Chapter 8 Chapter 8 The skilled police officer Ji...
Although Zhang Hongbo is fat, he is quite flexible. Relying on his familiarity with the terrain, he quickly disappeared into the darkness at the corner of the warehouse.
The ground was littered with junk that had been there for who knows how many years, spiders crawling everywhere, and the dust was so thick that it was blinding.
Ji Yinhe put the five-fold bag in the chest pocket of his shirt, held the baton tightly with both hands, suppressed the urge to cough, and walked forward with light steps.
After passing through a narrow passage, the front became even darker, and at first one could still hear Zhang Hongbo's hurried footsteps.
...Soon, even that sound disappeared.
The warehouse was eerily quiet.
Ji Yinhe stopped and let the light shine over carefully.
She had reached the end of the floor and there were two staircases in front of her, one going up and one going down.
It was quiet below, but there was a faint noise coming from above.
Should I stay here and wait for Tang Ci, or catch up with him?
Just when Ji Yinhe was hesitating, there was a sudden loud "bang" on the stairs!
She raised her head and looked, her expression changed slightly, a little orange-red reflected on her rapidly shrinking pupils——
The flames enveloped several mannequins, which rolled down the stairs with a clanging sound.
It looks like a burning person falling, quite scary!
Apparently, Zhang Hongbo set fire to the shroud on the mannequin to force her to retreat.
The flames quickly began to spread along the cardboard boxes and wooden shelves in the corner. Heat waves wrapped in black smoke rushed towards us, and the fire alarm hanging on the wall began to scream like a rooster with its neck strangled.
Not knowing where Tang Ci was or whether he heard the noise, Ji Yinhe jumped back a few steps, holding onto the back wall, and finally found a place to stand.
She stuffed the five-fold folded paper into her bag, covered her mouth and nose with her arms, and yelled, "Police!"
“……!”
On the stairs, the round figure swayed in the thick smoke and stopped moving.
It was too hot here. Ji Yinhe felt sticky sweat flowing down his forehead into his eyes, blurring his vision.
"Zhang Hongbo, we already know the cause of your brother's death. Stay still. I'm going to find someone to put out the fire. Come back to the police station with us!"
Zhang Hongbo coughed loudly and kept asking, "Where's Li Guoping? Have you caught Li Guoping?"
"Catching him!" Ji Yinhe tried hard to delay time, taking small steps towards the wall, his pupils compressed into a line.
"Come back with us and explain what happened, so we can uncover the truth behind your brother's death!"
In the light of the fire, she saw a sandbox on the ground with the words "Fire Protection" written in large letters on it.
"You're not worthy of mentioning my brother!" Zhang Hongbo cried heartbreakingly, "The police station didn't listen to my explanation at all. The motor was clearly tampered with—"
"Bang!" With a loud noise, in a flash, Ji Yinhe exhaled a breath of hot air and rushed forward dragging the fire sand box!
The raised river sand mixed with dust extinguished the sparks on the mannequin in the blink of an eye.
Zhang Hongbo cursed the national treasure fiercely, turned around and continued to run upwards, but his fat short legs were no match for Ji Yinhe's long legs that could take four steps at a time.
He was soon grabbed by the collar by the skilled policeman Xiao Ji and pressed against the corner of the wall at the corner of the stairs.
“Bang!”
The sturdy baton hit him directly in the knee.
"I xxx!!!"
Zhang Hongbo screamed in pain, his round body twisting and struggling.
"Master Zhang, save your energy. You are now going to add charges of arson and damaging public property. Do you want to add assaulting a police officer as well?" Ji Yinhe exhaled and took a breath for two seconds.
It was her first time catching a suspect on her own, and she was a little confused, slowly recalling the procedures in the work manual in her mind.
Fortunately, the captain's tall figure finally appeared and rushed over -
"Ji Yinhe!"
Tang Ci grabbed Zhang Hongbo's shoulders tightly with both hands and yelled, his voice shaking with anger, "Why don't you wait for me right here? Didn't anyone teach you not to act on your own when you joined the company? What if he has a weapon?!"
"No one taught me. On my first day on the job, Director Rao called me straight to the administrative office." Comrade Xiao Ji, who was sitting on the side, chuckled awkwardly and raised his baton. "Besides, I have this."
Tang Ci: “…”
"If I had known you were so undisciplined, I would never have agreed to let you join the Serious Crime Squad!" He let out a long breath. "Go back and memorize the entire manual. You'll only be allowed to join the front line after you pass the assessment. Otherwise, get out... and spend the rest of your life writing papers!"
"Okay, okay." Ji Yinhe was not angry. "But Captain Tang, I finally found the suspect, but when you came back, he had already run away... If it were you, could you just stand there and watch?"
She murmured softly, "Besides, if you don't come over, I can catch him by myself."
Tang Ci choked, lowered his eyes, and glanced at her hand that was still grabbing Zhang Hongbo's collar.
——The gaps between the fingers were covered in black ash and blood.
"…Are you hurt?"
"No." Ji Yinhe lowered his head and checked, and there was only a slight scratch on the back of his hand.
Zhang Hongbo, who was pinned to the ground, still tried to resist.
