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墨書 Inktalez
“Did he... commit suicide?” Yuzelin seemed unable to believe that the man had shot himself. I was in a daze, staring blankly at the body of The Man Who Is Six Feet Three Inches Tall. None of us had expected that, faced with imminent defeat and unable to outmaneuver us, he would resolutely choose to end his own life without a moment's hesitation.
After several seconds of stunned silence, I finally reacted and shouted to everyone, “Did anyone get hurt when the gun went off?”
Only then did the others snap back to reality, hurriedly checking themselves for injuries. A collective sigh of relief followed; no one was hurt, which was the best outcome we could hope for. In the chaos earlier, I had heard three gunshots. The first shot was fired by this man, but I had sensed danger beforehand and managed to dodge it just in time; that bullet went astray. The second shot was fired by Dezi, clean and precise, hitting the man's wrist and knocking the gun from his hand. The last shot was also fired by him, used for his suicide.
We gathered the shell casings and spent several minutes searching for the casing from the first shot. It hadn’t struck anyone; instead, it had hit the wall beside the entrance, and the bullet now lay on the ground, flattened and twisted, as if still echoing the tension of those moments.
Death is always easy, but what lies behind it is not. I sighed and used the intercom to inform everyone that Killer had committed suicide, allowing them to relax their guard. I also notified Juan Juan and Mary that they could come up now that it was safe.
Looking again at the man's body, blood sprayed from one end and splattered onto the wall. From the wound flowed a mixture of red and white liquid. Yet at this moment, we still did not know who this man was or where he came from. We were equally in the dark about why he would willingly assist Guo Guoqing.
Earlier, Dr. Sun had mentioned overhearing a conversation outside involving Guo Guoqing and two others. One detail stuck with me: aside from money, what other connection could bind these three together in their criminal activities? Money is often considered a base motive for relationships; however, it is also one of the quickest ways to forge connections.
Yet few die solely for money; once someone is dead, even a billion dollars cannot be spent. So what common trait could connect these three individuals? If we could uncover that link, we might deduce Guo Guoqing's underlying conspiracy.
As I pondered this, Juan Juan and Mary arrived.
“Killer committed suicide?” Juan Juan asked.
I glanced at the man's body and replied, “That's right. Let's see if there's anything on him that can prove his identity; we don’t even know his name.”
During my contemplation, Yuzelin had already retrieved the shell casings and the gun. He opened the magazine and said to us, “There are only three bullets left in the magazine. Including the first shot fired, that makes four bullets in total. When Guo Guoqing tested his gun earlier, he fired four bullets as well. Initially, there were twenty-four bullets between two guns; this means Guo Guoqing should still have sixteen bullets left.”
Sixteen bullets still in Guo Guoqing's possession remained a significant threat. However, at least one gun had returned to us without any incidents of injury or death occurring because of it—that was a positive outcome. Still, Yuzelin wore a worried expression; I knew he felt immense pressure.
If anything went wrong now, not only could those two Young Men potentially be forced out of their profession forever, but Yuzelin himself might also face serious consequences as Captain of this Criminal Investigation Team. Moreover, if there were reports of gun violence in Tianlan City, it would cause widespread panic among residents and have severe societal repercussions.
But dwelling on this issue wouldn’t help; what was done was done. Instead of lamenting over what had happened, we needed to focus on how to resolve it. With that thought in mind, I patted Yuzelin on the shoulder and said reassuringly, “At least we’ve recovered one gun; don’t worry too much.”
“I found a wallet,” Juan Juan announced while examining the body.
I turned my head and took the wallet, then opened it to take a look. Inside, there were several hundred dollars and a bank card, but nothing else. There was no identification on the big man; it seemed he hadn’t brought any with him. However, with this bank card, we should be able to find out his identity.
If this bank card was issued in his name, we should be able to obtain the cardholder's information from the bank. I handed the bank card to Mary and asked her to check the details of the cardholder at the bank. Mary nodded and immediately went to take care of it.
Meanwhile, we were responsible for transporting the body back and left some detectives behind to handle the follow-up work. It was still me and Yuzelin in one car. I glanced at the rearview mirror and said, “How is that matter arranged? Is it likely to succeed? Now that the big man is dead, although this lead has been cut off, it may not be entirely detrimental. His death might actually push our plan forward.”
