1993, Pengcheng Police Affairs

Chapter 35 Window to the World

the next day.

In front of Penggang Taxi Company.

Gu Huai and Ling Yue were not assigned to the core area; they were only assigned to keep watch on the periphery.

At first, Gu Huai stayed in the car and observed.

But the car was really cramped, and not only could you not stretch your legs, but stopping in one place for too long would also arouse suspicion.

Later, Lingyue came up with an idea. The two of them found a herbal tea shop by the roadside, each drinking a cup of herbal tea, leisurely sipping it, but their eyes never left the direction of the taxi company.

"I didn't expect you to drink even medicated plaster," Ling Yue joked. "Among outsiders, you're probably the first one."

"I've had it before." Gu Huai's gaze remained fixed on the door. "Besides, it's good for removing dampness and detoxifying."

"So young and already so good at health preservation..."

Gu Huai casually replied, "As the saying goes, nourishing the kidneys requires dispelling dampness—never mind, you wouldn't understand anyway."

The two were chatting idly about the effects of the bruises when a figure suddenly flashed behind them.

"Ah Huai..."

Hou Hao's voice was very low, clearly still feeling uneasy about what happened yesterday.

"Brother Hou, you're here. Please have a seat." Gu Huai greeted him warmly as if nothing had happened, as if yesterday's unpleasantness had never occurred.

Gu Huaiyue was like this, and Hou Haoyue felt even more embarrassed.

The moment my bottom touched the stool, I felt incredibly uncomfortable.

"What instructions did Captain Wu give?" Gu Huai asked directly.

"Yes." Hou Hao nodded. "The results of the diary comparison are in. After examination, the handwriting in the diary is not Zhang Zhenhua's."

Gu Huai was not surprised at all.

He picked up the teapot and poured Hou Hao a cup of herbal tea, then asked, "What about Luo Zhenbang? Have you checked his handwriting?"

Hou Hao picked up the cup and took a sip, wincing at the bitter taste of the bruises. He exclaimed "Ouch!" before replying, "My master sent me to tell you about this. The handwriting in the diary doesn't look like Zhang Zhenhua's, but it doesn't match Luo Zhenbang's either."

According to Hou Hao, the person who wrote this diary was probably left-handed, and the way they wrote the pen was quite unique.

However, Luo Zhenbang's handwriting when he signed in this morning was clearly not within this range.

Gu Huai's face darkened after hearing this.

Doesn't match? Left-handed?

When it comes to handwriting analysis, it's almost impossible for a normal person to deliberately change their writing habits.

He pondered for a moment, then asked, "What does Captain Wu mean?"

Hou Hao gave an awkward smile: "My master said he has no objections and asked me to come and tell you that you were the one who brought this matter to fruition, and that you should go and explain to the branch captain yourself."

Upon hearing this, Gu Huai's face showed an expression of "I knew it".

Wu Feilin clearly doesn't want to take the blame.

Although he was the deputy head of the task force, the investigative approach was completely contrary to his original ideas, so he refused to take responsibility.

Besides, today's operation is quite large; the Criminal Investigation Division has deployed almost all of its available police force.

Apart from Wang Weiguo, no one else is allowed to end this abruptly.

Thinking of this, Gu Huai looked up at Hou Hao: "Alright, Brother Hou, you lead the way, I'll go explain to the branch captain."

After saying that, he stood up, took out a ten-yuan note from his pocket, slapped it on the table, and paid for the herbal tea.

After they went outside, Hou Hao caught up with them and whispered, "Ah Huai, do you have a plan? If you haven't thought it through, we're not in a hurry."

"Don't worry, Brother Hou." Gu Huai shook his head, "I can still handle it."

Seeing Gu Huai's calm expression, Hou Hao opened his mouth, but then swallowed his words.

Finally, he simply nodded and said, "Let's go."

---

The temporary command center for the arrest of Luo Zhenbang was set up in a newly opened hotel outside the taxi company.

Gu Huai followed Hou Hao into the hotel and went up to the second floor.

Pushing open the door, Wang Weiguo and Deputy Captain Jiang of the First Brigade were discussing something inside.

Upon seeing Gu Huai enter, Wang Weiguo glanced at Wu Feilin and frowned slightly.

Clearly, he didn't know Gu Huai would come.

However, after serving as the head of the criminal investigation team for so many years, he quickly realized who had summoned Gu Huai and why.

Even if you understand it in your heart, you can't get angry at Wu Feilin because of it.

He merely frowned and glanced at Wu Feilin, then beckoned to Gu Huai: "Huai, you've come at the right time. Come here and take a look at this."

Gu Huai didn't stand on ceremony. He took three steps at a time and walked to the table, picked up the materials on the table, and started flipping through them.

