Capture Plan

Huang Xiaotao kicked the door twice, directly kicking the lock open. I saw the curtains wide open, a naked woman sitting on the bed, hurried to cover her body with a quilt when she saw so many people coming in.

We went to the window and looked out. This was the third floor. The roof of a car below was smashed in. A middle-aged fat man, wearing a loose bathrobe and slippers from the hotel, was running so unrestrainedly! Many passersby were attracted by the noise.

Wang Yuanchao climbed onto the window sill and shouted, "Police investigation, get out of the way!"

Then he jumped down directly, rolled on the ground, got up and chased after the man as fast as a leopard.

Wang Dali asked, "Sister Xiaotao, do we need to jump down and follow him too?"

Huang Xiaotao said, "No need. With Wang Yuanchao taking action, he will surely catch this guy."

Huang Xiaotao looked around the room. The middle-aged man's clothes were thrown on the ground. This guy had nothing on under his bathrobe and ran almost naked. She searched and found his ID in his pants. The one who had jumped out the window and escaped was exactly Ren Facai, the man they were looking for.

Then she asked the woman on the bed, "What's your relationship with Ren Facai?"

"Cousin..."

"Cousins can get in bed too?" Huang Xiaotao sneered and threw the woman's clothes on the ground to her, shouting, "Put your clothes on and squat outside."

Soon, Ren Facai was handcuffed and brought back by Wang Yuanchao. He was drenched in sweat, limping on one leg, looking extremely embarrassed. When he saw the woman squatting in the corridor, he quickly explained, "Comrade police, she is my niece. Nothing happened between us!"

"One said cousin, the other said niece. Why don't you get your story straight beforehand?" Huang Xiaotao sneered.

Ren Facai looked ashamed. "I understand, I understand. Five days in detention, 500 yuan fine, right? I admit it!"

I thought, damn, this guy is a habitual offender.

He fumbled all over himself, then remembered he was wearing a bathrobe, and said, "Officer, would you please get my pants for me?"

Huang Xiaotao took out her ID and shouted, "Don't pretend to be pitiful in front of me. Look clearly, we are detectives, not here to catch you visiting prostitutes. Come back to the bureau with us!"

Ren Facai scratched his head and squinted at the ID. "Officers, I think you've got the wrong person. I haven't done anything outrageous recently."

Huang Xiaotao waved her hand. "Take him away first, we'll talk later!"

After catching the suspect, Huang Xiaotao wanted to interrogate him immediately. But after getting in the car, Wang Dali said, "Sister Xiaotao, don't you have a sense of getting off work on time? I'm starving already."

"Then should I take you back to school first?" Huang Xiaotao asked.

I said there was no need. Wang Dali and I could walk back ourselves from the intersection without taking up her precious investigation time.

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

"Judging from his appearance, he looks shifty, a shallow person who can't think deeply. He doesn't seem to be the twisted type." I analyzed.

"Just say it directly." Huang Xiaotao said impatiently.

"Then let me speak out. I don't think the murderer is this person!"

Huang Xiaotao laughed aloud. "I can tell you lack experience. This kind of person is unscrupulous. He would do anything for money. I bet it's him!"

"Bet what?" I raised my eyebrows.

"Let's bet a meal!" Huang Xiaotao hooked her finger with mine.

"Deal!"

Wang Dali covered his chest. "Damn, pay attention to the occasion, would you? Have some consideration for us singles."

Huang Xiaotao said, "It's just a bet, why are you so sensitive again?"

"Look at you two making eyes at each other, the car is full of love vibes." Wang Dali said weakly.

"Say more nonsense and I'll kick you out!" Huang Xiaotao's face turned red instantly. Mine was even redder.

Wang Dali and I went back to school. The next morning at 9 o'clock, Huang Xiaotao called me, "Song Yang, this guy is too slick. You need to come in person!"

"Okay, coming right away!"

I exchanged a look with Wang Dali. We were in class at the moment. When the teacher turned to write on the blackboard, we slipped out the back door and ran off. My classmates looked at us mockingly. Recently we had become truants.

When we arrived at the bureau, we saw Ren Facai sitting in the interrogation room, eyes red, with an empty lunch box and water cup in front of him, babbling non-stop.

I asked, "Did he confess?"

