A Sharp Edge Emerges From The Mist Chapter 34

The reversal of the interrogation room

City Bureau, Ninth Interrogation Room.The air here seems to be soaked in the mixed smell of depression, sweat and cheap disinfectant all year round. The walls are a cold light green, and the one-way mirror reflects the pale light, which makes Wang Youcai, who is sitting in the interrogation chair, even more earth-colored and sweaty.

Forty-eight hours had passed since his arrest.After the initial panic, the remaining luck and the slickness developed from years of being immersed in the gray area began to rear its ugly head.Regarding the accusations of “New City Project” embezzling funds, falsifying accounts, and laundering money for “Changhe” and the forces behind it, he avoided the important and neglected the minor, admitted some marginal “operational errors” of small amounts, and shifted all major responsibilities to his “missing” cousin – the actual controller of “Changhe”.Regarding more serious accusations such as instigating forged reporting letters and intending to murder Shen Qingwu, he either flatly denied it or pretended to be dumbfounded, claiming that he was just “messaging” and “forced”.

The interrogation reached an impasse.Conventional interrogation tactics and psychological pressure have limited effect on this veteran.

The person in charge of the interrogation is another experienced veteran criminal policeman from the Criminal Investigation Detachment, surnamed Wu.Lin Jianfeng, as the main investigator and “protective witness liaison” in the early stage of the case, was specially allowed to listen in the observation room next door.

The observation room was dimly lit, with only the interrogation room light coming from the one-way mirror.Lin Jianfeng folded his arms and leaned against the wall, frowning, staring at Wang Youcai’s ever-changing face in the mirror.She knew that Wang Youcai definitely still had some cards in his hand, including direct clues about the more core operating model of “Dark River”, the deeper inside story about the old case of Shen Qingwu’s parents, and even about the black hand within the police.But he won’t spit it out easily. He is watching, waiting, maybe… hoping that his accomplices outside can carry out a rescue, or use the secrets he has as a bargaining chip to save his life.

As time passed, the air in the interrogation room became more and more solemn.Officer Wu’s questioning became more and more sharp, and Wang Youcai’s resistance became more and more stubborn. He even began to bite back, suggesting that the police were “inducing confessions” and “extorting confessions through torture.”

Just when the atmosphere was tense to the extreme, there was a gentle knock on the door of the interrogation room.Officer Wu frowned and motioned to the recorder next to him to open the door.

The door opened a crack, and Shen Qingwu’s figure appeared at the door.She was wearing a simple black suit, with her long hair tied back, no makeup on her face, and her expression was calm and almost cold.She didn’t look at anyone in the interrogation room. She looked directly past Officer Wu and landed on Wang Youcai’s face.

The moment Wang Youcai saw her, his pupils shrank suddenly, and a trace of unconcealable panic flashed across his face, but it was quickly replaced by suppressed anger.”She…why is she here?! This is the interrogation room! What qualifications does she have as a suspect to come in?!” he shouted in a sharp voice, trying to cover up his guilt with his volume.

Officer Wu was also stunned for a moment, looked at Shen Qingwu at the door, and then glanced in the direction of the observation room through the one-way mirror.He received a subtle nod.

“Ms. Shen Qingwu is an important contact and victim in this case. With the approval of her superiors, she can participate in some aspects of the inquiry.” Officer Wu said solemnly, stepped aside and said, “Please come in.”

Shen Qingwu stepped into the interrogation room.Her footsteps were soft but very clear in the silent room.She did not go to the chair prepared for visitors, but walked straight to the interrogation table and stood opposite Wang Youcai.Looking at him condescendingly.

Wang Youcai felt uncomfortable looking at her. He subconsciously wanted to avoid looking at her, but he forced himself to stare back.”Mr. Shen, what kind of song are you singing? Are you here to laugh at me? Or are you trying to ‘persuade’ me? Let me tell you, it’s useless! I don’t know anything!”

Shen Qingwu didn’t speak, just looked at him quietly.That gaze was not like looking at an enemy, but more like looking at… a piece of waste that needed to be disposed of urgently.Cold, alienated, with a kind of indifference that sees everything.

This silent gaze made Wang Youcai feel more pressure than any sharp questioning.The cold sweat on his forehead broke out even more.

“Wang Youcai,” Shen Qingwu finally spoke. His voice was low, but his words were clear, like ice beads hitting the tile floor. “Do you think that the people behind you will save you if you don’t say anything? Or, if you die, it will be all over?”

Wang Youcai’s body froze.

Shen Qingwu took out a photo from a document bag he carried with him, placed it gently on the interrogation table, and pushed it in front of Wang Youcai.

The photo is a bit blurry, like a surveillance screenshot, but it can be clearly seen that in an underground parking lot, Wang Youcai is stuffing a thick envelope into a man wearing a windbreaker with his back to the camera.The timestamp in the corner of the photo is two weeks before Shen Qingwu’s parents’ accident.

“This person is the safety assessment officer you bribed back then, Zhang Mingda, right?” Shen Qingwu’s voice remained steady. “He took your money, issued a false safety assessment report, and laid the first clue to my parents’ project accident. Five years ago, he died of a ‘sudden heart attack.’ A week before his death, his wife’s account received a huge, untraceable remittance from overseas. And the day before the remittance, an equal amount of funds was transferred out of the account of a puppet company under your name.”

