Stuck in a Chinese novel - Chapter 71

Chapter 71: Revelation
Extra chapter 4

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Chapter 71

The trial began with an absentminded judge who couldn’t do anything but space out every now and then. Wei Jun couldn’t stop smiling seeing the fat man in despair, knowing he had been caught in a net like a fat slimy creature and all he could do was nothing because his physique didn’t allow any resistance.

The same was the case for Judge Yong, only instead of his physique, it was his deeds keeping him trapped. There was no ray of hope left. It was the cliff and well situation and even then, the well had spikes laid at its bottom that were submerged in boiling magma.

“The defense calls out the next witness, Chief Tao of the police to the stand.” Xiang Fan announced but he received no response from Judge Yong. “Ahem! Judge.” Xiang Fan called him out which made Judge Yong snap out of it and the first word he said was, “Sustained!”

Wei Jun had to suppress his laughter at the odd sound made by Judge Yong while the rest of the courtroom was stunned and not sure how to react to that. They certainly couldn’t make fun of the judge so all they could was just sit there awkwardly. As for Judge Yong, he realized his mistake and his face went red from embarrassment which was more on the creepy side than funny which made many people’s stomach churn at the sight.

“Call… Call your witness.” Judge Yong said with embarrassment which still wasn’t funny. Xiang Fan didn’t let go of this opportunity and called for the witness once again. Chief Tao made his way to the stand and took the seat while he gave Wei Jun a nasty stare that was only returned with a smile.

“Please state your name and credentials for the jury.” Xiang Fan began professionally so Chief Tao had no choice but to remain professional. “My name is Zhuang Tao. I am the chief superintendent of Yuan Yin police department.”

“I see. Would you mind repeating to the court the charges against my client?” Xiang Fan asked.

Chief Tao nodded and began, “The defendant is charged with fourteen first and third-degree murders. There is concrete evidence tying the defendant to the scene.”

Xiang Fan nodded and asked, “When was the first murder committed?”

“On the fifteenth of last month.” Chief Tao replied.

“And the others?” Xiang Fan asked.

“A few days after that, on the afternoon of the nineteenth.” Chief Tao once again replied.

“So the first murder occurred about three weeks ago. Mind telling us why the arrest was made so much later if the police had concrete evidence?” Xiang Fan asked.

“It’s because one of the detectives went astray and received bribes from the defendant and tampered with the evidence.” Chief Tao explained.

“I see.” Xiang Fan then went and picked up a paper sheet, presented it to the D.A. and the judge, and said, “This is the statistics of the current detective on the case. Are you aware that the said detective has been investigated for bribery and evidence tampering on fifteen different occasions? Why was his testimony so much valued than a detective who is under the suspicion of bribery?”

Chief Tao couldn’t deny the irrefutable evidence in front of him because he had allowed the investigations of the internal affairs himself. Still, he couldn’t admit that he assigned a corrupt cop on the case and replied, “None of these allegations were proved.”

“Oh, but they were proved.” Xiang Fan replied and procured another stack of papers. One went to the D.A., one to the judge, and the last one to Chief Tao.

“Please read the statement on the papers that follows the judgment of the internal affairs.” Xiang Fan requested.

“Objection! Irrelevant! The defense should have raised such question to the detective on the case.” Ho Son objected to which Xiang Fan simply argued, “Well, he wasn’t the one to assign himself, was he? I am simply asking the chief of police, why was a corrupt cop under fifteen allegations proved was assigned to the case?”

The move of the People was to use the fact that Zhao Hui accepted bribes to handle the case. If the fact was raised that the detective they assigned was also under investigation for corruption and some cases already proven, they would lose footing in that department.

“Uh… That… I wasn’t aware of this fact.” Chief Tao replied.

Xiang fan smiled and asked, “And now that you are aware of the situation, would you admit that you find this investigation doubtful?” Xiang Fan could have easily pointed out that it was Chief Tao who approved the investigation in the first place so there was no way he could have been unaware of this fact but that was not the direction Wei Jun wanted to go so Xiang Fan kept the direction according to Wei Jun’s wishes.

“This still does not deny the irrefutable evidence against your client.” Chief Tao argued.

