Clearing Suspicion 02

Han Fei set off with Li Chen, Old Zhou, and Xiao Zhang towards Yixin New Village.

He planned to investigate the couple first and then check the neighborhood surveillance to see if there were any suspicious individuals among the residents who had approached Hao Qi during his patrol.

Back at the police station, Xu Mo was left in charge.

Wang Dachuan and Chen Ke stayed behind to assist Xu Mo with the case.

Han Fei had a heavy workload, and Xu Mo’s task was no less demanding.

After all, police officers are professionals, well-versed in interrogation techniques and methods. Extracting information from them is significantly more challenging than from ordinary people.

Even for someone like Xu Mo, who is skilled in psychology, it’s a bit tricky without the aid of truth serum. However, it’s not impossible—Xu Mo still had his ways.

In the office.

“You two, take the officers who were on duty with Hao Qi today to the interrogation room one by one. I’ll question them,” Xu Mo instructed.

“Got it,” Wang Dachuan and Chen Ke replied in unison before leaving the office.

They arrived at the work area outside.

“Which officers were on duty with Hao Qi this morning?”

As soon as the question was asked, three officers stood up.

“Me.”

“And me.”

“I was there too.”

Instantly, the gazes of the other officers turned towards the three, thinking that Captain Xu must already have some leads and was starting the investigation.

“Please come with us. Captain Xu has some questions,” Chen Ke said with a smile.

Under the watchful eyes of their colleagues, the three officers followed Wang Dachuan and Chen Ke to the interrogation room.

Xu Mo was already seated inside, waiting.

Being police officers, they were familiar with the interrogation process. It had to be done one by one—bringing all three in at once wasn’t an option.

Realizing this, they exchanged glances.

“Who’s going in first?”

“I’ll go,” one of the officers stepped forward, and Wang Dachuan opened the door to the interrogation room, leading him inside.

The remaining two officers found a spot to sit near the door. To avoid any suspicion, they didn’t whisper or discuss the case.

“Captain Xu,” the officer greeted as he entered and took a seat on the interrogation chair without hesitation.

Without wasting time, Xu Mo began the questioning.

He didn’t start with questions directly related to the case but instead asked something that left the officer slightly puzzled.

“What’s your opinion of Hao Qi?”

“Huh?” The officer was momentarily taken aback but quickly gathered his thoughts and answered, “He’s… a good guy. Honest, optimistic, and always willing to help. He’s well-suited to be a police officer.”

“How’s his relationship with everyone at the station? Does he get along well with others? Has he had any conflicts with anyone?”

“He’s well-liked and gets along with everyone. As far as I know, he hasn’t had any conflicts.”

Xu Mo nodded.

He then continued, “Tell me about the entire process of your patrol today.”

“This morning, our station received a report…” The officer began recounting the events.

Xu Mo listened patiently.

Soon, the officer finished his account, and what he described matched Hao Qi’s version of events perfectly—there were no discrepancies.

“During the patrol, did you notice Hao Qi’s holster?” Xu Mo asked, staring intently at the officer.

Whether the gun was in the holster or not was something that could be easily spotted. If the holster was empty, it would be hard to miss.

As the person involved, Hao Qi might not have been constantly paying attention to his holster, but the officers accompanying him should have noticed if it was empty and when it became empty. After all, they were in a position to observe all the details on Hao Qi’s person.

If they could determine when and where the gun was lost, it would provide valuable clues for the investigation, at least narrowing down the list of suspects.

The officer shook his head. “I didn’t notice that.”

If a fellow officer’s holster was empty, he would have definitely noticed.

“Think carefully again.”

The officer furrowed his brow, trying to recall the situation.

After a moment, he shook his head once more. “I really don’t remember.”

Xu Mo studied the officer for a few seconds, confirming that he wasn’t lying, and then smiled.

“That’s all for now. Please call the next person in.”

The officer got up and left the interrogation room, calling in the next person.

…

Half an hour later.

Xu Mo had finished questioning all three officers under suspicion.

“Captain Xu, did you find anything?” Wang Dachuan asked.

Xu Mo shook his head.

He had asked the same questions to all three officers, and their answers were largely consistent.

All three believed that Hao Qi was well-liked and hadn’t had any conflicts with anyone at the station.

From the questioning, Xu Mo could also tell that none of the three harbored any ill will towards Hao Qi. Without ill will, it was unlikely that they would have stolen Hao Qi’s gun, leading to his disciplinary action.

Additionally, all three stated that they hadn’t paid much attention to Hao Qi’s holster, meaning they hadn’t noticed when it became empty.

Their suspicions had been cleared.

“This doesn’t make sense…” Xu Mo muttered to himself.

Even if they hadn’t paid close attention, a fellow officer’s empty holster wouldn’t have been overlooked. After all, it was too important—losing a gun was a serious matter.

The holster normally held a gun, so they might have subconsciously ignored it because it was expected to be there. But if it was empty, there was no reason for them to miss it. Even a quick glance would have revealed the issue, and they would have at least asked about it or reminded Hao Qi.

Hao Qi wouldn’t have waited until he returned to the station to realize his gun was missing.

Xu Mo rubbed his temples.

He recalled what Hao Qi and the three officers had said: “While searching for the complainant’s residence, many residents in the neighborhood saw the guns on our belts and even followed us, trying to watch the commotion. We couldn’t get rid of them.”

“So the gun hadn’t been lost at that point… When exactly did it go missing?” Xu Mo muttered to himself as he reviewed the sequence of events.

First, the four officers, including Hao Qi, had been dispatched immediately after receiving the report, carrying their guns. The complainant had claimed that her husband was holding a knife and was about to attack her.

In such a situation, it was necessary for the officers to carry guns to deter the husband and prevent him from harming anyone.

With their guns drawn, the officers would have confronted the husband, even if it later turned out to be a false alarm. Before entering the complainant’s home, Hao Qi would have likely drawn his gun or at least made the motion to do so, as they couldn’t have known beforehand that the report was false.

Facing a knife-wielding suspect, drawing a gun was essential.

Thinking this, Xu Mo immediately stood up, ready to ask Hao Qi about the details of what happened before he entered the complainant’s home.

If Hao Qi had drawn or touched his gun before entering, it would mean the gun was still on him before the mediation began.

The gun might have been lost during the mediation.

If that were the case, the neighborhood residents would no longer be suspects—the focus would shift to the couple!