1993, Pengcheng Police Affairs

Chapter 37 Psychological Warfare

The interrogation room door opened, and Wu Feilin walked in front, with Gu Huai following behind.

Luo Zhenbang looked up at the table, then looked down again and continued staring at the table.

Wu Feilin sat down and turned up the lamp, the light shining directly on Luo Zhenbang's face.

"Name."

silence.

"age."

silence.

"Profession."

silence.

Wu Feilin wasn't in a hurry. He leaned back in his chair and just watched him.

The clock in the interrogation room ticked away, each second stretching out endlessly.

Gu Huai sat in the corner, staring intently at Luo Zhenbang.

He was observing.

Luo Zhenbang's breathing was steady, his heartbeat was imperceptible, but his hands did not tremble.

It's impossible for a normal person not to feel nervous at all when locked in an interrogation room for several hours.

Unless, he has experienced something even more nerve-wracking than this.

For example, murder.

"Luo Zhenbang," Wu Feilin finally changed his tone, "You think we can't do anything to you if you don't talk?"

Luo Zhenbang finally reacted, raising his head to look at Wu Feilin.

His gaze was calm, so calm it sent chills down your spine.

"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you," he said, his voice hoarse, as if he hadn't had water in a long time.

"How do you know we don't believe you if you don't tell us?" Wu Feilin continued.

Luo Zhenbang was silent for a few seconds, then said, "My wife actually went to Hong Kong."

Wu Feilin was initially skeptical about Luo Zhenbang being the murderer, but after hearing this, his eyes narrowed slightly.

[Another exodus to Hong Kong. Where are all these people fleeing to Hong Kong?]

However, despite his suspicions, as a veteran police officer, he knew that the interrogation was still ongoing, so he did not show any unusual behavior.

"You went to Hong Kong?" Wu Feilin repeated, "When did you go?"

"I've been there for several years."

"Why are you going?"

She said the pay was higher over there and she wanted to try her luck.

Why didn't you come along?

Luo Zhenbang lowered his head. "I have work here, I can't leave."

"Did she go alone?"

"With a friend."

"What friend?"

"I don't know, I don't recognize him."

Wu Feilin stared at him. "Then why did you call the police and say your wife was missing?"

Luo Zhenbang raised his head, a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth, "Officer, if your wife ran off with someone else, you'd be just like me."

These words were perfectly worded, even carrying a hint of sarcasm, intended to provoke Wu Feilin's anger through verbal provocation.

Gu Huai thought to himself, either this person is truly innocent, or he has already memorized his lines.

However, Wu Feilin was not fooled.

"Do you know that not long after your wife went missing, there were several murders in Guangzhou?" Wu Feilin suddenly changed the subject.

Luo Zhenbang paused for a moment, then shook his head. "I don't know. I don't usually watch the news."

"Don't you watch the news?" Wu Feilin laughed. "You drive a taxi, picking up passengers every day, don't you listen to their conversations?"

"I don't listen," Luo Zhenbang said. "When I'm driving, I only listen to the radio, only music."

It was watertight again.

Wu Feilin asked a few more questions, and Luo Zhenbang's answers were either "I don't know" or "I don't remember".

After asking around, I still couldn't get anything out of them.

Wu Feilin stood up and walked out of the interrogation room.

Gu Huai followed him out.

In the corridor, Wu Feilin lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and said, "This guy is not easy to deal with."

Everyone present nodded.

They're not just difficult to deal with, they're practically an impenetrable wall.

"Time is running out." Wu Feilin glanced at his watch. "Twenty hours left."

According to regulations, the maximum duration of a summons is 24 hours.

Four hours have passed now, and there isn't much time left.

If we still can't get evidence by then, we'll have no choice but to release them.

"Old Jiang, you continue asking him later. You must find out where his wife is."

Although the police have regulations prohibiting the use of torture on criminal suspects, they only state that violence is prohibited.

The police station does have some methods to deal with this.

