Empire of Shadows

The police cars arrived quickly, because it was a well-known person who had called the police.

The police looked around the hole opened in the ice and found no other unusual circumstances.

“There’s a water net below. There should be some findings.”

A firefighter had discovered the water net. The purpose of the water net was actually to filter out some large solid garbage. In fact, doing so could not greatly improve the environment.

But people believed this. They believed that installing a few steel wire nets in the river could change the river’s environment.

The Federation people were very smart. They were already a step ahead of the people of other countries in technology.

But the Federation people were also very stupid. They would actually treat the most ridiculous lies as truth.

Soon the firefighters chiseled open the ice and found the body of the chairman of the board, which had been caught on the water net, as well as his fishing rod, and that huge fish.

People let out cries of surprise, not because they saw the body of the chairman of the board, but because of that really big fish.

Some reporters who had already arrived began to take photos. The police officer in charge of this case looked at his subordinates with an unfriendly gaze, which made his subordinates even breathe carefully.There are always some people who, for a little money, will leak case information.

He didn’t know who had leaked it this time, but someone must have, otherwise the reporters would not have arrived so quickly.

“Sergeant, some reporters are asking… do we need to take that fish back?”

The sergeant glanced at the prey, which clearly exceeded his perception of the length of a fish, and hesitated for a moment. “What do they want to do?”

“Take the fish?”

“No, they want to take a picture of the fish.”

In the end, the sergeant did not refuse, because even if he had, there would still be reporters who had a way to get this photo.

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

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 no longer young. We are not necessarily a match for those behemoths.”

“But he was very stubborn. He didn’t want us to interfere. He said it was his prey alone. We could only respect his idea.”

“If you also fish, you will understand what I mean.”

The police officer in charge of the notes nodded. “Yes, I also like to fish. I understand your thoughts.”

“Only the one who defeats it independently is a warrior.”

The old man sitting on the table opposite him sighed. “You are an understanding person.”

“So, the tragedy just happened like that. I was so shocked the moment I saw him being dragged into the water. When I wanted to grab him, he had already been dragged away by the fish.”

“I tried to go into the water, but the water was too cold, and I’m just an old man. I don’t know if I would have had a chance to come back alive after I jumped in.”

“I flinched, because of fear. This might be a little embarrassing, but if it happened again, I would still choose this way.”

The police officer’s pen stopped 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. Before the case result comes out, it’s best not to leave New Golden City.”

The old man nodded while also shaking hands with the police officer. “I know what to do.”

“You can leave now.”

The old man saw his friend at the entrance 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.

The sergeant took the statement and the on-site investigation report and looked at it for a long time. He felt that something was not right with this case.

In fact, there were many suspicious places. For example, the moment the chairman of the board fell into the water, there should have been a rescue capability.

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

The sergeant saw an icebreaker around. If the old man had not realized the seriousness at the beginning, then they could have quickly broken the ice with the icebreaker, but they had not done so.

He had asked an expert. Because of the freezing, the flow rate of this river was not very fast. In other words, they were qualified to rescue…

There were several details that he couldn’t figure out. He took the report and the statement to the police office.

The chairman of the board of the Liji Group was not a small character. His death had already attracted the attention of many people, both in the government and in society.

So no matter what conclusion the police department gave, it had to be “careful,” at least not make a mistake.

“How is it, is there a problem?” the chief asked.

The sergeant handed the report and the statement to the other party. “You take a look first.”

The chief took about twenty minutes to read the statement and the report. He glanced at the sergeant sitting opposite the desk. “There are some things that can’t be explained.”

The sergeant nodded, admitting this.

But the chief also said, “But they also have a basis that can make everyone believe.”

“Can you believe that two forty-year-old friends…” he flipped through the materials again, “I noticed that the three of them were actually former alumni.”

“They are alumni, and also friends. They have known each other for forty years, and they have all had extraordinary development and performance in their respective fields.”

“No one would believe that they wanted to murder the deceased. They had no motive, no reason.”

“Just now I asked the coroner. The deceased died of asphyxiation after drowning. His lungs were full of water, and there were no injuries on his body, except for his knee, which was slightly fractured.”

“The coroner said it might have been caused by a fall.”

“No external injuries, died of asphyxiation. Unless someone held him down in the water and drowned him, otherwise there is only the possibility of an accident.”