Huang Xiaotao sighed. "He confessed, confessed to a bunch of petty crimes, talking nonstop from last night until now, even more eloquent than a comic storyteller!"

I noticed she hadn't changed her clothes and asked in surprise, "Haven't you rested at all?"

"I took a nap in the conference room in between. The officers interrogating him have changed three shifts already." Huang Xiaotao said speechlessly.

"Let's go in!" I nodded.

Huang Xiaotao texted the interrogating officers, which was the signal to switch people. Soon the two officers came out, and we entered the interrogation room.

I asked, "Didn't you just buy a house for 500,000 recently?"

Ren Facai nodded eagerly, "Yes, yes, comrade police, your investigation is too thorough, even knowing this. I'm impressed, impressed!"

Huang Xiaotao banged the table. "Stop beating around the bush! There's a dead body in that house. Didn't you know?"

Ren Facai said, "Comrade police, you've asked me this three times already. I really don't know anything about a dead body. If I had known, I wouldn't have dared to buy it!"

I sneered. "Aside from the dead, it was a murder house. Didn't you know that beforehand?"

"I knew!" Ren Facai nodded his head like a pecking chick.

"Then why did you still buy it?" I asked.

Ren Facai grinned. "Actually I didn't buy the house to live in myself. I just saw that no one dared to go near that house, so I thought I'd buy it to make a leather workshop. I have a brother who makes fake LV bags, his stuff looks almost real..."

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

Ren Facai squeezed his eyes. "Beauty, doesn't your hand hurt?"

Huang Xiaotao was so angry she almost tortured him. Fortunately I stopped her and she sat back down, whispering to me, "Be careful of this guy, he's slippery, can talk circles around you in one sentence."

The entire interrogation was long and exhausting, making me fully experience the tedious side of police work. No matter what I asked Ren Facai, he could divert it to something else, then throw out some bad things he'd done to distract us, like selling adult videos, online fraud, money laundering, and the like.

This kind of person commits minor wrongs but no major evils continuously. Finally I got it clear that he didn't know about the dead person, nor did he admit to murdering anyone, or even knowing whether the victim was male or female. I observed him with Cave Abyss Eyes and confirmed he was not lying.

By the time we came out of the interrogation room, it was already 4pm. Huang Xiaotao and I were exhausted. Wang Dali eagerly asked about the results. I shook my head. "He's not the murderer."

"I'll call the detention center right away to come take him away. Just looking at that oily fat face annoys me!" Huang Xiaotao cursed in disgust.

With the lead broken, Huang Xiaotao deflated completely. I comforted her that it was alright, this case was confusing from the start, it would be strange if we cracked it so easily. Let's stick to the original plan and spend the night at the murder scene tonight.

Just then, Huang Xiaotao got a call on her mobile phone. After chatting for a few sentences, she told me, "Song Yang, my people caught a suspicious figure at the murder scene house!"

Wang Dali said excitedly, "It must be the murderer trying to destroy evidence. Great, we don't have to go to the murder house tonight!"

We rushed over immediately. Two policemen were questioning a young man whom we recognized as Ye Shiwen. Seeing me, he said happily, "Song Yang, you came at just the right time. These two uncles think I'm a suspicious person and keep questioning me. I just came to fetch something."

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

Ye Shiwen hemmed and hawed, unwilling to say. No wonder the police guarding the scene wouldn't let him leave. Only under Huang Xiaotao's urging did he confess. It turned out to be an art knife that he accidentally dropped when trespassing into the scene that day. It was probably left in the bathroom.

Huang Xiaotao let a police officer go find one, and as expected, he found an artisan knife. The sheath was very exquisite. Ye Shiwen was about to take it when Huang Xiaotao snatched it over and said, "You're gutsy, daring to carry restricted knives on you. Confiscated!"

Ye Shiwen awkwardly said, "Miss police officer, this knife isn't sharpened and can't hurt anyone. It was a gift from my ex-girlfriend and is very precious to me."

Huang Xiaotao tried it and indeed it wasn't sharpened, so she returned the knife to Ye Shiwen out of consideration for me. Ye Shiwen thanked her profusely, saying he would treat me to a meal next time. I never could have imagined that I would see this knife again so soon, and in the midst of a murder case no less!