I'm not a genius detective

Chapter 144 Casinos and Loan Sharking

"Is it up to you whether it matters or not?"

Han Ling took out handcuffs.

Upon seeing the handcuffs, Chai Shaosong immediately put his hands behind his back: "Officer, I absolutely won't run away, I swear I absolutely won't run away, can you take off the handcuffs? There are so many people watching, can you give me some face?"
I will answer any questions you may have later, and I promise not to tell a single lie.

Upon hearing this, Han Ling didn't make things difficult for him. He put away the handcuffs. If four people were watching one person and the other person got away, the police would be out of a job.

"You said it yourself, if you dare to tell even one lie, just wait and see." Han Ling then asked Zhang Yandong for his opinion, "Brother Dong, should we go and check on his family?"

Zhang Yandong: "We must see it. Let's chat at home for a bit first, and then go to the branch office."

Han Ling: "Okay."

The four of them took Chai Shaosong back to the residential area.

Seeing the dented door and the broken bolt, Chai Shaosong sighed helplessly, "This needs to be repaired, officer, and it'll cost money."

Han Ling ignored him, went inside and closed the door, telling the other person to sit obediently on the sofa.

The house, less than 50 square meters in size, was completely exposed. The group walked around, looking for suspicious items.

Whether a search warrant is needed depends on the circumstances. In principle, it is needed, but in special or emergency situations, it can be handled flexibly.

As long as the rules aren't rigid, the police don't have many concerns when enforcing them. There's no fixed answer to what constitutes a special situation or an emergency.

“Look how poor I am, I have nothing at home,” Chai Shaosong said.

Han Ling closed the window and stayed near the sofa to prevent Chai Shaosong from jumping off the building a second time. At this moment, she spoke up: "If you didn't gamble, you wouldn't be so poor. Nine out of ten gamblers lose, and ten out of ten gamblers are cheated. Don't you understand?"

“I understand.” Chai Shaosong sighed. “Gambling is illegal here, but it’s fine in Macau. It’s so unfair.”

Han Ling: "If you work hard, you can settle down there someday."

Chai Shaosong: "They must gamble every day."

Han Ling: "Your understanding needs improvement. The people over there are mainly doing this for entertainment, not for profit. Don't you know what your purpose is?"

Chai Shaosong: "I can't argue with you... Hey? Criminal police are really better than police station officers. Their way of speaking and their demeanor are completely different. Otherwise, how could they solve such big cases!"
By the way, how did Xiong Chuan die?

Han Ling looked around but didn't find anything. She sat down on the sofa and said, "If it were an accident or suicide, would they come looking for you?"

“Uh.” Chai Shaosong shrugged. “He’s been killed. There’s no use in coming to me. I just found out he’s dead.”

Han Ling: "What was your first thought? Who did it?"

Chai Shaosong thought for a moment and replied, "Loan sharks? Other gamblers? Or maybe his wife?"

I think it's his wife. He beats her all the time, so it's normal for her to fight back. She's such a scumbag, such a despicable person.

It seems their friendship isn't very high-quality; it's superficial and fake. However, their criticisms are valid.

"Loan sharks?" Han Ling raised an eyebrow. "He borrowed money from loan sharks?"

According to the testimony of Xiong Chuan's wife, Liao Xue, Xiong Chuan had debts, but he only borrowed from friends and banks and never mentioned usury.

It seems that Liao Xue's knowledge is incomplete; given her position in the family, Xiong Chuan wouldn't tell her many things.

Chai Shaosong: "Excuse me."

Han Ling: "How much?"

Chai Shaosong: "We still have 100,000 to 200,000."

Han Ling: "Where did you borrow it from?"

He didn't think the case was related to loan sharking. Usually, it's the borrower who kills the creditor, not the other way around. If the person dies, who can you ask for the money back?

"Where did you borrow it?" This was the crucial question. Chai Shaosong's eyes darted around, but he didn't answer immediately. "Officer, if I implicate the loan company, wouldn't that be considered a major meritorious service? So, you won't have to detain me for some minor offenses?"

Han Ling: "I can't guarantee it, but if you really perform meritorious service, it's possible to reduce the ten-day period to five days, and then to not enforce it at all."

He was just an ordinary criminal police officer and couldn't make any promises. If he were in the position of Ji Bowei or Feng Yao, he would have much more say and decision-making power.

After thinking for a moment, Chai Shaosong felt that he was not at a disadvantage and there was no need to offend the criminal police of the branch office, so he said, "I know several people from Yiqi Information Consulting Company who borrowed money from this company."

Han Ling: "Together? The name sounds weird, which two characters?"

Chai Shaosong: "It's not the 'together' one. 'One' is the capital '一' and '启' is the 'start' in 'start'."

First.

Han Ling visualized Chinese characters in her mind.

An information consulting company—it sounds like a legitimate company.

Thanks to years of crackdowns by the police, loan sharks are now well aware of the importance of hiding their true intentions in plain sight. They no longer openly operate loan sharking establishments, but instead choose to disguise themselves as legitimate companies.

The Economic Crime Investigation Division of the branch has handled several similar cases last year and this year. The perpetrators are a variety of companies, including investment consulting firms, information consulting firms, pawnshops, guarantee companies, real estate agencies, and used car dealerships.

Among them, the nature of guarantee companies is the worst, and their behavior is almost equivalent to fraud.

Guarantee companies, originally intended to guarantee borrowers' credit, often engage in lending themselves, using their guarantor status to gain trust and attract ordinary people to borrow at extremely high interest rates. Pawnshops are the most difficult to investigate, as they have a long history with the Economic Crime Investigation Division and can be considered legal usury.

