A madman in France? How come he's always at crime scenes!

The Tan family's old residence.

It was late at night, but the living room lights were still on.

Tan Ming lay on the sofa, holding a game controller, engrossed in a fierce battle on the screen. Sister Lian was about to go back to her room when she glanced at him as she passed through the living room.

"Young master, young lady and master are resting."

"Okay, okay, I got it."

Despite his impatience, Tan Ming still turned the volume down two notches.

The door to the study upstairs was half-open.

Tan Yongren sat behind his desk, still wearing the same dark gray loungewear he wore at the dining table, with thin-rimmed glasses perched on his nose, flipping through a third-quarter financial statement of Tianyue Group.

My phone vibrated.

He took off his glasses after the sound rang three times and placed them next to the report.

"explain."

The voice on the other end of the phone was very low.

"Shunfa was raided by the police, and Wang Ye was taken away on the spot. Meng Jiang and Zhang Ze personally led the team."

"Where are the things?"

"They were taken away too. They're all in that small room. He Minsheng was the first one to go in."

Tan Yongren hummed in agreement.

There was no surprise or dissatisfaction in his tone.

After a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone, the person continued, "The police are very excited right now and are preparing to issue an arrest warrant for Diao Wei."

Tan Yongren picked up the pen on the table, lightly tapped a blank space on the report, and instead of answering, asked:

Where was Wang Ye talking about?

"As for Diao Wei, just as expected, he himself didn't know anything more."

"That's good."

Tan Yongren smiled.

Downstairs, Tan Ming, having somehow gotten into a fight, suddenly cursed, but then quickly remembered that there were people upstairs and swallowed the rest of his curse.

"That Diao Wei..."

"Diao Wei has helped me many times."

Tan Yongren put his glasses back on and looked at a string of numbers on the report.

"This time, it's the same."

After those words were spoken, there was complete silence on the other end of the phone.

The study was quiet. Tan Yongren looked up at the clock on the wall.

"Don't contact the police anymore. Once this storm has passed, Wang Ye's family should give him some money. Don't let people feel disheartened, and don't make things too conspicuous."

"clear."

The phone hangs up.

Just then, Tan Ming's voice came from outside the door, and Tan Yongren put his phone face down on the table.

"dad."

"Come in."

Tan Ming poked half his head in, and seeing that his expression was relatively calm, he then moved his whole body into the doorway.

Where are my car keys?

"Go to the company tomorrow."

Tan Ming's face immediately fell.

"No, Dad, what can I do at the company? Isn't Zhiyi enough? She's much more capable than me."

Tan Yongren looked at him and sighed after a long while.

Her surname is Lin.

Tan Ming paused for a moment, then immediately shut up.

Tan Yongren didn't scold him; he just pushed a thin document next to him over.

"Go to the finance department at nine o'clock tomorrow morning. If you don't understand, ask until you do."

Tan Ming dared not haggle any longer, picked up the materials, and turned to leave.

He turned back as he reached the door.

"Dad, is Zhiyi in a bad mood today?"

Tan Yongren looked up.

"You noticed?"

"I don't even feel like scolding her."

Tan Yongren looked at him, and after a few seconds, smiled.

Go to sleep.

……

Feishui City Bureau.

In the conference room, Li Mu stared at the whiteboard, the relaxation on his face gradually fading.

"What did you just say?"

Wu Liang leaned back in his chair and did not repeat himself.

Li Mu looked at the photo at the top of the whiteboard.

Tan Yongren's photo is still posted there; his eyes and brows are gentle, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he was a kind old man.

"I'm going to find Captain Meng."

Li Mu propped himself up on the table, but his movement was too hasty, and his left arm, which was in a sling, hit the edge of the table, causing him to turn pale with pain.

Wu Liang raised his hand to stop him.

"Don't rush."

"This matter cannot be left unsaid."

"Of course," Wu Liang glanced at the doorway, "but we can't rush over and pour cold water on it now."

Seeing Li Mu frown, Wu Liang began to explain.

"There's nothing wrong with investigating Diao Wei in itself; right now, Diao Wei is the only direction we can take action on."

