School was about to start. Every year, before the summer break ended and the new term began, Ren Yi would conduct random fire-safety inspections at the schools within his jurisdiction. The squad had been exceptionally busy lately, leaving him no time to keep track of the investigation into the bar fire.
It was not until Qu Yangbo urged him to submit his reports that he remembered he still owed several of them. Like a student frantically cramming to finish homework before the start of term, he shut himself in his office and suffered through writing report after report.
After finally finishing all of them, he had to go through them once more as part of the routine review.
Apart from written descriptions, reports usually had to include diagrams as well. The larger and more complicated the incident, the more supporting materials were required—for example, floor plans of the accident building and maps of the surrounding area, diagrams showing where the fire trucks had been parked, layouts of the hose-line positions, maps of the routes taken by each team entering the site, and so on. There were also radio recordings from everyone involved in the rescue, along with a large number of photographs and videos taken at the scene. Of course, he was not the one who organized these records. The Special Operations Team was responsible for collecting and compiling them, while the commander in charge reviewed and summarized them.
As Ren Yi checked the report page by page, a photograph flashed past on the screen. He frowned, sensing something unusual. He had already gone through several pages, yet he could not help scrolling back.
The photograph showed the accident scene from the fourth viewpoint. Since it had been a major incident, there had been an enormous amount of photographic and video material. He had selected some of it for inclusion in the report, while the complete collection had been archived separately. This particular photograph showed Wang Meng’s fire truck arriving at the scene. At the time, Ren Yi had been leading his team in searching for survivors on the first floor.
What caught his attention was the crowd in the background. One face looked vaguely familiar, but the lighting had been extremely poor, and the people in the background were tiny, making the image somewhat blurry.
Ren Yi tried enlarging the photograph, but it only became more indistinct. He opened the folder containing all the visual materials from the incident and went through them one by one, searching through the videos as well. Finally, he became certain that he had really seen this person before.
It was Cai Wan’s father, whom he had briefly encountered at the hospital.
There was nothing unusual about a victim’s father appearing at the scene of an accident, but two things were suspicious.
First, according to the timeline, Cai Wan had already escaped from the bar by then. Everyone still inside at that point had either died or suffered serious injuries. Yet Cai Wan was nowhere beside her father. What kind of father would ignore his injured daughter being taken to the hospital and stand here watching the commotion?
Second, Cai Wan’s father’s gaze was often directed somewhere different from that of the surrounding onlookers. His expression was also difficult to describe. Even through the unclear photograph, one could faintly make out the anxiety, tension, and fear on his face. He did not look like someone who was merely watching the excitement.
Of course, there could be other explanations for the photographs. Perhaps Cai Wan’s father had not known his daughter was at the bar and had simply happened to pass by. But Ren Yi’s instincts told him otherwise. Suspicion filled his mind.
Ren Yi immediately called Gong Yingxian. As soon as the call connected, he said impatiently, “Dr. Gong, I found something in the photographs from the scene. Do you remember the person we saw at the hospital…”
“Cai Wan’s father,” Gong Yingxian said in a low voice.
“You already know?”
“The investigation had reached a dead end some time ago, so I went through all the evidence and statements again and discovered…” He paused. “Come downstairs now.”
“Huh?” Ren Yi had been listening intently, and the abrupt, unexplained instruction left him bewildered.
“I have a call to take, and I’m driving past your station anyway. If you want to know, come with me.”
With that, he hung up.
Ren Yi stood up without hesitation and ran downstairs, sending Qu Yangbo a message at the same time to ask for leave.
When he arrived at the station entrance, he saw a black Jeep Wrangler speeding toward him before stopping neatly right in front of him.
Ren Yi opened the door and saw a thick stack of documents occupying the passenger seat. He picked up the documents and held them in his arms before sitting down.
As expected, Gong Yingxian was on the phone, repeatedly saying, “Okay. Mm.”
After hanging up, Ren Yi asked impatiently, “Is Cai Wan’s father a suspect?”
“His name is Cai Zhiwei. He has been separated from Cai Wan’s mother for a long time and makes a living doing odd jobs. Cai Wan came to live with him and worked at Yehui Club.”
“You also noticed something was wrong after seeing the photographs?”
“More or less. While organizing the evidence and statements, I noticed that when Cai Wan described the other three people in the private room, she used the phrase ‘that man’ twice to refer to someone named Tao Zhen. Usually, when someone uses that kind of wording to refer to another person, it means either they do not know the person or are not very familiar with them, or they are subconsciously trying to distance themselves from that person.”
“Who is this Tao Zhen?”
