nashuaworldcup Chapter 1000 Murder Case - The Opportunity
Chapter 1000 Murder Case - The Opportunity
The cigarette burned, wisps of smoke curling between his fingers, the nicotine sizzling as it burned.
Ma Dazhi sat in his office lost in thought for a long time, until a cigarette burned out and burned his fingers before he came back to his senses.
"Dong dong dong" the knock on the door sounded.
"Come in!" Ma Dazhi shouted, throwing his cigarette butt into the ashtray.
Chu Jianghe, an employee of the General Affairs Section of the Police Department, walked in holding a folder and stood at attention, saying, "Chief Inspector, there is a document here that needs your signature."
"Hmm, let me see."
Ma Dazhi took the folder, opened it, and looked through it carefully. He picked up a Parker pen, signed his name, closed the folder, and handed it back. After a moment of thought, he asked, "Xiao Chu, do you know what the price of rice is on the market today?"
Chu Jianghe was taken aback, then smiled and said, "Chief Inspector, I actually know about this. I went to the rice shop this morning to buy rice. I went to several shops, and the prices were all about the same. The price of brown rice is 42.4 yuan per dou, and the price of high-quality japonica rice is 44 yuan per dou!"
"Hiss—so one load costs 440 yuan?" Ma Dazhi gasped.
Chu Jianghe sighed, "That's right. Not to mention ordinary working-class families, even our small-time office worker families can only afford to eat thin porridge and pickled vegetables for every meal now!"
"Before, we couldn't afford rice, so we could only buy sweet potatoes, cornmeal, and potatoes. We had to ask people to bring the rice we ate from the countryside. Rice was much cheaper in the countryside than on this isolated island. But after the Japanese discovered this, they increased their checks, and we couldn't bring rice in anymore."
Ma Dazhi suddenly felt immense pressure. How was he supposed to complete the task of purchasing 100 million shi of rice?
He casually asked, "Xiao Chu, do you think it's possible to buy one million shi of rice?"
Chu Jianghe was stunned, then laughed and said, "Chief Inspector, are you joking? Most of the grain in the occupied areas is controlled by the puppet grain bureau and the Japanese. It's impossible to purchase so much rice from the market unless we can establish a connection between the puppet grain bureau and the Japanese military supply depot and get it from them."
What was said casually was taken seriously by Ma Dazhi. His mind suddenly cleared. As long as he had a goal, that was good. He had memorized the names of the puppet grain bureau and the Japanese military supply depot. It wasn't impossible to find a way to achieve this.
Of course, he couldn't do this himself; he had to find a middleman to handle the arrangements on his behalf.
"Alright, go ahead!"
"Yes!"
After Chu Jianghe left the office, Ma Dazhi walked to the window and thought about how to proceed. First, he needed to send someone to investigate who the director of the puppet grain bureau was and who the person in charge of the Japanese military supply and logistics grain depot was. He needed to find out if these two people were greedy, what their hobbies were, who their families were, and whether they had powerful backers. All of these things needed to be investigated thoroughly.
"Furthermore, we need to find a reliable front man. This front man must have a certain status and wealth, and be qualified to meet the director of the puppet grain bureau and the person in charge of the Japanese military logistics grain depot. Ordinary small fry won't do. Their status and position are too different. They can't even meet the people, let alone talk about building connections or going through back doors."
"Ding-ling-ling..." The phone on the desk rang.
Ma Dazhi turned around, walked over, and picked up the phone: "Hello?"
"Chief Inspector, there's been a murder at the Broadway theater. The victim was a Japanese employee of Mitsui & Co.!" A police sergeant's urgent voice came through the phone.
Upon hearing this, Ma Dazhi immediately tensed up. It would be understandable if it were anyone else who died, but it was a Japanese soldier who died. In such a sensitive period, the pressure that the police department would face was unimaginable.
He immediately asked, "Have you sent anyone over?"
The sheriff on the other end of the phone said, "The police have already sent people over and cordoned off the scene."
"Okay, I'm on my way!" Ma Dazhi said and hung up the phone. He took his coat off the hanger, put it on, put on his police cap, took out his service pistol, put it in its holster, and went out.
Once downstairs, a call was given, and a team of armed police officers quickly assembled. Led by Ma Dazhi, they climbed into a police car and headed to Broadway.
When we arrived at Broadway, a large crowd of residents had already gathered at the entrance to watch the spectacle. Police tape kept people outside the theater doors, and several armed police officers stood guard to prevent anyone from breaking through the cordon.
Sergeant Lin Changle, who had made the phone call, was already waiting at the door. As soon as Ma Dazhi got out of the car, he immediately went up to him and said, "Chief Inspector!"
Ma Dazhi asked, "What are the specific details?"
"The deceased was named Yokota Haruno, a deputy manager in the purchasing department of Mitsui & Co. According to our interviews with residents who were watching the play at the time of the incident, it can be confirmed that someone had a conflict with Yokota Haruno because of the female lead on stage. This person was named Liu Guowu, the only son of Liu Changhe, a bigwig in the Green Gang."
"The situation at the time was that Yokota Haruno made harassing and insulting gestures towards a female opera performer, which angered the audience, including Liu Guowu. Liu Guowu angrily rebuked Yokota, who then pulled out a pistol to threaten him. Liu Guowu also drew his gun, and the two exchanged fire."
"As a result, Yokota shot and wounded Liu Guowu, while Liu fired a bullet that killed Yokota. Realizing the gravity of the situation, Liu immediately turned and fled."
By this time, everyone had entered the theater, and the police were investigating the scene.
Ma Dazhi went to the scene and examined the body and the pistol, bloodstains, and shell casings on the ground.
"Have you sent anyone to arrest Liu Guowu?"
Lin Changle replied, "Not yet. Liu Changhe has several hundred ruthless men under his command. I'm worried that sending people to arrest him rashly would cause things to get out of control. What do you think we should do about this?"
Ma Dazhi asked, "If the Japanese send people to put pressure on us and demand an explanation, and we know who the murderer is but don't arrest him, how can we explain this to the French? If we can't explain it, we'll all be skinned alive."
"I hereby order a team of police officers to be dispatched immediately to Liu Changhe's mansion to arrest him. We cannot let him escape!"
Lin Changhe stood at attention and said, "Yes, sir!"
As Ma Dazhi had guessed, upon learning that his man had died in a theater in the French Concession, a high-ranking Japanese official quickly arrived with his entourage at the Municipal Council to exert pressure, demanding that the police solve the case within three days. He also threatened that if the murderer was not severely punished, they would resort to extreme measures.
The French in the Municipal Council didn't dare to offend the Japanese, and they couldn't afford to offend them now either. So they could only give the police a strict order to solve the case within a specified time!
The murderer, Liu Guowu, knew that things had gotten too big and that it was not safe to stay in the Liu Mansion. Therefore, under the arrangement of his father, Liu Changhe, he prepared to escape from Shanghai and seek refuge in Jiangzhou.
However, Liu Guowu's escape route and timing were discovered by an insider planted in Liu's mansion by Liu Changhe's enemies. The news reached Liu's enemies and was quickly relayed to the police station. The police officers swiftly mobilized and arrested Liu Guowu at a remote dock.