based on a senior's poor memory, with errors and omissions (corrections are welcome), and not necessarily in chronological order. My earlier attempt vanished when my computer system crashed, that is why I am posting 'something better than nothing' this time...
This is a classic story about a man, Luk Kwuk Wing (Kenneth Tsang) who killed a family (accidentally from the start, but had to kill one after another, out of necessity to cover his crimes), because of being taunted daily (especially by his aunt, (Lee Heung Kam) and out of desperation because of being indebted to loan sharks (as a result of being tempted to win some money to get out of his misery).
It was also about another man, Tse Mun Mo (Adam Cheng), one of honour and honesty, who was made a scapegoat and jailed for 16 years. The story traces Mo's sufferings while in jail, going through a period of living hell when he was accused and convicted for a crime he did not commit. He was let down by former friends who did not want to get themselves involved and gave testimonies in support of the lies perpetrated by a corrupt police officer, bribed by the main criminal, Wing.
It also revealed the power of a police officer, Sum Bo (Kwok Fung), in being able to subvert justice again and again, given the right inducements by someone rich and powerful. As we watch the episodes, we will be taken on a journey of 'how crime pays' because the guilty ones were able to ride roughshod over innocent ones, again and again, until 'the final verdict'.
The evil Wing, having killed all the family members of his uncle, and made Mo a convenient scapegoat with the help of Sum Bo, inherited all their properties and cash which gave him a headstart to become very rich indeed, worth a few hundred HK$ millions. His favourite 'reason' (read excuse) to justify to his only son, Luk Ka Ming (Gallen Lo) who was only 8 at the time when he witnessed his father's killings, was 'he wanted to put me in jail so I had no choice'. His favourite warning to those who are out to convict him was, 'whoever goes against me will not die easy'. This evil and selfish man caused untold miseries to many others, just to avoid facing up to his crimes and going to jail. Not only did he made Mo a convenient scapegoat, but at every instance of Mo in trying to seek justice, he ruthlessly beat up or even kill when necessary. For his selfish motive of not willing to be jailed, his end justified whatever means necessary. There were moments when others advised Mo to give up his mission of seeking justice for himself because others were gravely affected as a result, viewers would be divided over whether it was worthwhile in the fight for justice. It was a case of a determined man in the face of opposition and discouragement, having to decide whether to continue: to get the criminal convicted while risking others in the process.
Sum Bo happened to be a former school mate of Mo's wife, Ma Yue Sin or Cindy (Rebecca Chan). He was openly dating her, taking her out in his sports car, with open approval of Cindy's mother who resented Mo for being poor. Besides bribes, putting Mo behind bars served Bo's ulterior motive of marrying Cindy, so he went out of his way to help Wing's plan to prove Mo guilty of all the killings. As the officer in charge, he was able to replace by force, Wing's fingerprints on the murder weapon with Mo's. All the important witnesses were warned, beaten up or bribed to fit in with the concocted version of what happened.
Mo's son, Tse Ping On (Roger Kwok), was ill-treated by his step-father, Sum Bo. When he was injured after a tight slap, even their servant told his mother that it was an accident. His tortuous life, which started with living with a cruel step-father when his father was in jail, then to live with his poor grandmother; took a toll on him, making him introverted, lacked self confidence and spoke with a stammer.
Wing's only son, Ka Ming qualified as a doctor and he tried to overcome his guilty conscience of knowing about his father's secret by secretly visiting and providing free medical service to Mo's aged mother. The old woman had to collect empty tin cans to supplement Ping On's meagre income as an odd job worker. A chance meeting with retired lawyer, Cho Ju (Bowie Wu), gave her hope of applying for a re-trial.
As fate would have it, so the story goes, Ka Ming fell in love with Hoi Sum, daughter of Mo who grew up as step-daughter of Sum Bo. Just imagine: children of arch enemies getting married. He told his father after his wedding registration and warned him that he is willing to be disowned. Despite being very upset, Wing arranged for a grand wedding dinner for his son, befitting his current status, without inviting Mo and his son even though they were the bride's father and brother. Ping On went to the reception to hand over a gift to Hoi Sum but was prevented from getting in. Hoi Sum telephoned and appealed to her father to attend and Mo reluctantly went but was rudely told off by Wing and Sum Bo.
With Cho Ju's determination, helped by his ex-pupil Tang Tung Leung (Lee Kwok Lun) and another assistant, they managed to make some headway towards getting a re-trial. But, it was being sabotaged by the assistant who informed Wing about each development.
