Chapter 30

A flash of light tore the night sky apart. For a split second, the world lit up into a blinding white, and the next, it sunk once more into a deep, dark abyss.

Han Xiaomei placed the keys into a crystal flower pot beside the front porch with a soft clatter, then timidly turned around.

"So… Mr. Lu, I'll order some take-out for you, then I'm going to head back to the scene?"

The storm battered furiously against the floor-to-ceiling windows, rattling like hailstones against the glass panes. A floor lamp stood in the corner of the living room, emitting an orange glow. Jiang Ting ensconced himself on the sofas he went through the surveillance footage using Yan Xie's work laptop, a pen in one hand and the other intermittently pressing down on the pause button.

"Mr. Lu?"

"Hm?" Jiang Ting finally reacted. "Take-out at this hour? The rain is too heavy, don't head out anymore. It's not safe to drive."

There was a brief moment of intense struggle. "…I still think I'd better go."

Jiang Ting thought she was going to say something along the lines of "the missing person still hasn't been rescued yet" or "my colleagues are all braving the rain at the scene", but unexpectedly her next sentence was, "I haven't gotten a chance to get Vice-Captain to sign my internship report yet."

Jiang Ting let out a soundless chuckle and waved her off without raising his head.

Although the likes of Fan Si and Hu Weisheng had been silenced and that soul blue packet of drugs had been stolen with not even the slightest trace left behind for the police, they were still far, far away from the end of the line for Case 502.

The police had on their hands A-Zong and his lackeys, an important drug trafficking front in the form of Three Flower Blossom, as well as a living and breathing Diao Yong detained in the bureau. As long as there was enough time, they could definitely squeeze something out of them.

However, now that Chu Ci was at the mercy of the drug traffickers' with no telling whether he was alive or dead, what the police lacked the most was time.

Jiang Ting clicked open the chemical plant's surveillance footage from the previous night's crime scene for the umpteenth time and sank into deep contemplation.

At 3.06 A.M., a red Camry drove out of the warehouse, its front and back license plates marred with mud. Due to the power outage, the security footage had been overwritten and the exact timing that the car entered the plant could not be deduced; they only knew that the car exited onto Third Ring Avenue via the south gate, and then headed towards the southeast.

The car's windows were tinted with dark, one-way mirror films, its back window blocked using a cloth from within. It was hard to make out the car's interior, even with the high definition footage they had. Furthermore, the route they took cleverly avoided majority of the surveillance cameras. The driver appeared to have some kind of mask covering their face—no matter how much the police zoomed into the image, it was still extremely hard to conclude whether they were male or female.

However, Jiang Ting thought to himself, Considering the driver's familiarity with the locations of the surveillance cameras within the plant, the fact that they could drive at night without the aid of the rearview mirror and a lone female kidnapper would have a hard time suppressing Chu Ci means there's a high chance the driver was a male accomplice.

A red Camry. Several years ago when it first entered the market, its price was discounted so heavily that there were at least thousands—if not tens of thousands—of this model within Jianning City. Moreover, the provincial highway from Jianning led to Gongzhou. If this car came from Gongzhou, they would have to double their screening pool.

In this endless sea of possibilities, it was practically impossible to locate this plateless red Camry without a single lead.

What to do?

Jiang Ting hit the pause button repeatedly as he scrutinized the footage almost frame by frame, the lightning outside the windows and the blue light from the video coalescing in the depths of his eyes. Suddenly, his finger stilled—it was only a fleeting capture, but in the image that froze on the screen in that split second, through the combined reflection of both the streetlight and a turn sign, one could barely make out the edges of the last three characters on the license plate.

Jiang Ting's mind raced—the third to last character was the number 7, and the last two characters were either alphabets O, C, S, U, G, J, or the numbers 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 0. There were 144 possible ways of arranging the characters, given the above twelve options.

But that wasn't enough. Disregarding the first two characters on the license plate that denoted province and region, there were still five remaining characters, of which the first two in this case still remained unknown. It was impossible to draw a plausible conclusion based off the 144 permutations alone, not to mention that in view of the poor visibility, it cannot be determined that the third to last digit was indeed 7.

Jiang Ting leaned back into the soft cushions, tapping his pen lightly against his palm.

There has to be some other clues, he thought.

Many things in this world were interconnected, linked together with the thinnest of threads. Investigators needed to rely on observation, experience, professional knowledge, and even intuitive guesswork to grasp these connections, indiscernible with the naked eye, and subsequently deduce the significance of these clues.

A red Toyota Camry.

Camry…

"Mr. Lu."

Jiang Ting raised his head subconsciously to see that Han Xiaomei had not actually left. This young lady was truly stubborn—Yan Xie told her to boil some water, so she really went to boil it. She gently placed a freshly made cup of black tea in front of him. As she straightened up, she cautiously said, "Drink something warm, Sir, and rest early. I'll be going now."

