Shadow Empire

Chapter 478 Investigation Results
The police car arrived quickly because it was a well-known person who called the police.

The police looked around the hole in the ice and found nothing unusual.

"There is a water network below, and we should find something there."

Some firefighters discovered a water net. The function of the water net is actually to filter out some large solid waste. In fact, doing so does not bring much improvement to the environment.

But people believe this, they believe that installing a few wire meshes in the river can change the environment of the river.

The people of the Federation are very smart, and they are already one step ahead of people from other countries in technology.

But the federals are so stupid that they will treat the most outrageous lies as the truth.

Soon the firefighters broke the ice and found the body of the chairman of the board hung on the water net, along with his fishing rod and the huge fish!

People exclaimed, not because they saw the body of the chairman of the board, but because of the really big fish!

Some reporters who had arrived started taking pictures. The police officer in charge of the case kept looking at his men with unfriendly eyes, which made his men even breathe carefully.

There are always some people who leak case information for a little money!

He didn't know who leaked the information this time, but someone must have done it, otherwise the reporters wouldn't have come so quickly!
"Sheriff, some reporters are asking... do we need to take that fish back?"

The sheriff glanced at the prey that was obviously beyond his perception of the length of the fish and hesitated. "What do they want to do?"

"Want to take that fish?"

"No, they wanted to take a picture of the fish."

In the end, the sheriff did not refuse, because even if he refused, there would still be reporters who would be able to take the photo.

The body, the fishing rod, the fish, and two witnesses were all taken back to the police station for questioning. It was a routine matter.

So people got a "standard version" of the process.

“He told us with some surprise that it must be the biggest fish he had ever caught in his life!”

"We tried to give him some help. You know, we are not young anymore, and we may not be able to defeat those giants!"

"But he was very stubborn and didn't want us to interfere. He said that it was his prey and we could only respect his opinion."

“If you fish, you’ll know what I mean!”

The police officer in charge of recording the statement nodded and said, "Yes, I like fishing, too. I understand where you are coming from."

"Only those who defeat it independently are warriors!"

The old man sitting at the table facing him sighed, "You are a wise man!"

"So, the tragedy happened. I was shocked when I saw him being dragged into the water. When I tried to catch him, he had already been dragged away by the fish!"

"I tried to jump in, but it was too cold and I was just an old man. I didn't know if I would have a chance of coming back alive."

"I backed off because I was afraid, which might be a bit embarrassing, but if I had to do it again, I would still make the same choice."

The policeman stopped writing here. "Thank you for your cooperation, sir." He glanced at the lawyer next to him. "If there are any follow-up questions, we will call you. It is best not to leave Xinjin City before the case results come out."

The old man nodded and shook hands with the policeman, "I know what to do."

"You can leave now."

The old man saw his friend at the door of the police station. The two looked at each other for about three or four seconds, then nodded to each other and got into their respective cars and left.

After receiving the confession and the on-site investigation report, the sheriff read them for a long time and felt that something was wrong with the case.

In fact, there are many strange things in it. For example, when the chairman of the board fell into the water, there should have been a way to rescue him.

But they said the old man held on to the fishing rod tightly and refused to let go, and was dragged under the ice by the fish.

The sheriff saw ice breakers around. If the old man did not realize the seriousness of the situation at first, they could have used the ice breakers to quickly break the ice, but they did not do so.

He consulted an expert and learned that the river was not flowing very fast due to the freezing weather. In other words, they were qualified to provide rescue services...

There were several details he couldn't figure out, so he took the report and transcript to the police office.

The chairman of the board of directors of Liji Group is no small figure, and his death has attracted the attention of many people, both in the government and in society.

Therefore, no matter what conclusion the police department comes to, they must be "careful" or at least not make any mistakes.

"How is it, is there any problem?" asked the director.

The sheriff handed the report and transcript to the other party and said, "Take a look first."

The chief spent about twenty minutes reading the transcript and report. He glanced at the sheriff sitting across the table and said, "There's something that's hard to explain."

The sheriff nodded, acknowledging this.

But the director added, "But they also have the basis to make everyone believe."

"You can trust two old friends who have known each other for forty years..." He looked through the information again, "I noticed that the three of them were actually former alumni!"

“They are alumni and friends who have known each other for forty years and have achieved extraordinary development and performance in their respective fields.”

"No one would believe that they wanted to murder the deceased. They had no motive and no reason."

