The next day at noon, Fang Rui suddenly received a call from the community security guard.
"That young man has returned, but he says he's not selling his flowers, and he refuses to contact you."
"Alright, thank you."
Fang Rui and Zhang immediately drove to the residential complex.
"Boss, what did you do with Mu Forensic Doctor yesterday? Look how tired she is, she has no energy at work today."
"Investigating the case!"
"Boss, haven't you noticed that I'm still the more useful assistant? At least I have good stamina and never complain about being tired!"
Fang Rui gave Zhang a side-eye, "She's quieter than you!"
"When Mu Forensic Doctor isn't quiet, her destructive power is much stronger than mine," Zhang grumbled.
"Her evidence-gathering ability is better than yours."
"..."
The resident who grew flowers was named Yu Haibo. After learning of Fang Rui's intentions, he hesitated, "I'm sorry, I can't give you the surveillance footage."
"Why not?"
"It's not that I don't want to cooperate with you, but the camera on my balcony is only used to film my flowers. It probably didn't capture any other residents, so even if I gave it to you, it wouldn't be of any use."
Zhang pleaded, "We only need the surveillance footage from July 20th. Even if it's useless, please give it to us. What if there's some clue? We really need this video!"
"I'm sorry, I can't provide it!" Yu Haibo made a gesture of seeing them out, "Officers, I need to rest, so I won't be entertaining you any longer."
"We won't disclose your personal information," Fang Rui said. "You won't need to cooperate with any subsequent court appearances either. You just need to give us the footage."
After hesitating for a long time, Yu Haibo finally told the truth: "I really only installed the camera to film my plants, but if I give you the surveillance footage, and it happens to have captured something it shouldn't have, my reputation would be ruined. What would others think of me? I'm a university professor, if people found out, I could very well be seen as a peeping tom."
"Mr. Yu, we will keep it confidential for you..."
Yu Haibo interrupted Zhang, "Officer, it's not that I don't want to help you. Firstly, my surveillance probably didn't capture any relevant content, and secondly, even if it did capture something, the court would definitely require me to testify, and if I don't testify, this evidence would likely be invalid, so it wouldn't be of any use to you even if you had it. So, you'd better look for other evidence!"
"Mr. Yu, please consider the case of Shen Yuanyuan... If you don't help, Miss Lu could very well be the next Shen Yuanyuan..."
"I'm sorry, I can't help you. I will delete this footage immediately, so don't come looking for me again!" Yu Haibo's tone was very firm. He wanted to be a kind person, but everything he had now had not come easily, and he didn't want to face any risks.
Fang Rui knew it would be very difficult to change his mind, and he didn't want to morally coerce Yu Haibo. He said to Zhang, "Zhang, let's go!"
The surveillance installed on the balcony was private property, and if the owner refused to provide it, the police couldn't force him to, unless Fang Rui and his team could prove that the camera had captured Lu Tian's situation.
After leaving the complex, Zhang kept looking back, "Boss, are we really not going to try to persuade him again? This is the most promising evidence."
"We can only look for other evidence now."
Back at the office, Chen Xue immediately ran over to ask about the result: "Zhang, did you get the footage?"
Zhang dejectedly replied, "No! The owner refused to hand over the footage."
Mu Mian, who had been napping on her desk, sighed upon hearing Zhang's words, "Then Prosecutor Nie will most likely lose this case." Mu Mian then looked at Fang Rui, "Fang Rui, do you want to go comfort her?"
Zhang and Chen Xue both looked at Fang Rui: "Captain Fang, why do you need to comfort Prosecutor Nie? And who is Prosecutor Nie?"
Mu Mian explained, "Prosecutor Nie is the public prosecutor for Lu Tian's rape case. She's also Fang Rui's friend."
"You just continue your nap!" Fang Rui pushed Mu Mian's head back onto the desk. He clarified to Zhang and Chen Xue, "The person Mu Mian is talking about is Nie Yan. Zhang, you know her too."
