Chapter 263: So, You’ve Caught Me

At the provincial headquarters, in the special crimes unit.

“We got him.” Gao Shengli and Wu Jia burst through the office doors, looking at Xiao Yu and the others. “It’s the same guy!”

‘Same guy, huh?’

Xiao Yu smirked. 

Following his instructions, the two had split up to investigate. Gao Shengli checked if any recent maintenance had been done on the evidence storage building’s air conditioning ducts, while Wu Jia headed to the public works department to see if anyone had accessed the city’s drainage system maps in the vicinity of the crime scene.

Turns out, they’d both come across the same person.

Before the incident, this individual had visited both the evidence building and the public works office. 

The kicker? He wasn’t affiliated with either the maintenance crew or the public works team.

So, how did they find this out? Surveillance footage, of course.

Modern days, most offices, companies, and facilities keep security footage for at least a month or two. From the footage inside the evidence storage, they confirmed that a maintenance team had been scheduled nine days prior to work on the central air conditioning system and to clean out the ducts.

But when they looked closer at the video, they found that one of the maintenance workers wasn’t actually part of the crew.

Strange, right? How does a guy who isn’t even on the team manage to blend in?

It turned out that on the day of the repair job, he’d approached one of the AC technicians and slipped him a five-thousand-yuan bribe.

Now, here was the real question.

How could the suspect know the evidence building’s AC was broken? It turned out, it had been sabotaged.

The central AC system had been intentionally damaged by a civilian drone flown straight into one of the air vents. The impact sent debris into the mechanism, causing it to short-circuit and break down. To make it worse, the drone was probably loaded with some kind of scent agent. After the crash, a foul smell spread through the building’s ducts, making everyone inside think there might be a dead rat somewhere in the pipes. That was what led them to call in the repair team and have the ducts cleaned.

“A drone loaded with stink spray hits the AC fan and breaks it, the smell travels into the building, the evidence building calls for repairs, and the suspect bribes a technician to get in,” Xiao Yu analyzed. “Well, that’s a clever setup.”

He looked over at Wu Jia. 

“The public works department’s security cameras caught this guy too, right? Another bribe, and he got a look at the city’s drainage plans for the area?”

Wu Jia nodded. “Exactly. With security footage from both locations and facial recognition data from the police database, we’ve identified him.”

Luo Tingyu, male, 31, S City resident, unemployed, prior record…

***

Later, they were in front of an apartment door in a residential complex.

Xiao Yu raised his hand and knocked.

After a moment, the door creaked open, and a young woman appeared, looking curiously at Xiao Yu.

“Is Luo Tingyu here?” Xiao Yu asked with a smile. 

He could smell a man’s scent in the room, and with his sharp hearing, he picked up on another person’s breathing inside. “Police.”

The woman’s face fell, but she tried to stay calm, shaking her head. “My boyfriend’s not here.”

“Ha.” Xiao Yu reached out, grabbed her by the arm, and pulled her out of the doorway, clamping his hand over her mouth before she could scream.

“Keep quiet, or deal with the consequences,” Wu Jia growled, giving her a cold look as she stood, wide-eyed with terror.

Xiao Yu stepped inside, walked through the living room, and headed straight to the bedroom. The door was half-open. He pushed it and entered.

There, reclining against the headboard with a phone in hand, was a man with a dragon tattoo sprawling over his shoulder—a flashy, gang-like look. It was Luo Tingyu.

“Huh?” Luo Tingyu glanced up, momentarily stunned, then started to yell, “Who the hell are yo—”

Bam! Xiao Yu’s foot met his face, pinning him down.

“I lost two colleagues,” Xiao Yu said slowly, looking down at Luo Tingyu’s frantic, struggling form. “You know who killed them, don’t you?”

***

Back at the provincial police headquarters, in the interrogation room.

“That’s all I know!” 

Luo Tingyu sat across from Xiao Yu. He looked pale and terrified, blood still trickling from his nose. Bit by bit, he confessed to everything he knew and everything he’d done.

Ten days ago.

A “friend from the streets” approached Luo Tingyu, handed him a hundred thousand yuan, and asked him to do a few things.

The first was to check out the air conditioning system at the evidence warehouse. The second was to get the sewer blueprints for the area around it. The friend told him that someone would sabotage the warehouse’s AC soon and that when the repair crew arrived, he’d have a chance to slip in. If he did all that, he’d get another half a million. But if he failed, he’d be losing a finger.

With the money on one hand and the threat on the other, Luo Tingyu felt he had no choice.

Nineteen days ago, he bribed a repair worker, got inside the evidence warehouse, and checked the air ducts.

Eighteen days ago, he went to the public works department, paid off an insider, and got the sewer plans.

Seventeen days ago, he handed over two sketched blueprints to this “friend from the streets” and received his promised half a million. That was everything Luo Tingyu knew and all he had done.

***

Outside the interrogation room.

“Ma Biao, male, thirty-seven, from S City. Previously convicted for involvement in organized crime and served five years. Since then, he’s worked in debt collection, threats, intimidation, six detentions on record,” Wu Jia summarized, “This is the guy Luo Tingyu mentioned, that friend from the streets.”

“Bring him in.” Xiao Yu didn’t hesitate.

Forty-five minutes later, Xiao Yu sat across from Ma Biao in the interrogation room. He was a big, burly man with a shaved head, tattooed arms, and a hard, menacing look on his face.

“What the hell do you people want? Why are you arresting me?” 

Ma Biao, handcuffed to the interrogation chair, was barking curses with the tough demeanor of a seasoned thug.

Xiao Yu stood before him, calm and steady. 

“I have a friend in National Security,” he said. “If I bring his team in here, you’ll be wishing you were dead.”

Ma Biao’s face instantly paled.

National Security? Damn… wasn’t that the infamous “special department”?

“Don’t waste my time,” Xiao Yu continued, fixing him with a level stare. “Who hired you? Who paid you to check out the evidence warehouse? And the drone, did you fly it?”

Ma Biao’s face turned ghostly white, but he kept his mouth shut.

Without another word, Xiao Yu pulled out his phone and called Wang Dong. 

“Brother Wang, could you send two guys over who are good with interrogation?”

“No problem,” Wang Dong replied on the other end.

Five hours later, two National Security agents walked into the interrogation room. Outside, Xiao Yu waited, smoking a cigarette.

‘Did he think I was bluffing? No, I’m dead serious about breaking him.’