Chapter 262: No One Will Get Away

The metal vent cover on the ceiling was slowly pushed up. The cover had been locked in place, so it had to be pushed from below. When Xiao Yu opened the vent, standing on the ladder, he peered inside and his expression shifted.

Inside was a dark metal ventilation duct.

But unlike the twenty-five-centimeter opening, the duct itself was fifty centimeters wide.

The only narrow part was right at the connection to the room, which had been reduced to the smaller size.

“What’s up there?” Wu Jia asked from below, steadying the ladder.

“This is it,” Xiao Yu said, voice steady.

“Damn!” Wu Jia cursed under his breath. 

Finding a lead wasn’t exactly joyful. It just underscored how the criminals had outsmarted them. Sometimes, clues in a case were just like that—the least likely, even absurd routes turned out to be the way through.

Xiao Yu reached into the duct and pulled himself up. Those familiar with central air systems knew this setup required a main unit, usually installed on the roof, which then pushed air into the building’s main duct and on through smaller ducts into each room.

The building itself was old, outfitted with outdated iron ventilation ducts held up by thin steel rods.

The fifty-centimeter-wide metal ventilation duct was more than sturdy enough to support an adult’s weight. Crawling slowly along it, Xiao Yu didn’t care if his clothes got dirty. After all, someone had already crawled through, clearing out most of the dust on their way. He continued moving until he reached the main duct on the fourth floor, then lowered himself down to the third.

Finally, he emerged in a storage room on the first floor.

After making a quick call, Wu Jia showed up. He looked at the ceiling vent Xiao Yu had come through, a grim expression on his face. They’d pieced together how the suspects had gotten in and moved within the building. Now, it was time to check outside.

“This is it,” Xiao Yu said, eyes fixed on the room’s small window. 

It was likely their way in.

Opening the window, he saw the back side of the evidence storage building. About three meters away, a four-meter-high wall stood in their path.

“They climbed over?” Wu Jia shook his head, unconvinced. “There’s a surveillance camera outside. Climbing would’ve been caught for sure.”

“No,” Xiao Yu said, shaking his head. 

He placed an arm on the windowsill and nimbly jumped out, scanning the area until his eyes settled on a sewage drain cover on the ground. 

“They came in underground.”

He’d handled enough cases to know that criminals often used the city’s drainage network to get around undetected. 

Who would think that an ordinary sewer system could be used like this? 

The drain tunnels branched out everywhere, practically spanning the entire city. They weren’t limited to any single area.

Some criminals actually used these drainage networks to slip around undetected, mostly because it was the last place anyone would expect. Who would think someone would commit crimes in a filthy, foul-smelling sewer system?

“Let me handle this.” Wu Jia pulled a pair of latex gloves from his pocket and, after putting them on, gave Xiao Yu a grin. “Can’t have you doing all the dirty work.”

“Be my guest,” Xiao Yu said with a laugh.

Wu Jia lifted the sewer cover and descended below. This guy was solid, willing to get down and dirty when needed.

An hour later and six hundred meters from the evidence storage building, Wu Jia emerged from another manhole near a residential complex. He was covered in grime and stank to high heaven. He plopped down on the curb and gratefully took the cigarette Xiao Yu offered, closing his eyes in bliss as he took a drag. 

“Special reserve, huh? Good stuff.”

Xiao Yu just handed him the pack, sparing any small talk.

“Now that’s boss-level treatment,” Wu Jia said with a chuckle, pocketing the pack.

“Boss, my foot.” Xiao Yu shook his head with a smile. 

Since when did a lowly officer like him count as a boss?

Putting away his grin, Xiao Yu took out his phone. “Director Gao, can you pull up the surveillance footage for XX Street in XX District in S City?”

Half an hour later, a police car pulled up. The director of the major crimes unit, Gao Shengli, handed them a tablet loaded with surveillance footage. They fast-forwarded to the night before the incident around midnight.

An unmarked van appeared in the surveillance footage.

Two men stepped out of the vehicle. They wore masks and hats. One of them looked to be around six feet tall, while the other was somewhere between five-foot-nine and five-foot-ten. Neither seemed particularly muscular.

From the van, they unloaded a tent. Once set up, they placed it over a sewer manhole cover. Then, they took out two traffic barricades and positioned them on either side of the tent. The signs on the barricades read, “Under Construction.”

The two men then disappeared into the tent.

It wasn’t until around 4 p.m. that they walked out, packed up the tent and barricades, got back in the van, and drove off.

“It’s them,” Xiao Yu said with a cold, firm voice, looking up from the tablet.

Wu Jia and Gao Shengli’s expressions turned icy.

“These guys were definitely organized,” Xiao Yu continued. “For starters, they’re likely locals. Their skin tone, eye color, and general features are a giveaway.”

“Then, there’s the fact that they seem pretty familiar with the city’s sewage system and with the air duct layout inside the evidence storage building. That means they probably have some blueprints. They had to have had a general plan in place. Timing, entry points, the best time to act. And at some point, they would’ve had to scout the evidence building’s ventilation system. This wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment thing.”

Turning to Gao Shengli, Xiao Yu added, “Director Gao, can you look into any recent air duct maintenance, inspections, or cleaning at the evidence storage? Specifically, any instances where outside personnel might’ve been involved.”

“Got it.” Gao Shengli nodded.

“Wu,” Xiao Yu turned to Wu Jia, “check with the road maintenance office. See if anyone’s been in there recently to examine city drainage blueprints.”

“On it.” Wu Jia nodded and headed out.

After they left, Xiao Yu went back into the evidence storage building.

Standing at the scene, he looked down at the two dark purple stains on the ground—the blood left behind by his fallen colleagues.

“You guys are watching this from above, I know it,” he murmured. “Don’t worry. Not a single one of these animals will get away.”