Chapter 4 (4) The Runaway Baseball Cap

  The Di Ao nightclub case was a sensation, with the media reporting extensively and lavishing praise on the police who cracked down on drugs. However, Lao Wei couldn't shake off his unhappiness - two drug dealers were killed, one shot dead and the other jumped to death in fear of punishment, and by the time they arrived at the hospital, they were already corpses. The valuable information inside the private room had all been destroyed, and only nearly 5 million yuan in cash and several kilograms of drugs that hadn't been destroyed in time were seized. This was undoubtedly a huge drug smuggling case, but Lao Wei felt that the driver and Di Ao nightclub were important links in the chain, yet now there was no evidence to prove it!

  Lao Wei and Xiao Bin began to sort out the case: First, a mysterious person informed them that "something important" had happened, and they strengthened their border checks. Then, the driver made an unusual move, snatching a gun, hijacking a car, and being shot dead at the Dongjiang Service Area. Next, the police station dispatched officers, and a case of drug-induced hallucinations appeared in the hospital, resulting in one death and one injury. The other guy is now basically brain-dead, and they can't get any leads out of him. Then, the mysterious person's phone accurately told the police that something would happen at the Dio Nightclub, but this mysterious person only gave hints, leaving Lao Wei and Xiao Bin scratching their heads, unable to figure out what role this mysterious person played - was it an internal traitor in the drug trafficking group or a zealous informant?

  "Let's take a break, Wei. This way, we won't be able to think of anything." Xiao Bin leaned back in his chair, exhausted, with report after report and photos in front of him that were making his brain short-circuit.

  "There's always something missing..." Old Wei muttered to himself.

  "Yes, what's wrong with it..." Xiao Bin buried himself in the pile of materials again.

  "What's missing is definitely not here." Old Wei seemed to have thought of something, and Xiao Bin suddenly became excited: "Where?"

  "I don't know either now." Lao Wei's words made Xiao Bin angry again, and he muttered: "Isn't this the same as not saying anything?"

  Just as Lao Wei and Xiao Bin were racking their brains to find that "something missing", a police officer pushed open the door and walked into the office, saw Lao Wei and Xiao Bin with painful expressions facing the messy pile of documents and photos on the desk, hesitated for a moment and said: "Wei, that red Nissan car has been found."

  "Found it?" Old Wei suddenly jumped up: "Xiao Bin, what's missing now? Haha... Hurry up and get ready."

  The police officer asked anxiously: "Wei Tou, how's your injury? Shall we go now?"

  "No problem, doesn't matter." Old Wei put on his coat and rushed straight for the door without looking back.

  Xiao Bin hastily changed into casual clothes, stuffed the gun into his waist holster and hurried out.

  "Where did you find the car?" Old Wei asked impatiently as soon as he got on.

  "The Sky Eye system discovered it appeared in the parking lot of Wansheng Plaza this morning," said the police officer.

  "It's already noon now!" Old Wei couldn't help but get angry, several hours had passed, who knew what happened during this time.

  "Wei Tou, you know, it's normal that Tianyan needs to confirm and go through the procedures, so it took some time." The police officer explained.

  It's that damn program again, Lao Wei has been in the police force for many years, and due to program problems between various departments, cooperation has not gone smoothly, this is not the first or second time. In today's advanced communication era, this program problem still hasn't been completely solved!

  Lao Wei, who had been working hard for days, came up with a sentence in a bad mood: "When can this bureaucratic procedure be changed? What's the situation now?"

  "The Skynet has already marked this car. He just drove out of Wansheng Square and is heading along Champagne Road." The police officer replied.

  "Let Tianyan report the location of the vehicle to us in time." Old Wei said, and then said to Xiao Bin: "Hurry up."

  Although Lao Wei had some opinions on some internal bureaucratic procedures, the Skynet system has still played a huge role in improving public security over the years. All major intersections in Gui Ning are equipped with surveillance cameras, all of which are connected to the Skynet computer system. As long as a vehicle is marked, the computer will automatically identify and alert operators based on the vehicle's license plate number and characteristics, unless it hides in the camera's blind spot, its route will be clearly visible in the Skynet system.

  "401, 401, Sky Eye report, the suspicious vehicle turned south at the intersection of Champagne East Road." The police officer on duty in the Sky Eye room reported over the walkie-talkie.

  "Understood, keep close watch."

  "Vehicle 401, 401, suspect vehicle turning onto Yang Road."

  When Yang Road? Old Wei's brain quickly turned around, the First People's Hospital was on Yang Road, could he want to go to the hospital to ask about the situation?

  The suspicious vehicle turned several circles at the intersection of Dangyang Road and Hongta Road. Lao Wei was even more certain of his judgment. After so many days, the suspect wanted to go to the hospital to inquire about the situation, but now he was hesitant. Lao Wei turned back to the police officer in the back seat and said: "Contact Dangyang Police Station and ask them to cooperate."

  The police officer nodded and dialed the phone number of the Dayang Police Station.

  Lao Wei's car entered the Dangyang Road when the suspicious vehicle finally made up its mind and drove into the hospital parking lot. The surveillance footage inside the parking lot was not part of the Skynet system, and it temporarily lost track of it.

  Lao Wei had two police officers ambush and monitor near the suspicious vehicle, while taking Xiao Bin and another police officer to search for the suspect in the hospital. When the police from Yang Police Station also arrived at the hospital, they joined forces with Lao Wei to search together.

