Are You Crazy? He’s only an Intern Lawyer?
Chapter 563 - 556: A Question Answered by a Question? The Murderer is Dead

Chapter 563: Chapter 556: A Question Answered by a Question? The Murderer is Dead

Longdu Investigation Department.

Major Case Team, interrogation room.

Zhang Wei sat beside Guan Ping, both temporarily silent.

In front of them were two stern-looking Investigation Department officers.

One of them took out a stack of photos, placing them one by one in front of Zhang Wei and Guan Ping.

"Do you recognize this man?"

The questioner tapped a finger, pointing to the first photo as he asked.

In the photo was a foreign man with letter tattoos on his face, silver hair, and a very skinny build.

"Is this the victim?" Zhang Wei quickly asked.

"Now it’s us who are asking questions. Didn’t your teacher ever teach you not to answer a question with another question?"

The questioner’s partner quickly interjected, emphasizing the point.

Guan Ping hurriedly turned his head to look at Zhang Wei.

"You can answer, but base it on the actual situation. Do you really recognize this person or not? Of course, if you don’t want to answer that’s also fine; they can’t force you to do anything!"

Hearing what Zhang Wei had said, Guan Ping shook his head: "I don’t recognize this person!"

"You’re sure you don’t recognize him?" The questioner narrowed his eyes, obviously skeptical.

"Officer, you don’t have a hearing problem, do you?"

"What do you mean by that!"

"Just the literal meaning."

Facing the somewhat hostile officer, Zhang Wei simply smiled and responded in kind.

The officer asked with a confrontational tone, "What does my hearing have to do with you!"

"Then I find it strange. My client, Mr. Guan Ping, clearly answered your question with ’I do not recognize this person.’ Yet, you seem as if you haven’t heard this response at all. Therefore, I merely raised this question given the current situation—is there a problem with your hearing?"

"You..."

The questioner was about to explode with rage but was immediately held back by his partner.

"Don’t fall for this kid’s trap; he’s trying to provoke you!" his partner leaned in, quickly offering a word of consolation.

Calming down a bit, the questioner nonetheless looked toward Zhang Wei with an ever more unfriendly gaze.

Zhang Wei, on the other hand, was quite familiar with such expressions, but in the eyes of the two officers, it was exceptionally punch-worthy.

The questioner, left with no choice, moved the first photo aside and pointed to the second.

In the photo was the victim and Guan Ping, both appearing in a convenience store, captured by what seemed to be the store’s surveillance camera.

"You say you don’t recognize him, so why does it look like you’re following him?"

"I..." Guan Ping was at a loss on how to respond to this question.

But Zhang Wei waved his hand and pointed to the photo as well: "Officers, I’d like to ask, do you shop at the supermarket on weekends?"

The two exchanged puzzled looks, not understanding why this young lawyer was again answering a question with a question.

"What does our shopping on weekends have to do with this case?"

"Does it have anything to do with anyone?"

Zhang Wei spread his hands with a smile and gestured towards the photo, "Look, my client is in the supermarket, pushing a shopping cart, and the victim is also in the supermarket, holding a bag."

"So what?"

"Doesn’t that just mean that the two of them happened to enter the same supermarket at the same time, driven by the same thought, that is to shop? As I see it, could they only be described as having a chance encounter?"

"Right, a chance encounter!" Guan Ping quickly chimed in agreement.

The two officers frowned as they looked at each other.

The questioner took away the supermarket surveillance photo and replaced it with a street scene snapshot.

In the photo, the victim was in a close-up shot while Guan Ping appeared in the distance.

"What about this one then, also a coincidence?"

"Wait a minute!"

Zhang Wei ignored the fierce looks of the two officers and turned his head to Guan Ping.

"Although I trust that the two officers have already thoroughly investigated your background, you might as well tell us directly. Where do you currently live?"

Guan Ping pointed to the picture and said, "I rent an apartment in building number 14 on this street, on the 4th floor."

"And the deceased, do you know where he lived?"

"He seemed to live in building number 18, on the 4th floor diagonally across from where I live."

