he has to bet his whole life!

"I swear, every word I say in court is the truth, and it comes from my heart."

Lawyer Luo Ben was very satisfied. Being able to swear means a change in thinking.

In fact, there have been people in federal justice who would rather die than swear. They just don't swear because they are afraid of lying and going to hell after death. The result is naturally failure, because every jury member thinks he is unwilling to swear because he is the murderer, so he was directly judged guilty.

"Mr. Director, my client, Mr. Lan Si·Huai Te, was subjected to a very terrible armed attack locally last month."

"After careful investigation work, we know that the person who attacked him came from the Perez family that has already been wiped out."

"But in this attack, there is a very strange, puzzling mystery that has not received any explanation until now."

"That is why the police of the New Jincheng Police Department would arrive at the attack scene in advance before the attack happened, and try to arrest my client, the victim, first after the attack happened, instead of those attackers?"

"Can I assume that you knew the attack would happen, and you might even have colluded with the Perez family, and the purpose was to harm, kidnap, or even kill my client, Mr. Lan Si·Huai Te?"

The lawyer invited by the police chief directly raised his hands high, "I object to him asking questions like this. These questions carry obvious subjective bias..."

The Supreme Court justice shook his head and didn't even wait for him to finish before saying, "Objection overruled. I think these questions are very critical. Defendant, please answer the question."

The police chief remained silent. According to judicial process, he had already sworn, and he cannot lie now.

But he... still held a tiny bit of fantasy. What if they... couldn't handle him?

And when people ask him here, he voluntarily says it out. Doesn't this mean he is actively cooperating?

Will Director Luo Lan feel that he has become a traitor or something?

So this matter needs to be cautious, and needs to persist a bit more.

Seeing the police chief not speaking, Lawyer Luo Ben didn't demand him to speak more severely, but directly used the simplest means: inviting witnesses and testimony.

Soon, the first police officer wearing a police uniform came to the witness stand. He began to express his testimony—

"... I received an order from my superior, requiring me to be fully armed and arrive at my mission location at the designated time, and I was not allowed to sound the siren on the road, nor was I allowed to appear on the side of the road. They required me to hide in the alley, and I was not allowed to get out of the car, and I had to be able to start the police car and act at any time."

"I asked my deputy sheriff above, and he told me to obey the command from above, and told me not to ask why."

Soon the deputy sheriff also stood up, "I just obeyed the order from the sheriff."

When the police chief saw a sheriff also stand up, he rolled his eyes and interrupted the inquiry, "No need to say, I am willing to tell the truth."

"In fact, we did know before this that the Perez family would attack Lan Si, as well as an approximate time and location. Considering these two gangs..."

Lawyer Luo Ben suddenly raised his hand, "I object, Your Honor. Up to now, there is no evidence that can prove that my client, Mr. Lan Si·Huai Te, has participated in gang activities or operated a gang."

"In New Jincheng, he is a philanthropist praised by everyone, and everyone is very clear about this point."

"The defendant is trying to lower his fault by stigmatizing him. I need him to apologize to my client and admit his mistake."

The police chief looked at Lawyer Luo Ben for a while. After he had gone through his poor vocabulary of cursing in his heart, he said somewhat reluctantly—

"I apologize to Mr. Lan Si·Huai Te. I shouldn't have stigmatized him. I'm sorry!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 1144 =====