Chapter 451: The List

Lin Dongxue sat in the car, checking her phone. She breathed a sigh of relief and said, “My brother has it under control. One hostage got shot, but it’s not life-threatening.”

“That’s good,” Chen Shi replied, keeping his eyes on the road as they tailed the paparazzi’s car. They had been following it for over an hour when it finally entered a residential complex. They followed it inside and watched the occupants enter an apartment building.

Chen Shi checked the elevator display, which stopped on the 15th floor. Lin Dongxue asked, “Should we go up?”

Chen Shi thought for a moment. “Given their usual method, they’d be filming from the building across the street. Something’s about to happen there. Let’s hurry!”

They quickly made their way to the 15th floor of the building across the street. Chen Shi listened at the doors on the east side and used a detector to scan for signals. One of the apartments emitted a faint wireless signal.

Whispering, Chen Shi said, “The bug must be inside. We need to break in!”

“But that’s against regulations!”

“It’s an emergency. Do you have your gun and handcuffs?”

“Yes.”

Chen Shi pulled out a lock-picking tool and swiftly unlocked the door. They entered the empty living room and headed to the bedroom, where they found a scrawny young man fiddling with a radio transmitter. He saw their reflections in the window and almost jumped out of his skin. “Who are you?”

Lin Dongxue flashed her badge. “Police. We suspect you of illegal possession of firearms.”

“Firearms?!” The young man was stunned.

Chen Shi scanned the transmitter with his detector, confirming a strong signal. The young man stammered, “This is just a hobby. It’s not illegal, is it?”

Chen Shi glanced out the window and sighed. “False alarm. This place doesn’t have a direct view of the other building. It must be somewhere else.”

“Next time, figure things out before you scare me to death,” the young man grumbled.

“Sorry, it’s an emergency. By the way, do you know if there are any quarrelsome couples or problematic single-parent families on this floor? Anyone with major conflicts?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the young man said blankly.

Lin Dongxue explained, “We’re investigating illegal firearms possession.”

“I don’t know about any guns, but the place across the hall seems odd. There’s a man and a woman there, or maybe one man and two women. I often hear… you know, those kinds of sounds at night. I’ve never seen the women leave, and the man doesn’t seem to have a proper job.”

Chen Shi nodded at Lin Dongxue, signaling her to leave.

They approached the apartment across the hall. Chen Shi prepared to pick the lock again. Lin Dongxue cautioned, “Don’t mess up this time. We just apologized for the last one.”

“We won’t.”

Chen Shi opened the door, and a woman in lingerie rushed out, calling, “Honey, you’re back…” Seeing strangers, she panicked and ran toward the bedroom.

Chen Shi shouted, “Stop her!”

Lin Dongxue quickly intercepted her, entering the bedroom and spotting a gun and bullets on the dressing table. The woman reached for the gun, but Lin Dongxue tackled her. Chen Shi entered and secured the gun.

“What are you doing? Are you robbers? I’m calling the police!” the woman yelled, struggling under Lin Dongxue.

“Behave!” Lin Dongxue cuffed her.

“Tie her to the pipe so she doesn’t run.”

Lin Dongxue complied. The woman, now handcuffed to the pipe, screamed hysterically. Chen Shi glanced out the window and saw two figures fleeing from the building opposite.

He signaled to Lin Dongxue, and they rushed downstairs. They caught the two paparazzi just as they were about to get into their car.

Chen Shi held up the Makarov pistol. “Recognize this?”

The first paparazzo feigned surprise. “Wow, a gun!”

“Cut the crap. We followed you here. How did you know the people in that apartment had a gun? And how did you get here before the police? Explain!”

The first paparazzo exchanged a nervous glance with the second. The second paparazzo smiled, “Someone tipped us off.”

“Really?” Chen Shi sneered. “Then that person must live here. Call them out. We’ll verify your story.”

“Uh… we have to protect our sources.”

“Don’t give me that. You think the police would expose your informant? Call your boss.”

Chen Shi pointed at them. “I suspect you have a list of people with guns. Hiding that information and fabricating news stories is illegal!” He raised the gun, and they flinched. “Lie on the car and don’t move until the police get here!”

The two exchanged uneasy looks, put down their equipment, and complied. Lin Dongxue searched them and found various fake IDs, confirming their profession.

Lin Dongxue called Lin Qiupu, and soon police cars arrived to take the two paparazzi away for questioning.

The woman with the gun was also taken away. Her story was shocking. She had been reported missing over three years ago. The man she lived with was a psychopath who had kept her imprisoned.

Amazingly, she had developed a dependency and affection for her captor over time. But recently, he had brought another woman into the apartment, sparking her jealousy. The sudden appearance of the gun had fueled her hatred. She had planned to kill the other woman when they returned, but Chen Shi’s timely intervention prevented another tragedy.

It took hours of interrogation to uncover the full story. The police arrested the psychopath, but both imprisoned women screamed and cried, refusing rescue and even offering to testify for their captor. It was a chilling example of Stockholm syndrome.

Back at the station, the paparazzi were interrogated separately. They repeatedly said, “Talk to our boss.”

Lin Qiupu scolded them, “Do you think you’re just working a job? You’ve broken the law!”

The second paparazzo scoffed, “Breaking the law is nothing new for us. Freelance journalism is a gray area. We need to eat, officer. How can we compete with big media by following the rules?”

“This time, you’re looking at jail!”

“Why should we go to jail? We just took some photos. We didn’t interfere. It’s like filming seals in the Arctic. Even if the seals get killed, we can’t interfere. That’s journalistic integrity!”

Lin Qiupu slammed the table, “Because you hid information, three people died, and a police officer was killed. Do you think the court won’t hold you responsible? Get ready to eat prison food!”