Chapter 247: Interwoven Clues—Are High-Purity Drugs and Red Wine Both from New York Harbor?

Su Ming’s words left Chen Sheng and Xu Changsheng visibly surprised. Given the clues unearthed so far, the likelihood of this conclusion seemed quite high; it was, at the very least, the best explanation they had.

Lan Cai’er’s Graduation Project Team inadvertently captured crucial evidence of a criminal organization and used it for blackmail, which was a genuine accident. This meant that K had no time to prepare or find the most suitable person to handle the situation. They needed to quickly silence Lan Cai’er or keep her from exposing the evidence, which could cause massive public and social upheaval.

To find someone capable of such ruthless acts in a short time, it made sense to look among those with criminal records, eliminating the need for prior grooming. After all, if they chose ordinary people like Qiang Wei, Poison, or Demon Witch, by the time K finished the groundwork, Lan Cai’er’s evidence would have spread far and wide.

However, this alone couldn’t confirm that Ghost had a criminal record. But one must remember that both One-Eye and Brother Long, Ghost’s frontline agents, also had criminal records and had even served time in the same prison.

Moreover, before Lan Cai’er was completely silenced, One-Eye had already begun trafficking high-purity drugs. This indicated that One-Eye and Brother Long were likely not personally chosen by K as drug trafficking agents. Instead, Ghost knew them well, which is why he used the more controllable Brother Long to handle logistical tasks and the cautious One-Eye to manage drug trafficking in Jiahe City, keeping him in the dark about Lan Cai’er.

These personalities were not something K could have quickly discerned. One-Eye had previously mentioned that when he became Ghost’s drug trafficking agent, he had only recently been released from prison, prompting him to act cautiously to avoid being caught again. Even if K was highly resourceful and liked to monitor police actions, he couldn’t be certain that after three to five years in prison, One-Eye and Brother Long’s characters wouldn’t change or that they wouldn’t become law-abiding citizens.

When all these clues and details were pieced together, Su Ming’s bold hypothesis found a fitting explanation and origin.

At this moment, Chen Sheng clenched his fist tightly, feeling closer than ever to solving the Hotel Female Corpse Drowning Case. He suppressed his excitement and calmly said, “Team Leader Su, given our current deductions, Ghost must have known One-Eye and Brother Long from their time in prison together. The time they spent together was likely significant; otherwise, he couldn’t have understood their personalities so precisely.”

“I feel like we’re onto something. I’ll have the Criminal Investigation Technology Section check immediately.”

Hearing this, Su Ming rubbed his chin thoughtfully and added, “Chen Ju, if One-Eye and Brother Long shared three years in prison, screening all inmates from that period would be a massive task. I think we can narrow it down further. In my view, before Ghost killed Lan Cai’er, he likely already had blood on his hands. To ensure Lan Cai’er would stay silent forever, K would need someone who had killed before.”

“If it was intentional murder, even without a death sentence, they’d be imprisoned for at least a decade, which would disconnect them from society, not meeting K’s requirements. So, we’re likely looking at a convict of manslaughter, or perhaps intentional murder disguised as manslaughter due to lack of evidence or deliberate concealment.”

“Given Ghost’s current caution and methodical approach, it’s plausible he crafted the case to appear as manslaughter. Lastly, Ghost is likely a highly skilled criminal, not one who relies on brute force, with a high criminal IQ. He also possesses exceptional patience and might be adept at manipulating people.”

“To make a more detailed judgment, we’ll need support from other cases, but these points should help us start the search.”

Chen Sheng nodded without hesitation, understanding clearly. He immediately took out his phone and called the Criminal Investigation Technology Section. As he waited for the call to connect, he looked at Su Ming and expressed his genuine curiosity, “Team Leader Su, the more we uncover about this case, the more I wonder what crucial evidence Lan Cai’er and her team stumbled upon. It must be something so significant that it threatens this ruthless criminal organization with total destruction if exposed.”

Before Chen Sheng could finish, his call to the Criminal Investigation Technology Section was answered. He gestured to Su Ming, then moved to the conference room door to discuss the search for Ghost.

Inside the conference room, Xu Changsheng pondered, frowning slightly as he spoke, “Chen Ju is right. What exactly did Lan Cai’er uncover that made K and the foreign criminal organization so anxious and desperate? If we could get our hands on it, it would be a massive blow to both K and the source of the high-purity drugs. It might even lead to dismantling a large criminal or terrorist organization with international cooperation.”

Su Ming nodded in agreement, fully aware of the unknown evidence’s importance. If they could obtain it, it would provide unimaginable leverage. However, given K’s usual caution, it seemed unlikely that Lan Cai’er left any evidence behind. Their best hope was to extract the crucial evidence from Ghost once they found him.

As Su Ming was deep in thought, his phone rang urgently on the table. He answered and put it on speaker. Lin Tian’s voice came through, “Xiao Ming, the lead I was following on Priest has hit a dead end. But now there’s a new development. It turns out the caregiver for Priest’s mother, who suffers from severe dementia, is actually the Demon Witch hiding in Jinling City. She’s using her role as a caregiver to conceal her identity and monitor Priest’s mother. Moreover, Priest’s sister is involved with K’s drug trafficking organization, receiving large quantities of high-end wine from abroad to sell in our country for huge illegal profits. We’re currently tracking the Demon Witch’s…”

Before Lin Tian could finish speaking, Su Ming raised an eyebrow and interrupted him with some surprise.

“Hold on, Chief Lin.”

“Did you just say that Priest’s sister is receiving shipments of wine from abroad?”

“Or rather… has K been sending her large quantities of high-end wine? Is the shipping location New York Harbor?”