Chapter 455: I Have a Friend

The few who gathered this afternoon to smoke said they'd never buy from police officers, even if forced, and without exception they all arrived at the Lottery Shop nearest the Police Station at the first moment after work.

Everyone was there to buy Lottery Tickets for luck.

Although police officers' salary and benefits are fairly good, who would dislike more money? Who doesn't want to win a multi‑million prize like Xu Mo?

"Everyone, everyone is here...," Li Chen smiled awkwardly at the colleagues in front of him.

"Um...," Chen Ke's expression was a bit unnatural, his two hands had nowhere to place: "I, uh, I have a friend who likes buying Lottery Tickets, isn't he busy today? I bought one for him on his behalf."

"Ah, right, right, same here, I also have a friend who asked me to get one for him."

"…"

Chen Ke started a pretext, and the police officers each found an excuse.

Some said they were buying on behalf of a friend, others said their father‑in‑law asked them, the excuses were varied, but in short, no one said they were buying for themselves.

After all, in the afternoon they gathered and dismissed the Lottery Ticket as worthless; once spoken, it's like water splashed out, impossible to take back.

"I have a friend" is obviously an excuse, but the few were tacitly unwilling to expose each other's faults; in this situation, exposing someone else's fault is tantamount to exposing one's own.

…

The next day.

Police Station.

Xu Mo's office was unusually bustling.

It was still before work hours, and taking advantage of the quiet time, several police officers came one after another to Xu Mo's office to ask him questions.

"Team Leader Xu, I heard you won a big prize?"

"Yeah, how did you know?" Xu Mo didn't deny, and nodded.

"The news has already reported it, a seven‑million prize; it's hard not to know," Li Chen rubbed his hands, looking hesitant: "Team Leader Xu, I…"

Since this month's salary hadn't been paid yet, Xu Mo subconsciously thought Li Chen was a bit short on cash and wanted to borrow some money.

"Whatever you need, just say it; if I can help, I will."

The next second, Li Chen pulled out several crumpled, folded Lottery Tickets from his pocket.

"Here's the thing, I have a friend who... really likes buying Lottery Tickets but has never won. When I told you, Team Leader Xu, that you won, he asked me to ask you to take a look and see if any of his tickets have a chance of winning."

After speaking, Li Chen couldn't help glancing at the colleagues beside him and added.

"It's not me asking, it's my friend who wants to know; he asked me to ask you."

Xu Mo: "…"

Your "friend" is probably you yourself! Xu Mo saw through it but didn't say so: "I have no expertise with Lottery Tickets, I buy them blindly; the numbers I bought were Machine Selection, the ones you bought... oh no, I don't know whether your friend's tickets could win either."

"Machine Selection? Only Machine Selection can win?" Li Chen sat up straight.

The other police officers also perked up their ears at that moment.

Before Xu Mo could answer, the office door was knocked again.

The knocking was very urgent.

"Team Leader Xu, there's a case!"

Hearing that, Xu Mo instantly stood up, and the police officers who had come to his office for advice also put aside their curiosity about buying Lottery Tickets; the case was paramount.

Asking for lottery‑buying tips can wait until after they're done.

Xu Mo left his seat, walked to the doorway, opened the office door, and looked at the knocking officer: "Go on."

"Alright," the officer continued: "We just received a report; a security guard at a mental hospital in Dongcheng found a black plastic bag at the hospital gate, and inside the bag was a human head."

"Additionally, there was a note at the scene."

"A note? What does it say?" Xu Mo asked.

The officer's expression was uneasy as he read the note: "If you have the ability, come catch me."

He said this while showing Xu Mo a photo transmitted from the scene.

This is a brazen provocation.

Leaving a note like this at the scene, the killer is pretty reckless... not only reckless, the killer also seems a bit neurotic.

A normal perpetrator would try to erase all traces as cleanly as possible and would never leave any evidence, let alone a note full of provocation.

Leaving such a note offers the killer no benefit; it only angers the police and is clearly not worth it.

Based on that judgment, Xu Mo initially narrowed the suspect down to a patient of the mental hospital.

He believes only a lunatic could do something like this.

Of course, that's just Xu Mo's speculation based on the note; whether it's true requires a site visit and further investigation.

After all, it's possible someone deliberately left the note to mislead the police.

…

Dongcheng Mental Hospital.

Several police cars stopped in succession.

Han Fei, Xu Mo, and the other police officers opened their doors and got out.

The main gate had been sealed off by the hospital, prohibiting anyone from approaching; the director and some hospital officials were waiting at the entrance for the police.

When the police cars stopped, the director and others immediately stepped forward to greet them.

"Comrades in police, we have already sealed off the scene and prevented anyone from approaching."

The director was clear that the scene must not be disturbed.

"Okay," Han Fei nodded: "Take us over to have a look."

"The security guard found the black plastic bag inside our mental hospital, right by the wall at the gate; follow me."

The director led the officers to the back of the wall beside the gate and pointed at the black plastic bag.

"That's the bag," the director said, also pointing to a middle‑aged man in a security uniform beside him: "Comrades in police, this is the guard who found the bag, Lao Ding, please tell us what happened."

As soon as the words finished, security guard Lao Ding turned to Han Fei and began recounting how he had discovered the black plastic bag.

"Just this morning, when I got up to do my patrol I found a plastic bag by the wall. At first I thought it was just trash and was about to pick it up and throw it into the trash can, but as soon as I lifted it I saw a pool of blood beneath the bag. I was so frightened that I let go of the bag on the spot; after it fell to the ground the bag's opening ripped open, and I saw a human head inside... Then I immediately reported it to the police."

After saying that, the security guard glanced at the black plastic bag with lingering fear, and from his expression it was clear he had been quite frightened.

Xu Mo walked over to the bag, crouched down, put on gloves, and fiddled with the bag.

"Can you determine the exact time of death?" Han Fei asked.

Xu Mo shook his head, indicating he was powerless.

"Only the head remains, so I can't pinpoint the exact time of death... I can only make an approximate guess. Judging from how the blood has dried, the death likely wasn't long ago—probably last night,"

Xu Mo glanced at the security guard and asked, "Did you notice anything unusual last night?"