In recent years, many pawnshops have expanded their business to include pledge loans, using vehicles, real estate certificates, and other collateral for loans. They have complete procedures and compliant processes, making them extremely adept at deception.

Han Ling had heard from her colleagues in the Economic Crime Investigation Team that the pawnshop operators were very strict in verifying the borrowers' identities, making it easy to get money back, and there were very few reports of such activities, so it was basically impossible to find any loopholes.

"How does Yiqi disburse loans?" Han Ling asked.

Chai Shaosong: "I don't know, I never borrowed it."

Han Ling: "You really didn't borrow it?"

Chai Shaosong laughed and said, "Really, officer? I really haven't borrowed any money. Although I like to gamble, if I lose, I lose. I would never borrow money."

Brother Xiong is out of his mind; he's always thinking about turning things around.

Han Ling: "Brother Xiong? It seems Xiong Chuan has a high status in the industry."

Chai Shaosong: "It's alright, he's a senior."

Han Ling: "Where is the casino?"

This issue is more sensitive than that of loan companies. Chai Shaosong opened his mouth, but didn't say anything for a moment.

"What, you don't want to talk about it?" Han Ling asked.

Chai Shaosong scratched his head: "Officer, it's like this. Two years ago, someone I knew was arrested and implicated others in the location of casinos. The group that ran those casinos were sentenced to several years in prison."

However, the guy who ran the casino was serving time in prison, and the one who revealed the casino's location broke his leg just a few days after being released from detention.

Han Ling understood his meaning; he was afraid of retaliation.

If you get caught gambling at a casino, the casino being shut down is none of your business, but if you implicate other casinos, then people will be angry.

The punishment for operating a casino is severe. Anyone who dares to operate a casino is definitely not a nobody in the Qingchang underworld; they are someone that ordinary people cannot afford to offend.

A prisoner retaliating against a whistleblower—this is a manifestation of "status in the underworld."

"Don't worry, it has nothing to do with you," Han Ling said. "Xiong Chuan is dead. We found the casino's location by investigating Xiong Chuan's phone and internet records, not by hearing it from someone else."

He won't stand on the moral high ground to force anyone or say nice things; it's useless. For Chai Shaosong, self-interest and safety are the most important things.

Han Ling's words reassured Chai Shaosong somewhat. He stared at Han Ling for a while and asked, "What is your surname?"

"Han Ling".

“Officer Han looks like he has a bright future. He flew out from the second floor without thinking and was completely unharmed. I believe you.” Chai Shaosong was about to confess. “Brother Xiong and I only frequent two places. One is the Phoenix Nightclub, a fixed location, and the other is a mobile casino where we move from place to place after a quick shoot. We meet in the car when we meet, and no one knows the exact location until we arrive at our destination.”

Han Ling: "Where do the mobile casinos you mentioned usually operate?"

Chai Shaosong: "Under bridges, in the wild we set up tents, and when the wind was strong, we would just camp in the container truck."

When the topic of mobile casinos came up, Han Ling wondered, "Are those people who park on the suburban roads selling CDs, blasting music at the top of their lungs, lookouts for these mobile casinos?"

"Huh?" Chai Shaosong was surprised. "Selling DVDs? I've never heard of that. People usually sell fruit. Selling DVDs is too conspicuous. What if they come to check for piracy? Isn't this just asking for trouble?"

Han Ling nodded slightly: "That makes sense, selling fruit is more reasonable."

Whether it's a national highway, provincial highway, county road, or township road, there's no shortage of villagers selling fruit, which is normal. But selling CDs is a bit conspicuous and easily attracts the attention of law enforcement officers. Even if they don't suspect anything, they'll still want to go up and ask if they see them.

It seems that some of the revelations are not necessarily true.

"Phoenix Nightclub..." Han Ling focused his attention on the nightclub, "What's going on there?"

The entire conversation between the two parties is being recorded, so there's no need to repeat it after returning to the branch office.

As for the issue of mobile casinos, it needs to be handled by colleagues from other squads. The Major Crimes Squad is currently investigating a murder case and does not have time to conduct surveillance or stakeouts.

Chai Shaosong replied, "The casino is on the fifth floor of the Phoenix Nightclub. Those are VIP rooms, and I heard that some big bosses have booked them for a long time."

Similar to loan sharks, they are truly hidden in plain sight.

Not only casinos do this, but many places involved in prostitution also use the same method. For example, they will book a floor of a hotel as their business address for a long time. It is quite difficult to get up there. Staff will come out to meet you, and you have to go through many hidden doors in the process.

"Does Xiong Chuan go there often?" Han Ling asked.

Chai Shaosong nodded: "He goes there often. Compared to mobile casinos, he prefers Phoenix Nightclub. He can play his winnings there directly, which is much more convenient."

Han Ling could imagine the decadence of Xiong Chuan's life, and it was hard to associate him with the words "good father." It could only be said that the duality of human nature was fully demonstrated.

Even the worst person has things they care about and soft spots in their heart, unless they have a pathologically cold-blooded personality.

After checking all the places in the room and finding no physical evidence related to the murder, Tong Feng and the other two gathered in the living room.

"Let's go." Han Ling stood up. "Come back to the branch office with us. The information you provided is very important. Thank you for your cooperation. After verification, we will handle your case accordingly."

Chai Shaosong: "Officer Han, you're too kind. We're all family here."

That sounds a bit awkward.

(End of this chapter)