The key and essence of stalling for time lie in the word "stall" itself.
After thoroughly clarifying my thoughts, I completely came back to my senses and immediately began a battle of wits with Hao Liang, the captain of the criminal investigation team.
He asked east, I answered west.
He guided, I paused.
No matter how Hao Liang phrased his questions to elicit a confession, I simply deflected, neither admitting nor denying, and refusing to answer directly.
In my struggle with Hao Liang, I noticed that he didn't seem overly eager to force me to confess to murder. Instead, he wanted me to voluntarily yield and admit to the first charge.
As I mentioned earlier, there were two charges for which I was brought to the county bureau's interrogation room this time.
First, dangerous driving.
Second, murder.
Regarding the murder charge, Hao Liang only said at the beginning that whether I confessed or not, he could convict me with zero testimony. He didn't question me about anything that happened at the foot massage parlor afterward.
Instead, he consistently tried to steer the conversation towards the direction of me driving the accident vehicle to the gas station.
It was obvious that he knew I wouldn't confess to murder, because the real killer was someone else!
Therefore, he gave me a strong dose of medicine right from the start, using the phrase "conviction with zero testimony" to scare and intimidate me. Hao Liang's objective was to create a diversion.
His calculations were truly precise!
I once said that the charge of dangerous driving could be light or heavy, depending on how it was handled.
As long as I admitted to the charge of dangerous driving, Hao Liang would surely find a way to make it a more serious offense.
Once I left the interrogation room and went to prison, there would be no telling whether I would live or die.
After understanding all the ins and outs, all I could do was grit my teeth and deny the charge of dangerous driving.
Seeing me constantly rambling and beating around the bush, Hao Liang gave me a cold smile and said, "Playing dumb when you know what's going on, huh? It's fine! I have plenty of time to waste with you here!"
Upon hearing this, I put on an indifferent front, but inwardly, I was filled with uncertainty, not knowing how much longer I had to wait for help...
After an unknown amount of time.
Creak!
The interrogation room door was suddenly pushed open from the outside, and a staff member walked in saying, "Captain Hao, someone from the municipal bureau is here."
As soon as I heard this, I immediately realized that Yu Shuang must have made a move!
The name Feng Bei Yu Family was indeed not just for show.
As hope ignited within me, Hao Liang on the other side asked with suspicion, "It's not some earth-shattering case, so why would the municipal bureau get involved?"
[ps: Just a side note, Longxi County belongs to Dingxi City, so the county bureau is naturally subordinate to the municipal bureau.]
The staff member first shook his head and then spread his hands, replying, "I'm not sure, but I saw the person leading the municipal bureau team holding a red-header document. It looks like they're taking over this case."
At this point, anyone with a bit of sense should have figured it out.
As soon as he heard that the case was being taken over, Hao Liang immediately frowned and looked at me, saying with a half-smile, "Alright! I knew why you were so defiant. So you have a powerful backer to rely on!"
Hao Liang wasn't stupid; he had already realized that the people from the municipal bureau were definitely here for me.
Taking over the case openly was a pretense; the real intention was to protect me behind the scenes.
The murder case was definitely not related to me. As for dangerous driving... as long as it was handled properly, it would at most result in a fine.
As for the fact that I didn't have a driver's license, in this day and age, if something could be manipulated, then solving this problem would not be difficult at all.
As expected of the Queen Bee who plans everything, when she doesn't act, she doesn't act... but when she does, her actions are unstoppable!
...
Since the municipal bureau had brought official documents to take over the case, Hao Liang naturally couldn't say anything more. He didn't dare to detain me any longer and simply signaled his subordinates to release me, letting me go with the municipal bureau personnel.
There were two people from the municipal bureau who came to escort me. One was a very young police officer with sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, and a tall, upright posture.
The other appeared to be in his early forties, with a solemn and dignified face and an aura of imposing authority.
Seeing them, I was about to greet them when the older police officer subtly shook his head at me and said in a deep voice, "Get in the car first, we'll talk in the car!"
Hearing him say that, I complied.
After getting into the car with the two of them, I heard the elder police officer say, "Who entrusted us to do this, we won't reveal for now."
"You need to listen carefully to what I'm about to say!"
"Please speak." Looking at his extremely serious expression, my heart inexplicably began to pound violently.
Following that, a sense of unease quietly spread throughout my body.
The elder police officer then said, "You were right not to foolishly confess to any crimes inside, but..."
"Do you still remember that some time ago, your friend was caught for drunk driving, and you, as a passenger, were fined?"
"I remember! As a passenger, I was fined fifty yuan!" I blurted out.
Upon hearing this, the elder police officer sighed softly, "The amount is small, but even if it's small, it will still be on your administrative penalty record!"
"Let me be blunt. If you didn't have this administrative penalty record, we could have manipulated the situation for you, even without a driver's license, resulting in a fine only, without detention."
"But with this administrative penalty record, this time... you will be fined, and you will be detained as required!"
"The detention period will be from one month to six months!"
"According to the relevant standards, one month is out of the question. We will try our best to get it down to two to three months, with a maximum of three months!"
"During the period of detention, even if you are sentenced to detention, you can go home for one to two days each month. If you participate in labor, you may also receive some remuneration."
"I know what you do, so I won't mention the remuneration for now. We will help you apply for an extension of your home visits by one to two days!"
"This is the result of us coming to pick you up. Can you... accept it?"
The elder police officer did not hide anything from me, explaining all the details meticulously.
After listening to his account, I remained silent for a long time.
To be honest, I was stunned, completely stunned.
This is the domino effect!
If I had known that Luo Tuo's previous drunk driving incident would lead to such consequences, I would have endured it no matter what and surrendered to those thugs who specialized in blackmail.
Looking back now, I've suffered a huge loss!
Xiao Tianci's intention in playing such a dirty trick was precisely to use the power of the authorities to suppress and keep me under control, wasn't it?
For him, it made no difference whether my final outcome was being in prison or in a detention center.
As long as he could keep me locked up, he had plenty of ways to deal with me.