Fire to the Abyss

It was really hard for Xia Yan to refuse Gao Jijun's kindness. Considering that Nine couldn't lose it for a while, he had to bite the bullet and go to the Cangcheng Hotel for a lunch. I stared blankly.

Yang Ming gnawed on a pig's trotter and asked, "Captain Xia, why didn't you have breakfast today?"

Xia Yan replied while picking up the rice: "Well, I drank a bowl of porridge in the morning, and I digested it before I got to the team."

Yang Ming looked at Xia Yan, and suddenly remembered something. He put his oily hand on Xia Yan's forehead, and Xia Yan quickly snapped it down: "Hey, hey, what are you doing?"

Yang Ming withdrew his hand resentfully: "I'll just try to see if your fever has subsided. I handed you over to Brother Lu yesterday. You can't blame me for abandoning you."

Xia Yan took a big bite of a piece of chicken thigh: "This is the guy, treat me like a cat, and cook a little porridge!"

Yang Ming: "Hey, brother Lu can cook porridge!"

Sure enough, the image of Comrade Lu Yuan unable to take care of himself is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

Xia Yan finished eating in two or three mouthfuls, and threw a pack of tissues at Yang Ming: "Why do you care so much? Wipe your hands and get ready to work."

Having said that, Xia Yan suddenly had a thought - the porridge was cooked in the morning, so didn't Lu Yuan stay at his house all the time last night?But the only place where people can lie down at home is his own bed, plus a small sofa.Lu Yuan didn't share a bed with him, so he could only spend the night on the sofa. Even if the heating is turned on in the room, sitting on the small sofa with a thin blanket all night in such a cold day will probably catch cold , let alone a person with a cold virus in the house.

Xia Yan took out his phone and sent Lu Yuan a purely personal message with a businesslike face: "You don't have a cold, do you?"

When Lu Yuan received the message, the corners of his mouth slightly hooked, and he replied to Xia Yan while coughing: "Didn't Team Xia say that this phone is for serious business? Why did you make an exception first and take care of me? I feel uneasy." Got it? I have a serious cold, and I can't get well without your care."

The corner of Xia Yan's mouth twitched for a while, and he replied "Then don't do it", in line with the principle that it's okay if you can still be poor, Xia Yan very coldly snuffed out the phone screen and ignored Lu Yuan.

Nine's hidden unit building is even older than it looks in the photos, and I have to say it's a perfect hideaway.Surrounded by similar old unit buildings, the distance between the buildings is quite narrow, forming many narrow alleys with twists and turns, and those who are not familiar with it may get lost when they go home.The corridors and corridors are also quite narrow, and two people standing side by side can't open their arms, and the countless private sheds and the utility rooms that residents have remodeled at their own corridors have formed countless hiding spaces. Not to mention the roof extending in all directions.It is difficult to effectively concentrate the police force. In a word, the entire terrain is easy to defend and difficult to attack.

The enthusiastic old lady who provided information happened to be going to her daughter's house in the city to celebrate the New Year. Her house was temporarily requisitioned by the Cangcheng detachment, and the criminal police took turns stationed to keep an eye on her.The old lady lived on the first floor, so she could see everyone who went upstairs through the cracks of the decayed wooden door.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, Xia Yan brought several young men from the Chengzhou Detachment to the surveillance location in batches - Gao Jijun offered not to make trouble, which saved Xia Yan some trouble.The old criminal policeman Bai Wenbin who came to open the door saw Xia Yan, he showed his white teeth in a smile, hugged him affectionately by the shoulders and welcomed him into the room: "Old Xia, it really is you, ouch, it's nice to be here, what more do you want?" Wine!"

Having said that, Bai Wenbin took the wine from Xia Yan's hand with bright eyes.

Xia Yan smiled reservedly: "Old Bai, long time no see." Pretending to visit relatives to buy wine, it really looks like that.