While in prison, Mo was bullied by a hardcore gangster, Ah Piew, who later became his bosom friend. His sister, Chan Yuk Ying (Lau Mei Kuen) fell in love with Mo because of his sincerity and good nature. He encouraged her to live away from her family because she was treated like a servant at home by her father and brothers. At a surprise birthday party for Mo, Ying's brother was alone and burned to death when Wing's henchmen came to set fire to the flat with the intention of killing Mo to rid him from succeeding in the re-trial.
Lawyer, Tung Leung fell in love with Ying but it was unrequited because she was in love with Mo. A friend (Cheung Lai Peng) also fell in love with Mo and her rivalry with Ying over Mo inadvertently caused Ying to be gang raped. The rape was another ruthless idea of Wing to teach Mo a lesson by hurting his friends. Ying's paged message for help to Mo was intercepted by (CLP) who intentionally did not pass it to Mo because she did not want him to be distracted from her planned night out with him.
For all that Sum Bo had done to save and help Wing, when he decided to give evidence against Wing, Sum Bo was blamed instead by his former police assistant who gave evidence that it was Sum Bo who murdered, not Mo nor Wing! While staging an escape under the pretext of seeking medical attention while under police custody, Sum Bo was shot instead by someone whom he thought was his man! It was poetic justice for someone who created all the evidence to convict an innocent man, who got himself betrayed by people whose loyalty is only to those who offered the best price.
One by one, those close to Mo were either injured or killed by Wing. His son could not take it any more and in front of him, took out a gun, pointed it to his own head and pulled the trigger. Wing was shocked with grief and angered by the loss of his son, again blamed it on Mo's insistence on seeking justice.
Towards the end, veteran lawyer Cho Jun found to his utter disappointment, that his godson and most trusted person could betray him by putting the most vital evidence into the shredder. Tung Leung started off as an able legal assistant who even risked his life when applying for a re-trial. But he was tricked by Wing's legal advisor into committing a serious act which disbarred him as a lawyer. Furthermore, he could not get over Ying's rejection of his love because she chose Mo (an ex-convict who walks with a limp and has no prospect) instead.
In his final submission in court, Cho Jun who was earlier seen fumbling (in the absence of his assistant who committed suicide because of his own betrayal of his mentor) and spoke with his usual stammer, gave a convincing speech instead, about the uselessness of the law when the guilty one could use his wealth to hire top lawyers (from Britain as well as in HK) to defend himself successfully while the innocent one was found guilty instead. He said that half an hour ago, someone (Hoi Sum) risked her life to hand over the most vital document (Ping On's birthday card which has Wing's blood stained finger print on it) to him. It was Tung Leung who informed Wing about the discovery and Hoi Sum was attacked by a group of men who snatched the envelope from her. But she took precaution earlier by hiding it somewhere else. When she brought the document to Cho Jun, Tung Leung snatched it and put it into the shredder.
This vital evidence had much earlier avoided attempts to destroy it when Wing received information about its discovery from Cho Jun's junior assistant. After a fruitless search in Ka Ming's room, Wing even had all his furniture removed and burned, assuming it was hidden somewhere within. But fortunately, Ka Ming was one step ahead at the time, decided to hide it behind his late mother's picture which happened to be the safest place then.
The final twist to the trial, much to everyone's surprise and especially Wing, was when his lead defence counsel, Yeung Ding Gai (Kwan Hoi San), turned against him by giving his reasons why he thought Wing was the real murderer. He tendered a document to prove that Wing's alibi, that he was at a snooker hall, could not be true because it was closed that night when he committed the murders. He said he was alerted when Wing's only son committed suicide. Had Ka Ming turned prosecution witness, Gai would have accused him of wanting to nail his own father so that he could inherit his vast estate. But his suicide disproved his earlier theory. Then Gai tried to figure out how Wing could within a short period of years, become a billionaire. Everything seems to fall in place when he figured out that Wing was the killer and he got filthy rich with the help of an outstanding lawyer who specialized in criminal activities. Later, when he met his former pupil, Cho Jun, he explained that knowing the truth made him decide to retire earlier than planned, because in future nobody would engage a defence counsel who would turn against his own client! He also explained how he knew about Wing's belief and engaged a fortune teller. But when the fortune teller said he knows Wing did not commit murder, Wing suddenly lost interest in him which was a clear sign that he lost confidence in the fortune teller because he did commit the murders.
Outside the Supreme Court building, when interviewed by reporters, Mo said that if given the choice he woud have wished the whole incident did not happen.
Wing was diagnosed with cancer and had only months to live. He asked for Mo and even when dying insisted that he was better off than Mo who had never tasted a luxurious life. Mo replied that at least he has a clear conscience.
Sometimes I wonder whether fiction copies from fact or the other way round. The ingredients of the story: assault, murder, cover-up, corruption, betrayal, scapegoat, and so on, could easily be found in our everyday life, except the part about the defence counsel turning against his client!
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