Lang Qiao looked out the window at the gloomy and overcast sky, feeling increasingly like there was no light in the world. "Dage, that can't be, how could he run off? When did you find out that he'd run? There are quite a few of you, can't you even keep an eye on an old fart?"
Luo Wenzhou reached out and took the phone from her.
The criminal policeman on the other end felt very wronged, because prior to this, aside from needing to keep a few key individuals in the country because of the Zhou Clan's economic problems, the investigation targeting Zhou Huaijin's kidnapping had mainly focused on Yang Bo, Hu Zhenyu, Zhou Huaixin, and other such people. Of course people had been left to watch Zheng Kaifeng, but they hadn't classified him as a key focus of surveillance and hadn't watched him closely—after all, neither the inheritance dispute nor the battle between the legitimate and illegitimate sons had any connection to the old fellow.
If not for the unexpected development of Dong Xiaoqing attacking the Zhou brothers, come the weekend, the tail on him may have been dispersed.
"This morning, Zheng Kaifeng went to the Zhou Clan building downtown as usual. We followed him all day. When he left the office, we were watching as he got in his car in the parking lot and followed to Zheng Kaifeng's villa in the city. Then we heard the boss tell us to bring him in for questioning. The car hadn't pulled into the house's yard yet, and we stopped it. Then we found out that the old man in the car wasn't him!"
"Someone palmed off a fake on you and you didn't know. Are your eyes for breathing or eating?" Luo Wenzhou simply wished iron could turn straight into steel. Then his speech paused slightly, and he said, "Bring in all the accomplices who lured you away. Tao Ran, take people to the Zhou Clan building and investigate the security camera footage. Get a search warrant. Zheng Kaifeng's office, his domestic bank accounts, his residence… Search it all. He's definitely done something, or else why would he run?
"Lang-er, you guys get in touch with the traffic department, set up roadblocks on all the highways and national roads in and out of the city. Notify the security checkpoints at all the airports, train stations, and long distance bus stations, focusing on Zheng Kaifeng's distinguishing characteristics. Everyone move. There's still time now, we can't let him leave Yan City!"
Lang Qiao had been looking forward to getting off work once Zhou Huaijin's interrogation was over. Taking a taxi, she could still make it to the evening screening of the movie. Now it seemed the plan had fallen through entirely. She couldn't resist a howl of anguish. "Why has so much been going on lately? It's all because Mercury's in retrograde!"
Tao Ran thought what she was saying still had to do with the case and quickly asked, "Mercury?"
"The planet," said Lang Qiao feebly. "In retrograde."
Deputy-Captain Tao, who had grown up in a cave on a hilltop, was bewildered. He didn't understand this thieves' cant. "Huh? In retrograde towards where? Don't they all move from west to east?"
"…" Lang Qiao took a breath and patted Tao Ran sympathetically on the shoulder. "All right, Deputy Tao, we all know you don't have a girlfriend.—I'm saying, this year really has been abnormal. From the first half of the year to now, how much overtime have we worked? Each month's workload surpasses all of last year, one case after another, and all of them major cases—if it's not something wrong at a sub-bureau, then it's a case of serial kidnapping and murder floating to the surface after more than twenty years, and now it's a wealthy family drama, going all over the city—listen, leaders, colleagues, are we still living in a peaceful cosmopolitan metropolis here? Why do I feel like I'm on the front lines in Syria?"
She didn't mean anything by this, but Tao Ran heard her, and his heart lurched—
True, this frequency wasn't normal to begin with.
In fact, this city was too big, with too many people. There would always be places that sheltered and condoned evil that the people living in the light wouldn't notice, but the reason a chronic condition could become chronic, could exist for a long time, was that it had evolved methods of survival and concealment. Otherwise, it would be thrown off as society constantly progressed…but surely it wouldn't happen so coincidentally, in such concentration?
Everything that had happened in the last half a year seemed to be a series of firecrackers strung together—one spark, and they were all vying to explode.
For no reason, Tao Ran once again thought of that mysterious "Zero Hour Reading" and couldn't resist calling Luo Wenzhou to a stop when he'd already gone to the door. "Wait, Lao Luo!"
Luo Wenzhou's steps paused.
Tao Ran said, "Do you remember when shifu…"
Luo Wenzhou gave an "Ah!" Not waiting for him to finish, he quickly replied, "Right, right, I know, the anniversary of Lao Yang's death is coming up soon, I'd nearly have forgotten if you hadn't reminded me, so we absolutely have to come to a pause in this case as soon as possible, and in a few days we'll buy some flowers and go see shiniang(6)!"
Tao Ran froze at once.
Luo Wenzhou gave him a deep look and pushed Fei Du's shoulder. "If there aren't enough service cars to deploy, drive your own. When you get back I'll reimburse you for gas. If you don't want to work overtime this weekend, then move quickly!"
He quickly finished and, urging Fei Du, left in a hurry.
"Deputy-Captain Tao, are we going to the Zhou Clan building now?"
