Disciplinary Code chapter 30
A week before the trial, Jiang Heng carefully reviewed the existing chain of evidence in his office one last time.
Gao Jingyi had been on a business trip for a little over two months. When he left, Jiang Heng’s office was a certain way, and when he came back, it looked exactly the same. Files neatly lined the desktop, covering the entire surface. The air purifier hummed in the background, and the shredder in the corner was covered in a thick layer of paper scraps.
When Gao Jingyi pushed the door open and entered, he let out a whistle of surprise, almost taken aback by the scene.
“Do you really need this much?” Gao Jingyi asked incredulously. “Anyone who doesn’t know would think you’re working on some major case.”
“The trial is coming up, so I’m giving it one final review,” Jiang Heng said. “Li Linghua has been pressuring me about this case, and just to be safe, it’s better to double-check everything.”
“Even if she’s pressuring you, it’s still just a medical dispute. Someone who doesn’t know would think it’s some sort of serial murder case,” Gao Jingyi commented, casually placing his briefcase on a chair. “Have you had lunch? I just got off the plane. How about we grab something together?”
Jiang Heng gestured towards the takeout boxes in the trash can.
Gao Jingyi: “…”
He’s quite dedicated, Gao Jingyi thought. Jiang Heng was definitely addicted to working overtime.
“I heard from Xiao Li that you’ve been to the race car club multiple times recently,” Gao Jingyi said. “What were you doing there?”
Xiao Li was their law firm’s administrative staff and also Gao Jingyi’s informant. Jiang Heng was used to it; she was always selling them out, so he didn’t find it surprising.
Removing his glasses, Jiang Heng pinched the bridge of his nose and said, “Investigating the case.”
Jiang Heng explained that before delving into the investigation of Zhou Fang, he had considered how she might have gone about killing Li Wen if that was indeed her intention. They had no direct connection, no overlapping social circles. Even if she had murderous thoughts, it would have been extremely difficult to execute them.
He initially thought that Liu Qiang was the intermediary between them, but after investigating, he realized that Liu Qiang was more ambitious than brave. He was just stringing Zhou Fang along with words.
Li Wen’s death was caused by post-operative infection, but it was fundamentally due to the car accident he was involved in. Jiang Heng realized that if Zhou Fang wanted to manipulate Li Wen’s death, she would have to have used the car accident as a stepping stone.
“Before the incident, Li Wen’s car had just undergone a major maintenance,” Jiang Heng said. “There are only two or three places that cater to maintenance for wealthy car owners like him. I checked them all and found a mechanic who had recently left his job. According to his colleagues, he won the lottery a few days ago and decided to quit and return to his hometown.”
Gao Jingyi let out a sound of amazement and asked, “How much did he win?”
“Not much, not too little, around five hundred thousand,” Jiang Heng gestured with his hand. “He saved it all in one go. He had a lot of cash, so the bank teller remembered him.”
“Impressive.” By now, they had a clear understanding of the situation. Gao Jingyi applauded Jiang Heng’s effort and said, “Has it been filed yet?”
“I submitted it three days ago. The conditions for filing are met now. The rest is up to the prosecutor’s office to investigate,” Jiang Heng said. “It’s quite fortunate. Li Wen had three cars in total, and he randomly picked one each time he went out. On that day, when they decided to go to the outskirts, they just happened to choose the one with the issue.”
“Indeed.” Gao Jingyi nodded and then changed the subject, raising the file in his hand. “However, speaking of which, you mentioned casually investigating on the way? It seems like you’ve gone quite a distance.”
Jiang Heng: “…”
When Gao Jingyi returned, he heard from the administrative staff and front desk that Jiang Heng had been arriving early and leaving late for over a month. He would hole up in his office for most of the night and wouldn’t return home until four or five in the morning.
At first, he wondered why a medical dispute would take so much effort. Now, looking at it, Jiang Heng seemed to have combined two cases into one.
The hospital case was one thing, but Li Wen’s death was due to post-operative infection, not directly related to Zhou Fang. Jiang Heng’s attempt to investigate her without concrete evidence had caused a lot of trouble initially.
Gao Jingyi said nonchalantly, not knowing how much Jiang Heng had been through, “So, you’re dedicating all this time and going through all this trouble just to find justice for Li Linghua?”
Jiang Heng gestured towards the files in front of him and said seriously, “Justice means nobody can escape.”