“Cai Wan said she only knew that man by the name ‘Brother Zhen.’ We found out his full name through our investigation. According to our examination of her communication records, the two of them had been in contact for a month after meeting at Yehui Club. Even if she did not know his real name, they were already quite familiar with each other. Of the other three people in the private room, we were unable to confirm the identities of two. Because the autopsy workload was so large and the bodies were severely damaged, the forensic doctors could not handle everything at once. We quickly confirmed that one of the women was Cai Wan’s roommate. According to Cai Wan, one of the men was her roommate’s boyfriend, but she only knew his nickname. Tao Zhen had been introduced to her through that boyfriend. At the time, however, we were unable to confirm either man’s identity. Based on the autopsy, Tao Zhen was over forty years old, making the age gap between him and the other three people fairly large.”
As he listened, Ren Yi began flipping through the stack of documents.
Gong Yingxian continued, “Later, through further investigation, we confirmed the identity of her roommate’s boyfriend. He had a previous conviction for home invasion and robbery. Continuing the investigation, we discovered that Tao Zhen had served time in the same prison as him and had been released two years earlier. Tao Zhen also had a history of drug use.”
“Was he the one who brought the drugs?”
“Most likely.”
“Then who exactly started the fire? And what does Cai Zhiwei have to do with it?”
“We originally had not suspected Cai Zhiwei. Instead, we began to suspect Cai Wan of starting the fire again. To find evidence, we repeatedly reviewed the surveillance footage and the images from the scene. That was when we discovered Cai Zhiwei.”
“And then?”
“After Cai Wan realized we had identified Tao Zhen, she changed her story again. She said Tao Zhen was her boyfriend and that she did not want him to bear responsibility for the deaths of so many people, so she invented the stranger in her story. In reality, Tao Zhen had become excessively agitated after taking drugs and had smashed the alcohol lamp, causing the fire.”
“That sounds more reasonable.”
“If we had not discovered Cai Zhiwei, it would indeed have sounded reasonable.” Gong Yingxian frowned slightly. “Cai Zhiwei’s presence at the bar does not prove anything, but I have always felt that there was something suspicious about him. When I was about to summon him for questioning, he disappeared.”
“So you’ve found him now?”
“At the police substation at South Coach Station. He was just detained. The officers there asked me to come and confirm whether he is the same person.”
Ren Yi immediately became interested. “Does this count as going out on a police operation to catch a criminal? This is my first time going out with the police.”
Gong Yingxian glanced sideways at him. “What are you excited about? He’s already been caught.”
“But think about how many detours we took before catching him. Besides, this is a case I was involved in too. If the case gets solved, do you think I could get some kind of commendation or something?”
“There’s a thousand-yuan reward for providing clues,” Gong Yingxian said. “I can submit your name.”
“Only a thousand? That’s really looking down on me.” Ren Yi rolled his eyes at Gong Yingxian. When he noticed a trace of amusement flash across Gong Yingxian’s face, he immediately realized what was going on and shouted, “Damn it, are you messing with me?”
Gong Yingxian shrugged slightly. “I’m telling the truth.”
Ren Yi snorted. “Although my salary isn’t enough to buy a tie like yours, Young Master, I’m not so desperate for a thousand yuan that I’d abuse my position for personal gain.”
“Even if anyone were abusing their position for personal gain, it would be me, not you. What are you worried about?”
“I can’t afford to lose face like that. Actually, the main issue is that it’s too little. If you gave me ten million yuan, I wouldn’t care about losing face anymore.”
“I can give you that.” Gong Yingxian turned his head to look at Ren Yi, a hint of provocation in his eyes. “What are you prepared to offer in exchange for such a reward?”
Ren Yi glanced at him and said with exaggerated seriousness, “Ten million yuan? That’s a huge amount of money. Tsk, tsk. Looks like I’ll have to offer my most precious body.”
Gong Yingxian glared at him. “Unless your body is a biological-warfare research specimen.”
“Bah. You don’t know quality when you see it.”
After trading a few more barbs, they arrived at South Coach Station.
The station had been around for quite some time. With the growing popularity of high-speed rail and bullet trains, fewer and fewer people traveled by long-distance coach, so security checks there were relatively lax.
The police substation at South Station was also quite small. As soon as the two men entered, they saw Cai Zhiwei handcuffed to a chair, his head bowed and his body completely motionless.
The two of them walked over to Cai Zhiwei, and Gong Yingxian called out his name.
Cai Zhiwei slowly raised his head. When he saw the two men, his eyes were filled with despair and fear, yet at the same time, there seemed to be a trace of relief.
A police officer from the substation came over carrying a black travel bag and placed it on the chair with a heavy clang. It sounded like it was very heavy.
“His luggage.”
