Chapter 105: The Capture Operation

Huang Xiaotao kicked the door twice and broke the lock right open. The curtains flew aside, revealing a woman sitting inside—completely naked. Seeing so many people rush in, she hurriedly covered herself with a blanket.

We stepped closer to the window. The room was on the third floor, and below, the roof of a car was badly dented. A middle-aged, chubby man was sprinting away in a large bathrobe and hotel slippers, looking ridiculously frantic. Several passersby had gathered, attracted by the commotion.

Wang Yuanchao climbed onto the windowsill and shouted, "Police at work! Move aside!"

Then, without hesitation, he jumped down, rolled on the ground, and sprang up, chasing after the man with the speed of a leopard.

Wang Dali asked, "Xiaotao, should we jump too?"

"No need," Huang Xiaotao replied confidently. "Wang Yuanchao's got this. He'll catch that guy."

Inside the room, Huang Xiaotao glanced around and saw the man's clothes scattered on the floor. Judging from the bathrobe, he was practically streaking underneath it. She found an ID in his pants—he was none other than Ren Fa Cai, our wanted suspect.

Turning to the woman, Huang Xiaotao asked, "What's your relation to Ren Fa Cai?"

"Cous... cousin!" the woman stammered.

"Cousin all the way to 'naked woman'?" Huang Xiaotao sneered, tossing the woman's clothes at her. "Put these on and wait outside."

Soon after, Wang Yuanchao returned handcuffing Ren Fa Cai. The man was sweating profusely and limping badly, looking utterly miserable. Seeing the woman squatting in the corridor, he hurriedly explained, "Officer, this is my niece. Nothing's happened between us."

"One says cousin, one says niece. Didn't you two coordinate your stories first?" Huang Xiaotao smirked.

Ren Fa Cai looked embarrassed. "I get it, I get it. Five days detention, five hundred yuan fine, right? Fine, I admit defeat!"

I thought to myself, damn, this guy's a repeat offender.

He fumbled around himself, realized he was still in the bathrobe, and added, "Officer, could you please bring me my pants?"

Huang Xiaotao flashed her badge and barked, "Don't try to act tough in front of me. Look carefully — we're criminal police, not here for soliciting. Come with us to the station."

Ren Fa Cai scratched his head, squinting at her badge. "Officer, are you sure you've got the right guy? I haven't done anything seriously wrong lately."

"Come along first, we'll talk later," Huang Xiaotao said with a wave.

With the suspect in custody, Huang Xiaotao planned to interrogate him immediately. After getting in the car, Wang Dali complained, "Xiaotao, don't you have a concept of clocking out? I'm starving here."

"Should I drop you guys off at school first?" Huang Xiaotao asked.

I quickly said no. Wang Dali and I could walk back from the intersection. I didn't want to waste her precious case-solving time.

The case was progressing smoothly, and Huang Xiaotao was riding high. She asked me, "Song Yang, do you think Ren Fa Cai is the murderer?"

"Judging by his face, he looks sneaky and short-sighted, not the type to be a cold-blooded killer," I analyzed.

"You're getting into face-reading now? Just say what you think," Huang Xiaotao snapped.

"Fine, here's my bold opinion: He's not the killer."

Huang Xiaotao laughed, "You're inexperienced. A man with a record like his would do anything for money. I bet he is!"

"Bet what?" I raised an eyebrow.

"A meal!" Huang Xiaotao hooked pinkies with me.

"Deal!" I shook her hand.

Wang Dali covered his chest, "Hey, you two can tone down the PDA? Show some respect to us singletons."

"It's just a bet. Why so sensitive?" Huang Xiaotao rolled her eyes.

"You two are shooting love signals all over the car," Wang Dali muttered weakly.

"Say another word and get out of the car!" Huang Xiaotao's face flushed red. Mine turned even redder.

Wang Dali and I returned to school. The next morning at 9 AM, Huang Xiaotao called. "Song Yang, this guy's slippery. You'll have to come over personally."

"On my way!" I replied.

Wang Dali and I exchanged a glance. We were in class at the time, but as the teacher turned to write on the board, we slipped out the back door. Our classmates snickered—we were becoming habitual truants.

