eurekapd Chapter 290 The Era of Joint Defense Team
Chapter 290 The Era of Joint Defense Team
"who are they"
Mr. Zhang's face was filled with anger. "Those people from the joint defense team are Chen Dali, the one who just vandalized my shop. His brother is the head of the police station."
Qi Tongwei had witnessed firsthand the power of the joint defense teams in eastern Guangdong in the 1990s; they were nothing but bandits.
In his previous life, he had never witnessed this; he had only heard his cousins and uncles say that when the joint defense team came to check temporary residence permits, they could only run up the mountain and hide in the cemetery.
What conflict does Zhang Jian have with the Chen brothers, Daji and Dali?
Mr. Zhang was furious. "The shops on Laodong Street have to pay protection money to Chen Dali every month. About two years ago, my wife fell ill and forgot to pay him. Chen Dali came to our door and beat me up. My son couldn't stand it and fought back."
“My son is skinny and no match for Chen Dali. He was not only badly beaten, but when the police came, they accused him of intentionally injuring someone and arrested him. He was detained for three months, and I spent 10,000 yuan to get him out.”
"After that, I had to pay 30% more protection money than other shops every month. I had no choice; I couldn't fight them. They had the police station backing them up, so I had to put up with it."
"Later, my son met a girlfriend from another city. They had a great relationship and got married in less than six months. My daughter-in-law is very hardworking, and my husband and I are very happy and looking forward to holding our grandson."
"About a year ago, my daughter-in-law was arrested by the joint defense team while buying groceries at the market. They said she didn't have a temporary residence permit, so my son quickly took our marriage certificate to pick her up."
At this point, Mr. Zhang choked up and couldn't help but wipe away his tears.
"Later, I don't know what happened, but I saw my daughter-in-law at the hospital. She had miscarried. She was terrified. I asked my son, but he wouldn't say anything. Three days later, my daughter-in-law jumped off the hospital building and committed suicide."
"After my daughter-in-law died, our whole family was heartbroken. My son still didn't say anything. After the funeral, the police arrested my son again, saying he intentionally injured someone. My son pleaded guilty in court and was sentenced to six months. My son told me not to worry about anything, saying that everything would be fine once he got out."
Qi Tongwei speculated that Zhang Jian's wife's death was related to the joint defense team, which led him to take such an extreme step.
"Have you heard any rumors or gossip about your daughter-in-law's death?"
Mr. Zhang clenched his fists, his whole body trembling. "Later, rumors spread that that beast Chen Dali raped my daughter-in-law in the joint defense team, and that he put my son in jail just to calm him down."
He raped and killed someone's wife, then locked her up in jail to calm down. Is that even a human thing to do?
Wu Dali was furious. This Chen Dali, relying on his brother being the police station chief, was utterly disregarding human life and deserved to be shot.
Lan Ying felt that this was probably Zhang Jian's motive for murder. His wife and son were dead, so what did right and wrong have to do with him?
Qi Tongwei immediately left the ward and called Chen Shunjun, "Chief Chen, bring Chen Dali back to the provincial department. I need to interrogate him."
"Qi Zhi, what's wrong?"
"Zhang Jian's murder was likely caused by him."
Chen Shunjun said with difficulty, "Chief Qi, you were a bit too rough just now. The doctor recommends that Chen Dali need to be hospitalized for observation for a day."
Damn it, I should have kicked harder and killed that bastard.
Qi Tongwei thought again and decided to investigate first to avoid being accused of sympathizing with the murderer.
"Chief Chen, here's what we'll do: have someone keep a close eye on him secretly. Make sure they don't lose him, as Zhang Jian might come back to kill him."
"Okay, Qi Zhi, I'll arrange it right away."
Qi Tongwei returned to the ward and said, "If Zhang Jian contacts you, I hope you two can persuade him to turn himself in. The tragedy has already happened; even if he is wronged, he should speak out so that more people can know."
"Thank you for listening, officer, but my son committed a capital crime, and I have nothing more to say."
