The moment she entered the Serious Crime Unit office, the investigation team, their faces haggard, yawned at Lu Shimiao. She didn’t need to think hard to know they had pulled an all-nighter.
“The Political Commissar pressured me yesterday, said if we don’t resolve this by Monday, we’re all out of here.” Li Siting grinned wryly at Lu Shimiao.
Lu Shimiao glanced at her watch. Today was Saturday.
They really were in a hurry.
She walked over, raising an eyebrow at the documents on the table. “Captain Li, the fact that you can say that with a smile means you probably won’t be rolling out.”
Li Siting flipped through the documents in his hand, suddenly looking up pensively. “Tell me, it’s been five days now, and this guy hasn’t struck a second time. Do you think he chickened out?”
“I can’t guess, but I got the trace evidence report.”
Lu Shimiao placed a file on the table, pointing to two of the reports.
“These are clothing fiber fragments detected in the crevice of the electrical distribution room. Samples A1 through A12 tested positive for trace explosive components. It proves they were left by the suspect, but no DNA was detected.”
“This is based on the shoe print pattern. Using 3D restoration technology, we reconstructed the approximate look of the shoe. It resembles a type of safety shoe.”
Lu Shimiao yawned, catching it from her colleagues in the investigation team. “To restore this shoe, our team went to the market and bought a ton of shoes for comparison. Reimburse us after the case closes, okay?”
“Safety shoes?” Li Siting looked seriously at the shoe photos, muttering, “Reimburse, reimburse, reimburse, absolutely reimbursed.”
After reviewing them, Li Siting stood up. “We need to talk to the Public Order Squadron and have them come with us to make an arrest.”
“Vice sweep?” The moment Lu Shimiao heard “Public Order,” her mind filled with those two big words.
“Last night, Special Intelligence gave me a tip. Cheng Guang might be involved in organizing illegal prostitution. They arranged for the transport of those women late last night.” Li Siting pulled out his phone and showed the photo the informant had provided.
In the photo, a few large hidden beds were set up in the temporary sheds behind the construction site, arranged differently from the other workers’ dormitories. It looked like an illegal prostitution den.
“Do you have a grasp on the money flow? Is the Special Intelligence informant reliable?” Lu Shimiao frowned.
Special Intelligence informants are an important method in investigative work.
On the surface, they are called Special Intelligence Sources. In Hong Kong, they are called “informants.” In France, “indicateurs.” In mainland China, they are called “Special Intelligence.”
Their identities might have been shadowy in the past, unrecognized by the public, but they can play a significant role in public security investigations. They might be pickpockets who’ve done time, or drug addicts who’ve turned over a new leaf… They help public security lurk underground, providing timely and reliable intel. But sometimes, the intel fails, or it can alert the targets.
“Reliable or not, we’ll know once we arrest them, won’t we?” Li Siting made a call to request a surprise search.
–
Lu Shimiao stood at the entrance of the ear-picking shop, dressed in a tracksuit, pretending to be a girl on the phone with her boyfriend. As she talked, her eyes observed the shop behind her.
She knew that following Captain Li out here never boded well.
But there was no helping it. The Serious Crime Unit currently had only one female officer, her. Lin Shu had returned to the Fire Department. Li Siting insisted that Lu Shimiao was pretty and delicate-looking, that no one would think such a good-looking person could be a cop, let alone a criminal police officer. She was the most suitable for stakeout.
So, Li Siting had buttered her up the entire way until Lu Shimiao steeled herself and agreed.
Now, in the entire row of cars parked just ten meters away, a group of fully equipped Public Order officers sat ready and waiting, while their Field Operations Team, in civilian clothes, surrounded the perimeter. Lu Shimiao glanced at Brother Zhu, not far away.
Ha, his earpiece wire was sticking out for all to see.
Over the phone, Li Siting asked seriously, “How many inside?”
“How many times do I have to tell you! The movie is at eight tonight!”
Lu Shimiao hated using this coquettish tone, but it was her job. She not only had to act convincingly but also had to relay information casually. For a moment, she felt utterly disjointed.
“Is there a back door? Are those two standing at the door in on it?”
Receiving the instruction, Lu Shimiao pretended to scratch her head and kick the utility pole beside her, quickly scanning the two men behind her with her peripheral vision.
The two men were dressed plainly, no details on them to determine their identities. But their eyes were all focused on the inside of the shop—they seemed like watchers and guards, possibly managers.
No back door. They’re together. Need Brother Zhu to keep an eye on them.
“Come pick me up at the front entrance yourself. Don’t send a colleague to drive me. I don’t want to bother Xiao Zhu.” As Lu Shimiao transmitted information, a man walked past her. He glanced around furtively, then pushed open the ear-picking shop’s door.
“One just went in, a man just went in.” Li Siting’s voice called out over the Walkie-talkie on the shared frequency, then he spoke to Lu Shimiao on the phone, “Pull back now. I’ll give you the signal later to come in and do the pat-downs.”
“Alright then, bye.” Lu Shimiao hung up and turned to walk towards the convenience store at the end of the street.
She yawned continuously, tears streaming down. She hadn’t slept last night; her body couldn’t quite hold up. Buying a cup of coffee, she sat by the glass window, closely watching the situation with her colleagues.
For the police, the most convenient method of arrest is to corner the suspect inside a building, accurately locking down the escapee and preventing them from fleeing. To get the timing right for a vice sweep requires even more waiting—wait until passions reach their peak, then break down the door and catch them in the act. Easier to close the case that way.
Twenty minutes later, Li Siting’s operation began.
“Field Ops Teams 1 and 2, control the two men at the door. Public Order Unit 1, control the women downstairs. We’ll head upstairs. Follow my command!”
