All matters proceeded in an orderly fashion. Now, everyone had a new goal: to find the owner of police gun number "47881".
"47 represents Chongqing, and 881 is the actual serial number of the firearm," Zhou Fengjiu had been sifting through various documents in the police station's supply room for the past few days. What puzzled her was that both 880 and 882 had detailed records, even specifying the date of their decommissioning.
But for 881, the only records available were from 15 years ago.
The records indicated that the owner of 881 was a police officer named Huang, who had died in the line of duty 15 years prior. The gun was then recovered by the police department.
However, after its recovery, there were no further records for the firearm numbered 881.
This made no sense. How expensive was a gun over a decade ago? It wouldn't have been left unused.
Even if, for the sake of argument, the gun was decommissioned, there should have been a record of its decommissioning. If it was lost, there should have been a record of its loss. But now, its whereabouts were completely unaccounted for.
Zhou Fengjiu suspected that someone had tampered with the gun's files.
Who could this person be? Without a second thought, Zhou Fengjiu suspected Qiao Huali.
But suspicion alone was useless. Could she just barge into Qiao Huali's office and ask him who the original owner of this gun was?
Hu Jia and the others were also troubled by this matter. They had thought it would be a simple task, only to find that the other party had prepared so thoroughly.
"What do we do now? Should we find the person who managed the archives back then?" Zhan Ruoxuan suggested.
"It's no use. I've already tried. That person resigned long ago. No one even knows if they are still alive," Zhou Fengjiu said.
"Huh? Are we going to have to resort to the most cumbersome method?" Zhan Ruoxuan felt a headache coming on.
What was the most cumbersome method? It was to find every single police officer from that batch one by one.
Then, they would match the firearm serial numbers to the names.
For example, if they wanted to know if this gun belonged to Hu Shilong, they would check the archives for Hu Shilong's firearm serial number. Once found, it would prove that 881 did not belong to Hu Shilong.
After checking all the officers' records, the one officer whose firearm records could not be found would be identified.
This method seemed effective but was extremely labor-intensive and time-consuming.
First, it would be difficult enough to identify all the officers eligible to be issued firearms. Then, they would have to retrieve their firearm records. It was estimated that this task alone would take at least two to three months.
"From the current situation, we might really have to run ourselves ragged," Zhou Fengjiu said, feeling helpless but resigned.
Seeing their dejected expressions, Hu Jia couldn't help but chuckle. "Don't all look so glum. There might be a shortcut to this."
Huh?
Upon hearing that there might be a shortcut, everyone's eyes lit up with anticipation.
"A single splash of red amidst a sea of green. Today, a green leaf disappears, and tomorrow another tender sprout is plucked, but do you notice? You don't feel the cold until one day you discover that the solitary red bloom is gone."
Hu Jia's words were cryptic, but Lü Qingqing immediately understood his meaning.
"So, we don't need to check everyone. As long as we find one or two people, we can get information about this gun."
The loss of a firearm by a police officer was a major incident. Under normal circumstances, the police department would issue a notice for the missing gun, asking all colleagues to keep an eye out for it.
Therefore, even if the archives had erased the gun's existence, people would still have some recollection.
What if someone had a particularly vivid memory and could name the gun's former owner?
...
"Do you know where the problem lies?"
"Your subordinate is foolish."
"I think you are truly stupid."
Qiao Huali slammed the table in anger. He had planted Tong Meng by Hu Jia's side, intending to glean information about Hu Jia's movements and uncover secrets.
But Tong Meng didn't know when the plan to arrest Tang Yinge was conceived.
She didn't know when they sent people to Yongchuan to rescue the Xie family's mother and son.
She didn't know when they started to obstruct Tong Hua, or when Xie Xi became close with Hu Jia and Ouyang Wen. Tong Meng knew none of it.
"If I kept a dog, it could track things by scent. I kept you, but it's like keeping a wolf. You haven't brought back anything from the outside, yet you've gnawed away everything from our own household."
Tong Meng dared not even cough when being berated. She couldn't understand how, despite being with those people every day, all the significant events had somehow eluded her.
"That's because we've been played by them all along," Qiao Huali finally realized the key point that morning.
Just that morning, both the bookstore and the restaurant had been raided by the police.
The police found a hidden door connecting the two establishments behind the walls. According to the police, it was because Tong Hua had made a statement to the Supervisory Bureau, claiming that her cooperation with criminal elements was solely for financial gain.
Qiao Huali knew that this was just a pretext by the police. It was highly unlikely that Tong Hua would have said such a thing.
However, even if Tong Hua hadn't said those words, the outcome wouldn't change.
The police merely needed a reason to search the bookstore and restaurant.
And it was during this search that the police discovered ledgers detailing the protection money extorted by the Dao Ren organization over the years at this secret hideout.
Qiao Huali was completely unaware of all this. By the time he found out, the police had already swarmed the Dao Ren headquarters.
Qiao Huali was shocked. He was about to order everyone to retreat and not resist, but his subordinate informed him that the police had not followed protocol. They had resorted to violence immediately, a typical case of excessive force.
Because the police had initiated violence without any provocation, the Dao Ren members began to fight back.
Consequently, "those who wielded knives" were exposed, and the police promptly charged them with violent assault on officers, leading to a full-scale search of the Dao Ren headquarters.
At that moment, Qiao Huali knew it was all over.
He had always believed that Hu Jia and Ouyang Wen were people who acted according to rules and procedures.
But he hadn't expected them to employ "entrapment."
If Tong Hua didn't say something, then I'll assume she did; I need a reason to search you anyway.
If the Dao Ren didn't want to fight, then I'll force them to; I need a legitimate reason to search you anyway.
"Damn it!" Qiao Huali couldn't help but curse.
"So, you still haven't figured out how they managed to evade you?" Qiao Huali felt like slapping Tong Meng again. "They deliberately orchestrated this entire operation to search the Dao Ren organization. Their goal was to get rid of you."
"Their goal was to get rid of me? But how could they ensure I would go to Jiangbei? How could they be sure I wouldn't follow the main force?" Tong Meng was confused.
"That's because everything about us was already within their control," Qiao Huali finally understood. It turned out the police had long since possessed information about the hideout and the headquarters by the Jialing River.
The other side hadn't acted until now, waiting to complete the preliminary groundwork.
Hu Jia and Ouyang Wen deliberately mobilized everyone to conduct a city-wide search for vagrants in the early stages. The actual purpose was to divert Tong Meng.
Because Tong Meng, in order to prevent the Dao Ren headquarters from being discovered, would inevitably choose to search Jiangbei City.
This way, while everyone thought Hu Jia and his team were investigating the shooting case, they were actually setting a trap for Tang Yinge, Tong Hua, and the other Dao Ren members.
"Despicable! Truly despicable! They are far more cunning than you, Sixth Master!" Tong Meng said hatefully.
Huh?
Qiao Huali: "..."