National Forensic Doctor-Chapter 949 - 885: Snatching Credit

"Wang Lin, have you thought it through?"

Meng Chengbiao came in holding a stack of documents, took a seat and sipped some water before he started asking with a relaxed expression.

"I’ve thought it through, I’m willing to confess." Wang Lin quickly sat upright and said, "As long as I confess truthfully and make a meritorious contribution, I can have my sentence reduced, right?"

"Right, truthful statements are the basis, and significant meritorious contributions can lead to a reduced sentence. If you want to save your life right now, this is your only chance." Meng Chengbiao had already briefly explained the situation to Wang Lin during a previous interrogation, and now he spoke with a relaxed tone, "I suggest you make a decision sooner rather than later, don’t let everyone else get the credit for contributing, leaving you to suffer in the end."

Hearing this, Wang Lin panicked inside: "Has Yuxin confessed?"

"I can’t tell you about the interrogation of others. But you should know, you only make a contribution by revealing information that the police do not have." Meng Chengbiao spoke calmly.

"I know. I understand." Wang Lin had grown a bit wiser since her arrest and after a moment of thought, she said, "Then I’ll start with one: Ma, as in Ma Jiansheng; he really did kill someone—the kind where he slit their throat. He personally told me that when they were working on the construction of the new district, he made an enemy with someone and then took that person out at night. He even mentioned the guy’s name, called... called..."

"Ma Yuan, right?" Meng Chengbiao waved his hand and said, "This case, someone has already made a meritorious contribution."

"Who?" Wang Lin’s eyes widened.

Meng Chengbiao replied, "I can’t tell you that. After the victim’s throat was slit, their heart was also stabbed, right?"

Meng Chengbiao mentioned the name and the manner of death, which had been reported in the newspapers. To make Wang Lin confess honestly, he deliberately provided more detail, which immediately broke down her defenses.

Wang Lin felt deflated, then became furious in a flash, feeling like her chest pained with the swelling of her dense glandular tissues, she blurted out indignantly, "Was it Fan Yuxin who told you? That little bitch! She heard it from me. But she doesn’t know the inside story of this matter, I know much more about it..." ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm

"Then continue talking," Meng Chengbiao naturally would not stop her; he had all the time in the world, while confessions from suspects did not come easily.

Wang Lin said all she knew, then asked, "With this, do I count as having made a contribution?"

"As I said before, someone has already mentioned this case, which is why I told you to come clean sooner and make a contribution earlier. However, it’s alright, this can be considered as part of your truthful testimony. Just talk about other cases and make a contribution in those," Meng Chengbiao couldn’t say he was deceiving her, his failure to provide truthful testimony was, after all, permissible in an interrogation.

Wang Lin cursed in her heart, knowing that Meng Chengbiao had tricked her, but she didn’t dare to say it out loud. She could only think more, then said, "I know another case, that little bitch Fan Yuxin, she’s stolen things."

Betraying her close friend indeed would spoil their friendship. But, considering that her close friend might have already betrayed her, and furthermore, might have eagerly exceeded Wang Lin by contributing information about Ma to gain merit, Wang Lin was quite upset.

Meng Chengbiao encouraged her, "Let’s hear it."

"If I tell you, will it count as making a contribution?"

"It will. But it will only count as an ordinary contribution. For you, that’s not enough."

"What do you mean?"

"That’s what the law stipulates." Meng Chengbiao seemed like a kind person as he patiently guided her, "Look, you are involved in a collaborative crime with several others, and there are cases of causing multiple deaths. However, from your point of view, if the court does not label you as the mastermind or organizer later on, and then you make a significant meritorious contribution, you still have a chance to survive. But just an ordinary contribution, that doesn’t allow for a sentence reduction, it’s only enough for a reduction of punishment, which for you, is not quite sufficient."

Tears immediately streamed down Wang Lin’s face.

This was an advanced skill she had mastered since childhood; as the saying goes, women are made of water, and as long as one is adept at crying, one can always gain an extra bit of sympathy...

Meng Chengbiao was heartless.