He pulled open the zipper. Inside was a large amount of cash, filling more than half the bag.
Gong Yingxian looked at Cai Zhiwei. “Do you know why you’ve been arrested?”
Cai Zhiwei said nothing.
“Tell us the truth,” Gong Yingxian said. “Your daughter has already told us everything.”
Cai Zhiwei’s face turned pale. Tears suddenly welled up in his eyes, and he cried out, “I never thought so many people would die. How could so many people have died…”
Ren Yi let out a long breath. Listening to Cai Zhiwei’s incoherent account, he felt a heavy knot in his chest.
According to Cai Zhiwei, after Tao Zhen was released from prison, he began dealing drugs. Through an acquaintance from prison, he met Cai Wan. Tao Zhen asked Cai Wan to leave Tianqi with him and showed her a large amount of cash. Cai Wan went back and discussed it with Cai Zhiwei.
Cai Zhiwei was deeply in debt to high-interest loan sharks and wanted to kill Tao Zhen. Since Tao Zhen’s money came from illegal sources, he believed no one would investigate where it had gone. He thought the bar, with its large crowds and chaotic atmosphere, offered a good opportunity to strike.
He understood the process of their drug use and believed that setting fire to the private room would suffocate Tao Zhen, who would be unable to act after taking drugs. It would also allow him to kill Cai Wan’s roommate and her boyfriend at the same time, making it look like an accident and ensuring that no witnesses remained.
So after starting the fire, he took Cai Wan away. He had not expected the flames to spread so quickly and consume the entire bar.
After hearing everything, both men’s expressions turned grim.
Gong Yingxian asked the officer who had arrested Cai Zhiwei, “How much money was in the bag?”
“More than three hundred thousand yuan.”
Gong Yingxian was silent for a moment, then asked the officer to escort Cai Zhiwei to Hongwu Public Security Substation. He drove Ren Yi back to the station himself.
For a long time, the car remained completely silent. Neither of them spoke.
After a while, Ren Yi finally said in a low voice, “All for this amount of money? Twenty-nine people died?”
“He said he never expected the fire to grow so large and spread so quickly. Do you believe him?”
Ren Yi said, “Cai Zhiwei only has a primary-school education. It’s normal that he doesn’t understand fire or know how to calculate the fire load. And causing such a huge incident wouldn’t benefit him either.”
Gong Yingxian nodded. “That’s what I think too. It’s just that…”
“Just what?”
“The amount of money is too little. More than three hundred thousand yuan—at the current market price of methamphetamine, that’s not even a kilogram. Tao Zhen had already started bringing people into using a new type of mixed drug called ‘Divine Water.’ He couldn’t possibly have been a novice who had only just started dealing drugs.”
“Maybe Cai Zhiwei didn’t find more? Or perhaps he hid the rest of the money?”
“That’s possible.” Gong Yingxian frowned. “In any case, I still feel that he is hiding something.”
“He has already admitted to arson and murder, and the evidence all points to him.”
“That’s true…” Gong Yingxian seemed lost in thought. “But I need more testimony.”
“I want to go with you.”
“You’re not going back to the station?”
“We’ve come this far. If this case isn’t closed, I definitely won’t be able to sleep.” Ren Yi rubbed a hand over his face. “Let’s go. Once the case is solved, I’ll have something to report back to the chief of staff.”
Gong Yingxian said nothing. The black car passed through the night and headed straight for its destination.
When they arrived at the substation, Ren Yi was surprised to discover that Gong Yingxian did not bring Cai Zhiwei in for questioning. Instead, he had Cai Wan brought over.
Compared with her pale and frail appearance at the hospital, Cai Wan had regained some color after these days of recovery. However, she had been kept in detention the entire time, and her whole person looked dispirited and miserable.
Gong Yingxian got straight to the point. “We’ve caught your father.”
Cai Wan’s body trembled, and her eyes immediately reddened. She said in panic, “Why did you arrest my dad? Tao Zhen started the fire!”
“He has already confessed. Are you still going to keep pretending?”
Tears rolled down Cai Wan’s cheeks, and she covered her face and began to cry.
Gong Yingxian tapped the table. “Is there anything else you want to say?”
Cai Wan shook her head. She only cried and said nothing.
Gong Yingxian’s expression was cold. “Cai Wan, you’ve lied from beginning to end, wasting a great deal of police manpower and obstructing justice. Obstructing the administration of justice carries a sentence of three to seven years. Think carefully.”
Cai Wan sobbed, “He’s my father. What else could I do? He’s my father.”
Gong Yingxian fixed Cai Wan with a sharp gaze and said coldly, “Where is the rest of the money?”
Caught completely off guard, Cai Wan’s entire body stiffened.