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墨書 Inktalez
It seemed that Zhao Ke'er would not tell me the truth. Indeed, Zhao Huanghe had done everything he could to clear others of suspicion, deliberately shouldering all the blame to protect the real Killer. And from my deductions, that person was none other than the Zhao Ke'er sitting across from me.
Such a situation might be hard to understand, but if we were to add a prefix between the two individuals, it would become clearer.
In the files I reviewed, there was a particularly bizarre case. It involved a locked-room murder, with the door also locked from the inside. However, based on the position of her injuries, it was impossible for her to have inflicted them upon herself. This was a complete murder, yet the locked door showed no signs of forced entry, and there was no other way to escape.
The question arose: how did the Killer manage to do this? How could someone be killed in a locked room?
The answer was simple: it was the deceased who had locked the door before dying. We found her fingerprints on the doorknob, and upon investigation, it turned out that her murderer was her own son. In her final moments, she chose not to crawl out of the bedroom to call for help but instead decided to lock the door. This mother did not understand what fingerprints meant; she may have thought that by locking the room, she could prove it was a suicide.
Perhaps her son had contemplated killing his mother a thousand times, but when that moment finally came, she still chose to protect him. There are such inexplicable emotions in this world—twisted familial bonds and distorted friendships.
Just like Zhao Kaifang's protection of Zhao Ke'er and Zhao Huanghe's protection of Zhao Ke'er; they all seemed to stem from these twisted feelings.
"No matter what methods Zhao Kaifang used, she regarded you as a true friend," I continued to ask. "Do you really have nothing to say? I’m giving you one last chance; consider it your confession."
"Unless you bring evidence," Zhao Ke'er sneered and then said, "I also considered Zhao Kaifang my best friend before she died. After her death..."
At that moment, Zhao Ke'er suddenly looked at me with a determined gaze that made me want to believe what she was saying.
I sighed, realizing that continuing to press her would yield no results.
Zhao Ke'er showed no signs of confessing, and I said nothing more as I walked out of the interrogation room. Outside, members of the Special Investigation Team, Captain Li and several officers had overheard my conversation with Zhao Ke'er; they knew I hadn’t uncovered any leads inside and wore serious expressions.
Captain Li said, "What clues did you send Yan Junde out to find? It's already past nine; your flight is at one o'clock, right? Will he make it back in time? If he can't make it for some reason, let me know if there are any doubts; we will investigate further. By the way, I received a call from above saying that the Second Unit has landed and is on their way over. How about you hand over your findings?"
I shook my head and replied, "This case will still be handled by our team. Yan Junde isn’t here right now; there are some things I can speak freely about. Currently, we don’t even know if Yan Junde has contracted AIDS. If he hasn’t been infected, that’s great. But if he has... this might be his last time with the Special Investigation Team."
Taking several deep breaths, I continued, "My team has been through thick and thin for over a year now. We’ve split up and come back together several times; we’ve faced disbandment more than once. But as long as we’re still here, there’s hope for reorganization within the Special Investigation Team. However, if Yan Junde is truly unfortunate..."
I didn’t finish my sentence, but I believed everyone present understood my implication. If he were unfortunate enough to be infected with HIV, higher-ups would certainly not allow someone carrying such a virus to work in an environment where bleeding could occur at any moment; that would be irresponsible towards his colleagues and the public. This was also my greatest motivation for uncovering the truth behind this case. If we ultimately failed to catch the Killer, would it be too cruel for Dezi? I didn’t want him leaving the Special Investigation Team with regrets if it came to that. So I sent him to investigate this crucial lead; all we could do now was pray for his swift return.
No one spoke at the scene. Mary and Juan Juan had red eyes, while Captain Li sighed, wanting to say something but ultimately holding back. At that moment, the Main Entrance of the Public Security Bureau was pushed open, and we felt a surge of hope. However, the person who entered was not Yan Junde, but members of the Second Unit.
Zhang Lei, the Second Team Leader, nodded slightly upon seeing me and said, "We've received orders from the department. Your team can hand over the detailed case information to us now. You don't need to worry about the rest. This case is quite challenging; I’ve heard your team often receives praise from the Vice Minister. I suppose it’s just as they say."
It seemed that Zhang Lei was full of hostility; he kept his gaze fixed on me as he spoke, seemingly targeting me specifically.
