CH 170

Hearing this, Jiang Chao pulled him aside. “Bug, Consultant Lin?” Jiang Chao paused, then asked nervously, “This isn’t Xiang Ye’s and Meijing’s group messing around again, is it?”

Lin Chen shook his head. “It doesn’t look like that. Listening to the expressions in their words, it seems to be a typical type I schizophrenia* symptoms. The symptoms are primarily hallucinations and delusions. If he’s not a patient at Yongchuan’s Second People Hospital, then check the recent medical records of Yongchuan Guangwen Hospital.” After he said this, Lin Chen found that there was no response around him. He turned his head only to realize that Wang Chao wasn’t by his side at this time and that no one would give him an immediate answer. He wanted an answer, but conventional investigation methods still required a lot of time, and he was afraid Jiang Chao’s wife wouldn’t have that much time.

*Schizophrenia is categorized by various types. Type I schizophrenia is characterized by delusions, hallucinations, and formal thought disorder, with a presumed underlying dopaminergic dysfunction.

“Is he mentally ill?” When Jiang Chao heard this, he became even more nervous. “Then wouldn’t my wife be in more danger? Do you want to enter the negotiation right away? But talking to a mentally ill person may not be all that useful!” As Jiang Chao was speaking, he thought of something, took out his Bluetooth headset from his pocket, and handed it over. “The special police should arrive within 10 minutes. Wear this headset so we can communicate.”

Looking at the oval Bluetooth headset handed over by Jiang Chao, Lin Chen refused. “The hostage-taker suspects that he has a bug in his head, so he’ll be afraid of something that looks similar.” After he said this, Lin Chen took out his phone and called Jiang Chao’s number. Jiang Chao pressed the answer button subconsciously. “We’ll use our phones. You can hear the conversation between me and the hostage-taker.”

“But Consultant Lin, how should we coordinate our actions?”

“Two plans. First, wait for the special forces to get the micro-headsets. Second, I’ll go in first.” Lin Chen glanced out the window. The building opposite the hospital was covered with a navy-blue glass curtain wall. “At that time, the sniper positions of the special forces should be placed on the upper floor of that building. The telephone communication may have poor sound quality, but you should be able to see me from there.”

“But you don’t have binoculars. You won’t be able to see us!”

“I don’t need to see you.” While speaking, Lin Chen walked towards the office entrance and made a secret gesture to Jiang Chao in the corridor. “When you see this gesture, kill the suspect immediately. Do not hesitate.”

Jiang Chao was taken back. “Please handle with caution. It’s my wife inside. The last time our bureau dealt with a hostage-taking crisis, a police officer shot and killed the hostage taker but was questioned for his action by the media. In the end, the officer was reprimanded.”

Lin Chen knew Jiang Chao was reminding him for his own good, so he replied seriously, “If you choose to appoint me as an expert in negotiation, then please trust my judgment in this matter on whether to kill the hostage taker or not.”

Jiang Chao nodded and stopped talking.

“Please give me a gun,” Lin Chen said. “Just in case.”

Jiang Chao was stunned again.

Suddenly, the hostage-taker roared in the office. “What are you holding in your hand? Put it down! Put it down!”

“Hurry up!” Lin Chen urged.

Jiang Chao immediately took out his gun and handed it over.

Lin Chen patted Jiang Chao on the shoulder and loaded the pistol. “Please rest assured. I am a professional, and I will rescue your wife.”

Jiang Chao was still as nervous as before, but when he heard this, his eyes suddenly flushed, and he nodded vigorously.

Lin Chen turned and walked to the neurosurgery office, surrounded by a circle of security guards at the front of the entrance.

After he approached, he discovered that it was the walkie-talkie in the hand of the security captain that stimulated the hostage-taker. The walkie-talkie would make noises from time to time, which frightened him.

He patted the security captain on the shoulder, showed his ID, and said, “I am Lin Chen, a psychology consultant for the police. I will be in charge of this negotiation. Take your people and withdraw immediately.”

His voice wasn’t loud enough for the encircled security guards to hear clearly. At this moment, the hostage-taker by the window also realized he was there.