  In the hospital, patients and their families were crowded together, making it difficult to find one person. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Old Wei took Xiao Bin and the police officer from Danyang Township directly to the inpatient department. However, after searching everywhere, they did not find any trace of the suspect. They asked the doctor on duty, who also said that no one had come to ask about the brain-damaged patient who was a drug addict.

  Lao Wei was a bit strange. By calculation, he should have arrived at the inpatient department a few minutes earlier than himself. Xiao Bin also looked at Lao Wei suspiciously and couldn't figure out what was going on.

  "Did he find something?" Xiaobin said.

  "It shouldn't be." Old Wei judged based on experience that he was still in the hospital: "You two are working hard watching the bed, Xiao Bin, let's go take a look over there." As Old Wei spoke, the two police officers from the local station were guarding the hospital room, and Old Wei took Xiao Bin and another police officer to head downstairs.

  In the corridor, a man wearing a baseball cap came out of the elevator and saw two police officers in uniform standing in front of the ward. He was stunned for a moment, then Old Wei handed over to the police officer who walked towards the elevator, and the man pretended to be calm and walked forward to meet him.

  Lao Wei's mind was preoccupied with thoughts, and he brushed past him. The man walked by the ward, glanced inside, saw two police officers sitting in front of the bed looking somewhat idle, but didn't go in. He hastily headed towards the stairs along the corridor.

  Old Wei, who was waiting for the elevator, had a premonition about something, but couldn't quite put it into words. He turned his head to look back at the hospital room and happened to see that person stop in front of the room, glance inside briefly, hesitate for a moment, then leave.

  To others, it was just a normal visitor looking for the patient to visit, but Lao Wei caught his momentary hesitation. Lao Wei patted Xiao Bin: "That way."

  Xiao Bin didn't react in time and asked: "Which side?"

  "That one with a baseball cap." Old Wei left the elevator entrance, and Xiao Bin quickly followed.

  The hospital's corridors had added a lot of beds, Old Wei was afraid that the other party would make an excessive move, didn't dare to scold him, and quickly followed up. The man seemed to feel something and also quickened his pace, rushing straight to the stairwell, pushing open the fire door without looking back.

  Old Wei quickly stepped forward, pushed open the fire door and took a look. The man was running downstairs. Old Wei shouted: "Halt! Police!"

  That person looked up and saw him, but instead of stopping, he seemed to gain speed and ran even faster.

  The six-story staircase was quickly finished, and Lao Wei had an injury on his body. The intense running pulled the wound, and when he reached the flat ground, he was already panting and pale. Xiao Bin didn't care about Lao Wei and took off with another police officer in pursuit. Lao Wei, while struggling to keep his eyes open, took out the walkie-talkie: "Parking lot, parking lot, be aware, the suspect is heading towards you, wearing a black top, blue jeans, and a baseball cap, please pay attention and intercept."

  The baseball cap-wearing man sprinted straight towards the parking lot, with Xiao Bin chasing after him tens of meters behind: "Halt! Don't run! Police!"

  The baseball cap was listening, and along the way, it kept dodging screens and wheelchairs, trying to block Xiaobin's pursuit. At that moment, Xiaobin felt like he was doing hurdles. He thought he had superior physical strength, but didn't expect the baseball cap to run so fast without being inferior. Xiaobin even suspected if he was an athlete. The plainclothes police in the parking lot saw Xiaobin chasing after him and came to intercept him. The baseball cap saw the two men approaching with ill intentions, made a sharp turn, dodged one of the plainclothes police's interception, and another police officer hastily tried to block him but only grabbed his collar. Just as he was about to control him, the baseball cap struggled desperately, and the plainclothes police refused to let go, holding onto the clothes tightly, waiting for Xiaobin's support. The baseball cap lowered its head, and both its jacket and T-shirt came off. The plainclothes police only grabbed two pieces of clothing, and the baseball cap didn't care about being topless, running away before Xiaobin caught up. Another plainclothes police officer saw this and, without hesitation, stepped on the hood of two cars, trying to block him. However, he didn't expect the baseball cap to be so fast, and the police officer fell heavily to the ground without catching him. After dodging this police officer's interception, the baseball cap was about to escape the parking lot. Xiaobin chased after him while taking out his walkie-talkie: "The baseball cap has escaped the parking lot! He turned left, fleeing towards the hospital's side door, topless."

  The baseball cap escaped from the parking lot and ran onto the road. Passersby saw a bare-chested man running wildly, with several people chasing after him. Not knowing what had happened, they cried out in surprise and dodged to avoid him. The baseball cap ran past a fruit stand by the side of the road, violently overturning it, trying to use the scattered fruit to slow down Xiaobin and the others' pursuit.

  "Grab him!" Xiao Bin shouted while chasing, but the passersby didn't understand the situation and no one lent a hand. A few hospital security guards were watching from afar. Just as Baseball Cap was about to escape, someone suddenly appeared out of nowhere, made a low tackle, and Baseball Cap rolled through the air, heavily falling to the ground. Old Wei saw his chance and flipped over to try to get on his back, but didn't expect Baseball Cap's strong desire to escape. Despite being dazed, he struggled to get up and run again. Old Wei was slow due to his injuries and couldn't get on his back. In a hurry, he stretched out his hand and grabbed his waistband. Baseball Cap desperately struggled, and Old Wei took advantage of the momentum to try to control his arms. The two started wrestling by the hospital's side door. The opponent was young and strong, while Old Wei was injured, gradually falling into a disadvantageous position. Fortunately, Xiao Bin arrived just in time, kicked him to the ground with a slant kick, and pounced on him to pin him down.