Zhang Yi'ang had originally thought that once the delivery person was questioned, the suspicions about him would naturally be cleared up. But before long, Wang Ruijun rushed over again, delivering a jaw-dropping update: "Director Zhang, the woman who delivered your takeout last night has gone missing."
No way!
To frame him for Ye Jian's murder, even the delivery person was being manipulated?
What kind of place was Three Rivers Estuary? Who had this kind of omnipotent power?
Zhang Yi'ang was stunned speechless. Fortunately, Li Qian kept her wits about her and quickly asked, "When did this happen? How could she just disappear?"
Wang Ruijun explained, "We called the delivery person using the order details from your phone. When she heard we were the police and wanted her to come to the station for questioning, she said 'okay, okay' and hung up in a hurry. A few minutes later, we called back to confirm the time, saying it was urgent and we'd send a car to pick her up immediately. She hung up mid-sentence, and when we tried again, her phone was off."
Li Qian dismissed it, saying, "She probably thought it was a scam call. There are too many fake police calls these days."
"I doubt it's that simple. At first, we thought her phone died or she was busy with deliveries, so we contacted the delivery platform. They gave us her ID information. When we checked, her ID turned out to belong to a missing person reported in Jiangsu Province three years ago. We also found out she has a husband, who disappeared around the same time three years ago."
Li Qian was puzzled. "What does that mean?"
Wang Ruijun said, "Most likely, the couple was deep in debt and fled from Jiangsu to Zhejiang under fake names. I had the local police check the address she registered with the platform. We're still waiting for updates."
Zhang Yi'ang gritted his teeth, lamenting his bad luck. The one witness who could prove he was home last night turned out to be a fugitive from debt, hanging up at the mere mention of the police.
A few minutes later, Wang Ruijun received a call from the local officers, and the news shocked them again. The police had knocked on the couple's door, but no one answered. A neighbor said the couple had just dragged two suitcases out, carrying a child, and left in a hurry, claiming they were returning to their hometown.
Wang Ruijun muttered, "They must owe a lot of money."
Zhang Yi'ang took a deep breath, suddenly fired up. "Even if that delivery person flees to the ends of the earth, we have to bring her back!"
He immediately gathered Wang Ruijun, Song Xing, Li Qian, and several key officers, leading the team himself. Three police cars, mobilized with the urgency of pursuing a Class-A wanted criminal, sped to the delivery person's address.
It was a small grocery store in an old district, its rolling shutter now tightly locked.
The police questioned a neighboring shopkeeper, who described the owners as a couple in their mid-thirties with a child under two. They had rented the shop over six months ago, selling snacks, drinks, and some vegetables. They were polite and didn’t seem like troublemakers. The store was divided into two sections, serving as both their business and living space.At around four in the afternoon, the couple left with their child and two suitcases, locking the rolling shutter behind them. When neighbors asked, they said a relative back home was critically ill and they were rushing to see them one last time. A neighbor provided the male shop owner’s phone number, but calls to it revealed it was already switched off.
Upon learning this, Zhang Yi'ang pondered for a moment before immediately ordering, “Break the lock open and see if there’s any other way to contact these two.”
“Break in? That… that’s against procedure. At most, they’ve skipped town to avoid debts—they haven’t committed any crime. We don’t have any paperwork for this,” Wang Ruijun objected hesitantly, then tried to persuade him. “Chief, you know how strict oversight is these days. Civilians are quick to file complaints. If we break into their shop in public while they’re not home, people online will definitely accuse us of abusing state power.”
The other officers glanced around. Many onlookers had already taken out their phones to record, as a group of police officers gathered outside the small shop was unusual. A few recognized the police ranks and noticed several high-ranking local bureau officials among them, which only heightened their curiosity.
In today’s era of self-media, news spreads fast. If these officers publicly broke into the shop only to find it was all a misunderstanding, the backlash would be severe. If a deputy chief of a county-level police bureau could forcibly enter a resident’s home in broad daylight without any formalities, what else wouldn’t they do? How could civilians feel safe?
Other detectives also urged Zhang to calm down, suggesting they take things slowly. If they couldn’t find the delivery person as a witness, they could explore other leads. The Ministry of Public Security had repeatedly emphasized proper law enforcement conduct. If the shop owners had genuinely rushed home due to a family emergency, causing a scene over a misunderstanding would be impossible to justify.
