Chapter 29 Apple Knife

Lin Haitang stared blankly at Meng Lang.

So... those things were used for...

"Mr. Meng, if it's convenient, could you tell me the purpose of installing... this kind of equipment?"

Wang Zhao Ping hesitated for a moment before asking in the most diplomatic tone possible.

Strictly speaking, this kind of equipment bordered on being illegal, nudging against legal boundaries, but in light of his professional ethics as a detective, Wang Zhao Ping did not jump to conclusions prematurely.

"It's convenient, though if it's convenient for you, I would also hope you could answer a question for me," Meng Lang offered.

Wang Zhao Ping was obviously taken aback by Meng Lang's sudden role reversal.

"Please, go ahead."

"I just overheard by chance that you seem to know this criminal, right?"

"Uh... yes, that's right!" Wang Zhao Ping's complexion turned somewhat unnatural.

Even though Yuan Li was no longer a member of the criminal police force, it was, after all, an internal disgrace.

"Yuan Li held a key position in our criminal police team three years ago; he was our colleague. It's just that later, due to his own corruption, he was sent to prison for three years and has only recently been released."

All the uninformed people hearing this news widened their eyes in shock.

"I was saying, this criminal seemed quite skilled; now it turns out he was indeed trained," Yan Weiwei realized with sudden clarity.

"To be honest, Yuan Li was once the runner-up in the provincial combat competition, so I am also quite surprised that he would be defeated... by both of you."

"Hmm! Got it!" Meng Lang nodded his head while stroking his chin, then casually added as if it were an afterthought.

"Ah, by the way, Lawyer Lin, I remember there seems to be something like a 'conflict of interest avoidance' provision in the law, right?"

Lin Haitang was taken aback for a moment, but catching Meng Lang's meaningful look, her mind raced, and she quickly understood.

"Indeed! There is such an 'avoidance system' in the law!"

"The so-called 'avoidance system' refers to administrative law enforcement officers having to follow principles of fairness and transparency during the enforcement process.

If a law enforcement officer discovers in the course of their duties a conflict of interest or a familial relationship with the involved parties, they should actively submit a withdrawal application to avoid affecting the enforcement of laws fairly and impartially.

Additionally, law enforcement officers should inform the parties involved, during the initial collection or retrieval of evidence, of their right to apply for the officer's withdrawal. This is to ensure parties who may be unaware of this right due to a lack of legal awareness can protect their own interests."

As Lin Haitang finished, if Wang Zhao Ping still could not read between the lines, then he really would have wasted his time in the police system.

Clearly, since Yuan Li was a former member of the criminal investigation system, was there a possibility among these present officers that someone, due to past acquaintanceship, could show favoritism or bias in enforcement?

This possibility could not be said to be nonexistent.

"Uh... I'm sorry, this was indeed an oversight on my part!"

Embarrassment flickered across Wang Zhao Ping's face.

He turned to look at one of the male officers present.

"Lin Wei!"

"Yes!" Lin Wei stood up, his face displaying a hint of discomfort.

From the way the captain called him by his full name, rather than his usual 'Xiao Wei,' he knew what was about to happen...

As expected, with a serious expression, Wang Zhao Ping announced, "Given that Lin Wei and the suspect have a past superior-subordinate relationship, in accordance with the avoidance principle, Lin Wei is hereby removed from this case's criminal investigation team.

During the investigation period, until the investigation concludes, no one is allowed to disclose any investigative details to him. Does everyone understand?"

"Yes!" The crowd responded, their expressions varied.

Lin Wei's face seemed to turn ugly. He gave Meng Lang one last look, then saluted Wang Zhao Ping and turned to leave the meeting room.

"Mr. Meng, Lawyer Lin, I can assure you that everyone present now is unrelated to the suspect.

I'm not afraid of being laughed at, but when Yuan Li's incident happened, it implicated many people and the criminal team was almost completely restructured.

Apart from the just-removed Lin Wei, most of us, including myself, were actually transferred here from various other places and, at most, had a nodding acquaintance with Yuan Li — you can definitely feel at ease," Wang Zhao Ping confessed to everyone, yet his gaze remained fixed on Meng Lang.

This 'avoidance system' was quite subtle, and unless the family relationship was blatantly obvious, most people involved in cases wouldn't think of, let alone use, this right.

Even Wang Zhao Ping himself had subconsciously overlooked the "internal hazard" Yuan Li's identity posed.

The fact that an outsider had to remind him of this made Wang Zhao Ping feel somewhat embarrassed, while he couldn't help but develop a measure of respect for this young man named Meng Lang.

