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

Chapter 92 Concealment

"Hey, Attorney Wu, you're here early today."

Old Liu, the gatekeeper of the Municipal Bureau, was drinking tea when he looked up and saw Wu Liang coming over, looking travel-worn, not even bothering to open the registration book.

"The early bird catches the worm." Wu Liang greeted Lao Liu and naturally took out his ID from his pocket.

Old Liu waved his hand.

"No need, no need. You legal people are so meticulous. Come in, Captain Meng asked this morning if you were here."

"That won't do. Procedures are still very important, after all, I'm not a permanent employee."

Wu Liang insisted on handing over his documents, and Old Liu chuckled and wrote his name down in the register.

"Fine, fine, you just want me to pay this extra."

The mornings at the city police station weren't as somber as they were in the movies. Officers moved about in the lobby, each with their own tasks to complete.

Wu Liang walked to the entrance of the Criminal Investigation Detachment and saw Lao He coming out of the tea room.

They were still holding the same thermos, with a faint steam rising from its rim. The two met each other's gaze across half the corridor.

Old He smiled first.

"Xiao Wu is here."

Wu Liang stopped and nodded with a smile.

"Good morning, Officer He."

"Didn't you sleep well last night?"

"It's alright," Wu Liang said. "I'm a very easygoing person."

"A big heart is good, but when handling cases, the problem is that you might overthink things and easily get yourself tangled up in them."

"There's no other way," Wu Liang replied naturally. "I can't just abandon the task assigned by Captain Meng halfway through."

Old He nodded.

"Old cases are hard to investigate because they are too old and there is not much left in the files."

"That's why it's troublesome," Wu Liang said. "If the case files contained everything, it wouldn't show the value of us idle people."

Old He held his cup, his smile fading slightly.

"Then you get back to work."

"Officer He is busy too."

The two passed each other without turning back.

Li Mu stood at the end of the corridor, holding a folder in his hand, taking in everything.

"How so?"

As Wu Liang approached, Li Mu gazed at He Minsheng's retreating figure, his expression growing increasingly somber.

"Officer Li, please stop looking at him like you want to eat him alive."

Wu Liang looked at her with a helpless expression.

Why can't these police officers keep anything to themselves?

Li Mu understood the meaning behind his words, looked away, and slowly suppressed the emotions on her face.

"Is this okay?"

"Barely," Wu Liang nodded. "Try to be more natural."

Li Mu looked at him expressionlessly.

Wu Liang coughed lightly.

"Never mind, you're acting quite naturally now, considering you're not usually very kind."

Li Mu ignored the remark and turned to leave.

"Team Leader Meng is in the office."

The door to the task force's office wasn't closed properly, and the sound of pages turning could be heard from inside.

Li Mu raised his hand and knocked on the door.

"Enter."

Meng Jiang's voice was a little hoarse, clearly indicating that he hadn't slept much all night.

When Wu Liang pushed open the door, Meng Jiang was sitting behind his desk with several case summaries spread out in front of him. The ashtray was full of cigarette butts, and there was a box of stomach medicine next to it.

"You're here?"

Meng Jiang looked up and glanced at the two of them.

His gaze first fell on Wu Liang, then shifted to Li Mu's face, lingering for less than two seconds before his eyebrows slightly rose.

"What's wrong?"

Li Mu placed the folder on the table.

"There are new developments in Lin Huaishan's old case."

"Is that what I asked?"

Meng Jiang leaned back in his chair, glanced between the two men, and suddenly grinned.

"Xiao Li, you don't look well."

Li Mu frowned.

"Captain Meng, now is not the time to talk about this."

"I know this isn't the time to talk about this." Meng Jiang picked up his thermos and slowly blew on it. "But given your state, it's hard for me not to overthink things."

Wu Liang's heart skipped a beat.

An old detective is an old detective.

Meng Jiang certainly didn't know about the standoff in the monitoring room last night.

He didn't need to know the specifics of what happened; he only needed to see Li Mu's expression to realize that she was burdened with something.

Meng Jiang took a sip of water, speaking casually.

"Did you two have a fight?"

Li Mu was taken aback.

Wu Liang was also taken aback.

There was a half-second of silence in the office.

Seeing their reactions, Meng Jiang's eyes held a hint of "I knew it."

"Young people like us have a lot of work pressure, so it's normal for us to argue a bit. Attorney Wu's mouth is quite annoying."

"Team Leader Meng."

Li Mu's voice turned cold.

"We didn't argue."

"oh."

Meng Jiang nodded and looked at Wu Liang.

"So you're the one who made her angry?"

Wu Liang remained silent for two seconds.

Suddenly, I realized that Meng Jiang might be more difficult to deal with in some ways than Tan Yongren.

"Team Leader Meng, your reasoning is a little flawed."

"Isn't it rigorous?" Meng Jiang looked at him. "I think it's alright. Xiao Li isn't usually like this. From the moment she walked in today, her shoulders were tense, and she had a fire burning in her eyes."

As he spoke, he looked at Li Mu again.

"If they're not here for Attorney Wu, then they're here for the case."

Li Mu remained silent.

The smile on Meng Jiang's face slowly faded.

The atmosphere in the office quieted down.

The veteran detective's gaze finally shifted from teasing to scrutiny.

"Tell me, what happened?"

Wu Liang pushed the folder in front of Meng Jiang without answering the question immediately.

"Let's start with Lin Huaishan."

"9

Meng Jiang didn't touch the folder, he just looked at him.

"Tell me what you've been hiding from me first."

Wu Liang smiled.

"Captain Meng, that's too harsh. We're here to report on our work; how can you call it concealment?"

Don't try to play games with me.

Meng Jiang's eyes had become sharp, as if he could see right through Wu Liang.

"You just said on the phone yesterday that Lin Zhiyi was willing to cooperate, and this morning you and Xiao Li came over with supplementary verification materials. Logically speaking, this is a good thing."

"But the way you two are doing right now doesn't seem like a good thing."

Li Mu looked at Wu Liang.

Wu Liang did not speak immediately.

The silence that lasted a few seconds caused Meng Jiang's expression to darken completely.

"Is it related to the team?"

Wu Liang sighed inwardly.

There's a reason why some people can become team leaders.

He didn't speak.

Sometimes, silence itself is the answer.

Meng Jiang's face quickly turned cold.

"A mole?"

Li Mu's fist, hanging at his side, gradually clenched.

Wu Liang leaned back in his chair and finally spoke.

"There's a clue."

Meng Jiang stared at him.

"Who?"

"I can't say."

Meng Jiang narrowed his eyes.

"Wu Liang, do you know who you're talking to?"

"I know." Wu Liang nodded. "That's why I only said this much."

Meng Jiang did not immediately lose his temper.

He looked at Wu Liang, as if trying to discern the meaning behind those words.

Wu Liang pushed the folder on the table forward a little.

"Captain Meng, it's only natural that you want to know the name right now. But cases aren't solved based on human nature."

Meng Jiang remained silent.

Wu Liang continued, "We currently only have indications, not evidence. There are no clear call records, no financial transactions, no audio or video recordings, and no directly verifiable chain of behavior."

"If we reveal the name now, the outcome won't be good."

"Even if you can resist the urge to investigate, your attitude will definitely change."

Meng Jiang's eyes flickered slightly.

Wu Liang looked at him and sighed.

"And as long as your attitude changes, that person will definitely notice."