Criminal Investigation Notes

At this late hour, inside an old warehouse in Huadu, dim lights were on. The side of the warehouse had been divided into several rooms, with beds made of wooden planks and rudimentary living supplies.

Outside the rooms, a chaotic pile of mineral water and instant food was sufficient for several people to live on for a few days.

Song Lan’en sat at the table, engrossed in what he held in his hands.

His hands were steady as he slowly poured chemicals into it, finally sealing it with fine sand.

These materials were accumulated by Dai Yuansheng before, brought to him.

Making these was a highly dangerous task, even the people around him could potentially be injured in an explosion, yet they all sat not far from him.

Among them, Xu Shuang stood by the window, staring into the distant darkness.

Her eyelashes blinked occasionally. The place was very desolate, surrounded by open ground. She felt like she was standing on a small boat in a rainy night, not knowing where it would drift.

This sense of unknown accompanied the night breeze blowing in, making her feel uneasy.

Bi Shanyu exhaled smoke, put down his phone, and took out the SIM card. He could only play the built-in games on his phone. He wasn’t used to not having internet access, and after losing two rounds, he flicked his cigarette butt on the ground. “Hey, can you give me back my SIM card? I want to play ‘King of Glory’.”

Dai Yuansheng and Xu Shuang simultaneously turned to look at him, firmly stating, “No!”

Xu Shuang snorted, “The police can track us through our phones. If you turn on your phone with your number here, we’ll be exposed, and we’ll all be caught.”

Before moving to this area, all of their phones had their SIM cards removed and placed under the unified care of Xu Shuang.

Bi Shanyu said, “Is it really that spooky? Don’t the police sleep? Are they watching us at all times in the middle of the night?”

Dai Yuansheng chuckled, “Who knows? Maybe those police officers are working overtime. Suddenly, they sneak up on us without us noticing and turn us into hornets’ nests.”

Xu Shuang disapproved of his inauspicious words and gave Dai Yuansheng a glare, then turned to look at Bi Shanyu. “If you want to be part of the plan, don’t mention those things.”

“Fine, I won’t mention it,” Bi Shanyu stretched lazily. “But it’s late at night. We should find some entertainment. We can’t play games, there’s no food delivery, women…” He glanced over at Xu Shuang, a hint of disdain in his eyes, “better off without them.”

Dai Yuansheng chuckled, “What’s wrong? Can’t hold it in? Young people have no patience. How about we play ‘Trumps’?” He took out a deck of playing cards as he spoke.

Only then did Bi Shanyu sit down. “Just the two of us playing ‘Trumps’? We might as well play ‘War.'”

He said so, but his hand was already reaching for the cards.

Upon hearing this, Song Lan’en asked Xu Shuang beside him, “Won’t we be discovered here?”

“We won’t,” Xu Shuang turned her body and spoke resolutely, “This place was used as collateral by the other party when my father collected debts in the past. They handed over various documents, but there was no official transfer. Even if there’s an investigation, they won’t find anything on me.”

“Deal the cards, deal the cards!” Bi Shanyu urged Dai Yuansheng, and they actually started playing poker in this abandoned warehouse.

They were halfway through the game when Bi Shanyu looked at the cards in his hand and casually asked Dai Yuansheng, “Old man, have you chosen a good location?”

Dai Yuansheng chuckled as he played his card, “This time, I’ve chosen a place where no one can find me.”

“You’re hiding it where no one can find it, but it won’t harm many people. What’s the use of that…” Bi Shanyu showed a disdainful expression, “If it were me, I would place it where everyone can see, in the spotlight, and then boom…”

He simulated an explosion with his hand, a glimmer of excitement in his eyes, as if he was already immersed in endless joy.

“Bomb, I win.” He threw down four pointed cards.

Dai Yuansheng sighed as he looked at his cards, “My luck isn’t good this round. Let’s play again!”

