On the police side, after apprehending Mei Dong last night, they first learned of Liu Bei's whereabouts from Zheng Yongbing, and then from Li Qian about Zhou Rong being robbed, prompting a two-pronged operation.
By morning, outside the demolition zone where Liu Bei's location had been reported the previous day, over a dozen police cars had sealed off all entrances and exits, with barricades keeping curious onlookers at a distance.
Approaching noon, Zhang Yi'ang arrived at the scene. After navigating a narrow alley dozens of meters long, he found Wang Ruijun busy directing operations and called him aside, lowering his voice to ask, "How’s the situation with Zhou Rong?"
Wang Ruijun responded energetically, "Last night, I immediately followed your orders and arranged for multiple seasoned plainclothes officers to stake out all sides of Zhou Rong’s villa. After working through the night, we observed that starting around nine this morning, Zhou Rong’s company security team, Hu Jianren, the Lang Bowen brothers, and others all rushed to his house. It seems Li Qian’s intel was correct—Zhou Rong really was robbed!"
"Of course it couldn’t be wrong! I saw Zhou Rong get robbed with my own eyes—it’s not just hearsay!" The moment the words were spoken, the two turned to see Li Qian standing nearby, glaring indignantly at Wang Ruijun. Wang Ruijun opened his mouth but couldn’t retort. If it had been any other officer eavesdropping on a superior’s conversation, he would’ve kicked them to the moon, but with Li Qian, there was nothing he could do.
"Li Qian—" Zhang Yi'ang stared at her in surprise. "What are you doing here?" He had assumed that after last night’s ordeal, she’d be too terrified to keep stirring up trouble. Yet here she was again.
"I heard something happened here, so I rushed over."
"I meant, after the fright you had last night… why are you back today?"
"Who said I was frightened? That little incident last night couldn’t scare me!" Li Qian lifted her chin, her demeanor a far cry from the terrified expression she wore the night before. "Yesterday, I lacked experience, but I still had a dagger prepared—otherwise, I wouldn’t have been the first to escape even with my limbs tied up and relayed such crucial intel to you. And yet, some ungrateful people dare to doubt what I saw with my own eyes! Hmph! Their conscience must’ve been eaten by dogs! I’ve made up my mind—since I was the one who discovered Zhou Rong was robbed, I have the right, no, the demand to participate in the entire investigation. Otherwise, others will just steal all the credit!"
"Li Qian, don’t worry, I won’t steal your credit. I still have some dignity," Wang Ruijun chuckled awkwardly, shaking his head. Then, noticing Director Zhang’s displeased expression, he quickly straightened up and said sternly, "What are you thinking? Of course the director would never do that either! Who would steal your credit?"
Zhang Yi'ang nodded. "Li Qian, rest assured. Ruijun and I both guarantee that if Zhou Rong’s case is solved, you’ll be credited as the top contributor. Leave the dangerous fieldwork to the veteran detectives—last night was far too risky for you. If there’s nothing else, head back to the station and rest. I’ll have someone escort you. Xiao Wang—"
"Director," Li Qian interrupted, "there’s something I need to discuss with you."
"Go ahead."
"There are too many people here."
Wang Ruijun glanced around. "It’s fine. It’s just the three of us—no one else can hear."
Li Qian shot him a look. "Three is still too many."
Wang Ruijun froze for a few seconds, coughed, straightened up, and walked away.Li Qian finally spoke up, "Director, if Zhou Rong's case is solved, when you report to your superiors, will you mention that it was me who infiltrated Zhou Rong's home and discovered the intel?"
Zhang Yi'ang was taken aback. Of course, that was impossible. If Li Qian's uncle found out about this, it would be disastrous. He could only give an evasive answer, "The specifics of the case-solving process don't need to be explained in such detail, I think."
"But if I don't participate in the subsequent investigation, and you put me forward for commendation, others will see that I didn't do anything to earn it. How would that be fair?"
"We can say you provided significant technical assistance to the investigative process."
"But if Uncle Guo asks me about the specifics of the investigation, I can't explain the work I didn't do. I'd have to tell the truth."
