Chapter 300: The Massacre Of An Entire Family (2/2)

Just as well, his plan would kill two birds with one stone. I wanted Dali as far away from the case as possible for fear his life would be at risk, while he could realize his dream of meeting his idol.

The next morning, Dali and I left the hotel early, heading our separate ways. I went straight to the city bureau and found the conference room already filled with officers, including Xiaotao. Officer Luo was busy explaining something to everyone. ”Are you all attending class?”

Xiaotao laughed, ”You’re late!”

Officer Luo was getting everyone acquainted with the hand signals used by the SWAT team. Director-General Cheng had already given each officer a pair of headphones which they were to put on as soon as there were any suspicious sounds. When the time came, the plan was to turn up the volume to the max and use hand signals to communicate.

After the demonstration, we were dismissed. There was still no news from Wang Yuanchao who had gone to Mt. Leopard Prison early this morning to investigate.

I asked Xiaotao to call the Wuhan Public Security Bureau for information on the two Yin object dealers. Upon hearing my suggestion, Xiaotao chuckled, ”Are you still thinking about those two charlatans?”

”Know thy enemy and know thy self; a thousand battles, a thousand victories!” I explained. “Even if we don't cooperate with them, knowing more about them won’t do us any harm.”

Soon, the Wuhan Public Security Bureau faxed over information about the two men. A piece of paper was hardly enough to reflect their legendary deeds, but still I noticed certain details which could be used against them!

Right then, an officer charged into the room, crying in panic, ”Chief Huang, there’s been more suicides!”

”Who are the victims?” asked Xiaotao.

”Three families on Kangcheng Road committed suicide this morning,” replied the officer. “We’ve just received a report.”

As we had predicted, Long Bangguo seeked revenge on the gangsters’ families. We immediately headed to a small residential area on Kangcheng Road. Many nosy onlookers, as well as grieving family members, had gathered downstairs of the apartment building. The officers in charge of this jurisdiction were trying their best to maintain order.

We pushed through the crowd and took the elevator to the seventh floor, where three wide-open doors greeted us. The men, women and children in these apartments had committed suicide in different ways by swallowing nails, stabbing their eyes with knives, hanging themselves and slitting their throats.

According to the household registration data provided by the police, the head of one of the families was a former triad leader who had already been executed. His remaining family members seldom came into contact with their neighbors.

Obviously, Long Bangguo had only intended to murder his family, while the other two were collateral damage. After all, it was almost impossible to orient something like music.

The crime scene was unusual with the murderer standing in the corridor while he killed the occupants of the apartment. However, the officers who first arrived at the scene were unaware of the fact and had left footprints all over the corridor, making it impossible to discern the murderer’s.

”Shouldn’t there be some sort of monitoring inside the elevator and at the gates of the residence?” I asked. “Let's visit the security room to have a look.”

We headed to the security room at the gates of the residence and asked to see the surveillance video from last night. The security guard on duty hit the power key on the computer but obtained no response. After checking the power supply and wiring, he muttered, ”That’s strange. Is the computer broken?”

I tried to lift the mainframe and found it was as light as a feather–the screws on the computer were loose. Opening the chassis revealed a picture that dampened our spirits. The motherboard and hard disk had all been removed.

“How could this be?” blurted the security guard as he looked at us in shock. “There was definitely someone on duty last night!”

I glanced at the clock on the wall and asked, ”When did you and the other guy change shifts?”

”Five o'clock this morning,” answered the security guard.

”Did you see him with your own eyes?” I continued.

“Of course!” the man scratched his cheek. ”We even talked about football for a bit.”