Chapter 275: A Family Should Stay Together

If this were a TV drama, this would be the moment to say:

"Turning himself in is Han Lianwu's only way out. If he contacts his family, you must persuade him to surrender as soon as possible—don't let him keep making mistakes."

Lines like that are everywhere; any cop-and-criminal show has a scene just like this.

Unfortunately, this isn't a TV drama, and Yu Dazhang isn't a TV actor.

Han Lianwu's mother is already over fifty—her age is right there in front of you—and there's no way she'd listen to talk like that.

Besides, asking a mother to turn in her own son is just too much.

So instead of spouting a bunch of high-sounding platitudes, it's better to pick a middle-ground approach.

That is: leave a phone number, and let Han Lianwu call in on his own.

Yu Dazhang could be certain that before making his move, he would say goodbye to his family, because he had no way back left.

Both the things he had done and his illness itself had already sealed his ending.

Could Han Lianwu possibly give up on going after Wan Bo and just keep hiding?

Yu Dazhang couldn't even be bothered to entertain such a hypothesis.

Because it was absolutely impossible!

He was the last one left, and the ringleader at that—anyone in his shoes wouldn't give up.

In Yu Dazhang's estimation, Han Lianwu had very likely deliberately saved Wan Bo for last.

He wanted Wan Bo to spend his days in torment, never knowing a moment's peace!

The next day.

The police still hadn't found Han Lianwu.

Still, it wasn't a complete dead end—the Skynet surveillance system had already picked up traces of Han Lianwu.

Six days ago, 10:13 a. m.

Han Lianwu appeared at a shopping mall in Xicheng, where he bought a saw, hammer, pliers, and other tools at one of the shops, then drove off and vanished at an intersection on the outskirts.

Five days ago, 9:20 a. m.

Han Lianwu's vehicle reappeared at that intersection and headed straight into the city.

This time he bought a large quantity of instant noodles, canned food, beef jerky, and other provisions at a supermarket, along with several cases of mineral water and a few bags of white sugar.

After loading everything into the car, he drove back to the outskirts and once again disappeared at that same intersection.

Four days ago, the provincial bureau received Yu Dazhang's report and began a citywide manhunt for Han Lianwu.

That afternoon, Skynet surveillance located that suburban intersection, and a blanket search of the surrounding area soon turned up Han Lianwu's vehicle by the roadside.

Over the next few days, police combed through every nearby hamlet and village, but came up empty.

Han Lianwu was as if he had never been there at all—the villagers nearby had no memory of him whatsoever.

At this moment, Yu Dazhang was going over the investigation records the police had compiled over the past few days.

"He switched cars."

He muttered to himself.

That vehicle had been deliberately exposed to the surveillance cameras.

After purchasing the supplies he needed, he drove to a stretch of road with no cameras, transferred the supplies to another vehicle, and left.

By the time the police caught up, all they could trace was the suspect vehicle.

Han Lianwu had used this trick many times before—when Ding Feng was in Songhai, the trail went cold at the suspect vehicle.

Yu Dazhang counted the days again.

A week ago, He Tianxin had harmed himself, and the very next day Han Lianwu appeared in Xicheng, which meant he had come back from Tongcheng.

Then he went straight to a hardware store to buy tools—he was getting ready to go after Wan Bo.

If he didn't already know where Wan Bo was hiding, he wouldn't have been in such a rush to buy tools and food.

There was another reason: while he was in Tongcheng, he had spotted Yu Dazhang and the others.

Combined with the wrongful cases that had been dug up one after another recently, Han Lianwu figured that Yu Dazhang would soon track him down.

So time was running out.

No—more accurately, Han Lianwu was still one step ahead of Yu Dazhang.

After all, up to now, Yu Dazhang still hadn't found Wan Bo's hiding place.

"Too late."

As Yu Dazhang said this, a mocking smile played across his face:

"You've made your own bed, now lie in it. Wan Bo, you sealed off your own way out."

That afternoon, 5 p. m.

"Wan Bo's gone missing?"

