The breeze blew in from the shattered glass window, lifting and swaying the curtains.
Minamoto Tamako dashed over and looked down, just in time to see Fushimi Roku grabbing onto the air conditioning unit, swinging down, smashing the window on the next floor, and slipping into the seventh floor.
She wanted to lead people in pursuit, but was blocked by the police at the door, so she hurriedly hid the gun, planning to play the role of a good girl to evade suspicion.
Unfortunately, once a shooting occurs and someone dies, the police no longer treat it as a joke. They immediately secure the scene and ask the first question: ’Who fired the gun?’
Everyone turned their gaze to Minamoto Tamako. This time, she had no way to escape and had to surrender the imitation 94 pistol honestly.
The police dispatched a team to chase Fushimi Roku downstairs, and contacted the traffic police to set up control. However, because Fushimi Roku was the master of the dream and carried an aura of low intelligence due to certain professionals — specifically the police — their intelligence would drop to that of a three-year-old child upon approaching him, allowing for his unsurprising escape from the scene.
On the other hand, Minamoto Tamako and the others, along with Brother Sun’s underlings, were all arrested and taken into custody.
Minamoto Tamako was a minor, so the interrogation for her was relatively lenient. The police uncle mainly asked her ’where did the gun come from’ and ’who directed this matter’... Ma Xiang and Yi Zetao both confessed there was a mysterious boss behind Minamoto Tamako.
But others were not so lucky, especially Brother Sun’s underlings. The police arrested them all and brought them into the interrogation room. The underlings had coordinated their statements beforehand, unanimously saying they didn’t kill anyone or provoke; they were just acting in self-defense.
No matter how the police tried to induce confessions or persuade them, they stood firm, insisting they did not kill anyone, and the existing evidence could prove they were innocent—having committed a lifetime of bad deeds, this time being wrongfully accused gave them the confidence to speak firmly.
But as Lawyer Zhou said earlier, with so many charges, there’s always something that fits.
The prosecutor didn’t charge them with murder or injury but instead planned to charge them with gathering for gambling, endangering public safety, and causing a major accident... altogether the sentence was roughly equivalent to that for intentional murder or injury. ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ novel·fıre·net
As for Yi Zetao and Ma Xiang, the two smuggled firearms, one being the mastermind and the other an accomplice, with one of them having fired a gun. Originally, they were destined for long sentences, but fortunately, they reported to the police proactively, effectively surrendering, showing a sincere attitude in admitting their mistakes and cooperating in the investigation, which might reduce their sentences significantly.
Minamoto Tamako was not so lucky. Despite general beliefs that juvenile offenders are not sentenced domestically, this is not entirely true.
According to Article 17 of the Criminal Law, the age of criminal responsibility for minors is divided into three stages: under 12 years old, they bear no criminal responsibility but need to be ordered to receive parental guidance or sent to a specialized correctional educational institution.
There are many special schools domestically dedicated to receiving minors with various issues, akin to overseas juvenile detention centers or reform institutions. Such schools had once been demonized, yet they continue to exist, and there remains a need for them.
Over twelve years old, specifically twelve to fourteen, they bear criminal responsibility for specific violent crimes such as intentional murder and injury resulting in death; the Supreme Procuratorate needs to approve prosecution; fourteen to sixteen, they bear criminal responsibility for eight types of serious crimes such as robbery and murder; over sixteen, they bear complete criminal responsibility but should receive lighter or reduced punishment.
That night, after completing the records, the police contacted Minamoto Tamako’s ’mother’. The latter rushed to the detention center, in tears, asking her daughter through the glass window why she did such a thing.
Minamoto Tamako experienced the feeling of a criminal being caught; the taste was very unpleasant, and she kept her head down the entire time, picking at her fingernails, feeling both anxious and guilty, wishing she could rip out her hair in frustration, or confess frankly that ’this is just a dream, I’m not really your daughter’...
Fortunately, she held back, did nothing, and simply faced the pointing fingers in silence.
Indeed, she committed wrongdoing, not only possessing a gun illegally but also injuring two people, deserving legal punishment, even if it was just in a dream.
After seeing her daughter, the mother went to arrange for a lawyer, trying to find a way to get her daughter out. Before the trial, Minamoto Tamako had to temporarily stay in the detention center as she was a minor, and a girl, so the bureau provided special care, keeping her in a separate cell, considered a deluxe room.
Minamoto Tamako lay on the bed, feeling that every moment was particularly unbearable.
Where did things go wrong?
Clearly she was preparing to have Fujimura-kun arrested and sent to prison, how did she end up in detention herself?
Minamoto Tamako tossed and turned, sleepless, sometimes wondering if her cheap mother was a real person in reality, sometimes thinking about what sentence the trial would give her.
In fact, the prosecutor had already communicated with her, saying that if she were willing to confess honestly and disclose the ’mysterious boss’ behind her, the case could be adjudicated as guilty without penalty.
But unfortunately, the mysterious boss was her fabrication, she honestly said the ’mysterious boss’ didn’t exist, but the criminal police and prosecutors didn’t believe it, threatening to send her to a correctional center. Still, there was nothing she could do, since nonexistent meant nonexistent, she couldn’t fabricate testimonies or falsely accuse others.
Sigh, hoping this dream ends soon...
This nightmare seemed never-ending, Minamoto Tamako felt somewhat emotional, imagining herself in prison garb and filing a portrait, just like in the movies, holding a nameplate, facing the camera lights, with a face devoid of hope.