Captured By The Cold Detective (BL)

Li Zhi took a deep breath. He had to remain calm and cool-headed.

Even though there was a huge possibility that someone had disguised themselves as Qin Zhen and strutted around the police station unnoticed... Even though it meant that everything the fake ’Qin Zhen’ stated might be a lie and they might have to re-investigate 510 murder case again; even though his instinct kept clamoring that the fake ’Qin Zhen’ might have something to do with the case they were working on right now, and they might even become a dangerous threat to the police, Li Zhi had to remain utterly, perfectly, completely calm.

"Fuck..." someone let out a soft curse that echoed loud and clear amidst the meeting room, and it took him one full second to realize that it had come from his own mouth.

Somehow, that one word seemed to have become a hammer to crack the silence in the air, and a great uproar descended.

"Ghost, your ass! Do you think he can still be touched and seen if he’s a ghost?! Who are you trying to scare?! What if it’s his twin brother?!"

"Fuck me, there’s an imposter hiding among us! What kind of sickly scenario is this?!"

"Wait... what do you mean among us?! Do you think that person is still here?!"

"Ck, haven’t you heard of the game ’Among Us’? Have you been living under a rock?!"

"Ah ah ah!" Kang Guanyu let out a wail similar to a chicken who was being slaughtered, shrill and high-pitched. "I remember it now! Back then, Chen Lian said that something is amiss with that fake ’Qin Zhen’ because he’s wearing make-up when the bar hasn’t opened yet! I didn’t think too much of it, but now... damn! Do you guys think he’s wearing make-up so that he can make his face look similar to the real one?!"

Everyone’s eyes simultaneously converged on Chen Lian, whose brows were furrowed as though in deep thought.

"I’m sorry!" Kang Guanyu stood up from his chair in a clatter and dramatically draped himself over the table in a half-kowtow toward Chen Lian. "I’m so sorry, A-Chen. I shouldn’t have doubted you at that time!"

"Save it." Chen Lian cast the silly boy a speechless look. "I couldn’t have guessed that he is a fake either. I mean, how are you supposed to know that he’s a fake when you haven’t met the real one yet?"

Everyone nodded at Chen Lian’s words. It was perfectly reasonable. If only they had met the real Qin Zhen, then at least they would have been able to make a comparison. But the main problem was, the real one had died even before Miss Zhao was murdered! 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Chills ran down the spine the more they thought about it. This imposter... exactly what was their plan in taking Qin Zhen’s place? Was it to mislead the police and give a wrong statement? Supposedly that was the case, then the time they concocted this plan... must be much earlier than Miss Zhao’s accident! And they even made sure to dispose of the real one... after all, dead people told no lies.

By now, they were almost certain that something was off with Qin Zhen’s heart attack. Adding on to the location where his body was found, they could almost say for sure that he had been killed. It’s just that they had not found the evidence yet. How frustrating!

"Alright," Li Zhi clapped his hands loudly. Thanks to this chaotic group’s short intervention, he had managed to sort out his thoughts. "What Chen Lian said is right. I’m sure you guys understand the severity of the matter. Someone has disguised themselves as one of our core witnesses. It means that whatever they stated might be a lie to draw our attention away from the real truth."

Everyone’s face sank as they nodded in understanding.

"And what’s more," Li Zhi continued. "The fact that Qin Zhen’s body was found in the rented room of one of Xuanlong’s former members is worth investigating. Xuanlong has always come up one way or another in the cases we’re working on, and I can no longer consider it as a mere coincidence. With that in mind, I’d like to suggest that Mr. Tak doesn’t investigate Xuanlong by himself anymore, but he should also cooperate with the Violent Crime and Narcotics Division from now on. What do you think, Mr. Tak?"

Tak Jung-Hwa nodded with a smile. "No problem, Captain Li. If it means that the progress of the case will be faster, I don’t mind at all."

"Thank you," Li Zhi uttered with all sincerity.

To be honest, he had been apprehensive toward Tak Jung-Hwa at first, fearing that he would think that the Bureau’s officers were beneath him and refusing to cooperate. After all, he was an elite member and a superior Alpha to boot. Going by the usual practice, only birds of the same feather flock together and Li Zhi was afraid that the man would disdain them for being too uncouth. As it turned out, he had been thinking too much. Tak Jung-Hwa was a very humble, down-to-earth and charismatic man, and he integrated very well into the team thanks to his warm and friendly demeanor. Li Zhi could finally lay his worry to rest.

Next, he started to give out commands. "First, do a background check–"

"Umm..." Kang Guanyu gingerly lifted his hand like a student interrupting his teacher’s lecture. "Captain, if you’re talking about doing a background check on Qin Zhen, I have it here."

Li Zhi, and practically everyone including Tak Jung-Hwa were taken aback.

"Damn boy, when did you do a background check on him?!" An officer demanded suspiciously.

Kang Guanyu huffed and puffed. "Please, I have always done a background check on all of the witnesses, okay?!"

"You’ve done it?" Li Zhi narrowed his eyes as he scrutinized Kang Guanyu closely. For a split second, he wondered if Kang Guanyu had seen this coming, but then he hastily shook the doubt out of his mind. What was he thinking? How could this silly boy predict something like this? It must be because he was too paranoid by the sudden discovery of the imposter. "Okay, tell us."

Kang Guanyu slipped his pen behind his ear and flipped open his notebook. "Let’s see... Qin Zhen, 36 years old, male, Beta. No siblings – so we can cross the possibility that the imposter is his twin brother. Single and unmarried. He came from a humble family and he wasn’t that smart either. That’s why as soon as he finished high school, he didn’t continue to a higher education and chose to work directly instead. He had done all kinds of meager jobs; waiter, security guard, pizza delivery man... you name it. In the end, he was—"

"Okay, cut." Li Zhi had a headache listening to him recounting Qin Zhen’s life like a biography. "I only need to know whether there’s a family member, friends or lovers who can testify exactly when he was replaced by the imposter and whether something strange has happened prior to that."

"Someone who can testify..." Kang Guanyu grimaced. "His mother died due to cancer eight years ago, and he has a dementia father who’s in the nursing home right now. According to the information I’ve got, he very seldom visited his father and only sent money once a month. As for his personal relationship..." he shrugged with a sheepish look. "Do one night stands count?"

Li Zhi no longer bothered where Kang Guanyu got that information from. "So, no family members or lovers who can testify. How about friends?"

"Err... he has always been busy working all day at Phoenix Ablaze."

And that’s how the entire staff of Phoenix Ablaze and their boss, Han Shan, was once again summoned to the police station for questioning.