Investigation Direction

Since Hao Qi knew the two of them, there was no need for introductions, and they could get straight to the point.

"Did you offend anyone at the police station?" Xu Mo asked.

After a pause, he added, "And it’s not just officers from your station. Think about any officers you know—anyone you’ve had a grudge with. Take your time and list their names for me."

Han Fei, standing nearby, glanced at Xu Mo.

Before coming to question Hao Qi, Xu Mo hadn’t indicated he would take this approach.

However, Han Fei was an experienced investigator. At first, Xu Mo’s question seemed a bit unclear, but after a moment of thought, he understood.

Losing a service weapon was a grave matter for an officer. Even if the loss didn’t lead to serious consequences, the officer could still face dismissal.

And if the lost weapon posed a threat to society, the officer could even face imprisonment.

These were the rules. Even if the officer didn’t lose the weapon intentionally, the punishment would still apply.

Such severe consequences meant it wasn’t impossible for someone to exploit this rule to exact revenge on an enemy.

Once he understood, Han Fei also turned his gaze to Hao Qi, who was sitting in the interrogation chair, frowning as he tried to recall any officers he might have had conflicts with.

The two men didn’t rush him, waiting patiently.

A few minutes later, Hao Qi looked up at them and shook his head.

"I can’t think of anyone. I’ve always had good relationships with everyone. I don’t think anyone would deliberately target me."

Then, he added, "Of course… that’s just my opinion. It’s possible someone secretly dislikes me."

Hao Qi couldn’t recall any officers who might hold a grudge against him, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have enemies. It was possible he simply hadn’t noticed someone’s resentment.

After Hao Qi answered, Xu Mo moved on to the next question.

"Then tell me about the details of your mission. Be as thorough as possible—start from when you left the station with your weapon."

"Alright," Hao Qi nodded and began recounting his story as he recalled it.

"Early this morning, our station received a report. The caller said her husband had gone crazy, wielding a kitchen knife and trying to attack her. She was hiding in the bedroom, too scared to come out, while her husband was outside, hacking at the door with the knife. She said the door was almost destroyed and begged us to hurry before someone got killed."

"After receiving the report, I went out with a few colleagues. Since the caller mentioned her husband had a knife, we took our service weapons with us to prevent any accidents."

"The layout of the neighborhood was a bit confusing. When we arrived, we couldn’t immediately find the building where the caller lived, so we asked some residents for directions. With their help, we finally found the building. Oh, and along the way, quite a few residents noticed the guns on our belts and followed us, eager to watch the commotion. We couldn’t shake them off."

"When we got to the caller’s home, we found that her husband wasn’t crazy at all. He wasn’t wielding a knife or attacking the door. The bedroom door was perfectly fine, and the caller was unharmed—not a scratch on her. They were just arguing. She had called us because her husband wanted to move out and divorce her, and she couldn’t stop him on her own. So, she made up the story to get us there quickly, hoping we could mediate the dispute."

"Mediating domestic disputes is something we do often, so we’re familiar with it. Since we were already there, we went ahead and mediated. After understanding the couple’s issues, we resolved the matter and headed back. The whole trip took about two hours. But when I returned to the station and tried to turn in my weapon, I realized it was missing."

After finishing his account, Hao Qi stopped and looked at Han Fei and Xu Mo, who were sitting across from him.

The two men were now thinking about when and where Hao Qi’s weapon might have been lost, based on his story.

"Where does the caller who claimed her husband was trying to attack her live?" Xu Mo suddenly asked.

Hao Qi thought briefly before answering, "Unit 9, Building 8, Apartment 802, Yixin New Village."

"After receiving the mission, did you go straight to Yixin New Village? And after completing the task, did you return directly to the station? Did you go anywhere else in between?"

"No. It was an urgent situation. We left for Yixin New Village as soon as we received the report. After mediating, we returned to the station. We didn’t stop anywhere else; we were in the car the whole time."

…

The questioning ended, and the two men left the interrogation room, returning to their office to discuss the next steps in the investigation.

Based on the questioning, they had identified a number of potential suspects.

Now, they needed to investigate each one.

First, following their earlier suspicions, the thief was likely a police officer. Therefore, the officers who had accompanied Hao Qi were prime suspects.

They were familiar with holsters and firearms, capable of discreetly taking Hao Qi’s weapon. They also had the opportunity, as they knew Hao Qi and had been with him throughout the mission.

Second, the couple involved in the domestic dispute were also suspects. Their so-called marital conflict could have been an act, designed to lure the officers to the scene.

The caller’s false claim that her husband was wielding a knife was likely a ploy to ensure the officers brought their weapons, giving the couple a chance to steal one.

Finally, the residents of the neighborhood who had guided the officers and watched the commotion were also suspects. They had been close to the officers during the mission, providing an opportunity to act.

However, both the couple and the neighborhood residents were less likely suspects. As ordinary civilians, it would have been difficult for them to steal a weapon from an officer’s holster without Hao Qi noticing.

"Let’s split up to speed things up. We need to find the missing weapon as quickly as possible. I’ll take Li Chen, Old Zhou, and Xiao Zhang to Yixin New Village to investigate the couple and check the neighborhood’s surveillance. Wang Dachuan and Chen Ke will stay with you to look into the officers at the station," Han Fei suggested, opting to divide the team to maximize efficiency.