The light shuddered up and down as I ran. A person lying quietly on the ground slowly entered my gaze. Cast in my light, the person didn’t move at all. There was no one else around, but I could feel the lingering heat in the air and smelled the gunshot sulfur. As I approached the person, I slowed down because I saw this person was in a police uniform. Instantly, my thought was an officer had been shot. I became alert and shone my flashlight around. Still, there was no one there. I looked up, and this was a dead-end. Since there was no danger, I rushed forward. I turned the person who was lying on his front over. When the person was turned over, I saw that his face was filled with blood. There was a bloody hole on his temple, and blood was still pouring out. On the opposite end, there was a bigger exit wound. The brain matter and blood matted the hair together. This was a typical gunshot wound, and based on the wound, it was fresh. So the gunshot I heard earlier killed this man. However, this was a dead end. I looked around, and there was no space to hide a person. The only exit was the path I came from. So who killed this man? Was it suicide?
I looked through the body’s clothes and discovered his police id in his pocket. He was an officer at Dong Xing City. Dong Xing City was a large city, and the detective group was split into many teams. This man was from team 3, and I hadn’t seen him before. I shouted, and there was no answer. I had to find a way to drag this body out.
As I carried the body on my back, I heard something fall to the ground. I lowered my head and saw a gun. I touched the dead body’s waist. The officer’s gun was in his holster. If this gun on the ground was not the dead officer’s gun, whose gun was it?
My rationality told me that this was the killer’s gun. I took out a glove from my pocket and slowly eased the body back to the ground. I reached to grab the gun. But when I held it up, I was startled. ‘Isn’t this…’
Suddenly several rays of light blinded me. Then it was a clicking sound. I was familiar with this sound. It was the gun being loaded.
“Don’t move! Put down your gun!” Someone shouted.
I frowned. “I’m with the police.” However, the person still aimed the flashlight at my eyes. It made it impossible for me to tell who was on the other side. The voice repeated, “One last time, put the gun down, or we will shoot! Put the gun down!”
The determination in the voice told me that if I didn’t follow the order, they would shoot me. I raised my arms, bent down, and placed the gun down. The flashlights were aimed at me. One of the officers moved over with the gun pointed at me. He said, “Sir, officer down, officer down.”
I remembered that Gu Chen had asked the military for help. I asked, “I am Leader Wu from Dong Xing City’s special crime unit. Did Captain Zhao send you here?”
The man didn’t answer. He kicked the pistol I just put down to the side, placed his own gun behind him, and then grabbed my shoulder. The powerful force turned me around, and I heard the cuffs click.
“I am an officer from Dong Xing City.” I shouted, “My id is in my pocket!” After I was cuffed, the lights moved from my face. I finally saw the man and the uniform they wore. They were from the military.
“There was a gunshot.” The soldier didn’t waste time on me. “We followed the sound here and saw you and that dead guy on the ground. We are very familiar with the power of a bullet. He is dead, and you have the gun.” The man was so strong that I could barely struggle. “Are you suspecting me of killing him? We are from the same department. Why would I kill him?”
The man shrugged. “Who knows. Bring the man away and carry the body out. Remember to use gloves so that you won’t leave behind any trace as this officer did.” His implication was clear, I was the murderer in his eyes.
“It’s not me.” I sighed.
He smiled. “We’ll know when we compare the bullet and the body. I don’t know you, and you don’t know me. I’m only responsible for arresting criminals, so stop wasting my time.” Then two soldiers picked up the dead officer and carried him out. The last soldier pushed me out like a criminal. My heart sunk. There had to be a conspiracy behind this because I was very familiar with that gun. We had just exited the path when we ran into another group of people.
“Gu Chen? Ever since you left the military, I haven’t seen you for a year already.” The leading soldier said.
“Duan Jingliang?” Gu Chen said. Then he asked, “Wu Meng, you’re here too? Duan Jingliang, what’s happening? Why is he cuffed?”
Duan Jingliang turned to look at me and then at Gu Chen. “You probably came here hearing the gunshot. My team arrived at the scene. We didn’t see anyone on the way, and we found this man holding the gun with gloves standing beside the body.”
I saw Gu Chen frown. Clearly, he didn’t believe I was the killer. Duan Jingliang continued, “Plus, you can go look yourself. We just came out from a dead end. If he’s not the killer, then the officer must have killed himself. Of course, that is possible, but to borrow your words, this man would still be the main suspect, no?”
“You are tasked to capture the killer, not to capture our people.” Gu Chen’s voice was strong and powerful.
Duan Jingliang shrugged. “You’ve been with the military for three years. How long you’ve been transferred to the police, and you’re no longer our people? My superior tasked me to search and arrest the killer, not to listen to your orders. In fact, I am of the same rank with the captain above you, so you have no right to order me around.”
“I am not going to waste time with you.” Gu Chen said, “The police will settle the police affair. Give me the man.”
Duan Zhenglin said, “I believe you understand that when the crime involves your lover, family, friend, or neighbor, you should remove yourself from the case. So move, and don’t stand in our way.”
Gu Chen didn’t budge. “But it’s not the military’s job to investigate an officer’s death.”
The real killer was gone, and there was only a dead body and me. Anyone would have suspected me, plus the soldiers were not familiar with me. This thing was not that simple. There were other forces behind this. I took a deep breath and said, “Can I say something? First, Gu Chen, have you found Guan Zhenglin?”
Gu Chen shook his head. “But we did find the iron bed in the picture. She was not there. I found her clothes and phone. The phone is useable, but we’ve no signal since we’re underground.”
I asked, “Was there blood?”
Gu Chen shook her head. “There was no blood, be it on the bed or on the ground. From the crime scene, there was no sign of struggle. The iron chain in the picture is not really made from iron. They were plastic which looks like iron. If using the small dagger, one could cut through it in about ten minutes.”
I pulled on my hair and said. If that’s the case, Guan Zhenglin should be safe now.”
“But where is she?” Gu Chen asked, “We’ve looked this whole place, and we couldn’t find her.”
I concluded, “She must have been kidnapped. If she escaped on her own, she would put on her clothes and grab her phone.”
“Kidnapped…” Gu Chen repeated.
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