Chapter 48: Peeling the Cocoon and Drawing the Silk
The team leader Shen that Zhu Zhiqing mentioned is the head of the telecommunications team in the station, and the two of them usually have a good relationship.
"Do you go there often, or just today?"
Zhu Zhiqing quickly replied, "I go there often. Many people in the station know that I don't like staying in the office. Whenever I have nothing to do, I basically go out."
Chu Lingyun was not clear about his habits, but this was easy to verify.
"Before the incident, did your interrogation team notice anything unusual?"
"No, it's the same as usual. Team Leader Chu, you know that all of us here are prisoners you captured, and many of them have confessed. These people don't need to be strictly guarded. Only Chishima Keiko needs to be guarded at all times. I had made arrangements before, but who could have imagined that they would make such a big mistake and cause such an accident."
When Chu Lingyun asked, Zhu Zhiqing started to complain bitterly, saying that these people had really hurt him today. After this incident was over, he would definitely not want these people anymore.
Even if nothing happens, we must find a way to transfer them all away.
"Zhao Baishan, Liu Cheng, and Gao Yi, how do these three usually perform?"
Chu Lingyun suddenly asked. Zhu Zhiqing was stunned for a moment and quickly replied, "The performance of these three people is OK, it's standard. It's inevitable that there will be some small mistakes in normal times, but this is the first time they have made such a big mistake."
“What little mistakes did they make?”
"For example, Zhao Baishan is a heavy drinker. He once drank too much and didn't show up for work, nearly causing his job to fail. Liu Cheng is a gambler. He almost lost all his salary and even secretly extorted money from prisoners, but the demands were small, and he didn't dare to do anything excessive. At most, he gave the prisoners some good treatment."
As if he had thought of something, Zhu Zhiqing said hurriedly: "But these Japanese spies have never dared to do this. I can guarantee that."
If Liu Cheng dared to accept benefits from the Japanese spy, he would be considered a collaborator with Japan and would lose his head. Moreover, Liu Cheng did this without reporting it, so he would inevitably be held jointly responsible.
"Where is Gao Yi?" Chu Lingyun continued to ask.
"Gao Yi is a lecher. He uses all his salary to support women. Once, he even made advances towards a female prisoner. Fortunately, I discovered it early and stopped him in time. Chishima Keiko is a serious criminal, so I never assigned him to guard her."
Being fond of alcohol, gambling, and lustful are all handles that can be easily used by others. Chu Lingyun has a headache. Why do the people in the interrogation team have so many problems?
But if you think about it, you can understand that in this era, there are not many good people in the upper echelons, so how can we expect the people below to be diligent and conscientious?
"You were with Team Leader Shen. Who informed you that something happened to Chishima Keiko?"
"It seems to be Zhao Baishan. Yes, that's him. He called Team Leader Shen, and I ran back immediately and notified the stationmaster and you."
Zhu Zhiqing recalled for a moment before saying that when he heard his subordinates say that Chishima Keiko had committed suicide, he was almost scared to death and would not pay attention to who called him.
"Okay, thank you for your cooperation. I'll bother you again if I have any other questions."
Chu Lingyun finished his questioning, and Zhu Zhiqing waved his hand hurriedly: "No trouble, no trouble, Team Leader Chu, have you told the stationmaster?"
Finally, Zhu Zhiqing couldn't help but ask Chu Lingyun. His heartbeat had never recovered since the accident and had been beating very fast. In this short period of time, he had experienced what it meant to feel like every day was a year.
"The stationmaster is furious. Do you think this is the right time? Don't worry, once he calms down, given your relationship, he won't take his anger out on you unless it involves you."
"Team Leader Chu, I'm sorry to trouble you with everything. If I can pass this test, I will definitely reward you handsomely in the future."
Zhu Zhiqing was escorted out, looking back every few steps. Chu Lingyun then instructed Shen Hanwen, "Bring Zhao Baishan over here again."
Zhao Baishan was brought into the office again. This place was very familiar to him, but now it made him extremely panicked.
"Zhao Baishan, after Chishima Keiko committed suicide, were you the one who called Team Leader Shen?"
Zhao Baishan nodded hurriedly: "I was the one who hit her. Chishima Keiko died, and it was during my shift, so I had to tell our team leader."
"Chishima Keiko committed suicide. Weren't you nervous at the time? Did you even think of calling to inform them?"
Zhao Baishan's face was filled with bitterness as he shook his head and said, "I was indeed panicking at the time. It was Gao Yi who reminded me to inform the team leader immediately about this matter, so I remembered to make the call."
Chu Lingyun asked again: "When was Chishima Keiko confirmed dead, and when did Gao Yi remind you?"
"After the accident, Liu Cheng called me, and Gao Yi went to the infirmary to call a doctor. When the doctor arrived, he said the patient was already dying. He looked into Chishima Keiko's eyes and quickly declared her dead. I think it was Gao Yi who reminded me after that."
"When did Gao Yi go to the infirmary to call someone?"
"Shortly after we discovered Chishima Keiko had committed suicide, she was bleeding a lot. We were all panicked and didn't know what to do."
Chu Lingyun asked again: "So, he didn't go to the infirmary immediately, but waited for a while before going there?"
"It seems so. It was so chaotic at the time. No one knew what to do. I wish I hadn't answered the call."
Zhao Baishan said this in frustration. Chu Lingyun asked him to go back and called in several other people who were playing cards. He asked them one by one and found out the details of what happened.
Including the people in the medical room and Team Leader Shen, all made inquiries by phone.
Zhu Zhiqing did have the habit of visiting people, not only Team Leader Shen's, but he also often visited other departments. However, he rarely visited Chu Lingyun's. The main reason was that Chu Lingyun was only a team leader before and worked in a large office, so he didn't want to go to crowded places.
After asking these questions, one of Loach's team members came back and brought Zhao Baishan's wife back with him.
"Sir, has something happened in Baishan?"
Zhao Baishan’s wife looked like a housewife. She came from the countryside and looked old. She was very reserved when facing Chu Lingyun.
"No, I'm mainly asking about your child. When was your child hit today? Who hit your child?"
Chu Lingyun smiled and didn't tell her about Zhao Baishan. There was no need to do that. If he told her, she wouldn't understand and would only worry.
"Just this morning, my son was fine at home when the kid next door called him out to play. Who would have thought that just moments after he left, he was hit by a scooter, and the guy even ran away."
When talking about this incident, Zhao Baishan's wife showed anger and shed tears unnaturally. To her, this was simply a disaster from the sky.
"After the child was hit, why did you think of calling Zhao Baishan?"
Chu Lingyun asked again, and Zhao Baishan's wife cried and said, "I didn't think of calling. It was a kind woman on the street who reminded me that I should tell the pillar of the family about this matter. She helped me make the call."