With the informant's report, Zeng Ping successfully applied for a search warrant and a warrant of arrest.
Yao Chuang was the first to be arrested. His house was searched for a large number of batteries.
Subsequently, Yao Chuang was interrogated. He could not explain the origin of the batteries. With conclusive evidence, he could only confess and give up Sun Jixiang and Meng Chengyong.
Zeng Ping, Tian Li, and Zhao Ming were responsible for arresting Sun Jixiang.
Han Bin, Li Hui, and Sun Xiaopeng were responsible for arresting Meng Chengyong.
After the arrest, Han Bin and Sun Xiaopeng were responsible for interrogating Meng Chengyong.
In the interrogation room.
Meng Chengyong sat in the interrogation chair in a daze. He seemed to be unable to accept it.
After the routine questioning, Han Bin looked at him and asked, "Meng Chengyong, do you remember me?"
Meng Chengyong snorted. "I remember. You visited my house yesterday and even gave me four packs of cigarettes."
"I'll keep the cigarettes for you. When you get out of prison, I'll let you take them with you," Han Bin said.
"I didn't do anything wrong. Why would I get out of prison?" Meng Chengyong retorted.
"Bang!"
Sun Xiaopeng slammed the table with his fan-sized palm. "Meng Chengyong, what kind of attitude is this? Since we arrested you, we have enough evidence."
"Comrade police, don't scare me. If you have evidence, show me." Meng Chengyong turned his head to the side.
"Before the crime, you discussed that no matter who was arrested, as long as the police had no evidence, you would not confess. This is an era of law. The police can't do anything to you," Han Bin recalled.
"How did you …" Meng Chengyong was surprised because he was the one who said that.
"Yao Chuang has already confessed. We found a large number of batteries in his house. He also gave up you and Sun Jixiang. You were responsible for driving and keeping watch. Sun Jixiang and Yao Chuang were responsible for stealing. Am I right?" Han Bin asked.
Meng Chengyong's expression became very ugly. He opened his mouth and closed it again.
"You still want to bear the responsibility?"
Meng Chengyong lowered his head and did not answer.
Walking to the interrogation table, Han Bin smiled. "There's also an interrogation room opposite us. Do you know who's in there?"
"What does that have to do with me?"
"Sun Jixiang is right across the street. My colleague is interrogating him. If Sun Jixiang also confesses, this case will be settled. It doesn't matter if you confess or not." Han Bin pointed out.
"When a gang commits a crime, there has to be one person who is the mastermind and the other two are the accomplices. Who do you think the two of them will point to as the mastermind?"
"I'm not the mastermind!" Meng Chengyong shouted.
"Whether you're the mastermind or not, it's not up to me. Either you say it yourself, or the two of them say it for you," Han Bin said.
"I confess. I told you that I participated in the base station theft, but I was just a lookout. I don't know any technology, and I've never stolen anything before. I have no experience at all. I'm really not the mastermind."
"How many accomplices do you have?" Han Bin struck while the iron was hot.
"Three."
"Which three?"
"Yao Chuang, Sun Jixiang, and me."
"Who's the mastermind?"
"Sun Jixiang is the mastermind. He used to work in a telecommunications company and knows the situation there. Once, the three of us had a drink together and talked about base stations. He said that base stations are usually built in remote places, or even on mountains. There are no people, no surveillance cameras, and there's no fear of being caught."
"How did the three of you divide the work?"
"Sun Jixiang was in charge of the technology, Yao Chuang was in charge of the theft and disposal, and I was in charge of keeping watch and driving. I really didn't do anything else," Meng Chengyong said.
Han Bin took a photo and placed it in front of Meng Chengyong. "Is the car in the photo yours?"
Meng Chengyong looked at it carefully. "Yes."
"Why is the license plate number Lu B3Q15V?" Han Bin asked.
"This was Yao Chuang's idea. He said that he was caught previously because his accomplice's license plate was captured by surveillance cameras. He asked me to change to another license plate, so I changed to this license plate."
"Do you know that this license plate belongs to Meng Jingdong?"
