Xie Jia Hua hurried out of his car and strode into the hospital. He was assigned to West Kowloon Region, while all of today’s cases had occurred within Hong Kong Island Region and were technically outside his jurisdiction. But the moment he heard that the Cross-Harbour Tunnel incident involved Xia Liu Yi, he rushed over.
The instant he entered the hospital grounds, he found the entire hospital under lockdown. Police officers were anxiously checking patients and medical personnel. Xie Jia Hua showed his identification and entered, then went to the fifth-floor ward. Several Forensic Division personnel were still collecting evidence at the scene. Superintendent Huang of Hong Kong Island Region, who had been assigned to oversee the case, was speaking quietly with subordinates. The moment he saw Xie Jia Hua approaching, he called out, “A’Ward! What are you doing here?”
“Huang Sir, I heard Xiao Qi Hall boss Xia Liu Yi is involved. I’ve been investigating Xiao Qi Hall for more than two years and know him extremely well. I might be able to help.”
Superintendent Huang handed him a pair of gloves, and the two entered the hospital room together. The two police bodies—one from the chair and one beneath the blanket—had already been removed. Only the body outlines remained, and the blood on the floor had not yet dried. Superintendent Huang spoke heavily. “Xia Liu Yi killed two officers guarding him and escaped. According to the preliminary forensic examination, the officer who had been sitting in the chair died from mechanical asphyxia. The other suffered severe blows to the head resulting in fatal cranial injuries.”
Xie Jia Hua put on shoe covers and entered the scene. Carefully, he examined the room. Something about the positions of the two officers—one seated and one lying down—felt wrong. If the man in the chair was attacked first, why did he die sitting upright facing Xia Liu Yi’s bed without any obvious signs of resistance? If he was attacked afterward, how could the other two have fought this violently while he continued sitting calmly in his chair?
“Come look at this too.” Superintendent Huang took him downstairs to the intensive-care unit. A pool of blood lay outside the room, with another body outline marked around it.
“You know Qin Hao, don’t you? He was transferred out of your unit recently.” Superintendent Huang accepted a large evidence bag from a subordinate and handed it to Xie Jia Hua. Xie Jia Hua saw Qin Hao’s photograph among the contents. “These were his personal belongings, found abandoned in the parking lot. The other officer on duty with him had his throat cut by a bladed weapon. Both Qin Hao and the person involved in the case who was inside the ward are missing.”
Xie Jia Hua’s heart tightened. “What do you think?”
“A’Ward, I have to ask you this very seriously. Has Qin Hao ever behaved improperly before?”
“No. I absolutely trust his character.”
Superintendent Huang gave him a complicated look. “But I heard he was previously sent undercover under Xia Liu Yi, and that the entire operation failed because of a major mistake on his part.”
“The responsibility for that case was mine. I made errors in judgment and supervision as his superior. I was disciplined and demoted for it.”
Superintendent Huang sighed. “A’Ward, I served under your father. I watched you grow up. Like him, you’ve always been meticulous and upright. I trust your ability. I hope my trust wasn’t misplaced—and I hope yours isn’t either.”
Xie Jia Hua understood the meaning beneath his words. Qin Hao had gone through life-and-death situations beside Xia Liu Yi. Not only had the undercover operation ended in failure, but now he had disappeared together with Xia Liu Yi after the latter allegedly killed police officers. It was difficult not to question his loyalty to the force. Xie Jia Hua frowned deeply but said nothing. Words were useless. Only by finding Qin Hao himself and uncovering evidence could he prove the man’s innocence.
“We also suspect the two vehicle explosions were connected to Xia Liu Yi and a triad clash,” Superintendent Huang continued. “Twenty-six people are dead. Their identities haven’t been established yet…” Before he finished speaking, his phone rang. “What? Something happened at the ICAC?!”
“What happened?!” Xie Jia Hua asked sharply. He remembered Lu Guang Ming leaving his apartment two days earlier, and coldness ran through his heart.
…
Superintendent Huang left some officers behind to guard the hospital scenes and hurried with several subordinates and Xie Jia Hua toward an ICAC office in western Hong Kong Island. It was evening rush hour, and the roads were badly congested. Even with their lights and sirens running, it took roughly half an hour to force their way to the scene.
A dense black crowd had already gathered below the building—spectators as well as reporters. Inside the police cordon, firefighters had extinguished the remaining flames and were beginning their inspection. But the police officers arriving at the same time as Superintendent Huang were being blocked outside the building by ICAC personnel who had also rushed there after hearing the news. More than a dozen people had gathered into one furious knot, shouting over one another.
“What’s going on?! What happened?!” Superintendent Huang forced his way into the crowd.
“Sir! They won’t let us enter and investigate!”
“Our people are missing! Our office was burned! Who has both the ability and motive to do something like this?! We investigate police corruption every day—how do we know this wasn’t done by the police?! Are you going inside to investigate, or to destroy evidence?!”
“Bastard! What the hell are you accusing us of?!”
“What?! With reporters watching, you still want to hit someone?!”