These detectives had only known Zhang for a week—hardly close enough to risk violating protocol for him. Some even pointed out that even if Chief Qi approved, proper procedures still had to be followed.
Seeing their firm stance, Zhang realized that pushing further might alienate even Wang Ruijun and Song Xing. But if the delivery person remained untraceable, what could he do? Everyone in the bureau knew Ye Jian had written his name before dying—how could he maintain his position? He’d likely be transferred back to the provincial office soon, accomplishing nothing. That would become a permanent stain on his career.
For now, he had no choice. He crouched by the rolling shutter, bending low to peer through the three-finger-wide gap at the bottom. His view was limited to a small patch of the floor, revealing no clues. In desperation, Zhang discreetly pulled two 100-yuan bills from his pocket with his left hand, hidden from view, crumpled them into small balls, and flicked them through the gap.
Standing up with a puzzled expression, he said to the others, “They left in such a hurry they didn’t even pick up 200 yuan lying on the ground?”
The other officers crouched to look. “Huh! There really is 200 yuan on the floor.” One scratched his head. “Weird, how did I miss that earlier?”
Zhang motioned for all the officers to gather around, his eyes sharp with suspicion. “Think carefully—does this couple seem like they’re just fleeing debts?” he hinted.Several seconds passed before Song Xing suddenly realized, "You're right! We've seen plenty of runaway debt dodgers, but never one this sharp—packing up and fleeing the moment the police call, abandoning their shop without even grabbing the money. This isn't the behavior of a debt dodger; they must be fugitives with a criminal record!"
Zhang Yi'ang remarked casually, "If it were just a minor case, they wouldn't go to such lengths."
This reminder made the entire team see the light.
"Right, it's no small crime—they must be involved in something major!" "And they had a child with them—could they be human traffickers?"
Police can apprehend criminals in emergencies and complete the paperwork afterward. All detectives have an unshakable enthusiasm for capturing major fugitives.
With this reasoning, the team quickly found tools to pry open the rolling shutter. When the door opened, everyone was stunned. The shop was in complete disarray—drawers pulled out onto the counter, everything rummaged through haphazardly.
Zhang Yi'ang had initially just wanted to fabricate a reason to convince his team that the couple inside were fugitives, so they could break in and find another way to contact them. But seeing the scene before him, it was clear the pair had left in extreme haste, and even he became convinced they were indeed criminals. The onlookers outside, noticing the state of the shop, also realized something was amiss.
In an instant, the way the team looked at Director Zhang changed. Leadership was leadership, after all—professional intuition was professional intuition!
Zhang Yi'ang led the team inside, passing through the shop and heading straight to the back room.
The room was less than ten square meters, with a bed on one end and a makeshift toilet on the other. A table for cooking stood in the middle. Boxes that had been under the bed were now dragged out—some placed on the bed, others on the floor—all opened, their contents scattered around.
Zhang Yi'ang ordered his men to ask the neighbors how long ago the couple had left. Soon, they returned with the answer: about an hour and a half earlier, by taxi, looking very hurried.
After a brief moment of thought, he checked the time—it was now 6 p.m., and darkness had fallen. He made a decisive call: "Notify all units, including police from surrounding towns and districts, to secure the bus stations, train stations, and all major entry and exit points in the city. Contact the taxi companies for vehicle tracking data and surveillance footage along the routes. Launch a citywide manhunt immediately—we must intercept them in Three Rivers Estuary tonight!"
"Mobilizing the entire police force for one couple seems excessive, doesn't it? We don’t even know how serious their crimes are," Song Xing remarked dismissively, shaking his head.
Zhang Yi'ang wasn’t about to second-guess himself. If this delivery guy escaped Three Rivers Estuary today, what would he do at work tomorrow? While everyone else was investigating the Ye Jian case, would he, the sole suspect, just sit in the office playing computer games?
With a sweeping gesture, he declared, "Do as I say. I’ll take full responsibility!"
