Crazy Detective

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

“Oh, I was wondering why it sounded so near!” Zhao Yu said.

Zhao Yu was still talking to Xiong Wendong through the phone, but Xiong Wendong suddenly appeared at the other end of the corridor, beckoning towards Zhao Yu.

It turned out that the Wuqing County Criminal Police Office was only a two-story building, and the autopsy room was located on the first floor. So, when Xiong Wendong came back, he immediately saw Zhao Yu and Gao Facai.

Thus, he quickly put down the phone and ran to the two of them, and said excitedly, “Officer Zhao, the problem indeed lies with the ship!

“There was news from the boatman just now. A ship captain was claiming that one night more than half a month ago, a cargo ship they were driving was stopped by the marine patrol officers around the Bai Sha River in Pan Jiawan District!

“The officer on patrol suspected that they had contraband on board, so he detained them and searched for more than two hours before they were allowed to be released!”

“Oh? The marine patrol?” Zhao Yu frowned.

“Yeah,” Xiong Wendong said. “Isn’t that a little weird? I checked, and when the police intercepted the ship, it was the same night that Bai Lang stole Su Lan’s body!”

“That…” Zhao Yu felt like he could grasp something but could not fully understand what it was. Gao Facai, on the other hand, was completely confused.

“If there is an anti-drug mission, a search is usually carried out at the pier. It is unlikely that a group of marine police would appear in the middle of the river, so something smells fishy!” Xiong Wendong said, patting his chest proudly. “I’m not tooting my own horn, but I have the most friends within the Wuqing Shan police!

“I have already made an inquiry. There have been no special inspection missions ordered by the narcotics bureau recently, so this group must have been fake!”

“Oh…” Zhao Yu finally understood. “In other words, we have finally figured out why the criminals in the coffin case weren’t worried about being discovered by the cargo ships that passed by. They had had already made arrangements with both of the rivers around the Seven Stars Hanging Coffin!”

“Yes, Pan Jiawan is not far from the Seven Stars Hanging Coffin,” Xiong Wendong said. “Those fake marine police must be in cahoots with the criminals in the hanging coffin case!”

“Also,” Zhao Yu said, nodding and sighing, “They even dared to use the Seven Stars Hanging Coffin. So, they must be a big deal. So… it is not surprising for them to send someone to pose as a police officer!”

“That…” Dr. Gao, at that point, also realized something and added quickly, “In that case, the criminal must have used the cargo ship to put the bodies into the hanging coffin. Then… the ship? Did you manage to find it?”

“I found it!” Xiong Wendong answered quickly, nodding. “Of course I found it. Not only did I find it, I found it just as it was!”

“Oh, then what are you waiting for? Tell us quickly!” Zhao Yu urged.

“The boss of the ship that was intercepted by the fake police said that their ship was going up against the current,” Xiong Wendong said. “After the police released them, they continued to sail north along the river. As soon as they came out, they came across a cargo ship from Yun Hai Company and passed by them!”

“Yun Hai Company?” Zhao Yu repeated the words, feeling a sense of deja vu.

“Ship? What kind of ship?” Dr. Gao asked, suddenly becoming interested.

“I have photos here…” Xiong Wendong said, turning on his phone and opening a photo. “The boss of the boat had a camera installed, and this is the screenshot of the video footage from that time!

“It is as we guessed. There must be something wrong with this ship!”

“Is this the ship?” Zhao Yu asked, looking at the photo. It looked like a very ordinary cargo ship and it was smaller than he imagined. “This ship has no sign or anything. How do you know that this belongs to Yun Hai Company?”

“Huh? Yun Hai Company?” Xiong Wendong scratched his head. Seeming to have recalled something, he quickly said, “Oh, sorry! My bad! It’s not Yun Hai Company, but Yun Hai Group!

“Officer Zhao!” he said, pointing at the cargo ship in the picture. “You are from the north, so you might not be aware of this, but everyone in Fu Lai Province knows about the Yun Hai group!”

“Yes, I’ve heard of them!” Dr. Gao echoed. “It seems like… they specialize in shipping? I think I might have seen their advertisements somewhere before!”

“Yes,” Xiong Wendong said, frowning. “But before that, Yun Hai Group started with domestic freight shipping!

“Their peak was in the 1990s. At that time, the shipping activities in these major rivers in Fu Lai Province were all contracted to their company, and they made a ton of money!

