107: Chapter 107 There's More Than One Mole

Police Chief Li Jianguo put away his phone.

He rubbed his face vigorously, forcing down his exhaustion.

He turned and walked toward the Criminal Investigation Division's office area, calling Captain Chen Gang out separately.

"Let's go. To the Information Hall."

The two men walked quickly through the corridor.

They pushed open the heavy, soundproof door of the server room.

The room was filled with the low-frequency hum of running servers.

Over a dozen technical personnel were slumped in their swivel chairs.

Empty Red Bull cans and cold bento boxes were scattered across the desks.

Police Chief Li Jianguo walked to the console at the front and clapped his hands.

The crisp sound of the clapping echoed through the room, startling the slumped technicians awake one by one.

Looking at those bloodshot eyes, Police Chief Li Jianguo felt a pang of discomfort in his heart.

But these were extraordinary times, and there was no room for mercy.

"Comrades, thank you all for your hard work."

Police Chief Li Jianguo scanned the room, his voice heavy. "Just now, news came from the hospital that the criminal underworld has become so rampant that they have attempted to kill the Discipline Inspection Commission comrade we were protecting! This isn't just a provocation; this is a slap in the face of our Public Security Bureau!"

Several technicians below straightened up, their drowsiness mostly dispelled.

"Don't feel like you're fighting alone. The Provincial Public Security Department's technical investigation team has fully intervened and is providing remote backend support."

Police Chief Li Jianguo leaned his hands on the edge of the table, emphasizing his tone. "We have a mole in our own house. We cannot let our brothers bleed on the front lines while having to guard against being stabbed in the back by our own people! Now, find that mole for me!"

The server room resumed the sound of intensive keyboard typing.

Police Chief Li Jianguo walked behind the technical team leader, Wang Gang, and asked in a low voice, "During the time the abnormal text message was sent, who was away from their station or using their phone in violation of regulations?"

Wang Gang operated the keyboard rapidly, pulling up a data summary sheet.

"Director, after comparing the base station signals, there were over a dozen people in the bureau using their phones during that time frame."

"We have verified the call logs and activity trajectories. Most are within the normal range; some were on field duty, and some didn't even come to work today."

"The movements of two people are quite suspicious. They were both in the large conference room participating in case analysis at the time, and they left the main surveillance area afterward."

Two photos popped up on the screen.

"One is Executive Deputy Director Liu Qing. Surveillance shows he went to the men's restroom on the fifth floor and stayed for nearly ten minutes."

"The other is Deputy Captain Qiao An of the Municipal Public Security Bureau's Criminal Investigation Division."

The team leader switched to another segment of footage. "Deputy Captain Qiao An went downstairs to buy cigarettes and left the building."

The scene changed to surveillance footage from a convenience store not far from the Public Security Bureau.

Deputy Captain Qiao An walked into the store, but instead of going to the cashier for cigarettes, he walked straight to a corner of the shelves.

Under the cover of the shelves, he took out a candy-bar phone.

His hands pressed the keys rapidly to send a message, then he quickly tucked the phone back into his pocket.

Captain Chen Gang, standing to the side, watched the screen with a grim expression.

"Director," Captain Chen Gang lowered his voice, "There is an unavoidable point of suspicion regarding Deputy Captain Qiao An."

"He was the one who led the team responsible for the Li Qian drowning case in the Qinghe suburbs."

"At that time, the forensic doctor, Old Qin, was still examining the scene and hadn't even issued a detailed autopsy report. Yet, based solely on the antidepressants found at the scene, Deputy Captain Qiao An drew a conclusion and hastily closed the case as a suicide."

The clues intertwined, piecing together a complete chain of evidence.

Police Chief Li Jianguo's face was cold as he made an immediate decision. "Take action immediately. Control both of them first and conduct an emergency interrogation!"

"Director, Deputy Captain Qiao An is at the deputy section level, so the bureau can handle him directly." Captain Chen Gang looked troubled and pointed at Executive Deputy Director Liu Qing on the screen. "But Executive Deputy Director Liu is a deputy division-level cadre enjoying the treatment of a bureau-level official. Without approval from the Municipal Party Committee and the Discipline Inspection Commission, taking coercive measures against him directly is against the rules and could easily give others leverage against us."

Police Chief Li Jianguo tapped his fingers on the table, pondering a way to break the deadlock.

"First, remove him from the special investigation team." Captain Chen Gang proposed a strategy. "Use the excuse of high work intensity in the special investigation team to make Executive Deputy Director Liu take mandatory rest at home. We will secretly assign people to watch him twenty-four hours a day. Once we have the evidence, we can move against him legitimately."

