Empire of Shadows

The wailing siren pierced the silence of the night, and the red and blue flashing lights illuminated the rather small building of the motel.

These police cars belonged to the highway patrol, not the Jingang City police; they were too far away to have jurisdiction here.

The scene had already been cordoned off, and the police were collecting evidence. The detective in charge of homicide also rushed to the scene.

Interestingly, the highway patrol also had a homicide office because there were just so damn many homicides on the highway!

It's possible that someone might pull over to take a leak and stumble upon a bone, leading to a new homicide case.

Moreover, homicide cases on the highway are notoriously difficult to solve, and local authorities are reluctant to get involved, so the highway patrol has its own homicide office.

In this regard, they are better staffed and equipped than some police precinct departments.

"The suspect has already driven away, but people aren't sure which direction he went. It's too dark here."

The detective lifted the cordon and entered the room. The room wasn't large; everything could be seen at a glance. The bloodstains and two bodies on the floor hadn't been moved yet.

He walked to the bedside, wearing gloves, and picked up one of the banknotes. "A twenty-dollar bill, a new one that hasn't been used much."

He put the money back. "Any other leads?"

An officer said, "Someone upstairs said they heard a woman voluntarily offering her services to the guest in this room, and then gunshots rang out shortly after."

"The two deceased are a cook from the restaurant and a waitress from the restaurant. Customers say they saw the guest from this room in the restaurant before."

The detective shook his head. "He was targeted in the restaurant, which led to this case. So now our main task is to find the person and reconstruct the actual circumstances of the case."

He walked out of the room. There were too many such cases on the interstate highway, so many that you could understand the whole process and context of the case without much thought.

The desolate wilderness is always the best choice for murder and body disposal, except this time they chose a target that wasn't easy to mess with.

"Around sixty years old, well-dressed, possibly wearing a gold watch, driving a… brand car, license plate number is…"

The detective looked at the information and recorded it. "He didn't stay after the incident but fled immediately, seems like someone from Jingang City."

He prompted his subordinates, "Call the Jingang City Police Department and check this car and this information to see if there are any useful clues."

He pointed to two other officers. "You two go west and see if you can track him down. There's a lot of blood on the ground; he might be injured."

"He'll definitely find a place to treat his wound, even if he treats it himself, he'll stop."

"If we chase now, we might find him on the roadside. Remember my words, the roadside."

"Turn on all the lights, check whether there are vehicles parked under the shoulder of the road, pay attention to the cars in the gas stations, go now!"

The two officers immediately got into the car and chased westward. A young officer couldn't help but ask, "Sir, why don't we look east?"

He rolled his eyes. "Because I judged that he came from Jingang City."

"These rich people with gold watches and wallets and briefcases full of money, if they are returning to Jingang City from out of town, they usually choose to take a boat or train, rather than drive themselves."

"At the same time, as the guest in this room, these two people obviously tricked him into opening the door, and they were carrying a chef's knife, a murder weapon."

"Even if he killed these two people, the judge would very likely find him innocent; he only needs to wait here for us to arrive."

"He's injured…"

The detective walked to the door. The blood dripping on the ground was not a small amount and had all been circled with chalk. "He's so seriously injured, and in a situation where he's not at fault, he still insists on leaving before we arrive."

"What kind of situation do you think he's in now?"

He lit a cigarette and looked at the rookie.

Highway patrol isn't so good at recruiting rookies, so he's very patient with each rookie. He's actually hinted clearly enough.

"This guy is very afraid of seeing us. He's obviously a rich man, carrying a lot of cash, and doesn't want people to know about his situation."

"He's on the run!"

"Keep talking. We have his license plate number, we can let the Jingang City police help us investigate. He'll definitely go to a hospital or something to treat his injuries."

"As long as he goes, he won't be able to escape."

The officer nodded somewhat blankly. In reality, he still didn't quite understand, but the detective wasn't willing to say more.

What he's actually considering now is why this fleeing guy is running.

Couldn't figure it out.

Soon, the officer contacted the Jingang City Police Department by phone and requested their assistance in investigating some information.

This kind of assistance in investigation is normal and happens frequently. Because this case involves a homicide with two deaths, the Jingang City Police Department immediately dispatched officers.

According to the registration information, they found the car owner.

But surprisingly, the car owner wasn't aware that he had such a mid-range car at any time. The police didn't get any valuable clues from him either.

It seems like the investigation has reached a dead end here. The information was relayed to the highway patrol, and they didn't continue to pay attention to it.

On the other hand, Charlie was driving while cursing. He kept looking at his forearm, which was constantly bleeding.