“Later on, due to the development of the expressway, the demand for inland shipping gradually declined. So, Yun Hai Group set its sights on the broader maritime shipping and has steadily become the largest sea shipping company in southeast China today!

“Moreover, it’s not just shipping and maritime transportation. They also operate several real estate companies and some other different types of industries. They are well-known in the Fu Lai Province!

“So, although there is no signage on their ship, the boss of the ship that passed by them operates the ship regularly and can recognize their boats in a glance!” He pointed at the photo again. “He said yes, this is definitely a boat that belongs to Yun Hai Group!”

“Yun Hai Group…” Zhao Yu murmured. “We had previously predicted that in this case, there would be someone who was super rich involved. Don’t tell me…”

“By the way, did Engineer Wang look for you earlier?” Xiong Wendong said again. “I have shown him the video of the boat. He said that there are obvious signs of modification on the side of the ship. He suspects that they may be using some kind of inflatable device underneath the boat that enables them to control the excessive weight load!

“Look again,” he said, pointing to the photo. “You can see that in the middle and rear parts of the boat, there are big bulges covered with canvas…

“Engineer Wang believes that under the canvas, there should be that fire truck’s extendable ladder that we were discussing earlier!”

“What? Extendable ladder?” Dr. Gao said in shock. “How is that possible? The ladder can rise to up to 40 meters, how can it be this small?”

“Oh?” Zhao Yu seemed to be quite taken aback. “You seem to know quite a lot about ladders, Dr. Gao,” he said.

“I wouldn’t say I know a lot!” Gao Facai said seriously. “But if I am a criminal, there is no way I would choose to use a fire truck’s extendable ladder!”

“Oh, why not?” Zhao Yu asked.

“Because in comparison, there are far more practical tools!” Gao Facai said carefully. “Those types of extendable ladders are used for high-altitude rescue cases. Due to the nature of the work, its cost is very high, and it is not easily obtainable either. Even if you have money, you can’t buy it!

“However, it would be much simpler if it was an extension ladder truck used by a moving company!”

“Huh? Extension ladder truck?” Zhao Yu and Xiong Wendong were stunned.

“Yeah, why? Have you guys never engaged a moving company before?” Gao Facai asked. “The buildings in the big cities are designed like pigeon nests. The elevators are too small, and there are many large household items. You can’t enter through the elevator or the door, so the moving company will use this kind of ladder to move things into the house!”

“Oh…” Zhao Yu and Xiong Wendong nodded simultaneously. “It seems that people living in big cities are just different!”

Qin Shan, where Zhao Yu was located, and Wuqing, where Xiong Wendong lived, didn’t have many high-rise buildings. So naturally, they had not seen such advanced tools.

“Fast, convenient, and cheap!” Gao Facai explained. “A couple hundred-thousand can buy you an extension ladder truck that can be raised up to 28 meters!”

“Twenty-eight meters? That’s not enough…” Xiong Wendong said, shaking his head. “The highest hanging coffin is 41 meters high, isn’t that too big a difference?”

“Hmm…” Gao Facai nodded. “Then it has to be ordered directly from the manufacturer! For every one meter added, the cost of the truck will also increase!

“Leader Zhao, there are not many manufacturers around. Such special orders must be pretty easy to check!”

“Understood, I’ll get Zeng Ke to look into it!” Zhao Yu said, picking up the phone and wanting to call Zeng Ke. Suddenly, he remembered he had a question and quickly asked Xiong Wendong, “Oh, right, the head of Yun Hai Group… who is it?”

“Lin… Lin something? Look at my forgetful brain… why can’t I remember…” Xiong Wendong said, grasping at his hairs. “In any case, it’s a woman!”

“Oh, a woman?” Zhao Yu asked.

Zhao Yu already had his phone out so he simply went ahead to search for it on the net.

In the end, the information was obtained through a simple search. The current chairman of the group was indeed a woman who was named Lin Chaofeng!

“Oh my god!” he said.

It wasn’t the name that caught Zhao Yu by surprise, but the age of the person. When he saw it, he exclaimed in shock and almost dropped his phone.

“Born on February 15, 1952!” Zhao Yu said. “That’s January 20 of the lunar calendar of that year! Haha! You can’t escape now! The person represented by the eight characters on the yellow paper has finally shown herself!”