"Oh~~~"

Zhang Wei exaggerated his surprise and then looked at the two officers, "There you have it, they both needed to go home anyway, conveniently on the same route!"

"You see, the deceased was headed home, right? My client was also going home. It just so happened that the street surveillance camera captured them, one after another, each heading to their own homes."

The two officers looked at each other, obviously unable to accept this answer.

Unfortunately, they also had no grounds for rebuttal.

However, one officer still looked at Guan Ping: "If you don’t know the deceased, how could you know his exact address?"

"Officer, you’re killing me here, don’t tell me you don’t even know your own neighbors. Aren’t you familiar with the grandpas and grandmas on the first floor of your community? If you lived somewhere for a while, you should at least recognize the folks next door, right?"

"But the deceased hardly ever went out!"

"This street is only 20 meters wide. Maybe my client saw the deceased while he was standing at the window sunbathing?"

Zhang Wei pointed to the street view in the picture and sneered, "This is a commercial and residential building along the street. Finding a spot to hang laundry or sunbathe isn’t easy. Besides, the deceased was a foreigner. If you saw a blonde and blue-eyed beauty on the street, wouldn’t you take a second look?"

"My client happened to notice the deceased coming out to hang laundry or sunbathe occasionally and gave it some attention. There’s nothing unusual about that, is there?"

Zhang Wei’s far-fetched explanation left the officers without any flaws to pick on.

Heaven knows whether the deceased would hang laundry or sunbathe, and they had no way to verify it.

"So why was he near the deceased’s apartment at the time of death?"

"Officers, my client already said, he lives nearby. Maybe he just thought of taking a walk, and you happened to catch him, right?"

"How dare you, do you think we will believe these unreasonable explanations!"

The questioner finally lost patience and slammed the table.

"Officer, since you’re from the investigation department, you should understand that solving cases requires evidence, a complete chain of evidence that points directly to my client’s crime, not who can shout louder. If that were the case, then Lei Hu, the head of the Dongfang Capital Investigation Department’s Major Case Squad, would be Dragon Country’s number one detective, wouldn’t he? Obviously not!"

Zhang Wei spread his hands and faced the person in front of him, "If you have nothing else, I will take my client and leave. The questions just now are considered voluntary assistance to the investigation department’s work by my client as a law-abiding citizen. But as you know, such assistance isn’t compulsory. If we decide to leave, even the King of Heaven couldn’t keep us here!"

Zhang Wei’s words made the officers feel humiliated.

One of them whirled his eyes and coldly said, "If that’s your answer, then I believe you know what perjury is, right?"

"Bro, stop joking around, okay? Do you even know what ’perjury’ is?"

Hearing the officer mention perjury, Zhang Wei himself laughed.

Wasn’t this his specialty? In the past, in court, he had sent witnesses and the accused to jail using just this trick.

"Ahem, ’perjury’ refers to the act of intentionally giving false testimony, identification, recording, or translation in a criminal proceeding about an incident that has significant relevance to the case, with the intent to either frame someone else or conceal evidence."

After explaining perjury, Zhang Wei looked at the two officers: "Tell me, in your understanding, is this large interrogation room a courtroom?"

"So, where’s the judge, where’s the jury, and where exactly is the judge?"

The expressions on the officers’ faces were becoming uncontrollable; they wanted to hit someone.

But Zhang Wei walked to one side of the interrogation room, where there was a black glass panel.

He knew, however, that it was one-way glass and people on the other side could see everything in the interrogation room while he couldn’t see the people behind the mirror.

"I am Zhang Wei, from Dongfang Capital. I’m not familiar with Longdu’s rules, but one thing I do know is that if you had direct evidence of a crime, you would have arrested my client without hesitation instead of grilling him in an interrogation room for so long."

"Your actions are as if you’re telling me, ’We have no evidence now, but if you slip up in speaking, you might leave us with enough proof to convict you.’

"So, since we’re all old hands at criminal offenses, let’s skip some steps. I’m taking my client and leaving now. I also hope that those behind the mirror could make it easy for us, since we’ll still be seeing each other in court later on, right?"

