Chapter 187 Abandoned Pier
The mechanism the kidnappers set on the door of the van was actually not complicated. They used a fishing line and a spring fixed behind the door to pull a modified lighter to light the fuse of the homemade bomb.
The power of the homemade bomb itself should not be great, but the destructive power of the two barrels of gasoline is very great. If the explosion is ignited instantly, not to mention the car and the bodies on it, the people next to the car will also be swept in instantly.
It was confirmed that the naked male corpse in the car was Liu Jianshe, but he was beaten beyond recognition and died in a miserable way.
Wu Yongcheng immediately notified the forensic and technical departments to come to the scene for investigation and autopsy. He was not surprised that Liu Jianshe's body was found, but he was surprised why the van was abandoned here.
Could it be that the kidnappers had insight into the police's actions?
This shouldn't be the case. The kidnapper is not a fortune teller who can predict the future, nor is he Erlang Shen who can open his third eye.
The only possibility is that something unexpected happened, which led the kidnappers to do this.
"Could it be..." Wu Yongcheng had just thought of something when Zhou Yi walked over.
"Captain Wu, Qian Lailai might be in danger!"
Zhou Yi's words drew the attention of everyone around him.
"Do you also think that the kidnappers did this because something suddenly happened to the hostage?" This was exactly what Wu Yongcheng was thinking just now.
"Yes, the kidnappers had many ways to deal with Liu Jianshe's body. There was no need to go to such great lengths. And I touched the car's engine when I first inspected it. It was still a little warm, which means it hadn't been parked here long."
Zhou Yi pointed at the items removed from the car and said, "Impact bombs, gasoline, such a large-scale deployment is illogical, so I believe that the fundamental purpose of these things is not to destroy the bodies and vehicles."
"What is that?" someone asked curiously.
"Send a signal!" Zhou Yi said.
Chen Yan asked: "Signal? What does it mean?"
"Put yourself in the kidnappers' shoes. If the police were investigating them, there would be two main leads: the person and the car. A car is a larger and more visible target than a person, making it easier to spot. The kidnappers used homemade explosives and gasoline to trap the car. If the police discovered the vehicle and found someone inside, whether dead or alive, they would normally open the door first, not smash the windows."
Zhou Yi pointed to the van behind him and said, "We just checked. The van has four doors: the driver's door, the passenger door, and the right sliding door. All are locked. Only the left door is unlocked. This is the door they left open for us."
Everyone was very scared, especially Chen Yan. The kidnappers left the door open to lure them into opening it. Once it was opened, the consequences would be unimaginable.
No one present would have thought that Zhou Yi could actually see through the possibility of such extreme probability.
If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, they wouldn't have believed it.
But they didn't know that Zhou Yi was actually scared to death.
If Qiao Jiali had not interrogated the black bike dealer carefully enough, and if the black bike dealer had not confessed about the fireworks, he would never have thought of this at the critical moment.
That would be completely the end of them. Considering the weight of this homemade bomb and the volume of two barrels of gasoline, even if they didn't die, he and Chen Yan would be completely ruined for the rest of their lives.
This is really horrible. It's not that the kidnappers are cruel. As a criminal police officer, I have seen all kinds of cruel people.
But it is really terrifying that such a cruel and smart criminal is so cruel.
Zhou Yi couldn't help but wonder, had these people been at large in the previous life?
"You mean, the explosion and fire were actually early warning signals set by the kidnappers for themselves?" Wu Yongcheng asked.
Zhou Yi nodded. "That's right! If our police can really find this van in such a remote place, the kidnappers will know that the police have set up a tight net to find them. The sound of the explosion, the burning flames and the smoke will be their best warning signals. Once discovered, they will immediately flee."
Everyone suddenly realized what was going on. Jiang Biao sighed and said, "They're using this car as a signal flare."
Chen Yan said, "It seems that the kidnappers should be nearby. After all, they can't be found if they are too far away."
Zhou Yi nodded. "That's right. I remember a scientist did a test and found that the longest visible distance for a person with normal vision is about five kilometers. Because the earth is round, anything beyond this range is no longer in a straight line."
"We currently don't know the magnitude of the explosion or how far the sound could have traveled. However, if the gasoline had ignited the entire vehicle, the flames would have been very visible in the darkness, and could have been observed over five kilometers from any unobstructed location."
After hearing what Zhou Yi said, Wu Yongcheng immediately asked Qiao Jiali to take the map from the Santana.
Everyone spread the map on the road, and a circle of people squatted around the map, shining flashlights on it.
Wu Yongcheng looked at the map and then at the position of the van, because Zhou Yi said that the observable distance in the unobstructed direction would be very far, and he was looking for this angle.
The first thing to rule out is the south side, because the van was parked on the north side of the building and the south side was blocked by the building.
