Xiao Lou used the last few seconds before being kidnapped to leave a message for the drone. The clues captured by the drone from high above were crucial; with the license plate number, Yu Hanjiang was able to quickly track down the van's location.
After hanging up the phone, Yu Hanjiang immediately went to the Public Security Bureau in Qingshui Town, hoping that the local Criminal Police Officer could help him retrieve surveillance footage to track down the van.
The young Criminal Police Officer's eyes widened instantly upon seeing his police ID: "You're Captain Yu from the City Police Department? Please come in!"
Yu Hanjiang followed the young man briskly to the door of the brigade office and pushed it open.
A meeting was in progress in the office, the PowerPoint presentation showing gruesome photos of various crime scenes. A bearded man was explaining the cases with a laser pointer. Seeing Yu Hanjiang enter, he raised an eyebrow in confusion: "And who is this?"
The young police officer who led Yu Hanjiang into the room said, "Boss, this is Captain Yu from the Municipal Bureau."
The man immediately stood up to greet him, smiling and extending his hand, saying, " Captain Yu, hello. I'm Liu Haoming from the Qingshui Town branch. I just called the Municipal Bureau, I didn't expect you to come so quickly."
The distance between the city center and Qingshui Town is at least three hours, and it would take at least three hours to drive there after receiving the call. Yu Hanjiang definitely didn't come here after receiving the call. Thinking of this, Liu Haoming slapped his forehead: "You were... originally in Qingshui Town?"
"Yes, investigating a case." Yu Hanjiang shook hands with him and asked, "Why did you call the Municipal Bureau?" His phone was broken while chasing the killer, so he didn't receive a call from his colleagues at the Municipal Bureau.
"Here's the thing." Captain Liu Haoming opened the PowerPoint presentation, showing photos from the scene as he lowered his voice, "I've encountered a series of murders here, and I'd like to ask experts from the Municipal Public Security Bureau to come and help with the investigation." He paused the image on the birthday banquet at the hotel at noon, saying, "The first victim, Zhong Yongqiang, was poisoned to death in full view of everyone at the Hua'an Hotel this noon. We've analyzed the evidence we brought from the scene and found a highly toxic substance in the wine glass, but we still haven't found out who poisoned him."
"Are there any other victims?" Yu Hanjiang knew a lot about Grandpa Zhong's case; he was at the scene at the time. What puzzled him was Captain Liu's mention of a "serial murder case."
"The second victim was named He Rong, Zhong Yongqiang's nephew." Liu Haoming pressed the laser pointer to open the next photo. He Rong was lying in the driver's seat of a private car with his eyes wide open, and there was a clear ligature mark on his neck. "At 1:30 pm, He Rong came to the police station with us to give a statement. Since he had no motive for murder and had not been exposed to the poisoned drink, I let him go. Unexpectedly, around 4 pm, we received a report that He Rong had died in his car."
"…" Yu Hanjiang looked at the photos from the scene and his brows furrowed slightly.
Clearly, He Rong was also silenced. This mysterious organization always beat the police to the punch, eliminating key witnesses they uncovered— Cheng Shaofeng, Zhong Yongqiang, He Rong —one after another, they died during their investigations.
Who on earth is so resourceful as to have such a grasp on the police investigation?
"These two victims are key witnesses in the case I'm investigating. The murder case in Qingshui Town will be immediately merged with the city police's January 25th dismemberment case for investigation. Captain Liu, please transfer all the information on the two victims to me," Yu Hanjiang said decisively.
"Okay!" Captain Liu was eager to get rid of this hot potato and hurriedly told his subordinates to take the dossier to Yu Hanjiang.
"Find the owner information for the car 'Bin A-78964'. Also, immediately retrieve the surveillance footage from the south side of Wencheng Road between 2:00 PM and 2:30 PM and track this car." Yu Hanjiang pulled up a chair and sat down, his face extremely serious. Although he didn't know why Yu Hanjiang was investigating this car, Captain Liu immediately waved his hand to his subordinates upon meeting the man's cold gaze: "Go and investigate!"
"Yes!" The subordinates quickly sprang into action.
" Captain Liu, vehicle registration number Bin A-78964, black minivan, owner is He Rong." A policewoman quickly reported the result.
" He Rong's car?" Yu Hanjiang raised an eyebrow in surprise.
At the time, Xiao Lou was kidnapped after leaving the coffee shop, turning the corner, and arriving at the deserted Wencheng Road. He Rong should have been taken in by the police for questioning around that time. Drone's surveillance footage shows that the person who kidnapped Xiao Lou was not He Rong. Clearly, the kidnappers deliberately used He Rong's car to abduct him, then killed him, leaving no evidence against him.
"What about the surveillance footage?" Yu Hanjiang asked in a deep voice.
"It's been retrieved. Captain Yu, this way please," a young police officer said enthusiastically.
Yu Hanjiang got up and followed the other party to the monitoring room. The large screen was filled with surveillance footage that basically covered all the main roads of Qingshui Town. Yu Hanjiang zoomed in on the surveillance footage of Wencheng Road. At 2:15 pm, Xiao Lou appeared at the corner. He was attacked by someone and suddenly fell down. Immediately afterwards, a black van drove up and carried him into the car.
"Kidnapping?" Captain Liu stared in disbelief.
Yu Hanjiang offered no explanation, but said with a stern face, "Track this car."
At 14:18, the black van appeared at the end of Wencheng Road and turned right onto Dingxiang Avenue; at 14:20, the van encountered a red light at the intersection, stopped for 1 minute, and then turned right onto Haihu Road...
As the surveillance footage switched continuously, Yu Hanjiang accurately tracked the car's movements.
