Chapter 29

"The suspect vehicle is a secondhand red Camry with a covered license plate. It departed from the chemical plant's south gate at 3.06 A.M. early this morning and headed southeast towards Third Ring Avenue. It was last seen fifteen minutes later along Provincial Highway 635 before we lost eyes on it."

"The kidnappers belong to a criminal organization suspected to be dealing in underground drug-manufacturing. They have at least one hostage on their hands and have yet to make any demands. The missing person's name is Chu Ci, twenty-one years old, a Chemistry research graduate who came to Jianning from Beijing to intern at a chemical plant. It's highly likely that he's privy to some hidden details of the 502 Frozen Corpse case; he also possesses a high level of technical expertise, and the kidnappers probably took a keen interest in his drug-manufacturing capability."

"The Traffic Security Bureau, Traffic Police Brigade, the respective precincts' patrol squadrons, as well as all relevant neighborhood police stations—mobilize everyone to walk the grid and comb the area for any witnesses, and obtain all the surveillance footage along the routes. We must stay one step ahead of the kidnappers and do our utmost to ensure the hostages' safety before they make their next move!"

Yan Xie hurried past the Criminal Investigation Unit's bustling main hall, darted into his office, and slammed the door shut behind him.

The room was a mess of noisy slurps, and he was immediately engulfed in the aroma of Master Kang's Red Braised Beef Noodle Soup.

"Yan-ge, here." Ma Xiang pointed in front of him with a pair of chopsticks, cheeks bulging, "The two 'Uni-President Imperial Feast Beef Flavored Noodles' at the end over there, eighteen yuan a bowl, specially cooked and ready for the two of you. This time, you can't say we're mistreating the consultant any more, right?"

Yan Xie glanced over.

Two bowls of instant noodles sat there with their lids held down by a few case files, quietly emitting wafts of white steam.

A masked Jiang Ting sat behind the office desk, perusing the injury report by himself as he showed no inclination of lifting his head.

"…" Yan Xie let out a silent sigh. Walking over to pick up a bowl, he wolfed down half of it before jutting his chin at Jiang Ting, "The grilled eel rice I ordered for you is already on its way. It'll arrive soon."

"What?!" Ma Xiang nearly leapt out of his seat but was quickly shoved back into his seat by Gao Panqing and Han Xiaomei. He almost shed tears from the injustice of it all. "Why does he get to eat grilled eel rice while we eat Master Kang? I can't accept this, I really can't accept this, Yan-ge's no longer the Yan-ge who integrated himself as one with the common folk and taught us that all men are born equal…"

"Diao Yong, male, forty-one years old, one hundred and eighty-four centimeters tall. His injury is located on his right torso, between the second and third rib from the bottom. The weapon of assault was a fruit knife, wound depth is around four centimeters, no severe damage caused to his internal organs." Jiang Ting flipped to the next page of the injury report, miming the knife's penetrating angle into the muscle according to the diagram on the page.

"The assailant's height is between a hundred and sixty five to seventy centimeters, right-handed, physical strength…rather average."

He lapsed into momentary thought, then quietly said, "…is a woman."

"Gou Li thought so too," Yan Xie said, eating his noodles, "Hu Weisheng's accomplice was also a woman."

The sky beyond the bureau's meeting room's windows was already fully dark. The hour hand of the wall clock silently pointed towards eleven.

Jiang Ting looked a little tired as he leaned back into the armchair, exhaling deeply. "Let's go through the case from the beginning."

After draining the last bit of soup in his bowl, Ma Xiang covered the side of his face with a case file and whispered to Han Xiaomei, "Isn't this guy the witness from that KTV on the night of 502?

When did he become Vice-Captain Yan's private consultant? It's only been a few days since I was cooped up in the bureau going through the surveillance videos instead of doing field work. How did the world powers shift so much?"

"Love comes so quick like a tornado, can't leave the eye of the storm, can't run away in time1." Han Xiaomei shook her head, sighing emphatically, "A guy like you with no significant other shouldn't bother thinking about it."

"Who says I don't have a significant other? I have Ayanami Rei, Asuka, the cutest Goddess Hatsune2…"

"On the fifth of May, once he learned of Feng Yuguang's death, Chu Ci began to repeatedly test controlled chemical substances such as methylamine and chlorobenzaldehyde, as well as other methanol-based solutions—all of which are related to crystal meth synthesis. These seemingly pointless experiments continued all the way until the wee hours of the morning past when Chu Ci, for reasons yet unknown, cut the power and the surveillance to the warehouse, stole a keycard, and snuck into the controlled substances' warehouse."