After just having escaped a brush with death, Meng Lang was still able to calmly notice a detail that most ordinary people would overlook.

Furthermore, although he was the one who had spotted the issue, he deliberately had Lawyer Lin voice the relevant legal provisions.

It likely wasn't without the intention of highlighting Lawyer Lin's identity as a warning to handle things properly...

When it came to manipulating legal regulations, these lawyers were often more skilled than the police, always proving to be a headache.

Upon further reflection, Wang Zhao Ping felt increasingly that there was more to Meng Lang than met the eye!

This guy... was definitely not the ordinary person he appeared to be.

In Wang Zhao Ping's eyes, Meng Lang had already been tagged with mysterious labels such as "meticulously thoughtful," "leakproof," "low-key," and "playing the pig to eat the tiger"!

Hmm! That makes sense. How could an ordinary insurance salesman possibly cause a character like Yuan Li to meet his downfall?

Of course, Meng Lang was unaware of Wang Zhao Ping's inner thoughts.

The reason he reminded everyone was solely because Lin Haitang had spent ten years helping him with his case investigation, which subtly mentioned problems within the other party.

As a result, even Lin Haitang looked at him with admiration...

It was clearly a case of plagiarism, yet the original author had his face shown up by himself, this feeling...

So undeserved, so undeserved!

"Captain Wang, don't mind me, I don't have many faults, it's just that I feel too insecure, I'm ridiculous, truly ridiculous."

There it was! That omnipresent sense of insecurity!

Wang Zhao Ping's mouth twitched, "Mr. Meng, can you now answer the question I asked earlier?"

"Yes! Of course, I can!" Meng Lang's expression turned serious again.

"First of all, please don't get me wrong, I'm definitely a decent person. The reason I installed this device was entirely because I sensed danger."

"Sensed danger? What danger?" Wang Zhao Ping asked, puzzled.

Then, Meng Lang began his performance.

"It all started the day that I and Xiao Yu had an unexpected encounter. By sheer coincidence, I discovered that someone was following us in the neighborhood.

I haven't been in Su City for a long time, so my social circle is pretty simple, and the chance of provoking enemies is not high. So at that time, I was wondering if they were after Xiao Yu.

But I wasn't too sure at that point.

However, over the next few days, I always had a strange feeling that I was being watched.

As you know, people who lack a sense of security are very sensitive to others' malice.

So I went to the mall and bought these devices.

The thought was straightforward at the time, just for self-protection, after all, as a boy out and about... cough!

But who would have thought, just by coincidence!

I had just finished installing the devices when, a few days later, I discovered someone had sneakily entered my room.

Captain Wang, did you see what the person did in my room from the video just now?"

What did he do? Wang Zhao Ping was stunned for a moment.

He was so amazed that he hadn't focused on that.

"Xiao Ru, play the video again," he said.

"Okay, Captain!"

This time, everyone started to rewatch the video.

Although it was from a pinhole camera, the resolution was very high, showing that the equipment Meng Lang bought was of good quality.

On screen, one could clearly see Yuan Li entering the room and looking around before walking around Meng Lang's bed as if carefully searching for something.

Soon after, he bent down, apparently picking up something from the pillow.

The person then opened Meng Lang's wardrobe and took out a jacket, followed by a pair of shoes from the shoe cabinet, and then took something from a pile of kitchen utensils.

After packing these items into his backpack, he took out some bottles and jars from the backpack and fiddled with a bunch of tableware for a while.

After all this, Yuan Li took a thorough look around the room, seemingly to confirm that no one would detect anything unusual, and then he left, opening the door behind him.

Due to the fixed camera angle, some of Yuan Li's actions were not captured because he was facing away, leaving it to the people's guesses.

But just the behavior exhibited by the person at this point was puzzling enough.

"Captain, you should be able to tell, right? The person didn't come for money!" Meng Lang said to Wang Zhao Ping.

Without waiting for a response, Meng Lang continued.

"This guy was very careful, not only trying to restore any disturbed items to their original state, but also the few things he stole were items I rarely use.

Even if these items were lost, I wouldn't notice for a while, or even if I did notice, I wouldn't care.

If it weren't for this video, I wouldn't even realize someone had broken in and taken a few things, at least not for a short while.

Later, I checked and found the missing items included a jacket, a pair of shoes, and... a fruit knife."

"Hmm?"

A fruit knife?! The sensitive nerves of everyone were immediately pricked.

"That's right! If I'm not mistaken, the weapon Yuan Li had tonight... should be mine!

To be more precise, it's what I use to peel apples..."