Chapter 260: Connections Matter

“We’ve got nothing to go on,” said Qian Yi, the veteran detective, shaking his head. “Everyone involved in that big counterfeit case, especially the main suspects, is either already caught or serving time. We even went to the prison to interrogate them, but they had no idea who’s behind this.”

“We’ve been out in the field these past few days too,” another detective added. “Even went back to the scene of the original case for a fresh sweep, and nothing.”

“And about that special triangular blade,” he continued, “it’s probably not even made here. Local forges would struggle to replicate it.”

“Plus, their break-in was rough,” someone else said. “They smashed their way into the storage area, breaking open the lockers. But the way they killed, that was professional. Neither officer had a chance to resist. They were taken down immediately. These guys have definitely done this before.”

“And here’s the weirdest part,” Gao Shengli looked at Xiao Yu, “The entry and escape routes they used weren’t picked up by any of the security cameras. That’s completely unreasonable.”

“We checked,” he went on. “Five cameras are covering the storage facility’s entry and exit routes. Inside, there are at least a dozen more. There’s no way to avoid all those cameras… unless they flew in.”

As Xiao Yu listened to the Crime Division’s reports, he started piecing together the clues. 

He had to admit, their investigative skills were on a completely different level compared to his own unit. These guys were top-tier. They didn’t let even the smallest lead slip by, and they’d thoroughly gone over anything he might have considered.

“Something’s off,” Xiao Yu muttered, flipping through the files—records from the last few days of their investigation, including statements from suspects in the counterfeit case. 

“If it’s not directly connected to the last case, then… what’s going on? Did anyone ask those suspects how many people knew about their counterfeiting operation?” he asked.

“Very few,” Gao Shengli said with a smile. “Mainly because they weren’t making fake domestic bills at all. The counterfeit cash they printed was actually shipped out through certain channels and sent overseas.”

“Right!” Xiao Yu slapped his forehead with a grin. “Of course. They were using those printing plates to make U.S. dollars. They didn’t even have a market for it here. I almost forgot.”

He paused, his face growing serious. “Wait, is it possible that this involves someone from outside?”

Someone from outside meant foreign operatives.

He thought back to the wounds on the necks of the fallen officers. And that unusual, triangular blade.

When Xiao Yu had first examined the goods vault with Wang Dong, he’d mentioned that weapons like these weren’t something ordinary people ever came across. They were the kind you only saw on hidden battlegrounds.

So, who would be most likely to want these two counterfeit currency plates? 

The ones who’d bought counterfeit cash in the past. Sounds strange, right? 

Who even would buy fake money? 

Not only would people buy it, but the closer it looked to the real thing, the more they bought, and at an even higher price.

Take the last big counterfeit case cracked by the provincial department, for example. Each time their foreign buyers “re-stocked,” they were paying ten to one—ten units of fake currency for each unit of real currency. It was a ridiculous exchange rate. If they were spending hard cash on it, they had to be making a killing on the other end. Otherwise, why on earth would they buy counterfeit bills?

Xiao Yu’s idea had everyone’s eyes lighting up, but then their expressions quickly dimmed.

“Seems unlikely,” one veteran investigator muttered, shaking his head. “First off, it’s pretty much impossible that someone from overseas would know S City’s storage vaults that well. The security, the camera feeds, all of it would be way beyond anything they’d be able to counter without inside knowledge.”

“Exactly,” Wu Jia chimed in, frowning. “We’ve even combed through the scene for any signs of suspicious people nearby. If it were someone foreign, they’d stick out around a place like that, someone would’ve noticed.”

“Not necessarily,” Xiao Yu said, looking thoughtful. “Like you just mentioned, I worked a jailbreak case back in Bencheng, and it ended up involving foreign spies. One of those spies had even disguised himself as a local to commit his crimes.”

Everyone’s expressions darkened.

Some people really would do anything for profit, even betray their own roots, working as spies for foreign interests. It wasn’t rare. There were too many cases like this. Could foreign forces be involved here? Very likely.

And why?

First off, there was the counterfeit cash. Forget about fake foreign currency, even real foreign currency would be hard to use locally. 

So, who was buying this stuff? People with a few screws loose?

Anyone buying these plates was likely from outside.

Then there was the matter of distribution. Even if you had all the fake currency in the world, without a channel to move it, it was useless. 

So, who’s buying?

Right. For someone willing to kill police officers and steal these plates, the first thing they’d need is a reliable sales channel. Otherwise, what’s the point? They’d have to be sure they could offload the counterfeit bills.

“From this alone, we can see,” Xiao Yu said, narrowing his eyes, “that even if this group isn’t foreign, they’d need solid distribution channels. It’s still very possible they’re linked to that earlier counterfeit case.”

Everyone nodded. This line of reasoning made the most sense. 

Who else would go after those two counterfeit plates, let alone kill officers and hire terrorists to get them?

“So, where do we start?” Gao Shengli asked Xiao Yu, watching him carefully.

Getting the first lead was always the hardest part. Once they found that, the rest tended to fall into place.

As Xiao Yu often put it, every case was like a tangled mess of string. If you started yanking at random, it only got worse.

“Simple,” Xiao Yu replied, setting down the file. “We start right where the case began.”

“The evidence storage?” Everyone exchanged looks.

“Exactly.” Xiao Yu nodded, a sharp glint in his eye. “Let’s figure out how they got in and how they got out. There’s no way they just flew in.”