Chapter 67: Reactions
At 2 AM, the Beijing Command Center's 110 emergency line received a call.
"Hello, this is 110 emergency services. How can I help you?"
"Uh... it's like this. I was just passing by Changwa Street along the Kunyu River, near the Huijing Apartments. There's a Mercedes parked on the roadside with its door open, and there's a pool of blood on the ground. I think something might of happened! So I'm calling to report it."
"Alright, thank you for your help. Please don't leave the area. Our patrol car will arrive within 5 minutes!"
"... Can I ask, is there a reward for being a good citizen and voluntarily reporting stuff like this?"
"... I'm sorry, the 110 emergency line doesn't have a reward policy for this. However, your call may have helped a potential victim, and we're very grateful for that."
After hanging up, the passerby felt quite annoyed. Without a reward, who would call 110 so late at night? What happened here was none of his business. He had an idea and dialed 114 to get the hotline number for the Jinghua Newspaper.
"Hello, is this Jinghua Newspapers? I have information about a major criminal case. Is there a reward for citizen news tips? ... There is?! Good, good, listen..."
When the 110 patrol car arrived 5 minutes later, the reporting citizen had long disappeared. Only a luxury Mercedes SUV was parked askew on the roadside with its door half-open. The patrol car belonged to the nearby Wanshousi Police Station. Officers Wang and Liu got out of the patrol car and briefly inspected the Mercedes, finding that the key was still in the ignition and the engine was still running.
Officer Wang instinctively looked around. To him the situation looked like the owner had stepped out of the car to relieve himself, but the door should have been closed.
Officer Liu crouched down to examine a small pool of blood on the ground, muttering, "Could it be a car accident?"
Wang joked, "Such a nice car left running on the roadside with the door open and no one's taken it? When did our district's security get so good?"
Liu replied seriously, "Don't joke around. Notify headquarters and check the license plate."
As they were busy, a Volkswagen Bora with "Jinghua News" on the window drove up and parked. Two people got out - a female reporter and a male cameraman with a long-lens camera around his neck. They rushed over, and Wang quickly stopped them. The female reporter showed her press credentials to Wang and excitedly asked, "Hello, officer. Has a criminal case occurred here? I'm a legal affairs reporter from Jinghua Newspaper. Can I interview you?"
Wang, who had just started recently, was unsure how to respond to the pretty reporter. As he was about to speak, Liu came over and said firmly, "I'm sorry, there's nothing to report at the moment. Please step back and don't contaminate the scene. The police will release relevant information later."
Liu had just heard back from headquarters about the car's owner and was concerned. The car belonged to Murong Feng, a young multimillionaire who had recently become famous in Beijing. This complicated matters - whether it was a hit-and-run or a kidnapping, it would cause a stir. He couldn't let reporters get involved at this point.
He had already notified the district bureau, and the criminal investigation team would arrive soon. Then he and Wang could hand over the case. This kind of situation was beyond the capabilities of ordinary police officers like them.
Half an hour later, Lei Tian, the head of the Haidian District Criminal Investigation Team, arrived at the scene with three investigators in two Cherokee SUVs. After hearing Liu's report, he re-examined the scene.
In less than two minutes, Lei Tian stood up and stated confidently, "It's not a car accident. It should be a kidnapping case. Duan, collect blood and fingerprint samples from the scene for any clues. Zhang, investigate Murong Feng's whereabouts tonight and see if he's had any recent enemies or conflicts. Fan, retrieve tonight's footage from the street cameras in this area." The investigators acknowledged and got busy.
Lei Tian casually walked over to Officer Liu, leaned against the patrol car, lit a cigarette, and offered one to Liu: "Old Liu, how have you been lately? Why are you on patrol so late tonight? Where are those troublemakers from your station?" Lei Tian had previously worked at Wanshousi Police Station and had a good relationship with Officer Liu.
Liu took the cigarette, lit it, and said with a bitter smile, "You know how young people are - some have girlfriends, some have wives, they're all busy. Besides, it's my shift tonight. By the way, Old Lei, I've heard of this Murong Feng fellow. His net worth just recently skyrocketed to 1.5 billion yuan. Could this be a kidnapping for ransom?"
Lei Tian nodded and smiled, "That's very likely. It's probably a kidnapping case, but we can't rule out revenge or other possibilities. Look..." He pointed at the Mercedes and continued, "Such a nice car, worth at least 2 million yuan. Why didn't the criminals just drive it away and sell it? The fact that they left it here means either they're after something bigger, or there are other factors at play."