“Who are you? Go away! Go away! All of you, go away!” the hostage-taker shouted.

The security guards withdrew one after another. Lin Chen took a step forward and finally saw the appearance of the kidnapper clearly.

What was different from his imagination was that it looked like a social elite around 40 years old. He was still wearing his business suit and an ash-colored plaid tie. His hair was combed back and held with gel, revealing his forehead. Although his clothes were messy, his entire body looked shiny and smooth. The only thing that didn’t match his entire outfit was the long-handled watermelon knife in his hand. The blade was stuck to the neck of a white-robed female doctor. That should be Mrs. Jiang.

Lin Chen nodded at the other party. Although the tables and chairs in the office were overturned and looked chaotic, Mrs. Jiang didn’t seem panicked. She had her hands in her pockets and looked extremely calm.

“Negotiator?” she asked.

“I’m Lin Chen,” he replied.

Lin Chen saw Mrs. Jiang’s eyes light up. She wanted to say something else, but at this moment, the hostage-taker became manic again when he heard them speaking. He used the watermelon knife and pressed it against Mrs. Jiang’s neck and angrily said, “Who let you talk?! Who?!”

Lin Chen looked at the watermelon knife, then scanned the office again, but he didn’t find anything like a briefcase. The hospital security guards were neither blind nor stupid. It was impossible to miss a mentally ill person wielding a watermelon knife without stopping him. This showed that the “elite” in front of him used some special method to bring in the knife.

Lin Chen frowned. The other party showed obvious criminal intent, organizational behavior, and even certain concealment, which was somewhat inconsistent with the symptoms of patients with schizophrenia.

Only then did he realize that the current situation in the office could have some problems compared with his previous speculation.

He looked at the clock. Two minutes had passed.

“Sorry, I was just confirming the safety of the hostage,” he said to the hostage-taker. “I am the police negotiator in charge of this negotiation. My name is Lin Chen. You can tell me anything you want. I will try my best to meet your requirements.”

“Negotiator? You’re not here to negotiate with me. I don’t want to talk to you. It’s you police who put it in my head. I know you’re here to kill me!” The hostage-taker stuck the blade together to Mrs. Jiang’s neck. “Back, back, back to the door.”

Lin Chen was unmoved. His tone changed as he said sternly, following the words of the hostage-taker, “Since you’re clear that we police installed a bug, then you should know that only we can take it out. If I leave now, you won’t be able to take that thing out for the rest of your life.”

“You’re threatening me. Believe it or not, I’ll kill someone and then commit suicide. I’ll commit suicide!”

“I advise you to cooperate with the police.” While Lin Chen was talking, he took two more steps forward. The hostage-taker backed away again and was forced to take a position close to the window. “We all know what you’re thinking. You can’t escape.”

“Don’t come closer!” The hostage-taker exerted force on his hand, causing Mrs. Jiang to groan in pain. Traces of blood finally appeared on her neck.

Although her life was threatened, Mrs. Jiang was still calm and composed. Lin Chen could clearly see that at the moment when a trace of blood appeared on her neck, Mrs. Jiang narrowed her eyes and shook her head slightly at him.

Of course, the chief doctor of the neurosurgery department also had the ability to judge and identify schizophrenia. Lin Chen thought that Mrs. Jiang had already noticed something.

He looked at the time again. It would take five or six minutes for the special forces to arrive at the fastest. He was afraid it would be too late.

Upon seeing this, he pretended to be successfully intimidated. He backed away again and said to the hostage-taker, “Since I can’t come closer, can I back up?”

The hostage-taker breathed a sigh of relief, then quietly looked out the window.

Lin Chen said, “You’re really the smartest subject I have ever seen. When did you find out that we installed a bug in your head?”

“Half a month ago. I heard your secret call. You said that you want to control me and steal our company’s secrets!” While speaking, the hostage-taker began to beat his head violently with his hands.

“But…” Lin Chen smiled slightly. “We installed a bug in your head, not a microphone. How can you hear us?”

