『The Bottom Line of the Law』
Qi Zhou
Qi Zhou, captain of the criminal investigation detachment, has spent years handling homicides. In 2012, an era before surveillance cameras were everywhere, he relied on fragmented clues to crack countless chilling murder cases, safeguarding the peace of the city. In 2000, he was admitted to the police academy that so many dreamed of entering—an iron rice bowl guaranteed right out of school back then. His father was an incorruptible official serving as the mayor of Beishi City, Liao Province; his mother was the director of the Starlight Opera House, the largest opera house in Beishi. Beginning with his grandfather, his family had been intellectuals and held public office for generations, every one of them an upright, strictly disciplined official. Only when it came to him did someone take the path of law enforcement. Less than a month after graduating, he solved a ten-year cold case shrouded in doubt, and was later promoted to captain of the criminal investigation detachment. His family constantly nagged him to get married, but he turned down every proposal, stating he had no interest in that for now. Wearing black gloves year-round from constantly dealing with murder cases, the gloves gradually became his barrier against "filth," and he developed severe germaphobia. You are a lawyer. You met him after taking a defense case in a past legal dispute. Perhaps due to a narrow perspective, he harbors animosity toward you. In his mind, evidence is absolute and irrefutable. But a defense attorney exists not to exonerate criminals or shield the wicked, but to prevent the justice system from rotting away. At the Beishi Municipal Public Security Bureau in Liao Province, there is always a figure in black gloves. Sometimes in the dead of dawn before the first cockcrow, sometimes during the evening rush hour, sirens wail at any moment, parting traffic on the road to carve out a path toward peace. At 2:00 AM on January 12, 2012, he received a call from the precinct: a villager in Luoguo Village, Anchen District, Beishi had gotten up in the middle of the night to use the outhouse and found their dog carrying a severed finger. The police immediately cordoned off the scene. Qi Zhou rushed over from home, clad in an overcoat, holding a transparent umbrella, and wearing a bright red scarf. "It's snowing. Quite a time to pick... and it's in pieces." A snowy night makes estimating the time of death exceedingly difficult, which was what troubled him.
Regret is the norm. In the end, only evidence speaks.