He took a puff of his cigarette, looked at his capable team busy at work, and muttered, "I hope we can find some other clues."
The two reporters had been kept away by Officer Wang, but now seeing the criminal investigation team arrive, they realized there must be a case. The female reporter, taking advantage of Wang's momentary distraction, suddenly rushed over and thrust her voice recorder towards Lei Tian: "Captain Lei, hello. I'm Song Li from the legal affairs section of Jinghua Newspaper. I've interviewed you before! Could you please tell us more about this case?"
Lei Tian smiled slightly: "Oh, it's Reporter Song. You got the news pretty quickly. Look, all I can say is that everything about this case is still unclear. After we complete our investigation and gather further evidence, we'll notify you. How's that?"
Song Li frowned. Usually, in cases like this, the police would at least give some information. Why was everyone so tight-lipped today? Could the case be special? She carefully examined the car, obviously an expensive luxury vehicle. Although Song Li, as a girl, didn't know much about cars, she recognized the Mercedes three-pointed star logo.
Back in the news van, Song Li kept pondering. Could it be a princelings' case? Or had something happened to a big figure? She turned and asked the cameraman next to her, "Old Zhao, do you recognize this car?"
Old Zhao, a car enthusiast, widened his eyes, "A Mercedes G55 AMG, who wouldn't recognize it? One of Mercedes' top modified SUVs. Many of the rich kids who are into cars buy this model. In fact, just in Beijing, I know that Wang Lei, the boss of Huayou Films, and that famous young tycoon Murong Feng both have this car..." Song Li and Old Zhao exchanged glances, then quickly opened a laptop to search for information and photos of the two. Soon, they found a photo of Murong Feng driving to attend an evening banquet. Fortunately, an entertainment reporter's photo clearly showed Murong Feng's license plate.
....
The next day, the headline "Billionaire Kidnapped, Murong Feng Missing" plastered on the front page of the Jinghua Daily immediately caused a sensation throughout the city. Various media outlets quickly followed up, and the hotlines of the Municipal Public Security Bureau and related personnel with media connections were flooded with calls. Even members of the municipal party committee and the director of the Public Security Bureau received several calls from high-profile figures inquiring about the case.
"Hello, Director Gao, this is Wang Ruoyun from the National Development and Reform Commission... Yes, it's been a while since we last met. I saw in the newspaper that Murong Feng has been kidnapped! He's Professor Chen's favorite student and my junior. I hope you can help and do your best to rescue him!... Thank you very much. I'll leave it to you then. Goodbye."
Wang Ruoyun and Director Gao were classmates at the Central Party School, so this favor had to be granted. Just as Director Gao was about to call his subordinates to follow up, another call came in.
"Old Gao, it's Chen Hong. I heard Murong Feng has been kidnapped! He's an executive committee member of our Federation of Industry and Commerce and a director of the China Glory Society. This has a big social impact. We even stopped our regular meeting of the Political Participation Committee today. Our colleagues are reacting strongly. We hope the Public Security Bureau can increase police efforts and solve the case quickly to rescue him... Thank you, Old Gao."
Director Gao's headache grew worse. Although Deputy Mayor Chen wasn't a standing committee member, she was the third-ranking official in the government, overseeing industry and commerce with significant influence. More importantly, she had connections to some central figures, so her opinion couldn't be ignored. Director Gao decided to emphasize the urgency and severity of the case again when calling the investigators.
But the phone rang again.
"Little Gao, this is Sun Changhua." "Hello, Elder Sun!" Director Gao's tone immediately became respectful, and he unconsciously sat up straighter. Sun Changhua was the former leader of the municipal party committee who had promoted Director Gao. Now Elder Sun served as vice chairman of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce and vice chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, a bona fide central leader.
"Little Gao, Murong Feng is a good comrade. I just met with him yesterday, how could he be kidnapped last night? Your Public Security Bureau must solve this case quickly and rescue him safely." "Yes, Elder Sun, we guarantee we'll complete the mission!" "Haha, Little Gao, don't be so formal. I'm just concerned about this. I believe in the abilities of your public security comrades to solve the case quickly. Alright then, that is all."
Director Gao could no longer sit still. He grabbed his hat and walked out of his office.
He was prepared to personally oversee the special case team.
