Chapter 546: Inescapable

The woo-woo siren pierced the tranquility of the night, and the red and blue police lights illuminated the motel building that wasn't too wide.

These police cars were from the Highway Police Bureau, not New Jincheng's. They were too far away and couldn't manage here.

The scene had been restricted from entry, and the police were collecting evidence. The police officer responsible for the homicide case also rushed here in a hurry.

It's quite interesting to say that the Highway Police Bureau also had a homicide office, because there were simply too many homicide cases on the highway!

It's possible someone got out of the car to take a piss, and poured out a section of bone, and a new homicide case appeared.

Coupled with the fact that the detection difficulty of homicide cases on the highway was very great, and various places were unwilling to intervene at will, so the Highway Police Bureau had its own homicide office.

On this point, they had more and more complete ones than some police branch departments.

"The murderer has already left by car, but people are not sure which side he went. It's too dark here."

The officer pulled open the isolation tape and entered the room. The room wasn't big, and one could see through everything at a glance. The bloodstains on the ground and the two corpses hadn't been moved yet.

He walked to the bedside, wearing gloves, and picked up one of the banknotes, "Twenty-dollar denomination, still new currency that hasn't been used much."

He put the money back again, "Are there any other clues?"

The officer said, "Someone upstairs said they heard a female take the initiative to ask to serve the guest in this room, and then not long after, gunshots rang out."

"The two deceased are a cook in the restaurant and a female waiter in the restaurant. Some guests claim they have seen the occupant of this room in the restaurant."

The officer shook his head, "He was targeted in the restaurant, so this case was triggered. So now our main work is to find the person, and then restore the real situation of the case."

He walked out of the room. There were too many cases of this kind on the interstate highway, so many that one didn't need to use one's brain to understand the whole process and context of the case.

The desolate wilderness Gobi was always the best choice for killing and throwing corpses, it's just that this time they chose a target that wasn't easy to provoke.

"About sixty years old, dressed very elegantly, suspected of wearing a gold watch, driving a... brand car, the license plate number is...", the officer looked at this information and recorded it down, "After the case occurred, he didn't stay but fled immediately. It looks like some person from New Jincheng City."

He prompted his subordinates, "Make a call to the New Jincheng Police Department, check this car and this information, and see if there are any clues that can be used."

He also pointed to two other police officers, "You guys go west and chase, there are quite a few bloodstains on the ground, he might be injured

"He definitely needs to find a place to treat his wound; even if he treats it himself, he will stop."

"If we chase after him now, we might still find him by the roadside. Remember my words: the roadside."

"Turn on all the lights, watch for vehicles parked under the road shoulders, and check the cars at gas stations. Go now!"

Two officers immediately got into their car and chased toward the west. A young officer couldn't help but ask, "Sir, why aren't we looking to the east?"

He rolled his eyes, "Because I judge that he came out of Jincheng."

"Rich people like this, carrying gold watches and wallets and briefcases full of money—if they are returning to Jincheng from out of town, they usually choose to take a boat or a train, rather than driving themselves."

"At the same time, as a guest in this room, these two people clearly tricked their way into his room, and they were carrying weapons like kitchen knives."

"Even if he killed these two people, there is a high probability that a judge would rule him innocent. He just needs to wait here for us to arrive."

"He is injured..." The officer walked to the door. The blood dripping on the ground was not insignificant, and it had all been circled with chalk. "Having suffered such a heavy injury, and without being at fault himself, he still insisted on leaving before we arrived."

"What kind of situation do you think he is in now?" He lit a cigarette and looked at the rookie.

Highway patrol isn't that easy to recruit for, so he was very patient with every rookie. In fact, he had already hinted clearly enough.

"This guy is very afraid of seeing us. He is clearly a rich man, carrying a large amount of cash, and doesn't want his situation to be known."

"He is on the run!"

"Keep going. We have his license plate number; we can have the Jincheng police help us investigate. He definitely has to go to a place like a hospital to treat his wounds."

"As long as he goes, he won't be able to get away."

The officer nodded, somewhat bewildered. In reality, he still didn't quite understand, but the officer was unwilling to say more.

What he was actually considering now was why this guy on the run was fleeing.

He couldn't figure it out.

Soon, the officer contacted the Jincheng Police Bureau by phone and requested their assistance in investigating some information.

This kind of investigative assistance is normal and happens frequently. Because this case involved a homicide with two deaths, the Jincheng Police Bureau immediately arranged for officers to respond.

Based on the registration information, they found the car owner.

But surprisingly, the car owner didn't know when he had acquired such a mid-range car, and the police didn't obtain any valuable clues from him either.

It seemed the investigation hit a dead end there. The news was fed back to the Highway Patrol Bureau, and they didn't continue to pay attention to it here.