Mary stepped closer to me and whispered, "I've looked into Zhang Lei; he's one of the top ten outstanding detectives in the country. But unlike you, he doesn't get constant attention from the Vice Minister! You can weigh how much that attention is worth. However, I believe the Vice Minister scolds you more than praises you! He’s straightforward with his words and doesn’t harbor any ill intentions. From my investigation, he particularly dislikes people like you who are so laid-back!"
I quietly replied to Mary, "You seem to know Zhang Lei quite well. I've known him for several years and understand his character; he’s been recognized as outstanding by the department almost every year. But I’ve never provoked him. When investigating, being friendly helps gather information; someone like him would scare off everyone before they could even share anything."
Mary shrugged and said, "When I first joined the Special Investigation Team, I looked into several candidates for team leaders, and he was one of them. But I never expected you to pop up out of nowhere! Life is full of surprises."
Seeing Mary and me whispering to each other, Zhang Lei interrupted us: "If you have something to say, don’t hide it. We didn’t come here to watch you two exchange banter. I’ll say it again: hand over the information to us. The Vice Minister has stated that this case will be handled by us. You can report back now. By the way, after solving the case, we will inform you of the results."
I couldn't tell if Zhang Lei harbored some deep-seated grudge against me; his tone was devoid of any softness, filled with disdain for us. Naturally, I mirrored his attitude back at him. I already had some resistance towards the arrival of the Second Unit, and now Zhang Lei's arrogance only fueled it further.
I smiled slightly and said, "That's right; the higher-ups did send you to take over this case, but your authority should start tomorrow. It’s currently nine twenty in the evening. If I'm not mistaken, there are still a few hours left until tomorrow?"
Zhang Lei chuckled and replied, "From what I understand, you're still waiting for Yan Junde's investigation results? You haven't truly confirmed who the Killer is yet? Well then, we’ll just wait for Yan Junde to return."
As he spoke, I noticed Captain Li awkwardly smiling beside us; it seemed this news had been leaked to the Second Unit by him over the phone. Before I could respond, one of Zhang Lei's female subordinates spoke up: "How about this, Captain Shao? Want to make a bet?"
"A bet?" I frowned.
The girl continued, "Yes, a bet. If you can't solve the case before midnight, then your team members will have to go to the Vice Minister and admit your incompetence so that he can assign that secret mission to our Second Unit! Do you dare accept?"
Her words left me both amused and exasperated; I finally understood why Zhang Lei had such an attitude—it was all about that secret mission. What they didn’t know was that this mission could only be completed by me because Zhao Mingkun's organization had its sights set on me. Moreover, my task was simply to observe developments.
The Vice Minister would certainly not share details about this secret mission with either Unit Two or Unit Three. So while they knew I had a secret mission, they were completely unaware of its nature. They probably thought my task was something earth-shattering or extraordinary. However, I couldn’t disclose anything; I had to keep it confidential and let Zhang Lei and his subordinates believe what they wanted.
Before I could think of a rebuttal, Mary exclaimed: "Fine! A bet it is! Do you think we're afraid of you?"
Juan Juan chimed in, "But what if you lose? What will your punishment be?"
The girl fell silent for a moment before replying, "We understand your team's recall this time. I heard that Captain Shao hit a suspect? You certainly have an interesting way of doing things. So, if you can solve the case by today, we'll immediately go to the Vice Minister to plead for you. If the Vice Minister decides to punish you then, our Second Unit will take the blame as well. How does that sound?"
Zhang Lei said, "That seems like a fair request; this way, both sides have similar stakes. Are you willing to bet on it?"
Since both teams had made their decision, I, caught in the middle, felt it was best not to say anything. I shrugged, nodded, and said, "Since you all are so keen on this, fine, I'll take your bet. Just wait; I trust my team."
Zhang Lei spread his hands and replied, "Then we shall see."
It was already nine forty, leaving only two hours. Taking a flight would take at least an hour, which meant Dezi must already be on a plane heading to Blue Capital. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to return in time to present the evidence before us. I felt a sense of urgency inside but maintained a calm expression.
No matter how we thought about it, we could only rely on Yan Junde now. Everyone sat down as Captain Li placed a watch in the center; we all watched the hands of the watch move slowly. I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples with my fingers.
We had done everything we could; now it was up to Dezi.
A Senior High School Student had been kidnapped along with a Leggy School Beauty and a Busty Third-Tier Celebrity trapped in an Abandoned Cabin after mistakenly eating Unknown Wild Fruit and feeling feverish in the middle of the night.
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