There was no room for me to dodge. My right cheek immediately swelled and reddened. That's right, Xiao Yuande was left-handed, and he had suddenly attacked.
"Yuande!" I spat blood from the ground, spitting out a tooth at the same time. Xiao Yuande grabbed my clothes and glared at me with bloodshot eyes, saying, "He Sheng! I'm telling you, I will not betray my brother!"
"Yuande, are you crazy? Do you know what you're doing? He could be from the organization!"
"He can't be, I know him very well!"
Originally, Xiao Yuande intended to throw another punch, but fortunately, my right hand immediately caught his swift fist. Then, with a slight movement of my knee, Xiao Yuande's abdomen was hit as if by a hammer. His eyes bulged, and he stared at me with his broad face, filled with horror!
I used a Chinese martial arts grapple with my backhand, subduing him with pinpoint accuracy, and said, "Calm down, or I'll have to use law enforcement measures!"
"He Sheng, stop investigating, please!"
"Impossible. I know you know a lot about Guwu Village, but I also know you can't testify against your brother, so I have to find other evidence!"
"There's no witness testimony, and physical evidence won't be useful either. Besides, you won't find any physical evidence because that poison can't be detected at all..."
"Heh, so you're saying you admit to knowing your brother poisoned someone to death?"
Seizing the loophole in Xiao Yuande's words, I immediately pressed my advantage.
"I didn't. He Sheng, some cases can be investigated, but some cannot. Otherwise, you might pay with your life!"
"Ever since I put on this police uniform, I've been prepared to sacrifice. If I can't personally arrest people like him, what's the point of living a life of compromise?"
"Team Leader He, I can actually have them detain you at any time! Without you, the Punishing Sin Squad will surely fall into disarray."
"Heh, you underestimate us too much. Even Liu Yuning and He Xin together are enough to find your criminal evidence!"
"I haven't committed a crime, I'm just..."
"Harboring a criminal is also one!"
"You can say that about me, but I won't admit it. I know you don't have any recording devices with you today..."
A few minutes later, I had already put Xiao Yuande into the car. After closing the door, I shook my wristband: "I don't have a recording, but my drone was nearby just now!"
"You..." Xiao Yuande's face turned red with anger. He gritted his teeth, but could only utter that one word.
Although I arrested him, our relationship was completely severed from then on.
Back at the Provincial Criminal Investigation Team office, I had Xia Hou take him to the interrogation room. None of them seemed surprised, as I had already briefed them before we left.
I didn't need to conduct the interrogation. I retrieved the memory card from behind Little Dou Dou's back, found He Xin, and played the recording from just now. With this, we could apply for an arrest warrant. Although Xiao Yuande didn't name names or speak very clearly, everyone understood the meaning. Director Zhang weighed the situation and said, "If the judge hears this, they'll likely believe it. Alright, I'll help you with the paperwork!"
I nodded and exited Director Zhang's office. This time, I expected to catch Xiao Yuanba.
At 12:47 PM on June 17, 2022, I, along with over 50 police officers from my team, completely surrounded Xiao Yuanba's residence. Liu Yuning and I, armed, went upstairs and kicked the door open. We had intended to arrest Xiao Yuanba directly, but upon entering the house, we found no sign of him.
We searched everywhere, thinking he had escaped. However, just as we were preparing to go downstairs to check nearby surveillance, a wild roar suddenly came from the rooftop!
Immediately after, a person fell rapidly from the roof!
When I arrived downstairs, a man, shattered, appeared at my feet!
His head landed first, and countless blood sprayed from his fragile skull, mixed with some yellowish, unknown fluid, splattering onto the concrete ground. His eyes, due to the impact, were completely squeezed out, falling to the ground and rolling towards me!
At that moment, a passing car braked sharply, and several cars crashed into it from behind!
The road traffic descended into chaos due to the multiple rear-end collisions.
Xia Hou immediately went to notify traffic police, and Liu Yuning called for the forensic team. I, however, stared at the male corpse on the ground in shock. He was none other than Xiao Yuanba, the very person we had been trying to arrest!
He was dead!
I suddenly turned around and charged upstairs like a madman. Someone must have pushed him down earlier, but when I reached the rooftop, I saw no trace of anyone. There was only one set of footprints on the ground. I compared them with my hand and determined they belonged to Xiao Yuanba. Even with shoe covers, there would be some trace. I wanted the forensic team to re-examine, as my eyes weren't always reliable.
Without precise instrument checks, I couldn't be sure in this situation.
When the forensic team arrived, they used wide-angle illuminators and biological sample equipment for their examination, but still found no other footprints. This rooftop was rarely used; there was no place to dry clothes, and it was covered in withered plants. If no one pushed Xiao Yuanba, could he have jumped himself?
Did he know we were coming and commit suicide out of despair? But he wasn't that kind of person.
I always felt Xiao Yuanba's death was not simple, but everyone in the police force, including the Punishing Sin Squad, believed Xiao Yuanba had committed suicide.
Back at the provincial department, Xiao Yuanba's body was autopsied. The person who signed the consent for the autopsy was none other than Xiao Yuande.
Upon learning of his brother's death, he was grief-stricken. I observed his expression, and it seemed normal.
To determine Xiao Yuanba's true cause of death, I personally participated in the autopsy.
As the scalpel began, Xie Chuchu held the shadowless lamp and observed. On the surface of the body, there were no signs of a struggle. Blood and urine tests also found no toxins. I had initially thought he might have used that poison on himself, but in reality, he hadn't.
His cause of death was severe cranial trauma, leading to excessive bleeding from the major artery. When testing his stomach contents and rectal temperature, I found all indicators to be normal. However, I was still unconvinced and repeated the tests several times, thinking he should have had that toxin on him, but it was never found.
Police searched his home but found no toxic substances. Most of the items in his house were books, stationery used by teachers, and so on, showing no suspicious signs.