Using police vehicles in this kind of situation would only alert the suspects—such rookie mistakes were rarely made by seasoned officers.
The cars pulled up quietly at the entrance and turned off their engines.
About a dozen officers got out in a line. The leader, a man in his forties, asked, "How long have you been here?"
"Two minutes," Su Xiaoyue replied.
"Let's move in… Wait, who's he?"
Director Liang had just now noticed Lin Xiao's presence.
"This is Lin Xiao, the one who provided the dashcam footage earlier this afternoon," Su Xiaoyue explained.
"Him? Why is he here now?"
"He also provided tonight's tip. The bag containing the cry for help is still in his possession, so he came along."
"..."
Director Liang and the officers looked at Lin Xiao, momentarily speechless.
A younger officer piped up, "I heard the distress message was found in a bag—probably one of Boss Lin's 'treasure finds.'"
"Treasure finds?"
"You don't know him, Director Liang? He's been trending online for days. They call him the 'Treasure King of Fuzimiao!' He bought something for 30K yesterday and it turned out to be worth 60 million!"
Everyone turned to stare at Lin Xiao.
Even with his thick skin, being stared at by a bunch of police officers made him a little embarrassed.
Director Liang said no more, just waved a hand. "Let's move."
The young officer didn't say anything else and jogged after the team.
As they moved, Director Liang quickly briefed everyone on what they'd learned.
"We've contacted the landlord and the neighborhood office. According to the landlord, the tenant is a woman in her forties. The neighborhood gave similar information. Supposedly, she lives alone—but we can't confirm that."
"Xiao Wang, use the drone to scout the place once we get there."
"Xiao Liu, you're on decoy duty. Pretend to be checking the gas meter and knock."
Ten minutes later, they arrived beneath Building 11.
Xiao Wang flew the drone up to the windows of apartment 901. Within moments, he had a visual.
"Apartment 901 is a three-bedroom unit. From what I can see through the drone, all three rooms are occupied, and they've got bunk beds. Looks more like a staff dorm. Huh… there are men and women."
"Whoa, live-action adult content!"
Xiao Wang's eyes widened. The drone footage showed a man pressing a woman down on a lower bunk—clearly in the middle of something.
Su Xiaoyue blushed and quickly looked away. "Ugh."
Suddenly, Xiao Wang frowned. "Wait, this woman's being forced. She's struggling!"
He turned to Director Liang. "Shall we move in?"
Director Liang nodded grimly. "Looks like there are about a dozen people inside—men and women evenly split."
After thinking for a moment, he said, "Go!"
"Su, you and Mr. Lin stay here. Help identify any suspects from below. If anything happens, report it immediately."
"The rest of you—some take the fire escape. The rest follow me into the elevator."
With that, the team split up and entered the building.
Su Xiaoyue clearly wanted to go along too, but with Lin Xiao there, she had to stay and wait, stealing glances up at the ninth floor.
Lin Xiao, on the other hand, was calm as ever.
He waited.
About ten minutes later—
They both heard shouting from upstairs.
"Hands on your head! Squat down!"
The yelling went on for three minutes before it quieted.
Then Su Xiaoyue's phone rang. "All done. Wait for us downstairs."
A few minutes later, the elevator doors opened. Men and women between their twenties and forties stepped out one after another, accompanied by police officers.
Some were handcuffed, others weren't.
Some looked dazed, others had tear-streaked faces.
Lin Xiao spotted a young woman—tall and curvy—but with her head lowered. Even from a side profile, it was clear she was beautiful.
If he remembered right, she was the one in that bed earlier.
Poor girl.
Lin Xiao sighed.
Soon, everyone was escorted out of the community and into waiting police vehicles.
But there weren't enough cars. Some of the people had to take cabs back.
Half an hour later, Lin Xiao returned to the police station with the team.
Achievement unlocked: Second time in the station!
The statement took no time—just recount how he'd bought the bag.
When Lin Xiao and Su Xiaoyue walked out of the interview room, a young officer came over. "Mr. Lin, Director Liang would like to see you."
Su Xiaoyue asked, "What for?"
The officer grinned mysteriously. "Good news!"
"I'll take you," she said, just as curious.
They entered the director's office. Director Liang saw Su Xiaoyue too and didn't ask her to leave.
"Mr. Lin, please, have a seat."
Lin Xiao sat. Director Liang personally poured him a cup of tea.
"Mr. Lin, we have you to thank for this one. This wasn't just a kidnapping case—it was a murder case. And thanks to you, we cracked it."
Su Xiaoyue frowned. "But there's still one killer at large."
Director Liang smiled. "We caught them."
"Really? When?"
"You helped catch them."
"I did?" Su Xiaoyue was confused. "When?"
Director Liang stopped being cryptic. "After we arrested Zhou Kai, he kept claiming he didn't know where Yang Mei was. We thought he was lying, but he wasn't. He really didn't know."
Su Xiaoyue explained to Lin Xiao, "Zhou Kai's the guy who buried the body."
Lin Xiao nodded.
Director Liang continued, "Zhou Kai got the ransom money, then he and Yang Mei planned to leave the city after the heat died down. But the next day, Yang Mei vanished. Even when we caught Zhou Kai, she hadn't shown up."
Su Xiaoyue added, "Yang Mei is the other killer. Also the girlfriend of the victim."
Lin Xiao nodded again, thinking, This is getting messy…
Director Liang said, "Yang Mei didn't go into hiding—she was tricked into a scam compound by a guy she had a one-night stand with. That compound was in Building 11, Apartment 901 at Jinli Garden."
"The bag Mr. Lin bought at the night market belonged to Yang Mei. She wrote the message when no one was watching, hid it inside the bag, and threw it out the window."
"Someone else picked up the bag, it made its way to a street vendor, and eventually—Mr. Lin bought it."
After hearing the full story, both Lin Xiao and Su Xiaoyue sat there—mouths agape.