That bastard swung at him so suddenly. At the time, he didn't feel anything, just some slight pain, and then some blood flowed.

Now, the pain from the wound was becoming obvious, and the problem of blood loss hadn't been resolved yet.

He even felt a little lightheaded.

He had to stop the car on the side of the road and turn off the engine.

"F*ck!"

He punched the steering wheel. The knife in the kitchen was very sharp.

Because it needed to be used almost every day, which meant that its condition would become very bad when getting off work every day.

If it wasn't taken care of, the person using it the next morning would definitely curse loudly.

So after getting off work at night, these chef's knives would be simply sharpened.

Even simple sharpening was enough to cut a person's arm.

Fortunately, he was old, and his skin was already loose, otherwise, these wounds would definitely have turned inside out.

But even in its current state, he still felt it was a bit tricky.

He took off his shirt, tore the sleeves into strips, then brought the two sides of the wound together and tightly wrapped them with the strips of cloth.

The intense pain almost made him faint. He endured the astonishing pain and wrapped his arm around and around, and the rate of blood loss decreased significantly, but it was still slowly bleeding, just easier to accept now.

His whole arm was trembling, and he was constantly cursing. After a simple cleanup, he set off again…

All night long, Charlie very luckily evaded the police's pursuit. At a fork in the road, he couldn't hold on anymore and directly exited the interstate highway, heading towards a small town on the side of the road.

He needed a doctor, needed to treat his wound, and needed to rest.

On the other side, the morning sun ushered in a day of busy life.

Dean, the prosecutor, who had awakened from his sleep, checked some evidence in his hand again and then called Attorney General Terry.

This evidence was sufficient to prove that Charlie had committed a large number of illegal and criminal acts during his tenure as police chief.

Attorney General Terry also quickly gave him his opinion: arrest Charlie immediately.

At the same time, the state prosecutor's office also sent this case to Jingang City later, with Dean, the prosecutor, in charge of the next work.

Charlie had already run away, which was a fact everyone knew, so they went to seal up Charlie's assets.

Those houses, vehicles, or other identified things.

On the other hand, they also issued an arrest warrant to the entire state, and were also applying for an arrest warrant to the federal government and starting to go through the process.

During this period, once an arrest warrant was issued, it would be very troublesome.

There were specialized "hunters" who captured criminals based on the bounty amount on the arrest warrant and made a living from it.

They had their own ways to collect information. As long as someone inadvertently leaked their news to the outside world, these hunters would quickly smell the scent and chase after them.

The police station, as the main agency for the arrest warrant, had already printed a batch of arrest warrants with Charlie's front-facing portrait, which would then be sent to various places for posting.

At the same time, the officers who were handling the assistance investigation last night also started working. When they got the document recording the assistance information, the officer said somewhat uncertainly, "Why does this person seem to be talking about Charlie?"

Others in the office gathered around, looking at the documents sent over last night, all showing surprised expressions.

Charlie was very recognizable, plus he also loved to wear his gold watch, so when these keywords came together, Charlie's image quickly emerged in people's minds.

They reported this matter to Duke, the branch director. After Duke looked at it, he also felt that the person being talked about was Charlie, so he immediately asked people to fax the arrest warrant over.

Soon, there was a phone call back, it was this person.

"The person has been found?"

Lance was a little surprised. He took the case file of the incident that happened on the interstate highway yesterday from Blue and carefully flipped through it.

These were all sent via fax and contain the detailed process and results of the entire incident, including the fact that Charlie was injured and fled the scene, whereabouts unknown.

This strongly suggests that this person is indeed Charlie, and many eyewitnesses claim that the guy in the wanted poster bears a seven or eight-tenths resemblance to the fleeing guy.

Some even directly asserted that the person was the wanted Charlie.

"So, we still don't know where he is now," Lance said, closing the file and placing it on the table.

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Chief Blue felt some pressure, "He was seriously injured and couldn't have run too far; he needs to treat his injuries."

"We have coordinated with the surrounding town's security bureaus to have them increase patrol vehicles to check hospitals, clinics, and similar places for such injuries."

"In addition, the highway patrol has also promised to increase patrol vehicles along all sections of the road and set up checkpoints on several highways leading out of the state."

"As long as he leaves via the highway, he will definitely run into them."

Lance listened to his detailed explanation of the handling methods, nodding constantly, "Very good, this is all your job, and I won't interfere. I only have one request, and that is to find Charlie as soon as possible."

"If we can't get him into our hands, then we won't let him fall into anyone else's hands either, understood?"

Chief Blue lowered his head, "Understood."

After ending that topic, Lance brought up another matter, "The State Prosecutor's Office has begun to expand the investigation. Everyone connected to Charlie must accept investigation. Give me a list."