However, after tracking it back and forth, he discovered that the car had actually circled back and forth along the main road of the town three times!
Several police officers repeatedly reviewed the surveillance footage, becoming completely disoriented. Yu Hanjiang's expression grew increasingly grim—this...
The group was clearly driving around the town on purpose, making the investigation more difficult.
At 4:30 p.m., the black van turned a corner and entered the underground parking garage, and then did not come out again.
Yu Hanjiang stood up, squinting at the entrance: "Which residential area is this?"
Captain Liu hurriedly explained, "It should be Jinxiu Villa. By the way, He Rong's body was also found in the underground parking garage of Jinxiu Villa. Captain Yu, would you like to go and take a look at the scene?"
Jinxiu Villa is the upscale residential complex where He Rong bought three apartments and renovated them into a luxury home for his uncle. The van that kidnapped Xiao Lou ended up in Jinxiu Villa, and He Rong was murdered in the garage. What happened in the underground garage will be crucial.
Yu Hanjiang immediately turned around: "To the underground parking garage!"
Two police cars sped towards the underground parking garage of Jinxiu Villa.
It was 6 PM, a full four hours since Xiao Lou disappeared. Yu Hanjiang clenched his fists, trying to remain calm—he had to stay calm and analyze the clues; only then could he rescue Xiao Lou.
Jinxiu Villa has two underground parking levels: basement level one and basement level two.
The group had the security guard lead them into the garage, and soon spotted the black van with license plate "滨A-78964".
Seeing the car parked quietly in the private parking space, Yu Hanjiang's heart began to pound violently—he was terrified that if he opened the car door, he would see Xiao Lou lying in a pool of blood, a sight he would absolutely find unbearable!
Captain Liu, unaware of the situation, waved his hand, signaling his subordinates to open the car door.
The car doors were locked, and it took the two policemen a lot of effort to open them. Yu Hanjiang looked back and saw that the car was empty, with no trace of blood, which made him breathe a slight sigh of relief.
Yu Hanjiang crouched down and got into the car, taking the fingerprint scanner from Captain Liu and carefully searching the interior, leaving no corner unchecked. To his disappointment, he found no fingerprints inside, not even on the steering wheel.
Captain Liu said, "These kidnappers must have worn gloves while driving? Their counter-surveillance skills are quite professional!"
Yu Hanjiang gave a low "hmm" and continued to search carefully inside the car.
Captain Liu asked, "Who were the kidnapped people?"
Yu Hanjiang simply said, "My colleague who came with me to Qingshui Town to investigate the case."
"Holy crap!" Captain Liu gasped. "These guys are fucking audacious!"
Yu Hanjiang remained silent with a sullen face and continued searching the carriages.
He found no useful clues in any of the car's drawers or compartments, so he got out of the car and went to the back seat. He picked up a flashlight and searched every inch of the car, even under the seats.
Suddenly, he noticed a card lying quietly in a hidden corner under the back seat.
Yu Hanjiang lay down, reached under the seat, and painstakingly reached for the card, grasping it in his palm.
Taking advantage of the other police officers' inattention, he quickly opened his palm and looked at the card.
—— eavesdropping device.
It's Ye Qi's card.
This indicates that the kidnappers used the same car when they took Ye Qi and Lao Mo. Ye Qi may not have lost consciousness when he was put in the car; he likely placed the eavesdropping device's terminal on them and left the card under the car seat. This way, if Yu Hanjiang finds the card, he can activate the eavesdropping device and hear their movements.
Xiao Ye reacted quickly at the crucial moment. Yu Hanjiang calmly stuffed the card into his pocket and said, "Take me to see the scene where He Rong was killed."
Captain Liu led Yu Hanjiang a few steps forward, pointed to a red sports car ahead, and said, " He Rong died in this car. The cause of death was mechanical asphyxiation, and the time of death was around 3:30 pm. Based on our analysis of the scene, it is very likely that someone was hiding in the back seat of his car and strangled him from behind with a rope after he got in."
What were the results of the on-site evidence collection?
"No fingerprints, hair or other evidence were found, and the murder weapon was also missing. The method of the crime was very clean."
"Have you checked the garage security footage?"
"All the surveillance cameras on the second basement level are broken!" Captain Liu said angrily. "The murderer must be very familiar with this neighborhood; maybe the murderer destroyed the cameras!"
Yu Hanjiang nodded knowingly—this was within his expectations. The surveillance cameras on the second basement level had been sabotaged, so a kidnapping or murder here would leave no trace. He Rong died in his car, while Xiao Lou, Ye Qi, and Lao Mo were definitely moved after the van drove into the second basement level.
All vehicles leaving the community are suspects. However, this makes the investigation too broad, making it difficult to pinpoint the target in a short time.
Yu Hanjiang thought for a moment and said, " Captain Liu, please ask the property management to retrieve the surveillance footage after 3:30 pm. We can't miss any information about any vehicles leaving the community. Also, we need to check all suspicious people who take the elevator up from the second basement level and the first basement level."
Captain Liu nodded: "Understood!"
Seeing the man turn to leave, Captain Liu paused, then asked, " Captain Yu, where are you going?"
Yu Hanjiang said, "I have other leads to investigate. Contact me anytime if you have any progress. By the way... my phone is broken, could you lend me a new one?"
Captain Liu arranged for his men to bring Yu Hanjiang a new cell phone. Yu Hanjiang took the SIM card out of the broken phone, put it into the new phone, left his number, thanked them, and quickly left Jinxiu Villa.
He found his car, carefully inspected it to ensure there was nothing wrong, and then sat down.
Get into the car and turn on the eavesdropping device left by Ye Qi. card.
******