Police officer Chen Shu

Chapter 390 The police officers at the local police station all have dark circles under their eyes.
In the afternoon, at the Zhengming District Special Police Brigade's station.

Squad leader Li Da and deputy instructor Xie Chi sat in the duty room, looking at the quiet monitoring screen wall, chatting idly about the college entrance examination.

Li Da's child is a junior in a regular high school, about to enter the senior year, but his academic performance is not ideal, and the child doesn't seem very dedicated to studying. He's now seeking advice from Xie Chi, whose daughter has already been admitted to a top-tier university (985).

The two were chatting happily when Li Da's phone rang.

"Chen Shu, what's up?"

"A lead? Are you going to investigate a case?"

"Of course we have to do it! What else could a clean brigade like ours have to do? Just go ahead and do it without worry!"

"We'll be fine here!"

"Oh, don't worry about the shift work, Lao Xie and I will take turns! Yes, it's fine, Lao Xie can handle it!"

"Okay, I'm hanging up now. Remember to bring back a few more people!"

Captain Li Da hung up his phone with a smug look on his face, glancing at Xie Chi with a triumphant expression, his eyes brimming with meaning.

"Old Xie, what do you think of the houses in the backyard where we're handling cases? Are they sturdy enough? We don't want to lose face if Director Chen brings a bunch of people over and we can't hold them all."

Xie Chi was furious. Chen Shu was still gathering clues, and Li Da was already showing off. Just a few days ago, he reported to his superiors that Chen Shu should be the captain of the assault team and conduct specialized training. But the next day, he was sent to handle a case. He changed his mind every day. I really don't know what this captain is thinking.

No wonder my son can't do well in school; it seems to be hereditary.

Xie Chi snorted coldly, "Li Da, let's not talk about the case-handling area. With these two shifts, who are you planning to work for? Qingshui Brigade, even if we're the most clean team, you still have to stay at the unit, right?"

Li Da scratched his head. He had gotten so excited when he heard that Chen Shu was going to handle a case that he had completely forgotten about his duty. Now he felt extremely ashamed.

He could only stammer, "Couldn't this help us get some quotas for the brigade?"

"What cases can SWAT officers handle? It's all gambling or prostitution. It's a waste of time and energy. They'd be better off patrolling the streets and increasing police visibility!"

Li Da's momentum waned, and he whispered, "At the beginning of the month, the branch held a meeting and said they encouraged our district and county teams to handle more cases and arrest as many people as possible."

"That's a manhunt! They want us to catch more wanted criminals on the internet! I really don't know what you were listening to during the meeting. Do you think Director Chen will catch a murderer or a robber this time? And then we're just sitting at home waiting for the branch to come and give us commendations and banners?"

Upon hearing the words "murderer," Li Da, who had been somewhat listless, recalled Chen Shu's operation to capture the murderer some time ago, and immediately perked up, his eyes shining as he exclaimed, "Hey! That's hard to say!"

Xie Chi rolled his eyes and said angrily, "A murderer? How about I send you a serial killer? You're dreaming."

bank.

As expected of one of the four major state-owned banks, their service quality is commendable.

After Chen Shu and others submitted their police IDs and the "Case Filing Decision" at the VIP window inside the bank, the bank staff quickly cooperated and retrieved Sister Hua's identity information and deposit records.

As expected, the day after Sister Hua disappeared, her bank card showed withdrawal records. She withdrew 5,000 yuan at a time, totaling 20,000 yuan in four separate transactions. On the third day, yesterday, she withdrew over 18,000 yuan from ATMs at different banks using the same method, emptying her account.

Twenty thousand is the highest daily withdrawal limit at domestic bank ATMs.

Chen Shu glanced at the locations of the two banks; both were not far from Lianhua Road. He took out his phone, opened Gaode Maps to check the routes to the two banks, and a preliminary idea formed in his mind.

"Sister Hua must have had her accident on Lotus Street," Chen Chuan said confidently, staring at the Gaode Map on Chen Shu's phone screen.

Chen Shushen agreed.

Criminals certainly wouldn't withdraw money from a bank near the scene of the crime. If it's just a withdrawal location, it's difficult to determine whether the crime scene was nearby.

Since the money was withdrawn from banks on both sides of Lotus Street for two consecutive days, separated by a street, and considering the message Sister Hua left for Gu Xiaoxue when she left the rented house, it can be concluded that Lotus Street should be the location of the crime.

Especially in this kind of specialized service industry, if a customer changes their destination midway through the trip, Sister Hua will most likely still notify Gu Xiaoxue. This is professional ethics, especially in a place like a KTV where there are extensive channels for professional communication; it's a very common and habitual survival tactic.

The three went straight to two banks and, while reviewing the surveillance footage, spotted a suspicious person wearing a black "NB" baseball cap and a black T-shirt. The person had pulled the brim of the cap down very low and was also wearing a mask, so although their face was not visible, they were certain it was male.

When entering and exiting the bank and opening the ATM door, it can be seen that this person is left-handed, but there is no other particularly useful information.

Chen Shu looked down at the withdrawal time recorded on the document in his hand and confirmed that it was the man in the surveillance footage who withdrew the cash from Sister Hua's bank card.

