Hearing Lao Chen say that, I suddenly felt a surge of energy despite my earlier despair. "Lao Chen, what important lead do you have?"
"Let's go. I'll explain on the way," Lao Chen said, patting my shoulder as he walked towards a police car parked nearby.
"But I..." I hesitated, knowing I was no longer a cop.
"What 'but'? Don't you want to avenge Captain Liu?" Lao Chen shot me a stern look. "Even if you're not a cop anymore, I'm asking you to come with me. What are you afraid of? We've got evidence to arrest Lao Wang."
"Really?" I exclaimed, quickly jumping into the back seat without needing any further encouragement. Lao Chen followed, and two other officers took the driver and front passenger seats.
Lao Chen and the other two officers checked their firearms before the driver started the engine and sped out of the county bureau, sirens blaring.
Seeing Lao Chen's Type 64 pistol in his hand, I couldn't help but think how things might have been different if Liu and I had guns last night. Our investigative team played an advisory role, with local police executing operations. Getting a gun from the local police required multiple approvals since each gun was assigned to an officer and couldn't be loaned without authorization.
While police departments now had better resources, including firearms at most stations, several incidents in recent years where officers used guns improperly led to stricter gun control by the Ministry of Public Security. Guns were only allowed for special missions, not routine work. Our team rarely carried firearms on assignments since we mostly investigated, leaving arrests to the local police. That's why we were unarmed during several dangerous situations.
Last night, Captain Liu rushed to Lianhua Village straight from home without stopping at the county bureau to get his gun. If he had, the outcome might have been different.
"Kid, want my gun? Your marksmanship is probably better than mine," Lao Chen noticed my gaze and offered.
"Thanks, but that would break the rules," I declined with a smile.
"Are you thinking that if you had guns last night, Captain Liu would still be alive?" Lao Chen read my thoughts easily, given his decades of experience as a cop.
I nodded, changing the subject. "Uncle Chen, what's the important lead you mentioned?" Given his age and loyalty, calling him Uncle Chen felt more respectful than Lao Chen.
"Well..." Lao Chen holstered his gun before continuing. "The guys I sent to check the surveillance reported that they found nothing suspicious at Lao Wang's house. But they did see Lao Wang visiting the hospital after you went into the mountains."
"To see Li Dapeng?" I interrupted, excited.
"Yes, he tried to rush into Li Dapeng's ward but was stopped by our men guarding the door. Then he left," Lao Chen said seriously. "My guys didn't recognize him at first, thinking he was just a confused old man. It wasn't until today when someone who knew Lao Wang saw the footage and reported it to me."
"Are you sure it was Lao Wang? Was he limping? Did he have white hair?" I bombarded Lao Chen with questions. The man I saw in the mountains had white hair and a limp, unlike Lao Wang, who had black hair and walked normally.
"It was definitely him!" Lao Chen confirmed firmly. "I reviewed the footage myself. It was Lao Wang."
"That's great!" I exclaimed, suddenly slapping myself.
"What's wrong, Xiao Lin?" Lao Chen grabbed my hand.
"I should have realized the man in the mountains was Lao Wang," I said, frustrated with myself. "I hesitated because Lao Wang seemed different and because I couldn't believe he would dare go to work after doing something so big. But he must have thought Liu and I were dead and felt safe continuing as usual since no one else had seen him."
"Exactly!" Lao Chen nodded. "You're still new to the force, lacking experience. It's normal to miss such details in a big case. Old foxes like Lao Wang are hard to catch. Don't blame yourself. We're catching him now, aren't we?"
We then discussed the specifics of the arrest plan on the way. Before long, the police car arrived at Lao Wang's residential complex.
The four officers monitoring the area approached us as we arrived.
They reported that Lao Wang lived on the third floor of Building A and had returned home after visiting the county annals office in the morning. He hadn't left since. The only visitor was an old man collecting scrap.
"Something's wrong!" I felt a bad premonition. "Let's move quickly!" I said, dashing towards Lao Wang's apartment.
Lao Chen quickly assigned tasks, "You two guard the entrance, Xiao Liu and Xiao Zhang watch the back, Xiao Li keep an eye on the balcony."
"Yes, sir!"
As I reached Lao Wang's door, Lao Chen and another officer joined me.
Lao Chen gestured for me to step aside and then kicked the door open.
With a loud bang, the door flew open, and we rolled into the living room, shouting, "Freeze!"
But the apartment was empty. It looked like a burglar had ransacked the place, with the bedroom doors wide open and the floor littered with items.
We quickly searched the place and found a white-haired old man in the bathroom. He was naked, covered in black grime, and already dead, with a fatal stab wound to the neck. The murder weapon, a fruit knife, lay in the sink.
"Is this the old man you saw in the mountains?" Lao Chen asked, frowning.
"No," I shook my head slowly. "The old man I saw was wrinkled and emaciated..."
"Damn it!" Lao Chen cursed at the officer. "You said he hadn't left the apartment!"
"..." The officer, knowing he'd messed up, remained silent, head down.
"What happened? Explain!" Lao Chen demanded coldly.
"Chief, I was in the security room watching the monitors. The only person who visited was an old scrap collector. He left on a tricycle ten minutes later. We checked his tricycle and found nothing suspicious. We had no idea..."
"Are you pigs? Didn't you check his appearance closely?" Lao Chen shouted.
"Uncle Chen, don't blame him. Look closely at this old man. Doesn't he resemble Lao Wang?" I pointed at the dead man in the bathroom.
"Aside from the white hair, they do look alike," Lao Chen admitted.
"Lao Wang is no ordinary person. He's not only deeply scheming but might also know some disguise techniques. I suspect he regularly called this old man to his house as a scrap collector. He probably planned this escape for a long time, preparing this stand-in for such an occasion." I pointed at the deceased old man.
"A clever decoy," Lao Chen said grimly, then shouted at the officer, "Don't just stand there. Go after him! Track down where the tricycle went!"
After dispatching the officer, Lao Chen called the county bureau leaders. Meanwhile, I searched Lao Wang's apartment for clues.
The place was a mess, indicating he left in a hurry, but I found nothing of value. Knowing Wu Guozhi would soon arrive, I prepared to leave.
Just then, a stack of old photos Lao Chen was flipping through caught my eye. One photo featured a very familiar face.
"Uncle Chen, let me see that..." I grabbed the photo from his hand.
The photo showed five men in grass-green military uniforms, posing on one of the mountain tops in Lianhua Village.
My hands trembled as I focused on one bespectacled young man. He was unmistakably my dad.
The same uniform, the same hairstyle, the same face I'd seen countless times in my family's photo albums.
How did my dad end up here?