Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“Hello, Officer Wang, are you still at the scene of the robbery?” In the police car, while he was driving, Vice Captain Jin turned on the speaker of his mobile phone and called a police officer on duty.
“Yes, Vice Captain Jin. Will you be coming here later?” When Officer Wang answered, Vice Captain Jin could hear sirens and noise in the background. It sounded as though the police force was quite busy at the scene.
“Well, now you can report the situation at the scene to the Special Investigation Group!” Vice Captain Jin said.
As soon as he heard that the Special Investigation Group was there, Officer Wang’s voice clearly revealed his nervousness as he said, “Oh… Okay. The original drivers of the stolen truck have woken up after being rendered unconscious. According to what they’ve told us, the robbery took place a little over 20 minutes ago.”
Officer Wang then added, “At that time, the truck was on a provincial road, when it suddenly heard a loud noise at its right wheel. The driver thought that it was a flat tire, so he got out to check it. But, just after he got out of the truck, he was knocked unconscious!”
He took a breath, then continued, “At that time, there were two drivers in the truck. Before the other driver noticed anything unusual, he was suddenly knocked out after being hit from behind with an electric baton!”
Officer Wang sighed, then said, “When the driver woke up, only a few moments ago, they found that the truck had completely disappeared, and that is when they called the police. The second driver, the one who was knocked out after the first had gotten out of the truck to fix the tire, claimed that he saw two masked men, who had long barrels in their hands, before he completely blacked out. So, this was clearly a well-planned robbery! Moreover, considering the advanced equipment that the robbers were using, this robbery is very similar to Jiang Ke’s past robberies.”
“Well duh…” Cui Lizhu muttered from behind Zhao Yu. “Since it just took them 20 minutes to rob the truck, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that it was planned beforehand!”
Officer Wang ignored her as he continued, “Um… Like I was saying, the two robbers were professionals. We’ve also been told that because this batch of cigarettes was extremely valuable, there were real-time security cameras in the truck cab and in the freight container to keep an eye on everything. But, we just checked, and unfortunately, the robbers destroyed the cameras, along with the footage they contained…”
“That’s impossible…” Zhao Yu shook his head, then asked, “On the road, so many cars come and go constantly. How could such a big truck just vanish? Did no passing cars see anything at all?”
“We have checked all of the nearby traffic cameras,” Officer Wang answered. “But, the robbers apparently cased that area beforehand, then planned their escape route in a blind area that they knew was out of the cameras’ ranges! Hence, we can only look for the nearest cameras’ footage on other roadsides as they were coming and going before and after the robbery.”
“No…” Zhao Yu said without thinking, “They would never be so careless as to stop and unload goods on the road! So, I think that would be a waste of our time. Instead, quickly check to see if there is a place where a truck could be hidden somewhere nearby. I suspect that, after knocking out the drivers, the robbers must have done something to disguise the truck!”
“Oh… Yes… That would make sense…” Officer Wang said quickly. “Well, there is one small path that the truck could have possibly taken. In that direction, there is only a single communication base station and a bunch of wet fields. It’s actually a dead end road! Um… I see Officer Chen from the technical team checking the tire tracks at the crossing right now. I’ll rush over and talk to him. Don’t hang up…”
“Hmm…” Cui Lizhu thought for a moment, then asked, “Tell me more about what was in the truck? How much was it worth?”
“The driver said that the cigarettes were mostly Su brand, which are worth more than 2,000 Yuan each. Some were top Yellow Crane Tower brand, which were going to be exported at the port.” Officer Wang was running while he was answering Cui Lizhu.
He then added, “As for the specific total value of the whole load, the driver is not clear on that yet. But, they estimate that it should be at least 50,000,000 Yuan!”
Cui Lizhu tilted her head at Zhao Yu as she asked, “What did I tell you? It’s definitely a big deal!”
Vice Captain Jin shook his head and said, “But… I still don’t quite understand. Even if the robbers drove the car to some hidden place, they would still need a transfer vehicle for their getaway. And… It would be impossible for them to hide the stolen cigarettes anywhere near the crime scene.”