There were also two young boys who were unfamiliar with each other in the room. After seeing Xia Yan, they nodded cautiously and greeted Xia Yan.However, neither of them had ever met Xia Yan before, so they didn't know what the background of this handsome and dusty guy was, so one young man got stuck on the word "old", and the other got stuck on the word "Xia". Know how to proceed.

Bai Wenbin grabbed Xia Yan's shoulders: "Come here and let me introduce you. These two are newcomers to our team this year. This is Li Shang, and this is Qian Zhijie—Xiao Li Xiaoqian, this is Chengzhou The leader of the detachment, Xia Yan, is my best buddy, come on, let’s get close and call him Lao Xia.”

The two young men looked at each other, and finally they shouted "Hello, Lao Xia."

Xia Yan maintained a peaceful smile on his face, feeling a little nervous in his heart—he didn't know how he became Bai Wenbin's best buddy, and he didn't know why this old man who seemed to be his father insisted on calling him old man. Xia, is it appropriate for him to be called this for an unmarried and even handsome young man?

Of course, now is not the time to be entangled in addressing. After exchanging pleasantries, Xia Yan quickly got to the point: "What's the situation now? Can we still make it in time to go home for the New Year's Eve dinner?"

Bai Wenbin reluctantly put down the wine: "It's hard to say, I haven't gone out for the past two days, and if we don't find out which room he is hiding in, I'm afraid we will spend the New Year with him here."

Yang Ming: "What? I haven't gone out for two days. I'm afraid we have been exposed, and people have sneaked away?"

Qian Zhijie patted him on the shoulder lightly, signaling him to calm down: "It should not have been exposed. We have been watching him for almost ten days. He usually goes out very rarely. A day or two is really normal."

Xia Yan: "When he went out? Did you find anything?"

Bai Wenbin shook his head: "That son of a bitch is so smart, he is very weird when he goes out, and you all saw the situation outside when you came, there are so many paths. He doesn't take the same way when he goes out or goes home. Every time, people were dumped early. We have so few people in our team, why don’t we just squat here wholeheartedly and wait for foreign aid! We are very cautious, and every time we come to follow up, we are disguised in batches.”

Bai Wenbin gave everyone a cigarette while talking, lit one himself, took a deep breath, and then continued: "The situation here is roughly clear, the four households on the fourth floor belong to one The boss surnamed Liu has now gone to the coast to make a fortune. He handed over the old house under his name to his mother. She was reluctant to sell it, so she rented out the house for a little rent. The old man is almost 404, and has more than a dozen sets The house is rented out, and the rent is collected once a year. I don’t remember who lives in which household. I only know that there are three men and one woman. Women can be excluded. I finally met her just before you came. She lives in [-]. The rest The next three are more difficult to deal with, they all belong to the type that is elusive and doesn’t like to deal with people very much, and now it’s approaching the end of the year, and I haven’t seen the other two for so long, I don’t know if they have returned to their hometown.”

Xia Yan: "The women on the fourth floor should know a little bit, do you know what the other three people look like?"

Bai Wenbin: "Well, everyone's descriptions of their appearance are very different. It's hard to tell whether they are talking about the same person. There are currently two confirmed, one is a middle-aged man with no special features, and the other is a young man who looks like a college student. People. The woman on the fourth floor works in a special place, and she often doesn’t come back to live. She has never seen any of the neighbors. But she said that the people living next door seem to often bring women back, and occasionally they can hear women’s voices, but they can’t distinguish Is it 403 or 401. There are no other clues, Lao Xia, the rest will depend on you."

Xia Yan: "Have you gone up to check the situation? Maybe you can find a lot of clues at the door."

Bai Wenbin: "Oh, how can that be? If he installs a camera at the door, it will be completely exposed. Team Gao specifically told us not to get close."

"Well, yes, it's a good thing Gao Dui is so cautious."

Gao Jijun was bitten by a snake once, but he was afraid of well ropes for ten years.When Xia Yan was in the anti-drug team with Gao Jijun and rounded up a drug dealer, it was because the criminal installed a camera outside the hiding place that Gao Jijun acted in a hurry without knowing the situation, which led to the failure of the operation.Later, the drug dealer had a well-known name-the puppet master's Five.

