Case Files 013

Hanging on the rope ladder, the copter flew to Dong Xing City. I climbed up the ladder. The rotors almost shattered my eardrums. Now I understood why helicopter pilots wore headphones. I had to scream to be heard.

An officer handed me a headphone. "If not for Captain Zhao, I don't think anyone can assign a copter so quickly for you. I don't know what happened. Where are we going?"

I looked at the officer and said, "I don't know our destination yet. Just head towards Dong Xing City for now. I believe when you're there, the killer will contact us. By the way, did you bring the bowls?"

The officer nodded and took out a briefcase from the seat. He opened the briefcase and the first thing I saw was white bubble wrap. He reached in and took out the recovered bowls wrapped in bubble wrap. I took one and removed the bubble wrap. I held the bowl and the recovery was perfect. Looking at it, I couldn't tell that the bowl had been shattered. However, right at the edge, I saw a weak red blinking light.

I raised the bowl. "What's this red dot?"

The officer answered, "Captain Lee told us to install it. Since the killer went through all this trouble to request the bowls back, they must mean a lot to him. So the killer will carry the 4 bowls on him. Once you hand the killer the bowls, he won't be able to escape."

I frowned. "The killer is a computer expert. As the best hacker in Dong Xing City, even Sister Mary couldn't decrypt the killer's Ip immediately. This showed how impressive he is. Even I can see something's wrong with this bowl, do you think the killer wouldn't?"

The officer looked at me and added with derision. "You've overestimated the killers. The killers would only examine the bowls after we get the hostage back. We'd have captured the killers then."

I was quite angry internally. These bowls meant a lot to the killer. When he found out the police had desecrated them, he might take revenge on Guan Zhenglin. However, it was too late to take the tracer out from the bowls. At that point, I could only pray that the killer wouldn't notice the red dot.

I looked at the officer and the officer looked at me. We saw condescension in each other's eyes. The officer didn't even know Guan Zhenglin. He couldn't care less if she died, his job was to capture the killers.

The helicopter flew me to Dong Xing City. As the skyscrapers emerged down the skyline, I knew I was close. I glanced at my watch. It was 4.44 am. There were 20 more minutes to the killer's next contact. I looked at the briefcase with the bowls and closed my eyes to wait.

5 am arrived. My phone vibrated. I picked it out and read it. No. 28, City East Street 3rd row, 10 minutes.

It was a simple sentence.

I stared at the message for a long time to confirm if there was additional info. Sitting on the copter, I could see the sun rising on the mountain. I understood that if the killer wanted to get the bowl before dawn, he didn't have much time left.

I handed the address to the pilot. The pilot keyed it into the GPS and said, "The place is surrounded by skyscrapers, the copter can't land there. We can only put you down to the nearest spot and you'll need to take the car there. It'll take at least 10 minutes." The pilot communicated with the local police and had them prepare a car for me when we landed.

I frowned. The killer had indeed given me 10 minutes. Was this a coincidence or a calculated move by the killer? From the moment the killer had us recover the bowls, we had been led by the killer. Everything was within the killer's control but at this moment, the killer should still be somewhere underground at Xing Dong Village. Or my speculation was wrong? The killer was not at Xing Dong Village? There were only 2 possibilities. 1, the killer had some kind of method that could allow him to arrive at Dong Xing City faster than the police. 2, the killer was still at Xing Dong Village and he had an accomplice.

When I thought about it, the second possibility was more probable.

If Zhao Mingkun didn't spot the killer escape at the factory, he wouldn't have left behind the 4 bowls inside the sewer. Then he would have disappeared already. In other words, if not for Zhao Mingkun, we might not have heard from the killer again.

In any case, we had to save Guan Zhenglin and capture the killer.

The copter circled at the nearby park and attracted the attention of the drifters. A police cruiser was already waiting nearby. I grabbed the briefcase with the bowls and undid my safety belt. The copter lowered the rope ladder. I slid down the ladder and got into the cruiser. It was a senior officer who drove the car. He only nodded when he saw me.

When we arrived, the officer told me. "Every station has received orders from the headquarters to send in reinforcement to help you. Even though I have no idea what case this is but remember, safety first."

I looked at him and said, "Thank you."

The senior officer smiled, "I've been in this business for 30 years already, I have never been a part of a big case… until now. My daughter said that my job as a cop is quite boring. After all, it's the detective who handles the big cases right? But if you ask me, life is more important."

I opened the door. "How old is your daughter?"

"She just reached 10. My wife had her very late." He said, "So I love her a lot."

I got down the car and nodded at the senior officer. He was quite chatty but I was not in the mood to chat. When I arrived, I noticed the place was dark. It was only a small alley. I looked around and realized no one was there. The killer only told me to come here after I arrived at Dong Xing City. He only gave me 10 minutes so the police wouldn't have time to set up an ambush here. Therefore, I should be the first person to arrive on scene.

The gate of 28 was shut. I pushed on it and realized it wasn't locked so I walked into it. When I walked in, the inside was still equally dark. However, in the middle of the yard was a mountain bike. The bike looked new but the yard was old. It was strange for the bike to be there. However, the killer wouldn't have placed the bike here after he captured Guan Zhenglin, so he had prepared this beforehand. A startling discovery surfaced in my mind. Everything we did since we arrived at Wu Xiufang's home until now was planned by the killer. From the moment the killer lost the 4 bowls, he had planned to capture one of us as the hostage. That way he could use us as leverage. However, that knowledge didn't help me. I still needed to follow the killer's instructions.

There was a bag beside the bike. Inside the bag were bubble wrap and air-filled rubber. There was a spherical space between these two protection layers. There were 4 such spaces. I guessed correctly that they were for the bowls. I took out the bowls and placed the bowls into the spaces. They matched perfectly. I believed even if you drop the bag from the 3rd floor, the bowls would be fine. I zipped up the bag. There were two straps on the back so I could carry it on my back.

At that moment, I heard a vibration. It was soft but it was clear in the dark. I followed the sound and noticed a small handphone slid between the walls. There was no caller id but I answered the call. "Hello?"

A man's voice said, "Wu Meng, get on the bike and ride north along Min Feng Street."

"Okay," I said.

"But on one condition."

"What condition?" I asked.

"To make sure that you don't have a tracer on you, you need to shed all of your clothes, every single one."