It was a handwriting analysis report, much more detailed than what Hou Hao had just described, analyzing from various angles why the handwriting on the diary was neither Zhang Zhenhua's nor Luo Zhenbang's.

After reading the report, Gu Huai looked up and asked Wang Weiguo, "Chief Wang, have you figured out the situation at Luo Zhenbang's house?"

Wang Weiguo shook his head: "We sent a letter of assistance to Hunan Province last night, but we haven't heard back yet."

Gu Huai nodded.

In this era, information travels slowly, and even the internal systems of the public security bureau aren't interconnected. Cross-city investigations are difficult, let alone cross-province ones.

So he wasn't surprised.

Seeing that Gu Huai remained silent for a long time, Wang Weiguo spoke up: "Huai, if you have no objections, I think we should call it a day. We can make arrests later when the evidence is more solid."

Although it was Wang Weiguo who said this, Gu Huai could tell that the others in the room meant the same thing.

Case handling might be lax in other places, but it's different in Shenzhen.

This is a special economic zone, a window to the outside world, and its political importance is self-evident.

These days, while there might be cases of prolonged detention and other illegal activities elsewhere, such things are absolutely impossible in Shenzhen.

With inspections coming up every few days, who would dare to cause trouble?

Most people would have accepted Wang Weiguo's words and backed down.

But Gu Huai is no ordinary person.

He pondered for a while, then shook his head: "Director Wang, in my personal opinion, today's plan should proceed as scheduled."

Wang Weiguo's brows furrowed even more: "What's the reason? What reason are you using to arrest them?"

"Cooperate with the investigation," Gu Huai blurted out.

"Wouldn't this alert the enemy?"

Gu Huai calmly explained, "It's not about alerting the snake; the snake might have already been startled."

Wang Weiguo became interested: "What do you mean by that?"

"Although handwriting is difficult to forge, if Luo Zhenbang is really determined to change it, there are ways, such as signing with the hand he doesn't use often."

"You mean, Luo Zhenbang is clearly left-handed, but he deliberately used his right hand when signing?" Wu Feilin interjected, his tone skeptical. "Can you just switch your hand when you write?"

"Yes." Gu Huai remained calm. "As far as I know, many left-handed people were forced to switch to their right hand when they were young by their parents and teachers, and they even switched to writing and eating with their right hand. For them, practicing writing with both hands is much easier than for the average person."

"It's easy to verify whether Luo Zhenbang is left-handed or not. Just ask the comrades in Hunan Province to inquire. He can pretend in Shenzhen, but he can't pretend back home. Besides, you can't fake something like that..."

After listening, Wang Weiguo slowly nodded.

"Then what does this have to do with what you called 'beating the grass to alert the snake'?" Wu Feilin continued to press.

"That's what I wanted to say," Gu Huai said seriously. "Luo Zhenbang clearly sensed something, which is why he deliberately signed with his non-dominant hand. Once today's meeting is over, I'm worried he'll disappear immediately. At that point, we won't be able to catch him even if we wanted to."

Gu Huai's words were not an exaggeration.

If it's just an ordinary suspect, it doesn't matter if we don't arrest him today. We can just keep an eye on him and take action when we have enough evidence.

But Luo Zhenbang is different; he's a taxi driver who drives all over the city every day.

If you alert him, he can run away at any time, and the police will have no way to track him the whole time.

This isn't a movie shoot; how can there be so many plainclothes officers who can follow a taxi without anyone noticing?

Moreover, Luo Zhenbang is an experienced driver; he can navigate the streets and alleys of Shenzhen with his eyes closed.

After he finished speaking, the room fell silent.

The air pressure was so low that it was hard to breathe.

News from Hunan Province hadn't come back yet, and nobody knew whether Luo Zhenbang was left-handed or right-handed in his hometown.

If such a large-scale operation were to bring back an innocent person, and the media found out, it would cause a huge uproar.

This is Shenzhen, the country's window to the outside world. If something goes wrong here, even Wang Weiguo won't be able to explain it.

Seeing that Wang Weiguo was hesitating, Gu Huai finally couldn't hold back and stepped forward, saying, "Wang Zhi, make up your mind! Arrest him! If you delay any longer, he'll really get away!"

"No, Chief Wang," Wu Feilin also stepped forward, "I suggest we wait until the evidence is conclusive, and we absolutely cannot rush things."

"But..."

"That's enough!" Wang Weiguo shouted, interrupting the argument between the two.

He stood up and walked to the window.

On the street outside the window, several old-fashioned Xiali taxis were slowly driving out of the taxi company.

For night shift drivers, attending a morning meeting is already the limit.

Wang Weiguo stared at those cars for a long time, as if he had finally made up his mind.

"Grasp!"