Xu Mo had arrested so many suspects in the morning that the police station simply didn’t have enough space to hold them all. The number of suspects far exceeded the number of available holding cells. It was impossible to give each person their own cell. As a result, the officers had no choice but to cram several suspects together in one small cell, making do with the limited space.
“Overwhelmed?” Xu Mo scratched his head. He had been so focused on catching criminals and expanding the range of his crime-detection radar that he hadn’t considered the police station’s capacity to handle them.
“Yeah,” Han Fei nodded. “The station was already holding a lot of people, and now you’ve brought in even more. There are too many to process. Why don’t you take a break and grab some food? Even if you want to keep arresting people, wait until we’ve dealt with this batch first.”
Xu Mo glanced at the clock on the wall. It was already noon.
He had been so busy earlier that he hadn’t noticed the time. Now that Han Fei mentioned it, he realized he was feeling quite hungry.
“By the way,” Han Fei suddenly looked at Xu Mo with a puzzled expression. “Are you sure all the people you arrested are actual criminals?”
It wasn’t that Han Fei doubted Xu Mo’s abilities, but some of the people Xu Mo had brought in seemed genuinely confused. They didn’t even know why they had been arrested.
When Han Fei interrogated them, they insisted they hadn’t committed any crimes. As an experienced detective, Han Fei didn’t detect any signs of lying. Some of these people seemed to be innocent.
Xu Mo immediately understood what Han Fei was getting at.
“Having trouble during interrogations? Some of them refusing to confess?”
Every person he had arrested was undoubtedly a criminal. Xu Mo could guarantee that he hadn’t made any mistakes.
The reason some of them refused to confess was simple. His crime-detection radar didn’t just identify people who had recently committed crimes—it could detect anyone who had ever broken the law, even if it was decades ago.
Some of the crimes these people had committed were so far in the past that they couldn’t even remember what they had done.
How could they confess to something they didn’t even remember?
That’s why they looked so bewildered when they were brought to the station. They were probably thinking, “Why am I here? I’m a good person!”
Of course, thanks to the crime-detection radar, Xu Mo knew exactly what crimes they had committed.
When he arrested them, the radar had informed him of the specific times and details of their crimes. However, Xu Mo prioritized efficiency. Once the radar identified a criminal, he cuffed them and took them away without wasting time on explanations.
When he returned to the station, Xu Mo simply handed the suspects over to the officers without mentioning their specific crimes. After all, most criminals would realize their misdeeds had been exposed as soon as they arrived at the station, and a little questioning would usually get them to confess.
“Right,” Han Fei nodded. “But I don’t think they’re deliberately refusing to confess. It’s more like… they genuinely believe they haven’t committed any crimes. Maybe you should take a look?”
Han Fei couldn’t bring himself to suggest that Xu Mo might have arrested the wrong people. In his mind, Xu Mo making a mistake like that was simply impossible.
“Alright, Captain Han, take me to see them.”
…
Interrogation Room.
A middle-aged man sat in the room, looking utterly confused.
“Officer, are you sure you didn’t arrest the wrong person?”
The officer interrogating him was equally baffled.
The man’s tone and expression seemed completely genuine, and he didn’t appear to be lying.
Could it be a mistake? The officer thought to himself.
But he quickly dismissed the idea. Impossible! How could Xu Mo arrest the wrong person?
With that in mind, the officer scolded the man, “If you hadn’t done anything wrong, why would we bring you here? Come clean! What did you do?”
The man looked even more confused. “Officer, I really can’t remember doing anything wrong. Can you give me a hint?”
The officer was momentarily speechless.
What did you do? You’re asking me? How should I know?
The officer had no idea what this seemingly honest man had done. When Xu Mo brought him in, he hadn’t mentioned any specific crimes. He simply said the man was a criminal and then left to continue making arrests.
As the two of them were at a standstill, the door to the interrogation room opened.
Han Fei and Xu Mo walked in.
Seeing them, the officer immediately looked to them for help.
“Captain Han, Captain Xu… he’s still refusing to confess.”
The moment the man in the interrogation chair saw Xu Mo, he became visibly agitated.
This was the man who had arrested him. At the time, he had been at work when Xu Mo suddenly slapped a pair of handcuffs on him and took him to the station without explanation.
“Young man, you’re finally here! Please tell them it was a mistake, right? I really haven’t done anything wrong!”
The crime-detection radar had locked onto this man and provided Xu Mo with details of his past crimes.
Ten years ago, this man had hunted and killed several nationally protected animals.
Meeting the man’s pleading gaze, Xu Mo shook his head.
“No mistake. You’re the one we’re after. Let me ask you this: ten years ago, did you hunt and kill several colorful wild chickens by a lake? You even took them home and ate them, didn’t you?”
Hearing this, the man furrowed his brow and began to think.
Ten years ago… did I hunt wild chickens by a lake? Did I kill any chickens?
After a few seconds, his face suddenly lit up with realization. He remembered—he had indeed broken the law!
When he was younger, he had developed a passion for fishing. Among fishing enthusiasts, there was a saying: “A fisherman never goes home empty-handed.”
Going home empty-handed was not an option. If he couldn’t catch any fish, he’d look around for rabbits or wild chickens to take home. If even that failed, he’d pick some wild fruit or even drink water from the lake. Anything to avoid returning with nothing.
Ten years ago, he had just gotten into fishing. One day, after ten hours of fishing with no luck, he decided he couldn’t leave empty-handed.
Coincidentally, he spotted a wild chicken by the lake. Without thinking much, he caught it with a net and took it home to cook.
The chicken turned out to be exceptionally delicious. Curious, he looked up the breed online and was shocked to discover it was a nationally protected species. Hunting it was illegal!
Terrified, he vowed never to do it again. Of course, he didn’t turn himself in. As long as he kept quiet, the police would never find out.
However, just two weeks later, during another fishing trip, he once again failed to catch anything. He was about to pick some wild fruit when he spotted another one of those wild chickens…
Remembering how delicious the last one had been, his mouth watered. After making sure no one was around, he quietly grabbed his net and caught it.