Tao Ran only came to himself when Xiao Haiyang suddenly spoke behind him. "Huh? Oh… Right, let's go—some of our colleagues from the economic crimes branch must still be there. I'll drive, you give their leader a call…"
Just now, Luo Wenzhou had not only interrupted him, he'd also said something wrong—something only someone who was familiar with the subject would understand was wrong.
Their shiniang was Lao Yang's wife, a career woman with a busy job. When Lao Yang had been alive, they had only seen this shiniang a few times. Later, when Lao Yang had died in the line of duty, she'd taken a hard blow and thought that the police had snatched away her dear one; after that, she'd been especially unwilling to see any of his colleagues from when he'd been alive. So Luo Wenzhou and the others also did their best not to bother her, each year going in secret a day early to sweep his grave. During the Spring Festival, while Lao Yang's daughter Yang Xin was on winter break, they'd take the opportunity to take her out and give her some presents and New Year's money.
They certainly wouldn't "buy some flowers and go see shiniang"—shiniang was allergic to pollen. Yang Xin had told them during last year's Spring Festival, when Luo Wenzhou had been seized by a sudden whim to buy a bouquet, so they both knew.
Tao Ran frowned. What had Luo Wenzhou been hinting at by interrupting him with such a nonsensical statement?
"This car of yours is too flashy." Luo Wenzhou shut the door of Fei Du's enormous SUV. "If the parking lot's a little full, it'll be hard to get it in, and it's a gas guzzler.—Hey, watch the doors."
Fei Du steadily drove the car out of the gates, turned at the intersection, and flipped on the car radio. The signal was perfectly clear, without any trace of abnormality.
"It looks like there's no listening device installed here." Fei Du turned the sound down on the radio, then reached out for an inconspicuous device under the dashboard, scanned the surroundings, saw that there was nothing unusual in the car, then laughed. "After all, I change cars every day. I don't know myself how many I have."
Luo Wenzhou nodded somewhat wearily and stretched—
The mysterious package sent to the Dong house had just brushed shoulders with the police investigating the house; because of this, Xiao Haiyang had hinted that the person who'd sent the package was familiar with the City Bureau's manner of handling cases and was likely one of their own people. Luo Wenzhou had openly contradicted him then because he'd been refusing that guess.
Because the investigation of the Dong house had been obvious. Even the neighbors living in the same estate knew the times they'd come and gone; they wouldn't have been able to avoid the eyes of someone who had been paying attention. If the person who'd sent the express delivery package was in fact the criminal, it would have been very easy to avoid the police; there was no need for a mole.
Xiao Haiyang's guess couldn't serve as evidence.
They were all colleagues he worked with day in and day out. Luo Wenzhou was absolutely unwilling to suspect anyone for no reason.
But the timing of Zheng Kaifeng's flight really was too delicate.
Dong Xiaoqing had attacked Zhou Huaijin around midday. The circumstances had been too confused; Luo Wenzhou had only cared about catching the killer, and Fei Du had been with Zhou Huaixin. Neither had been able to spare attention for anything else. No one had been able to control the scene, and there had been many reporters present. Before the first wave of police had arrived, the reports had already gone out to all kinds of media.
If Zheng Kaifeng had fled immediately after seeing the news, that would have been fairly normal—though if that had been the case, he'd have left the city by now, run to who knew where.
But it was clear that when the news of Dong Xiaoqing attacking Zhou Huaijin had just gone out, Zheng Kaifeng had been totally calm, not thinking he could implicated in this in any way—because neither he nor Zhou Junmao had known that, twenty-one years ago, there had been a terrified teenager outside the door of the study.
So why had he immediately run off in a panic after Zhou Huaijin had told them the inside story of what had happened twenty-one years ago?
Who in the Criminal Investigation Team…or the whole City Bureau was his listening ear?
"Reasonably speaking," Fei Du suddenly said, "you shouldn't be in my car right now. After all, looked at from every point of view, I rather seem like the 'mole' among you."
Luo Wenzhou looked at him.
"First of all, I know Zheng Kaifeng. I'm more familiar than any of you with the Zhou Clan." Fei Du's hands lay loosely on the steering wheel. "Second, the whole thing happened after I came. According to ordinary logic, on the basis of analysis of credible historical record, the newcomer is always the most suspicious."
Luo Wenzhou laughed noncommittally. "In your eyes, is your shixiong the sort of scum who'd suspect a person right after confessing his feelings for him?"
Fei Du froze.
Luo Wenzhou didn't wait for him to speak, saying, "I know it's not you, because you're really a rather solitary person. Your relationships with other people go no further than mutual benefit. I really can't think of what Zheng Kaifeng might have that would be more attractive to you than my good looks."
Fei Du: "…"
When he was flirting, honeyed words came effortlessly out of his mouth. He considered his own level to be very high. But having experienced this deity's ability to use honeyed words to flirt with himself, he knew that he still had some things to learn on this subject and should be more modest.
"That's true." Fei Du had no choice but to echo his boast. "Do you mean that now I can let my mind wander, pull the car over, and kiss you?"