He simply stared at Wang Lin with the greasy eyes of a 40-something ED-ridden man, looking at her like a big carp that had just been hooked—a very fine catch. Worthy of posting on his circle of friends to prove that today’s time spent was fruitful, but that was it.

"I... I don’t want to die." Wang Lin had never seriously considered this issue before. Most criminals are like this, if they could foresee their capture, understand how miserable it would be, or even that it could lead to death, they wouldn’t commit crimes so readily.

Because they don’t foresee it, or don’t have any feeling when they do, criminals treat the law as nothing, and the Criminal Law as a path to wealth.

But the environment and life in a detention center, just a day or two is enough time for a person to come into contact with the cold reality. What is out of touch, what life is not accustomed to, in detention centers and prisons, in an instant, teach one to cherish, including life.

Meng Chengbiao’s tone turned icy in a timely manner: "If you don’t want to die, you need to find a way to make a significant contribution to merit leniency."

This time, the people arrested belong to a group that committed crimes together. Usually, they did their own things, and when they needed help, they would find partners, so it’s very likely that they each hold some dirt on the others.

With the emotion shown by this inmate, Meng Chengbiao didn’t believe a single tear.

Wang Lin asked, "What counts as a significant contribution to merit leniency?"

Meng Chengbiao said, "There are clear stipulations in the law for this. The criminal acts you report or the clues you provide, if they could lead to a life sentence or the death penalty under the law, would count as a significant contribution to merit leniency. So you see, theft will not result in a life sentence or the death penalty, so it doesn’t qualify as a significant contribution."

Of course, regardless of whether a significant case is reported later, the smaller cases mentioned earlier still need to be discussed in detail.

Interrogations are recorded, and the content mentioned by these suspects cannot be denied knowledge of later, otherwise, it is not a "truthful confession," and without the premise of a truthful confession, any merit or significant contribution will be greatly discounted.

Wang Lin understood, gritted her teeth, and said, "So basically, it means exchanging someone else’s life for my own?"

Meng Chengbiao looked at Wang Lin as if he was looking at bait.

"I... Then I really do know such a case." Wang Lin’s voice grew softer. "If I tell you, can I get a lesser sentence or lighter punishment?"

"If it really can be recognized as a significant contribution to merit leniency."

"I... I know Liu and the others have been involved in drugging and gang rape. If this is sentenced severely, could it be life in prison?" Wang Lin said through clenched teeth.

"Was it picking up a corpse on Christmas Eve last year?" Meng Chengbiao signaled to the police officer beside him to take notes while saying, "Someone has already reported this case."

"She... damn Fan Yuxin!" Wang Lin finally cursed out loud.

Meng Chengbiao waved his hand, saying, "Don’t curse. And don’t think that only Fan Yuxin is confessing. Everyone wants to make a significant contribution to merit leniency. So many of you were caught at once, and more are being caught, the rush to merit leniency is so immense, the merits aren’t enough to go around. If you don’t hurry up, I am thinking of moving on to another interrogation room. Do you understand that you’re affecting my KPI?"

Wang Lin was stunned and actually felt a bit embarrassed.

She’s the type of person who would generously shop to boost sales performance, subconsciously not wanting to let Meng Chengbiao down.

Wang Lin racked her brains: "There’s another one, I know someone from Qingshi City, when he was running a KTV, he would find minors to accompany the drinking, and those unwilling girls were often intoxicated and sent to clients, that counts as coercion, right?"

"That counts. Li Jianjiang from Qingshi City, right?" Meng Chengbiao is in charge of the interrogation, and he has to consolidate the results from all directions, and from him, goes out the directives on which leads need to be verified, and the coordination needed from others.

Contrary to Meng Chengbiao’s calm demeanor, Wang Lin started to show panic. These shameless beasts, one by one betraying the people around them, just to merit leniency, wouldn’t I lose out on my chance at a contribution?

"Let me think, let me think some more." Wang Lin’s handcuffs made a clattering sound.

"No need to rush." Meng Chengbiao sat steady as if fishing. For a criminal like Wang Lin, it’s very difficult to survive, and sometimes even one significant contribution is not enough.

However, whether to recognize it as a significant contribution, that’s for the prosecution and the court to decide, Meng Chengbiao just needs to conduct the interrogation.