Chapter 443: The Paparazzi Who Was One Step Ahead

Translator: Azza

Editor: Conspiracing

Back at the bureau, the third team also recovered a gun today. The task force put up a white board in the office. They could intuitively see that nine[1] guns had already been found from what was presented on the board. The chief was also very satisfied with the result. They had already recovered more than[2] half in three days, so he hoped everyone could continue to work hard.

Seeing that it was almost 4:00, Chen Shi said, "It seems like there’s not much left for today. I’ll take my leave first."

"You’re leaving early!" Lin Dongxue said.

"I'm not a policeman. What can you do about it?"

"Wait for me to get off work together."

"I’ve got some business to attend to. Sorry, I’ll have to leave first... I’ll pick you up at your house tomorrow morning."

Since Chen Shi didn’t wait for her to leave work, it made her a little unhappy. She scrunched up a ball of paper and threw it at him to show her dissatisfaction.

Chen Shi went directly to the detective office, pushed the door in, and found that Tao Yueyue was reading on the sofa. kk wasn’t there and Sun Zhen was playing games at the computer. Tao Yueyue put down the book. "Uncle Chen, why are you here?"

"I knew you’d be here. I have some business where I have to look for these two."

Knowing his intentions, Sun Zhen pushed his glasses up and said, "I’ve checked the personal information of the gunmen you sent me. They don’t seem to have anything in common."

"What about Zhou Tiannan’s side of things?"

Sun Zhen shook his head. "His personal computer and mobile phone can't be hacked at all. This man is more skillful than me and has a tight defense."

"I don't think he’s just better than you in this respect. He’s also very good at gathering intelligence. Otherwise, how could he find so many people to post pistols to?"

"Brother Chen, how is the case going?"

"We’ve found more than[3] half."

"The police are pretty fast! I was wondering if this case wasn’t related to Zhou... Zhou Tiannan." Although his brainwashing effect had already been lifted, he still stuttered when speaking the word. "Doesn’t he have a group?"

"Do you think our ‘old friends’ would do this kind of thing?"

Sun Zhen thought about it and shook his head. "Ask Miss Gu. She knows more than me."

“Where’s kk?"

"He’s out."

Speak of Cao Cao and Cao Cao arrives. kk's voice came from the other side of the door, "Who’s missing me? Brother Chen, you're a rare guest!"

"Did you find anything?" Looking at kk's delighted expression, it was likely that there was a major discovery.

"Hehe, I just slipped into Zhou Tiannan's house and found this." He threw an envelope on the table.

Chen Shi picked it up and saw sixteen photos. In addition to the nine known gunmen, there were also seven strangers of which included both men and women. He was very excited and said, "This is Zhou Tiannan's mailing list!"[4]

"Isn’t it a great achievement? How are you going to reward me?" kk said with a grin.

"Material reward! By the way, why did you take out the photos? What if it’s found out?"

"I didn't think that much!" kk scratched his head.

"Apart from this, was there anything special in his room?"

"No, a single teacher's room is so clean and tidy. You can't tell that this guy is rich."

"Where were the photos found?"

"In the drawer!"

"Was it locked?"

"No, it opened when I pulled it."

Chen Shi took the photos in his hands and slapped them. Was this a trap since they were able to obtain the information so easily? But in any case, the photos of the eight known gunmen were on the top, indicating that Zhou Tiannan was definitely responsible for this incident.

He immediately took photos of the sixteen photos, sent them to Lin Qiupu, and asked him to investigate the remaining seven people.

kk proposed, "It's rare that everyone is here. Should we go out for a meal?"

Sun Zhen asked, "Should we call Miss Gu?"

"You think about her all day long. She already has a boyfriend."

"Who says she has a boyfriend? You?"

"If you don’t believe me, you can ask Brother Chen."

"Brother Chen, is this really the case?"

𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Chen Shi said, "It's almost 6:00. Let's go for a meal. I’ve been exhausted today. Perfect time for relaxing."

The next morning, Chen Shi went to the bureau. Lin Qiupu called him and asked, "Where did you get the photos from yesterday?"

"Can I keep it secret?"

"Judging by your tone, it wouldn’t have been from a serious channel, right? Just say it. I won’t hold you accountable."

"I hired a private investigator and stole it from Zhou Tiannan's house. Does it count as very important material?"

Lin Qiupu crossed his arms and remained silent for a long while. "You... You asked someone to steal it?"

"You said you wouldn’t hold me accountable."

"This kind of evidence is not legal at all!"

"But anyway, Zhou Tiannan had these 16 photos on hand, indicating that he’s involved in the case... Did you send someone to monitor Zhou Tiannan yet?"

"No. This case is so taxing that there’s no extra manpower at all.”

"Have the photos been checked?"

"We’re still investigating them. Don't do this kind of thing in the future. If we get caught and have it held against us, we’ll be out of luck!”

Chen Shi smiled slightly. "This is just a private action by me, a citizen. How can it affect Captain Lin?"

"Yes, private actions. Stealing things and breaking the law, you know? I’ll let it go this time, but if I find out next time, I’ll detain you for three days."

Chen Shi saluted. "Understood. I’ll go to the office and play Lianliankan[5]... Ah, no, I mean stand by!”

Lin Qiupu was slightly puzzled. Why was this driver’s saluting posture so on point? He wouldn’t have been a policeman previously, right?

Chen Shi lay in the office playing Lianliankan the whole morning. Lin Dongxue was shopping on Taobao on her phone. Xu Xiaodong opposite them looked serious while looking at cat food on the Internet. Old Zhang took out some yarn needles out of nowhere and started working on something in a corner. All the other officers also busied themselves with other things. The atmosphere was peaceful and harmonious.

Xu Xiaodong suddenly said, "Hey, it’s the news of the two pistol cases yesterday."

Everyone gathered to read this news. The news came out really fast. There were also photos at the scene attached, but the article was overly exaggerated. Lin Dongxue asked, "Were there reporters at the scene yesterday? Why didn’t I see them?"

"There were so many people at the scene taking photos with their mobile phones. Maybe they were photos provided by the masses?"

Chen Shi said, "No, something’s not right. There were indeed many people who were at the hot pot restaurant, but the case at the neighborhood was only known by the people in that community and there were no outsiders at the scene... Look at this picture. It was taken from outside the window. It should have been taken with a telephoto lens on the building opposite."

Old Zhang said, "I heard that there is a profession called freelance journalists which specializes in collecting news materials and selling them to newspapers."

Chen Shi pondered, "But this guy is so fast. Did he tap through to the police radio station?"

The so-called freelance journalists were actually just paparazzi who eavesdropped on telephones and radios, forging press and media cards and using any means necessary to get what they want. Chen Shi suddenly had an idea come to him. Would the person who provided the leads know what was going on?

Right now there were seven guns still on the loose. A glimmer of hope was also hope. He said decisively, "Dongxue, let's go to the neighborhood to investigate."

1. Editor Conspiracing’s note: The author wrote eight guns here. However, there should be nine. One gun given to Wang Xu (Chapter 429) One gun given to a drug dealer and recovered (Chapter 431) Two other missing guns found by team three (Chapter 431) Hostage situation in the subway (Chapter 432) Inpatient center of a hospital (Chapter 433) Hot pot restaurant (Chapter 438) “Cheating” Husband (Chapter 440) Another gun found by team 3 (Chapter 443)

2. The autor just wrote half here, but if there’s nine, then it’s more than half.

3. As above.

4. Numbers here have been changed due to the problem listed in the notes above.

5. The tile connecting game he played previously.