Chapter 1382: Chapter 189: Changhang Bureau’s Auspicious Start
Although there are ferries docking at Binjiang Port Passenger Pier both day and night, the number of ferry trips is quite limited.
Once the travelers heading to East Sea or Jiangcheng board the ferry, and those arriving from East Sea and Jiangcheng disembark, Binjiang Port Passenger Pier becomes desolate, unlike before when there were numerous ferry trips, and the waiting room was filled with passengers from morning till night.
After Xiao Yu finished checking the last traveler, he turned off the computer, stood up, and walked into the duty office.
The previously suspicious "fellow townsman" surprisingly didn’t board the ship but was squatting in the corner of the duty office, head drooping.
Xiao Yu closed the door behind him and asked, "Uncle Xu, what’s going on?"
"The ID card is real, but it’s definitely not his." Old Xu glanced at the ID card placed on the desk, then pointed to the luggage just inspected, "We checked the bag thoroughly, found no contraband, but there is a piece of clothing with bloodstains."
"Let me see."
Xiao Yu walked over, opened the bag, and Old Xu followed, pulling out the bloodstained piece.
It was a short cotton-padded jacket, looking quite new, a style popular with middle-aged and elderly last year. The blood marks were on the right chest, repeatedly washed but not completely cleaned.
An ordinary person might mistakenly think it was just a stain.
But Old Xu was not ordinary; he was an experienced old police officer who had worked at the pier for decades. He turned the jacket inside out, sniffed it, and then pointed to the cotton emerging from the seam gaps, saying, "Notice that, the outside can be washed, but the cotton inside isn’t so easy to clean."
Xiao Yu was skeptical, turned around, and asked, "Be honest, what’s your real name?"
"Li Shuren" remained silent, not even lifting his head.
He wasn’t uncooperative; he was too afraid to cooperate, too afraid to raise his head, hugging his knees tightly, trying desperately not to tremble.
Xiao Yu got angry, yanked him up, and stared him down, shouting, "Do you know what place this is? Do you know what we do?"
"I know."
"If you know, then why aren’t you being honest? What’s your real name, where are you from?"
"Li Shuren" realized he couldn’t dodge anymore and, after hesitating, stammered, "I... I’m Li Shugen, the ID card belongs to my elder brother."
"Why are you using your elder brother’s ID card?"
"I... I haven’t had time to get one at the police station. I couldn’t work without an ID card, so I... I took my brother’s ID card."
"What job are you taking in East Sea?" Xiao Yu stared at him, asking.
Li Shugen trembled even more, anxiously saying, "A laborer."
"Which site are you working as a laborer?"
"At our Four Factory Construction Station site."
"Do you know who I am?"
"Police."
"I mean, do you recognize me!"
"No."
"If you don’t even recognize me, it seems you haven’t been out much."
"No."
"Haven’t been out much but heading to East Sea to work?"
"I have relatives in East Sea; he’s at the Four Factory Construction Station."
Xiao Yu was almost sure there was something wrong with this "fellow townsman," pulled out his phone while coldly asking, "What’s your relative’s surname at the Four Factory Construction Station, what’s their name?"
Li Shugen didn’t expect the tall young officer would ask this and didn’t know how to respond, simply made up a name: "Also Li, family name, called Li Shushan."
"What’s his job at the Four Factory Construction Station?"
"Foreman."
"Foreman at the East Sea construction site of Four Factory Construction Station?"
"Yes."
"Wait here."
Xiao Yu found the number for a project manager at Four Factory Construction Station and directly dialed it, asking once connected, "Captain Qian, this is Liang Xiaoyu from Bailong Port Police Station, inquiring if there’s a foreman named Li Shushan at your construction team’s East Sea site?"
"Director Yu, I don’t think we have a foreman named Li. Could it be someone Old Wang just hired?"
"I don’t have his number; could you help ask around?"
"Sure, wait for my call."
Li Shugen heard everything clearly and even detected the Linghai accent in Xiaoyu’s voice, suddenly becoming so frightened his legs gave out, and he slumped against the wall.
Old Xu immediately picked up the bloodstained jacket, thrust it in front of him, and asked, "Li Shugen, come clean, what’s with this blood?"
"This... this was from slaughtering chickens during the New Year."
Li Shugen really wanted to say it was from slaughtering pigs, but now, even though many rural households raise pigs, very few slaughter them for the New Year; they are sold once grown, as slaughtering oneself is troublesome, and one can’t consume so much meat.
Old Xu knew he was lying, harshly asked, "Do chickens bleed this much, could it splatter this wide? Think I haven’t slaughtered chickens before?"
"With today’s advanced science, whether it’s chicken blood or human blood, one test will tell!"
Xiao Yu once again hauled Li Shushan up, warning, "Listen up, my last name is Liang, Liang Xiaoyu, and I am a local of Bailong Port and the deputy director of Bailong Port Police Station. I not only know several project managers at Four Factory Construction Station but also leaders at Four Factory Police Station and even Linghai Police Bureau. If you keep lying to me, just watch how I’ll deal with you!"
This police officer is actually a local of Bailong Port!
Li Shugen realized he was in deep trouble, could no longer contain himself, and started shaking like a leaf.
Xiao Yu remembered he said the blood on the clothes was from slaughtering chickens during the New Year, then thought about his home in Jiangfeng Village, suddenly considering a possibility, firmly grasped his collar and asked, "Come clean, did you kill the old man keeping watch over the fishing nets at the Jiangfeng Sixth Team sluice?"
Old Xu, who stayed every day at Binjiang Port Passenger Pier and mainly dealt with the Port District Bureau, was unaware of the crime committed, but seized upon the moment, saying, "Li Shugen, you don’t have to confess. The blood-stained clothes are here anyway. I’ll contact Linghai Police Bureau right away, have them test the blood. If the blood type matches, there’s no point in denying!"
