Chapter 397: Where Did the Money Go?

Back then, the big boss had said it himself — if there's something you can't handle, you can come straight to him.

Although Captain Hua's organizational and coordination abilities were strong, they weren't strong enough to command the Coast Guard.

Even if the provincial department's top man wanted to mobilize the Coast Guard, he'd still have to coordinate with the Coast Guard Bureau first.

"This case has already led out to sea?"

The big boss on the other end was clearly startled, surprise showing in his voice:

"You mean, the place where they're holding people is out at sea?"

The boss sure has a vivid imagination… Yu Dazhang quickly explained:

"According to the suspect who's been brought in, there's a group of people who specialize in illegal transport operations at sea."

Then he gave a brief report of the situation — no dragging his feet, just hitting the key points.

After listening, the big boss said, pondering:

"Involving the high seas does get a bit troublesome."

Then he asked again:

"Can you confirm the reliability of the testimony?"

The way you ask that — who dares give a definitive answer… Yu Dazhang replied, a little troubled:

"For now it's only a lead, but I think it's worth digging deeper into."

There was real skill in that answer.

He'd been forced into a corner and could only use this way to tell the big boss: I think it's fine, we should keep investigating.

At the same time, he understood the big boss's concerns.

After all, the police and the Coast Guard are two separate departments, and coordinating between them definitely requires confirming whether the information is real.

"Understood."

The big boss wasn't one to dawdle either, and agreed on the spot:

"I'll handle the coordination. Once you have the complete testimony on your end, send it to me immediately."

After ending the call, Yu Dazhang had the officers focus on questioning Yang Jieru about the details of the handoff at sea.

That evening.

The Coast Guard moved out, and based on the leads Yang Jieru provided, carried out arrests of those responsible for the transport at sea.

Two days later, disappointing news came back from the Coast Guard Bureau — the operation at sea had turned up absolutely nothing.

The result shocked everyone.

Because the information Yang Jieru provided had been verified from multiple sides and proven to be true and reliable.

But strangely, those people had vanished into thin air and never showed their faces again.

Even Yang Jieru had lost contact with them.

Every contact method the other side had left behind was now useless, as if these people had never existed at all.

They played it well… Only now did Yu Dazhang realize he seemed to have been played by Yang Jieru.

The moment she confessed, those people at sea had long since gone into hiding.

In other words, the other side had already learned that Zhang Chao and his wife had been caught.

The arrest operation on the mountain was carried out in secret — even the merchants doing business up on the mountain didn't know why the police had sealed off the whole mountain.

After the arrests, transporting people down the mountain was also done at night, so there was no possibility of a leak.

Then through what channel did those people at sea get the news?

What else haven't I thought of… This was the first time Yu Dazhang realized he might have underestimated the enemy.

He'd originally thought everything was under his control, but now it seemed the matter was far more complicated than he'd imagined.

Even if he went to confront Yang Jieru now, Yu Dazhang felt he couldn't bring himself to open his mouth.

After all, the information she'd provided really was true.

And she had already confessed everything truthfully.

It was his side that failed to catch the people — he couldn't exactly blame the one who provided the information.

Counting from when the couple was taken into custody, a full week had already passed.

The whole case might look like it was entering the wrap-up stage, but in reality there were still many unresolved doubts.

The most critical point of all — the loot had never been found.

Zhang Chao and his wife's personal accounts added together only came to a little over a hundred thousand yuan; compared to their income, that amount was nothing.

But every time they asked Yang Jieru about the loot, she'd push it onto Zhang Chao, saying he was the one who handled the money.

And Zhang Chao kept his mouth shut, refusing to answer any questions.

They planned this in advance… Yu Dazhang now even felt the couple was putting on an act together.

Like Zhang Chao has the brains to be the one managing the money.

Clearly the plan was for Zhang Chao to take the fall on the loot.

Lian City conference room.

The task force members sat around the conference table, every face showing a heavy, solemn expression.

At this stage the case should have been a cause for celebration.

But right now, the atmosphere in the room was unusually oppressive, as if a wave of heaviness hung over the entire room.

Yu Dazhang sat at the head of the table, first swept his gaze around the room, then said in a seemingly calm tone:

"Everyone's clear on the current progress of the case, so I won't go over it again."

Though his tone was steady, the others still caught that trace of undisguisable impatience in it:

"Today let's analyze why the case has stalled recently — where does everyone think the problem lies?"

His question was like a heavy hammer, making the already tense atmosphere several degrees more solemn.

After a moment, Captain Hua spoke first:

"These past two days I've had this constant feeling of being led by the nose."

"It looks like we're interrogating Yang Jieru, but in reality, we're following her pace."

At these words, everyone present nodded one after another in agreement.

Clearly, everyone had developed this same feeling.

Yu Dazhang nodded along as well, then looked toward Captain Hua:

"The line of thinking is fine, keep going."

He had long since noticed that Yang Jieru was playing games, but right now he wanted even more to hear what the others thought.

"Alright."

Captain Hua agreed, then continued:

"After Yang Jieru was caught, she held out stubbornly for five days without saying a single word, but just two days ago, she suddenly started talking."

At this point, Captain Hua paused briefly, as if organizing his thoughts, then went on:

"In my view, she didn't even have a psychological transition — it's just too deliberate."

"It makes one have to suspect that behind her doing this, there might be some ulterior motive."

Now that was real insight.

Captain Hua's grasp of the details was extremely precise; he could always cut straight to the heart of the matter with a single stroke.

Yang Jieru really was a bit hard to explain on this point.

A woman who could hold out for five days under the police's high pressure — how could she possibly start spilling things so easily?

There was clearly a missing transition in the middle.

Unless...

She did it on purpose!

Yu Dazhang looked at everyone present and said in a steady, thoughtful tone:

"Let's hypothesize for a moment — if Yang Jieru did this deliberately, then what was her purpose in doing so?"

He paused briefly, as if giving everyone some time to think, then continued:

"Also, her ending with Zhang Chao is already sealed; no matter what, it can't be changed. In that situation, why would they still go to such great lengths to play these tricks?"

The two questions he raised extended Captain Hua's inference a step further.

Doing so was equivalent to giving everyone a direction for their thinking, so they wouldn't veer off track.

With a clear direction, someone soon offered their own view.

What Yu Dazhang hadn't expected was that this time, the one speaking was his own master.

He saw Lu Zhongxin raise a hand slightly, then say in a deep voice:

"I think the five days Yang Jieru refused to talk were preparation time for someone else."

(End of chapter)