He looked at Blue, with some hidden meaning in his eyes, "Tell everyone to believe in the fairness and justice of the law. Accepting investigation is just a process."

"As long as they haven't done anything wrong, then nothing will definitely happen."

"The Prosecutor's Office won't wrong anyone, but they won't let go of anyone who has committed a crime either."

"You are more familiar with Charlie and his gang, so you write this list. I am very confident."

Chief Blue understood Lance's meaning: to thoroughly cleanse the police force of Charlie's faction.

He pondered for a moment, "Are some people worth winning over? Should we try to win them over?"

Like the branch chiefs or people like Nate, they are all "academics." When alumni social networking is popular, they often connect with more people.

If they were brought into his small circle, they could play a certain role in helping Chief Blue quickly control the entire police force.

But Lance shook his head, "My personal opinion is that it's completely unnecessary. There are capable people everywhere in this world."

"Aren't those people who can't find suitable jobs after graduating from police academy every year more suitable than those you think are valuable?"

"What we want is power that belongs entirely to us, not power that leans towards us after weighing the gains and losses."

"You are already the chief in the true sense of the word. Sometimes, use your brain more. We have time!"

He used his finger to write an invisible "10" on the table. From now until Councilor Williams steps down, there are at least ten years that belong to them. They have enough time to cultivate their own people.

Instead of winning over other people's people.

Chief Blue nodded and agreed.

After he returned, he didn't hesitate for too long. Although many of them were his alumni, even his classmates, under the dual drive of Lance and power, he wrote all the people he knew who belonged to Charlie on the list.

Of course, limited to the management level. Those small police officers, small patrol officers, don't need to be on the list to be fired by him; they are not qualified to be on the list at all.

Just a day later, a large number of mid-level police officers were suspended from their duties while at work and then taken to the Prosecutor's Office for investigation and interrogation.

Undoubtedly, they already knew their fate.

In fact, most police officers are likely to be in trouble once they are investigated.

Police salaries are too low. If you don't make some extra money, the job is simply not worth doing!

And everyone is skimming.

As long as you skim, and then you encounter someone who wants to find problems with you, then you will definitely have problems.

Everyone was frustrated, and some people secretly cursed Blue for being such a bastard, not only driving away Charlie and his confidants, but now also trying to kill everyone else.

But these words they said could not shake Charlie's determination, or rather, he couldn't change, and didn't dare to change, Lance's determination to cleanse the police force.

After all, after this matter is over, the entire police force will have to receive money from him, and he is not accustomed to giving money to those hostile forces.

While the police force was undergoing a major cleansing, the Bay Area also received the news. They knew that Charlie had run away and also knew roughly where he was.

In order to prevent Lance and Councilor Williams from finding Charlie ahead of time and hiding him, the Bay Area also sent out a lot of manpower to find Charlie.

Compared to Lance and the others wanting to bring Charlie back, these people they sent out simply wanted to kill Charlie!

… …

Charlie had just completed the surgery on his arm. Under the influence of money, the doctor at the small clinic did not make him wait a few days to come back, but directly let him into the operating room.

He rested in the small clinic's ward for one night. After changing the dressing the next day, he planned to continue leaving this place.

Before leaving, he needed to buy some supplies.

The incident at the motel also served as a reminder to him that he needed to carry some medicine on the road.

In case of any emergencies, it wouldn't disrupt his plans.

As he walked back with two large bags of medicine, he suddenly stopped when he was almost at the small clinic.

He saw two security officers circling his car, and at the same time, two security officers were talking to the doctor at the entrance of the small clinic.

He cursed more in these few days than he had in his entire life. He looked at the security officers, turned around, and walked in the opposite direction!

He had been discovered, in one night.

He had never felt so "stimulated" before. For no reason, after fear and anxiety, he now even developed a kind of indescribable excitement.

He found himself more able to concentrate and think than ever before.

He had to leave here, but not now.

He walked around the street with the medicine. His situation was not good now because the money was in the car, and he didn't have that much money in his wallet.

After the motel incident, he only had less than a hundred dollars in his wallet.

He had to use this hundred dollars to find a way to get rid of those police blockades and then run away.

"What should I do now?"

He asked himself.

As a veteran police officer, he knew very well that when the police discovered the whereabouts of a criminal, they would increase police force to block the scene and surrounding areas as soon as possible.

In other words, now was not the best time for him to escape. He needed to find a way to calm down and integrate into this town first.

Wait until the high-pressure situation disappeared before finding a way to leave.

He looked at the recruitment information for the farm on the roadside…