ebookslot Chapter 74 He is the judge, then who am I?
Chapter 74 He is the judge, then who am I?
Chapter 74 He's the Judge, So Who Am I? (Seeking First Subscription!)
A subtle mood permeated the attic.
Just then, Chen Qi, who was standing to the side, pushed up his glasses, leaned closer to the floor, and carefully used tweezers to pick out a dark green thing from a crack. He brought it to his nose, sniffed it, and then examined it closely.
"team leader,"
He spoke, breaking the silence in the attic, "There is a trace amount of wet river mud here, as well as extremely fine aquatic plant fibers."
The composition is highly similar to sediments from a specific area along the Haihe River. This victim, or the person who later removed the container, likely had been active along the riverbank for a long period.
Zhou Xing looked at Chen Qi, feeling a slight sense of relief.
Very good. This is exactly the thread he wanted to pull out.
When he left, he had already cleaned up his own tracks, but the two people who came after him acted hastily and stayed for a short time, and were likely to leave clues.
It's good to direct Renault's attention to Yiguandao, but it would be even better if it could be directed to the Haihe River and the confluence of the three rivers.
Taking advantage of troubled waters is one of his usual tricks. Since Yi Guandao has encountered him by chance several times, this connection cannot be broken.
The obsession with Zhenheqian might also find a way to gain traction with the help of various forces.
Renault finally shifted his gaze from Zhou Xing's face to the mud stain that Chen Qi had pointed to.
After a long pause, he turned his head and hummed in response.
"good."
His gray-green vertical pupils revealed no emotion. "Wait a little longer, there's no rush."
Zhou Xing touched his cuff, understanding dawning on him.
Renault is waiting.
He awaited the news Zhong Ding brought back, hoping it would confirm some of his suspicions.
Li Wenyong's distant relative should have received the news a few days ago and fled. The property deed went through a complicated process and is not in that person's hands, so the source cannot be found in a short time.
This gave Zhou Xing some time to maneuver, but if it really came to the worst-case scenario—
We had no choice but to take action.
After taking action, the network of relationships that Tianjin had painstakingly built up was completely destroyed. They had no choice but to leave for distant lands and start all over again.
Zhou Xing glanced at Renault's tall and sharp profile.
Renault, what you're waiting for isn't a clue from the judge, but a noose tightening around your neck. At that point, it's a lose-lose situation. You lose your life, but I lose relationships!
More than an hour passed amidst the buzzing of flies. Suddenly, hurried, heavy footsteps echoed down the stairs.
Zhong Ding rushed into the attic, his face flushed from running and excitement, followed by three equally panting Chinese constables.
"Captain! Something's happened again! The Judge of Tianjin has struck again!"
He spoke very quickly, "This was just reported; the incident occurred less than an hour ago! This time, the deceased was an Italian factory manager, and he even had incriminating evidence attached to his body!"
The people in the room were all taken aback.
Chen Qi pushed up his glasses and subconsciously retorted, "This doesn't fit the intervals and patterns of the crimes; it's too abrupt."
Zhou Xing was even more astonished: "He's the judge of Tianjin, then who am I?"
Only Renault remained unfazed. Instead of asking about the case, he looked at Zhong Ding and asked, "Has the owner of this house been identified?"
Zhong Ding was taken aback, clearly not expecting the captain to ask this first, and hurriedly said, "I checked, the homeowner's name is Wang Shunzi, a local. However, he became addicted to smoking years ago and died of hemoptysis before the new year."
He looked at Renault, his voice a little weak, "The house was supposedly sold to a smuggler for a pittance, but the title transfer has been complicated and hasn't been completed properly."
Renault frowned slightly, then relaxed and ordered, "Understood. Leave the site to the next team to continue the investigation, focusing on the area where the Haihe mud originated."
"Yes, Captain!"
"You, you, and Detective Zhou,"
Renault glanced at his adjutant, Chen Qi, and Zhou Xing. "Come with me to the new site."
Finally, he looked at Zhong Ding and asked, "Where is it? Lead the way."
"Near the intersection of the Italian Concession and Machang Road, not far from the old Longtou Railway Station, it was a no-man's-land where Chinese and foreigners lived together."
Zhong Ding quickly replied.
On the edge of the Italian Concession. The area's ownership was ambiguous, and it was a melting pot of all sorts of people. Reno, as a police officer in the French Concession, had no direct law enforcement authority here.
But this is precisely the pretext for the Special Investigation Team's cross-concession coordination in handling cases.
The group quickly went downstairs and got into the Renault car.
The car drove through the streets and alleys, and the further it went, the more chaotic the streets became. By the time it got close to its destination, it was already stuck in traffic.
The crowd of onlookers was packed in layers, with laborers, rickshaw pullers, and peddlers craning their necks, their eyes filled with numbness and a hint of suppressed excitement.
Inside, several police officers in different uniforms were gathered: officers from the Italian Concession, officers from the Japanese Concession, and even two Indian officers from the British Concession stood by with their hands in their pockets, their eyes wary.
Renault got out of the car; his distinctive demeanor and sharp uniform made him stand out in the crowd.
Chen Qi had already stepped forward and negotiated with a Chinese constable in the Italian concession who seemed to be the leader, showing him the official documents and speaking in a neither humble nor arrogant tone.
After inspecting the items, the other party, though displeased, still waved them on and let them pass.
Several Indian officers from the British concession tried to stop him, but were rebuffed by a cold retort in French from Reno's adjutant, and had no choice but to step aside.
The scene was at the corner of a back alley, where the smell of blood had not yet dissipated.
The deceased lay face up next to a pile of sacks, wearing a suit, with a noticeable indentation on his forehead, unfocused pupils, and a lingering look of shock on his face.
A piece of rough paper was pressed against his chest with a stone, on which several charges of his crimes were listed in crooked, illegible handwriting:
Deducting wages, abusing female workers, and making false accusations to the police.
Renault only glanced at the body from the outside, without even getting close. His vertical pupils glowed with a very faint amber light.
The light seemed to refract strangely in his eyes, and the subtle traces that ordinary people could not see—the depth of the footprints, the direction in which the dust was moved, and the twisting of the fibers of the deceased's clothing—seemed to glow faintly in his vision.
After a moment, he looked away, his tone firm: "It wasn't him."
"What?" Zhong Ding didn't react.
"This is not the judge of Tianjin."
Renault turned around, and several police officers around him pricked up their ears. "This killer isn't strong enough."
Zhong Ding scoffed, immediately losing interest: "Not the main culprit? Then why should we care? It's not our territory anyway, let them whine about it. I think we should go back and investigate the martial arts school, those boxing thugs—"
Zhou Xing gave him a cold glance.
Renault shook his head, his vertical pupils gleaming eerily in the dim light: "No, this person must be found."
His gaze swept across the numb and hungry faces on the periphery. "He's not the judge, but he may have seen the judge. Even if he hasn't, this imitation is more dangerous. A judge has already kept the concession at night; if ordinary people saw him, they would all imitate him as someone who acts on behalf of Heaven—"
He said in a deep voice, "That is the most dangerous plague. This person is the source and must be nipped in the bud."
Zhong Ding spat, "You troublemakers! You can't even have a peaceful life, you just keep causing us trouble."
Have you perhaps seen him before?
Zhou Xing pondered in silence.
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