Chapter 10

Lin Yue finally understood why Tony was involved in the gold heist.

If his guess was correct, while Huang Landeng's team was monitoring Songpa, the other robbers were also closely watching Songpa's movements to prevent the prey from slipping away.

In the movie, Songpa had four accomplices. Apart from the mysterious small man, the other three were Beige, the Vietnamese, and Jingang. They were not Thai, so their relationship with Songpa was purely a business partnership, and there was no deep friendship.

Before the gold heist, both sides maintained a trust relationship, but after the heist, that trust naturally diminished. This is evident from the movie's plot, where the three robbers, unaware that Songpa had already cast the gold into a Buddha statue, attacked Tang Ren and Qin Feng like mad dogs.

When Huang Landeng raided the workshop, he found Songpa dead at home, and the gold had vanished. The accomplices who were closely monitoring Songpa's movements could not have remained indifferent.

They discovered that Songpa had been murdered, and the police had not found the gold. They then turned their attention to the financially strained Chief. Huang Landeng, who had a sense of justice and close ties with the Chinese merchants in Chinatown, might not have risked his future for a million dollars. The Chief, however, was at the end of his career and nearing retirement age. Such a person would likely choose to make more money to enjoy his retirement.

From this, it can be seen that Beige, as the leader of the three robbers, was quite smart, but he did not expect the Chief to be even more cunning.

In the end, the one who cooperated with the three robbers was Tony. The Chief did not have to do anything and would not take any risks. If the goal was achieved, he could get a quarter of the gold. If it failed, Tony could catch the criminals and claim credit. Even if things went wrong, Tony would take the blame.

"Don't worry, Chief, I know what to do." Lin Yue put the card from the desk into his pocket.

From Tony's perspective, whether to treat his seriously ill mother or for his own future, he had ample reason to accept the task.

"Good, I didn't misjudge you." The Chief tapped the ash from his cigarette into the ashtray, a smile appearing at the corner of his mouth. The light from the window filled the deep wrinkles on his face, making him look somewhat unreal.

"Chief, I'll leave now." Lin Yue stood up to take his leave.

"Good, be careful."

"I will."

Lin Yue left the Chief's office and returned to his seat on the second floor of the work hall. He squinted and recalled the plot.

It seemed everything was on track. Tony had become an informant for Beige and the others within the police force. As for Tang Ren, he was probably still playing mahjong with old friends in Chinatown.

"Hmm, to find the fifth robber in the gold heist, where should I start?"

Lin Yue glanced at the fingerprint report on his desk and fell into deep thought.

In the afternoon, he found an excuse to slip out of the police station, called the number on the card with his phone, and talked to Beige about Songpa's death for a few minutes.

He wanted to understand the relationship between the three robbers and Songpa.

As he had guessed, Songpa met them while collecting debts. Their relationship was average, and they formed a temporary gang because they agreed to rob the gold shop.

He did not dare to ask about the fifth robber because they had not yet built trust, and asking too deeply might make the other side suspicious.

...

The next morning, Huang Landeng was anxiously waiting for the fingerprint comparison results. Lin Yue took a half-day leave, citing his mother's relapse, and drove to Sakhamvit Street.

As he passed through Chinatown, he glanced inside.

Signs of various gold shops hung on both sides. The Night Shanghai bar in the Chinatown bathhouse was bathed in the morning light. A white figure stumbled down the corridor, running to the end of the second floor, where a room with a bagua hung outside.

Lin Yue smiled, knowing it was Qin Feng, who had just woken up from a hangover. His cousin Tang Ren was outside the bathhouse, peeping at the landlord Ah Xiang taking a bath, completely unaware of the impending disaster.

After a while, he parked his car in front of the Lucky Café and got out.

Through the shiny glass window, he could see the exquisite crafts on the display shelves. The effeminate waiter, wearing a dark green apron, walked past the counter with a "Come and get me" look on his face.

Lin Yue leaned against the car door, lit a cigarette, and walked towards the apartment building opposite the café.

Understanding the fifth robber from Beige and the others was a breakthrough, but he should not rush it. Considering the limited time, he decided to try his luck with the real killer of Songpa.

According to Qin Feng's reasoning, Li, who worked at the car repair shop, was a pedophile. He learned from his daughter Si Nuo's diary that she had been raped by Songpa. He then infiltrated the workshop, killed Songpa, and framed Tang Ren.

Li had hidden in the workshop for over a week and might have heard or seen something, like whether Songpa had called any suspicious people.

From the conversation with Beige yesterday, it was clear that the mysterious fifth person was the mastermind behind the gold heist, and Songpa, including the three people he recruited, were accomplices.

There was another thing he was very concerned about: whether the memory card in Songpa's camera, which contained photos of Songpa stalking Si Nuo, also had clues about the fifth robber.

The movie's plot suggested that the memory card was in Li's hands, but the key was how to make the murderer hand it over.

The cigarette was quickly finished, and Lin Yue entered the apartment building opposite the café.

It was not yet eight o'clock, and a cold chill filled the hallway, making his back feel cold. The doors on both sides were tightly shut, and the iron grilles outside were rusty. The dirty walls were covered with children's graffiti and various small ads for plumbing, fake documents, treating diseases, and removing curses...

The security door of the apartment management office was closed, and the staff had not arrived. As Lin Yue walked past, a little girl appeared from the corner of the corridor, wearing a white shirt, a black skirt, and a blue backpack with a流氓兔 (Bully Rabbit) charm.

Lin Yue's face changed slightly as he watched the girl leave the hallway, her thin figure disappearing into the crowd on the street.

It was Si Nuo, the cunning manipulator in the movie. Her final evil smile had frightened many people, and Lin Yue had also felt a chill when he first saw it.

As a police officer, Tony could easily find Li's address. He went upstairs and walked straight to room 3326, knocking on the door.

The door quickly opened, and a bearded face appeared behind the iron grille, with a cold, hostile gaze.

He was the murderer who killed Songpa and framed Tang Ren—Li.