TPODN Chapter 70

Daytime labor distracted him, scattering diamonds, murder, underground banks, and everything else to the back of his mind.

What weighed most heavily on his mind was the time after work when he returned to his residence. Although the fear of being followed by the underground bank people had gradually faded, it was replaced by worries about whether the police were lying in ambush, or whether the diamonds had been stolen by thieves. Such wild thoughts always flashed quickly through his mind.

Only after opening the front door and turning on the lights would these ominous fantasies dissipate.

That day, when A-Zhang finished work and returned to the company, his colleagues patted him on the shoulder with a playful smile.

“A-Zhang, a girl called! Her voice was so cute, what’s going on?”

“Can’t you come up with something new?” A-Zhang replied indifferently.

“No, it’s true today.”

“No way.” The colleague tore off the memo and handed it to A-Zhang.

“See, this is it, her name is Lu Yao. She said please call her back, and even left her cell phone number. Ordinary people wouldn’t leave a message, would they? It seems she’s very interested in you.”

Lu Yao. A name that left a deep impression on him.

“Oh…her, she’s a cop.”

A-Zhang pretended to answer calmly.

“A cop?”

“She’s a cop from the Special Criminal Investigation Unit of the Fengyun City Public Security Bureau. She’s already questioned you once, and this time it’s probably about that case again, maybe they want you as a witness.”

“I see…how embarrassing.”

The well-meaning colleague seemed quite disappointed.

“Anyway, I’ve memorized the number. Well, I’ll take my leave.”

As soon as the colleague left, A-Zhang picked up the company phone and dialed the number on the memo. The other party answered immediately.

“Hello, this is Lu Yao.”

“Hello, this is Wen Hanzhang. I heard you called me.”

“Yes.” Lu Yao hesitated for a moment for some reason.

“…I have something I want to talk to you about, can you spare some time today?”

What exactly is it? A-Zhang’s mind flashed with all sorts of possibilities, but in any case, it seemed impossible to refuse.

“Okay. I just happen to be going to work.”

“Then…can you come to Huangle District at seven thirty?”

Lu Yao said an address of a store, and you couldn’t guess what kind of store it was from the name, but it should be a bar or something. A-Zhang couldn’t help but feel his heart racing.

“Okay, see you later.”

After hanging up the phone, A-Zhang went to the changing room and carefully washed his face. Although he wiped his body with a wet towel, he was still worried about whether he could get rid of the body odor.

The T-shirt, jeans, and sweater he put on were clean, but the styles all looked like home wear. If he had known, he should have worn something more presentable to work today. But anyway, he didn’t have any clothes suitable for a date.

Although the property he currently possessed could buy any brand-name clothing store.

But he still advised himself to be patient for a while longer.

The key to the door of success was already in his hand. As long as he endured a little longer, the future would naturally be bright.

As he walked out of the east exit of the station, a faint ominous premonition suddenly surged into his heart. Last time, he called the person impersonating his mother here. The base station might have already detected it.

But they wouldn’t be constantly monitoring him, would they? It was impossible for the other party to send out manpower indefinitely for such a low-profit case.

A-Zhang lowered his hat brim to cover his eyes and quickly walked through the crowd.

The store was located in a semi-basement of a mixed-use building in a large alley. Was the date really here?

Pushing open the revolving door, unexpectedly, the inside was a clean and tidy store. Lu Yao was sitting at the bar, and in the back, by the pool table, there was a man playing pool. There were only these two customers in the whole store.

After A-Zhang walked into the store, Lu Yao looked at him. For some reason, her expression seemed a little sad.

“I’m sorry to have you come all the way here.”

“Good evening, I’m sorry, I’m late.”

A-Zhang looked at his watch, it was already five minutes past the agreed time.

Lu Yao didn’t speak, just shook her head.

“What would you like to drink?”

A-Zhang remembered that his wallet was empty and felt a moment of hesitation. As soon as he heard Chunzi say “my treat,” A-Zhang sat down on the stool in front and ordered a beer from the bartender. He originally thought he would ask about the brand, but he silently took out a bottle of Budweiser.

“…This kind of store, is it a billiards bar? I didn’t expect there to still be any nowadays.”

“Yeah, I used to come here often when I was a student, you were still only in high school then.”

“Really?”

A-Zhang picked up the beer bottle and drank straight from the mouth. The beer felt cool as it entered his empty stomach.

“Although it revived for a while later, billiards bars are no longer popular after all. Ah, I’m really sorry.”

Lu Yao apologized to the bartender who was wiping glasses.

“Don’t say that, that’s just how it is. Think about how many customers a billiards table space can accommodate, that’s very costly in Tokyo’s bustling districts.”

The bearded bartender smiled and went to the back of the store.

“Well, may I ask, what’s the important matter today?”

A-Zhang thought, the light bulb has finally disappeared, he looked directly at Chunzi.

“Uh…”

Lu Yao brought the cocktail glass to her mouth and gave an ambiguous answer.