Having said this, Zhang Wei took out a card, tapped it on the mirror with two fingers.

"This is my business card. It has my contact details. If you have any business with my client, you can contact me. If I find out that you’ve reached out to my client behind my back, whether you claim a coincidental meeting, out for a run, shopping, or any other so-called chance meeting excuse, I’m sorry, but I will directly complain about your actions to the Internal Affairs Department. I believe the officers from the Longdu Internal Affairs Investigation Department will also be more than happy to have a chat with you!"

After dropping the threatening words, Zhang Wei signaled to Guan Ping with a wave, and then the two opened the door of the interrogation room and strode out.

The two officers could only watch as Zhang Wei left, but they were far from ready to erupt, having lost the air of arrogance they had at the start.

"Damn lawyer!"

"The kid looks young, but I didn’t expect him to be so tough!"

One after another, the two officers also left the interrogation room.

As soon as they came out, they saw an impressive group of people coming out of the neighboring surveillance room.

"Oh my god, isn’t that Senior Procuratorate Qin Yangqin!"

"The woman beside him, I remember she’s Prosecutor Zhu Yuansi!"

The two officers were immediately unsettled at the sight of the two leading the group.

These were high-ranking officials from the Longdu District Procuratorate Office—big figures in their circles.

"Don’t be nervous, the two of you, we just came by for a look," Qin Yangqin smiled first, signaling the officers to relax.

Afterward, he looked at the woman beside him, who was Zhu Yuansi.

"Prosecutor Zhu, Zhang Wei will likely be your next opponent. I have to remind you, this kid is quite a handful!"

"I can see that!"

The latter’s mouth curled with a hint of disdain, but her eyes also carried a measure of gravity.

This was her style, to look down upon her opponent tactically but take them seriously strategically.

"Well, I’ve said my piece. After all, I was defeated by this youngster, so the case is now up to you!"

With that, Qin Yangqin left straightaway.

Zhu Yuansi watched Qin Yangqin walk away, then recalled Zhang Wei’s performance in the interrogation room a moment ago.

"You two, what do you think about that Guan Ping?"

"He must know something, otherwise why would he choose to live so close to the victim?"

"It seems this case isn’t a simple murder; what exactly was the victim’s identity?"

One of the officers took out a document and reported, "According to information provided by the organized crime unit, the victim was once a gang member’s outsourced personnel, specifically responsible for handling dirty and shady tasks!"

"Oh, a hired Cleaner?"

Zhu Yuansi was an experienced prosecutor and naturally understood the implications of these words.

"Could it be that there are aspects of this case we’re unaware of, with the victim having such an identity, could it indicate possible revenge?"

"We’re currently investigating the connection between Guan Ping and the victim, but the investigation indicates that there seems to be no connection between them at all."

"No connection?"

Zhu Yuansi looked puzzled.

Guan Ping seemed to recognize the victim, yet why was there no connection between them?

"Continue the investigation of Guan Ping’s affairs. Also, get me the information on Zhang Wei. After all, he might be the defense lawyer in the next round. I need to learn a bit about him!"

"We’ll do our best to assist!"

After Zhu Yuansi finished speaking, she left, and the officers promised to do their utmost.

...

At the same time.

A commercial street in Longdu.

Guan Ping was leading Zhang Wei to his rented place.

Just as they entered the house, Zhang Wei paused slightly before walking over to the window.

"The victim lived in that direction, right?"

"Yes."

"Your rented place has a good view, you can pretty much see everything about the 4-story building opposite."

Guan Ping pursed his lips but said nothing.

"What was the victim’s name?"

"Lin Berte."

"Oh, it seems you really do know each other!"

Zhang Wei said as he pointed to the apartment building across the street and then looked toward Guan Ping, "It must have been your father who asked you to watch him, otherwise you wouldn’t have rented a place specifically in this area."

"How did you figure that out?" Guan Ping looked at Zhang Wei, his face a picture of surprise.