"You—"
"So—" Li Qian's lips curled into a smile, her tone leaving no room for argument, "I must participate in the subsequent investigation!"
Zhang Yi'ang stared at her blankly, realizing she had actually figured out his weak spot. He swallowed hard, weighing his options. For now, he needed to handle the immediate situation. "Fine, I agree to let you participate in the investigation, but you must follow my orders. No more acting on your own!"
"You can't just order me to sit at a computer and look up information."
"I—"
"I must be on the scene, and I must participate in the arrests!"
Zhang Yi'ang took a deep breath. "You must stay by my side."
"Deal!" Li Qian extended her finger and hooked it around Zhang Yi'ang's large hand, giving it a firm shake.
From a distance, Wang Ruijun, the so-called "superfluous man with a conscience eaten by dogs," cast a resentful glance their way. Suddenly, he noticed the two of them shaking hands on their agreement. He sighed—leadership perks were truly something else. Just then, he saw Director Zhang beckoning to him and hurried over.
Zhang Yi'ang pursed his lips and instructed Wang Ruijun, "From now on, let Li Qian participate in the investigation."
"Let her participate?" Wang Ruijun was speechless. So physical contact really did facilitate backdoor deals. But he didn't dare interfere with the director's personal affairs, so he quickly agreed, "No problem!"
"Continue about Zhou Rong."
Wang Ruijun glanced at Li Qian, who was now openly standing nearby listening. Since Director Zhang didn't stop her, he felt at ease to proceed. "After Zhou Rong gathered his gang's key members, they stayed in the villa for at least an hour before dispersing. We didn't have enough manpower to follow them all. I contacted Xiao Mi, the informant provided by Zheng Yongbing. He's a driver and wasn't involved in the specifics. He heard from others that Zhou Rong had sent out a large number of people to find two individuals."
"What about Zhou Rong himself?"
"He's been in the villa the whole time and hasn't left."
Zhang Yi'ang thought for a moment. "This time, Zhou Rong must be using all his resources to find those two robbers. We can't track all his men, and if our surveillance is discovered, it'll alert him. Here's what we'll do: first, arrange for someone to keep a close watch on the villa. Meanwhile, we'll deploy additional personnel to try and catch those two before Zhou Rong does."
After dismissing Wang Ruijun, Zhang Yi'ang led Li Qian forward to a house cordoned off with police tape. Medical examiners and evidence department personnel were bustling around the premises. Song Xing, spotting Zhang Yi'ang, set aside his work and guided them to a pile of excavated soil. The dark brown sand had been spread flat and was noticeably damp—clearly stained with blood."What's the specific situation?" Zhang Yi'ang stared at the sand for a while before waving over several key team members. Li Qian also pretended to be one of them and crowded in to listen to the case discussion.
Song Xing was the first to speak, distancing himself from responsibility: "Last night, as instructed, I gathered over forty people from the criminal police, special police, and other departments to block all exits of this area. Plainclothes officers were sent in first to investigate but didn't find Liu Bei. At daybreak, the main force moved in collectively and searched every house thoroughly, but still no sign of Liu Bei. However, we discovered large amounts of bloodstains in this sand and on the second-floor floorboards of this house. From the traces, it appears the perpetrator transported sand from downstairs to upstairs to clean the bloodstains there, then swept the sand back down."
Zhang Yi'ang turned his gaze to Forensic Doctor Chen. Old Chen stated with certainty: "I can say with 100% confidence that someone died here last night!"
"Where's the body?"
"Where the body went, I don't know. I only handle autopsies."
Li Qian interjected: "But without seeing a body, how can you be sure someone died?"
No one in the world could doubt Forensic Doctor Chen's professional skills, and Li Qian was no exception. He immediately glared angrily: "Can't you see all this blood? If three years' worth of menstrual blood was lost all at once, could anyone survive?"
Li Qian muttered under her breath: "Without testing, how do you know it's human blood?"