A crisp sound came from behind. The man had just finished breaking the balls. The colored balls in the center of the rack all scattered in all directions in an instant.

“Let me introduce you, this is Wang Linfei, the deputy captain of our Special Criminal Investigation Unit.”

Lu Yao looked at the man, A-Zhang was completely confused.

“Officer Wang is the deputy captain of your team, responsible for investigating matters related to the Maoyuan Building case.”

Deputy Captain…”

The woman stood up and looked at him.

“That’s right. I have something I want to ask you, thank you for coming all this way.”

This tall and stout woman, whose actual age was difficult to tell. Her skin was dark, giving people a sense of carelessness, but her eyes were quite sharp.

A strong sense of vigilance rose in A-Zhang’s heart. This man was probably not to be underestimated.

“May I ask what you want to ask me?”

“Where are the diamonds?”

After finishing speaking, the woman picked up the cue and struck the black cue ball. The cue ball collided with the yellow ball, and the yellow ball fell into the pocket.

“Diamonds? What are you talking about?”

Although A-Zhang was questioned without warning, he still picked up the beer glass and drank it all in one gulp. Calm down! The other party just wants to trick him into talking. It’s impossible for him to know everything.

The man adopted a low stance and readied his cue, hitting the second ball. This time, the blue ball went into the pocket.

“At this point, don’t pretend to be ignorant anymore.”

Then, aim at number three. This time, the red ball also disappeared from the table.

“I have to say, I quite admire you. First of all, I actually discovered the hiding place of the diamonds in that room. Even you were fooled, thinking they were hidden in the air conditioning duct.”

The man walked to the other side of the pool table.

“I never imagined that the secret door would be set above the bookshelf. Probably the caregiver robot was no longer in the room when you inspected the room, right? I’m ashamed to say, I even inserted a light lens to check above the bookshelf, but I didn’t find it at all.”

Fourth ball, using a bank shot, the white cue ball came from the opposite direction, and the purple ball went into the pocket.

“Second, is the seamless way we stole the diamonds. Lao Xu said, you still don’t understand how I avoided the infrared sensor. Logically speaking, I shouldn’t have had the chance to block the sensor.”

Fifth ball, a feather-light cut shot. The orange ball slowly fell into the pocket.

“What the hell is this person talking about?”

A-Zhang turned his head and looked at Lu Yao, unknowingly, his voice trembled a little.

“Did I specially call you out just to have you participate in this farce?”

Lu Yao remained silent.

“You’re leaving.”

A-Zhang slid off the stool, and suddenly, the man shouted sternly.

“Do you think that rushing back now will be enough to get rid of those diamonds?”

A-Zhang turned around.

“What the hell are you talking about? You don’t even…”

“Since you’re here, we have no choice but to notify the police. You will be arrested, and your residence will also be searched.”

A-Zhang’s whole body stiffened and he couldn’t move.

“You, what evidence do you have? Stop talking nonsense.”

The woman first applied chalk to the back end of the cue, then hit the green number six ball.

“The diamonds hidden by Chairman Zhou Runmin are mostly one-carat or smaller, which are easy to sell, right? In that case, there can’t be only one or two, the number is probably in the hundreds. Therefore, the hiding place is also very limited.”

“…What exactly are you talking about?”

“Actually, the safest way would be to bury them far away. Even if the police searched, it wouldn’t matter, the worst case scenario would just be going to prison, as long as you didn’t confess, you could dig them out after regaining your freedom.”

The woman continued aiming at number seven in a serious manner.

“But human nature ultimately can’t do it. No matter how remote a location you choose, how deep a hole you dig, you’ll always be thinking about whether others will see it. You’ll be too worried to sleep at night. In any case, you have to keep it within your sight. I think you’re the same, right? Because you achieved the perfect crime, you never thought that the police would start an investigation. You should say, you completely dismissed this possibility. The only thing you worried about was thieves and fire, right?”

Red-purple ball into the pocket.

“Are you out of your mind?”

His voice sounded quite hollow. He realized that his whole body was already starting to sweat.

“Actually, I just took a walk through your room.”

The woman said shamelessly.

“…Liar.”

“Do you think that installing a remote-controlled auxiliary lock is enough to fully protect the door? Actually, that kind of lock is not bad, but unfortunately, that kind of equipment is not enough to protect diamonds worth hundreds of millions. Ordinary thieves might think that lockpicking is too troublesome and not worth the time, and give up and look for other targets. But if you have to break into that room, there are many ways.”

Could it be that he really broke in? A-Zhang felt his legs tremble slightly.

“After entering the room, I found it unbelievable. There’s actually an old fully automatic washing machine next to the sink. But you go to the coin-operated laundromat so frequently.”

His whole body started shaking. While speaking, the woman knocked the white number eight ball into the bottom pocket again.