Both sides began shoving. Years of accumulated resentment ignited all at once. In front of the cameras, the verbal argument rapidly became a physical fight. “Stop!” Superintendent Huang shouted, but someone knocked his glasses straight onto the ground. Xie Jia Hua hurried into the melee and helped him. Beyond the cordon, camera flashes erupted nonstop. Tomorrow’s front pages were going to have a field day.
“STOP!” Another roar suddenly came from outside the fighting crowd. Neither side paid attention. They were too busy fighting. Then a gunshot cracked across the sky. BANG—!
Everyone froze. A tall, imposing figure pushed through the crowd and stepped into the center. He turned toward the police officers and thundered, “What are you arguing about?! Why are you fighting?!”
The officers immediately wilted under the reprimand. They retreated several steps, straightened, and saluted. “Sir!”
The newcomer turned toward the ICAC personnel. “I’m Deputy Commissioner of Police Xie Ying Jie. Who is in charge here?”
The ICAC personnel looked uncertainly at one another. One finally answered, “Chief Xu is missing. Senior officers from another district are on their way.”
“Do you know what your missing people went out to do?”
“No. Some of us were on leave, and some are support staff who left on time. There should originally have been several people remaining here on duty.”
Xie Ying Jie glanced toward the crowd of spectators in the distance. Then he spoke sternly. “You can all see how serious the situation has become. Today has already been full of major incidents across Hong Kong Island, with an enormous impact on the public. If the police and ICAC begin fighting among ourselves at a time like this, we will severely damage public confidence, create panic throughout the city, and undermine social stability. Is that what any of you want?”
The ICAC officers’ anger began to waver. Several shook their heads faintly. Xie Ying Jie softened his tone. “Only the police have the resources necessary to conduct a full investigation into these cases. ‘Number One’ has already assigned me personally to oversee all of today’s major incidents, and my colleagues and I will do everything in our power. Of course, the ICAC is welcome to participate in the investigation as well. I’ll communicate directly with your senior officers. The police and ICAC are ultimately on the same side. We all serve the people of Hong Kong. Please trust me. I will give both you and the public an explanation.”
His righteous words calmed the atmosphere and seemed to move everyone present. Everyone except Xie Jia Hua. He suppressed the anxiety in his chest. His brick phone remained clutched in one hand as he repeatedly dialed Lu Guang Ming’s number. Every call returned nothing but a dead tone.
Then his eyes suddenly fell on his father’s left foot. Xie Ying Jie had entered with a slight limp. A tiny amount of blood had seeped through the sock. What kind of injury would bleed in that location? It did not look like an ordinary sprain. Xie Jia Hua felt that none of the events around him were as simple as they appeared—even though they already appeared complicated enough.
A fire-department officer hurried over holding a radio. “Who’s in charge for the police? There are three bodies inside the fire scene!”
Xie Jia Hua’s face changed instantly. He turned and ran into the building. Several ICAC personnel rushed after him in alarm, but police officers blocked them. “What are you doing?! You can’t just charge inside and contaminate the scene!” “One of your people just charged in!” Another argument erupted behind him, but Xie Jia Hua had already disappeared into the stairwell.
He rushed onto the floor containing the office, pulling on a mask and gloves as he ran and switching on a flashlight. Smoke still lingered in the pitch-black corridor. Several firefighters wearing protective suits and respirators stood inside the room, and several beams of light suddenly swept across his face.
Xie Jia Hua pulled out his identification. “I’m Inspector Xie Jia Hua from O Division!”
The lights moved away. He put on shoe covers and stepped inside. A thick, nauseating smell of charred flesh struck him, penetrating even the mask. Under his flashlight, three burned corpses lay across the floor, their melted flesh fused to the surface beneath them. Suppressing his nausea, Xie Jia Hua approached and carefully illuminated their necks and chests. There was no trace of any necklace. Lu Guang Ming should have been wearing Tang Jia Qi’s spirit-tablet pendant.
The taut string inside Xie Jia Hua loosened slightly. Then he opened each corpse’s nose and mouth and examined them carefully. There was no soot. Their bodies also lacked the contracted posture expected from people who had burned to death, and all three showed fractures to the skull that looked consistent with gunshot injuries. They had already been dead before the fire. This was no accidental blaze. It was deliberate murder.
A wave of dizziness from the lack of oxygen struck him, followed by violent nausea. Xie Jia Hua staggered back into the corridor. He had barely taken two breaths when a heavy slap knocked his face sideways. SMACK!
“You ignored orders and acted without authorization! Do you have any awareness at all of what it means to be an Inspector?!” Xie Ying Jie shouted. He had arrived after settling the dispute below, accompanied by Superintendent Huang, several police officers, and one ICAC officer assisting with the investigation.
Xie Jia Hua removed his mask. A clear red mark was already appearing across the side of his face. He ignored Xie Ying Jie completely and asked the ICAC officer, “Including those of you downstairs and the three people inside, how many people normally work from this office?”
The ICAC officer’s face was deathly pale. “About forty or fifty.”
“What about vehicles? How many are missing?”
“We checked the parking lot earlier. Two vehicles were driven away. But some colleagues have private cars, and sometimes they temporarily rent vehicles for cover.”
Xie Jia Hua said nothing more. He gave his father one expressionless glance, turned, and went downstairs alone. Xie Ying Jie stared after him. His eyes were cold.
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