Ma Qiang asked Yue Xiaofang to go out with him.
He summoned another on-duty officer.
It happened to be the same one who drove.
Yue Xiaofang called her driver again, saying she suddenly remembered an important document she forgot to take, and asked the driver to pick her up.
The driver hesitated for a moment, but eventually drove to Zizhu Community.
As soon as the car came to a stop, Ma Qiang and the others got out of the police car by the roadside, knocked on the window signaling the driver to get out.
Yue Xiaofang’s driver was a middle-aged man, nearly fifty, not tall but very stocky.
Seeing this scene, his body trembled, hesitating whether to resist or not.
Yue Xiaofang spoke up at this time, "Old Zhao, I encountered some issues today. The police are here to investigate. I hope we can cooperate."
Old Zhao froze for two seconds, then obediently lowered his head.
The officers checked the car thoroughly, especially inspecting the tires.
"Report, the brake pads haven’t been replaced."
This single sentence seemed to drain Old Zhao’s backbone, as he nearly slumped to the ground, but he continued to force himself, "I’m sorry, Ms. Yue. It’s my fault; I shouldn’t have lied to you. I just wanted to make a little extra money from the car repairs."
Yue Xiaofang calmly exposed him, "But over the phone, you said you’d cover the brake pad costs yourself. If you were really trying to cheat money, wouldn’t you have exaggerated the issue more?"
Old Zhao immediately realized his words were contradictory.
But as Ma Qiang said, someone who lies suddenly will find it hard to keep their story straight.
They can only lie one line at a time.
A thorough investigation will reveal plenty of holes.
"It’s my mistake, I shouldn’t have been lazy. I thought I could rest at home for a while and spend some time with my grandson. I shouldn’t have been so foolish..."
Ma Qiang didn’t bother to listen to his nonsense any longer and directly got the man into the police car.
Back at the police station, the interrogation of the first suspect had come to an end.
The interrogating officer handed the statement to Ma Qiang, "He claims he was just after some money and denies any intention to kidnap Yue Xiaofang. He says he didn’t even know who Yue Xiaofang was, just thought she looked wealthy and planned to rob her."
Ma Qiang, clearly hearing more rubbish, asked, "Then how does he explain why he abandoned Ms. Yue’s bag?"
"He says it was too dark, he couldn’t see clearly, and thought the money was on Ms. Yue herself."
Ma Qiang snorted, "Still being stubborn. I’ll have a word with him later."
The country no longer allows forced confessions.
But as an experienced officer, Ma Qiang knew how to chip away at someone’s psychological defenses step by step.
Eventually getting them to tell the truth.
But that would take time. Ma Qiang had the officers take Yue Xiaofang home first.
"We might need your cooperation again later."
Yue Xiaofang quickly replied, "I should be the one thanking you. If Director Ma hadn’t shown up today, who knows what would have happened."
Receiving the praise, Ma Qiang seemed a bit embarrassed and scratched his head.
"We’re quite familiar now, so you don’t have to call me Director Ma, especially since I’m just a deputy. Just call me Ma Qiang."
Yue Xiaofang smiled too, "Okay, then don’t call me Ms. Yue either, just call me Yue Xiaofang or Xiaofang."
After chatting a bit more, Yue Xiaofang left.
An officer came over, "When did you get to know Director Yue? Impressive."
Ma Qiang had just been transferred to the station as the deputy director recently; how did he get so familiar with Yue Xiaofang?
Ma Qiang was puzzled, "Is Yue Xiaofang famous?"
The officer, clearly a local, answered, "Of course, she’s one of the city’s top taxpayers, a famous businesswoman, and very attractive. She’s a real standout. It’s said she hasn’t settled down yet, and everyone guesses that her standards are too high. People wonder who’ll catch her eye."
For some reason, hearing Yue Xiaofang discussed in such an exaggerated and somewhat flippant tone made Ma Qiang very uncomfortable.
He raised his hand and smacked the officer on the head.
"Get back to work. Stop yapping and do something productive with your time."
The officer held his head, feeling wronged. Didn’t you just ask about her?