Yu Dazhang held the phone to his ear, keeping up the call, his tone faintly surprised:

"Hasn't he been missing for a while now?" Captain Xu on the other end quickly explained:

"It turns out Wan Bo had been in touch with his family the whole time—he was just hiding it from the police."

"They had an arrangement: every day at 4 p. m., Wan Bo would send his family a message through a messaging app to prove he was safe."

"If he didn't send it, the family would call him, and two rings would serve as a reminder."

"If there was still no message or callback within two hours, they were to report it to the police immediately."

This was to prevent the police from wiretapping his calls… Yu Dazhang immediately figured out Wan Bo's intention.

Messaging apps aren't just QQ and WeChat—there are plenty of off-the-books ones out there, some of which only require an email verification to register.

It seemed Wan Bo had long since made up his mind.

He would rather be caught by the police than fall into Han Lianwu's hands, which was why he had given his family those instructions.

"Since his family reported the case to the police, they will definitely provide relevant leads."

!

Yu Dazhang spoke at an even pace:

"Report the situation upward. The leadership will make arrangements."

The other end of the line went silent for two seconds, as if hesitating over something.

In the end, Captain Xu still asked:

"Aren't you coming over?"

"Since Wan Bo has already gone missing, there's no point in me going now." Yu Dazhang refused:

"Besides, when it comes to arrest experience, any officer at the provincial bureau is better than me. I'll leave that side to you."

Though his words were somewhat perfunctory, on the whole they were reasonable enough.

After all, Yu Dazhang's age was right there, and he hadn't even been on the force a full year. Using experience as an excuse—no one could find fault with that.

"That..." Captain Xu said, a little haltingly:

"Ever since we identified the suspect, I've felt like you haven't been as proactive as before."

After saying that, before Yu Dazhang could respond, he quickly added:

"No, don't get me wrong. I mean, you just don't seem to want to handle this case anymore. Did something happen that I don't know about?"

Nothing escapes an old criminal investigator... Yu Dazhang thought he had already acted perfectly natural.

Attending meetings as usual, assigning tasks, not letting go of a single piece of work that needed doing—and yet Captain Xu had still picked up on it.

"You're overthinking it."

Yu Dazhang denied it:

"For a citywide manhunt like this, I was never going to be much use anyway."

"Besides, the police force operates on teamwork. I can't do everything myself. And besides, I have things to handle here too."

After saying that, he didn't give Captain Xu a chance to argue and hung up the phone directly.

It wasn't that Yu Dazhang was being rude—it was a move born of helplessness.

The more you say, the more mistakes you make.

And some things only get more tangled the more you try to explain them.

"What I pursue is the rule of law. If you mix in personal feelings, it becomes rule by man."

Yu Dazhang irritably scratched his head:

"I clearly understand everything perfectly—so why is it so hard to actually do it?"

In the blink of an eye, another three days passed.

In those three days, the police practically turned Xicheng upside down, yet still hadn't found Han Lianwu.

This time the provincial bureau had thoroughly lost face.

Even after identifying the suspect, they had let him successfully commit another crime—and the victim had vanished along with him.

At a meeting, the provincial bureau leader unusually issued a hard order: Han Lianwu must be caught within one week.

If he escaped again, every single officer assigned to the case would be out on their ass, one and all.

Though the words were harsh, everyone understood the leadership had been pushed to the wall.

Yu Dazhang hadn't been idle these three days either.

During the day, he took Ma Jian and the others running between the various prisons in Xicheng, checking every day on the progress of the wrongful conviction cases.

In the afternoon, he would stop by Han Lianwen's house—the sole purpose being to ask whether Han Lianwu had contacted his family.

For these three days, this was almost the entire routine, and at the same time they had not left Xicheng.

That evening.

Yu Dazhang had just finished dinner and returned to his hotel room when his phone suddenly rang.

Seeing an unfamiliar number on the screen, he took a deep breath and answered.

A man's voice came through, unhurried in tone:

"Officer Yu, I've kept you waiting."

(End of chapter)