Zhang's father was a reasonable man; the family tragedy is heartbreaking.
There are always some people in this world who see bullying others as a way to show off and demonstrate their ability.
Qi Tongwei took Lan Ying away from the hospital and had Wu Dali lead a group of people to secretly monitor Zhang Jian's parents.
In the car, Lan Ying asked, "Qi Zhi, if what Zhang Jian's father said is true, what do you plan to do?"
If it's true, Qi Tongwei sympathizes with Zhang Jian. He's a man too, and his wife and children were murdered. He'd only be driven to rage and bloodshed. He'd believe the culprit would be the one to blame and the debtor would be the one to punish him. He'd probably just tear Chen Dali to pieces.
"Investigate thoroughly to the end"
Lan Ying knew that it would be difficult to investigate further after the police officer was killed. The joint defense team was essentially an auxiliary police force, and it was best not to air their dirty laundry in public.
If migrant workers from other places knew about this, they would probably set off firecrackers to celebrate. In short, they have suffered under the joint defense team for too long.
Back at the provincial department, Qi Tongwei told Li Jitao about his guess.
Li Jitao's face was grave. If this was true, the only option was to act quickly, arrest Zhang Jian, try him, and execute him as soon as possible to minimize the impact of the incident. They could then thoroughly investigate the joint defense team's violations of discipline and law after some time had passed.
"I know what you're up to, but the priority is to catch Zhang Jian as soon as possible. Don't worry about anything else for now, understand?"
Qi Tongwei understood, of course, that if the public found out about this, it would likely trigger a wave of negative public opinion.
"Yes, sir, I wouldn't dare to make baseless accusations without solid evidence."
Li Jitao sighed, "Stop pretending, kid. Don't be stubborn at a time like this. You must prioritize the bigger picture."
The bigger picture, the bigger picture! Aren't the lives of ordinary people also lives?
"Yes, sir, how could I possibly dare to offend the entire city's police force?"
"Good thing you know that."
Li Jitao waved his hand, "Go get busy."
Qi Tongwei returned to his office and began to think. Zhang Jian's lone wolf style of killing was very difficult to catch in this era without surveillance.
Before killing, he must have carefully considered the matter. What was Zhang Jian's purpose in killing the police officer? To attract the police's attention and investigate the joint defense team? But that was beyond his control, so it would have been better to just kill Chen Dali directly.
Lan Ying hurriedly pushed open the door and came in, "Chief Qi, some people have reported that Zhang Jian has been spotted in Dongshan."
"I'll contact the armed police. You contact Wu Dali and have him check with Zhang Jian's parents to find out where Zhang Jian's wife is buried."
"Yes, Qizhi."
Qi Tongwei immediately called Zhan Ying, the captain of the armed police, and ordered him to lead a search party to Dongshan. He had a feeling that Zhang Jian probably had some other plan.
A moment later, Lan Ying rushed in, "Qi Zhi, Zhang Jian's wife is buried in the cemetery in Dongshan."
"Without further ado, let's go to Dongshan immediately."
Qi Tongwei drove to Dongshan, where thousands of armed police officers arrived one after another. He spread out a map of Dongshan and said, "Team leader, have your men immediately block off all these intersections."
"Yes, Qizhi."
Immediately, the armed police rushed forward, fully armed and imposing.
Qi Tongwei handed the map to Chen Shunjun, saying, "Chief Chen, you stay at the foot of the mountain and direct operations. I'll take some men to the cemetery first."
"Qi Zhi, let me go. You take command."
"Chief Chen, I'm good at arresting people, but you're more experienced in command. Let's not argue, just follow orders."
"Yes, Qizhi."
Lan Ying led the way, and she asked Wu Dali to ask Zhang Jian's parents about the approximate location of their daughter-in-law's tombstone.
At Qi Tongwei's command, a group of police officers rushed into the cemetery and began searching row by row.
A moment later, a policeman shouted:
"Qi Zhi, we found it, and the murder weapon too!"