While Dai Yuansheng was shuffling the cards, Bi Shanyu turned to Xu Shuang and asked, “Hey, woman, where are you planning to hide it?”

“Don’t call me ‘woman’! Call me by my name,” Xu Shuang glared at him, “I haven’t decided yet.”

“Sigh, you’re always so indecisive…” Bi Shanyu’s mouth curved into a smile as he lit a new cigarette.

Xu Shuang turned her head to look at him. Ever since she met this man, he seemed to be constantly smoking. She used her hand to fan the smoke in the room and frowned, “Why do you meddle so much in other people’s affairs?”

Bi Shanyu blew a smoke ring and looked at her, saying, “Waiting here like this is really frustrating.”

“Don’t be impatient.” Song Lan’en’s voice rang out, “Tomorrow, tomorrow, I’ll give you everything. You won’t have to stay here anymore. I’ll give you plenty of time to choose your locations.”

As he spoke, he carefully placed a finished product aside, a few of which were already completed.

Xu Shuang sat at the door for a while, then walked into the warehouse. She looked at the things on the table and was somewhat surprised, “Why are there so many?”

There were only three of them as the perpetrators, so why make so many? Did they intend for each person to deploy several?

“I found some additional people. Don’t you want to make the game more exciting?” Song Lan’en smiled.

“So there are other people participating this time?” Dai Yuansheng chuckled.

“Where did you find those people? Can we trust them? They won’t put us in danger, right?” Bi Shanyu asked with some concern.

“They won’t.” Song Lan’en shook his head, “I will place the items in fixed locations and notify them to retrieve them. They won’t know our situation. The items you’re holding have greater destructive power, while theirs are relatively smaller. They will distract the attention of the police, making you safer.”

Xu Shuang leaned in and counted them one by one, “How many of these items are there in total?”

“Thirteen,” Song Lan’en said.

These were made using all the materials he had. These items were enough to cause a huge commotion in the entire city, bringing about a disaster.

“Why does this one you made look different from ours?” Xu Shuang blinked her eyes, looking a bit wary at the newly made one.

Song Lan’en said, “Because this one is unpredictable. It can only be operated remotely. I’m planning to keep it for myself.”

Bi Shanyu turned to him and asked, “How do you plan to use that one?”

Song Lan’en replied cautiously, “That’s none of your concern.”

In the hotel, it was extremely quiet. However, they could feel that something was stirring in the darkness of the city, ready to burst out.

Su Hui looked at the various pieces of information in front of him and began analyzing the main culprits, saying, “Among these people, Xu Shuang is relatively wealthy. Her father was a self-made entrepreneur and very wealthy. He had multiple factories back then. I suspect they are staying at the location provided by Xu Shuang.”

Lu Junchi frowned, “But we have already investigated the properties under Xu Shuang’s name.”

Su Hui looked at him and said, “Sometimes, it doesn’t necessarily have to be openly connected. When there are many assets, there will be some hidden places that seem unrelated to her but actually belong to her.”

Lu Junchi nodded, “Hmm, let’s recheck and see if there is anything we missed. We haven’t found one of Xu Shuang’s cars, so it could be their means of transportation.”

“Also, I noticed something,” Su Hui said seriously. “In the past two years, Xu Shuang’s father passed away. I think this might have triggered some changes in Xu Shuang.”

He organized his thoughts and continued, “I believe that in the Xisha Case two years ago, Xu Shuang was the most hesitant among these people. Her behavior showed that she was very particular about the locations to place the bombs. In the past, she appeared relatively normal. She started accepting tasks after being abandoned by a man and losing her child.”

Lu Junchi had also read her file. She was a wealthy heiress who had achieved nothing on her own. After being deceived by a man, she became pregnant out of wedlock, and her child was born with a congenital illness and passed away early…

With Su Hui’s description and Xu Shuang’s photo in front of him, an image of Xu Shuang’s appearance and inner world gradually formed in Lu Junchi’s mind. He understood, “Her family, her relatives, are more traditional. They would consider her a disgrace.”