On the other side, Charlie was cursing while driving, constantly looking at his forearm, which was continuously dripping blood.

That bastard had swung wildly in front of him. At the time, he hadn't felt anything, just some slight pain, and then he bled a little.

Now, the pain from the wound was becoming obvious, and the problem of blood loss hadn't been solved.

He even felt a bit slightly dizzy.

He had to pull the car over to the side of the road and then kill the engine.

"Fuck!" He slammed the steering wheel. The knives in the kitchen were very sharp.

Because they needed to be used almost every day, this meant their condition would become very poor by the time work ended each day.

If not dealt with, the person using them the next morning would definitely curse up a storm.

So after getting off work in the evening, these kitchen knives would all be given a simple sharpening.

Even if it was just a simple sharpening, it was enough to cut a person's arm.

Fortunately, he was older and his skin had already slackened; otherwise, these wounds would definitely have gaped open.

But even in this state, he still felt it was quite tricky.

He took off his shirt, tore the sleeves into strips, aligned the two sides of the wound, and then wrapped it tightly with the cloth strips.

The intense pain almost made him faint. He endured the astonishing pain and wrapped his arm circle by circle. The rate of blood loss decreased significantly, but it was still slowly oozing; it was just easier to accept now.

His entire arm was trembling, and he kept cursing under his breath. After tidying up a bit, he got back on the road...

All night long, Charlie was very lucky to avoid the police pursuit. At a fork in the road, he couldn't hold on anymore, so he drove off the interstate highway and headed toward a small town by the roadside.

He needed a doctor, needed to treat his wounds, and needed to rest.

On the other side, the morning sun unveiled a whole day of busy life.

Prosecutor Dean, having woken from his sleep, checked the evidence in his hands and then made a call to Attorney General Terry.

This evidence was already enough to prove that Charlie had committed numerous illegal and criminal acts during his tenure as police chief.

Attorney General Terry soon gave him his opinion: arrest Charlie immediately.

At the same time, the State Prosecutor's Office also sent the case to New Jincheng later, with Prosecutor Dean as the lead, to carry out the subsequent work.

Charlie had already run away; this was a fact everyone knew, so they went to seize Charlie's assets.

Those houses, vehicles, or other things that had already been identified.

On the other hand, they also issued a wanted notice to the entire state and were applying for a federal warrant, beginning the process.

During this period, once you were on a wanted list, it would be very troublesome.

There were specialized "hunters" who would go to capture criminals based on the bounty on the wanted notice and make a living from it.

They had their own ways of gathering information. As long as someone accidentally leaked their news to the outside world, these hunters would soon catch the scent and pursue them.

As the primary agency for the wanted notice, the Police Bureau had printed a batch of wanted posters with Charlie's front-facing portrait, which would subsequently be sent everywhere to be posted. At the same time, the officers who had assisted with the investigation the previous night began their work. When they received the document recording the investigative information, an officer said somewhat uncertainly, "Why does this person look a bit like he's talking about Charlie?"

Others in the office gathered around, looking at the document sent over the previous night, all revealing surprised expressions.

Charlie was very recognizable, and he loved wearing that gold watch of his, so when these key terms were gathered together, Charlie's image soon surfaced in people's minds.

They reported this matter to Director Du Ke. After seeing it, Du Ke also felt that this person was indeed Charlie, so he immediately had someone fax the wanted notice over.

Soon, there was a phone feedback from the other side: it was indeed this person.

"The person has been found?"

Lans was somewhat surprised. He took the case file of what happened on the interstate highway the previous day from Bulu and carefully flipped through it.

These were all sent via fax, containing the detailed process and results of the whole affair, including the situation where Charlie was injured and had fled the scene, with his whereabouts unknown.

This fit the speculation that this person was Charlie, and there were quite a few eyewitnesses who all claimed that the guy on the wanted notice and the guy who fled were seven or eight parts similar.

Even more people insisted that the person was the wanted Charlie.

"So we still don't know where he is." Lans closed the file and placed it on the table.

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Director Bulu felt some pressure. "He suffered a very heavy injury and cannot have run too far. He must treat his injury."

"We have coordinated with the security bureaus of the surrounding towns, asking them to increase patrol vehicles and check places like hospitals and clinics to see if there are any such injuries."

"In addition, the Highway Patrol Bureau has also promised us to increase patrol vehicles on the entire route and set up checkpoints on several highways leaving the state."

"As long as he leaves by highway, he will definitely run into them."

Lans listened to him detailing the handling methods and nodded continuously. "Very good, these are your jobs. I won't interfere. I have only one requirement, and that is to find Charlie as soon as possible."

"If he cannot fall into our hands, then don't let him fall into anyone else's hands either. Do you understand?"

Director Bulu lowered his head. "Understood."

