Diary of a Criminal Investigator

Just now, on the way to the hospital with Zhang Erhe, Song Tiejun suddenly passed out.

This frightened everyone, but fortunately, after examination at the hospital, it was revealed to be only due to excessive blood loss.

After a blood transfusion, everything was fine.

"The man has been anesthetized and is still unconscious; he will wake up in the evening."

The doctor explained a few more things. He knew the other party was a police officer injured while on duty, so he naturally paid extra attention.

In recent years, the Tianzhou City Public Security Bureau and several major hospitals in the city have established excellent cooperative mechanisms, enabling them to provide top-notch medical services to injured police officers swiftly.

This is a vast improvement compared to the past when, due to incomplete cooperation mechanisms, injured officers sometimes went unattended at hospitals.

Many incidents occurred where delays in treatment due to such avoidable reasons led to severe consequences.

"Thank you, doctor."

Sun Jianguo quickly expressed his gratitude. Although getting recognized was important, life was more crucial.

Even though there was no apparent major issue during the on-site bandaging, Sun Jianguo couldn’t be at ease until reaching the hospital.

Now, finally assured that Zhang Erhe was okay, Old Sun’s tense nerves relaxed instantly.

He collapsed onto the ground.

"Old Sun!"

Those around him rushed over.

"Doctor! Doctor!"

The doctor, who hadn’t left yet, came running back, checked Sun Jianguo, and rolled his eyes: "It’s nothing, just exhaustion and stress. A bit of rest will do."

Sun Jianguo slowly regained consciousness: "I’m fine... just a bit dizzy..."

After all, at sixty years old, he had been active all day, so holding up until now was fortunate.

Moreover, Sun Jianguo had been at the police station since he started working, and hadn’t dealt with any particularly big cases over the years.

Even in the past, during periods of unrest, Sun Jianguo mostly faced off against small-time hooligans; such life-threatening scenes were a first for him.

Policemen are human too, especially officers at grassroots police stations, who often deal with trivial domestic squabbles and minor neighborhood disputes.

The most dangerous tasks were probably crackdowns on prostitution and obscenity.

Compared to ordinary citizens, policemen are just normal people. Facing life-and-death situations isn’t common, but just experiencing it once could end in tragedy.

Zhang Erhe had succeeded this time, and Sun Jianguo was the same; securing at least a second-class merit before retirement. Old Sun’s pension could even see a rise.

Besides this tangible benefit, there was also the medal of merit.

In future, he could boast with his grandchildren about it.

However, from Sun Jianguo’s experiences and observations, the medal of honor would probably just become another toy among his grandkids’ collections in a few years.

At the police station, everyone was discussing Sun Jianguo and Zhang Erhe.

"Old Sun was lucky this time, having Erhe by his side."

"Exactly, our station is really something else; it’s true you shouldn’t be on duty when retiring."

"I’ve only got three years until retirement... Old Street over there... Zhang Erhe grew up there, and Sun Jianguo lived there too, right?"

"Just about thirty families there, mostly old, weak, sick, and disabled, you all saying... sigh..."

Solving a case sometimes happens by a stroke of luck.

The less you believe it’s possible, the higher the chance it occurs.

"It’s also good that Zhang Erhe benefited from his misfortune this time; his transition to an official police officer is virtually guaranteed."

"Song Tiejun killed so many people; for Zhang Erhe and Old Sun to capture him in one go at least deserves a second-class merit."

"If a second-class merit isn’t enough to get him officially recognized, I might have a word with the bureau myself."

"Alright, that’s something for later. Old Sun fired shots; we still need to compile a report."

This was just relayed by Chen Jiang.

Whenever a police officer discharges a firearm, regardless of reason, an analysis report and situation statement must be made afterwards.

It’s unlikely Old Sun would write the report himself; he’ll probably have to narrate it for someone else to compile.

This time, not only are Old Sun and Zhang Erhe getting awarded individually, but the People Road police station is at least getting a collective commendation.

If the higher-ups are a bit generous, there might even be a chance for a collective third-class merit.

Nanshan Road police station.

Opposite Wang Song sat a young woman, fair-skinned and tall, but with slightly thin lips, giving her a somewhat harsh appearance.

"That useless one, stayed in our family for five years, couldn’t do anything right, ate everything without leaving any trace..."

"Just a good-for-nothing!"

The woman was Song Tiejun’s ex-wife. Even after eight years of divorce, she still looked down on him whenever he was mentioned.

"Why did you two divorce back then?"

"Who knows what madness struck him; he kept insisting my parents bullied him. Clearly, he was the one at fault, yet blamed our family."

After a few questions, Wang Song realized it would be tough to get the truth from Song Tiejun’s ex-wife.

In the afternoon, Wang Song and his team visited the woman’s neighbors.

"Are you talking about that live-in son-in-law?"

"He was a decent guy, quite honest, just a bit dull. His father-in-law and mother-in-law often scolded him."

"You folks have no idea, the scoldings were awful, continuous curses every day; who could stand that?"

"Later, why did that woman never marry again?"

"No one dared to introduce anyone. After the previous live-in son-in-law left, they wanted another one, but who dared to suggest someone?"

"When little Song was around, he cooked, cleaned, drove a cab to earn money, but still got scolded away?"

"I heard the woman couldn’t have kids, seemed like she harmed her body while in technical school..."

Trivial household matters and family disputes.

The mental torment from his in-laws and the verbal abuse from his wife gradually drove Song Tiejun into a mental breakdown, eventually leading to divorce.

The experiences from back then likely left significant psychological shadows in Song Tiejun’s heart.

Thus, when conflicts arose and others cursed him in Sichuan dialect, Song Tiejun eventually exploded.

Interrogation room.

Wang Song faced Song Tiejun once more.

"All those years... what you suffered on Nanshan Road..."

"Don’t say it!"

The initially calm Song Tiejun suddenly went berserk, his eyes terrifying, his mind extremely agitated.

"Don’t talk about those years; I don’t want to hear it!"

Wang Song fell silent for a moment. At this stage of the case, the true motive behind Song Tiejun’s killings wasn’t as important anymore.

Furthermore, his situation wasn’t exactly the same as reactive or mentally disordered killings.

After all, a mentally ill person couldn’t have committed murders for over a decade, disposing of the evidence meticulously.

The thoroughness of this case made it clear that after the murders, Song Tiejun must have carefully planned everything.

The head was chopped off and immediately burned in the stove.

After dismembering the body, it was thrown into the Wang Family River. If it weren’t for the hydropower station, nobody would have discovered it.