Small Cases, Big Events

After searching the archives for a long time, Su Mo found that it was really not easy to find an unsolved gang crime case.

There were two main reasons for this. First, it is difficult for gang members to commit crimes in perfect coordination, making it very easy to leave clues and loopholes.

Therefore, for almost all gang crimes, the perpetrators could be caught very quickly, as they left too many clues behind.

Second, it is very difficult for gangs to achieve absolute unanimity of interests. They are very likely to fall apart for some reason.

Therefore, gang members usually harbor ulterior motives when committing crimes together. In many cases, even before the police take action, gang members have already started killing each other.

So after failing to find anything in the category of major criminal cases, Su Mo began looking for a suitable case among ordinary ones.

Sure enough, he soon found a fitting case that happened two years ago.

It was a vicious crime in which a 13-year-old girl was raped and murdered. Judging from the crime scene photos, the perpetrator was extremely cruel.

Apart from a few photos of the crime scene, there was nothing else about this case, not even investigation results from the police.

The most interesting thing was that the crime scene in the photos was a complete mess, which was very unreasonable.

In addition, the case file contained no investigation results from the police. Even basic analysis of the case was missing.

The policeman in charge of this case at that time was called Gao Ming. According to the information, Gao Ming was fired for illegally destroying the crime scene. By now, he had long been kicked out of the police force.

After reading this bizarre and confusing case file, Su Mo decided this was the case for him.

When he left the archives, he didn't even look up the case. He just remembered the name Gao Ming.

"I've seen too many case files like this in my past life. It's another example of officials covering up for each other, a reflection of power and influence."

"Good. I only intended to put three or four people on trial, but now, humph, I've changed my mind. I'm going to put a whole group of people on trial."

"Just you wait. This time I won't let you get away with it cleanly. I owe it to that poor little girl."

Su Mo's eyes glinted coldly. From the case file, he already knew what had happened. This kind of thing was very common in his old world. He didn't expect there would still be so many cases here.

There was a huge freight terminal in Xikang North District. Every day countless goods would arrive here, and countless goods would also be shipped out from here.

However, the shipping companies didn't hire many long-term porters. They only used temporary workers. There were many benefits to doing this.

First, it kept costs low. They only paid when it was busy, not when it was slow. And they didn't have to pay insurance or benefits, very cost-effective.

Second, they could replace workers anytime. When a porter's body gave out, they could replace him without hesitation, without worrying about contracts.

So more than half of the workers at this freight terminal were temporary workers. These temporary workers were free when not working. Most of them had criminal records or had been in jail.

At this time, a man who looked to be around 40, rather thin and frail, was carrying two bags of goods outside.

His hair was almost completely bald. He looked very decadent, like a walking corpse.

Being a little careless, as he walked over a threshold, he stumbled and fell, dropping the bags.

Potatoes spilled all over the ground. He hurriedly bent over to pick them up. Soon several colleagues also ran over to help collect the goods.

They worked busily like this until 7pm, when another man came over and called him aside.

"Gao Ming, if I weren't your brother I wouldn't be looking out for you. But the main thing is, this is the several time this month you've damaged goods."

"The foreman told me to tell you not to come in tomorrow."

"Ah, I'm sorry about this..."

As he spoke, the man handed Gao Ming a stack of money. As he left, he patted Gao Ming on the shoulder.

Gao Ming didn't say anything, just silently took the money and dragged his weary body step by step toward home.

After walking about half an hour, he arrived at a urban village. He wound his way through the alleys for a long time before finally reaching his rented room.

His name was Gao Ming. He was 33 years old. Just over two years ago, he had been a policeman, and a promising one at that.

But after he took on that rape and murder case, everything changed. He lost his job and was left with a criminal record.

His wife divorced him. Finding work was difficult, so he could only get by as a porter, living in the slums and leading a ghost-like existence.

Opening the door to his home, he went inside and turned on the light.

But when the light came on, he saw a masked man sitting in the living room.

Most people would be scared out of their wits seeing this, but Gao Ming was very calm. He nodded to the man and said,

"Are you here to find me, or kill me? Dark Night Judger."

Seeing Gao Ming's composure, Su Mo asked, "Why aren't you afraid of me?"

"Why should I be afraid of you? Look at me now, what do I have left to be afraid of?" Gao Ming smiled self-deprecatingly.

There were no sofas in the living room, just some stools. Gao Ming sat directly across from Su Mo.

"It doesn't look like you're here to kill me. So what do you want with me?"

Although Su Mo was a bit surprised by Gao Ming's reaction, it was also understandable. So he asked directly,

"That rape and murder case from over two years ago, what exactly happened?"

Instead of answering directly, Gao Ming asked back, "Are you planning to put that case on trial?"

"Yes."

Gao Ming's face, which had looked indifferent about life and death, suddenly showed excitement. "I want to participate too. I want to become a member of the trial."

This time Su Mo was truly surprised. He looked straight at Gao Ming, his gaze like icy daggers.

But Gao Ming was not frightened. He stood up and walked into his room, saying, "Wait here a moment."

Soon he came out from his bedroom holding a stack of papers and a homemade gun.

"Even if you hadn't come looking for me, I was planning to go find those people and take them down with me in a few months. I've been planning it for over a year, enduring every day, waiting for the chance."

Su Mo accepted the thick stack of papers and began looking through it. He had to admit, Gao Ming's plan was pretty shoddy, clearly amateurish. Forget about its chances of success, Gao Ming himself definitely wouldn't get away under this plan.

Su Mo casually tossed the plan aside and said, "First tell me about the rape and murder case."

"Alright."

After organizing his thoughts, Gao Ming slowly recounted the ins and outs of that case from two years ago.