Chapter 40: “Search K-9.”

“Search K-9.” Li Siting waved towards the police vehicle upon arriving at the mall’s underground parking.

“Here!” The K-9 officer stood across from Lu Shimiao with an Explosive Ordnance Disposal dog, newly enlisted in the force.

Lu Shimiao glanced down at her “colleague”—a Rottweiler.

Its name was Feifei, with one month of service and eight months of training. Today was its first shift on search duty.

“The Fire Squadron just gave you the types of explosives to search for. I want this entire parking garage turned inside out today!” Li Siting commanded, pointing towards the vast empty space behind him. His hoarse voice echoed through the dimly lit underground.

“Affirmative!” The K-9 officer made a hand signal, and Feifei stood at alert.

“And! Prioritize checking those electrical enclosures,” Lu Shimiao added, unable to resist patting Feifei’s head.

Yep, head like iron, fur like bristles.

“Understood.” The K-9 officer took a scent sample from his pocket, let Feifei sniff it, and then gave the signal. “Go!”

Feifei immediately bolted towards the target.

The Search K-9 Squadron sent four dogs: two for the initial search and two for verification. Even the dogs followed strict protocols in the police force.

To avoid interfering with the K-9s’ work, Lu Shimiao and Li Siting had to exit the parking garage and wait outside.

“No suspect sketch yet?”

Although they’d produced a general suspect profile that morning, the Video Surveillance Unit hadn’t captured a clear figure. Eyewitness accounts were too few to generate a specific suspect composite.

Without a composite, a rapid manhunt was impossible.

“A ghost,” Li Siting pulled a cigarette from his pocket. “This guy’s like a ghost. Who the hell sets a mall on fire for no good reason?”

“Employee checks haven’t yielded anything?” Lu Shimiao fanned the air in front of her nose; the secondhand smoke was too harsh.

“Not a single one matches the profile in physique or education. We still haven’t found his escape route. If that doesn’t make him a ghost, what does he look like to you?” As a local, Li Siting slipped into his native dialect when speaking with Lu Shimiao.

“Little Lu, think about it. All these years, cameras and surveillance have gotten so powerful that we detectives are practically like bailiffs—just supplementing evidence and going through the motions. But the one time we get a surveillance blind spot, we don’t even know his motive. I’m just praying to heaven we get a clue tonight.”

Lu Shimiao sat on a stone bollard, looking at Li Siting. Just the year before last, his face had been relatively unlined; now, fine lines seemed to spread from the corners of his eyes.

“It’s only been one day, Captain Li. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself.” Lu Shimiao wasn’t very good at consoling people and murmured softly.

“When my kid grows up, I’m definitely not letting him enroll in the Public Security Bureau,” Li Siting said, blinking, his eyes carrying a silent, profound weariness.

“Little Lu, why did you go to the police academy back then?”

“Ugh.” Lu Shimiao turned her head towards K-9 Feifei, a sense of desolation filling her heart, but she joked, “Because I watched too much TVB.”

Li Siting raised an eyebrow, and suddenly changed the subject. “Speaking of TVB, I remember now—isn’t there a total knockout among the Hong Kong Superintendents visiting our station? Her aura is incredible!”

A total knockout…

Lu Shimiao whipped her head back around, glaring at Li Siting, her voice turning cold. “What are you getting at?”

Li Siting closed his eyes, recalling the moment he saw Xue Tong.

That woman was standing right next to the trash bins in the parking lot.

A cigarette rested between her slender fingers—unlit. She had her arm bent, looking down at her wristwatch.

He had just passed by and caught a fleeting glimpse, but that one look was mesmerizing. Her back view showed a perfect silhouette: seamless black blouse, high-quality black dress trousers, low-heeled Chelsea boots. A look of absolute, meticulous refinement.

He wasn’t great at describing women, but this was beauty that transcended the norm.

“You don’t understand what Hong Kong films meant to us post-80s generation. My goddesses growing up were all Hong Kong stars like Faye Wong, Athena Chu, Maggie Cheung—so beautiful. That female superintendent reminded me of those golden-era Hong Kong actresses—”

“Stop talking.”

Lu Shimiao cut him off coldly and immediately, firing off three rapid statements.

“Don’t try to set her up with anyone.”

“She has a boyfriend.”

“She’s getting married soon.”

“What kind of guy do you take me for! A beauty like that shouldn’t be tied down by a family, I think—”

“Report!”

The K-9 officer came running out, breathless, interrupting Li Siting. “Captain Li, the K-9 has alerted to a suspicious area.”

“Thank heavens, the ancestors have answered our prayers!” Li Siting crushed his cigarette butt, jumped up from the bollard, and rushed towards the parking garage.

Lu Shimiao followed quickly.

When they reached the spot where Feifei sat rigidly on alert, they froze on the spot in shock.

Wasn’t this the same power distribution room where Team 2 had found the tampering this afternoon?

“What did you find?” Lu Shimiao asked urgently. “Any traces of gunpowder?”

“The search didn’t reveal any gunpowder, but the K-9’s alert bark prevents us from acting rashly,” the officer said, holding the leash in one hand and a small spade in the other. But the floor was solid concrete, with nowhere to dig.

“Should we activate the emergency bomb protocol? I’ll call the City Bureau and get the Fire Department here,” Li Siting said, his nerves visibly on edge, his expression worried.

This wasn’t just him being overly cautious. If gunpowder was indeed in that power distribution room, the vibrations or scratches from any footstep inside could easily trigger a massive blast.

Lu Shimiao pulled gloves and a high-powered flashlight from her pocket, shining the beam inside. “Wait, Captain Li. Don’t panic.”