Yuzelin drove while keeping his eyes on the road. He replied, “I know you suspect there’s a mole in our department; otherwise, how could Guo Guoqing have gotten such precise information to arrange his escape? But these people have been with me for a long time, so it's unlikely that Guo Guoqing got information through them.”
I sighed and said, “Perhaps I’m overthinking it. Maybe Guo Guoqing indeed calculated everything into his plans. To be called Demon Boy, he must have some skills; otherwise, he wouldn’t have earned that title from the police. Still, it’s better not to tell others about this. The more people who know, the greater the risk of exposure.”
Yuzelin nodded and said, “You can rest assured about that; everything has already been arranged. You’re right; Guo Guoqing has lost an accomplice and will likely seek out others to continue his scheme. However, in this situation, whether we can succeed is not something just the two of us can determine.”
“Let’s hope for success.”
By the time night had completely fallen, Mary returned with good news. Since the bank closed at five o'clock, she had spent a long time outside before finally contacting them and obtaining information about the cardholder. From the bank's information, we learned that the card was indeed issued to The Man Who Is Six Feet Three Inches Tall, and we obtained his identification details.
With this identity information, all we had to do was input the ID number into our household registration files, and soon all of Zhao Gen's information appeared before us.
At that moment, we learned that this big man's name was quite ordinary and rural: Zhao Gen. He was a villager from Dongguan Village in Tianlan City. Both of his parents were villagers from Dongguan Village as well, and he had a younger sister named Zhao Lan who had passed away at fifteen.
We saw a photo of Zhao Lan; she was indeed the girl in the pendant's picture—youthful and lovely—but tragically departed from this world at such a young age. As we continued reviewing other documents, we discovered that Zhao Gen's father was actually a murderer.
This could be a crucial point. Realizing this, we immediately pulled up Zhao Gen's father's records. His name was Zhao Baoding, who had been sentenced to death for intentional homicide ten years ago and had been executed.
I pointed at the computer screen and said, “Retrieve that case file; this is very important.”
However, ten years ago, Tianlan City had not yet established comprehensive online records. The online files only contained brief descriptions of the case and its process; still better than nothing. We leaned over the computer screen to look at Zhao Baoding's case. A major incident occurred in Dongguan Village ten years ago.
This case shocked Dongguan Village and also astonished the Police Department. At that time, Yuzelin was still in college and unaware of this case; otherwise, he could have provided me with some professional insights regarding it.
On a day in March 2005, the local police station received a report of a brutal murder in Dongguan Village. The family of Wang Sanbao was killed, leaving only his eight-year-old son unharmed. Wang Sanbao, his wife, his mother, and his fifteen-year-old eldest son were all murdered in their home.
This could almost be considered a massacre; if Wang Sanbao's youngest son had been at home, he likely would not have survived either. After all, Zhao Baoding had already killed Wang Sanbao's underage eldest son, so it was reasonable to assume he would not spare the youngest.
The murders occurred around midnight while Wang Sanbao's family was lying on the bed watching television. The youngest son was at a neighbor's house playing video games. Since they wanted to keep the door open for him, both the front and back doors were only closed but not locked. It was during this time that Zhao Baoding burst into Wang Sanbao's home.
Although Zhao Baoding was armed with a knife, Wang Sanbao did not seem overly shocked by the situation.
Wang Sanbao shouted angrily, "Zhao Baoding, what are you doing with that knife? Planning to kill someone? I want to see if you have the guts to do it! Come on!" With that, he crawled out from under the covers wearing only his underwear and leaned forward, challenging Zhao Baoding to make a move.
Wang Sanbao perhaps believed that Zhao Baoding wouldn't dare to act; maybe he had never heard such a challenge before. Thus, Zhao Baoding acted without hesitation. He never expected that a person's blood could spray over two meters high. Wang Sanbao instinctively pressed his hand against the wound, but the knife had struck an artery—he was doomed.
Wang Sanbao wanted to say something more but found himself unable to utter a word. At that moment, the two women on the bed were stunned by the scene before them and took a long time to scream.
However, at this point, Zhao Baoding showed no intention of leaving.
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