"Why are you arresting me? I didn't kill anyone. You police officers can't distinguish right from wrong and let Li Guoping go—"
Tang Ci reached behind him, but found nothing.
Only then did he remember that his handcuffs had just been used to handcuff the cremator.
"I brought it, I brought it!" Ji Yinhe blinked quickly, took out the thing and presented it with both hands.
Tang Ci glanced at her and handcuffed Zhang Hongbo's hands neatly. "You brought quite a complete set of things."
Although the fire was out, the air in the warehouse was choking and there were ashes of mannequins on the ground, so it was not advisable to stay there for long.
Tang Ci asked Ji Yinhe to lead the way, and he escorted Zhang Hongbo out of the warehouse along the original route.
In the open space outside, security guards, awakened by the billowing smoke and sirens, rushed to the scene.
"The Municipal Bureau is investigating the case." Tang Ci showed his police ID, looking anxious. "Where's the phone number?"
In fact, when he was looking for the candle just now, his pager suddenly started ringing and he received three emergency codes from Xiao Wu in a row, which delayed him for a while.
"Hey, boss, this way, this way!" The security guard hurriedly led the three people covered in cigarette ash into the nearest office.
Tang Ci handcuffed Zhang Hongbo to the heating pipe, signaled Ji Yinhe to wash his face, and then dialed the number of the Serious Crime Team Office.
The person who answered the phone was Ye Qing who stayed behind.
"Captain Tang, Xiao Wu left a message saying the traffic police found Li Guoping at the Lugang Wharf and were about to flee." She spoke loudly and quickly, a rare occurrence for her due to the urgent matter. "Deputy Che and Cheng Mo are also on their way!"
Tang Ci immediately put down the microphone and stood up suddenly.
"Take Zhang Hongbo with you and set off!"
*
Zhang Hongbo was addicted to pretending to be a master. He chattered excitedly all the way, thanking God and the ancestors for their blessings, but he did not thank the criminal police who successfully stopped Li Guoping.
Ji Yinhe covered his ears the whole time, wishing he could put the steel pot on his head.
Tang Ci was also very annoyed. He frowned and stepped on the accelerator, driving the jeep at a speed of 120 miles per hour. He finally arrived at the Lugang Wharf within 15 minutes.
When I got out of the car, a gust of hot wind mixed with the smell of diesel blew towards me.
Lugang is the most prosperous port in Jiangtan, and there are many people of all kinds gathering here.
There were quite a few people gathered outside the cordon, and a few of them were carrying cameras, obviously reporters.
It was just past noon, the sun was scorching, and the ground was hot enough to fry eggs. Li Guoping sat on the deck, holding a small black suitcase in his arms, staring at the police officers present with an angry look on his face.
Xiao Wu and the others arrived early and were frightened when they saw the disheveled Tang Ci and Ji Yinhe.
"Captain Tang, how come you..."
Tang Ci didn't say anything and pointed at Zhang Hongbo in the jeep.
Xiao Wu saw a figure in the back seat grinning and laughing loudly, with an exaggerated posture, as if he had taken revenge and was crazy.
Ji Yinhe said succinctly: "We caught Zhang Hongbo at the crematorium."
Xiao Wu swallowed, put away the expression that said "I thought you guys had crawled into a crematorium", and clenched his fists excitedly.
"Great! So can we close the case today?"
Tang Ci shook his head, took a pair of handcuffs from the police car, and stepped onto the deck.
Ji Yinhe stared for two seconds and followed silently.
"Li Guoping, come back to the Municipal Bureau with us." Tang Ci said loudly.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Li Guoping raised her head and laughed. "Is it not okay for me to go on a trip? Why can't you let me leave?"
She was a beautiful middle-aged woman who worked in sales. She was well-maintained and looked to be in her early forties. She wore an expensive and fashionable linen suit, bright red lipstick, and her hair was curled into small wool curls that cascaded down her back, shining brightly.
However, after hiding for the past two days, a trace of fatigue still appeared in her eyes.
The beauty's expression brightened, but Tang Ci remained unmoved. "You are suspected of murdering Zhang Chunbo, an electrician at the compressor factory. We already have evidence. What's in the box? Is it evidence?"
Li Guoping didn't say anything and sighed softly.
The midsummer sun was reflected on the shimmering surface of the river, and the cargo ship's shadow was twisted and swaying in the heat wave, like an old, out-of-focus photo.
"I was supposed to leave Jiangtan at noon today, but I didn't expect you police officers to get there first." She raised her chin and stood up gracefully, "Just a little bit short..."
"Because we stand on the side of justice." Tang Ci walked over, opened the handcuffs, and was about to handcuff the pampered hands -
However, Li Guoping took advantage of Tang Ci's unpreparedness, suddenly raised his arm, and used all his strength to throw the small black leather suitcase in his arms out!
Everyone was stunned. No one expected that at this juncture, she would actually try to destroy the evidence!
There was no time to blink before the suitcase fell into the river with a "plop".
Immediately afterwards, there was another "plop" sound!
A figure leaped high, jumped off the deck without hesitation, and hit the water, splashing layers of waves.
Everyone on the shore exclaimed:
“Ji Yinhe——!”
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