Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
It was 8:00pm in the case analysis room of Feng Ping Police Station. Zhao Yu had brought along his team members and they were analyzing the information they had on the treasure. Since the previous office had been destroyed, they had to move to the professional case analysis room in the police station.
“This case is too strange!” Cui Lizhu said, expressing her doubts. She faced the whiteboard, full of information. “No matter what, the names on the list were all experts who had helped the Secret Service team investigate this case through the years, right?”
“Yes!” Li Beini said to the team. “These 16 people were all experts in their respective fields. Since the 1960s, they had participated in the investigation of gold treasures and all of them had formally signed confidentiality agreements.”
“Since the 60s…?” Liu Zhanbing asked. “What about before the 60s?”
“There’s no information about before the 60s on the documents!” Li Beini shook her head. “It’s only been mentioned in several reports that after the founding of the country, the relevant departments had never stopped their investigations! I guess the lapses in information are due to the division of work between different departments. But we also cannot rule out the possibility that Li Jing has given us incomplete information.”
“To add on to that point…” Cui Lizhu pointed at the 16 names and asked, “Other than the last five, the first 11 were all considered cases of natural death?”
“Yes!” Li Beini nodded. “The information clearly shows that the first 11 experts died of natural causes and not of murder!”
“Then what about the last five people?” Cui Lizhu asked again. “Is it confirmed that they were murdered?”
Li Beini nodded slightly. “It’s only suspected! Yuan Juncheng, Li Shijiang, Gu Xilai, Bai Wenhua, and Shao Jun… based on the information we have on these five people, they were suspected to have been murdered. But, ironically, this document was drafted by me! That means that it wasn’t until our team started digging into this matter that the Special Services took notice.”
“What the h*ll were they doing?” Cui Lizhu asked, frowning as she looked at Zhao Yu. “They knew the importance of these experts, so why didn’t they send someone to protect them?”
“It’s not like that! These old experts were merely involved in the investigation as advisors, they had all been retired for a long time!” Li Beini said. “And after retirement, according to the confidentiality agreement, they could no longer participate in investigations related to the treasure!”
“That won’t do either!” Cui Lizhu spread her hands and pointed at the five names on the whiteboard. “These five people didn’t die at the same time. There was a span of several months before and after each death. Were the people at Special Services not doing anything? One death could be considered an accident, but the second, and then the third; wouldn’t that have been a cause for concern?”
“This question… I’m afraid we can only ask Special Services themselves!” Li Beini shook her head. “But based on my analysis, it is very possible that this matter had been completely overlooked by them!”
“Oh? Why?” Cui Lizhu asked.
“Because times have changed. The Special Services department has been busy trying out new methods and means,” Li Beini explained, switching to the big screen and pointing at the document. “Look, starting nine years ago, these experts were no longer working with the Special Services team. They all had their own work and lives. The search for the treasures was merely a project they had participated in in the past.”
“Yes!” Xu Hai said. “Although I may not know much, I would imagine that it would be impossible for the Special Services department to expend energy protecting and monitoring these experts for a long time!”
“The most important thing is…” Li Beini continued, opening another document. “The treasure has not been found! Therefore, there was no need for Special Services to worry about people going after these experts. Before this happened, there had been no other deaths!”
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“Yeah!” Zhang Jingfeng tapped his head. “This issue is so strange! What did these murderers want from them?”
“Indeed, and they even used professional truth serums…” Liu Zhanbing frowned. “These old experts don’t know where the treasure was hidden either, what were they hoping to get out of them?”
“Ah?!” Cui Lizhu said mysteriously, squinting her eyes. “Hey, guys, could it be that there was something fishy about these five old experts? For example, maybe they had kept some information to themselves? Maybe they had discovered some important information about the treasure but didn’t report it, and someone found out later so they wanted to get them to tell the truth and then silence them?”
“There’s only a small possibility that is what happened!” Li Beini said, shaking her head. “This treasure is extraordinary. Anyone with half an IQ would understand that it belonged to the country and nobody would be able to keep it for themselves. Besides, these experts were old comrades with a stubborn mindset, they would never do something that childish!”
“Tsch!” Zhang Jingfeng frowned. “Then what is the reason? Truth serum and also a very advanced drug used to kill… just what did the murderer want to accomplish?”
“Unless…” Liu Zhanbing said. “Unless these experts actually did have important information, things like treasure maps that they didn’t realize were related to the treasures but the murderers did know! So, the murderers forced them to give them the information and killed them afterward!”
“Eh?” Zhang Jingfeng’s eyes lit up. “If you say it like that it sounds like a real possibility! Hearing it makes me think we’re in a movie, how exciting!”
“But…” Li Beini frowned. “The documents made it clear that when the experts quit, it was impossible for Special Services to let them take any of the information with them. Moreover, Special Services has a special monitoring system. They would definitely have noticed if these five experts were still involved in researching the treasure after leaving!”
“That means to say… we’re not on the right train of thought?” Liu Zhanbing shook his head in regret. Everyone could feel the air of mystery surrounding this case.
“Nine years!” Xu Hai exclaimed. “Those old experts had been gone for nine years. During those nine years, who was investigating the treasures? Were there any new experts who joined the case?”
“No!” Li Beini said. “The Special Services team mainly started with advanced technology, and there was some international level news. I can see from the report there was a clear sense of powerlessness. Think about it, it had been 80 years since they began looking and it had still not been found. People had to have been changing their minds! Perhaps the treasures didn’t exist, or it had already been destroyed during the war…”
“Exactly, if the treasure doesn’t exist, then isn’t everything we’re doing pointless?” Cui Lizhu asked, sounding distressed. “It’s a pity, there go my dreams of a mansion!” Cui Lizhu then noticed Zhao Yu engrossed in the whiteboard. He seemed to be thinking about something important. Out of curiosity, she tugged at his sleeve and asked, “Boss, what are you thinking about?”
“Well…” Zhao Yu stared at the whiteboard without blinking. “I don’t know… do you guys notice a problem? You see, the list from Special Services and the list from Tao Xiang, aren’t the orders of the names exactly the same?”
“Oh?” Li Beini was the first to respond. “The list from Special Services was written in the order in which the experts were hired. From what you said, they definitely are!”
“Oh… then since this list comes from Special Services… could it mean my dad stole it from them?” Cui Lizhu asked, suddenly understanding.
“What the f*ck! No wonder he’s the thief king!” Xu Hai exclaimed in surprise.
“No!” Zhao Yu said unexpectedly, shaking his head. “I feel that this may be more complicated than we think! Seems like I have to seriously consider what Li Jing said before.”
“Oh? What did she say?” Cui Lizhu asked.
“Xiao Cui!” Zhao Yu turned back and stared at Cui Lizhu seriously. “Let’s talk about this. What else do you know that you haven’t told me yet?”