The most common method is the use of interrogation by wheel, which involves long, mechanical, repetitive questioning, with only a few key questions repeated throughout.

This method is used to break through the psychological defenses of criminal suspects.

"Understood." Jiang Cheng nodded and turned to walk towards the interrogation room.

"Captain Wu, let me give it a try," Gu Huai said.

Wu Feilin looked up at him, scrutinizing him. "Are you confident?"

"No," Gu Huai said honestly, "but I want to try."

"Nonsense!" Wu Feilin muttered. He originally wanted to refuse outright, but after a moment's thought, he changed his mind.

He nodded. "Go ahead, I'll keep an eye on things from next door."

Although he had always had some reservations about Gu Huai, Luo Zhenbang's answer just now gave him a new understanding of Gu Huai.

He was now eager to see what new tricks Gu Huai, that rascal, could come up with.

Thinking of this, he instructed Jiang Cheng, "Go in and keep an eye on him. If he says anything out of line, interrupt him."

"clear."

Gu Huai re-entered the interrogation room.

He didn't sit in Wu Feilin's seat, but instead moved a chair and sat next to Luo Zhenbang.

This position made Luo Zhenbang feel a little uncomfortable, and he shifted his body slightly to the other side.

Gu Huai noticed this detail.

"Master Luo," Gu Huai began, his tone casual, "Are you tired from driving?"

Luo Zhenbang glanced at him but didn't say anything.

"I heard that working the night shift is especially tiring, with your days and nights reversed, and it makes you age faster."

Still not speaking.

"You've been working the night shift for several years now, haven't you?" Gu Huai said to himself. "Running around on the streets every night, you must see a lot of things, right?"

Luo Zhenbang's eyes flickered.

Gu Huai noticed this change and continued, "I have a friend who also drives a taxi. He said that strange things are most likely to happen when picking up passengers at night. There are all kinds of people: drunk, fighting, crying, laughing."

"Your friend is lucky," Luo Zhenbang finally chimed in. "I mostly encounter normal people."

"Really?" Gu Huai smiled. "Then you're even luckier. But I was thinking, since you're on the road every night, wouldn't it be even more troublesome if it rained?"

Luo Zhenbang's hand twitched slightly.

Gu Huai continued, "The roads are slippery and visibility is poor on rainy days, making it especially easy to have an accident while driving. I've heard that some drivers don't drive on rainy days. What about you?"

Gu Huai asked this question on purpose. The driving records can be checked at any time. If Luo Zhenbang dares to lie about this, he will fall right into his trap.

However, to his disappointment, Luo Zhenbang simply nodded calmly, "I'll go as usual."

"You're really bold," Gu Huai said. "But it's good that it's raining; there are fewer people on the streets, so it's not easy to get caught if you want to do something."

Luo Zhenbang's body tensed up.

Gu Huai knew he had hit the nail on the head.

"Master Luo, when was the last time you saw each other before your wife went to Hong Kong?"

Luo Zhenbang was silent for a few seconds, then said, "I don't remember."

"Don't you remember?" Gu Huai repeated, "You don't even remember the last time you saw your own wife?"

"I said I don't remember, and that's final."

"And what was the last thing you said to each other?" Gu Huai asked with a smile. "I heard you caught your wife cheating on you. You must have been very angry."

Luo Zhenbang's breathing became noticeably rapid. "What do you mean, 'cheating'? What exactly are you trying to say?"

Gu Huai did not answer directly, but instead took out a photo from his pocket and pushed it in front of Luo Zhenbang.

The photo shows Zhang Zhenhua's body; his face has been blurred.

"You know this person, right?"

Luo Zhenbang glanced at it and shook his head. "I don't recognize it."

"He's your shift driver; you two drive the same car, how could you not recognize him?"

Luo Zhenbang opened his mouth, but didn't say anything.

"Zhang Zhenhua is dead, and he died a horrible death." Gu Huai stared into his eyes. "As his partner, don't you want to know how he died?"