The remaining directions are east, west and north. The west is the direction they came from before, which is closer to the city center.
"Then only the east and the north are left." Wu Yongcheng said, pointing to two directions on the map.
Zhou Yi, who had been staring at the map, shone the flashlight in his hand towards the east. The aperture of the flashlight gradually narrowed as he got closer, and finally the aperture locked onto an area.
Zhou Yi pointed at that location and said, "Captain Wu, this place is very suspicious!"
Everyone looked in the direction he pointed. There was no place name in the area covered by the halo, but there was an anchor-shaped pattern, indicating that it was a port terminal.
Because this place is right next to the Nansha River.
"I know this place." Shi Tao said suddenly, "It's a semi-abandoned dock."
"Semi-abandoned? What does that mean?" Wu Yongcheng asked.
"It was indeed a wharf in the past. Back then, Kaiping was a county, so a lot of factories were built. Some building materials were transported by land, and some by water, coming down the Nansha River and being loaded and unloaded through this wharf. Because it wasn't officially a wharf open to the public, it didn't have a special name. It was said that it was going to be demolished after its use was over. As you know, Old Wu, Kaiping District became a dud, and the wharf was abandoned and no one cared about it."
Everyone nodded. The Nansha River's transport capacity was well known to Hongcheng residents. In the past, when roads were scarce, water transport was the primary mode of transportation. Back then, transport ships and fishing boats were common sights on the Nansha River. Then, at some point, the number of boats on the river gradually decreased.
"We discovered this place when we were investigating the imported cigarette smuggling case last time. We searched all the ports along the Nansha River," Shi Tao said. "Isn't that right, Old Gu?"
Gu Changhai nodded and took over the conversation. "Well, as for why it's semi-abandoned, I heard from some people in the aquatic product business that because this wharf was originally used to transport construction materials and the space is large enough, many fishing boats choose to dock here to unload their cargo. Since they don't have to pay management fees, it saves money. Knowledgeable aquatic product owners will come directly to pick up the cargo, but now is the off-season. Fishing boats only come in during the peak season. Since it costs money to ship out a boat, it's not worth it during the off-season."
"When you went to this dock last time, did you find anything unusual?" Wu Yongcheng asked.
Shi Tao and Gu Changhai exchanged a glance, and Shi Tao said, "I don't think so. There wasn't even a ghost at the dock, and we didn't see any boats. We just looked around and left."
Gu Changhai nodded.
This means that this criminal gang has not always used the dock as a hiding place. They should have been changing their whereabouts to avoid arousing suspicion by staying in one place for a long time.
Zhou Yi said, "Captain Wu, the distance is about six kilometers. There are no obvious buildings blocking the way. There are two roads in front of the dock and the Nansha River behind it. Whether by land or water, it will be easier for the kidnappers to retreat."
"Everyone, act now." Wu Yongcheng pointed to the dock covered by the circle of light, "Surround them!"
There were more than twenty criminal police officers at the scene. Wu Yongcheng did not blindly let all of them surround the area. He originally wanted Shi Tao to take a few people to defend the downstream section of Nansha River two kilometers away, because the river channel in that section was relatively narrow, to prevent the kidnappers from escaping by water.
Shi Tao accepted the order, but did not go himself. Instead, he asked Gu Changhai to take a few brothers to defend, claiming that he would stand together with Lao Wu.
In fact, Wu Yongcheng knew very well that Shi Tao just wanted to get some credit.
After all, the case has reached this critical point. If the kidnappers are really hiding at this dock, it will definitely be a life-and-death battle before dawn.
If you take people to defend the perimeter at this time, your presence will not be recorded in the report.
Zhou Yi, however, didn't see any problem with this. Anyone who didn't want to show off, anyone who didn't want to rise up, wasn't a saint of high moral standards. At least Shi Tao, while seemingly unreliable, was decisive when it came to matters, unlike Ni Jianrong, who had a multitude of ulterior motives.
Captain Shi's little thoughts are almost written on his face.
Wu Yongcheng then used the radio to notify nearby police to set up a siege net in the upper reaches of the river to prevent the kidnappers from choosing to go upstream in the opposite direction when escaping.
The remaining dozen or so people headed straight for the dock.
Miao Cheng and his colleagues were asked to stay because the van and Liu Jianshe's body were still there and they needed to wait for the arrival of the Municipal Bureau's Technical Department and forensic doctors.
Of course, on the other hand, it is also to protect them and prevent them from participating in such dangerous actions.
Just as the elite troops were rushing to the dock, the grass on the side of a small road two or three kilometers away from the dock kept shaking, as if there was something inside.
Suddenly, a black shadow staggered out from the grass, stood up and staggered towards the road ahead, leaving traces of blood wherever it passed.
A voice cried, "I didn't mean to kill you. I really didn't mean to kill you."
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