Chapter 99 - Inside All Along

It had been days since Detective An had been let off the force. He was drowning in so much sorrow he really did not have the energy to get back to the senator's bas.e.m.e.nt to finish this investigation. What else was he going to do with himself now? He had too much plenty of time and little things to do.

He told his wife he had managed to snag a leave at work, he did not really have the courage to tell her the truth for now. It was not like he was making real money while doing his job. They got by just fine. Now, he had saved enough money that could be good for a few months. But after that, then what?

After his visit at The Kingly, he went straight to the station where the captain had asked for his badge and gun. He dropped it to the table with two loud thuds. He did not even say anything else and just slammed the door behind him.

Why did he even go after The Qings? He was just a little speck of dust in their multi-billion yuan empire. They could easily buy his life and everything that he has before they could even blink. Now his days were filled with canned beers and lounging in front of the TV. That was his favorite pastime after a long day of work. But now that he did not have work, that was what he was doing all day.

His wife was busy cooking lunch in the kitchen and his kid was already in school when he heard an insistent horn outside his house.

He ignored it at first but when it grew louder, he finally went outside in his dirty shirt and loose shorts, just wanting to scream at someone at the road. But the words died down in his mouth when he saw that it was Liao Chun. "What are you doing here?" he shouted, not wanting to get out of his property.

"Why didn't you come back?" the kid asked. He looked like he had not been sleeping. "I got fired too." There was anger inside his eyes and the ex-detective matched it. "I lost my job because of you and you're just going to give up now?! I have a lead! We can finish this whole thing and get our jobs back!"

Detective An only grunted. "Yeah, that thing only happens in movies, though. I hate to break it to you, kid. But it does not happen in real life. If I were you, I'd find a new job. You're still young. Surely something good will come to you."

"I followed you here, Detective!" the kid said, his eyes red like he was going to start crying. "Do you really want to lose everything in vain? On a half-done investigation?!"

Detective An shook his head. "Liao Chun," he began, "there's nothing else there. The Qings are possibly innocent. The murderer from the hotel got away. The one in the Zhang house was probably some sick person. These things happen in the force. It was not possible to find everybody. Cases get closed."

"I believed in you, Detective! Why are you doing this?" the kid shook the gate, his voice more determined. "I'm onto something. If you would just come with me and we'll know something is really going on. This is bigger than the two of us. We might be uncovering something that would be a national—no, international matter."

He felt that way when he first started this hunt of the Qings. But now, all the fire in him was extinguished. "Go home, Liao Chun."

The detective had already turned away, back to his house when the officer shouted one more cry. "Are you really going to back down?! I thought no one is above the law? Are you really going to let the Qings get away? Are you going to get overpowered by an empire?! Is that what you want in your grave, that you allow rich people to get away with everything?"

Detective An's felt like his skin was being turn open. He walked to the gate. "This is why I hate kids like you," he snarled but lowered his eyes, suddenly conscious about his appearance and that he smelled like beer even before it was noon. "What do you got?"

**

About half an hour later the two were inside the car that Liao Chun had borrowed from the senator's array. Now in clean clothes, freshly showered, and clean shaven, Detective An was driving. He did not want to come. He had already given up with his career. But something about what the kid said to him that made him change his mind. He didn't want to die thinking about how he let a billionaire get away.

Liao Chun was quiet on the passenger's seat after giving him a brief about the progress. They had managed to get the CCTV of most stores around the hotel, had possibly identified a thousand people, scanned plates of possibly a thousand cars—but The Mutilator really was a frozen case.

It must be Liao Chun's constant watching of detective movies when he was younger that lead him to believe that every criminal was possible to be caught. But in reality, hired killers were really hard to track. They hardly left any traces. Even the Zhang case was like an abstract painting.

"We still have nothing concrete against, The Qings, then," summarized the detective. "We only have this address. It might not even lead to them."

Liao Chun had long forgotten about his habit of biting his nails but recently he had been starting with it again. "Yes," he answered. "I don't think it was one of the Qings who killed Mr. Wei."

"Who said they were the ones who killed him? What I was pertaining to was they possibly hired someone for it." Then the detective remembered the man he saw in Qing Chen's office, the one who looked like Qing Chen. They were undeniably related, but how? Everyone knew Qing Zihao only had two sons—or did he keep that one hidden? Why?

Liao Chun's mind was still at The Mutilator. They were missing something. He was not seen that day to enter the hotel. That could only mean… Liao Chun bolted upright in his seat, the detective was so shocked that they swerved on the highway.

"What's gotten into you, kid?" glared the detective.

"I know now," Liao Chun said, bewildered. "We cannot find the killer that night. We didn't see his car get in. We didn't see him at the entrances. Meaning, he didn't get in."

Then it dawned on the detective. "Because he had been inside all along."

Liao Chun craned his neck and laughed. He clapped his hands. "That's probably it. We only now have to look at everyone checked in that night."

They spent a few minutes driving until they had gotten close near the sea. There was a small neighborhood there and judging by the houses, people there would be middle class. They had found the house, but one look at it, you'd know there was nobody living there. The fences were high and the grass overgrown. It looked dull.

Still the two of them got outside the car and knocked on the door. Everything looked dusty and stuffy. There were no mails. No signs of life or whatever. Surely, a person who had bought the construction of windmills would not be living in such a shabby place.

"Do you have the right address?" asked the neighbor who went out of the house. "Nobody lives there."

The two looked at each other. Another dead end. But another window open. "We are looking for a certain Hu Wen. Do you know him?"

The woman shook her head. "That house had been empty before I had even moved here five years ago."

"Do you know any information about the person who lived here?"

The woman shrugged. "All I heard was that, he's already dead."