1993, Pengcheng Police Affairs

Chapter 32 Past Events

"ah?!"

Gu Huai's exclamation echoed continuously in the sky above Yinhu Village.

He stood there stunned for a long time before he came to his senses.

Immediately afterward, he lowered his voice instinctively, "Sister Ling, what did you say? Brother Hou's father... killed his own wife?"

"Keep your voice down."

Ling Yue pulled Gu Huai into a corner, looked around warily, and only released his hand after confirming that no one was paying attention to her.

"Keep your voice down. This is a taboo subject in the department. Nobody is allowed to mention it."

At this moment, Gu Huai's mind was buzzing.

He remembered Hou Hao's face, which always carried a hint of timidity, and how he would lower his head and remain silent every time Wu Feilin reprimanded him.

I remember the hint of pride in his voice when he said, "My dad works in our bureau."

It turns out that beneath that pride lay such a deep scar.

"When did this happen?" Gu Huai asked.

"The year before last."

Ling Yue leaned against the wall, her voice low, "Haozi was still in police academy at that time, and hadn't joined the police force yet."

Gu Huai frowned.

Who handled the case?

"Team Leader Wu."

These two words weighed heavily on Gu Huai's heart, like a stone.

He recalled Wu Feilin's almost harsh discipline of Hou Hao.

This left him somewhat puzzled.

Logically speaking, Wu Feilin should have had a good relationship with Hou Hao's father in this case.

Logically speaking, Wu Feilin should have recused himself from this case. Why did the investigator not only not recuse himself, but instead, he was the one who did it?

Thinking of this, Gu Huai looked at Ling Yue.

Tell me the details.

Ling Yue hesitated for a moment, but still spoke.

"Hou Hao's father is Hou Jianguo, a veteran criminal police officer from the Bao'an Branch of the BS City Public Security Bureau."

"In the local police station, he was the best detective in the entire criminal investigation team."

"On July 12th of the year before last, Hou Jianguo called the police to report that his wife, Lin Xiuying, had died at home."

"When people arrived, Hou Jianguo was standing at home covered in blood."

"He just stood there, neither running nor hiding, and without offering any explanation."

Ling Yue's voice was a little tense, "When Captain Wu asked him what happened, he just said, 'I killed the person, arrest me.'"

Gu Huai listened, his brows furrowing even more deeply. "It's that simple?"

"Yes, it's that simple."

Ling Yue nodded.

"No third person's fingerprints were found at the scene, but Hou Jianguo's fingerprints were found on the murder weapon."

"Hou Jianguo's clothes were covered in the blood of the deceased."

"The forensic examination showed that the deceased was strangled, and there were obvious ligature marks on his neck."

"I also have several lacerations, but none of them are fatal."

"The real cause of death was suffocation."

"Since all the case files in the entire brigade pass through Ling Yue's hands, Ling Yue is quite familiar with the entire process of the case."

"Hou Jianguo confessed?"

Gu Huai asked.

"Yes, I accept it."

"He recognized him in front of Captain Wu in the interrogation room."

He said he had marital problems with his wife, that she was having an affair, and that he acted impulsively and hit her.

As Ling Yue spoke, she looked at Gu Huai with some unease and said, "But there's a problem: there are no interrogation records for this case."

Gu Huai's heart sank.

"No interrogation records?"

"Yes."

Ling Yue nodded and said, "Because this case involves people in the police station, the interrogation was kept simple, and Hou Jianguo confessed quite readily, so there wasn't much documentation."

"There is only one confession record in the entire case file, which has Hou Jianguo's signature and fingerprint on it."

Ling Yue said, "I went through the case files and asked the people who were involved in the case back then, and everyone's answer was the same: I can't remember, I can't remember."

Gu Huai repeated the four words, a cold smile creeping onto his lips.

"It's abnormal that no one can remember the details of such an interrogation."

"Does Brother Hou know about these things?"

Gu Huai asked.

"You should know some things, but not all of them."

"Haozi only knew that his father had confessed to the crime, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve, and was imprisoned in Pingshan Prison."

"He dared not dig deeper, nor did he dare to ask questions."

"After he became Captain Wu's apprentice, he dared not mention this matter again."

"He was afraid people would say he was the son of a murderer and didn't deserve to be a policeman."

Gu Huai fell silent.

He now finally understood why Hou Hao was so cautious when handling cases, afraid of making a single wrong step.

Thinking back to how he didn't even dare to breathe loudly in front of Wu Feilin, that wasn't cowardice.

That was the son of a murderer, trying his best to prove that he deserved this police uniform.

"That's not right," Gu Huai said, puzzled. "How did Brother Hou become a policeman under these circumstances?"

"Captain Wu protected him," Ling Yue explained. "Captain Wu asked many people for help and even used his own reputation as collateral to get Haozi a police officer position."

Thinking of this, Gu Huai suddenly looked up and asked, "Sister Ling, do you think Hou Jianguo really killed someone?"

Ling Yue paused for a moment, then did not answer.

"You have doubts in your mind, don't you?"

Gu Huai stared into her eyes, "Otherwise, you wouldn't have gone out of your way to look through the files, nor would you have remembered so many details."

Ling Yue bit her lip and spoke after a long while.

"I just think that someone who has been a detective for almost 20 years wouldn't be that stupid if they really committed murder."

"If he really intentionally killed his wife, he wouldn't be so foolish as to wait for someone to come. Although he certainly can't escape, he could pretend it was an accident or a homicide, so at least he wouldn't be sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve."

Ling Yue's statement coincided with Gu Huai's.

Gu Huai simply couldn't understand why the man confessed to the murder so easily.

He leaned against the wall, closed his eyes, and went through every detail Ling Yue had said in his mind like a movie.

An old detective suddenly kills his wife.

He stood at the door covered in blood, holding a weapon, and called the police.

The confession was incredibly quick, without any struggle.

There are no interrogation records, and everyone "can't remember".

My son is still studying at police academy.

He forbade his son from visiting him in prison.

These fragments, when pieced together, don't reveal the complete truth, but they do create a clear outline.

This case is far more complex than it appears on the surface.

"Sister Ling," Gu Huai opened his eyes, "could you make another copy of the case file for Hou Jianguo's case?"

Ling Yue looked at him: "What do you want to do?"

"Nothing much," Gu Huai said. "I just want to see just how thin the case file for a suspended death sentence is."

Hearing Gu Huai's words, Ling Yue did not nod, but shook her head and said, "Huai, I know what you're thinking, but I advise you not to think about it."

"Why?" Gu Huai asked, puzzled. "Could it be that someone..." Gu Huai didn't finish his sentence.

"This case isn't what you think," Ling Yue shook her head and said, "Hou Jianguo is currently imprisoned in Pengcheng Prison, and he has never protested his innocence."

"Ah Huai, this case is airtight; it can't be overturned."