Forensic Doctor Chen snorted coldly, looking at her disdainfully: "Testing? Do I need testing? Let me tell you, instruments are useless to me. After thirty years as a medical examiner, one glance is enough for me to say with 100% certainty this is human blood, and it happened last night! Hmph, when I first became a police officer, everyone here was still a child. Back then I encountered a case with just blood everywhere and no body. Someone asked me then—'Little Chen, do you think the person is dead or alive?' Guess what happened—"
No one was interested in guessing the rest of the story. Song Xing directly interrupted: "Forensic Doctor Chen, any other information?"
"That's all. As for who killed Liu Bei, that's your criminal police business, not mine."
"What! You're saying Liu Bei was killed!" Everyone present exclaimed.
Forensic Doctor Chen looked at them matter-of-factly: "Isn't it obvious Liu Bei was killed?"
Song Xing countered: "We were trying to arrest Liu Bei. With all this blood found, shouldn't it mean Liu Bei killed someone else and escaped? How could it be someone else killing Liu Bei?"
Forensic Doctor Chen scoffed: "With analytical skills like yours, how did you even become a police officer?"
"I—"
"Song Xing, didn't I just confirm with you—when people saw Liu Bei arrive last night, did he come empty-handed or with luggage?"
Song Xing nodded: "Yes, I said Liu Bei was dragging a suitcase."
Forensic Doctor Chen then turned to Section Chief Xu in charge of evidence: "Old Xu, didn't you just say there were signs of struggle upstairs—two people's footprints and suitcase wheel marks?"
Section Chief Xu also nodded. Because there was considerable blood on the floor and sand downstairs, the scene traces were quite clear."Isn't the conclusion obvious? Judging from the traces on the ground, there were two people upstairs last night. We've already compared the footprints—the smaller ones belong to Liu Bei, and the other person had larger feet. Liu Bei dragged the suitcase upstairs, but in the end, it was the person with larger feet who took the suitcase away. So where did Liu Bei go? With so much blood on the ground, Liu Bei must have been killed by the other person, and his body was stuffed into the suitcase and taken away."
Section Chief Xu, reminded by this, quickly turned back to examine the traces left by the suitcase's movement. He found that the marks were indeed deeper when leaving, just as Forensic Doctor Chen had said. Liu Bei had been killed, his body placed in the suitcase and dragged away, making the departing suitcase heavier and leaving deeper marks. He agreed with Forensic Doctor Chen's assessment.
Forensic Doctor Chen spread his hands. "Here I am, a medical examiner, having to analyze crime scene traces at a critical moment—what a hassle!" Though he complained, his expression was smug, and his herniated disc seemed to straighten with pride.
Everyone stood still, carefully considering Forensic Doctor Chen's conclusion. From the scene's traces, his analysis made sense. But Liu Bei was a desperate criminal—it was more likely he'd kill others than be killed himself. Was this really possible?
Forensic Doctor Chen swept his gaze over the group, looking at them disdainfully. "You still don’t believe Liu Bei’s been killed?"
Song Xing coughed and said, "Forensic Doctor Chen, this is still just your personal inference—"
"My personal inference? Let me tell you, my conclusions never leave room for alternatives. I’ll make you a bet—if the DNA from this blood doesn’t match Liu Bei’s, I’ll resign. If it does, you resign!"
"No need... no need to go that far," Song Xing groaned, completely overwhelmed by Forensic Doctor Chen's intensity.
Zhang Yi'ang cleared his throat and declared publicly, "I believe Forensic Doctor Chen’s judgment."
The others immediately sided with Forensic Doctor Chen, chastising Song Xing. Forensic Doctor Chen's conclusions were always ironclad—how could they be wrong? And here you are, questioning him—first, you nearly got Li Qian killed by not pressing the elevator during Liu Bei’s arrest, then last night you almost let Mei Dong escape because his lackeys tricked you with a decoy, and now you led a team to catch Liu Bei and still came up empty-handed. How dare you doubt Forensic Doctor Chen’s findings?
Zhang Yi'ang pondered for a moment. The fact that Liu Bei had been killed just as they were about to arrest him made the case even more perplexing and required further investigation. Right now, the most pressing matter was Zhou Rong. Getting to the two robbers before Zhou Rong wouldn’t be easy, especially since this was confidential—they couldn’t disclose Zhou Rong’s robbery to too many people or mobilize a large force. How to catch these two? Best to consult Director Gao.
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