Spy Under Sky Chapter 9

As Marcus Zhou gave orders one after another, the case handling team members in the conference room, including Oliver Wang, kept taking orders and leaving. Soon, the conference room was empty, with only Marcus Zhou, Henry Du and Gavin Lin sitting there.

Marcus Zhou was very busy with official duties, and he was able to spare most of the day to attend the case meeting, which was already a great favor to Cao Huowang. In addition to being the Chief Inspector of the Provincial Police Department's Inspectorate, Henry Du also had another more important identity, the Chief of the Intelligence Department's Hangzhou Station, and his official duties might even be busier than Marcus Zhou. It was naturally impossible for the two of them to be at the forefront of the large-scale search operation like Oliver Wang and Rao Xiaodong.

What made Marcus Zhou feel strange was that, as a consultant on the case, Gavin Lin did not even propose to join any task force to participate in the search operation while he was giving orders. Instead, he chose to stay in the meeting room like the two of them.

Could it be that Gavin Lin didn't want to experience the pleasure of personally hunting down the murderer according to his analysis? Perhaps in his opinion, after analyzing the case, his mission as a consultant was over?

Marcus Zhou thought to himself, but he stood up and stretched out his hand to Gavin Lin, "Gavin Lin, thank you for your help this time! When the murderer is arrested, I will personally commend you in front of Deputy Director Cao and Mr. Duan!"

However, he didn't expect that even when he stretched out his hand in front of Gavin Lin, Gavin Lin just sat there without any reaction.

Marcus Zhou took a closer look and found that Gavin Lin's brows were tightly furrowed and he kept whispering. Listening carefully, he found that he was repeating the three words "that's not right".

No? What's wrong?

Marcus Zhou was about to ask Gavin Lin what was wrong, but he saw Gavin Lin slap the table and suddenly stood up, "Principal Zhou, I'm sorry, we have been ignoring this until the student discovered it."

Marcus Zhou was startled by Gavin Lin and took a half step back before asking, "What did you overlook?"

"Dragon Club!" Gavin Lin spat out three words.

"Long Hui?" Marcus Zhou and Henry Du exchanged glances.

The Dragon Society, also known as the Water Dragon Society, was a civilian firefighting organization in Hangzhou at the time. It had similar functions to the later fire brigade, except that it was a voluntary firefighting organization spontaneously formed by the public. Because firefighting equipment was called "dragon" at the time, such as the "dragon lift" that was carried by people to discharge water, the "dragon tow" that was pulled by more than a dozen people, the mechanized automobile "foreign dragon", the semi-mechanized "pump dragon" and "butterfly dragon", etc., the firefighting organization was called the "Dragon Society". Although the new name "firefighting" has appeared after the Revolution of 1911, the people are still accustomed to using the name "Dragon Society" verbally.

Because the residential buildings in Hangzhou during this period were very dilapidated, with thatched fences and wooden sheds everywhere, once a fire broke out, the entire area would be affected and the losses would be particularly serious. Especially in the cold winter and spring, fires caused by people trying to keep warm were very frequent, so every neighborhood had a Water Dragon Society composed of firefighters who were ready to put out fires at any time.

"Yes, the Dragon Society!" Gavin Lin nodded and said, "Principal Zhou, I just thought of this as well. You should also know that the firefighters of the Dragon Society are mostly strong scaffold builders, masons and carpenters. Because they are not only good at climbing, but also have a better understanding of building construction, and know where to start when putting out a fire."

Marcus Zhou and Henry Du's eyes couldn't help but light up.

That's right! How come they didn't think of this? The firefighters in the Water Dragon Society do have many carpenters and masons, and most importantly, they are physically strong.

Gavin Lin continued, "Captain Wang also arranged for someone to question Grant Cao before. Neither Grant Cao's own home nor the Cao family ancestral hall had any plans to build wooden furniture to repair the house. The carpenters and plasterers who were familiar with Cao Ada were also ruled out as suspects. So I am wondering, can we assume that the murderer who killed Cao Ada was actually a plasterer or carpenter who had just met Cao Ada?"

"If that's really the case, then what kind of mason or carpenter could open the door of the ancestral hall at midnight and let Cao Ada in without any qualms after just meeting him?"

Gavin Lin answered his own question: "I think the answer is the carpenters or masons who serve as firefighters in the Shuilong Society. Because in addition to putting out fires, they also regularly inspect buildings on the street to find fire hazards. Maybe the murderer met Cao Ada during the first fire hazard inspection of the Cao Family Ancestral Hall. It was during that inspection that he saw the dozen or so ancestral tablets inlaid with gold foil and pure silver incense burners enshrined in the main hall of the ancestral hall, and he was tempted by the money."

"Then he knocked on the door of the Cao Family Ancestral Hall in the middle of the night three days ago, saying that he had found sparks or flames in the Cao Family Ancestral Hall during his night patrol, and tricked Cao Ada into opening the door. He then strangled Cao Ada with a rope in the main hall and stole the dozen ancestral tablets and the pure silver incense burner."

Hearing this, Marcus Zhou slapped his thigh and said excitedly: "So now we just need to send people to the Water Dragon Society that is responsible for the firefighting work in the Cao Family Ancestral Hall to investigate which B@st@ard the Water Dragon Society recently sent to the Cao Family Ancestral Hall to conduct a fire hazard inspection. As long as we catch this B@st@ard, the truth about the theft and murder case in the Cao Family Ancestral Hall will be revealed, right?"

"Students cannot guarantee that the truth will be revealed 100%," Gavin Lin said, "but we can only say that there is a high probability that the truth will be revealed."

"Gavin Lin, Gavin Lin, what's wrong with your brain? You're damn smart!" Marcus Zhou cursed excitedly and slapped Gavin Lin's shoulder heavily with his big hand. "Don't bother two people with the same thing. I think the investigation of the Water Dragon Society will be handed over to you!"

He did not allow Gavin Lin to refuse and immediately shouted outside the conference room: "Ye Luping!"

"Here!" A calm and capable young policeman in his twenties walked in from outside. Gavin Lin immediately recognized this young policeman as the driver of Marcus Zhou's Buick sedan today.

Marcus Zhou pointed at Ye Luping and introduced him to Gavin Lin: "Gavin Lin, his name is Ye Luping, he is my driver and my personal guard. I will now hand him over to you for command."

Then Marcus Zhou ordered Ye Luping, "Ye Luping, go to the duty office immediately to gather a team of police officers and follow Consultant Lin to investigate the case. You must obey Consultant Lin's command throughout the process and not be negligent, otherwise I will skin you alive!"

Ye Luping had been with Marcus Zhou for nearly five years, so he naturally understood his superior's character. Seeing Marcus Zhou's serious words, he certainly didn't dare to neglect them, and immediately ran out to the duty office to gather a team of policemen, and then, under the leadership of Gavin Lin, they rushed towards Yongjin Road with murderous intent!