Chapter 3

“...But there's something I find strange. On my first day, the boss told us never to go into the basement. He said it was storage.”

“But I've never seen anyone take stock down there. New equipment goes in the warehouse by the back door.”

“I haven't stopped thinking about it for two days. Can't eat, can't sleep. That's all I know. Captain Lu, I really don't know anything else. I didn't kill her. Please let me go.”

By the end, tears had filled his eyes.

An unexpected breakthrough.

I'd seen the market's business registration file.

There'd been no mention of a basement.

In other words, it might be where she'd been killed.

“All right. You're fine. Don't tell anyone you met us today. If you're still worried, come to the unit. We'll protect you.”

I suppressed my excitement and patted his shoulder.

Only then did his expression ease a little.

After seeing him off, Xiao Cheng and I returned to the market at midnight.

Almost no one remained.

Only a few night-shift employees yawning by the entrance.

We talked briefly and agreed.

Whatever it took, tonight we had to enter the basement he'd mentioned.

If we found evidence, every secret would come to light.

Getting in was easier than we'd expected.

With barely any effort, we reached the basement.

The staircase was long, narrow, and steep, its steps uneven.

It didn't look like part of the original construction.

More as though someone had dug and built it afterward, without much care.

The stairwell was dark and enclosed.

Neither of us spoke.

We could both smell the heavy blood odor seeping through the closed door below.

The moment we opened it, foul air flooded my lungs.

I nearly vomited.

Quickly covering my nose and mouth, I reached for the light switch.

I have to admit it.

When I saw the whole basement, my mind went blank.

A stark white surgical lamp hung overhead.

Blood had soaked into the cracks between the wall tiles, mixing with earth in red-black patches that gave off a thick, bloody stench.

Blood-speckled scalpels lay carelessly in a porcelain basin.

In the sink, pooled blood had spoiled into a thick, jellylike mass.

A rusty operating table stood in the center.

Long exposure to blood had corroded its surface into purple-red patches.

The leather covering had been soaked so many times that overlapping stains hid its original color.

The jars and bottles on the shelves were empty, but still carried the smell of fresh blood and rotting bodies.

Liquid left in their bottoms seemed to tell us what they were really for.

Organs.

Fresh organs, some still beating, torn from living bodies and placed in those jars.

Preservative poured in.

Then shipped overseas to the black market.

The victims had only one fate.

Death.

Fighting the cramping in our stomachs, we called the unit.

Within half an hour, a team of detectives, forensic pathologists, and trace-evidence specialists descended on the market.

Seeing so many people, Yu Tian panicked.

He planted himself in the doorway and shamelessly refused to move.

Until I held up the bloodstained scalpel.

He stepped aside at once.

“The truth will be out soon. The filthy things you've done will come to light today.”

Staring at him and thinking of the victims, I felt anger burn inside me.

“That's slander! If you can't prove I did it, I'll sue you!”

His eyes were bloodshot, his voice hoarse.

I snorted.

The evidence was plain as day.

He couldn't deny it this time.

Sure enough, the examination confirmed traces of the victim on the instruments.

They even found a piece of her fingernail caught in the operating table.

Perhaps she'd left it while struggling as her organs were removed.

I looked hopefully at Xiao Cheng.

Now, if we could lift prints from the scalpel, we could track the real killer.

But when the second forensic report arrived, I was stunned.

The DNA collected from the surgical instruments belonged to Xiao Wang.

That meant the man linked to the organ-trafficking organization, possibly even the one performing the operations himself, was Xiao Wang.

The evidence sat before me, hard as iron.

I couldn't accept it.

What I expected even less was Tang Lin immediately announcing the case closed after hearing the result.

“I can't accept this!”

Standing at his desk, I struggled to contain myself.

“Have you ever seen a thief point the police straight at himself? Wang Wuyu told me about the basement. No matter how stupid he was, he wouldn't lead himself to the execution block!”

Tang Lin's face darkened.

