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"yes." Officer Blue said that apparently he didn't believe Bronze's words. He shook hands with each of them, looked at their narrow buttocks and broad, strong shoulders, and looked at the bronze figure that resembled theirs. "These two are also real estate agents, do they also know how to detonate bombs remotely?"
Lao Yang looked confused. "Bombs? Something like this happened in the house next door? There was a bomb explosion? β
"Officer, can you leave me alone with my friend for a while?" Bronze led Lao Yang and Xiao Li to a door that led to a small area outside the kitchen where barbecue food was made.
"Nope." Officer Blue said.
Bronze stopped and looked back at him. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"
"No, I'm not going to let you be alone with them for a minute." Officer Blue's weather-beaten face sank. "You have been evasive and uncooperative from the beginning, and I can't bear it any longer."
"I think you said that the Bureau of Investigation won't let you meddle in this case anymore."
"That's the case of the attack on your house, not the bombing of your neighbor's house."
"Bureau of Investigation?" Xiao Li asked puzzled.
"Whatever you need to tell these people to buy time, you're going to have to keep to me," Officer Blue said, "and you're going to have to let me buy time." β
"Bureau of Investigation?" Xiao Li asked again, "I don't understand, what does the Investigation Bureau have to do with this?" β
"Officer, I really need to talk to these people individually." Bronze said.
"I'm going to arrest you."
"What crime am I being accused of? A competent lawyer can get me out of jail tonight. Bronze said.
"Is it a Saturday week meeting? It's harder for your lawyer to find a judge to hear than it gets. Officer Blue snapped, "Tomorrow, maybe before Monday, you don't want to think of it." I don't think you want to waste that much time, so you're not here. What do you want to say to these people? β
Gu Bronze thought, time is pressing, I have to leave to find Gong Yu immediately, two days can not be delayed. He is torn between two conflicting motives and is manic. So far, he has been determined not to involve his former boss in this investigation, but now there is a more urgent situation, he must find Gong Yu, must figure out who is going to kill her.
"I used to do things for the government."
"Hey, watch out." Xiao Li said to bronze.
"I don't have a choice."
"The government?" Officer Blue took note. "You meanβ"
"I can't deny anything," said Bronze, "these two men are my former colleagues." They're here to help figure out whether last night's attack has anything to do with some sensitive operation that I was involved in. β
"Hold your breath." Lao Yang said to the bronze.
"That's all I can say." Bronze said to Officer Blue, his gaze very serious.
Officer Lan's gaze was equally serious, and slowly, the expression on his thin face relaxed. He nodded.
Bronze turned to the old Yang. "You're coming sooner than I expected."
"We were in the vicinity. We're riding the same thing you've been on before, and we're there in less than two hours. β
"I'm grateful to have you here."
"Well, that's all we can do." Xiao Li said, "We were told that it was uneasy to contact you by phone. There was something you didn't say when you reported the attack, so we decided to come here and see it for ourselves, clear up the mysteries, and get in touch with the local Bureau of Investigation. β
"You've already done that," Officer Blue said, "and you've talked to the Bureau of Investigation." β
"Nope." Lao Yang said vigilantly.
"It wasn't in person, it was over the phone." Officer Blue said.
"Nope." Lao Yang was more alert.
"But this morning, the head of the local investigative bureau talked to me about it and formally asked to take over the investigation into last night's attack." Officer Blue said.
"You mentioned it, but I didn't understand what you were talking about." Xiao Li said, "No one on our side has talked to the investigation bureau yet. We're going to take a look at the situation before we decide whether or not to go to them. β
An increasingly strong sense of foreboding struck the bronze, and quickly spread through his nervous system.
Officer Blue preemptively asked the question that Bronze urgently needed to find an answer to: "If you didn't ask the Bureau of Investigation to intervene, then who asked for it?" β
Officer Sang's police car swerved down the old road into the street, and without sirens, he drove as fast as he could through the crowded commercial district. Lao Yang had a straight face and sat in the front row with Officer Sang. Bronze sat hunched in the back row, sandwiched between Xiao Li and Officer Lan, and he felt his heart beating very hard.
Officer Lan hurried a few words to someone before, "He said he would wait for us." β
"What if he doesn't want to talk about what we need to know?" Bronze asked.