"It has nothing to do with me."

"I didn't say it had anything to do with you," Gu Huai laughed. "I'm just curious, having partnered with him for so long, has he offended anyone?"

"I don't know, we're just classmates, we don't have much of a relationship."

"And what about yourself?" Gu Huai suddenly asked, "Have you offended anyone?"

Luo Zhenbang was stunned.

Gu Huai stood up and looked down at him.

"Master Luo, I'm not interrogating you right now, I'm helping you. If you know anything, tell me. It will benefit both us and yourself."

Luo Zhenbang lowered his head and remained silent for a long time.

The clock on the wall ticked away, time ticking by second.

Finally, he raised his head and looked at Gu Huai.

"I don't know anything."

Gu Huai was not disappointed.

He knew that this psychological battle had only just begun.

"Alright, I've asked enough questions." Gu Huai got up, walked to the interrogation table, picked up the transcript, and said, "Take a look at the contents. If there are no problems, sign your name here."

Luo Zhenbang took the notebook, glanced at it, and then picked up a pen to sign it.

Seeing the right hand holding the pen, Gu Huai suddenly interjected, "Why doesn't Master Luo use his left hand?"

Gu Huai said this in an attempt to further break down Luo Zhenbang's psychological defenses, to tell him that he had already grasped some facts and that he should stop resisting.

Upon hearing this, Luo Zhenbang's hand holding the pen trembled slightly, and he forced a smile. "I've always written with my right hand. I can't write with my left. If you want to see me write with my left hand, officer, I can show you."

As he spoke, Luo Zhenbang placed the pen on his left hand.

Upon hearing this, even Jiang Cheng, who had been sitting in deep meditation, raised his head and stared intently at Luo Zhenbang.

However, a hint of disappointment flashed across Gu Huai's face after hearing these words.

A person like Luo Zhenbang, who dares to use his left hand, must have something to rely on.

Sure enough, Luo Zhenbang calmly wrote his name in a crooked hand with his left hand and handed it to Gu Huai.

After leaving the interrogation room, Wu Feilin leaned against the wall and smoked.

"How is it?"

"Not very good." Gu Huai shook his head and handed the notebook to Wu Feilin. "He signed this with his left hand."

"Is that so?" Wu Feilin flicked his cigarette ash and picked up the notebook to look through it.

The three characters "Luo Zhenbang" on the screen were crooked and illegible.

"Luo Zhenbang must have practiced this specifically," Gu Huai said. "I observed him from the sidelines, and the strokes of his characters are scrambled."

Wu Feilin turned to look at Jiang Cheng, "Old Jiang, can this be compared?"

"It's uncertain." Jiang Cheng lit a cigarette. "Xiao Gu is right. Luo Zhenbang must have practiced it specifically. Besides, the sample size is too small now. Even if a match is found, it would be far-fetched and insufficient as evidence."

The atmosphere outside the interrogation room immediately turned cold upon hearing this.

"At least it shows he has something to hide," Gu Huai said. "A normal person wouldn't practice something like this."

Wu Feilin frowned and nodded slowly. Although he didn't want to admit it, he knew in his heart that Gu Huai was right.

Gu Huai then added, "Next, we need to find out where Li Xiumei is."

"How can we investigate? The person has been missing for three years."

Gu Huai thought for a moment, "Let's go to her hometown, find her younger brother, and also find the people she met after coming to Shenzhen. As long as we can prove that Li Xiumei didn't go to Hong Kong, her lies will fall apart!"

"This is a lot of work."

"It's better than just wasting time here."

Wu Feilin pondered for a moment, then nodded. "Okay, I'll have someone take care of it."

Gu Huai turned around and glanced at the door of the interrogation room.

Behind the glass window, Luo Zhenbang sat in a chair, head down, motionless.

Like a sculpture.

Gu Huai knew that the sculptor wouldn't be nervous or have trembling hands.