When the lead officer said that my mother might not make it, I was dumbstruck.
Immediately, I yelled, "What are you standing there for? Get the paramedics up there!"
Knowing my mother was in critical condition, I became extremely anxious. However, my main goal as a police officer was to uncover the truth behind my father's case. Normally, I wouldn't have access to such confidential files since I wasn't yet fully qualified. But given this sudden opportunity, I couldn't let it slip away.
I quickly took out my phone and started photographing the entire case file from my father's case. After capturing all the necessary images, I shut down the computer and hurried to the Fuhua Hotel across the street.
As I ran, I called Zhao Mingzhu to report the situation.
Tonight's success was largely thanks to Zhao Mingzhu. After I informed him about the kidnappers' demands, he immediately had the tech team modify my phone, enabling them to trace any call I made to determine the other party's location.
He also secretly convened an expert panel.
After a "consultation" among our cold case investigation team's experts, they unanimously concluded that the kidnappers were likely toying with me by demanding I steal files. Because Zhao Mingzhu's computer only contained sealed cold case files, such information would be useless to typical criminals.
So, the experts deduced that, regardless of whether I obtained the files, the kidnappers would still kill my mother. They also predicted that while I was stealing the files, the kidnappers would call the police, framing me and ruining my life.
Their plan was indeed diabolical.
However, they underestimated one thing: our cold case investigation team wasn't an ordinary police unit. We had an abundance of top talents and experts. Their tricks were easily exposed by our team.
Moreover, after analyzing the situation, they found that Zhao Mingzhu's office computer faced the Fuhua Hotel, giving them a strong reason to believe the kidnappers would monitor me from there. This way, they could ensure I was following their instructions and call the police, catching me red-handed.
As it turned out, the experts were spot on.
When I arrived at the Fuhua Hotel, our emergency medical experts were already working on saving my mother in an ambulance. She was unconscious but stable, wearing an oxygen mask. After inquiring with the paramedics, I was relieved to learn that she was only in shock and would be okay.
Once my mother was taken away in the ambulance, I went upstairs to the room where the kidnapper was apprehended.
Entering the room, I saw several officers from the Public Security Bureau examining the scene, taking photos, and collecting evidence.
A telescope was set up by the window, pointed directly at Zhao Mingzhu's office.
In one corner, a bearded man squatted on the floor. When he saw me, he grinned widely.
Already furious, I stormed over and kicked him hard in the chest. "You son of a bitch!"
With a thud, he hit the ground, spitting out blood. Despite this, he kept grinning at me, his expression only fueling my anger. I continued to kick and stomp him until he lay motionless, his face covered in blood, eyes swollen shut, still smiling.
We weren't supposed to assault suspects, but considering what he did to my mother, I couldn't control my rage.
"Take him to the CID," I ordered. Several officers dragged the bearded man away.
Soon, only a few Public Security Bureau officers and I remained. Although we were police, this case hadn't reached the level of a cold case, and our team was already stretched thin. Hence, Zhao Mingzhu handed it over to our colleagues at the Public Security Bureau.
I inquired about the situation from the team leader and learned that the kidnapper had checked into the hotel that morning, likely keeping an eye on Zhao Mingzhu. Given that he booked the room shortly after we caught Li Dapeng, it was evident that someone was backing Li Dapeng. This wasn't over yet—they were out for revenge against Zhang Yihan and me.
I was initially relieved to have captured the kidnapper, but the team leader quickly poured cold water on my hopes. He pointed to two phones on the table. "When we broke in, the suspect was holding both phones. One was the phone he used to talk to you, with a call duration of over six minutes. The other had been on a call for over an hour. The guy you spoke to was likely just a pawn. He's mute."
"You mean the person I talked to wasn't him?" I asked, realizing how foolish my question sounded.
"Officer Lin, have you ever seen a mute who can talk?" the team leader smiled wryly. "The mastermind probably feared being traced, so he had the mute use two phones on speaker mode. He kept one phone connected to the mute, and when you called, the mute would put the phones together, making it seem like you were talking directly to the mastermind."
"Impressive," I nodded. "That's quite a trick."
"It's not uncommon for smarter criminals to use this method," the team leader explained.
Fortunately, he knew I was from the cold case unit and treated me with respect, or he might have looked down on me.
The rest of the scene investigation—searching, recording, collecting evidence—didn't require my involvement. I left it to the team leader and went to report to Zhao Mingzhu.
After relaying everything to Zhao Mingzhu, his first comment was, "The mastermind is cunning. We're dealing with a skilled criminal here."
Zhao Mingzhu's face darkened. "I've been a cop for over twenty years, and it's the first time someone has dared to challenge us like this. Most criminals avoid us like the plague, but these guys—they openly mock us."
After a brief discussion, Zhao Mingzhu sent me off to the hospital to check on my mother.
Captain Zhao might have a sharp tongue, but he was considerate when it mattered.
I spent the night at the hospital with my mother. The next morning, Zhao Mingzhu took me to the Public Security Bureau to interrogate the mute.
Interrogating suspects is a fine art, and Zhao Mingzhu was our unit's top expert.
But even he was at a loss with a mute.
After a morning of questioning, the mute took quite a beating from me but refused to write a single word. No matter how much we hit or questioned him, he just kept grinning at us.
Around 10 AM, we received the forensic reports from last night's scene.
The DNA analysis of the collected hair samples indicated they belonged to over ten individuals, all previous hotel guests. In short, the trail ended with the mute. Worse, we couldn't even identify him.
At noon, Zhao Mingzhu was summoned by our team leader. When he returned, he assigned tasks to several officers and then took me on a rushed trip to Baiqu County.
Before leaving, he arranged for four officers to take shifts around the clock to protect my mother, putting my mind at ease.
On the way to Baiqu County, I learned from Zhao Mingzhu that he was urgently heading there because Jin Zhijian had suddenly gone mad last night. Our leader had assigned Zhao to personally lead the investigation into what was initially considered a minor case.
I was stunned. How could someone just go mad out of the blue?
When we arrived in Baiqu County and saw Jin Zhijian, even I, who usually found him insufferable, was shocked.
Jin Zhijian was in a sorry state, strapped to a hospital bed, thrashing and yelling as seven or eight doctors and officers tried to hold him down to administer a sedative.
It was clear we wouldn't get anything out of Jin Zhijian in his current state. After watching for a bit, we headed to the county police station.
There, Zhao Mingzhu quickly gathered the officers who had accompanied Jin Zhijian the previous day for a debriefing.
We learned that Jin Zhijian had gone to a place called Lianhua Village with two subordinates to gather information from the family of the body retrieved from the well.
However, this morning, villagers found him in a pigsty outside Lianhua Village, biting pigs. His two subordinates were still unconscious.
"Biting pigs?" I couldn't believe my ears.
"Not just pigs. He was biting any living thing he saw," one officer said fearfully. "He nearly bit me, and it took seven or eight armed officers to subdue him. We had to use a tranquilizer gun to knock him out."
As their stories became more bizarre, Zhao Mingzhu and I exchanged worried glances. Our cold case unit had encountered many strange cases, but we had never faced anything like a "policeman biting pigs."