Zhao Yu agreed, “I’ve checked the map. There are no rivers nearby, so they couldn’t possibly have transported the stolen goods via water. Hence, to transfer so many cigarettes, they would have to use a vehicle. Although they left no traces at the scene, their vehicle must have traveled along the road. So, as long as you check the passing vehicles carefully on any cameras’ footage, it would be impossible to miss them!”
“Vice Captain Jin, Leader Zhao…” At this time, Officer Wang had already arrived at his destination, gasping. He then said into the phone, “The technical team has confirmed that the truck did go in the direction of the base station, and that it most likely went to the deepest corner of the property! I am heading there now with the technical team!”
“Oh… Okay…” Officer Wang said to the others at the scene before quickly turning his attention back to the telephone and saying, “Chen told me to walk along the road. Apparently, they found fresh tire tracks in the middle of the road, which makes it seem like there was more than one car!”
Vice Captain Jin then said, “The truck must be parked at the deepest part of that path, and after leaving it there, they must have used the other cars to transport the cigarettes. So, what are you waiting for? You have to go and check those suspicious vehicles!”
Zhao Yu waved his hand and said, “Don’t do that! If the robber Jiang Ke is worthy of his reputation, he must have a plan B! This means that this robbery may not be that simple!”
“Well, Officer Wang, you can go ahead with the technical team! I’ll call Ran and ask him about the security cameras. Keep reporting the latest news to me as you discover it,” Vice Captain Jin ordered.
“Okay…” Officer Wang said before he hung up the phone.
“Boss…” Cui Lizhu saw Zhao Yu’s eyes light up and said jokingly, “If you want, we can act separately. I’m going to Cui Xiaolong’s shop, and you can go to the scene with Vice Captain Jin. But, as you don’t smoke, and this is not even your case, I have to ask… Why are you even interested in all of this?”
Zhao Yu had a serious look on his face as he replied, “Well… We are the police and are here to serve the people. So, when a robbery happens, we are obligated to help!”
“Hmm…” Cui Lizhu didn’t know what to say.
She thought for a moment, then finally said, “It’s not that I don’t believe in your ability, but if Jiang Ke was really involved, I fear you will not be able to catch him!”
“Nonsense!” Zhao Yu gave her an angry look, then said, “I don’t believe that Jiang Ke has magic powers.”
“You don’t know him,” Cui Lizhu added. “I haven’t seen him yet, but I have heard stories. This man is a robbery god! For every crime that he has committed, either the police can’t find any clues or the robbed victims dare not report the crime to the police.”
“I don’t believe in your silly robbery god tales. Besides, I’m also a god, a god of solving cases!” Zhao Yu raised his hand and slightly knocked on Cui Lizhu’s chin. He then said, “Girl, you just wait and see… I’ll catch him, even if he is a robbery god!”
Zhao Yu had just finished gloating, when Vice Captain Jin got a report with the latest news. He immediately reported it to Zhao Yu, “Team Leader Zhao, Ran just told me that the police found six suspicious vehicles thanks to the footage of the nearest surveillance camera at the scene of the crime. Apparently, they are all Quanshun cargo cars.”
He then added, “These six cars appeared in the camera footage after the truck was stolen. When they reached Yingchuan Road, they all went in different directions, so our men split up and are now looking for each of them separately.”
He paused, then continued, “The latest report said that some of them have already gotten on the highway, while some have gone to the countryside, and others have gone to the port. Some of them even returned to the downtown area. The strangest thing is that one of the cars, after crossing a bridge archway, changed color! But, we can’t figure out how, since the footage was a live feed!”
“Oh?” Zhao Yu frowned. He was clearly surprised by this news.
“This is one of Jiang Ke’s well-known sly tricks.” Cui Lizhu shook her head. “After all, as this load is worth more than 10,000,000, he must have invested a great deal of time and effort for his plan to be executed perfectly. I guess he arranged to have more cars stored in the cameras’ blind areas, which he must have switched with the original getaway cars. By the time the police are able to find the original cars and realize that trick, they will have already been long gone… With the cigarettes!”
After Cui Lizhu dropped this bombshell, Vice Captain Jin’s phone rang and her hypothesis was confirmed. The police officer called Ran by Vice Captain Jin told Zhao Yu that the police found a Quanshun car on a village roadside, but explained that the car was found to be empty after they checked it!