After ending this topic, Lans brought up another matter. "The State Prosecutor's Office has already begun to expand the investigation. Everyone who has a relationship with Charlie must accept an investigation. Give me a list."

He looked at Bulu, his eyes hiding some deep meaning. "Tell everyone to believe in the fairness and justice of the law; accepting an investigation is just a process."

"As long as they haven't made any mistakes, they definitely won't have any problems."

"The Prosecutor's Office won't wrong any of them, but it won't let go of any criminal either."

"You are more familiar with Charlie and that group of his. You write this list; I am very reassured."

Director Bulu knew what Lans meant: to thoroughly cleanse Charlie's faction from the police force.

He pondered for a while. "Some people have value in being won over. Should I win them over?"

Like directors of sub-bureaus, or people like Nate, they were all "academics." When alumni social circles were popular, they often connected to more people.

If they were won over into his own small circle, they could play a certain role, helping Director Bulu quickly control the entire police force.

But Lans shook his head. "My personal view is that it is completely unnecessary. There are capable people all over the streets in this world."

"Every year, so many people graduate from the police academy and can't find suitable work. Aren't they more suitable than those you think have value?"

"What we want is a force that belongs entirely to us, not a force that leans toward us after weighing gains and losses."

"You are already a director in the true sense. Sometimes use your brain more; what we have is time!"

He used his finger to write an invisible "10" on the table. From now until Councilor Williams leaves office, there is at least ten years that belong to them. They have enough time to cultivate their own people.

Instead of winning over other people's people.

Director Bulu nodded and agreed.

After he went back, he didn't hesitate for too long. Although many of them were his alumni, or even his classmates, under the dual drive of Lans and power, he wrote everyone he knew who belonged to Charlie on the list.

Of course, it was limited to the management level. Those small officers and small patrolmen didn't need to be on the list to be fired by him; they didn't even have the qualifications to be on the list.

Just a day later, a large number of middle-level cadres in the police force were suspended from their duties during work, then brought into cars to the Prosecutor's Office to accept investigation and interrogation.

Without a doubt, they already knew their ending.

In fact, most police officers, as long as they are investigated, have a high probability of not ending well.

Police salaries are too low. If you don't get some extra money on the side, this job isn't worth doing at all!

And everyone was doing it.

As long as you did it, and then encountered someone who wanted to find problems with you, then you would definitely have problems.

Everyone was very depressed, and some people secretly cursed Bulu for really not being a thing, not only driving away Charlie and his cronies, but now wanting to kill everyone else too.

It's just that these words they said couldn't shake Charlie's determination, or rather, he couldn't change, and didn't dare to change, Lans's determination to cleanse the police force.

After all, after this matter ends, the entire police force will have to receive money from him, and he isn't used to distributing money to those hostile forces.

The police force was undergoing a major cleansing, and the Bay Area also received the news. They knew Charlie had run away and also knew his approximate location.

In order not to let Lans and Councilor Williams find Charlie first and hide him, the Bay Area also sent out quite a few people to look for Charlie.

Compared to Lans and his group's idea of bringing Charlie back, the people they sent out simply wanted to kill Charlie!

Charlie had just finished the surgery on his arm. Under the influence of money, the doctor at the small clinic didn't make him wait a few days to come back, but directly let him into the operating room.

He rested in the small clinic's ward for one night, and the next day, after changing his dressing, he planned to continue leaving this place.

Before leaving, he needed to buy some supplies.

The incident at the motel this time also served as a reminder; he needed to carry some medicine on the road.

In case of any unexpected situation, it wouldn't disrupt his plans.

When he was walking back carrying two large bags of medicine, just as he was about to reach the small clinic, he suddenly stopped.

He saw two security officers circling his car, and at the same time, there were two security officers at the entrance of the small clinic talking to the doctor.

In these few days, he had cursed more profanity than he had in his entire life. He looked at those security officers and turned around to walk in the opposite direction!

He had been discovered, in one night.

He had never felt such "excitement" before. Inexplicably, after the fear and unease, he now actually even sprouted an indescribable sense of excitement.

He found that he was more capable of concentrating than at any time before, and also better at thinking.

He had to leave this place, but not now.

He walked around the street holding the medicine. Now his situation wasn't very good because the money was all in the car, and he didn't have that much money in the wallet on him.

After the incident at the motel, he only had less than a hundred dollars in his wallet.

He had to use this hundred dollars to find a way to shake off the police's encirclement and interception, and then run out.

"What should I do now?"

He asked himself.

As an old policeman, he knew very well that when the police discover a criminal's trail, they will immediately increase police force to blockade the scene and the surrounding area.

In other words, now is not the best time for him to flee. He needs to find a way to lay low first and integrate into this town.

Wait for the high-pressure situation to disappear, then find a way to leave.

He looked at the recruitment information for a farm by the roadside...

(End of chapter)