Chapter 118: Showdown in Tianjin (11)

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*Bai Li*

I asked, "Duan Deming works for you, right?"

I was sure of it by now. We misunderstood the whole thing from the beginning.

It was never Tian Song. It was Duan Deming.

But once again, I heard no answer from the one standing in front of me.

Why wasn't it talking? Why did it attack Zhang Ning?

"Bai Li…"

I heard Zhang Ning mumble.

"I...I don't understand...what, boss? Why is it attacking me? And Duan Deming? The cop?"

"Yes. The boss behind those murders in Natural Park."

I sensed her stiffen and tremble in my arms.

"Ah…"

She gasped in pain.

Damn. As long as the attacker was here, I couldn't do anything. But she was shot somewhere in the abdomen.

"Which side are you hurt?"

"R-right…"

I nodded. I quickly took out my handkerchief and pressed it on her wound as I felt the blood flowing out.

Strange. That person wasn't doing anything else. Was it just standing there and doing nothing?

Then I heard a voice. But it wasn't the attacker's voice. Instead, it did just like what Xin Lei does.

It was using text-to-speech.

"You think I am the boss?"

"If not, then what are you?" I asked back.

No answer.

"Tell me. Duan Deming actually is a part of your gang, right?"

No answer. 

But then I heard the robotic voice again after a few moments.

"Why do you think so?"

"Duan Deming struck me as a smart guy when Xin Lei and I first met him in the police headquarters. But then he failed in saving Chu Jie from that woman."

Silence.

"I didn't think of him anything at that time. I gave him the benefit of the doubt because he was shot in his thigh. So, I thought he did his best to save Chu Jie. But when he failed to save Ming in Natural Park, that's when I paused. That's when I stopped to think the whole matter again."

Silence.

"I rewinded every incident that happened until now. And then things started to fall in place. It was confusing because Tian Song and Duan Deming worked together. They were together everywhere. It could be any one of them. But when Tian Song told us to come with him in Andingzhen to meet someone, we put all our suspicions on him naturally."

Apart from Zhang Ning's faint, ragged breathing, I heard nothing. I didn't hear that person typing anything.

I went on.

"He couldn't stop that woman from kidnapping Chu Jie. Fine. But when Ming was killed, who was supposed to be safe in his custody, I felt something was definitely wrong. The back of my mind refused to believe Duan Deming once again. I couldn't give him the benefit of the doubt once again. So when I stopped to think, I found my answer immediately. And I felt like a fool that I didn't see it earlier."

I heard the pitter-patter of typing.

"Tell me."

I smiled. "The first incident was when Xin Lei and I disguised as officers to meet Fu Ting. When we were about to leave the premises, we were surrounded because somebody had slipped the forensic evidence in Xin Lei's pocket without her noticing. At that time, we met both Tian Song and Duan Deming, and so we doubted that any of them could slip the evidence in her pocket."

A gust of strong wind blew and brushed past my cheeks, carrying with the sound of a strong wave of the Bohai Sea crashing along the shore.

"Then we come to Andingzhen. Once again, we met both Tian Song and Duan Deming. Tian Song said that he wanted us to come with him to meet somebody. We thought he was the crooked cop who was ordered by his boss to take us. But that didn't happen. Fast forward to when we were at the base with Chu Jie. Duan Deming rushed out, but he was shot. When we took him to the hospital, he was just as surprised to learn that Tian Song was a spy. He told us that he saw Tian Song calling someone whose name began with 'R.' We took that as Rodey, so our suspicion strengthened on him."

Silence.

"The final incident when Ming was killed. Ming was in his custody, but when she was attacked, I knew something was wrong. Twice, he failed to save the victims. The officers that were supposed to guard her conveniently left the place unattended, especially when he knew that Tian Song was there too. He could attack her. So how could he be so careless? So I wondered if everything that happened was because...Duan Deming 'wasn't able' to save them or if he 'didn't want' to save them? One incident of the three gave me the answer that it was indeed Duan Deming and not Tian Song."

No answer as if it wanted me to continue.

"There was only one time when Tian Song was actually not a part of the incident, and that was when Chu Jie was kidnapped. Sure, he was in Andingzhen, but he wasn't in the base where we were kept. When the woman ran with Chu Jie and shot Duan Deming, he didn't mention that he saw Tian Song anywhere. If he wanted to frame him, he would have said that he saw him. But he didn't, and that meant that he didn't know his real identity.

Then I remembered what Xin Lei told me once. She said that when she chased the car, Chu Jie seemed as if he was pointing at somebody. Then I realized it. He was pointing at Duan Deming because he must have helped that woman push Chu Jie to her instead of saving him. That shot was also a decoy to make us believe why he couldn't save him."

I heard the robotic voice. "That was a nice deduction. What next?"

I said, "I thought about the time we were in the police headquarters. It became clear that Duan Deming slipped the evidence because he bumped into Xin Lei while Tian Song walked straight up to us under Guard Wu's watch. It wasn't possible for him to slip when he was such in a clear view, but Duan Deming bumped suddenly, so he had that chance to slip in that momentary confusion. When we escaped, I heard the sound of the glass sample breaking, and when I linked it, I knew he feigned to break it on purpose to destroy the evidence. It was his sweat that was on Liao Chuntao, so I became a hundred percent sure that he pretended to be Liao Chuntao's boyfriend."

"Then we come to Langfang. Ming was supposed to be safe in his custody, but she still wasn't. Even if Liao Huifang said that she saw Tian Song holding the knife, I felt it was too much of a coincidence that once again, they both were there, and once again, Duan Deming seemed helpless. I never thought him to be that weak. He told us that somebody, probably Tian Song called the guards to lure them out, but it was easy for him to do that rather than Tian Song. By then, he apparently knew his truth, so it should be obvious that he told his officers not to take any order from Tian Song. But they did, and he came inside and stabbed Ming."

I sensed for any movements that that person would make, but I didn't feel any.

I shook my head. "That's why I felt I was such a fool. We already had the answer right in front of us when Chu Jie was kidnapped. That was the only time when Tian Song wasn't there. So it had to be Duan Deming. But it took me Ming's death to realize it. Unfortunately, her death and the circumstances put everything in place for me. And precisely why I didn't let Xin Lei tell him about the fact that we had already recorded Ming's confession. Otherwise, he would have somehow made any preparations to destroy it as well."

I truly felt so stupid. If I had realized it earlier, then the innocent Ming would have been alive.

"It was Duan Deming who dumped Liao Chuntao's body. It was he who slipped the note to Ming to shut her mouth, and it was him who killed her. He framed Xin Lei and me for stealing the evidence, and he helped that woman escape with Chu Jie."

I heard that person typing again.

"So if Duan Deming is with me, then who is Tian Song? What is his identity? Didn't he say that he saw Tian Song calling someone whose name began from R?"

I raised my brow and was silent for a moment.

"Tian Song...he isn't with you. He isn't with the cops either because he was doing his own investigation. That means he was an undercover agent acting to work as a cop. By now, you would have also figured out his identity."

Silence.

"Chinese Intelligence Bureau. He was never our enemy since the beginning. He was on our side, but we misunderstood Duan Deming to be the one."