“What's so strange? You're new to the job, Lu. You haven't met criminals like this. Some look respectable. Some are refined and gentle. Does that change their crimes? You can't judge people like that by ordinary logic.”

He pointed at my nose.

“It's been almost a week since this case began. It's seriously damaged public order, confidence, and the government's reputation.”

“What matters now is restoring stability and stopping public opinion from flaring up further. We have clear evidence Wang Wuyu is the killer. If you won't charge him, who else are you planning to make the criminal?”

“But we can't put an innocent man forward as a scapegoat! This happened in Yu Tian's market. I don't believe he knew nothing.”

Tang Lin's brows twitched.

He drew a deep breath, as though making a decision.

Then he opened a drawer, took out a file envelope, and pushed it toward me.

“All right. I understand.”

“But you should know you searched without authorization that day. Yu Tian's filed a complaint for unlawful conduct and slander. I've suppressed it for now.”

“If you don't want to lose your uniform, stop drawing so much attention.”

His voice softened.

“I brought you up from investigator to captain myself. Don't fall here.”

Looking at the envelope, I was moved despite myself.

I understood.

Closing the case was only to give the higher-ups an answer.

If I investigated quietly, he'd turn a blind eye.

The envelope contained every change in Yu Tian's assets over the past three years.

From buying the computer market to every hard-drive shipment.

Not a detail missing.

Xiao Cheng and I spent all night analyzing the documents.

At last, our attention settled on the same place.

An old warehouse on the outskirts.

According to the file, it had been sold to Yu Tian with the computer market two years earlier.

What troubled us was its location.

Warehouses normally stood near transport hubs to reduce shipping costs.

This one was remote.

No railway station.

No airport.

No harbor.

Not even a bus stop.

The access road was full of potholes.

Whenever it rained, it flooded and became impassable for trucks.

According to the records, it stored damaged goods and scrap.

Yet over the past two years, every two or three months, a shipment of computer towers had gone overseas.

Foreign companies weren't fools.

Why keep importing scrap?

We tried to check the destination.

That part of the file was missing.

With no other choice, we went to the warehouse ourselves.

The caretaker was nearly sixty.

Seeing us, he casually tossed over the office key and returned to the guard hut to sleep.

Xiao Cheng gave a wry smile.

“With security like this, will we really find anything?”

“We're here. Might as well look.”

I smiled awkwardly too, more puzzled than ever.

Inside the office, Xiao Cheng turned on the computer and looked surprised.

“Huh? Pretty good specs. Ordinary case, but the components are all the latest models. If that's what they're exporting, it's not impossible.”

He expertly checked the system.

Even I, who knew nothing about computers, could see it was far more powerful than the ancient machine in our unit office.

Soon, he found the shipment records.

Just as we were about to open the file, the computer crackled.

The screen went black.

“What happened? Didn't you say it was a good machine?”

I stared.

Frowning, Xiao Cheng removed the case panel.

A burnt smell filled the room.

“Damn! Latest models, all right, but faulty parts that should've been scrapped. The motherboard's fried!”

He covered his nose in disgust.

Looking at the blackened board, I silently cursed our luck.

A wasted trip.

“There are new towers over there. Bring one over. We're not leaving empty-handed today.”

He removed the broken board, pushed the computer aside, and pointed to the sealed towers in the corner.

Then he went over and opened a box.

“Shit! Give me a hand! It's heavy!”

Bent over, he tugged at it and was soon panting.

I hurried to help.

The moment I touched it, I felt something wrong.

The tower was incredibly heavy.

As though full of stones.

“Yu Tian must've stuffed rocks in it.”

After a great deal of effort, we got it into place.

Still catching his breath, Xiao Cheng plugged in the power and pressed the button.

This machine was even worse.

The screen didn't so much as light up.

No matter how often he tried, nothing happened.

“Damn it! This heap of junk!”

Angrily, he hit the case.

Thump.

Both of us froze.

It wasn't the hollow sound of an ordinary computer tower.

It was solid and heavy.