pjbooks Chapter 78: The Arrest Operation!
Chapter 78: The Arrest Operation!
When Meng Jiang and his companion emerged from the interrogation room, their fatigue had vanished.
Seeing that the two were walking briskly, Wu Liang guessed that they were heading in the right direction.
"It seems Zhang Haitian has finally figured it out?"
Zhang Ze chuckled behind him and deliberately waved the transcript in front of him.
Wu Lianggang reached out to take it, but Zhang Ze took the materials back.
"Lawyer, be mindful of your status."
Wu Liang: "..."
Meng Jiang ignored the two of them and walked straight towards the conference room.
"Pass the word: everyone return to your units immediately!"
Zhang Ze picked up his phone and dialed as he walked.
"Old He, notify both field teams one and two to return. Yes, now!"
Hanging up on one call, he immediately dialed the next one.
9 PM on October 7th.
The somber atmosphere in the task force's temporary office area has completely vanished.
The printer started up again, and in front of the whiteboard, some people removed old photos while others put new clues on it.
Once everyone was present, Meng Jiang walked to the conference table and slammed Zhang Haitian's notes onto it.
Wu Liang hesitated at the door whether to go in or not. Zhang Ze was about to enter when he saw Wu Liang's expression and laughed.
"Attorney Wu, what are you doing standing at the door?"
"avoid arousing suspicion."
Seeing the two blocking the doorway, Meng Jiang simply waved his hand.
"Come in, just don't block the doorway or interrupt."
"Alright."
Wu Liang chuckled and raised his hand to seal the opening.
In the conference room, everyone's eyes were on the name Meng Jiang had written on the whiteboard.
Wang Ye.
"Wang Ye, male, 32 years old, unemployed, with prior convictions for gambling and disorderly conduct. Zhang Haitian has already confessed that this is the man who asked him to hand the car over to Cao Yang."
Li Mu turned the laptop in front of him around.
"According to Zhang Haitian's confession, Wang Ye frequently frequented the underground casinos on Fengtai Road. We reviewed the surveillance footage and confirmed that he entered the casino at 8:37 PM tonight."
Qiao Wei stood beside him and added.
"There are several card and mahjong parlors on Fengtai Road. The one furthest inside is called Shunfa Teahouse. On the surface, it's a place for drinking tea and playing cards, but in reality, it's a place for underground gambling. We noticed this when we were investigating Diao Wei's associates, but the clues were too scattered at the time, and we were afraid of alerting him, so we didn't take any action for the time being."
Wu Liang sat in the corner, his gaze lingering on Qiao Wei's face for half a second.
He was deeply impressed by the investigator during their last visit to the hospital, and later even questioned Zhang Ze about him, but found nothing unusual.
Meng Jiang nodded.
What's the current situation at Shunfa Teahouse?
Li Mu retrieved screenshots from nearby surveillance cameras.
"Starting at 6 p.m. tonight, three cars went into the back alley and never came out again. We have checked the surveillance footage and the map, and there is no other exit."
Old He was sitting at the front of the conference room when he opened his mouth with a smile.
"Captain Meng, the casino is busiest at night. If we go there now, it should be lively inside."
Zhang Ze looked at Meng Jiang.
"So, what do you say, are you in or not?"
Meng Jiang capped the pen.
"Get him!"
No further words were needed.
The task force has been under immense pressure these past few days due to procedures, conflicting statements, chains of evidence, and superiors' demands. Now, they've finally managed to pry a working thread out of Zhang Haitian, and everyone is holding their breath in anticipation.
Meng Jiang pointed to the whiteboard.
"Group One: Main Gate; Group Two: Back Gate. Lao He, take two men and go check the back alley first to see if there's an escape route."
Old He nodded.
"clear."
As soon as the order was given, everyone quickly began to act. Li Mu was about to get up when Meng Jiang pressed him down.
"Don't go. Stay here and command from the rear."
"Captain Meng!"
"Your arm isn't healed yet." Meng Jiang didn't give her a chance to struggle this time, and said with a smile, "I'm giving you a task: keep an eye on Attorney Wu, and while you're at it, also study Lin Huaishan's case files."
Wu Liang looked suspicious upon hearing this. What's so interesting about me? Who would be willing to put themselves in such danger?
Meng Jiang smiled without explaining, his gaze quickly sweeping between the two men. Zhang Ze, standing to the side, chuckled and put on a bulletproof vest.
"Attorney Wu, the time has come to witness history."
Wu Liang shrugged and bowed to the group.
"Wishing you all a triumphant return."
"Just wait, once we catch Wang Ye, that old bastard Tan Yongren will crawl out of his hole sooner or later."
Zhang Ze laughed heartily, buttoned up his shirt, and strode out of the conference room with Meng Jiang.
Before long, only Wu Liang and Li Mu remained in the large conference room.
Li Mu still looked displeased, staring silently at his laptop.
Wu Liang coughed to ease the awkwardness.
"Does Captain Meng have some misunderstanding about me...?"
"Shut up." Li Mu didn't look up. "Go look at your case files."
……
Fengtai Road.
9:34 PM.
The signboard of Shunfa Teahouse has a vintage feel, with two half-dead money trees placed at the entrance, and the words "Chess and Card Games, Tea Discounts" pasted on the glass door.
Old He sat in a gray sedan across the street, his eyes fixed on the alley behind the teahouse.
"Two people just went in, and those cars in the back alley are still there."
Meng Jiang's voice came through the headset.
"Has anyone come out?"
"No. A garbage collector did come out of the kitchen, but he's already gone back."
