Chapter 111 Jigsaw Puzzle
White smoke rose up, filling the whole room with smoke. Even the vision became blurred, and it seemed like a fairy cave.
The square, featureless glass ashtray was already filled with silver-black ashes, with dozens of cigarette butts stuck in it, and half a cigarette in someone's hand, the butt glowing bright red.
As soon as Jiang Quan entered the room, he coughed twice because of the choking. He stepped out and fanned himself with his hands, took two deep breaths of fresh air, then held his breath and rushed in to open all the windows and doors. The hot air outside rushed in immediately, sweeping the smoke all over the room. July in City A was as hot as a steamer. Soon, a layer of greasy sweat appeared on the heads of the two people in the room. Ouyang Rui had already put out the cigarette butt in his hand into the ashtray, and waited until the smoke in the room had dissipated before closing the window. The air conditioner, which was doing its job well, quickly sent the cold air back in, making everyone in the room breathe a sigh of relief.
Zhao Meng, who was sleeping on the table, was awakened by the heat not long after the window was opened. The girl had taken off her trainee police hat and officially upgraded to a junior police officer. But the price was huge. The gentle and reserved girl in the past not only cut her long hair so that it couldn't even cover her neck, but also drooled a lot while sleeping there. She wiped it off with her hand casually and didn't take it seriously. She yawned unbecomingly, and then gathered up the piles of information spread on the table and sorted them out.
Several other policemen who were so tired that they fell asleep in the office also woke up one after another. After saying hello to each other, some went to the bathroom to wash their faces or go to the toilet, while others rubbed their eyes and continued to work. Ouyang Rui, the only one who was not asleep, picked up the full ashtray on the table and emptied it into the trash can under the table, while asking Jiang Quan: "What's going on over there?"
Jiang Quan's well-dressed appearance made him look like an outlier in the entire office. Although he also looked tired, his back was still straight, and his shirt collar was still so white and crisp. He placed a small stack of documents in front of Ouyang Rui and said, "All the files were stolen. They were done very cleanly, leaving no traces. This is the case investigation record. I have read it and found no valuable clues."
Although he said so, Ouyang Rui still took out the records and read them one by one. He did this not because he did not trust Jiang Quan's ability and judgment, but because the more people who verified it, the more likely it was to find clues.
After reading it, Ouyang Rui thought for a moment, then turned to ask Jiang Quan: "It says here that a report from a phishing website was received that night. Have you checked the website and the reporter? Is there any..."
The voice stopped abruptly, and Jiang Quan was seen leaning on the office chair and fell asleep. His head was tilted back, and his glasses were crooked. It was a very uncomfortable posture. He would definitely have a sore back when he woke up. However, they were very busy recently, and being able to get some sleep made many people feel very happy.
Ouyang Rui said no more, and took the coat hanging on the back of the chair to cover Jiang Quan, then circled a few doubtful points in the record, and wrote down his questions one by one. After writing and putting it away, he took a stack of white stickers, wrote "Files Stolen" in the middle, and then wrote down the time and place, tore off the sticker and pasted it on a large whiteboard on the wall, and then used a pen to connect this sticker with other stickers.
Standing further away, the whiteboard is nearly two meters long and more than one meter high. It is now covered with things: photos, stickers, a small piece of newspaper cut out, and more densely packed words and spider-web-like lines written in various colors. Recorded here are all the clues they have found since this period of time. Each clue is like a small puzzle piece, gradually revealing the true appearance of the incident.
Yu Qiang is dead. Officially, the police found new clues that could prove his crime. Yu Qiang tried to attack the police but failed, and was shot dead by the police in the process of resisting. The public does not care about the reason for his death, but only cares whether this scumbag has received the punishment he deserves. Now that Yu Qiang is dead, the attention to this incident has quickly dropped. Only a small number of people blamed the judicial authorities of City A for not being rigorous and careful enough in the previous investigation of the case, but they also accepted the result with relief after the official attitude of timely admitting mistakes and making amends.
But some people also know that this matter is not over yet.
Through the trial of Shu Qi, Ouyang Rui and others discovered a secret organization that controlled the judicial and violent organs of the Tang Kingdom. As the investigation deepened, they found that not only Shu Qi, but also many government officials had deep or shallow connections with this organization. Some people had received benefits from them to do some things, some people were protecting the shell companies they controlled, and some people were simply manipulated by them. The top leaders of the Tang Kingdom investigated some officials in the name of anti-corruption, but before they could dig deeper, they alerted the snakes. All the clues were cut off overnight, and even Shu Qi died suddenly in the detention center.