"It’s quite simple. When I entered, I saw the toolbox placed at the door. You must be working part-time as a plumber or electrician. This is the commercial district within Dragon Country’s Third Ring, where the cost of living is too high for a plumber or electrician to afford easily. Not to mention you’re only part-time, and you still need to keep an eye on that guy, which is why you chose this place as a foothold, right?"

"Right, the person you’re monitoring is named Lin Berte. Is he a Cleaner, perhaps? I saw some letter tattoos and ’IX’ style tally marks on his photo, which should be the gang insignia he used to work for and his ’past achievements’, right?"

As Zhang Wei spoke, he had already closed the curtains to prevent people outside from seeing inside the room.

This was also to prevent anyone from afar who might surveil them and possibly read their lips.

Seeing that Zhang Wei had pointed out his own affairs, Guan Ping no longer hid the truth.

"Lawyer, you really are amazing. No wonder my dad said to ask for your help!"

"So, what exactly is Lin Berte’s identity?"

"He’s an assassin, and also the one who framed my dad 12 years ago!"

Guan Ping said, with a look of outrage on his face.

Twelve years ago, his father had not committed murder; the real culprit was Lin Berte.

Unfortunately, all the truth had vanished with the death of the said man.

"Speaking of which, how did he frame your dad 12 years ago? Do you have any leads?"

"I have direct evidence!"

Guan Ping was even more incisive than Zhang Wei had anticipated, directly taking out a toolbox and opening it in front of him.

Inside the toolbox, lay an umbrella.

"An umbrella?"

"No, this is a replica of the murder weapon!"

Guan Ping explained, picking up the umbrella and then opened it in front of Zhang Wei.

After the umbrella was opened, a metal spike around 0.5 meters long extended from the tip of the handle, its sharp point glittering with a cold light, extremely sharp.

But Zhang Wei noticed that the umbrella, or rather the weapon, had not been used. There were no bloodstains on the umbrella fabric, and there were no signs of wear on the surface of the spike; it shone as if new.

"Oh, is this possibly a replica of the weapon used to kill the victim and the baby who was in the victim’s arms at the time?"

"Yes, I replicated it according to Lin Berte’s method!" said Guan Ping, as he closed the umbrella.

Zhang Wei took the umbrella from Guan Ping’s hand, realizing it was quite heavy — clearly, the internal mechanism was substantial.

"This umbrella has a hidden mechanism at the front end. The moment the umbrella is opened, the spike extends and becomes a lethal weapon. The sharp point can easily pierce through a person’s body. Moreover, the umbrella fabric can act as a barrier against the blood after someone has been stabbed, ensuring that the blood doesn’t splatter on oneself. The creativity of this tool is quite remarkable."

Zhang Wei expressed that Lin Berte was indeed talented.

No matter whether it rained or not, nobody would be on guard against someone walking down the street with an umbrella in hand.

But the moment someone opened the umbrella and its tip turned into a deadly weapon, who could have expected that?

"By the way, how did the Investigation Department determine your dad was the ’murderer’?"

Upon hearing Zhang Wei’s question, Guan Ping looked helpless and pointed at the umbrella in Zhang Wei’s hand.

"Because back then, my dad ran a general store, and this umbrella, including all its internals and other parts, were almost all bought from my dad’s store!"

"Oh, I see!"

The inside of the umbrella looked complex with many mechanisms, but in reality, they were assembled from various parts. The main body of the mechanism, being the umbrella, was available for sale in many general stores.

Who would have thought that an umbrella could become a murder weapon?

Similarly, the Nokia 105 was initially popular in the consumer market for its durability, practicality, and good battery life, but extremists preferred to use this model as a detonator for improvised explosive devices.

Probably Nokia never imagined that their product would be popular in such a market.

Now, the problem lying in front of Zhang Wei was that it seemed the real culprit had already met with misfortune.

The person who could prove Old Tie’s — Guan Yuhong’s — innocence was now unable to testify in court.

As for whether he had been cleaned up or killed by an enemy, this was something for the Investigation Department to help verify.