Jiang Ting suddenly said, "Wait."

Han Xiaomei paused, and she heard him ask, "Female consumers are more likely to purchase a car whose colors lean more towards bright red than wine red, just like this one here, isn't it?"

"Huh? Probably, my car's bright red too."

Jiang Ting stared straight at Han Xiaomei.

Jiang Ting truly had a youthful look to him, and his features were naturally exquisite. When he fixed his gaze on another person like this, although his expression remained detached aloof, he was still able to take their breath away.

Han Xiaomei could hear the tremble in her voice the moment she parted her lips. "T-t-that, M-M-Mr. Lu…"

Jiang Ting continued as though he didn't hear her, murmuring, "Hu Weisheng also drove a Camry, cloned number plate, the numbers were—"

"JA6U799!" Han Xiaomei was always very conscientious when it came to case-related information.

Jiang Ting nodded, then abruptly asked, "Is having a sense of ceremony something important for you females?"

"…Huh?"

The storm showed no sign of letting up at all. On the provincial highway in the distant night, cars sped past, sending up splashes of water on the sides, leaving only faint and faraway streaks of yellow tail lights behind them.

"That scared me to death! Just now, we found several pieces of bone behind the hill!" Ma Xiang trudged through the muddy water, complaining grumpily, "Lao Gao even tricked me and said it was a human arm!"

Gao Panqing pushed his incessantly dripping hair away from his forehead, flashlight in hand, and roared with laughter. "You're the one who did not pass your professional qualifications. What kind of human arm looks like that? It was clearly a dog!"

The officers were finding joy in the midst of their suffering as they scoured every inch of dirt in the wilderness, joking with one another even while they were drenched from head to toe. Only Yan Xie kept his sullen silence, standing apart from the rest. He swept the beam of his flashlight across the muddy ground near the rails of the highway.

"Lao Yan." Huang Xing plodded over in his flooded galoshes, his voice hoarse. "We've lifted the footprints."

Yan Xie didn't raise his head. "Mmhm?"

"The rain has severely damaged the scene and it's extremely difficult to create a cast. Any specifics would have to wait until we get back to the bureau for further analysis. At present, the preliminary analysis shows that there are three to four different groups of footprints at the scene. We can confirm that none of them belong to a female, but for the moment, we cannot determine if Chu Ci's is amongst them."

"That is to say, even in the best case scenario, there are at least two other kidnappers apart from Diao Yong and the woman?" Yan Xie asked.

Huang Xing nodded.

Yan Xie didn't say anything. He continued walking forward with his flashlight. Following behind him, Huang Xing gradually discovered that his entire body was splattered with mud, even his back. A few moments passed before he heard Yan Xie speak, his voice heavy. "…What a big case."

"You should rest too." Huang Xing inexplicably felt a twinge in his heart, and he said, "Here, I told lao Zhang and a few others to buy some supper, you should eat a little as well after they're back. Take a breather."

Yan Xie didn't respond.

Yan Xie's height was truly well above average, and the edges of the police-issued raincoat hung above his ankles. His shoes and pant legs were soaked through with mud, every step producing a squelching sound. He crossed the waterlogged grassy slope in that state and reached the area beyond the highway guard rails. His gaze fell upon a swaying shadow in the distance, buffeted by the storm—it was a verdant bush.

For some reason, something stirred in his heart, and he made his way towards it, gripping his flashlight.

"What's wrong, lao Yan? Should I get someone to search this area?"

"…"

Yan Xie narrowed his eyes into slits, his irises flashing darkly.

"Those bushes facing the south," he abruptly said, "are they slightly shorter than the ones facing north?"

It was impossible for the plants that faced the sun to be shorter and sparser than the plants that grew in the shadows. Huang Xing gave a violent start!

"Trace analysts! Get some trace analysts over here!" Huang Xing yelled breathlessly. "Hurry, cordon off this patch of grass!!"

"Got it! Chief Huang!" Half an hour later, the officer crouching amongst the bushes raised his head. Under the countless expectant gazes surrounding him, he exclaimed excitedly, "An extensive amount of branches exhibit abnormal signs of trampling and snapping. Some of the leaves are crushed, and we are able to extract half a footprint from the fragmented pieces. This confirms that someone has trampled over this area before. A scuffle probably took place here!"

Many of the surrounding officers felt their hearts settle back into their chests. Yan Xie asked sharply, "What about the luminol reaction?!"

The officer's response was concise. "There's blood!"

If there was blood, there was DNA. And if there had been a scuffle, it meant that at least when they abandoned the car, Chu Ci was still alive!

The night's efforts had finally paid off. As though their tense muscles simultaneously let out a breath of relief, many officers slumped onto the muddy ground right there and then, uncaring about their image.