"In that case, I'll give Xining a call." Xiao Li said, "Sooner or later he will tell us, I promise." β
"It's better to be sooner," said bronze, "and the sooner the better." It's been two hours since Gong Yu ran down the slope and got into that car. She can now go to Wushi. Oh my God, if she goes straight to the station, she'll get on the train and go anywhere. β
"Let's check." Officer Blue dialed a few numbers on the phone.
"Who are you calling?"
"Security at the station."
"What if she doesn't walk from the station?" Lao Yang asked.
"I'll call there again. We only have three trains at the station here, which is very easy to do. No matter which of these cars she was in, it was easy to find out. β
A voice came from the other end of the phone. Officer Blue began to speak.
At this time, Bronze turned his face to face Xiao Li. For a moment, he was distraught as he recalled the scene from a year ago. Xiao Li and Lao Yang drove him across the road and took turns asking him questions. The past and the present are intertwined. Perhaps, this censorship never stopped, and what he is experiencing now is a waking nightmare.
"Xiao Li, when you came to my house, you said that when I reported the attack, there were some things that I didn't explain, you want to solve these mysteries, what do you mean?"
Xiao Li took out a piece of paper from his pocket. "Here's a copy of part of your phone report." Xiao Li pointed with his finger and said, "The official you spoke to said, 'But now we are no longer responsible for you. You replied, 'Hey, when I resigned, you obviously thought you were responsible for me.' You're spying on me everywhere, so I think your security checks are endless. Damn, two months ago, you guys were still spying on me. ββ
Bronze nodded. Hearing others relay what he had said, he seemed to be back in the same situation. "What's wrong with those words?"
The officer didn't make any comments at the time, but he didn't understand what you meant by that last sentence. He went through your file again and again, and found that no one in our organization had been spying on you. β
"But that's not true," said bronze, "I saw a bunch of people two months ago. I-"
"Yes, we did spy on you when you first came to Santa Fe," Li said, "but we monitored your income and expenditure records, which seems easier and cheaper." If you suddenly make a lot of money that your new profession can't do, we're going to follow you to see if you're betraying secret information. But your income and expenses are all normal. Your anger at the troubles that caused your resignation seems to have disappeared. So, there's no need for us to track and spy on you. Whoever is spying on you is certainly not someone we have sent. β
"Do you expect me to believe that Ryan will decide to spy on me in his spare time when he doesn't work for you?"
"Ryan?" Lao Yang asked sharply, "What are you talking about?" β
"I'm telling you, I've seen him."
"Two months ago?"
"Ryan is the head of that surveillance group." Bronze said.
"But Ryan hasn't worked for us since February."
Bronze did not speak.
"His father died in December," Mr. Li said, "and when there was no one to protect him anymore, the accusations you made against him began to be understood." He messed up two more operations, and the organization decided not to want him anymore. β
Officer Blue covered the phone's microphone with his hand. "Can you guys be quiet? I can't even hear clearly. Ko-san? He leaned forward and said to Officer Sang, "The police station over there wants to know if we can describe the car Ms. Gong is in." Did the witness say that? β
"That lady doesn't know much about cars." "She said the car was big, it looked new, it was gray. β
"That's all?"
"I'm afraid that's all."
"Okay, really," Officer Blue said, "what about the driver?" When the man jumped out of the car and put Ms. Gong's suitcase in the suitcase, did the lady see what he looked like? β
"When it comes to observing people, this lady has a really good eyesight. The man was in his early 30s, tall, and athletic, reminiscent of an athlete. Wide chin, short hair. β
"Wide chin? Broad hairβ" Bronze frowned.
"Reminds her of athletes? Sounds likeβ"
"Do you know someone who looks like this?"
"It's impossible." Bronze felt breathless. What he had just heard didn't make sense, it didn't make sense at all. "Ryan, that's exactly what Ryan looks like. But if he doesn't work for you anymore," Bronze said to Xiao Li, "then who is he working for now?" β
Bronze ran towards an earthy yellow government building. It is a long, narrow building with three floors. Officer Lan followed closely behind him with Lao Yang and Xiao Li. He ran up the wide concrete steps to a row of glass doors. At the middle door, a man in his 40s was waiting for them. The man was of medium height, neither fat nor thin, with neatly combed hair and short sideburns. He wears a loose tunic and holds a fan in his hand.