The sergeant continued, “Yes, the two people at the scene do not look like people who could hold him down and drown him in the water. Their body types and their physical conditions do not fit this hypothesis.”

The chief stacked all the documents together. “So there are only two possibilities.”

“One, something happened that we don’t know about.”

“Two, this was just an ordinary accident.”

“Whether it’s one or two, it’s telling us, that’s it.”

This was Golden State, New Golden City. Neither of them had said that the Liji Group’s lawsuit had just opened today, and the chairman of the board had inexplicably slipped and drowned.

To say that there was no connection at all, they would absolutely not believe it.

In addition, a large number of accounts had been shorting the Liji Group’s stock during this period. There was a terrifying conspiracy hidden behind this.

The sergeant was a little sullen. He knew that this case should continue to be investigated, but he also knew that he couldn’t do so.

He couldn’t deal with the two eyewitnesses at the scene. They were rich, influential, and could afford expensive lawyers.

Now that they were willing to sit here and talk to the police department about the incident, it was just out of “respect.”

When they decided not to be respectful, they could even refuse to speak directly with the police and have their lawyers convey their messages.

So, just as the chief had said, that’s it.

The sergeant nodded. “I’ll give the final report later.”

The chief nodded and pursed his lips. “What a terrible day.”

He hesitated for a moment. “Remember to notify the deceased’s family and the Liji Group. They have the right to know that he is dead.”

It was not clear whether this terrible day referred to the fish that was swimming freely in the river but was caught.

Or the chairman of the board who had “slipped” and fallen into the water, was dragged under the ice by a fish, and drowned in the river.

Or maybe… the Liji Group?

At the trial, the three judges reviewed and judged the materials submitted by both sides. This case was actually very simple, so simple that it shouldn’t even have appeared in the Supreme Court.

A large amount of evidence proved that the staff of the Liji Group at the docks had been unfriendly to the dockworkers not just once, and not just now.

They had always been arrogant, would curse the dockworkers for being lazy, and would often use the method of “reporting them to get them fired” to intimidate and threaten them.

So the motive given by the workers, that they had the idea of retaliation because of their dissatisfaction with and hatred for the arrogance of these people, as well as their curses and insults, was plausible.

In the Federation’s judiciary, motive is the most important part of the entire case.

Whether it’s a criminal case or an ordinary case, people attach great importance to this.

There have even been cases in the history of the Federation’s judiciary where all the evidence pointed to the defendant, proving that the defendant had a high probability of being the murderer, but because the motive was not established, the appellate court ultimately found the defendant not guilty.

So for the judges of the Federation, they will first look at the motive.

If the motive is appropriate and established, then the case is basically half-settled.

The rest is to submit evidence to prove that they did indeed commit the crime.

And the core evidence in this case was that these workers had admitted their criminal behavior, and it was consistent with the motive.

After more than two hours, the court found that the fact and the crime of the workers watering the wheat out of revenge for the arrogant employees were established.

This finding directly caused a great commotion in the court. The Liji Group’s lawyer almost rushed to the judge’s face.

He knew very well that the Supreme Court also believed this was an independent world, so this lawsuit was basically lost.

The Liji Group’s lawyer requested to speak with the workers. The Supreme Court respected his wish and had these people transferred from Golden Port.

This was their last chance to turn the tables.

After the trial was over, the executive president had a private talk with the lawyer for a while and then left by car with full confidence.

If they really bought off a suspect, as long as this suspect recanted his testimony, then what followed would be a long process of investigation and evidence collection.

They would have to go to the docks to visit more workers and ask them if they had ever received criticism and insults from the employees.

It sounds like this kind of evidence collection work is very simple and doesn’t consume much time?

No, in fact, there are also many particulars in this. They will show those workers many photos, including the employees who were working that day, and also some who had never worked at the docks.

So many workers, they couldn’t possibly remember who every employee was.

As long as someone made a mistake under the lawyer’s guidance, then the lawyer could question the workers’ testimony, and then use some other methods to continuously delay the time.

As for the follow-up?

He didn’t consider these for the time being. He would deal with the problem at hand first.

At nearly seven o’clock, the president finally finished his work.

He sometimes couldn’t understand how those poor people could put down their work on time at six o’clock and leave without any hesitation or reluctance.

Weren’t they anxious about their own dire living conditions?

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

He didn’t understand.

A big shot like him was still actively working overtime, while those poor people had already started to enjoy the pleasure after work.