Su Hui nodded, “In addition to the death of her young child, she lost her spiritual support. This might have caused her to lose control and join in. However, everything is different now. The child has been gone for several years, and even if she was deeply saddened at the time, with the passage of time, she would gradually recover… The biggest source of her pressure, her parents, have also passed away. As the only daughter in the family, she has inherited the family’s wealth. Although she might still participate in the current criminal activities out of habit, her state of mind will be completely different.”

A person who is alone is more prone to taking risks, while a person with a fortune would have many concerns and value their own life more.

Su Hui blinked and continued, “These people are all very aware that this might be the last time. Therefore, their methods of committing crimes will be more deranged. In such a situation, Xu Shuang’s concerns will make her a burden among the group.”

Su Hui cleared his throat, “Then there’s Dai Yuansheng. He was arrested twice in his early years for theft. This experience made him cautious, so when he hides the bomb, he does it very carefully, placing it in locations he believes others won’t easily notice. In the previous two explosions he caused, the first one took more time than the others to set up, and the second one was delayed by over an hour. I think this time he will be even slower… but among the group, he has a stronger inclination to kill.”

Lu Junchi nodded, “If he’s slower, it means we might have more time. We can use his nervousness to release more wanted information in the media. That way, he will experience greater psychological pressure and be more likely to reveal himself.”

“The last person, Bi Shanyu, is the most dangerous and easily recognizable. He targets iconic buildings with larger numbers of people.”

“I believe that during the act, he enjoys being the center of attention and having control over other people’s lives. He seeks intensity and thrills, which is why his past explosions caused multiple deaths. In terms of numbers, he’s second only to Jie Qiu,” Su Hui said, coughing a few times. “I saw that he already has a lot of debt on his credit cards and various loans. This time, he probably won’t leave himself an escape route…”

Bi Shanyu is different from the others; he has the strongest sense of destruction among the group and is likely prepared to destroy himself along with others.

Lu Junchi’s expression became serious. “So, this time, we need to be more vigilant about Bi Shanyu?”

Su Hui shook his head. “Compared to these people, we also need to pay attention to the other scattered killers. And, you overlooked someone: Song Lan’en.”

Lu Junchi paused for a moment and said, “But according to your analysis, in the past, Song Lan’en only made those bombs but didn’t carry out any attacks. Will he participate this time?”

Su Hui closed his eyes tiredly and rubbed his forehead, “It’s very likely. And precisely because of that, he is even more dangerous.”

He rested for a moment and opened his eyes again, “Song Lan’en is the instigator of all this, the core of these people. Especially after being imprisoned for two years, his psychology will have undergone changes during this time. His motives, his choices, we haven’t fully understood them yet, which means he will be harder to guard against.”

Perhaps it was because Song Lan’en was already mysterious and elusive in the past, combined with his isolation from the world for two years. Su Hui could hardly provide a complete psychological profile of his criminal mindset.

Su Hui closed the files, feeling a bit weak, and said, “I can only make deductions and summaries up to this point. This matter is full of variables, and sometimes they might change the locations due to their mood and the people they encounter.”

Providing more detailed speculations might be of no benefit to the police and could instead interfere with their judgment.

“You’ve already provided valuable insights,” Lu Junchi nodded. “We’ll be flexible in our approach.”

This time, they would face a group of deranged bombers.

The police needed to be fully prepared and dismantle them one by one.

Right now, both sides were like runners, not knowing where the other had gone. They had to race against time to defeat their opponents and achieve victory.

Su Hui leaned closer and hugged Lu Junchi, giving him a comforting squeeze and whispered in his ear, “Be careful.”

Lu Junchi could feel the warmth of Su Hui’s body. He held him tightly and said, “Promise me that you won’t go to dangerous places this time.”

Su Hui made a sound of agreement, “This time, I will stay at the headquarters and won’t accompany you on the operations.”