“You thought it through very carefully. That washing machine is so old, it’s basically a large piece of garbage, worthless, and you don’t have to worry about it being stolen. And the washing tub is a structure that can’t be disassembled. As long as you put packages of diamonds in the gap between the inner and outer tubs, it’s not only difficult to be discovered, but also difficult to remove. Moreover, as long as you throw in dirty clothes and pour in dirty water, you can achieve the dual purpose of camouflage and fire prevention. And if the washing tub rotates during dehydration, it should get stuck, but you seem to have specially cut off the wiring of the motor to prevent it from rotating, right?”

There was only the last colored ball left on the table, and the woman heavily struck the ball. The struck cue ball traveled three cushions, circled the table once, and knocked down the yellow and black number nine balls. The colored ball disappeared into the pocket.

“There’s no way…”

A-Zhang finally squeezed out a sound.

“What you’re doing is clearly trespassing.”

“That’s right. Are you going to sue me?”

The man picked up the colored balls that had fallen from the table.

“…Want to talk?”

The man didn’t say a word, he just put the colored balls on the table.

“You want to negotiate terms, right? Hehe, you knew it.”

A-Zhang glanced at Wang Linfei. Then, he glanced at Lu Yao again.

“No, a third for each person, right? That way, each person should be able to get less than several million.”

The man shook his head expressionlessly.

“Then, how much do I get…?”

While suffering a devastating blow, he still held a glimmer of hope.

“Although the whole case is being handled by the Huangle District police station, you are also police officers, and you are a special existence in the city’s criminal investigation work.”

Wang Linfei sighed deeply.

“However, I made the worst choice…actually killing someone. If I were to make a deal with you, wouldn’t you become accomplices in murder? You’re still police officers.”

“Wait! I stole the diamonds the night before the murder. I didn’t enter the room on the day of the incident, how could I have killed the chairman?”

A-Zhang shouted. He could no longer deny the theft. He could only admit to this crime first, trying to reverse the situation.

“Indeed, you couldn’t sneak into the chairman’s office on the day of the incident. That room was indeed an airtight locked room, but you could still kill the chairman.”

No way, had everything been discovered? Impossible, that method was not so easy to be seen through.

“If we treat this pool table as the chairman’s office, then this is Chairman Zhou Runmin.”

The woman placed the yellow and black number nine ball in the center of the table.

“That day, Chairman Zhou Runmin fell into a state of unconsciousness due to taking sleeping pills, and could be manipulated at will…no, your trick has been seen through, the sleeping pills should have been mixed into the sugar cubes added when drinking coffee, right? So far, it’s still very easy.”

The woman looked at A-Zhang.

“But, on the day of the incident, you couldn’t sneak into the chairman’s office no matter what, you could only kill him with a remote control method. Therefore, you needed a location that could overlook the room, just like you riding in the basket.”

“You can’t just rely on this reason…”

“However, the most important part, that is, the remote control method of killing, has always been difficult to understand. Of course, obviously, you did it by using the caregiver robot. But, even if you use the caregiver robot, you can’t directly kill the chairman. Because that robot is limited by the program and will never harm the person being cared for.”

The woman touched the number nine ball with the back end of the cue.

“This is the most basic rule of this kind of ball game. So-called billiards is not allowed to directly touch the colored ball with the cue. You shouldn’t have predicted this situation at the beginning either, but, as a result, the locked room has become more and more impenetrable.”

A-Zhang was sweating profusely, consciously looking at Lu Yao for help. But she never looked up.

“When you can’t directly attack the target, you need to add a step.”

The woman placed three balls on the table. The green number six ball was on the right side of the pocket, the black cue ball was close to himself in the back, and the two-colored number nine ball was behind the cue ball.

“For example, this kind of kiss shot. That is, the cue ball hits the colored ball, will first kiss other balls, and then into the pocket.”

The woman shot with a delicate technique, the black cue ball first touched the target number nine ball. The number nine ball then touched the green ball on the right side of the pocket, and this ball, as he declared, disappeared into the pocket.

The man took three balls from the table and placed them back on the table. This time he placed the number nine ball in front of the pocket, and placed the white cue ball in front of himself. The green number six ball was placed slightly to the right between the two balls.

“Next is the bank shot, when the cue ball has no way to directly aim at the target colored ball, first make the cue ball touch other balls, correct the forward trajectory, and then hit the colored ball into the hole.”

The man strongly shot the ball. The white cue ball, which was strongly hit, first touched the green number six ball, the forward trajectory was slightly deviated to the left, and then touched the number nine ball, and the colored ball beautifully fell into the pocket.

“Finally, is the combination shot.”

The man placed the number nine ball near the pocket, the cue ball in front of himself, and the green number six ball in between.

“Use the cue ball to touch the colored ball first, and that colored ball then hits the other ball you are aiming at. This is the lowest risk method in billiards.”

Like a chain reaction of car collisions, the white ball touched the green ball, and then the green ball hit the two-colored ball, and then into the pocket.

“…You already know that I’m very good at billiards, so what? Is it possible to use this set of skills to kill the chairman?”

A-Zhang asked sarcastically. He was still holding a slight expectation in his heart, hoping that the other party would judge in the wrong direction.

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