Qiao Wei was in another car, holding a tablet in his hand.
"We've confirmed the blind spot in the surveillance footage. The back alley ends in a dead end, and there's an iron gate on the left that leads to the teahouse's warehouse. We checked the business registration information before; the warehouse's registered area isn't large, but judging from the building plans, it seems to have been altered."
Meng Jiang sat in the command vehicle, his eyes scanning the map.
"It's been turned into a casino."
Zhang Ze fastened his headset next to him.
"Hey, in places like this, the owner will definitely say he doesn't know anything about it, and that it's all just customers having fun on their own."
"Whether they know or not, just arrest them first."
Meng Jiang glanced at the time.
"Each group confirms its location."
Voices came through the headset one after another.
"One main entrance is in place."
"Group Two is in position at the back door."
"..."
"The suspect, Wang Ye, has been confirmed to be in the west private room on the second floor. He is wearing a black jacket, has short hair, and is wearing a watch on his left wrist."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Ze stretched his shoulders and grinned.
"That kid really knows how to pick a spot. He can arrest people and wipe out the whole operation at the same time. It's so convenient."
Meng Jiang did not laugh, and issued the final instruction.
"Remember, keep them alive. Do not fire except in exceptional circumstances. Subdue everyone else, secure the evidence at the scene, and confiscate their cell phones immediately."
"clear!!!"
"action."
At the entrance of Shunfa Teahouse, two plainclothes officers walked past first.
One pretended to answer a phone call, while the other bent down to take out a cigarette. As they walked to the door, they suddenly raised their hands at the same time and handcuffed the two burly men guarding the door instantly.
Before the people inside could react, the main entrance had already been kicked open.
"police!"
"Don't move!"
Almost simultaneously, the iron gate to the back alley was clamped by breaching pliers.
With a snap, the iron chain fell to the ground.
Old He was the first to lead his men in.
The back door led to a narrow kitchen. A cook had just brought out a pot, humming a little tune, when he looked up and saw a group of policemen pointing guns. He jumped in fright and spilled the pot of fried noodles all over the floor.
"Crouch down!"
The cook fell right onto the ground.
Old He didn't even glance at it twice, and led his men to continue pushing inside.
In the lobby of the teahouse, people at several mahjong tables instinctively tried to run away upon hearing the noise, but every entrance and hidden door was tightly surrounded by the police.
Several scantily clad young women were sitting on the sofa against the wall. One of them tried to sneak towards the bathroom, but was blocked by the men Lao He had brought.
"Where to?"
"I...I need to use the restroom..."
"Crouch down!"
"Officer, I was just having tea with a friend."
Old He walked over and glanced at the name tag hanging on her chest.
"Oh, you even bring your employee number when you drink tea?"
Just then, the sound of tables and chairs overturning came from the second floor, followed by Zhang Ze's roar.
"Wang Ye!"
The door to the upstairs private room was kicked open, and it was much more lively inside than downstairs.
A standard Texas Hold'em table, piled high with cash and chips, and an ashtray overflowing with cigarette butts. The dealer in the center was stunned by the sudden commotion, dropping the card pusher to the ground.
Wang Ye was sitting by the window when he heard the noise, and his first reaction was to jump up and rush to the window.
The window overlooks a second-floor platform, and as soon as I opened the window halfway, a beam of bright sunlight shone directly into my face.
"Don't move!"
Two criminal police officers were already crouching on the platform, their guns lowered and flashlights pointed directly at him.
Wang Ye froze on the spot. Zhang Ze rushed over from behind, grabbed his shoulder, and shoved him back onto the table.
"Hey, why are you running away?"
Wang Ye dared not struggle and immediately shouted.
"Officer, I accept the punishment! I shouldn't have gambled! I was wrong, I was wrong!!!"
Seeing that the kid was still being stubborn, Zhang Ze sneered, grabbed his arm, and handcuffed him.
"Who the hell asked you about gambling?"
Upon hearing this, Wang Ye's face turned pale instantly, and his legs went weak.
Everyone else in the private room was squatting against the wall, and a middle-aged man wearing a gold chain was trying to pretend to be confused.
"Officer, we were just friends having a get-together, having some tea..."
Meng Jiang had already come up through the back door, picked up a stack of cash from the table, and squatted down in front of him.
"Why are you bringing so much cash to the party? And what kind of tea is so expensive?"
At that moment, Lao He's excited voice came through the headset.
"Captain Meng, you've stirred up a hornet's nest!"
Downstairs, Old He kicked open the door to a small room, inside which were several metal cabinets.
Upon opening it, one finds numerous ledgers, IOUs, cell phones, bank cards, and several booklets filled with names and amounts.
On the other end of the headset, Meng Jiang was a little surprised. Was there an unexpected gain?
The entire arrest took less than eight minutes.
Shunfa Teahouse was brightly lit.
The crowd was kept outside the police cordon. Many people held up their phones to take pictures, but were persuaded to go back by the police.
When Wang Ye was taken downstairs, he had completely lost the focus he had at the gambling table. His eyes kept looking around, as if he was still hoping someone would come to his rescue.
Unfortunately, apart from police cars driving by one after another, there was nothing else.
Zhang Ze helped him into the car and patted his face.
"Stop looking, kid, no one's coming back to save you."
Wang Ye suddenly became anxious.
"Officer! I really was just gambling! I didn't do anything else!!"
Zhang Ze chuckled, sat down next to him, and slammed the car door shut.
"Then what are you afraid of?"
A cold sweat instantly soaked my entire body.
……