With the boss putting it like that, the team had no room for argument. They immediately called headquarters to mobilize all available officers, even recalling those on leave.With the arrangements set, Zhang Yi'ang and the officers continued searching the house for any remaining items. Although the couple had left in a hurry, they had surprisingly taken every personal belonging with them. Not a single photo or any item containing identity information could be found in the entire house—only piles of clothes belonging to the couple and children's clothing and supplies remained, making the couple's identities even more suspicious.
Zhang Yi'ang stood up and surveyed the small partitioned room of less than ten square meters, analyzing, "The clothes and shoes are all clean, and it's clear they kept things very tidy in daily life. This family doesn’t seem like ordinary migrant workers." His gaze swept over the women's clothes, shoes, and the few skincare products in the bathroom before finally settling on a pair of women's sneakers. He crouched down, slightly closed his eyes, and began making deductions: "The woman is between 160 to 163 centimeters tall, with a proportionate figure and weighing no more than 105 pounds. Her skin is slightly dark. She dresses neatly, is efficient in her ways, walks briskly, and likely has a somewhat hoarse and low voice."
Li Qian nodded inwardly, impressed by her superior's professional skills. Being able to profile a suspect just by observing the scene was no ordinary feat—it took years of experience.
An officer beside her diligently recorded the characteristics before asking, "What about the man?"
"I don’t know about the man."
Curious, the others asked, "Then how did you figure out the woman’s details?"
"I saw her last night."
Realization dawned on them, and they dropped the subject. After searching a while longer with no further discoveries, they had no choice but to return and wait for results.
Back at the station, they grabbed a quick bite to eat. Barely an hour later, Zhang Yi'ang received word from his subordinates at the train station: the couple and their child had been intercepted in the waiting hall. They were acting strangely, refusing to speak at all, so they had to be brought back to the station.
Soon after, the officers escorted the couple before Zhang Yi'ang. The husband had a round face and looked like an honest man. From the moment he entered, he hadn’t spoken a word, but his expression remained calm. The wife held the child in her arms, her brow furrowed with unease, her hands even trembling slightly as she clutched the baby.
Zhang Yi'ang fixed his gaze on the woman and asked the question that concerned him most: "Last night, around 9:40, you delivered a takeout order to me. Do you remember?"
He expected her to say "yes," which would completely exonerate him from any suspicion in Ye Jian’s murder case. To his shock, the woman timidly replied, "I... I don’t remember."
Zhang Yi'ang took a large step toward her, staring intently. "Take a good look at me. Think carefully!"
"I... I don’t know. I didn’t deliver any takeout last night. I’ve never seen you before." The woman kept her head down, not daring to meet his eyes.
Everyone turned skeptical glances toward Zhang Yi'ang. He had claimed this woman delivered his takeout last night, yet she insisted she’d never seen him. A takeout delivery person, a complete stranger, had no reason to frame him—especially not in a police station.
Even Li Qian’s expression turned odd, and she couldn’t help but wonder if their superior was somehow involved in Ye Jian’s murder.
Zhang Yi'ang flew into a rage, clenching his fists and shouting, "It was you who delivered my takeout yesterday! Why won’t you admit it?"As soon as the words were spoken, the woman suddenly burst into loud sobs, crying out, "I didn't send anything, I didn't! Stop asking me!" She collapsed to the ground, clutching her child.
Witnessing this sudden turn of events, everyone froze in place. Judging by this reaction, was the woman lying? But why would she frame Director Zhang?
At that moment, the husband slowly crouched down and gently patted his wife's shoulder. After a long pause, he took a deep breath and stood up again, meeting Zhang Yi'ang's gaze directly. "Come at me if you must. This has nothing to do with my wife. I killed all of them—fifteen lives in total. She had no part in it. She just married the wrong man in this lifetime, and I've failed her. Let her go."
In an instant, everyone's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as they struggled to remain composed. They replayed his words in their minds to confirm—yes, he had just admitted to fifteen murders!
Fifteen lives—what kind of concept was that?
The man sighed, gritting his teeth. "I hid in Three Rivers Estuary for over half a year, thinking I was safe. Never imagined you'd already had your eyes on me—even the food delivery platform could assign orders specifically to my wife. Impressive. Fine, debts must be repaid sooner or later. I fucking admit defeat!"
Though the suspicions against him hadn't been fully cleared, Zhang Yi'ang had inadvertently captured a Class-A wanted criminal—earning himself a newfound respect.
OpenNovel