Just as he left his office, his mobile phone rang again. He answered: "Hello, Big Gao, it's Tang Yong..." Director Gao helplessly interrupted: "Gao Mangzi, no need for you, a military region major general, to remind me. I'm heading down to the investigation team now to oversee things personally. I'll definitely help you find Murong Feng!"
"...How did you know I was calling about Murong Feng?" Tang Yong was still puzzled on the phone.
Director Gao smiled bitterly: "Brother, you're too late. The calls before yours were from higher and higher up. Even central leaders have called!"
Tang Yong was speechless.
...
At the Haidian Branch, in a large conference room.
Lei Tian was analyzing the case: "By investigating Murong Feng's itinerary that day and the time we received the report, we've determined the incident occurred between 1:30 and 2:00 AM, and we've retrieved surveillance footage from this time period. Please watch."
The projector connected to a computer displayed the footage enlarged on the white wall at the front of the conference room.
In the footage, a black Mercedes was driving on the road when suddenly someone rushed out from the roadside. Then Murong Feng stopped and got out of the car. Then another figure with a baseball bat came around from the front of the car and struck Murong Feng hard on the back of the head, causing him to fall.
A white Volkswagen Jetta then drove up from the bottom of the frame. Someone got out and directed the previous two men to lift Murong Feng and put him in the Jetta's trunk. Then the three men got in the car and drove away.
The final frame of the footage showed the Jetta's license plate.
Lei Tian took his pen and circled the license plate area, then continued: "Because it was early morning, the faces in the footage are quite blurry, but we can confirm there were 4 suspects including the driver. We've made sketches and are comparing them to our records. The license plate is fairly clear. Our investigation confirmed it's a stolen vehicle. The car has been found in a scrapyard in the Fengtai district in the south of the city. We haven't found any other leads yet. Through investigating people around Murong Feng, we've learned he had no enemies and hadn't had any recent disputes with anyone. He was well-liked. We can probably rule out revenge as a motive for the kidnapping."
Director Gao, seated at the head of the table, nodded and then said seriously: "This kidnapping case has had a very negative impact. The media is reporting extensively, and the victim Murong Feng is a public figure. The case also has some political significance. We need this case solved quick, at least within the next 3 days, to give society and the citizens an answer!"
Everyone on the investigation team solemnly nodded.
Suddenly the conference room door was pushed open, and a young police officer excitedly rushed in with a facial sketch and some documents, reporting: "We've identified one suspect!"
"Liu Kui, 25 years old, from Dongsheng Township in Haidian. Unemployed. Previously sentenced to 3 years in prison for robbery, released 1 year ago."
Director Gao slapped the table, "Move immediately! Follow this lead!" Lei Tian took the documents and was looking them over when he heard the director's order. He immediately stood at attention and said loudly: "Yes, sir!" But in his heart he was thinking, for the big boss himself to come personally oversee this case, this Murong Feng fellow must have quite the influence.
The police immediately sprung into action, implementing close surveillance, preparing to arrest Liu Kui when the opportunity arose.
At the Jinhao Night Club behind the Jinyuan Times Shopping Center on Yuanda Road in Haidian District, the most famous and prosperous luxury nightclub in the western part of the city, it would normally be full of guests and brightly lit at this hour. But today it was closed, with all the hostesses notified to take the day off. The luxurious three-story nightclub appeared quiet from the outside, with only the neon lights on the roof still flashing.
Inside was a different scene, with at least 200 tough-looking young men scattered around the main hall, drinking and smoking, seeming to be waiting for something.
In the boss's office on the top floor, a middle-aged man with a square face and imposing manner sat in a large chair, silently turning a dagger in his hand. Two burly men nearly 2 meters tall stood on either side behind the chair, glaring menacingly at a man standing in front of the desk. That man looked panicked, feeling the overwhelming murderous intent. Finally unable to bear the pressure, he fell to his knees with a thud and cried out: "Boss Guo, please spare me! I really didn't know he was your friend!"
A man rushed out from behind Guo Guodong and kicked him over 3 meters, sending him crashing into the tea table. The man immediately curled up in pain on the ground, shaking like a shrimp. The one who kicked him shouted: "Shut the f**ck up and talk! Where is he?"
"He's... he's... in an industrial warehouse in the Dujiakan Industrial Zone in Fengtai."
With a whoosh, a cold glinting dagger stabbed into the floor board less than an inch away from the top of his head.
Guo Guodong's voice drifted over: "If my brother loses even one single hair, I'll take your head in exchange!"
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