"Wang Ye breathed a sigh of relief. The ledgers were ready, and the task force had finally managed to get back on track. If you go and raise questions now, even if Captain Meng doesn't disbelieve you, it won't be so easy to reignite the team's momentum."

"So we just watch them walk into the pit?"

Wu Liang shook his head.

"We definitely need to investigate Diao Wei's case. Even if it turns out that someone deliberately set it up, it will still be more useful than us stopping it based on our feelings now."

Li Mu fell silent.

Wu Liang glanced outside the door and lowered his voice.

"There's one more thing. The eye in the police force hasn't been gouged out yet."

Li Mu's expression changed slightly.

"You suspect that tonight's operation was deliberately orchestrated?"

"It's not wrong to have doubts," Wu Liang said, "but doubts are just doubts and can't be written into the record."

The corridor outside was still bustling with activity. Several police officers carried boxes of evidence and walked by quickly, each one full of enthusiasm.

At this point, any comment saying "something's not right" would seem inappropriate.

Li Mu sat down again, his relaxed expression replaced by seriousness.

"So, where do you plan to start?"

Wu Liang picked up the thin photocopy of the old case next to him.

"Lin Huaishan".

Li Mu looked at him.

"That traffic accident twenty years ago?"

"No matter how brilliant the Diao Wei line is, it only goes as far as Diao Wei for now. But Lin Huaishan died on the South City Elevated Road back then, and Shen Xuejun collapsed the following year. There must be an old line here, hiding Tan Yongren's biggest secret."

Wu Liang laid out the photocopies and the points of doubt in the case that he had compiled.

"We now need two pieces of information: one is internal confirmation from the police force to reopen the investigation into the traffic accident from that year, and the other is the application from the deceased's family. With these two, the procedures will be much easier."

Looking at all the information Wu Liang had compiled during his operation, Li Mu asked in a low voice, "Is Lin Zhiyi willing?"

Wu Liang smiled slightly, took out his phone from his pocket and showed it to Li Mu. It was a message that Lin Zhiyi had sent him that evening.

[Attorney Wu, if I want to investigate my father's accident from back then, where should I begin?]

Li Mu looked at the line of words, his eyes flickering slightly.

"Is she really willing?"

"The fact that they came to ask means they've taken the first step."

Wu Liang reorganized the information. "However, this matter cannot be shown in public, at least not now."

Li Mu frowned.

"You didn't even tell Captain Meng?"

Wu Liang didn't reply, but looked at the busy corridor outside.

"Everyone thinks they've caught a big fish tonight. Then Lin Zhiyi suddenly requests a reinvestigation of her father's accident from twenty years ago. Do you think that eye will give her a second look?"

Li Mu remained silent.

Once Lin Huaishan's name surfaces from the pile of papers, Tan Yongren's side will likely react immediately.

Li Mu looked at him.

"You'd already thought this through?"

"I just figured it out," Wu Liang said casually. "It was mainly forced upon me by that eye of your police force."

Li Mu snorted. Anyone would feel ashamed to have an internal traitor, but this was not the time to dwell on whether Wu Liang meant it as a sarcastic remark.

"Aren't you afraid I'm a ghost?"

Wu Liang smiled slightly.

"A ghost wouldn't take a bullet to save me."

Li Mu was taken aback, turned to look at the computer screen, and spoke coldly after a few seconds.

"Attorney Wu, stop trying to get close to me with those kinds of words. Protecting the people is the duty of the police."

Wu Liang wisely kept quiet and raised his hands in surrender.

If we continue, it would be embarrassing to be captured by the wounded with one hand.

He bent down to put the documents into his bag, but his hand stopped abruptly as he touched the inner pocket.

The booklet that had been sitting inside seemed to suddenly get warm.

Wu Liang turned to the side, took out the leather booklet, and opened it.

On the blank page below the second short story, the writing began to gradually emerge.

Name: Wu Liang

[Client: Lin Zhiyi]

[A reward will be given based on the degree of completion and the judgment outcome of the case.]