Jiang Ting's voice paused. Yan Xie cut in, "Maybe he grew suspicious of the solution density of these few controlled substances in the chemical plant and wanted to check the storage tanks personally?"

"…No, not the solution density," Jiang Ting said quietly. "The remnant solution."

Ma Xiang opened up his second bowl of beef noodles. Pitching his voice low, he asked, "Do you guys think Yan-ge really got it or is his expression of enlightenment an act?"

Gao Panqing tensely shot back, "Go eat your noodles!"

"Some controlled substances are extremely dense. If someone chose to replenish what they siphoned with another solution of similar density or water, then given water's density, it will float towards the top of the storage tank and any irregularities would be hard to discern from where the dispenser port is located towards the bottom of the tank. At the same time, because these controlled substances have low solubility, even if a copious amount of water is added, the density of the original substance would hardly change. Even if it did, it would be brushed off as a systematic error during lab tests."

Jiang Ting sucked in a breath, his expression ugly. "However, Chu Ci's methodology is very precise, to the point of a decimal. Thus, to him, this wasn't just an error, and he began to suspect that there was someone employing this method of adding water to steal controlled chemical substances."

Yan Xie was so engrossed in listening that he forgot to eat the bit of instant noodles twirled around his plastic fork. "However, this top student bore the 'this is none of my business, I just want to graduate' or the 'let me graduate, and everything will be alright' mentality and pretended not to notice anything, all the way up till fourth of May, when we brought him into the bureau and he learned of Feng Yuguang's death…"

"Correct," Jiang Ting affirmed. "He vaguely felt that Feng Yuguang's death had something to do with him, and hence felt obligated to continue investigating. Or maybe he was simply worried that he was the next one on the list. However, it is indeed difficult to speculate what the top student's thoughts were. The human mind is complex, and there is no need to dwell on this particular topic."

Yan Xie glanced at Jiang Ting out of the corner of his eyes.

"What?"

"Nothing," Yan Xie harrumphed, inwardly thinking to himself, Those top student thoughts of yours are also very difficult to speculate.

"…" Jiang Ting queried dubiously, "What exactly are you thinking about me?"

Yan Xie lifted the plastic fork to his mouth and slurped noisily, continuing indistinctly, "The night shift worker, Nian Bowen, was knocked unconscious by Chu Ci, implying that Chu Ci did not enter the warehouse at the same time as the kidnappers; rather, these two separate parties coincidentally bumped into each other in the midst of sneaking around. Right now, we can preliminarily conclude that the kidnappers are insiders within the chemical engineering company—the security management office is looking particularly suspicious, and all staff members have been detained for immediate questioning. Hey, do you think there's a chance that Ding Dang girl is Diao Yong's accomplice?"

Jiang Ting mildly replied, "I hope so, because that would save us a lot of time. But you can't claim she's a suspect simply because she's a woman. After all, Ding Dang isn't considered an internal staff member, and no one in the Ding family has a red Camry registered under their name. Meanwhile, there are seven to eight female staff members within the security management office who possess the means to commit this crime."

A marker in his hand, Yan Xie turned his head and shot Jiang Ting a dubious look from his spot in front of the whiteboard. "…But you can't feel that she's definitely innocent just because you find her pretty either."

Surprised, Jiang Ting asked, "Is she pretty?"

"…"

"I didn't really notice." Jiang Ting smiled lightly. "You sure remember a lot of things."

Yan Xie: ".........."

Han Xiaomei covered her face in embarrassment. "I can't watch this anymore."

"Yan-ge, your grilled eel rice is here!" someone called, poking their head in.

Under Yan Xie's "I'm not, I didn't, don't bullshit" gaze, Jiang Ting stood up leisurely and came back with the rice in hand. The mouthwatering aroma instantly hooked Ma Xiang's attention. He stretched his neck, ogling at that tantalizing black wooden lunch box.

Jiang Ting opened the box and peered at it, then glanced at Ma Xiang. Seemingly amused, he asked, "Do you want a taste?"

Drooling, Ma Xiang wagged his tail and nodded.

Jiang Ting pointed at Yan Xie. "All men are born equal?"