"Ah, I remember now. That prosecutor is amazing at investigating cases. And she has a strong sense of justice. I've always thought she should be a police officer; she's wasting her talents in the prosecutor's office."
Zhang then turned to whisper to Chen Xue: "She seems to have a crush on the boss, but unfortunately, the boss never picked up on her hints, so they never got together. The CP you're shipping is in danger."
Chen Xue's internal alarm bells started ringing. She looked at Mu Mian, who was carefreely napping, and felt exasperated.
Mu Mian, your man is about to be snatched away, and you can still sleep!
She wanted to shake Mu Mian awake, but she felt a cold gaze on her.
"Chen Xue, don't disturb Mu Mian's sleep! She needs to rest well," Fang Rui warned quietly.
"..." She had worried for nothing.
When Nie Yan learned from Fang Rui that Yu Haibo's surveillance might have captured the incident, she also tried to contact Yu Haibo many times, but he refused to provide the footage and stated that he had already deleted it, asking Nie Yan not to harass him anymore.
Nie Yan handed Yu Haibo a newspaper with a report on Shen Yuanyuan's case: "Mr. Yu, this is a news report about the victim in another case. If you don't help, Lin Qianjie might target other girls. Please reconsider!"
Yu Haibo took the newspaper, but he still refused to hand over the surveillance video to Nie Yan.
With Lu Tian's case about to go to trial, the police still hadn't found new evidence, and the current evidence all seemed to indicate that Lin Qianjie and Lu Tian were in a relationship, which didn't constitute rape.
Although Chen Xue wasn't directly involved, she was more anxious than anyone. She buzzed around Mu Mian like a fly.
"Mian Mian, clever and cute Mian Mian, use that smart brain of yours and think of a way to help Lu Tian!"
She didn't dare to bother Fang Rui, so she could only pester Mu Mian.
Mu Mian heaved a heavy sigh.
Half an hour later, Mu Mian sent Fang Rui and Chen Xue a surveillance video file named "Evidence."
"Mu Mian, where did you get this video?" Fang Rui asked, holding his phone.
Chen Xue opened the video. It was about five minutes long. In the video, Lin Qianjie was constantly using violence to control Lu Tian, while Lu Tian was continuously resisting, but unsuccessfully.
"Mian Mian, where did this video come from? This is solid evidence! Lin Qianjie clearly committed rape!"
Mu Mian looked up at Fang Rui, "Downloaded from Mr. Yu's computer."
Chen Xue exclaimed in surprise, "You hacked into Yu Haibo's computer? You even have hacking skills?"
Mu Mian shook her head, "I don't have those skills, that would be illegal."
Chen Xue breathed a sigh of relief. Good, Mu Mian understands the law!
"So I paid my hacker friend to help me hack into Mr. Yu's computer. We found this video in his computer's recycle bin. My hacker friend helped me download it and sent it to me."
Mu Mian's tone was proud, "Now we have evidence to prove that Lin Qianjie is a rapist!"
"Mu Mian, this footage was obtained through illegal means. We can't use it in court," Fang Rui reminded her. "You can't do things like this in the future, understand?"
"But I bought this video, it's not illegal!" Seeing Fang Rui's expression wasn't very pleased, Mu Mian nodded, "I understand. Fang Rui, I promise, I won't casually hire hackers to hack other people's computers in the future."
Fang Rui patiently explained to her, "The judge will definitely ask about the source of the video. If we can't provide that, this evidence will likely not be accepted, and we might get into trouble."
"Alright."
Fang Rui asked, "Was the video already edited when you hacked into the computer?"
"Yes," Mu Mian said. "But it was in the recycle bin. It had been deleted."
This video was probably edited by Yu Haibo himself, and the fact that he edited it shows that he had considered testifying. But he then deleted the video, which means he ultimately chose not to testify.
Fang Rui thought for a moment and said, "Can your friend put this video back on his computer desktop? Preferably in an easily noticeable place, in a conspicuous format. It would be even better if it could automatically play at random intervals."
