Chapter 75 - Light Bulb

Officer Liao Chun was not one for butting his nose where it does not belong. But he could not stop looking at this case on his computer screen. He was not supposed to have a copy of this as he was not a detective and neither was he in charge of anything related to this case.

Call it a hunch or he picked up a thing or two with his sister's obsession with police dramas, but there was really something off the Qings. A certain Qing Lok had been brought to the precinct several times over the past year and the most he had stayed was half an hour. Someone would get a call and he would walk out of here with a huge grin on his face as if rubbing in their faces that he could get away with everything.

Liao Chen had not wanted to believe that the law could be bought by money and power. But ever since he had pulled over that expensive red car and out came possibly the most beautiful woman he had ever—and will ever—see in his life and her husband which he later found out to be Qing Chen, the owner of The Kingly Hotel, he knew that these people were the ones who threw money at any problem. And that was what they were probably doing right now—throwing money at the police so they would close the case.

Upon seeing the wife—Feng Xuan (he did a little research about The Kingly Empire afterwards)—Liao Chun was pretty sure it was the husband who was used to this kind of life. He admitted, he felt disrespected when Qing Chen waved him off and even asked to send regards to the Deputy (someone whom he could not get in touch to as he was at the bottom of the ladder). It was a clear dismissal and a show of power. He had wanted speak up then and gave the wife a speeding ticket. But he caved like a normal human being and drove away.

He could not sleep that night. He was so ashamed of himself he felt like he wanted to cry. No one was above the law and he let that rich man step all over it. He swore he would never do it again—that he would never let it happen again.

And then that murder happened at the hotel and he knew there was definitely something fishy among The Qings.

When Officer Liao Chun saw Detective An entered the precinct, he was immediately out of his seat and after the older man. "What happened to the murder case?"

"Which one?" Detective An asked tiredly.

"The one at the hotel."

"Oh, The Mutilator?"

"Is that what you guys are calling it?" he asked then shook his head. "Anyway, are they really throwing the case?"

"Yeah," Detective An grumbled and pushed the door to his office open. "I got the call this morning from the Deputy himself. 'Close the case' and then he ended the call. No good morning and whatnot. Just that."

"B-but—it's not yet solved," Liao Chun reasoned.

"Well," the detective began before dropping on his seat like he was carrying something heavier than his weight. "The man from above spoke. I cannot disobey his orders."

"But what about the murderer?! He gets away?"

"Listen, kid," Detective An said, his eyes lowered and darkened with semi-circles under. "I cannot do anything about it anymore."

Liao Chun was mortified. "What if he strikes again?!"

"Then we'll open another case," the detective shrugged.

Liao Chun wanted to pull his hair out of its roots. "That's it? You are giving up?!" Unintentionally, his hands slammed on the desk and made the pencil holder rattle. The detective's eyes gave him warning. "Sorry," he said, wiping his hands on his shirt. "I did not mean that."

The detective's eyes closed with a disappointed sigh. Almost every five years they got an officer like Liao Chun, honest at first and wanted to bring justice upon any criminal. But that was not how most of the police worked. It would break his heart to know that and the detective would not be the one to make him swallow the hard pill. "Kid, you better channel that energy into patrolling the police cars."

Liao Chun felt sick in his stomach. Detective An had always been friendly with everybody in the office. Maybe he had chosen a bad time to talk to him. Of course, the detective was probably frustrated that his case was closed even before they got close finding the answers. "U-uh, I am sorry, Detective… I will take my leave."

Yes, officers like Liao Chun arrived at the precinct every five years or so—the ones who wanted to do what was right, to bring peace to the families of the victims, to implement the law as it is, and brave. Upon seeing the look on Liao Chun's face, Detective An gave up with another sigh. "Alright, I will try to convince the Captain to make an appeal for it to the higher-ups to not close the case."

His lips turned upwards on the corners. There was a small chance of the case to be reopened but at least Detective An was willing to try.

"In fact," the detective said. "I am going to try now."

**

Detective An did not want to close the case. Just two days ago they had finally figured out that the person who probably committed the murder dressed up as one of the employees to get in the hotel. They did not know the specifics yet and the CCTV cameras were not reliable. The event they threw confirmed that the murderer was after the board members of The Kingly Empire, because who else would be the next target?

According to Mr. Wei's wife, her husband had never been one to stray in the bad side—that Mr. Wei was a hard-working man to provide for their family of five. The children had nothing but great memories with their father and only complained of his late hours of work because they could not see him then.

"What is it, An?" the captain did not even look at him and kept his focus on the papers on his desk. "If this is about the case—"

"Yes, sir. This is about The Mutilator."

The Captain had a smirk on his face. "That's a good name for him. Obvious. But good."

Detective An ignored this. "Sir, we are making progress with the case. May I request to not have it closed. I could write an appeal to the higher-ups—"

"An," the captain said resignedly. "It was the deputy commissioner, HIMSELF, who ordered the case to be closed. It was not just anybody. We have a hierarchy. We have to follow orders here. He wanted the case closed then so be it."

"But we are in the middle of looking through the CCTVs in the surrounding areas. Surely, the murderer would have entered the place with a car or walked in one of the entrances. He would appear in one of them. We are doing our best—"

"Of course, inspector," the captain leaned back on his chair. "Tell me, when was the last time you slept? When was the last time you had a proper meal?" The detective could not answer because he could not remember. "You need to rest, An. Let the case go."

Anger boiled inside him. "I spent hours on this—"

"And you are being paid for those hours."

"Did the Qings paid everyone's silence about this case? Is one of them the murderer?!"

The captain's eyes turned dark. "You are crossing lines here, Detective. I advise you to leave my office now before this gets any worse."

"It was Qing Chen, right? That kid! I knew he had it in him. There was something wrong with his eyes—"

"Mr. Qing fully-cooperated with this case. He has nothing to do with it."

"Then. Why. Is. This. Case. Getting. Closed?" Detective An pushed the hair off his forehead and leaned on the captain's table, when the an idea sprang from his head like a light bulb. "They are really trying to cover it up, huh? They really do have something to do with this case? That was why they wanted it to get closed."

The Captain breathed out a long one. "An, you are not thinking straight. And I do not know what you're talking about. Would someone kill anyone in their own hotel?"

"Yes! Oh, yes!" Detective An laughed. "Isn't that what everyone would think? Maybe that's the reason why he did it there."

"As your captain, I am ordering you to stop all operations and work on The Mutilator. You are hereby relieved off the case."

Detective An nodded his head. "You think you can stop me?"

**

Liao Chun went back to his cramped desk and apprehensively waited while Detective An was in the office of the Captain. The door was closed and he could not hear anything. He watched the clock and it was only about five minutes when someone shouted, "Do not touch this case or you will be fired!"

Then Detective An slammed the door close. His eyes scanned the busy room and found Liao Chun. With a stern look on his face, pointed at him. "You."

Liao Chun looked around and found no one near him. "Me?"

"Yes, you. Do you want to be inspector someday?"

It was the dream of most people who entered in the academy. Of course he did! He nodded his head.

"Then you are coming with me!"

Detective An made his exit and people's heads turned to Liao Chun. He shrugged his shoulders before scrambling to follow the detective out of the room. "Where are we going?" he hurried after him.

"We are going to find someone who will help us. Come on, we have a billionaire to bring down."