"I just asked the forensic doctor. The deceased died of asphyxiation after drowning. His lungs are full of water, and there is no damage to his body except for a slight fracture on his knee."

"The medical examiner said it was probably caused by a fall."

"There were no external injuries. He died of suffocation. Unless someone pushed him into the water and drowned him, the only possibility is an accident."

The sheriff went on to say, "Yes, the two people at the scene did not look like people who could have held him down and drowned him. Their size and physical condition did not fit this assumption."

The director piled all the documents together and said, "So there are only two possibilities."

"One, something happened that we don't know about."

"Second, this is just an ordinary accident."

"Whether it's one or two, it's telling us, that's it!"

This is Jinzhou, the new Jin City. In fact, no one has ever said anything. The lawsuit of Liji Group just opened today, and the chairman of the board of directors inexplicably fell and drowned.

They absolutely would not believe that there was no connection at all!
In addition, a large number of accounts have been shorting the stocks of Liji Group during this period. There is a terrifying conspiracy behind this!
The sheriff was a little depressed. He knew that the case should be investigated further, but he also knew that he couldn't do so.

He was no match for the two eyewitnesses at the crime scene, both of whom were rich and influential and could afford expensive lawyers.

Now they are willing to sit here and tell the police department what happened, just out of "respect".

When they decide not to respect, they can even refuse to speak directly to the police, and instead have their lawyers speak to them.

So, as the director said, let’s stop here!

The sheriff nodded and said, "I will give you a closure report shortly."

The director nodded and pursed his lips, "What a terrible day!"

He hesitated for a moment, "Remember to inform the family of the deceased and Liji Group. They have the right to know that the person is dead."

I don't know if this bad day refers to the fish that was free in the river but was caught.

Or was it the chairman of the board who "slipped" into the water, was dragged under the ice by a fish and drowned in the river.

Or should we say... Liji Group?
At the trial, three judges reviewed and judged the materials submitted by both parties. This case was actually very simple, so simple that it should not even appear in the Supreme Court.

There is ample evidence that Liji Group’s staff at the docks have been unfriendly to dock workers on more than one occasion, and not just now.

They were always arrogant, cursing the dock workers for being cunning and dishonest, and often threatening to report them and make them lose their jobs.

Therefore, the motive given by the workers, that they wanted to retaliate because of their dissatisfaction and hatred towards these people's arrogance, as well as their curses and insults towards them, is valid.

In federal justice, motive is the most important aspect of the entire case.

Whether it is a criminal case or an ordinary case, people take this very seriously. There have even been cases in federal judicial history where all the evidence pointed to the defendant, proving that the defendant was most likely the murderer, but because the motive was not established, the appellate court eventually found the defendant not guilty.

So for federal judges, they look first at motive.

If the motive is appropriate and established, then the case is essentially halfway settled.

All that remains is to present evidence to prove that they have indeed committed the crime.

The most crucial evidence in this case is that these workers admitted their criminal behavior and their motives were consistent.

It took more than two hours for the court to find that the workers were guilty of using water to soak wheat in order to retaliate against the arrogant employees.

This finding caused a huge commotion in the courtroom, and the attorney representing the Liji Group almost rushed into the judge’s face!
He knew very well that if the Supreme Court also considered this to be an independent world, then the case would basically be lost.

The attorney representing the Liji Group requested to have a dialogue with the workers, and the Supreme Court respected his wishes and transferred these people from Jingang City.

This is their last chance to turn the tables.

After the trial, the CEO talked with his lawyer alone for a while before leaving, and then left in a car with full confidence.

If they really bribed a suspect and the suspect changed his confession, then there would be another long process of investigation and evidence collection.

They were going to visit more workers at the docks and ask them whether they had accepted accusations and abuse from employees.

It sounds like this kind of evidence collection work is simple and won’t take much time?
No, actually there are a lot of details involved. They will show the workers a lot of photos, including those of employees who worked that day and some who have never worked at the dock.

With so many workers, it is impossible for them to remember who every employee is.

As long as someone says something wrong under the guidance of the lawyer, the lawyer can question the workers' testimony and then use other methods to delay time continuously.

As for the follow-up?

He didn't think about these things for the time being and decided to deal with the current problem first.

It was almost seven o'clock when the president finished his work.

Sometimes he couldn't understand how those poor people could put down their work on time at six o'clock and leave without any hesitation or nostalgia?

Aren’t they worried about their difficult lives?

Don’t they want to change their living environment through their own efforts?

He doesn't understand!