"Do as you say." Police Chief Li Jianguo made the final decision. "Go contact Political Commissar Wang Haitao and have him sign the summons and search warrants for Deputy Captain Qiao An overnight. There is no time to lose; we must take him in now."

It was 4:00 AM. The night wind was biting cold.

In a residential compound in the northern part of the city, several black sedans without police lights crept in silently.

Captain Chen Gang, accompanied by five fully armed criminal police officers, snuck up the stairs to Deputy Captain Qiao An's residence.

A team member stepped forward, and the hydraulic door opener was applied with precision.

With a dull thud, the security door was forced open.

The criminal police officers filed in, heading straight for the master bedroom.

The blinding beams of flashlights instantly illuminated the dim bedroom.

Deputy Captain Qiao An was fast asleep, holding a woman in his arms.

Caught off guard by the sudden incident, he sat up abruptly, instinctively trying to resist.

Captain Chen Gang stepped forward quickly and grabbed his wrist.

The cold handcuffs were locked onto him immediately.

The woman on the bed screamed, grabbed the blanket, and huddled in the corner, trembling.

"Search!" Captain Chen Gang gave the order.

The team members moved efficiently.

In less than ten minutes, in a hidden compartment at the bottom of the wardrobe, over 500,000 in bundled cash and a property deed were found.

Even more damning, an old Nokia 2G phone was found in a hidden layer of the bedside table.

Captain Chen Gang, wearing white gloves, opened the inbox.

On the screen, a few short coded instructions were the ironclad proof of the leakage of investigation information over the past few days.

The suspect was caught red-handed.

Captain Chen Gang looked at Deputy Captain Qiao An, who was being held down on the edge of the bed.

"Deputy Captain Qiao An," Captain Chen Gang stared at his former subordinate with whom he had fought side-by-side. "I had originally proposed to the bureau party committee that when I left, you would take over as the captain of the Criminal Investigation Division."

"Is this how you repay this police uniform?"

Deputy Captain Qiao An kept his head down, saying nothing.

"Take him away. You know the rules; let's go somewhere else to have a good talk." Captain Chen Gang waved his hand and turned to walk out the door.

Dawn broke.

Zhu Wenhao stood at the end of the corridor outside the hospital ward.

His phone vibrated, and he pressed the answer button.

"Zhu Wenhao, the mole has been found." Police Chief Li Jianguo had stayed up all night, his voice hoarse.

"It's the Municipal Public Security Bureau's Criminal Investigation Deputy Captain, Qiao An. After an emergency interrogation overnight, his psychological defenses collapsed, and he confessed everything."

Police Chief Li Jianguo reported the situation: "He was bribed by a man named Li Kai. He personally handled the Li Qian case. Li Kai promised him six or seven hundred thousand in cash, plus a woman named Sun Li."

"How did these two usually conduct their transactions?" Zhu Wenhao asked.

"Very cautiously. It was all done through that unregistered 2G phone for one-way contact. After the job was done, Li Kai would throw the cash into a locker at a gym in the city center, and Deputy Captain Qiao An would go pick it up himself. We are currently mobilizing all police forces to search the entire city for Li Kai."

After listening to the report, Zhu Wenhao gazed at the gradually congesting traffic below.

"Director Li," Zhu Wenhao said in an even tone, "The grass snakes and the grey lines, the hidden threads stretch for a thousand miles."

"Don't you think the speed at which this clue was handed to us is a bit too convenient?"

Police Chief Li Jianguo was stunned on the other end. "Are you saying this is a case of sacrificing the pawn to save the knight?"

"A gecko shedding its tail, a scapegoat being sacrificed," Zhu Wenhao analyzed the logic behind it. "We just spread false news about the dashcam footage, and a deputy captain who could access core secrets and happened to lead the Li Qian case just happened to run straight into the line of fire."

"Caught red-handed, even the upstream funds and transaction modes were confessed flawlessly."

"A loop that is too perfect is often meant to cover up a bigger lie."

Police Chief Li Jianguo clenched his fist.

"Are they trying to use one Qiao An to cover up the real mole? Or are there two moles?"

"It's a mix of truth and falsehood. Qiao An is a real mole, but he's just a small pawn on the front lines. If we really treat him as the big fish, this case will be dead." Zhu Wenhao concluded.

"Then how should we respond now?" Police Chief Li Jianguo asked for instructions.

"The army is at the border; do not get hung up on trifles. Ignore these smoke bombs they've released."

Zhu Wenhao turned around and looked at the corridor.

"The Provincial Public Security Department will issue new instructions today. Wait for the notice and hold your position."