"Yes."
"Why did you use his license plate?"
"My car has to go back to the village. I was afraid that you guys would follow the surveillance cameras to our village and suspect me, so I used Meng Jingdong's license plate." Meng Chengyong sighed and continued.
"Also, we live in the same village. If he was caught, I would also hear the news. So, I don't need this license plate. We can also hide for the time being."
"You're quite scheming." Han Bin sneered.
Checking the surveillance cameras on a large scale was indeed a common method used by the police, but it was more difficult. However, if there were no other clues, the police would only use this method to search. Meng Chengyong's worries were not unnecessary.
"What about the fake license plate?"
"When I saw Meng Jingdong being caught, I buried the license plate."
"Where did you bury it?"
"In the ground."
"You're quite scheming." Han Bin snorted.
If it wasn't for the decoration in front of the car, Meng Chengyong might really have deceived him.
"How many base stations did you guys steal?" Han Bin asked.
"Six."
"Think carefully before you say it."
"It really is six."
"Which six?" Han Bin asked.
"Two near Golden Beach and four near Tong 'an Road. The locations are quite remote, and there are no surveillance cameras around."
Han Bin rubbed his chin and pondered for a while. He said, "On the morning of September 8th, did you guys go near the Antique Street?"
"No."
"Why?"
"The recycling station didn't dare to collect them. We didn't have a place to sell them, so we didn't steal anymore," Meng Chengyong explained.
"Are you sure that the base stations near the Antique Street have nothing to do with you guys?" Han Bin confirmed again.
"Anyway, I didn't go there. I don't know if the two of them did it alone." Meng Chengyong shook his head.
Han Bin looked confused. Could there be more to this case?
…
After the interrogation, Han Bin returned to Team Two's office.
He poured a cup of tea and drank a few mouthfuls.
Tian Li and Zhao Ming also entered the office.
"How's the interrogation on your side?" Zeng Ping asked.
"He confessed. This kid did work in communications before, but he was fired because he drank too much and delayed his work. That's why he hates us," Zhao Ming answered.
"How many cases did he confess?"
"Six."
Zhao Ming said as he flipped open the diary. "According to him, September 7th was the last case he committed. He didn't participate in the theft of the base stations near the Antique Street."
"On this point, the three of them have already confessed to six cases. There's no need to hide one more. I think it's very likely that what they said is true," Han Bin said with a straight face.
"Then who stole the base stations on the Antique Street? Could it be a group of thieves?" Tian Li guessed.
"Could it be a copycat?" Li Hui said.
"I've only heard of copycat murders, but I've never heard of copycat robberies," Zhao Ming said with a smile.
"Get lost. You've only been a criminal police officer for a few days," Li Hui snorted.
"Did you find any suspicious vehicles with the license plate number Lu B3Q15V near the Antique Street?" Zeng Ping asked.
"No." Tian Li shook her head.
"It seems that we have to reinvestigate the theft of the base stations on the Antique Street. This theft is likely to be independent." Zeng Ping's expression was a little ugly.
At first, they thought it was a series of thefts, so they also investigated in the direction of a series of thefts. They might have missed some details.
"Captain Zeng, I suggest we focus our investigation on the maintenance personnel, Li Weili. Previously, we eliminated him as a suspect because he didn't commit the crimes in the other six cases. Now, if we split them into two cases, the theft of the base stations on the Antique Street might be an inside job theft," Han Bin said.
"Brother Bin, the battery pack is welded. He can't transport it alone, right?" Zhao Ming raised his doubts.
"This is just his side of the story. If the battery pack is not welded, but connected by screws, he, a professional, can completely dismantle it by himself," Han Bin explained.
"Brother Bin, did you forget something? The time of the seventh case was between 12 am and 1 am on September 8th. Li Weili was also working overtime that night, so he still didn't commit the crime," Li Hui reminded.
"There is a blind spot here. Disconnection doesn't mean that it was stolen, but it might have been stolen. Don't forget that Li Weili went to the scene. He could have stolen the battery the next morning," Han Bin said.
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