Xia Yan exhaled a mouthful of smoke rings, and then added the second half of the sentence: "You can't go up directly, you can pretend to go up before going up?"

Bai Wenbin scratched his head in embarrassment: "Hey, you're right, why didn't I think of it?"

Xia Yan almost blurted out the sentence "Because you are stupid", but luckily he still had a good cigarette in his mouth, which could temporarily seal his poisonous tongue.

Li Shang on the side suddenly said: "But, who do you want to pretend to be? It doesn't make sense if you don't know the room number if you are visiting relatives. Looks suspicious without anyone around..."

Before Li Shang finished speaking, there was a sudden rustling sound from the computer.The computer was connected to the camera installed on the old lady's door. Everyone looked around, and there was an old man in ragged clothes, carrying a sack on his shoulder, rummaging in the stairwell, picking up the empty bottles on the ground. Get up and put it in the broken sack on your back.

"It's better to come early than coincidentally, he's the one." Xia Yan walked forward and opened the door while talking.

The little old man was reaching for the cardboard box in the corner when the door next to him suddenly opened.Five or six tall and burly men stared straight at him, and the leader of the one stared blankly at him. The old man was so frightened that his legs trembled on the spot.

Fortunately, these people are not bad people, so they bought his torn clothes and a sack of empty bottles for 200 yuan.The old man took the 200 yuan and walked away happily, feeling that the children in this room may not be able to use their brains well.

Of course Xia Yan wasn't that rich man, Bai Wenbin paid the 200 yuan, and he also donated a set of personal clean clothes for the old man to change into. Holding the old man's tattered clothes, he looked eager to try: "Old Xia, I'll go!"

"Come on, you, how can there be such a big and round old man who picks up waste?" Xia Yan took the clothes mercilessly, swept his gaze from the crowd of people in the room, and finally fell on Li Shang: "Xiao Li, you go up."

Li Shang: "..." His mood was a bit complicated. On the one hand, he knew that this was an honorable task, and on the other hand, he felt deeply depressed about his own image.

Li Shang is not tall, has dark skin, and his hair is naturally curly and neglected. After Xia Yan's "careful grooming", he really looks like an old man who scavenges waste.

Xia Yan: "Come on, take two steps."

Li Shang imitated the appearance of the old man who scavenged waste, and walked a few steps staggeringly with the sack on his shoulders.

Xia Yan supported his chin with his arms, and glanced up and down: "It seems that the shoes are too new."

Without a word, several people went up and stomped on Li Shang's shoes.

Li Shang: "..."

Xia Yan nodded: "Well, it's ok, the temperament is quite in place, and he is definitely a good hand at picking up trash after retirement, so go."

Li Shang gave Xia Yan a sad look, and went upstairs with the sack on his shoulders.Through the mini camera mounted on Li Shang's button, the scene on the fourth floor gradually unfolded in front of everyone.

404 first appeared in the picture, the camera was positioned at a low level, and only half of the door and the ground could be seen. The front door of 404 was in a mess, and the traces of two rows of wheels could be clearly seen. Bai Wenbin explained while looking at the screen: "That's right, when I met that woman just now, she was dragging a suitcase to get ready Back home, it must be the wheel on the suitcase."

Then 401 appeared, the ground was fairly tidy, there was a wooden shoe rack by the door, and a pair of brown women's boots were placed on the top of the shoe rack.

Bai Wenbin: "Looking at it this way, this is the family that often brings women home. In my opinion, people like Nine, who have a strong sense of precaution, should not easily bring women home."

Xia Yan smiled noncommittally, without moving his eyes away from the screen: "Well, it is true, but it is not ruled out that it is his accomplice."