"How can that be!" Ma Xiang declared reverentially, "We are but mere mortals in the face of a god such as yourself. To hell with equality!"

"Please shut up, we can't watch this anymore" was clearly written on everybody's faces at this point. Only Ma Xiang was ecstatic as he received a whole piece of grilled eel, savoring it with the rest of his instant noodles.

"Has Diao Yong confessed yet?" Jiang Ting asked as he meticulously mixed the grilled eel sauce into his rice.

To have a top Chemistry student from Beijing abducted by drug traffickers on Jianning ground—the whole city bureau had been caught in a whirlwind of endless work. Only Jiang Ting looked relatively unhurried, despite the fact that he was the one who uncovered the key pieces to the case. Yan Xie felt a twinge of absurdity amidst all the urgency, for he just couldn't imagine how bizarre the picture of Jiang Ting leading his subordinates would have been, back when he was the captain of his own unit.

"Not yet. His lips are sealed shut. Under pressure, he says the worst case scenario would be to just see us on the execution grounds." Yan Xie let out a bitter smile. "These people aren't ignorant of the law. They know that the country's getting more and more lenient when dealing out capital punishments to drug traffickers. In the past, fifty grams would be enough to guarantee their death, but now the limit has changed to kilograms. The day the country abolishes the death penalty because of the fuss the barristers are making would be the day I suggest all narcotic officers to pack up their bags and return home to take care of themselves, sparing everyone in their families from being used as human target practice by the drug traffickers for playtime."

Jiang Ting removed his mask, smiling at him as he ate. "If you talked a little less, you would've been promoted to Captain long ago."

He rarely displayed such an artless, gentle demeanor in front of Yan Xie—the times he put on an act didn't count.

Yan Xie was momentarily stunned.

"The confession is very important." Jiang Ting bent his head and went right back to eating, as though nothing had just happened. "A-Zong and a few other rookies know about the drug supply channels, while Diao Yong has direct communication with the drug manufacturing organization. We can't let up on the interrogation on both fronts. Chu Ci has been missing for almost twenty hours now. The longer it's dragged out, the worse his odds are."

All the clues seemed to lead to a dead end—Fan Si was silenced, Hu Weisheng was silenced, the drug raid was leaked and there was practically zero evidence procured from it. Even though every investigator on hand was still combing through the surveillance footage from the Three Blossom Forest KTV round the clock, but to find even the faintest trace of a clue from the vast sea of surveillance footage would require a huge, huge amount of manpower and time.

Time Chu Ci did not have.

If this abducted young man was still alive, it was only because his outstanding expertise had caught the drug traffickers' eyes. Should he provoke the drug traffickers, he would be at risk of losing his life at any moment, anywhere.

"I understand." Yan Xie grabbed a napkin and wiped his mouth. Letting out a light cough, as if to mask a certain emotion, he stood up and said, "You guys continue eating. I'll head over to the interrogation room to see how lao Qin and the rest are faring. Ma Xiang, take good care of Consultant Lu for the time being. His presence here is against regulations, so don't let anyone barge in and make a fuss."

Ma Xiang leapt to his feet. "No problem, let lao Gao look after him. I'm done here, I'll go with you."

Yan Xie gave Jiang Ting a nod and proceeded to head outside. Ma Xiang enthusiastically rushed to open the door for him.

Who would've thought that the moment he touched the door knob, whoosh—! The door was flung open from the other side. Yan Xie reacted quickly, taking half a step back in that split second, whereas Ma Xiang received the door right in his face with a loud slam. He immediately howled painfully, falling into a crouch as he cradled his nose.

"Hey, lao Yan!" The Chief of Forensics, Huang Xing, barged in, then looked downwards right after. "Xiao Ma, what's with your nosebleed? Hurry up and stop bleeding, the whole team's heading out! The surveillance crew found that suspicious red Camry from the surveillance footage!"

Everyone sprung to their feet at once. Ma Xiang didn't even get the chance to assess his damages before he froze from the shock.

Yan Xie asked sharply, "Where?"

A flash of lightning split the horizon. Thunder crashed, rolling between dark clouds as rain poured from the heavens.

Beside the provincial highway, in the wilderness at the foot of a steep slope, the wreckage of a charred car lay exposed in the raging storm, black smoke billowing.

"No body found in the front seat, behind the dashboard and glove compartment!"

"None in the backseat either!"