At the police station, we found Ren Fa Cai sitting in the interrogation room, eyes bloodshot. An empty lunchbox and water cup sat in front of him as he rambled nonstop.

"Has he confessed?" I asked.

Huang Xiaotao sighed, "He's confessed to a laundry list of petty crimes — theft, scams, you name it. From last night straight till now, nonstop talking like a stand-up comedian."

I noticed she hadn't changed clothes and asked, surprised, "You haven't rested at all?"

"Caught a quick nap in the meeting room. The interrogators have rotated three shifts already," she said, exasperated.

"Let's go in," I nodded.

Huang Xiaotao sent a text to the interrogators—our signal for a shift change. Two officers stepped out, and we entered the interrogation room.

I asked, "Did you recently buy a house? Spent about half a million?"

Ren Fa Cai nodded vigorously. "Yes, yes, officer. You guys are thorough, even know that."

Huang Xiaotao slammed the table. "Stop dodging. There's a corpse in that house. Don't you know?"

Ren Fa Cai said, "Officer, you've asked me three times, I swear I don't know anything about a dead person. If I did, I wouldn't have bought it."

I sneered, "Forget the corpse — it's a haunted house. Didn't you know that?"

He nodded quickly, like a chicken pecking grain.

"Then why'd you buy it?" I asked.

Ren Fa Cai smirked, "I wasn't buying it for myself. No one dares go near that place, so I wanted it for a leather workshop. I have a friend who makes fake LV bags. His stuff looks almost real…"

Huang Xiaotao banged the table three times, yelling, "Get to the point!"

Ren Fa Cai squinted. "Hey, lady, does your hand hurt?"

Huang Xiaotao nearly lost her temper, but I stopped her. On the way back, she whispered, "Watch out for this guy. He can twist anything you say around ten thousand ways."

The whole interrogation was long and grueling. No matter what we asked, Ren Fa Cai deflected and threw out a litany of his own bad deeds—selling porn DVDs, internet scams, money laundering. He was the kind of petty crook who never crossed the line into major crime.

Finally, I confirmed he didn't know anything about the corpse or the murder — he didn't even know the victim's gender. Using my "Ghost Vision," I verified he wasn't lying.

We left the interrogation room at 4 PM, exhausted. Wang Dali eagerly asked the verdict. I shook my head: "He's not the killer."

"I'm calling the jail staff to take him away. Just looking at that greasy fat face annoys me," Huang Xiaotao said with disgust.

The trail went cold. Huang Xiaotao looked deflated, like the air had been let out of her. I encouraged her—it was a strange case. It would be odd if we solved it so quickly. We stuck to the original plan: to spend the night at the haunted house.

At that moment, Huang Xiaotao's phone rang. After a brief conversation, she told me, "Song Yang, my team caught a suspicious person at the haunted house!"

Wang Dali grinned, "Must be the killer trying to destroy evidence. Great, no need to stay overnight there now!"

We hurried to the haunted house, where two police officers were questioning a young man. To our surprise, it was Ye Shiwen. Seeing me, he brightened up.

"Song Yang, you came just in time! These cops are treating me like a suspect and won't stop questioning me. I'm just here to find something."

Huang Xiaotao asked, "You're Song Yang's classmate? This is a murder scene. What did you lose here?"

Ye Shiwen hesitated, unwilling to say. No wonder the cops were holding him. Under Huang Xiaotao's sharp questioning, he finally admitted to dropping a craft knife here during the break-in, probably in the bathroom.

Huang Xiaotao ordered a cop to search. Sure enough, they found an exquisite craft knife with a beautifully decorated sheath. Ye Shiwen was about to take it when Huang Xiaotao snatched it away.

"Bold move carrying a controlled blade. Confiscated!" she declared.

Ye Shiwen looked embarrassed. "Officer, this knife isn't sharp. It can't hurt anyone. My ex-girlfriend gave it to me. It's very precious."

Huang Xiaotao tested it and confirmed it was blunt. Seeing it was me, she returned the knife with a smile. Ye Shiwen thanked me profusely and promised to treat me to a meal next time.

At that moment, I never imagined I would see this knife again — in another murder case.