novelraw Chapter 476 - 282: Owner Xiao Dan
Chapter 476 - 282: Owner Xiao Dan
"Okay."
Li Xiang kept Jiang Tuo, and out of respect, consulted him about opinions and staff arrangements.
"Captain Li, I have no objections. Including me, our task force has thirty-two people, and we will follow your command completely."
"Alright, I plan to split the team into three groups: one group for surveillance video, specializing in reconstructing people’s activity trajectories, one group for information, responsible for tracking them online, and the last group for fieldwork, which is the largest group, tasked with verifying the findings of the other two groups."
Li Xiang shared his pre-decided plan with Jiang Tuo and coordinated the personnel: "You can arrange your people. For now, this is the temporary arrangement."
"Okay, I’ll go organize it now."
The arrival of the task force provided strong support for the guidance team, enhancing their investigative strength. In just one day, good news came from various groups.
"Li Xiaofang’s last phone signal was emitted from the base station of Building 9 in Xingyue Lake District. I’ve already contacted the field group to check it out."
"Investigate discreetly, don’t alert them."
Field Group: "Understood."
"Captain Li, Ma Chengjun and that woman drove a black Volkswagen out of Celestial Water Garden, circled around the city, then went to the outskirts and disappeared. I checked the license plate; it’s a fake plate. But there’s a small ornament on the dashboard."
"Keep an eye on it, share the vehicle’s information in the group. When the field group investigates, pay attention and also check what car they drive when they go to the housing transaction center."
"Yes."
Li Xiang and the others stayed to oversee command, while Yang Ming and others were assigned to the field group.
"Let’s go to Xingyue Lake District."
Yang Ming put down his phone after receiving the task to investigate at Xingyue Lake District.
The last call from Li Xiaofang’s phone was made to the new landlord, with the signal emanating from Building 9’s base station in Xingyue Lake District.
The base station of Building 9 covers three buildings: Buildings 9, 10, and 11.
In other words, the woman who called the new landlord from Li Xiaofang’s phone was in that area at the time.
Yang Ming and his team brought screenshots from the surveillance footage at Celestial Water Garden during the handover. Though both individuals were wearing masks, the technical department enhanced the images, making them much clearer than the original footage.
They first went to the property management office at Xingyue Lake District and found the guard at the entrance, showing him the screenshot and asking: "Hello, we’re from the police department and would like to ask you something. Have you seen the people in this photo before?"
The security guard, eager to help the police, took the photo for a closer look.
"I’ve seen these two before, but they were wearing masks, so it’s not very clear."
The guard held the photo, frowning and examining it for quite some time. Due to the masks and the top-down angle of the surveillance footage, it was hard to see clearly.
"Have you seen this car?"
Yang Ming quickly showed the photo of the car.
For the security guard, cars come and go in the community, and if a car frequently passes under their watchful eyes, they can usually remember it.
Some guards, who do their job well, even know which family the car belongs to.
"Haven’t seen it before, wait a minute..."
The guard was just about to say he hadn’t seen it, but after taking a closer look at the photo, he confidently said, "I’ve seen this car, but for some reason, the license plate was different."
Yang Ming felt a rush of excitement but still asked, "Are you sure?"
"I’m sure. I definitely wouldn’t mistake that ornament in his car. Last time he came to our community, we didn’t let him in, and he directly crashed into our barrier. This guy is outrageously arrogant."
"He’s not an owner here?"
"Definitely not, he came to find someone. We asked him to come down and register, but he didn’t. Instead, he broke our barrier bar and later paid 500 yuan to settle it."
"Do you know who he was looking for? Do you have his contact information?"
Hearing the security guard, Yang Ming suppressed the excitement in his heart and continued to ask.
"You’ll have to speak with our manager about that."
Subsequently, the security guard led them to the property service center and found their manager.
The manager, after learning of the police’s request, was very cooperative.
"Are you looking for him? He’s a friend of our owner in Room 701 of Building 10. They came here by car and had an argument with the guard at the entrance, then hit and broke our barrier bar. Later the owner came down to have a word, and it was privately settled for 500 yuan."
"Which apartment owner?"
"The owner of Room 701 in Building 10, Xiaodan, she’s quite pretty."
"Is it her?"
At this moment, Yang Ming took out the photo of the masked woman to show the manager.
"Yes, it’s her. That man beside her is the one who hit our barrier."
The manager recognized the person at a glance.
"Could you please provide us with Xiaodan’s detailed information?"
"Sure."
The manager was highly cooperative and quickly pulled out Xiaodan’s file.
Upon obtaining the information, Yang Ming immediately contacted Li Xiang.
"Captain Li, we’ve made a discovery. I’ve found the woman impersonating Li Xiaofang. Her name is Ye Dan. I’ve sent you her ID number."
"Good, well done. Keep tailing them but make sure not to alert them."
"Understood."
After receiving the information, Li Xiang immediately accessed the police household registration system and retrieved Ye Dan’s file.
Name: Ye Dan
Age: 34
Residence: Fuhui City
Marital Status: Divorced
Occupation: Unemployed
Phone Number: 131****8278
...
"Qi Liyan, monitor this phone number. Check who she is frequently in contact with, and monitor her bank transactions as well."
With Ye Dan’s identity surfaced, how far were the police from capturing Ma Chengjun?
"Understood."
As Qi Liyan delved deeper into the investigation, a man with frequent contact with Ye Dan appeared on her list.
"Xu Zesheng, 41 years old, from Yun Province. I compared his image using facial recognition with Ma Chengjun’s old photos. The similarity is as high as 87%. He should be Ma Chengjun’s new identity after going clean."
"Notify the field group to immediately monitor the movements of Ma Chengjun and Ye Dan and wait for the capture order."
The suspect finally surfaced. Whether it was the guidance team or the task force, everyone felt a simmering intensity. This fugitive, who escaped capture for three years, might have continued to stay hidden if he hadn’t acted again.
-----------------
Xingyue Lake District.
At this moment, Building 10 was already under police surveillance.
Li Xiang led the core team members to the scene and found Yang Ming: "How’s the situation?"
"Half an hour ago, Ma Chengjun and Ye Dan went upstairs."
"Good, prepare for the capture operation."
Confirming that Ma Chengjun and Ye Dan were in the room, Li Xiang prepared to capture them: "It’s unclear if the suspect is armed. Everyone, stay alert, check your weapons, and be fully prepared."
"Understood."
The capture team, led by Li Xiang followed by Jiang Tuo, He Wenqiu, and other elites, checked their guns and went up through the fire escape.
At the door of Room 701, Li Xiang signaled everyone to stop, cleared his throat, and knocked on the door: "Hello, we’re from the property management. We’re here to check for a reported water leak in your bathroom."
Ye Dan was just about to open the door when Ma Chengjun stopped her: "Wait."
"What’s wrong?"
"Property management usually calls before they come over, right? Besides, how could they know just as we got back?"
Ma Chengjun’s intuition told him that something was wrong.
Especially when they drove in today, the guard at the gate gave him an extra glance. That hadn’t happened before.
Connecting the dots, he concluded that he was being watched.
At this thought, he opened the coffee table drawer, took out a Black Star pistol, and quietly approached the door, peering out through the peephole.