"Better hurry, I'm at a party." The man pulled out a bunch of keys and prepared to open one of the doors. He stared with a serious gaze at Officer Blue, who was still wearing his fire-scorched, soot-covered shirt and pants that he hadn't had time to change. "What happened? You said on the phone that it had something to do with our conversation this morning. β
"We don't have time to get to your office." "We want you to be here to tell us what we need to know." β
The man put down the key and frowned. "And who are you?"
"Bronze, Mr. Koo - it's his house that was attacked." Officer Lan said, "Mr. Gu, this is a senior resident officer of the Investigation Bureau. β
Bronze immediately asked, "Why are you preventing Officer Blue from conducting an investigation into the attack?" β
The other party was taken aback. After a while, he replied, "It's classified. β
"It looks as if the attack was not directed at me, but against a lady with whom I met regularly. She is my neighbor named Gong Yu, does this name mean anything to you? β
This time, the other party immediately replied. "I'm not going to discuss that."
"There was an explosion in her house this afternoon."
The other party's reaction was like a slap in the face. "What?"
"I finally got your attention, right? You're ready to talk about that now, right? Why did you intervene in the investigation of the attack on me? β
"There was an explosion in Gong Yu's house?" The other party turned to Officer Blue in surprise. "Is she there? Was she blown up? β
"Apparently not," Officer Blue said, "we haven't found the body yet." A person who resembled her was seen getting into a car parked on the side road a few seconds before the explosion. β
"Why didn't you tell me this when you called?"
"Am I not telling you?"
The other man's eyes widened. "I don't like to be manipulated."
"I don't like to be shot." Gu Bronze interjected, "Who wants to kill Gong Yu?" What do you know about a man named Ryan? What do you have to do with these things? β
"No comment," said the other coldly, "this conversation is over." β
"Don't think about ending without answering my questions."
"What if I don't answer?" The other person asked, "What are you going to do if I don't answer you?" β
"Doesn't it matter to you that Ms. Gong's life is threatened?"
"Whether you have it or not, it has nothing to do with you."
Bronze felt a rush of heat rush into his veins. He glared at the other man fiercely, and wanted to punch him to the door. Gong Yu! He thought of Gong Yu again. Whoever tried to kill her, that person might have caught up with her by now. But this dog mongrel doesn't seem to care about it.
"How?" The other party asked.
Gu Bronze took a step back, and he told himself that he must calm down, if he was arrested for assaulting an officer of the Investigation Bureau, it would not help Gong Yu. Breathing down, he repeated silently, his chest rising and falling.
"You're smart." The other party said.
"We need to talk about it." Officer Blue said.
"No," said the other man, "there is no need for that. I beg your pardon, I still have a couple of important calls to make. He pushed the door open, walked into the building, threw an angry glance through the window, locked the door, and turned to walk inside.
"He'll have to talk to me when this is over." Bronze said.
Gu Bronze got on and off the police car in front of his door, looking at the fire truck that had not yet left on Linduo Road in the distance and the still smoking ruins of Gong Yu's residence. The roadside was crowded with onlookers.
"I'm sorry." Officer Lan, who was still sitting in the car, made a helpless gesture.
Bronze frowned sadly, preoccupied, and did not react to his words.
"I'll continue to try to convince him," Officer Blue said, "and maybe he'll reveal something." β
"Okay." Bronze said half-incredulously. He had never felt so isolated. Lao Yang and Xiao Li stood by his side.
"I'll continue to ask the police and station security for news." Officer Blue said.
"Maybe Gong Yu and Ryan drove all the way to Qinghai or Yinchuan." "Well, there's no way to guess where they're going." β
"Well, I'll let you know as soon as there's news. But you have to make sure we're going to help each other. This is my business card. "Officer Blue wrote something on it." I'll give you my home phone number. β
Bronze nodded.
The black police car drove away. In order to avoid the crowded fire trucks and onlookers outside Gong Yu's house, the police car turned around and drove away along the same road.
The setting sun was slanting, and the bronze watched the car roll up the dust and drive farther and farther along Lindo Road.