"No, we're on business," said the upright Captain Luo, scrupulously separating private and public interests. "Anyway, I know you're thinking your shixiong may be a mental deficient, only you won't say it right out on account of my handsomeness."
On account of those bowls of noodles in the evening, Fei Du really didn't want to take a dig at him, but apart from that he really had nothing good to say, so he could only shut his mouth.
"Actually, it's because of what I heard you ask Zhou Huaijin in the interrogation room," said Luo Wenzhou. "After his little brother was stabbed, Zhou Huaijin didn't ask why Dong Xiaoqing had done it, and you deduced then that he might have some idea about Dong Xiaoqing, but he'd only remembered it after receiving a shock. Otherwise he wouldn't have run the risk of letting her get close at the outset.—Hu Zhenyu is one of Zhou Huaijin's people, Zhou Huaixin is his precious little brother, Yang Bo is the person he's been carefully plotting against. If this had had to do with the three of them, his reaction wouldn't have been so slow."
Fei Du nodded. "True. I thought this afternoon at the hospital that Dong Xiaoqing may have something to do with Zheng Kaifeng."
Luo Wenzhou said in a businesslike manner, "If you were colluding with Zheng Kaifeng, you couldn't be clueless about him. Considering how clever you are, you definitely would have deduced approximately what Zhou Huaijin was going to say before he opened his mouth. So it's impossible that Zheng Kaifeng would only have been notified then."
This reason sounded much more justified. Fei Du accepted it without any objection. "Him running then really was rather belated."
But Luo Wenzhou sighed. "Fei Du, if I didn't have a reason, didn't have any logic, if I'd only said, 'I trust you,' what would you have done?"
Fei Du froze. Then the corners of his eyes curved craftily, and he purposefully lowered his voice. "I'd be very moved, wanting nothing better than to go down on one knee at your feet."
"Less of that fucking nonsense." Luo Wenzhou leaned back. "You'd only have thought I was either stupid or lying."
Fei Du smiled, but he didn't refute him.
"Do you still remember Wang Xiujuan? He Zhongyi's mother. If she was the one sitting here, even if you were holding a knife to her chest, she still wouldn't think you were going to kill her. Would you think her trust in you was stupid?"
Avoiding the important point, Fei Du said, "It's very rude to judge an elderly lady's intelligence behind her back—anyway, we're nearly strangers. She doesn't understand me."
"I've known you over seven years, so I think I can be counted as understanding you," said Luo Wenzhou. "I also choose to trust you. Of course, if you let me down one day, I'll be very hurt, so hurt I may not love you anymore."
Fei Du should have taken advantage and come back with some teasing, but he oddly felt something spread over from beside him, pressing on his chest, that left him temporarily speechless.
Fortunately Luo Wenzhou at once changed the subject. "Oh, right. I just handed out assignments to everyone and only didn't say what the two of us were going to do. Why do you seem so understanding?"
"You told them to go arrest people, hunt down the fugitive, inspect surveillance footage, and investigate evidence, sending all of them around in circles. Only you didn't mention Zheng Kaifeng's disciple Yang Bo, as if you'd forgotten about him. I suppose you actually didn't want to inadvertently alert the enemy?" Fei Du said. "There's three kilometers to go to Yang Bo's hotel—"
Luo Wenzhou felt that if he spent long enough with Fei Du, he would start to get lazy. There were so many things he could leave unsaid. He paused, then said, "Actually, before Dong Xiaoqing died, she said something to me."
The enormous luxury SUV travelled through the night like a black monster. As Fei Du held the huge beast's reins, his eyes turned slightly towards Luo Wenzhou.
"She said Dong Qian wasn't innocent. 'He's one of those people.'"
At this point, Fei Du's half-closed eyes suddenly opened considerably wider.
"I guess you can also hear the problem? I've been wondering who those people could mean," Luo Wenzhou said quietly. "It definitely can't be Zhou Huaijin and his people.—If, like Zhou Huaijin says, Dong Xiaoqing thought that some person had used Dong Qian's desire for revenge to entice him into giving up his life to bring about Zhou Junmao's car accident, in her eyes, Dong Qian definitely wouldn't belong to that group."
"You're saying that there's a specialized team that fakes accidents to murder people," Fei Du said quietly, "who when necessary will even sacrifice themselves like suicide bombers?"
"It's rather outrageous, but it's the only way to explain certain things.—I didn't say this before because I didn't understand what Dong Xiaoqing meant. I was afraid of disturbing your judgements… What are you laughing at?"
Fei Du stamped on the gas pedal. While his car was very steady, it still lurched. "Actually, that all makes sense."
"Careful." Luo Wenzhou grabbed the handle next to him. "My young friend, this isn't how you shake a car.—What all makes sense?"
"I got some friends to privately investigate Yang Bo. His father died over a decade ago. He was driving under the influence and ran into another car. Both sides died on the scene."
Luo Wenzhou immediately sat up straight.
_______________
Author's note:
(6) Wife of one's teacher.