Hearing this, the hostage-taker was obviously stunned. His eyes rolled slightly, then he suddenly raised his voice and said nervously, “Radio waves. I can receive your radio waves!”

“Your ability is really beyond my imagination,” Lin Chen mocked.

At this moment, he saw the window on the opposite side finally open. Jiang Chao had poked his head out. Even though he couldn’t see Jiang Chao’s expression, he was pretty sure that if he were wearing a Bluetooth headset at this moment, Jiang Chao would probably be desperately telling him not to irritate the hostage-taker.

Lin Chen withdrew his gaze, spread his hands, and comforted him. “But, if we want to take away the bug, we have to operate on you, and the neurosurgeon you’re holding hostage is the best neurosurgeon in this hospital. How about you let Director Li go and we take you for surgery?”

“No, no, no!” The hostage-taker moved another step back and finally sat on the window. “Don’t lie to me. You can take it out as you put it in. If I let this woman operate on me, how will I know you’ll really take it out or you might just kill me on the operating table!”

“That makes sense.” Lin Chen nodded. He put his hand in his pocket and took a few steps forward. “Okay, then I’ll help you take the thing out now, okay?”

Before the hostage-taker could speak again, Lin Chen quickly took out the gun from his pocket.

The moment the hostage-taker saw the gun, there was an obvious moment of shock.

“We usually inject it with a hand-held gun. If you shoot yourself in the head, the bug will be destroyed, and you’ll no longer be under our control.”

He held the handle of the gun, pointed the muzzle towards the hostage-taker’s position, and looked at him.

There was a moment of hesitation in the eyes of the elite.

Lin Chen was getting closer to the hostage-taker. He made a gesture to hand over the gun, and the hostage-taker also stretched out his hand suspiciously.

However, at the moment the other party’s hand was about to touch the gun, he clearly saw an extremely fierce look in the eyes of the hostage-taker, and the silver blade swung in an instant. Lin Chen grabbed the other party violently and pulled the trigger decisively, shooting the elite in the temple.

……

Within about three minutes after he shot, he felt that the person who died was him. His thinking and consciousness seemed to be detached from his body and dissolved into the surrounding environment.

Lin Chen didn’t know whether he was standing, sitting, or kneeling, or whether the color of his sight was blood red or dark black. It took a long time for screaming, vomiting, and whispering to return, but those sounds were very indistinct to him. The gunfire caused severe tinnitus. His eardrums were ringing, and he was in a state of confusion.

But when he could feel pain, it meant that he was alive.

Lin Chen shook his hands gently, and then realized that his resilience was stronger than he thought. He began to be able to see the bloody wound in his palm that was shaken by the recoil of the gun. It had opened up and was bloody and disgusting.

He looked around. Surrounded by snow-white walls that had posters of things like human anatomy diagrams and operation instructions pasted on them, he realized that he seemed to be sitting in some kind of office.

The sound of running water from a water dispenser bucket sounded. Lin Chen looked around and found a lady pouring water. After he looked carefully, he found that it was the hostage that he had rescued just now.

“Consultant Lin, drink some water first.”

Mrs. Jiang put one hand in her pocket and walked towards him, holding a paper cup.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

The beautiful and strong lady nodded. “Thank you for saving me, but I feel that your problem seems to be more serious than mine.”

Lin Chen took the water cup. The smell of blood coming from him made it impossible for him to swallow anything. “Sorry.”

So he held the water but didn’t drink it. The temperature from his palm made him recover gradually, and he found himself covered with a thin blanket at some point.

At this moment, the door to the office was pushed open. Before he could see the figure clearly, Jiang Chao’s voice came ringing in his ears. “Consultant Lin, that was too dangerous just now. Thank God for your quick action!”

Although he usually felt that Jiang Chao occasionally talked too much, such a familiar voice now sounded extremely warm.

“Mm,” he said lightly.

“I thought you would have a good negotiation with him, but I didn’t expect you to provoke him again and again. This is a bit different from your style.”

“Because I made a mistake in my judgment at the beginning. I’m afraid the hostage-taker target has always been your wife. He just wanted to use schizophrenia to escape legal punishment after murdering your wife.”