"He wasn't obligated to tell us anything." "Actually, he must be suspicious of us, and he certainly wouldn't believe that we have ties to the intelligence agencies." β
"That's right," added Li, "now, he'll try to find a way to investigate our background." Of course, he couldn't find anything. β
"At least he knows very well that he can't go to that Bureau of Investigation agent to confirm that you're from the Intelligence Bureau." "Because the Bureau of Investigation has turf disputes with other intelligence agencies, they won't tell the truth." β
"Not more? Hey, he didn't say anything to us. Lao Yang said.
"That's not right." Bronze watched the police car disappear, then turned around and opened the courtyard door. "That person was interested in Gong Yu, which showed that she was the real target, and when I mentioned Ryan, I noticed that he knew him. Oh, he knows something, yes. Of course, these circumstances are not necessarily in our favor. β
Lao Yang and Xiao Li looked very uncomfortable.
"What's wrong?" Bronze asked.
"We." Lao Yang said.
"What do you mean by that?"
"The order sent to us is that if what happened last night is related to any of your previous missions, we must try to contain this destructive behavior." Xiao Li said.
"So?"
"But this has nothing to do with before." Xiao Li lowered his head and grinded the gravel with his shoes. "No matter what happened to Gong Yu, this is purely your private matter, and we are not authorized to help you."
Bronze didn't say anything.
"We'll be called back as soon as we report up." Xiao Li said.
Bronze still didn't say anything.
"Simply," said Yang, "we'll have to go so far." β
"Damn it, then you can get in the car and go," said Bronze, "and I'll do it myself without you." β
"How?"
"That's going to have to be done somehow. Anyway, I'll figure it out. Get out of here. β
"You have no grudges against us?" Lao Yang asked.
"Does that sound like I'm resentful?" Bronze said angrily. He walked into the courtyard and sat down on a bench under the gatehouse, muttering and thinking in frustration. If Officer Blue hadn't gotten any news from the station, if he had decided to keep his mouth shut...... word "desperate" flashed into Bronze's mind. He naturally applied the literal meaning of these two words to Gong Yu. Is she in danger now? Why is she with Ryan? Why did she lie? "There's another clue," Bronze impatiently patted the bench with his right hand. "There are other clues that I have overlooked, and there will be another way to find her."
Bronze heard footsteps in the yard. He looked up and found Lao Yang standing beside him.
"Did she mention anything special she likes to go to?" Lao Yang asked.
"No, she just wants to forget about her past in the Southern Department of Life. I think it's time for you to go. β
"There's no hurry."
"Won't it?" Bronze imagined how Ryan felt when she heard her house on the street high up the street being blown to pieces by the rumbling explosion as she drove Gong Yu down the trail. He felt disheartened. If only the old lady who watched the car drive away could remember the license plate number. number, he thought. Perhaps the record of Gong Yu's phone calls in the hospital room could provide clues to find her.
Or the phone records at her home, Bronze thought. I'll have to warn Officer Blue to check it out. However, the suspicion of Officer Lan made him feel uneasy. What if he withholds the news?
"There's another way," Bronze said again. "Is there any other way to find her whereabouts? She never told me which gallery she painted for, and there were thousands of galleries out there. With such a tight schedule, how can I get in touch with every gallery? Besides, maybe the gallery was a scam, and Gong Yu had never sold any paintings. The only witness was the art agent Dai Hongxing I had seen, Gong Yu said he was an art agent, maybe he wasn't at all. It would have been nice if I had thought about writing down his license plate number, and his car was parked in front of Gong Yufang. But I wasn't suspicious at all. β
When Gu Tong raised his head, Lao Yang and Xiao Li were looking at him with strange expressions. "Are you alright?"
"What do you mean by that?"
"You're gesturing and muttering to yourself."
"The car." Bronze said.
"What did you say?"
"The car that Dai Hongxing drove, that's it!"
"What are you talking about?"
"Dai Hongxing drives a rented car." Bronze stood up excitedly. "I walked past the front window of the car, looked inside, and saw the cover of the lease agreement on the front seat. I can be sure of the car rental company, and I am even more sure that it was September 1, because it was on that day that Gong Yu signed a contract to buy the house. That's a Chevrolet. If Dai Hongxing was at the station as he himself said, he must have rented a car over there. "The excitement of bronze suddenly plummeted." Of course, it depends on whether Officer Blue will tell me what he has heard from the car rental company. β
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