Chapter 411: Framing Xiaotao (1/2)
According to him, Qin Guozhu met with a mysterious man in the early morning on July 13th and the evening on July 17th. He overheard their conversation about Qin Guozhu's son being a murderer. The other party claimed to be a professional at cleaning up such messes. They settled for a price of four million yuan per person.
During their second meeting, the man explained there were some complications. He planned to find the young masters a few scapegoats so the price would be doubled so Qin Guozhu was forced to pay another ten million. Thinking the man was simply greedy, Qin Guozhu lost his temper and only calmed down after the man muttered something to him. Qin Guozhu suddenly turned around.
“Do you have a recording?”
The secretary smiled bitterly, ”How could I? This whole thing is terrifying! If I recorded it and was discovered, the next one to die would be me!”
I showed the secretary the photo taken by Song Xingchen and asked if this was the man Qin Guozhu met with. After studying the photo for some time, he admitted, ”I can’t tell. He wore a mask that day.”
I couldn’t help but wonder out loud, ”Will his testimony be accepted in court?”
“The case is extremely brutal. I think the court will handle it with caution,” replied Xiaotao. “The indirect evidence we have and the witness testimony should be enough!”
”Why are you willing to stand up and testify?” I turned to the secretary. “Is it your conscience speaking?”
The secretary glanced at Xiaotao, his little careless act revealing much information. ”Isn't it the duty of every citizen to report a crime?” he lied.
”Thank you then!”
Upon leaving, I lowered my voice and asked Xiaotao, ”Did you pay him perjure?”
Xiaotao laughed at the seriousness of my tone. ”You’ve got it all wrong. I did spend money, but it’s definitely not perjury.”
In fact, Xiaotao had contacted her father and revealed information about the case. As a commercial competitor of Qin Guozhu, he secretly assisted his daughter through some of his contacts upon catching wind of an opportunity to bring his competitor down. Finally, he bought off Qin Guozhu's secretary at a staggering price.
”Money makes the world go round,” sneered Xiaotao. “This is what Qin Aonan taught me. I’m merely using his methods against him.”
”But if this matter gets out, you’ll lose your job!” I argued.
”Extraordinary circumstances call for extraordinary measures. If we continue like this and allow the scapegoats to go to court, the real murderers will be free and at large.”
I nodded helplessly, ”Don’t worry, I have your back. I won’t speak a word about this to anyone!”
Xiaotao had grown a lot since the time we first met. Although her methods lay in a grey area, her righteous, genuine heart remained the same which I very much admired.
Amid the outcry of public opinion, the four young masters became public enemy number one. Their fathers’ companies were also implicated with stock prices diving, employees resigning and suppliers suspending partnerships.
Netizens shared prayer and blessings for the six victims on Weibo with the post being forwarded by millions. The public expressed its meager form of justice with its actions!
We were glad to see that justice still existed in this world and the evil would eventually be punished.
On August 15th, the case of the four young masters was officially tried. On that day, I attended the trial with Xiaotao. The prosecutor, an old classmate of Director General Cheng, was well known for his unyielding integrity in the judicial circles. The battle of words in court was incredible; the prosecutors refuted the lawyers' defense one by one.
When the judge summoned the witness to appear in court, there was no movement for quite some time. Then, a bailiff whispered a few words into the judge’s ear and a temporary adjournment was announced.
The charged atmosphere was suddenly doused with a bucket of cold water as the spectators burst into a noisy discussion. We were still unaware of the situation even after Xiaotao made a few phone calls. A smirk rose to Qin Aonan’s lips and my heart sank within me like a plummet of lead.
Right then, Xiaotao received a phone call. After a brief conversation, she reported, ”Song Yang, something’s happened. One the journey to the court, the car carrying the witness was knocked over by a truck. The witness and several bailiffs died on the spot!”