Yan Xie stuck both his hands in his trouser pockets, his back ramrod straight as he stood beside the shrubs. He ordered grimly, "Obtain blood samples for DNA comparison, do it now!"

His pocket suddenly vibrated—a phone call.

Yan Xie pulled out his phone and glanced at the number. The caller ID read "That Lu Guy"—it was Jiang Ting.

"This man, why is his nose so sharp?" Yan Xie snorted to himself, unaware of how his tone had lightened as he picked up the call. "Hello? Let me tell you, just now…"

Jiang Ting's voice rang out from the phone. "I have a guess, but it might take up some of your time."

"What?" His phone vibrated right after the word rolled off his tongue. The screen flashed with an unread message from "That Lu Guy".

"JA6U789, JAU766, JA9U766… Why are you sending me these?" Yan Xie questioned dubiously. "JA6U799 was the plate number that Hu Weisheng cloned from a white Toyota Reiz. What about it?"

Jiang Ting stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, the warm, clean, orange glow of the living room light behind him. His sharp profile was delineated on the glass pane that separated him from the black of the night, a deep furrow between his brows.

"People will usually clone plates from a car of the same make, colour, and model as theirs. Why did Hu Weisheng, who drove a Camry, take the risk to clone a Reiz? Although they are of the same make and colour and the models look similar, this doesn't conform to the behavioural habits of someone who peddled drugs, counterfeit and otherwise."

Yan Xie was slightly stunned.

"Seeing how Hu Weisheng so resolutely refused to turn over his girlfriend during the interrogation, it's clear that this female kidnapper was of extreme importance to him," Jiang Ting continued, his tone heavy. "Is there then a possibility that she had once asked Hu Weisheng to get matching couple license plates with her?"

After Jiang Ting hung up the call, he stood in front of the window for a long, long while.

Han Xiaomei had already left. In the deep of the night, the wind and rain raged on still, the city beneath his feet awash with a vast sea of shining light. Laughter and warmth drifted out from the windows of those thousands upon thousands of households, unaware that in the corners of this world, shrouded in an impenetrable darkness, there were abhorrent evils in play, just as there were also countless souls toiling through the night, fighting to prevent such crimes.

The rain lashed frenziedly against the window. Crossing his arms tightly across his chest, Jiang Ting took a step back.

It was as though he was subconsciously seeking a false sense of security from this quiet, pristine, and beautifully decorated apartment behind him through this action. However, this space was empty and still, with only the slightest trace of an indescribable scent lingering in the void—something the apartment's owner had hastily left behind the last time he was here.

Resolute, forthright, warm, even a little bit scorching.

Jiang Ting shuddered slightly, as if waking from some improbable dream, and took a forceful step forward to stand before the window once more.

His phone rang again. "Hello, Yan Xie?"

"JA9U766!" Yan Xie's voice was strangely clear even in the rain; maybe he was yelling directly into his phone. "The car owner's name is Liu Wanqiu, twenty-seven years old. Guess who she is!"

"I have no idea," Jiang Ting replied, "But your men are definitely already on their way to find her."

Yan Xie's laughter rang loud and clear. "Ding Jiawang's wife's cousin's niece!"

Jiang Ting couldn't resist the smile that curved his lips.

"We've managed to extract at least one suspect's DNA from the crime scene. A search on the DNA database revealed that this person's name is Chu Rui. Ten years ago, he was incarcerated for the illegal manufacture of firearms, although it's uncertain if he had anything to do with Fan Zhengyuan's illegal gun as of now. We're on our way to carry out the arrest." Yan Xie paused, then added pointedly, "You stay put at home. Until the case is over, unless I dispatch someone to fetch you, don't run around on your own anymore."

Who sent Fan Zhengyuan, why did they set their sights on Jiang ting, did these have a connection to the people holding Chu Ci hostage—none of the answers to these questions could be determined before the truth of the case came to light. The secrets hidden behind Jiang Ting was like a fathomless black hole; there was no telling how many more Fan Zhengyuan's lurked in the dark, lying in wait for an opportunity to take Jiang Ting's life.

Jiang Ting hung up and let out a long exhale, finally easing his tense muscles.

The pu'er tea that Han Xiaomei brewed before she left had long since cooled. Unbothered, Jiang Ting picked it up and took sip, but the moment his tongue touched the liquid, he spat, "Pu—"

"Cough cough cough!" Jiang Ting almost choked to the point of no return. He stared in horror at the porcelain cup in his hand—it was a pity Yan Xie wasn't there in person to behold this expression that had never appeared on his face before in all his years of life. He promptly set down the cup, darted into the kitchen, and spotted in one glance the tea casket that Han Xiaomei had opened.

