Chapter 107 - Robbing Them In One Week
Chapter 107: Robbing Them In One Week (Part one)
– Criminal Investigation Department –
At night, Xu Cheng and the rest of Team 2 were all working overtime, since Xu Cheng got them all into the archive room to look for cases from the past.
“All of you, dig deep through all the cases in Shangcheng that involve clues with tattoos. Look here.” Then, Xu Cheng placed his sketch of the Azure Dragon, Vermillion Bird, and White Tiger tattoos on the table and said, “Take a look at any cases related to these tattoos, and don’t miss a single case, whether they are unsolved or closed.”
At this moment, Li Chao already got some images online printed out. “Boss, these are all the tattoo designs of the Black Tortoise.
Xu Cheng took it and said to everyone, “Put more emphasis on searching for this tattoo pattern. You don’t have to worry about the other three as much for now.”
He had a feeling that the Black Tortoise elder must have smeared his tattoo for an unspeakable reason!
With Team 2 working mysteriously and being as busy as ever, the other groups all became quite confused.
“Could it be that they are just pretending to be busy and putting on a show for us? It’s only been 2 days, and they are already making progress?”
“Who knows. Maybe it’s just the Captain of Team 2 bluffing. I just don’t believe that they could get any solid clues with that action plan of theirs. How’s it different than fishing without bait? No one’s going to bite the hook.”
“Yeah, Team 5 had 50 people’s worth of resources and went after that case for over half a year. How’s Team 2 going to crack something Team 5 couldn’t? Don’t joke with me.”
“What are they trying to do though? I heard that all of them had been extremely busy, as if something big’s going to happen.”
It was true, Team 2 had indeed entered a critical period. For the past two days, it wasn’t that Xu Cheng didn’t get anything, he already confirmed who the four Kings behind West Gate were. But, he had a huge appetite. He wasn’t just going to solve the money laundering case, he was going to uproot all of these 4 so-called kings. So, tonight, he began looking through pieces of evidence to see if they had any criminal histories. If they were hiding themselves so deep behind West Gate, they must have a dark history that couldn’t be exposed to the world. If they could follow the tattoo and investigate deeper, they could very likely find something.
Late into the night, a member of the team went out to get hamburgers and coffee and distributed them to everyone.
“Boss, your Red Bull.”
Xu Cheng took the can, opened it, and started drinking. It was already 3 o’clock in the morning. Suddenly, someone in Wu Gang’s group said in shock, “Boss, come here and look at this case.
Xu Cheng immediately went over.
The officer pointed at a yellowing photo from the past and said, “This robbery case of an armored cash transport van from 20 years ago has the tattoo you need. The pattern really resembles the Black Tortoise.”
Xu Cheng’s eyes slightly grew larger. “Fill me in on the case.”
The officer nodded and began briefing the case, “20 years ago, the largest robbery case of an armored cash transport van took place. There were 4 people involved, and the police at that time followed the case for 10 years until finally solving it.”
Xu Cheng: “4? Were they all arrested?”
Officer: “Yeah, they got executed during the same year, and the police were able to retrieve a portion of the cash.”
Xu Cheng took a look at the pictures caught at the scene. The four robbers had their faces covered and were armed. They were all tall and burly, and one of the guys had his chest exposed, which revealed a tattoo of the Black Tortoise.
Xu Cheng didn’t even bother looking at the face of the four guys that got their death sentence served 10 years later after the event. He just compared the height of the people caught on camera and the people that were sentenced to death, and he already found severe discrepancies.
Chapter 107: Robbing Them In One Week (Part two)
Xu Cheng’s fingers tapped on the desk as he let out a deep breath and analyzed the information, “How much money was stolen and how much was received?”
“The robbers took 3 million, and when the case got closed, they retrieved a little over 2 million.”
“Something’s off.” Xu Cheng immediately continued to analyze, “Logically speaking, 10 years passed. If those 4 guys enjoyed life after the crime, then there would definitely be no way that they only spent less than a million. There’s a problem with this number.”
“Boss, what are you suspecting?” Wu Gang asked in curiosity.
Xu Cheng took a bite of the hamburger and chewed as he said, “I think the higher-ups in the police system were pressured to close this case and were blinded by the real culprits with the scapegoats that they put in their place.”
Li Chao immediately paused for a moment. “Does that mean…?”
Xu Cheng: “Very simple. 20 years ago, 3 million was a big amount, and the 2 million after 10 years had depreciated to far less than one-tenth of its original value from the past. Is it possible that a case, after 10 years, can still be considered closed with the criminals arrested and 2 million cash retrieved? That’s just impossible. I think that the four robbers 20 years ago didn’t get executed at all, and the 4 people that died in their place could very well be scapegoats. Compare the heights of the two groups. They don’t match no matter how you look at it.”
After giving it more thought, Xu Cheng suddenly said to Li Chao, “Get me Chang Qing (Azure Dragon), Zhang Guang (Vermillion Bird), Chen Daoxing (White Tiger), and Wang Wei (Black Tortoise)’s files.“
Li Chao nodded and he immediately retrieved the files of those four. Xu Cheng directly ordered, “Try to match those four’s heights with the robbers from that case.”
Wu Gang and Li Chao exchanged a look, and then they tried to calculate the height of those robbers. At the scene, there were walls, vehicles and other objects that were all measured, so the height of the criminals could be easily inferred. Then, the data was used to compare with Chang Qing and the other three.
Finally, Li Chao and the others exclaimed, “Boss, the data match is as high as 95%, give or take 2 centimeters only!”
Xu Cheng nodded. “These people are older now, it’s normal for their height to have shrunk. Wu Gang, temporarily put on hold your tailing missions and focus on where this Black Tortoise tattoo from 20 years ago was from. It will be best if you can find evidence that Wang Wei’s smeared tattoo is the Black Tortoise tattoo caught on camera from the case twenty years ago.”
Wu Gang was a bit too excited as he nodded. “Yes, Sir!”
Everyone suddenly felt like the direction was becoming clearer and clearer! Just a few days ago, they were just clueless, but who knew that their boss could lead them to such critical clues in a matter of two days.
Wait, what does the 4 of them or the robbery case from 20 years ago have to do with West Gate?
Just as Wu Gang was on his way out, he finally reacted and came back to ask, “Boss, aren’t we investigating the money laundering case of West Gate? What does that have to do with this case though?”
Xu Cheng faintly smiled. “You just have to go and investigate. In a week, we will shut down the casinos and arrest tons of people!”
Li Chao: “But we don’t have any evidence though.”
Xu Cheng: “In a week, at that poker tournament, we will let all the evidence surface on their own. Then, we will take them all down in one go.”
Everyone looked at each other, confused, completely oblivious to what Xu Cheng was planning.
“Okay, everyone worked hard tonight. You can all go home and get a good night’s sleep. Wu Gang, make sure you finish investigating that guy thoroughly. In one week, everyone will move on my command.”
Seeing how confident Xu Cheng was, the 10 officers all stood with their feet together and saluted. “Yes, Sir!”
Holding the hamburger, Xu Cheng went to the corridor and picked up his cellphone and called Shen Yao, “In one week, come with me to snipe some money.”
It was already 3 in the morning, and Shen Yao really wanted to curse at him for making this ungodly call. However, she became slightly more energetic when she heard money. “Where are we going?”
“West Gate!”
Shen Yao: “Kid, brush your teeth and go to sleep.”
Xu Cheng: “…”