Captain Luo still scared the hell out of Ding Wei. Even the classroom didn't change that. If he hadn't held out the prospect of his cooperation, Ding Wei would surely sit in a police car on the way to the bureau right now. His gaze slid nervously to the door as he sat down at one of the empty desks in the front row.
"What do you know about Zhuang Wenjie's kidnapping, and what is your relationship with Xu Zhengqing?"
"I run errands for monsieur." Ding Wei assumed that Captain Luo knew that Mister Xu was the mastermind behind the recent incidents. "He ordered my father to steal Water Lily so that Wenjie would be involved in the criminal cases."
"We already know that. Where did he take Wenjie?" Captain Luo interrupted him. Xiao Dao swallowed and bit his lower lip. "I don't know. He changes his hiding place every time. The henchman who brings me to him always scans me and I have to wear a blindfold. I've tried to remember the way, but no way."
"He doesn't know anything. We're wasting our time," Dazhi's voice sounded from the background.
Fortunately, Captain Luo seemed to see it differently. "You mean the man whose black car you got into three days ago?"
Ding Wei nodded. Then, for the hint of a moment, a fleeting grin appeared on his lips. "I figured you'd be watching me. Your colleague is pretty good. Unfortunately, Monsieur's men are better."
He had chosen the wrong words. Captain Luo's expression changed, whereupon Xiao Dao would have liked to crawl under the table.
"He can learn a lot from them in setting up traps," he said, trying to turn the tide.
That even caused the Captain to smile. "Did you see any other accomplices?"
"Yeah, a broad-shouldered guy, pretty well trained, short cropped hair, sporty clothes, angular face and a tattoo on his upper arm. Looks like a scorpion. Nothing special. He doesn't have many people left. Most of them put you away." Ding Wei grinned wryly.
"You said you only had to run errands. Have you seen Wenjie? And why had Xu Zhengqing called you this time?" Captain Luo continued his questioning.
Xiao Dao nodded. The worry lines on Captain Luo's forehead did not escape him. "He was not well. I don't know what that, I mean Monsieur did to him. Honestly, I don't. He wanted me to look after Wenjie for three days. The kid was totally out of it, but I distracted him a bit. Wenjie said he was going to get some artifacts. Since he has no more people, he has to do it alone, and that takes time. I guess that's true, or he wouldn't have told me he needed me to take care of Wenjie more often in the coming weeks."
"That won't be necessary. We'll grab your chauffeur."
Ding Weis's breath stopped short. Abruptly, he jumped to his feet. The table slid back a little, squeaking. "No. Then he and Wenjie will disappear over the hills and the chauffeur won't tell them anything. He is more important to Monsieur than the artifacts. Otherwise, he wouldn't go to such trouble to break him. He made Wenjie call him uncle. It doesn't take much ..." Upset, he ran a hand over his head and began pacing up and down the hall. Then the secret Wenjie had confided in him came back to him. His eyes widened.
"The secret of Luoshen," he murmured. "Wenjie told me just like that. Captain Luo. The numbers on the Tears of Moongoddes necklace and the numbers Wenjie told me, 38, 28, 24, 33, they lead to the lost artifacts. The next time he calls me, you can send a delegation to the place and arrest him. The only problem with that is, he won't tell them where he's holding Wenjie."
Captain Luo remained silent. For a moment he seemed lost in thought. Ding Wei waited, for with the secret of Luoshen he had given away anything that might be of use.
"Does your chauffeur change cars every time?" asked Captain Luo finally.
Xiao Dao nodded.
"Do you have any items with you they don't take and check?"
Ding Wei thought for a moment. "On the spot, anything that could be useful to me in any way to free him will be taken from me. But I get to keep my knife in the car. Do you think you could add something to it?" Surprised, he pulled his knife out of his pocket and looked thoughtfully at the handle.
Captain Luo reached out his hand for it, whereupon Xiao Dao handed his knife to the man.
"As long as you are allowed to carry it in the car with you, it can also be located, as long as we put a transmitter on it. It's enough if we can find the approximate location of the hiding place," Captain Luo replied. Then he examined him again from head to toe with a scrutinizing look that made Ding Wei shrink into himself.
The policeman did not trust him.
"This is not a trap." That probably made him all the more suspicious now. At least, Captain Luo's colleague looked at him as if he thought the conversation was useless. "I made sure Xu Zhengqing wouldn't suspect anything." At least, that's what he hoped. "I know I'm not trustworthy. And I've actually already blown my last chance with you. But it's really important to me that you get Wenjie out of there. I can't do it alone."
"You'd better take this chance, too, and not try to double-cross us," Captain Luo warned him, putting the knife in his jacket pocket. "Meet Lin Zhiyue and Sun Zhijian again tomorrow at the same time. You can get your knife from the porter."
Ding Wei's lips twisted into a smile. "I won't let you down," he promised.
"You better not." With those words, Captain Luo left the room, closely followed by his colleague, who immediately began to harangue him they couldn't trust Ding Wei.
He was probably right. But in this case, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, regardless of the fact that this meant cooperating with the police.
Ding Wei waited at the door until the police officers had disappeared around the next corner, before turning the other way to leave the university campus through the back exit. Without his knife, he felt a little naked. But he had to get through that now. And maybe he should think of something to lull Xu Zhengqing into safety with, stories about rumors, for example. Surely he would enjoy hearing that the police thought Wenjie was dead. However, Monsieur would then rub it in Wenjie's face, which might have a counterproductive effect on the latter's mental health.
At a newsstand, Ding Wei picked up a daily newspaper, which, interestingly, said nothing at all about the status of the investigation. The newspaper still reported that the police had succeeded in breaking up Undercurrent. There was nothing at all about Wenjie, just a small reference that Xu Zhengqing was wanted.
to be continued...