The layer of parchment paper used to wrap around the tea cake had been torn open. There was a thumb-sized gap on the rim of the cake that was crudely pried out by a dinner knife, and rust-colored tea leaf crumbs were scattered all over the snow white marble countertop.

"…" Jiang Ting's right eyelid began twitching uncontrollably.

Yan Xie hung up and smacked his lips, looking like there was something he wished to do but left unfinished. He suddenly raised his head and called out, "Han Xiaomei."

Ma Xiang sat at the wheel and Han Xiaomei, who had just hurried back to the scene, was in the passenger's seat. "Yes, Vice-Captain Yan!"

"Don't you think Consultant Lu is a very troublesome person?"

Han Xiaomei: "…"

As if to prove his point, Yan Xie went on patiently, "Always looking like he's going to fall sick at the drop of a hat. Very fussy and delicate. He's not even willing to eat a bowl of instant noodles that cost eighteen yuan, and he can't pull all-nighters with us in the rain. Don't you two agree?"

It was completely silent. The steady drum of the rain against the windows and the creaks of the car as it drove across bumps on the road were the only sounds in the car for a long moment before Ma Xiang ventured a cautious response, "As long as it makes you happy, Sir."

"Tsk, I'm being serious here…" Yan Xie was about to continue when Han Xiaomei's phone suddenly rang, "Mr. Lu" flashing on the phone screen.

"Hello, Mr. Lu? We're currently on our way to capture the suspect, I—"

Jiang Ting cut her off, keeping his volume very low, "Were you the one who tore open the tea cake in Yan Xie's house?"

"?" Han Xiaomei replied, "That's right."

It sounded like Jiang Ting took a forceful gulp of something on the other end of the line as he replied, "Of all things, why did you have to grab this one?"

Han Xiaomei sighed emphatically. "Who doesn't know that the things in Vice-Captain Yan's house are expensive? I don't dare to open those fancy-looking boxes of tea leaves either. What's wrong, Mr. Lu? Has it gone moldy? The tea cake gave me a weird feeling too when I was making the tea—it looked so shabby as though it had been left there for a long time, but it still smelled pretty fragrant…"

The other side lapsed into silence for a moment. "Hand the phone over to Yan Xie," Jiang Ting instructed.

Yan Xie thought Jiang Ting only called to check if Han Xiaomei had made a safe return to the scene. He was currently sitting in the backseat, communicating with the command center via a walkie-talkie when a phone was abruptly presented to him. He picked it up, bewildered. "Hello? What's up, police flower?"

"I have something to discuss with you."

Yan Xie: "???"

Jiang Ting's voice sounded very calm, calm to the point where something wasn't quite right. "Let me posit a situation first. If someone drank your family's most expensive collectible and rendered it completely worthless, what would you do?"

Yan Xie was greatly alarmed. "That's impossible. Did HSBC misplace the bottle of whiskey in their safety deposit box that my family bought from the auction back then?"

"…" Jiang Ting said, "I'm referring to that block of 1921 Laotongxing tea cake."

"Oh, that." Yan Xie finally relaxed. "My mum bought that from some auction and told me that she would use it for my bridal tea when I got married. Why, who wants to drink it? Haha, then let me say this in advance—whoever drinks it will have to be my little wife and cook for me, massage me, wash my socks for me, hahaha—"

Jiang Ting: "!"

Han Xiaomei in the front seat: "!!!"

The last note of Yan Xie's laughter froze in midair as he finally noticed something amiss. "What, you really drank it?"

Han Xiaomei's whole person was quivering like a falling leaf in an autumn breeze. In this moment, her reflexes were infinitely slower than the battle-seasoned Jiang Ting, who immediately said, "Han Xiaomei drank it."

"N-n-n-no i-it w-w-wasn't m-m-m-m-me…"

Yan Xie sank into a strange silence.

Ma Xiang carefully stole a glance at the rearview mirror and found his superior's expression to be very odd: it wasn't quite anger or a grimace of pain, nor did he look like he would explode into action and start trouble. If one had to speculate, it probably looked more like he had been vaguely hoping for something, yet that anticipation suddenly fell through.

"Oh, if it was Han Xiaomei, then forget it," Yan Xie sluggishly replied. "Be more careful next time."

Yan Xie hung up, seemingly discontent. He pulled at his ear, folded his arms, and leaned back into the seat, clutching the buzzing walkie-talkie in his hand.

Han Xiaomei didn't dare to make a peep. Ma Xiang also sat with his back straight, staring at the endless rainy night ahead of him. After a good few minutes, they suddenly heard Yan Xie burst out.

"Always so rash and careless! How did lao Gao teach you? Go back and write me a reflection!!"

Han Xiaomei wanted to cry but no tears came out. "Y-y-yes…"

The Cherokee cut a path through the storm. Flanked by several police cars with their sirens flashing red and blue, they sped along Provincial Highway 635 towards Jianning City in the distance.