As Liu Changshan’s words fell, the officers in the room, along with the police leadership, all fell silent.
Before the operation began, they had been full of confidence, thinking that Jiang Chuan was just some small-time arms dealer and that catching him would be a piece of cake.
But none of them had anticipated just how cunning this Jiang Chuan really was.
His counter-surveillance awareness far exceeded their imagination, and as a result, the officers had come up empty-handed.
Yet they simply couldn’t figure out which link in the chain had gone wrong and caused the operation to fail.
If at the very beginning, they’d been fooled by the man disguised as a neighbor, Jiang Chuan had definitely been in that building at the time.
The police had gone door-to-door conducting searches, and under normal circumstances, there was no way they would have missed anything.
But Jiang Chuan had vanished into thin air, leaving no trace behind.
Zhou Ran’s face was dark as he scanned everyone in the room. “I know all that. But right now, I just want to know—where did he go? Which part of this went wrong?”
Liu Changshan opened his mouth a couple of times, as if he wanted to say something, but when the words reached his lips, nothing came out. It was like he had a fishbone stuck in his throat.
“Wang Hai, give me your take on this.” Seeing that no one was speaking, Zhou Ran turned to Wang Hai, who was sitting to the left of the conference table, staring intently at his computer screen.
Wang Hai was the captain of the First Criminal Investigation Unit. Over the course of his career, he had solved countless cases and was considered one of the Qingcheng Police Bureau’s crown jewels—a well-known name in law enforcement circles.
Wang Hai looked up. Instead of speaking, he projected the surveillance footage from his computer onto the big screen.
“Chief Zhou, this is an old residential complex with only one entrance and exit. I reviewed the surveillance footage from the past week and found that Jiang Chuan barely left the complex at all. He went out once three days ago, but he was back by the afternoon.
Moreover, based on our door-to-door inquiries, I discovered that Jiang Chuan mostly ordered takeout and almost never went out. In today’s terms, you could say he’s a bit of a homebody.
And from before our arrest operation began, right through to after it started, and up until now, Jiang Chuan has not appeared in any of the surveillance footage.”
“So you’re telling me the man just vanished into thin air?” Zhou Ran frowned.
Wang Hai shook his head. “My guess is that Jiang Chuan might have disguised himself—say, as an old lady or an old man—and slipped out of the complex that way.
Of course, that would be quite difficult, since we had tight security at the entrance. It wouldn’t be easy for just anyone to get out.”
Beside them, Gu Yuan, the bureau’s consultant, clasped his hands together. “Chief Zhou, based on my analysis, it’s very likely that the suspect used the commotion caused by that young man—who diverted the attention of most of our officers and tactical unit—to escape from another part of the complex. As for exactly where he got out, we still don’t know.”
Seeing Zhou Ran and the other officers furrowing their brows in thought, he added, “This is an old residential complex. Even though there’s only one official entrance, some sections of the outer wall aren’t that tall, and the overall infrastructure isn’t great—so it wouldn’t be hard for a suspect to slip out.”
“We deployed officers to every possible escape route the moment the operation began,” Liu Changshan countered. “There’s no way the suspect could have escaped from any of those places.”
He was the overall commander of this operation. Though he wouldn’t claim that his deployment was absolutely flawless and impenetrable, he could guarantee that he had covered all the fundamentals properly.
Unless, of course, some officer had been negligent and let the suspect get away.
But that was practically impossible. Every single person he’d brought on this operation was someone he trusted completely—there was no way there was a mole.
“What about the place he was renting? Any traces there?” Gu Yuan asked further.
Liu Changshan shook his head. “Nothing. We turned that place upside down, and we even checked the neighbor’s bare-shell unit. Absolutely no chance anyone was hiding there.”
Hearing this, Gu Yuan was silent for a long moment. “Unless… Jiang Chuan had already left the complex three days ago, and the ‘Jiang Chuan’ we saw on the surveillance footage was a fake—someone impersonating him.”
Wang Hai immediately caught on. “So you’re saying Jiang Chuan had already planned all of this three days in advance?”
“That’s highly likely. He anticipated three days ahead of time that Zhang Songyang would turn himself in, and that we would come after him. So he found someone to impersonate him. Things like the takeout orders were just smoke and mirrors.”
As Gu Yuan’s analysis sank in,
everyone in the room drew in a sharp breath.
They stared at Gu Yuan in astonishment, then back at the surveillance footage.
If Gu Yuan’s analysis was correct, then Jiang Chuan was an absolute criminal mastermind—or a top-tier strategist.
He had laid out everything in advance, waiting for the con artist and the police to walk right into his trap, all so he could toy with them as he pleased.
That would also explain why the police had found absolutely nothing at Jiang Chuan’s residence, and why—even with a net cast tightly around him—Jiang Chuan had still managed to escape.
Yes. That was the only explanation for why today’s operation had failed.
It turned out that from the very beginning, the operation was destined to fail.
“Chief Zhou, I suggest we use the con artist as our entry point,” Gu Yuan said. “Based on my assessment, since Jiang Chuan went through the trouble of setting up such an elaborate scheme, it means he places great importance on this con artist. He’s bound to get in touch with him again down the line.”
Zhou Ran thought for a moment. “Wouldn’t that be too risky?”
He had his own concerns.
If they allowed an arms dealer like this to remain at large—and one who very likely had access to firearms—it would be an extremely troublesome situation.
One misstep could lead to a major disaster. The top priority right now was to find Jiang Chuan’s whereabouts as quickly as possible and bring him to justice.
Gu Yuan nodded. “It is a bit risky, but it’s the best option we have right now. After all, this Jiang Chuan is not someone to be underestimated. Dealing with someone like him means we have to be thoroughly prepared.”
Zhou Ran was silent for a moment, then gave a grave nod. “Alright then. We’ll use the con artist as our breakthrough point. Gu Yuan, Wang Hai—the two of you will work on getting a lead through the con artist.”
“Yes, Chief Zhou.”
“Liu Changshan, you and your team will review all of Qingcheng’s surveillance footage and conduct door-to-door inquiries within a three-kilometer radius. Do whatever it takes to find traces of Jiang Chuan.”
“Yes, Chief.”
“The rest of you will start with Jiang Chuan’s family and friends.”
“This operation is one we can only win—failure is not an option. Is that clear?”
At Zhou Ran’s command, all the officers in the room rose to their feet in unison and shouted in one voice:
“Yes, Chief Zhou! We’ll get the job done.”
…
And while the police station was buzzing with heated discussion over Jiang Chuan, Jiang Chuan himself—under the protection of Guo Da Stanley—had already arrived at the location of the military factory.