Upon hearing the action command in her earpiece, Lu Shimiao stood up.
Her task was usually quite simple: walk into the shop and instruct the women to stand facing the wall, hands behind their backs, ID cards out. So she needed a sip of coffee to soothe her throat. Shouting orders was also physically demanding work.
Emerging from the street corner, she slowly moved towards the ear-picking shop entrance, exchanging a look with Brother Zhu across the way.
“Operation commence.”
The moment Li Siting’s voice fell, the entire street seemed to erupt like a stirred-up hornet’s nest, swarming towards the ear-picking shop.
Brother Zhu reacted the quickest. Field arrests were his bread and butter. He moved with extreme speed, lunging in an arrow-like dash towards the man on Lu Shimiao’s left, cuffing his hands behind his back with a pair of silver bracelets in a flash.
…
Well.
If they didn’t catch anyone today, Brother Zhu would definitely have to write a self-criticism report when they got back.
The man on Lu Shimiao’s right was so frightened by the sudden police presence that he froze on the spot, his legs going weak. The surrounding Field Ops Team swiftly closed in and subdued him instantly.
The door was busted open. The women in the ear-picking shop panicked.
Especially the woman at the counter, who frantically tried to lock the cash register with a key. Lu Shimiao quickly scanned the area and spotted several women trying to hide their phones.
The prostitution charge was probably a sure thing now.
Lu Shimiao didn’t dare raise her voice, afraid of disrupting the arrest operation upstairs. She pulled out her police badge and began moving around, giving orders. “Put down your phones. Hands still. Raise them above your head and place them on the wall. Stand one meter apart. No whispering to each other.”
After she finished shouting, the Public Order Unit had already brought the scene under control. Lu Shimiao pulled out her Police Mobile Terminal from her pocket and began checking them one by one, patting them down while searching for their ID cards.
She walked up to a woman, reaching out—patting her head, her neck, her waist. Lu Shimiao felt like she was selecting Australian oranges at a fruit shop. The process flowed very quickly; seven or eight people were done in a moment.
“Come on, unlock your phone.”
Lu Shimiao walked over to the woman who had hidden her phone and found it tucked under the sofa cushion. “I need to check it.”
The woman who had hidden her phone looked quite old, dressed rather conservatively, but carrying a designer bag. Faced with Lu Shimiao’s inspection, the woman still had some sense of privacy and refused to unlock her phone for Lu Shimiao.
“This is our private property. You have no right.”
“This is a surprise Public Security vice sweep. We police officers have the right to check phones. Please cooperate with our inspection work.” Lu Shimiao’s tone was icy, maintaining a distant, unapproachable demeanor.
“Hurry up.” Lu Shimiao held the phone out further.
The woman shook her head, playing deaf and dumb, absolutely refusing to cooperate with Lu Shimiao.
Clearly, she had a guilty conscience.
“Since you won’t cooperate, I’ll confiscate it and send it to Cyber Security.” Lu Shimiao didn’t want to argue with a scoundrel. She found a bag and directly placed the phone inside, using a pen to write the woman’s name on the bag.
Just as Lu Shimiao reached the second woman, the sound of footsteps came from upstairs.
She turned her head and saw Li Siting leading a man with his hands cuffed behind his back. The man was shirtless, wearing only a pair of underwear below… Lu Shimiao sighed.
“Little Lu, go upstairs and search that woman. Just take all of them down here directly away.”
Li Siting’s Special Intelligence informant had been accurate. This time, they had actually caught the right person.
Lu Shimiao went upstairs to handle the wrap-up. The woman was squatting on the floor in just her underwear, her expression quite composed, as if she had known this day would come eventually. Seeing Lu Shimiao enter, she lowered her head.
“Nothing much to search.”
Lu Shimiao was a bit speechless. This woman was barely wearing anything; what was she supposed to search? She waved at the two officers standing at the door. “Close the door. Let her get dressed.”
Then she half-closed the door, placing her hands behind her back as she watched the woman. “Get up and put your clothes on.”
“Thank you, comrade officer.” At least she still knew how to say “comrade.”
Lu Shimiao said coldly, “Quickly.”
This nearly naked woman was named Hong Moli. Lu Shimiao was somewhat attracted by the name when she checked her ID.
“23 years old?”
“Mm.”
Hong Moli put on her clothes, a white puff-sleeve t-shirt. The fabric looked cheap quality, but she herself was quite fair-skinned. When she had been wearing only underwear earlier, Lu Shimiao had instinctively glanced twice for safety’s sake. She was different from the other women working here.
She reminded Lu Shimiao of withered, oxidizing jasmine flowers. [T/N: Moli means jasmine.]
The woman hurriedly pulled up her pants and turned to reach for something in a drawer.
“Stand still, don’t move!”
Lu Shimiao was instantly on alert. She rushed over, grabbing the woman’s slender wrist, pushed her against the wall in a reverse hold, and said sternly, “What are you doing?”
“Officer, help me find some medicine to take.”
Hong Moli’s tone was simple and honest, sounding like she came from a village on the fringes of the Central Plains, speaking in a thick, heavy local dialect that didn’t match her appearance at all.
Lu Shimiao took a deep breath and pulled a pair of handcuffs from her pocket, locking them onto her wrists.
“Done yet? Little Lu.” Someone was urging her from outside.
“Almost.”
Lu Shimiao replied, then patted her shoulder. “Stand here and don’t move.”
Habitually, Lu Shimiao pinched the edge of her own clothing, using the fabric to touch items at the scene, including the drawer handle. She pulled the drawer open.
Inside lay several boxes of cheap condoms and birth control pills.
Oh.
Her own twenty-seven years old seemed to overlap with the twenty-nine-year-old Xue Tong.