He scrolled through the video footage a few times and reviewed several surveillance videos from different angles. Aside from noting the man's slender build based on his clothing, he couldn't identify his facial features. Utterly ordinary.

Chen Shu pushed the mouse aside and said in a deep voice, "It's not a complete loss. At least we know that Sister Hua's disappearance wasn't normal. Without a doubt, this is a kidnapping case."

Chen Chuan enthusiastically suggested, "Then let's start with the guesthouses and explore the entire Lianhua Road."

Yan Chenxi looked at him with a bit of curiosity.

Chen Shu shook his head: "I've thought about it, and this kind of thing is best handled by the local police station. Their control over the streets is far greater than ours, and they know more about community affairs than we do. They can quietly sweep through the entire street under the guise of 'checking fire safety' or 'checking ID cards' without arousing the suspicion of criminal suspects."

Although there was no money left in the card, Chen Shu still set up the withdrawal alert information for Sister Hua's bank card at the bank. The three then went to the police station under the jurisdiction of Lianhua Street, which was Chen Shu's old workplace - Zhongshan Police Station.

When they arrived at the police station, an old acquaintance's black Santana pulled up beside them. Wang Chongming, with heavy dark circles under his eyes, leaned out of the passenger window and called out, "Chief Chen, what brings you here today? Come on in and have some tea!"

When Gu Xiaoxue reported the case at Zhongshan Police Station yesterday, Wang Chongming was on duty, so the case naturally fell under his jurisdiction.

Upon seeing that it was Wang Chongming, Chen Shu didn't stand on ceremony and followed him into the main security office on the second floor of the office building. Surprisingly, he encountered all the officers of the security team there; Liu Zhongwu, Li Chaoyang, Xu Lei, and others were all in the office.

Police officers like them, who are handling cases, are either on the road, in the vehicle approving documents, or in their beds on rest days. It's not easy for them to get together. If you think about it carefully, they can probably only get together in the first few days of the Lunar New Year.

"Director Chen, you're here!" Xu Lei, dressed in civilian clothes and sporting huge panda eyes, was the first to run over and greeted Chen Shu with a grin.

"Senior brother." Li Chaoyang floated to Chen Shu's side like a ghost.

His face was pale, and his dark circles were so exaggerated that it looked like he was wearing large sunglasses. He looked like he was about to die suddenly.

Chen Shu turned his head and, seeing his dignified appearance, exclaimed in surprise, "You stayed up so late, it's terrifying!"

Li Chaoyang said dryly, "After the spring offensive comes the Hundred-Day Operation, and after that, as usual, there's the autumn campaign. Sigh, I wonder when it will end."

The veteran comrade Liu Zhongwu stood up from his workstation, smiled and nodded at Chen Shu, then bent down and opened a drawer, making rustling noises as he looked for tea leaves.

Chen Shu chatted with the group for a while, asking about their recent lives and work, then pulled Wang Chongming to sit down on the long sofa by the office door and explained the reason for his visit.

“A kidnapping case? That’s something we have to deal with. Chief Chen, do you mean I should go to Lianhua Road and scan all the hotels, guesthouses and homestays on this whole street? Hmm, I think it’s not a big problem. I’ll drag Yu Yu from the community along and we’ll go scan the buildings later.”

After listening to Chen Shu's account, Wang Chongming, who happened to be on duty that day, didn't ask any further questions and simply nodded in agreement.

Li Chaoyang, who sat down next to him, laughed and said, "Brother Shu, let Brother Wang and I handle this together. We don't have much on our hands lately anyway."

Chen Shu waved his hand with a smile, pointing to Li Chaoyang's dark circles and said, "We're from the same branch, do you think I don't know you've been busy with the '100-Day Operation' lately? How could you not be busy? Don't try to give me face, just focus on your quota. Brother Wang, can you handle it?"

“This was originally my case, and it should be my responsibility to investigate it.” Wang Chongming paused, then joked, “Chaoyang, Chief Chen went out of his way to offer his help this time. Are you trying to steal the credit from this old man?”

The implication was clear: they believed the case was a piece of cake. In reality, this also reflected their unconditional trust in Chen Shu, who had led them in solving cases for many years.

Li Chaoyang touched his nose and gave an awkward smile.

"Come, come, have some tea. It'll be good to refresh us so we can talk about the case." Liu Zhongwu, who had just brewed a pot of good tea, brought over five or six disposable cups on a tray and placed them on the coffee table, inviting Chen Shu and his two friends.

Chen Shu is one of our own, so it's not a big problem.

Afraid of embarrassing Director Chen, Liu Zhongwu said awkwardly, "The conditions are tough, please don't mind."

Chen Shu realized what was happening and introduced Chen Chuan and Yan Chenxi to the people from the Zhongshan Institute.

After chatting happily for a while, Chen Shu got up to say goodbye.

After leaving Zhongshan Police Station, Chen Shu stood at the station entrance and glanced at the darkened office on the far west side of the third floor of the office building before turning and walking out.

Yan Chenxi, who was following behind, suddenly blurted out, "Why do all the police officers at their police station have dark circles under their eyes? Are they all working overtime?"

"There are still shifts," Chen Chuan said dismissively.

Yan Chenxi suddenly felt a pang of sympathy for her younger brother, who had volunteered to apply to the police academy.

(End of this chapter)