“And you don’t think that the evidence could have been planted by the lead detective as he had done many times before like my client claims?” Xiang Fan asked.

“That’s not possible.” Chief Tao replied.

“Why not?” Xiang Fan asked.

“Because I personally verified the evidence and there were no signs of tampering.” Chief Tao explained.

“I’m not saying the evidence was tampered with, I’m saying it was planted.” Xiang Fan corrected the misunderstanding. Ho Son kept objecting in the background but Xiang Fan wasn’t giving him a chance to give any logical reason for his objection.

“No. There were no signs of plantation. I am sure of that.” Chief Tao verified.

“Wouldn’t that mean that you are clearly involved in this case?” Xiang Fan asked.

“I am the chief of police.” Chief Tao argued.

Xiang Fan smiled and said, “Then you must be an awfully biased one because, in the last two years, you haven’t been involved in a single case.”

“Objection! Badgering!” Ho Son objected for the umpteenth time but the judge was barely responsive to anything that was happening.

“I see no agreement from the judge in your case so I will be presenting my next set of evidence.” Xiang Fan said.

He then moved to his desk, procured a few documents, and gave them to the D.A. and the judge as well. He gave one copy to Chief Tao and said, “Mind telling the jury your annual income?”

Before anyone could check the documents, Xiang Fan’s question was suddenly presented so Chief Tao chose to reply first, “About 382,000 yuan.”

“And now please look at the document I have given you. It states that your wife received a million yuan ten times making it ten million yuan in the last three weeks. Am I the only one who sees a pattern here?” Xiang Fan asked.

“OBJECTION! IRRELEVANCE!” Ho Son was practically yelling at the top of his lungs now but he received no reply from the judge who seemed to have been lost in a world of his own.

“I will take that as overruled. Please answer the question, Chief Tao.” Xiang Fan pushed harder because he was very close.

Chief Tao had an answer prepared to that so he replied, “She received an inheritance from her father.” Since it was reported in such a way on bank statements, it was the truth.

Xiang Fan smiled and said, “Then your wife must be related to the Tian family because that’s where the trail of money leads to.”

“Pardon?” Chief Tao couldn’t help but ask.

“If you would please check the next pages of the bank statements, you would understand that the money was transferred through thirteen different accounts, which by the way is impossible in the case of an inheritance, and all of the accounts lead back to the account of a one Yao Tian. I have the bank’s affidavit to corroborate with my statement.” Xiang Fan elaborated, leaving everyone on the other side speechless.

“I… this… maybe…” Chief Tao couldn’t answer. He knew he was trapped but he saw no way out of it. Even Ho Son couldn’t do anything now that such extensive research was shown.

“Chief Tao, I will ask you again, despite all of the signs showing your involvement, did you or did you not have anything to do with the evidence implantation against my client?” Xiang Fan asked once Chief Tao was thoroughly backed into a corner.

Ho Son objected once again only to receive an ‘Overruled’ from the Judge who was still high on the clouds and discovering the mistakes of his life.

“No. I am not involved.” Chief Tao said with determination.

“I see. Please just to be sure, are you absolutely certain?” Xiang Fan once again asked just to be sure of the statement given by Chief Tao.

“Yes. I am sure.” Chief Tao replied with determination. That was the only option he currently had. He knew the defense had no evidence of his involvement because all of the planning was made with personal meetings and it was made sure there were no leaks of the conversations.

“I see.” Xiang Fan replied before he moved to obtain a USB once again that replayed the bad memories from yesterday in the concerned parties’ minds. “Your honor, the defense would like to submit defense exhibit E.”

“There is no such evidence in discovery and the people deny the submission of any undiscovered evidence.” Ho Son vehemently disagreed with the evidence but the cameras in the court began flashing nonstop because all of the reporters seemed to have received something just then.

“Well, it doesn’t matter if we show it here or not.” Xiang Fan said but plugged the USB himself. Ho Son once again argued but Xiang Fan didn’t listen. As the video began to play, three people in the video were shown to be chatting and laughing over drinks. The people in question were none other than Judge Yon, Chief Tao who slumped in his seat when he saw the video, and the last but not least, Yao Tian.