The light illuminated the entire internal structure of the room.

The ceiling was low, just enough to house two large, rusted gray electrical enclosures. They filled the room horizontally, emitting an eerie hum. But Lu Shimiao noticed a narrow gap between the two enclosures.

She leaned closer to peer inside, trying to see what lay beyond the crevice. Her flashlight had a strong, dispersed beam, but even so, the interior appeared pitch black, suggesting the space was large and extended further back.

Lu Shimiao recalled that the members of Forensic Investigation Team 2 this afternoon had all been male, with an average height of over 178 cm. Busy mapping and collecting evidence across the large scene, they probably noticed this gap but dismissed it, subconsciously assuming no one could squeeze through and overlooking the detail.

“Could someone fit through this gap in the middle? I think my height matches it. The suspect’s estimated height is around 172 cm, too.”

Lu Shimiao’s mind sharpened, suddenly connecting this to the suspect’s escape route.

“Don’t go in yet. I’m calling EOD first. We can’t take responsibility if something goes wrong.” Li Siting was still hesitant to let Lu Shimiao risk it.

“Don’t waste time.”

Lu Shimiao crouched down and pulled shoe covers from the forensic kit. “If the suspect really has a significant amount of explosives, a second detonation is inevitable. Wasn’t it you who said every second counts?”

“Just leave one officer to be my witness for forensic protocol. Once you evacuate, call the EOD unit. Running through an emergency protocol will take half a day; we can’t afford the delay.” By the time she finished speaking, Lu Shimiao had already put on the shoe covers and was pulling on a second pair of gloves.

Li Siting thought for a long moment, frowning, then replied, “Then I’ll stay with you.”

“You two go evacuate the adjacent office building. You two, seal off the street.” After giving orders, Li Siting took out his phone to make calls.

By the time he finished the calls, Lu Shimiao was ready.

“I’ll go first. You follow exactly in my footsteps. I’m switching from the high-powered flashlight to the Polilight. It might be a bit dim. If you can’t see, don’t take any unplanned steps. Even the most sensitive explosive requires a very high vibration frequency to detonate.”

Lu Shimiao had participated in bomb crisis drills in Hong Kong and had more experience than Li Siting. She didn’t fully trust his impulsive nature.

Panicking in front of explosives was the most useless reaction.

“When will Lin Shu arrive?” Lu Shimiao wanted a timeframe in her head.

“Fifteen minutes. I heard she was getting into a police car just now.” Li Siting had also finished putting on his shoe covers and was donning his gloves, then accepted the goggles Lu Shimiao handed him and put them on.

Lu Shimiao switched to the Polilight, activated her body cam, and crouched, starting to move inside.

The power distribution room had already been checked by Team 2, so there were no suspicious immediate traces. Lu Shimiao’s objective was clear: head straight for that gap between the two electrical enclosures.

She reached the crevice and aimed her light into the darkness—an empty void seemed to stretch on without end.

“It feels like the space beyond opens up significantly.”

Lu Shimiao reported the forward situation to Li Siting. After speaking, she stared into the black expanse, frozen for a few seconds.

All human fear stems from the unknown.

When vision fails and touch is amplified in the dark, strange thoughts easily creep in.

Could the perpetrator be hiding inside? Are there landmines? Or… several vicious dogs like Feifei? Fear crawled into Lu Shimiao’s cerebral cortex; she could only hear her heartbeat thumping in her throat, about to overwhelm her.

Deep breath.

Lu Shimiao adjusted her emotions. She secured the Polilight on her head. “I’m going in.”

“Be careful,” Li Siting cautioned.

Her gloved hands gripped the electrical enclosure. Lu Shimiao sent her shoulders through first, then shifted one foot inside.

At 170 cm, about 172 cm with shoes, and weighing just over 100 jin, squeezing through wasn’t terribly difficult. But for someone like Li Siting, probably only half his shoulder would fit.

“Careful,” Li Siting watched the young woman squeeze unprotected into the unknown crevice, breaking into a cold sweat.

Lu Shimiao didn’t dare answer.

She didn’t even dare to breathe, because she had no idea where her foot was reaching. She turned her head, and the Polilight beam revealed a hidden door built into the partition wall.

Beyond the hidden door lay an endlessly dark corridor.

“Captain Li…” Lu Shimiao stammered, calling back to her superior. “I think we’ve found the perpetrator’s escape route.”

Nine o’clock at night.

Various fill lights blazed throughout the underground parking garage. The Search K-9 Squadron had brought in seven or eight more dogs. Every female officer from the Criminal Police Unit was called in to squeeze through the gap.

“By entering this garage, you’ve half-stepped into the Serious Crime Unit. You all understand the nature of major case confidentiality,” Li Siting addressed the female officers who had just finished their work.

On the other side, Lu Shimiao handed her camera to a team member and rapidly sketched a map from memory.

They had just discovered a secret passage inside the mall.

This passage, stretching 800 meters, led directly from the bottom of the office building to the freight elevator’s fire escape.

With this discovery, she could preliminarily deduce the suspect’s route of movement. Although it was a major lead, she felt no joy.

Lu Shimiao handed the map to Li Siting, then pulled out the building floor plans provided by the mall manager.

“It doesn’t match. The architectural plans differ from the actual site survey. This newly discovered passage isn’t shown on any official plan.”

Lin Shu brushed dust from her hair. “The suspect’s purposefulness is off the charts—using a hidden passageway to evade surveillance cameras entirely.”

“We’re heading back for a new round of analysis!”