Judging from the clues we have at hand, this is a powerful overseas organization. They have been setting up a scheme in Sugar Country for many years. In addition to the ones that have been dug out, there must be deeper ones that have not been dug out yet.
Moreover, all the major cases that occurred in City A in the past year - the 9.11 bus bombing, the 9.12 Old Street shooting, the 12.5 Meihao Shopping Mall bombing, the 5.25 highway chain car accident, etc. - have the shadow of this organization behind them. Although there are no clear clues pointing to them, they are not completely unrelated.
The only reason why they have been active in City A is to find the crow.
There has been no news about the Crow for a long time. Not only the police know this, but many people in the underworld who have a keen sense of smell have already discovered it. Some people say that the Crow has disbanded or been killed by the wanted criminals, but there is no definite proof. During this period, the crime rate in Sugar Country has increased by several percentage points compared to before, but the scene of the explosive arrest of criminals has never reappeared.
Even so, Ouyang Rui felt that the disappearance of the crow was a good thing. The social order needed the power of the whole society to maintain, which was the normal track for the world to continue to operate. But he didn't think that the crow was dead. A guy who could do that would not die so quietly.
Obviously, the foreign forces think so too.
The other party seemed to be more determined than him, and in order to find the crow, they even exposed the nails that had been buried for many years. However, judging from the current situation, they have not yet achieved their goal.
The missing person files that Jiang Quan had investigated before were the files of the forty-nine people that Shu Qi led the investigation team to finally lock on. Among the 25 million people in City A, these forty-nine people were most likely to be related to the crows. Although Shu Qi had selfish motives, he was dedicated to hunting down the crows, so the reliability of this list was very high.
These files are also backed up by Ouyang Rui. The total amount of all the contents is very considerable, and there is no electronic archive. Therefore, even if Shu Qi was the original leader of the investigation team, the most he could leak was a list and very limited information. Now that the files have been stolen, is it because the organization cannot get more clues from a list, so it needs to conduct a detailed investigation of the files?
——It is also possible that they stole the files on purpose to make the police pay more attention to the list and investigate it, and then steal it after they find something. After all, in Sugar Country, no private or illegal organization can compare with the investigation ability of the Sugar Country Police. But no matter what, in this game, the party that can find the crow first has the upper hand. Maybe if the crow is found, all the mysteries will be solved.
…
"Kind? Are you kidding me?" Hilda put one hand on her waist and dangled her phone chain in the other hand. She sneered and said, "If you want to say he's kind, why not redefine the word 'kind'!"
The man opposite her was a little surprised when he heard this and asked, "Why do you say that?"
"Have you ever seen someone who would stand far away and worry about getting his clothes dirty when someone is injured, bleeding and dying? He is one of them!" Hilda said angrily, "If a person can pretend not to hear a disabled person asking him to pick up his crutches and walk over directly, and can sit aside and watch when a little girl cries loudly when she is separated from her parents... If such a person can be called kind, then he is kind! He is the kind of person who, when someone falls in front of him, not only does he not help him up, but instead kicks him because he is in the way!"
"Not really?" the man said in disbelief. "I heard he's a very passionate and righteous man!"
"Ha ha."
Hilda sneered twice, fully expressing her attitude.
"Anyway, this is the kind of cold-hearted guy I see. Believe it or not! Where's the thing you promised?"
The man took out an envelope and handed it to her. Hilda took out a few gray-green banknotes and took a look at them. She smiled and kissed them. Then she waved and said, "Thank you! Come to me next time if you need something like this!"
The man watched her walk away before making a phone call: "That's not the case either... He's an egoist. I saw that his big moves might be because he was threatened... Yes, I understand. I'll observe for a while..."
…
Sitting on a wooden bench across a fountain, a green belt and some Rong Yuan pressed the earphones in his ears, closed the book in his hand, and said to himself, "Stupid, if you want to deceive me, you should at least find a real disabled person and a little girl who is scared to tears. Also, a pretty face may not make everyone let down their guard. Acting skills and brains are more important, don't you think, Pea?"
Wandou asked softly, "What are you going to do, Rongyuan?"