After that is 402, nothing is placed at the door, the camera quickly sweeps across the door, there are no obvious features overall.The last is 403, the picture suddenly dipped here, and then a hand appeared in front of the camera, picking up an empty bottle full of dust, and it was Li Shangzheng who was dutifully playing the role of a scavenger.

Soon, Li Shang came back with a sack on his shoulders. He put down the sack, took a long breath and said, "I think the person is in 402."

A few eyes fell on him, Xia Yan got up and poured a glass of water, pressed him on the sofa, and motioned for him to continue.

Li Shang licked his dry lips and didn't dare to drink water: "There are a pair of women's shoes at the door of 401, which should be the one where women often come and go. We have been staring at him for a long time and he is alone. His identity is so sensitive. It shouldn't happen often." Take the woman home. I guess the middle-aged man with no special appearance lived there. He may be working out of town by himself, and his wife came to visit occasionally. There was obvious dust accumulation on the ground at the entrance of 403, so I took a special look , The doorknob was dusty, and no one came in or out for at least a month. The college student lived here. There is a Cangcheng University nearby. My brother is studying there. They had a winter vacation a month ago. That college student must have gone home on vacation, that's why there was dust on the door. So by elimination, I think Nine lives in 402."

"Well, your reasoning is very reasonable," Xia Yan said while moving the mouse, "But there are still a few details that you missed, come and have a look."

Everyone gathered together, Xia Yan froze the picture: "This is the picture you took at the gate of 402, pay attention to the keyhole on the side."

The keyhole on the far right of Xia Yan's screen is enlarged: "Look at the shadows on the top, it should be the scratches left by the key when the door was opened, because the key was not aligned with the lock cylinder at one time. Who can open the door? So many marks? One is a drunk, and the other is suffering from a special disease that makes your hands tremble involuntarily or your eyes can't see clearly. Nine is a hacker, obviously it can't be the second case. As far as I know, he likes to drink Coffee, and how can a person who is always on alert drink so much that he can’t even open the door to the lock cylinder? So I speculate that 402 should be the ordinary-looking middle-aged man. If his wife often comes and goes, there must be witnesses, but No one saw him going in and out with women. The rent here is cheap, and the surrounding environment is also poor. He doesn’t live with his wife and children when he’s old. He lives alone in this kind of place. He may be divorced, or he may not be married at all. I don’t know anyone here, so I can imagine that the life is not smooth, and it is easy to develop alcoholism.”

Bai Wenbin pondered for a moment, nodded, and asked again: "If you say that, isn't Nine in 401? Could it be that he has accomplices who come here often?"

"Xiao Li's reasoning about 403 is correct. Nine is indeed in 401, but his accomplices are not. I think the voice heard by the woman in 404 came from 403. The university is nearby, so why pay more every month How about a few hundred yuan to rent a house outside? Maybe it’s to get bored with my girlfriend. To deceive people, I deliberately don’t go back here together.”

Xia Yan dragged the progress bar back and fixed it on the shoe rack at the door of 401: "Old Bai, look at the shoes, a pair of high-heeled women's boots. Usually the shoes placed at the door are more often worn, but this pair The soles of the shoes are very flat, without any wear and tear. If the shoes you bought will not be worn for a while, you can store them in a shoe box instead of deliberately placing them at the door. You can clearly see that they are thicker on the shoe rack There is a lot of dust, but the surface of the shoes is relatively clean, which means that these shoes are often polished—who would deliberately polish a pair of shoes that are not worn at all?"

Bai Wenbin shook his head, and continued: "Because he wants to create an illusion that women often come and go in this house! If the shoes are covered with dust, it will attract suspicion."

Xia Yan added: "He knew that there was a woman living on this floor, so he put a pair of women's shoes at the door to confuse the public. But he doesn't understand women too much. The heel of high-heeled shoes is the main point of focus. Easier to wear and tear, this kind of boots with soft leather heels, you can see the obvious signs of wear after wearing it once. He is trying to cover up, but the bottom is leaked first if there are too many tricks--Okay, everyone, get ready, it's time to close the net gone."