"No body parts or human remains found in the trunk yet!" Huang Xing had his police flashlight raised, the hood of his raincoat long since slipped off. He lifted a hand, wiping away a faceful of rainwater and hollered loudly, "It's an abandoned incinerated car! The incendiaries used still need to be further determined!"

The scene was surrounded by several police cars. In the pitch black darkness, police car headlights and flashlights swept back and forth. It was clearly early summer, a late night in May, and yet the chill from the storm seeped right through to the bone, causing everyone to shiver uncontrollably.

The kidnappers torched an empty car.

In most vehicle arson cases, the inside of the car was the primary crime scene, and hence the fire was to destroy all possible clus.

Was Chu Ci dead or alive? Had his body been decimated prior to their arrival, or did the drug traffickers find a better way to dump his body?

An icy silence permeated the group. Their surroundings were utterly quiet, safe for the torrential downpour that raged on. Everyone was at a loss, gazing out towards the deformed metal frame. An unknown amount of time passed. Suddenly, Yan Xie's low, steely voice rang out.

"Everyone stays. Comb through this grass bank, collect every leaf, branch, or pebble that has the slightest trace of blood or other suspicious stains on it. Ma Xing will lead some men to assist the forensic officers in lifting footprints, tire tracks, and dirt samples, as well as any and all traces of human activity within a five hundred meter radius of the scene. Do not let even a hint of a clue slip by."

"The time now is forty minutes past twelve. There are less than six hours till daybreak. Before sunrise tomorrow, I want the evidence collection to be done as we proceed to the search-and-rescue stage."

Everyone stood at attention, with nary a grunt of dissent nor hesitation. Every pair of eyes was fixed on Yan Xie from beneath their raincoat hoots.

"We currently hold a twenty-one year old student's life in our hands." Yan Xie scanned the faces of the officers under his command and intoned gravely, "There's nothing else that needs to be said. Let's begin."

Apart from the thrumming of the rain and intermittent footfalls, not a single complaint was to be heard. The officers got right to work immediately, splitting into groups of twos and threes. Seemingly between one blink and the next, the forensic officers had already started dismantling the car hood, the trace analysts had begun scraping the wet mud underneath the car tires, and the field detectives had turned on their flashlights and were scouring the area for clues. With an efficiency of the highest order, everyone threw themselves into the investigation.

Yan Xie turned around and made his way back to his Grand Cherokee.

Jiang Ting stood beside the car door, Yan Xie's windbreaker draped across his shoulders. His arms were naturally folded in front of his chest, his face abnormally pale in the black of the night, the tips of his hair and eyelashes moistened by the cold air.

Han Xiaomei stood behind him, holding up a black umbrella for him.

"It's getting late. You're going to fall sick if you keep following us like this." Yan Xie stood before Jiang Ting, his face slightly lowered as he ran his gaze over the other man's face. Sucking in a breath, he then averted his eyes, tossing the keys he dug out of his pocket towards Han Xiaomei. "I own an apartment nearby that's stocked with toiletries and stuff. Consultant Lu's been there before. Drive him there to rest for the night, order some hot porridge and boil some hot water for him. He barely ate anything before we had to leave."

Han Xiaomei scrambled to catch the apartment keys.

Yan Xie returned his gaze to Jiang Ting's face. It seemed like he was about to say something, but ultimately he resisted the urge and merely smiled, saying, "Don't worry."

Yan Xie turned and walked off towards the burnt wreckage, when suddenly a voice called out from behind him. "Hey."

"…" He turned around.

In that moment, the two of them were half a step apart, yet it was as if there was no distance between them at all, the rain carrying their mingled breath to the tips of each other's noses.

Life was unpredictable in its ups and downs. Nobody would've thought that the superior commanding officer and the subordinate patrol cop from distinctly different worlds back then could now stand face to face like this. After holding his gaze for a period of time, Jiang Ting let out a breath, as if a soundless sigh.

"Take care of your body, don't stay up too late."

Jiang Ting turned around and got into the car. The Grand Cherokee slowly reversed in the muddy wetness of the storm. But Yan Xie didn't make a sound as he stood there, rooted in place, his gaze trailing after the flickering tail lights as they disappeared into the vast veil of the night.

Author's note

1. A line from the chorus of Tornado, Jay Chou's song.

2. Ayanami Rei and Asuka are characters from Neon Genesis Evangelion, while Hatsune refers to Hatsune Miku.