The man had a huge protruding stomach as if it was almost busting the belt open. Under his head of thinning hair was a pair of mousy-looking eyes and a reddened nose full of rosacea. The man lifted his head and stared at Xu Lan who was suppressing his anger with a fearful look.

“How did you know that he was poisoned to death? It was just a drill, guys please don’t panic. The reason I told all of you to stay behind is to prevent any misunderstanding, in case somebody starts telling tales irresponsibly as what this man here did. After all, you’re held liable for the comments you post online!”

Xu Lan emphasized the last sentence on purpose while he stood in front of the man with the rosacea-reddened nose and examined him in a condescending manner. He waved his hand to signal the others to leave, but he grabbed the rosacea-nosed man’s arm with the other hand, not allowing him to escape.

“Try yelling and see? Hmm?” Xu Lan cackled and stared at him with an ill-intentioned gaze. The knife scar at the corner of his eyebrow looked like a beast that wanted to swallow him whole and chew him down to the bone. The rosacea-nosed man was terrified by his gaze and was left speechless, where he fell to the ground weakly.

They split up into a few groups. Some of them sent the mine owner to the hospital, some collected the coffee back for testing. The others escorted the rosacea-nosed man and the waiter back.

“I’m sorry, Xu Lan. I didn’t expect them to act so fast, I couldn’t react in time…” Xiao Feng was leaning on the sofa and pressing his temples. He felt a feeling of sadness creeping up. Just a second ago, Xu Lan reminded him to be careful about the safety of the feed. The next second, the person had collapsed in front of his own eyes.

“I also thought of it suddenly. The caretaker is smarter than the kidnapper. Forget about it, Wang Hao just called, he said that the mine owner is already out of danger. We need to send more guys over for 24-hour protection. If something happens to him again, I doubt that we’ll be able to catch hold of him again,” Xu Lan lamented with a hand on his forehead.

“We’ve already questioned the waiter, he’s not the guy we’re looking for. He said that someone ordered an Irish coffee, but he only gave it a stir and sent it away without drinking. The waiter even gave a second look, but the guy wore a cap and his face was hidden under the mask he was wearing,” Xie San said while looking at the surveillance. It was obvious that the waiter was not lying.

“What about the rosacea-nosed guy?” Xu Lan took out a pen to scribble on a piece of paper.

“He doesn’t have a clue. He just read according to the words on the tissue after accepting the money in the washroom,” Xie San answered with disgust.

This made things more complicated. The suspect was not only aware of the meeting in the cafe between the police and the bait, but he had also clearly figured out the thoughts of the police!

“Officer Xiao, can Lan Er be discharged from the hospital? I want to let him substitute Wang Hao. I have to assign him with some tasks which can only be handled by him alone,” Xu Lan asked while he touched his chin.

“Yes, but I want to know why do you sense that the criminal will be there?” All of a sudden, Xiao Feng directed the question at Xu Lan. This must be more than a coincidence!

Xu Lan was in charge of the ‘928 incident’ from the beginning. Xu Lan had always been able to notice new leads that others failed to identify, and he executed it efficiently and accurately. Once Xu Lan left from the case, the whole operation almost came to a halt.

“What do you mean, Officer Xiao? Are you suspecting me being the thief who cried ‘thief!’ ?” Xu Lan was enraged by the way Xiao Feng interrogated him suddenly, but instead of being angry, he asked him back with a cold smile.

“I didn’t mean it that way. I just wanted to know why did you remind me to take note of the bait’s safety out of the blue!” Similarly to Xu Lan, Xiao Feng also had the astuteness that a member of the criminal investigation branch would have.

He had given instructions to investigate Xu Lan as he intended to transfer him to the province branch. Fifteen years ago, Xu Lan had no records on paper. The only thing was that he started to study in an unknown college and graduated eight years ago before he joined the police force in Whitehorse City. Besides that, he was diligent and hardworking without demanding anything in return. Meng Chengjun was always the one who took the credit of his work. Before this, Xu Lan’s distinctive insights made him feel as if he regretted not having met earlier. He also sympathized with his background, but he was horror-struck when he gave a second thought about it.

“Xiao, what are you f*cking saying!”

“Shut up!” Xiao Feng bellowed out at Wang Meng who jumped to his feet and stared at Xu Lan eyes like a hunting eagle.

“Haha, Officer Xiao, such fiery-eyes and golden-gaze you have. You can see through everything, huh!” Xu Lan rocked back and forth laughing, his hearty laughter rang throughout the whole office.