Chapter 641 Lost Opportunity
Chen Shi thought for a moment and said, “I have an idea.”
He drove around in a circle, parked behind the Construction Bank to avoid being noticed by that person, then called out to a passing young man, saying, “Want to earn some money? Help me get something from the trash can across the bank, I’ll give you a hundred bucks.”
The young man showed an interested expression, “Doing something risky! A hundred bucks is too little!”
Lin Dongxue showed her badge, “We are police officers, not bad guys. Help us out.”
“Not a bomb, right?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Add three hundred!”
“Deal!”
The young man went to fetch the item. KK said, “I’ll circle around to the building opposite and snap a picture of that person. It’ll help with our investigation.”
“Alright, just don’t get caught.”
“Sneak photography is my specialty, I won’t get caught. Wait for my good news.” KK winked and left.
Chen Shi said to Lin Dongxue, “Keeping this kid around might actually be useful.”
Lin Dongxue snorted, “Petty theft and deception.”
The young man rummaged through the trash can and brought back a box, saying, “Took me a while, not sure if this is it.”
It was a long, narrow iron box, expected to contain a syringe, but inside was only a receipt for a supermarket locker. The supermarket was nearby. Chen Shi thanked him and paid up, saying, “You were very cautious.”
“Why hasn’t the little thief returned yet?”
They looked down the alley and were astonished. KK was seen through the window fighting with that person. They hurriedly crossed the road to the building. They could hear KK shouting, “Taste my Nine Yin White Bone Claws!”
The other person screamed as if struck in a vital spot.
“Oh, broken limbs!”
A thud was heard.
Chen Shi and Lin Dongxue rushed upstairs. It was an old building scheduled for demolition, already vacated. They found the suspicious person lying on the ground, groaning. KK was strutting around like a victorious rooster.
“Didn’t you say you were taking a sneaky picture?” Chen Shi said.
“He spotted me. Had no choice. If I didn’t fight back, he’d have killed me.” KK pointed to a metal rod on the ground.
The suspicious person, looking emaciated and young, sat up, sneering. Swiftly, he pulled out a syringe and injected himself in the arm before Chen Shi could stop him. It was too late. He pushed all the liquid into his veins and began to roll his eyes.
Chen Shi was horrified. Selling drugs was one thing, but this was extreme.
But he didn’t die. Instead, he looked drunk and foolish, tongue hanging out, saying, “Can’t… can’t make up a reason to arrest me… I’ll give you… give you a reason. Hahaha!”
He had injected himself with drugs right in front of the police.
They quickly determined his identity. His name was Lin Tao, a drug addict and seller of illegal substances. He sat in the interrogation room drooling, saying, “Hehehe, little stars… so many little stars…”
Chen Shi kept a watchful eye. When leaving the supermarket, he took the surveillance footage, confirming that someone had taken the item from the locker just minutes before Lin Tao arrived. The person resembled Xu Fa.
“The opponent is too cautious!”
Chen Shi speculated, “Lin Tao was working for Xu Fa. They only completed the transaction after confirming the buyer wasn’t suspicious. Lin Tao signaled danger by getting arrested, prompting Xu Fa to retrieve the drugs. What a missed opportunity!”
“Don’t be discouraged. At least indirectly, we’ve proven Xu Fa was involved in this case. It’s highly likely that Geng Changle was killed with drugs sold by him.”
“A single dose of the drug costs 400,000, more profitable than the drugs themselves… By the way, 400,000… exactly the amount missing from Geng Changle’s account! The killer used the victim’s own card to pay, making it impossible for us to trace the transaction through accounts. Very clever!”
“So, where did the money come from?”
“Cash deposit, made by Geng Changle himself a few days ago, untraceable.”
“Let’s look for that card!”
Chen Shi was almost hopeless, just verifying his conjecture. The next day, they visited Geng Qing again. She checked Geng Changle’s belongings again, and indeed, the card was missing.
“My father always left things lying around. He registered this card a long time ago but never used it. It was always kept in a drawer.”
“If it had money on it, wouldn’t he have carried it with him? Did anyone give him a large sum of money recently?”
“No, except Director Wei. He visited a few days ago.”
It seemed Geng Qing was unaware. Chen Shi said, “May I look at your father’s belongings?”
“Sure, help yourself.”
In a large box, they found several packs of cigarettes from a banquet Geng Changle attended, untouched; some personal letters, which Chen Shi glanced over, were unrelated to the case; a medical record and various odds and ends.
In an iron box, they found a photograph of a young Geng Changle with a girl, wearing trendy clothes from the 1980s. Geng Changle had permed hair and wore sunglasses and bell-bottoms, looking cool and rebellious.
“That’s my mom,” Geng Qing said. “Wasn’t she beautiful when she was young?”
“Indeed, very beautiful. May I take a photo?”
“Sure, go ahead.”
Chen Shi took a picture. They also found several unlabeled DVDs. Chen Shi wanted to see what was on them. Geng Qing brought out an old DVD player, connected it to the TV, and when they played it, all three were nearly blinded. It turned out to be imported adult DVDs from Geng Changle’s collection.
They quickly turned it off.