Inside the exhibition hall, Luo Zheng walked up to the display stand and continued to examine it, trying to find so clue. The glass cover over the stand was intact and undamaged; no matter how you looked at it, it didn't seem to have been forced open. Then how did the other party get the password and fingerprint? Without those, there's no way to unlock it. Luo Zheng pondered for a mont and asked in a low voice, "Who all knows the code and fingerprint for this lock?"
"Only one person, the man who brought the Heavenly Pearl here, a highly respected Lama. There's no way this man would be greedy. He brought the item himself, set the password here on the spot, and registered his fingerprint as well. In other words, only he can open this protective cover. This was also a asure to prevent the item from being lost or taken out and toyed with." Shi Feng hurriedly said.
"A fingerprint-code lock is not easy to crack. The password is the easy part; can you open it without the fingerprint?" Luo Zheng asked in surprise. "What's the Lama's attitude about this?"
"He's staying at the hotel, waiting for our results. He's very anxious, but still fairly understanding, not pressuring us. He just calls every night at eight on the dot to ask about progress, and doesn't go anywhere. I've arranged people to protect him around the clock. Do you want to see him?" Shi Feng quickly explained.
"Not for now." Luo Zheng kept thinking. If the man himself had no problem, then there was only one possibility: the thief had already collected his fingerprint and made so sort of sample. As long as you have a fingerprint sample and press it against the sensor, you can still open the lock. Looks like the thief ca prepared and had everything ready long ago.
Ordinary people can't just get close to an accomplished high monk. If the fingerprint hadn't been collected, there was another possibility: soone familiar with the source code of this fingerprint-code lock, who knew system vulnerabilities or a backdoor, and obtained remote access through a network connection to open the lock. Pulling that off isn't easy. Combined with how the thief avoided infrared and other detectors, the other side should have an assistant—soone who's an expert hacker.
You can track soone through the network too, but the other side is also a pro and knows how to wipe their traces. You might not be able to track them in two days. Luo Zheng continued to ponder. After a while, a detective from the Major Cris Unit rushed in from outside, excitedly saying to Shi Feng, "Director Shi, we've got a lead." As he spoke he glanced at Luo Zheng, eyes full of admiration.
"Oh? What's the situation?" Shi Feng asked in surprise, staring eagerly at him.
Luo Zheng also looked over curiously. The officer glanced around, saw no one else was nearby, and lowered his voice: "The results from the snowfield scene examination are out. Based on the footprints and the stress patterns in the snow layers, the forensics people determined the suspect is about one seventy-five tall, weighs around seventy-five kilos, male."
"Just that?" Shi Feng asked, dissatisfied.
"There's more. There's no surveillance around the snowfield scene itself, but there is at an intersection not far away. When we pulled the footage, we found that around one a.m. last night, a car suddenly appeared at the intersection three hundred ters from the scene, waiting at the light. But when we rolled back footage from the caras further up the road during the sa ti window, that car never appeared. In other words, the car was waiting sowhere in the middle of the road out of cara view, then suddenly pulled into the lane and got caught on cara." The officer hurried to explain.
"Great. Who was in the car?" Shi Feng asked in delight.
"A young man. Judging from his build, he basically matches the person inferred from the scene traces. Our preliminary judgnt is that his car was parked sowhere near the snowfield, at a spot the caras don't cover. He slid down from above to the scene, then changed clothes and drove away. That explains why the vehicle suddenly appeared at the intersection, yet when we checked caras further back on the street there was no sign of it. It should be him." The officer quickly explained.
"That fits the logic. Check it imdiately." Shi Feng said sharply, elated.
"Yes, sir." The officer straightened his chest, answered excitedly, and left.
"That bastard finally slipped up. Good thing you were here; if you hadn't dug out this clue, it'd be almost supernatural." Shi Feng said to Luo Zheng in relief. "Now that we've got a lead, it's easy to work with. My people can use it to find this guy. We'll have news soon. You coming to my office or heading ho?"
"I'll go to your office. I want to know who this guy really is—and how he opened the fingerprint-code lock." Luo Zheng said casually. He kept feeling this wouldn't be so simple; there had to be sothing else behind it. Since he was involved now, he had to see it through.
"Good, let's go." Shi Feng was more than happy to have Luo Zheng stay and agreed cheerfully.
The two walked out of the exhibition hall and got into the car. They chatted idly along the way and before long reached the Municipal Bureau. After parking, they headed straight for the office building. Once inside Shi Feng's office, Shi Feng had Luo Zheng sit down, personally poured water, made tea and brought it over, then sat on the sofa as well, continuing with small talk while they waited for news.
After about ten-plus minutes, an officer hurried over and knocked, nodded politely to Luo Zheng, then looked at Shi Feng and said, "Director Shi, sothing's off. A cara captured the target's face. We ran facial recognition and cranial comparison on the image and found a match. He's also a citizen of our country, registered in a fishing village in a city in Coastal Province. Half an hour ago he was still selling fish at the market. We asked the local precinct to verify this, and he's still selling fish right now. He has no ti window or motive to commit the cri. Please advise."
"Oh?" Shi Feng's expression changed dramatically. He turned to Luo Zheng and said, "What the hell? My people shouldn't be making mistakes. Then what's with this guy? No ti to commit the cri? What do you think?"
"The cri took place last night. Is it possible he committed it and then rushed back overnight?" Luo Zheng asked, his expression also turning grim as he thought it through.
"We asked. The local officers said he went out to sea fishing last night. Winter fishing is a local tradition; plenty of people can testify to it. The target has already been brought to the precinct for questioning. No leads." The officer quickly explained, then turned to Shi Feng and added, "Director Shi, so about this man…?"
"Hold on, don't rush." Shi Feng quickly said. "Could it be two people?"
"No way, unless they're twins. But the problem is, one's a fisherman and the other's a top-class thief. Those identities are worlds apart; they don't line up at all. There has to be sothing fishy here. Can we track the target's vehicle and latest movents?" Luo Zheng asked the officer gravely.
"We checked the vehicle. It's running a stolen plate, and the car itself was stolen too. The owner is a local citizen, an office worker currently on a business trip in another city. The company has confird this and we spoke to the owner on the phone. We also found the car—it was dumped by the roadside. The target has completely vanished." The officer said quickly.
"We have the target and still can't find him?" Shi Feng asked, annoyed. "Print out the photo and distribute it to all departnts and relevant units. Have everyone help look for him."
"Wait a second." Luo Zheng suddenly said in a low voice.
Brothers and sisters, where are your monthly votes? Old Wolf begs for your support, thank you all.
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