Wang Youcai’s face turned pale instantly, his lips trembled, he wanted to say something, but no sound came out.

Shen Qingwu took out a second piece of paper, which was a copy of the bank’s transaction records, with several places circled in red pen.”This is part of your money laundering path through Nolan Consulting (Zhang Hai’s shell company). The money ultimately flows to a VIP account in a casino in Southeast Asia. And one of the holders of this account… is the personal belongings of your ‘missing’ cousin.”It’s interesting, right?You risked your life to make money, and most of it ended up filling your cousin’s bottomless pit.How much did he promise to share with you after it was done?Or are you just a pawn in his hands that can be discarded at any time?”

“You…how do you know this?!” Wang Youcai finally screamed, his voice distorted by fear, “These…these are forgeries! They are fake!”

“If it’s true or false, my colleagues in the Economic Investigation and Technology Section will naturally identify it.” Shen Qingwu remained calm, “I just want to remind you, Wang Youcai, the people behind you have never taken you seriously. You are just a tool they use to make money, block guns, and take the blame when necessary. Ten years ago, they could easily create an ‘accident’ and get rid of my parents; now, do you think they will expose themselves in order to protect you? What they will do is to shut you up forever. Just like they did to Zhang Mingda.”

She paused, leaned forward slightly, and spoke in a lower voice, but with a deadly chill: “Do you think they didn’t try it after you were arrested? The first night you were imprisoned, the monitoring center of the detention center flickered abnormally for a minute. At the same time, the temporary worker who brought you food detected a trace amount of toxin residue in his pocket that was enough to cause nerve paralysis. Do you need me to remind you that that night you were almost sent to the emergency room because of a ‘sudden food allergy’?”

Wang Youcai felt as if he had been struck by lightning. He collapsed on the chair, sweating like rain, and his eyes were filled with despair and great fear.Some of the details Shen Qingwu mentioned were known to him, some he vaguely guessed, and some were completely beyond his expectation.Especially the poisoning incident, he thought it was just a normal physical discomfort at the time, but now that he thought about it, it suddenly made his hair stand on end!

“They… they really…” He was incoherent.

“You are alive now, not because they were merciful, but because the police protected you so well.” Shen Qingwu straightened up and regained that cold calmness, “But can the police protect you for a while? Can they protect you for a lifetime? When your ‘value’ is drained, when they feel that you are a burden…”

She didn’t say any more, but the unfinished words were more terrifying than any threat.

Wang Youcai’s psychological defense completely collapsed under this series of precise and fatal blows.He held his head in his hands, trembling all over, and let out a suppressed sob like a trapped animal.

“I said…I said…” He finally broke down and burst into tears, “It’s my cousin…it’s Dana Liu from ‘Changhe’…and…and…that Li who retired from the city…Director Li…they are in the same group…most of the money from ‘Xincheng’ has been divided by them….The money laundering method… was found with the help of Zhou Tieshan from ‘Iron Shield’… The report letter… Liu Dana asked me to find someone to get it, and he also gave me the materials… It was also his idea to harm Mr. Shen… He said that Mr. Shen’s investigation was too deep, and if we don’t get rid of him, everyone will be dead…”

He spoke intermittently and confusingly, but the names and relationships he revealed were like keys, opening the door to the deeper parts of the “underdark river” network.

Officer Wu and the recorder were refreshed and immediately began to guide him to make a more systematic and detailed confession.

Shen Qingwu quietly stepped aside and watched Wang Youcai reveal everything he knew driven by fear and desire to survive.There was no expression on her face, only a faint, cold relief flashed deep in her eyes.

The first step towards redressing the injustice done to the parents was finally taken.Although Wang Youcai, who has dirty hands, is just a pawn, the name and clues he provides will be the sharpest knife to the real murderer.

In the observation room, Lin Jianfeng had a panoramic view of all this through a one-way mirror.She looked at Shen Qingwu’s cold and firm silhouette, watching her defeat Wang Youcai’s psychological defense in the most fatal way, and complex emotions surged in her heart.

Shen Qingwu’s methods still bear the imprint of her dark past – precise, ruthless, and good at exploiting human weaknesses and fears.This is not entirely consistent with the justice based on evidence and procedures that Lin Jianfeng believes in.

But Lin Jianfeng also knew clearly that without Shen Qingwu’s “interrogation room reversal”, Wang Youcai, an old cunning man, might have been stubbornly resisting for a long time, and people outside might even find an opportunity to silence him.The details revealed by Shen Qingwu about the people behind Wang Youcai’s attempt to silence him (partly facts, and partly her reasonable speculation and exaggeration based on intelligence) completely shattered Wang Youcai’s luck.

Extraordinary times, extraordinary measures.

Perhaps, Shen Qingwu’s “dark wisdom” is the necessary supplement that she lacks when fighting against the intricate and bottomless dark forces of the “Underground River”.

They are a combination of light and shadow.Lin Jianfeng represents order and light, while Shen Qingwu is well versed in the rules and fatalities of the shadows.When they join hands and give full play to their strengths, they can form the most powerful force.

The confessions in the interrogation room continued, and more and more secrets were revealed.

Lin Jianfeng knew that the real storm was about to sweep in as these names and clues were exposed.

And they were already prepared to greet it side by side.