The police captain was a tall and thin man in his forties.
He walked ahead and examined Howard Ma who was barely breathing. “Someone call the ambulance!” He shouted.
One of the police officers called emergency services.
“Tang Hao, you are under arrest under the charge of intentional assault!” The police officer walked in front of Tang Hao and said sternly.
“You know my name, Officer?” Tang Hao remained calm.
“Of course I know you! You were brought to the station once,” the police officer said, “Look at how serious you’ve beaten him. You’ll be locked away for at least three years!”
The police captain waved his hands at the police officers to his left and right. “Bring him away!”
“Move it!” A police officer grabbed Tang Hao on each side, then they headed outside.
They got into the police car, then drove off toward the police station.
Tang Hao sat quietly in the car, thinking of something.
‘Who’s the one behind all this?’
Howard Ma was about to tell him, but unfortunately, he was interrupted.
However, Tang Hao could roughly guess who it was. He did not cross that many people recently, perhaps the most eminent one being Lu Bin. After all, the Wu and Lu families wielded a lot of authority in Provincial City.
The mastermind behind Howard Ma must have been either or both of the families.
“Howard Ma might have failed to kill me, but after I’ve beaten him up so badly, the Wu and Lu families must be using that as an excuse to incriminate me.”
Tang Hao furrowed his brows. It was a sticky situation indeed.
He was the one who beat up Howard Ma after all. The only way that he could absolve himself was to get Howard Ma to admit fault.
It was not that easy to get Howard Ma to confess though.
Tang Hao was silent all along the journey to the police station, thinking of a solution.
He was brought to a holding cell at the police station and remained there for several hours.
The sky outside was getting dark.
“Tang Hao! Stand up!”
Two police officers came into the holding cell and brought him to the interrogation room.
The police captain earlier was already sitting there. His expression was grim.
“Howard Ma is dead!”
His first sentence stunned Tang Hao.
‘What? Dead?’ Tang Hao was shocked.
Howard Ma was dead!
How was that possible? He was absolutely clear that he did not use his full strength even though he did beat up Howard Ma quite badly, much less use lethal force. At most, Howard Ma would have been knocked out for some time, but why was he dead?
Tang Hao immediately understood that someone powerful was behind it.
‘What a cruel mastermind!’ he thought.
An intentional assault charge would land him a prison sentence of a few years, but things were a lot more serious when the person died. It was at least a ten-year prison sentence, and he might even get the death penalty.
Now that Howard Ma was dead, he could not get him to admit fault.
‘Things are getting difficult!’ He thought as he added these newfound complications to his consideration.
“How did he die?”
“He succumbed to his injuries not long ago,” the police officer said.
“That’s impossible! Something’s not right!” Tang Hao said.
He might still have a chance to escape punishment if he could discover the truth behind Howard Ma’s death. What he was afraid about was that the mastermind behind the conspiracy to frame him had covered their tracks well enough.
“What’s not right about it? You should know how serious his injuries are! He was badly assaulted, and it’s no surprise that he died. When I first saw him, I thought that he couldn’t even make it to the hospital,” the police officer said.
He tried to restrain his anger because he knew that Tang Hao had a powerful background. He would not hold back if the suspect was someone else instead.