Not just now. He would have to go to a social engagement later. In his view, a social engagement was also a kind of overtime.

He needed to socialize with those people hypocritically. Even if there were many people he didn’t like, he had to pretend to get along well with them.

This was actually very painful, but he had to bear this pain, because this was work, this was life.

These few days, the capital forces shorting the Liji Group had not only not decreased, but had increased. Now the shareholder side had given him some pressure. He needed to do something.

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

“Boss, it’s a call from the police department, on line one.”

The president frowned. He nodded and said, “I know.” The secretary took the initiative to leave the door and closed it again.

He thought for a moment, about twenty or thirty seconds, and then picked up the phone and pressed the button for line one.

“This is the President’s office.”

“I’m sorry, Mr. President. I didn’t want to disturb you so late.”

“I’ve called your other numbers, but no one answered…”

The president became a little impatient. “Get to the point. I have an important event later.”

“Alright, alright, I can see you’re a busy man.”

“Do you know… Mr. … ?”

The president was taken aback for a moment. “Of course I know. He is the chairman of our board of directors.” By this point, he had already sensed a somewhat ominous atmosphere.

Sure enough, his premonition came true.

“I regret to inform you that… Mr. … accidentally fell into the water a short while ago and is already dead.”

“What?”

“This is impossible.”

The president directly interrupted the call. “How could such a thing happen?”

“Which police station are you from?”

His tone was not good, but the person on the other end still said truthfully, “I am from the city police department…”

“I’ll be right over, fuck!”

He slammed the phone down, not only because the news of the chairman of the board’s sudden accidental death made him feel that the situation was getting out of control, but more importantly, those hyenas were now shorting the Liji Group.

He had arranged to have dinner with some investors tonight, precisely to discuss how to boost stock market confidence.

Now, such an important character as the chairman of the board had suddenly died accidentally. It would inevitably make people think of many bad things.

The stock price would definitely be terribly affected.

He didn’t even have time to tidy up. He called the Vice President to help him deal with those investors first. He would be there soon.

A dozen minutes later, the president, having run two red lights, arrived at the police station and also got the case file. Looking at the final reports in the case file, anger grew in his heart.

“Fuck!” he slammed his fist on the table. The gazes of the police officers on duty in the main hall all focused on the sergeant’s office.

The sergeant was comforting the president. “I’m sorry…”

The president couldn’t sit still. He stood up. People thought he was sad and angry because of the chairman of the board’s death.

In fact, he was angry because the company’s stock was about to plummet.

Now it was fucking after the market had closed. Even if he wanted to run away in advance, he couldn’t. Tomorrow would definitely be a black day for the company.

His assets were going to shrink dramatically. Why did this damn old man have to go fishing on the ice in the fucking suburbs at this time?

Can you fucking eat fishing for a living?

Fuck!

He stood and paced back and forth for a while before looking at the sergeant. “Sorry, I lost my composure a little.”

The sergeant just thought their relationship was very good. After all, a good friend had died. It was certain that there would be some behaviors that people couldn’t understand.

Sadness, anger, and maybe some other things.

“It’s understandable,” 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 suppressed a little?”

“Don’t announce it to the public for now.”

The sergeant was silent for a moment. “There were many reporters at the scene,” he decided to tell the truth, and this truth was precisely the most hurtful.

The president only felt his vision go black. He held onto the corner of the desk, looking at the report in his hand. Countless thoughts collided in his mind. He asked through gritted teeth, “Then can you… announce that this might be a murder?”

The sergeant at this time finally realized that his anger was not because the chairman of the board had died, but purely because of other things.

He showed a slightly cold expression. “Mr. President, this case has already been closed. All the evidence points to this being an accident.”

“If you are not satisfied with this conclusion, you can have your lawyer appeal and have us reinvestigate. Otherwise, it is very difficult for us to continue to waste police resources on a case that already has a result.”

The president’s expression became very ugly. He casually threw the case file on the table, pushed his hair back from his forehead with both hands, and then directly pulled open the door. “Let’s leave it at that.”

He left the office as he spoke.

The sergeant looked at the president’s retreating back and shook his head. This was New Golden City. Anything bizarre could happen.

Before an irresistible force appeared, he would not challenge the truth behind these bizarre stories.

Doing so was no different from seeking death.

Because you never know what you will find in the darkness.

The truth you want, or some ugly faces, or even the bullets aimed at you.

(End of chapter)