A big shot like him is still working overtime on his own initiative, while those poor people have already started to enjoy the happiness after work!

Not only now, he also has to attend social events later. In his opinion, social events are also a form of overtime.

He needs to be hypocritical when interacting with those people. Even if there are many of them he doesn't like, he still has to pretend to get along well with them.

This is actually very painful, but he has to endure this pain because this is work and life.

In recent days, the capital forces shorting Liji Group have not only not decreased, but have increased. Now the shareholders have put some pressure on him, and he needs to do something.

Just as he was about to leave for a dinner party, the secretary outside suddenly knocked on the door and poked his head in.

"Boss, the police station is on the line."

The president frowned, nodded and said "I understand". The secretary then took the initiative to leave the door and closed it again.

He thought for a while, maybe twenty or thirty seconds, then picked up the phone and pressed button one.

"This is the president's office."

"I'm sorry, Mr. President, I don't want to bother you so late."

"I called your other numbers, but no one answered..."

The president was a little impatient. "Just get to the point. I have an important event later."

"Okay, okay, I can see you're a busy man!"

"Do you know... sir?"

The president was stunned for a moment, "Of course I know, he is the chairman of our board of directors." At this point, he already sensed a bad atmosphere.

Sure enough, his hunch came true.

"I regret to inform you that Mr. ... accidentally fell into the water not long ago and has died."

"what?"

"This is impossible!"

The president interrupted the call directly, "How could such a thing happen?"

"Which police station are you from?"

Although his tone was bad, the person on the other end still said truthfully, "I'm from the City Police Department..."

"I'll be right there, Fuck!"

He slammed the phone, not only because the news of the sudden accidental death of the chairman of the board made him feel that the situation was getting out of control, but more importantly, those hyenas were now shorting the Liji Group!
He has a dinner appointment with some investors tonight to discuss how to boost confidence in the stock market!
Now that such an important figure as the chairman of the board has died suddenly and unexpectedly, it is inevitable that people will think of many bad things!
The stock price will definitely be affected terribly!

It was too late for him to clean up, so he called the vice president and asked him to help him deal with those investors first, and he would be there soon.

Ten minutes later, the president, who had run two red lights, came to the police station and got the case files. Looking at the case closure reports on the files, anger continued to grow in his heart!
"Fuck!" He slammed the table, and the eyes of the police on duty in the office hall were all focused on the sheriff's office.

The sheriff calmed the president down, "I'm sorry..."

The president could no longer sit still, so he stood up. Others thought he was sad and angry because of the death of the chairman of the board.

In fact, he was angry because his company's stock was about to plummet!
The market is fucking closed now, so even if he wants to run away early he can't. Tomorrow will definitely be a black day for the company!
His property is about to shrink drastically. Why does this damn old man have to go fishing on the ice in the suburbs at this time?
Can fishing be used as a meal?
Fake!

He stood and paced back and forth for a while before looking at the sheriff. "Sorry, I lost my composure."

The sheriff just thought that they had a good relationship. After all, when a good friend dies, there will definitely be some behaviors that people don’t understand.

Sad, angry, and probably a few others.

"I understand." He leaned back in his chair, showing the magnanimity and tolerance that an adult should have.

The president made a request, "Can this matter be put on hold a little bit?"

"Don't announce it to the public yet."

The sheriff was silent for a while and said, "There are a lot of reporters at the scene." He decided to tell the truth, and this truth was the most hurtful.

The president felt his vision go dark. He leaned on the corner of the table and looked at the report in his hand. Countless thoughts collided in his mind. He asked with gritted teeth, "Can we... announce to the public that this might be a murder?"

The sheriff finally realized at this time that his anger was not caused by the death of the chairman of the board, but purely because of other reasons.

He showed a slightly indifferent expression, "Mr. President, this case has been closed. All the evidence points to this being an accident."

"If you are not satisfied with this conclusion, you can ask your lawyer to appeal and ask us to reinvestigate. Otherwise, it is difficult for us to continue wasting police resources on a case that has already had a result."

The president's expression turned very ugly. He threw the file on the table, pushed his hair back along his forehead with both hands, and then opened the door directly. "That's it."

Then he left the office.

The sheriff shook his head as he watched the president leave. This was Xinjin City, where even the most bizarre things could happen.

He would not challenge the truth behind these bizarre stories until an irresistible force emerged.

Doing that is actually no different from seeking death!
Because you never know what you might find in the dark.

Is it the truth you want, or some ugly faces, or even bullets shot at you!

(End of this chapter)