Chapter 340: The New York Cop Looking Forward to Vacation, Su Ming Uncovers Mr. Zhao on an International Flight

3 a.m.

At this hour, the New York Police Department was usually quiet, with its doors half-closed and only a handful of staff on duty. But tonight, the building was unusually bright and bustling.

Almost every officer was working overtime, supposedly searching for leads in the Little Morgan case.

Of course, while they called it “searching for leads,” most were just killing time, waiting for the identity matches from the database and the results of the DNA tests.

After all, they had spent the better part of the past six months chasing shadows with no progress. What were the chances they’d suddenly find something useful now?

Inside the NYPD conference room, nearly every officer sat around with a cup of coffee and a hot dog in hand, lounging about and pretending to work.

Some, unable to fight off the exhaustion, had already slumped over the chairs at the back of the room, snoring softly in their sleep.

In this kind of atmosphere, even the few officers who might have wanted to seriously investigate were likely to give up and go with the flow.

Even Chief Walker had his arms crossed as he leaned back in the chair behind the podium, eyes closed as if meditating, though he was clearly dozing off. Naturally, he was in no position to lecture anyone else.

He was used to comfort. On a normal night, he’d be cuddled up in bed with his wife, not stuck on the front lines pulling an all-nighter.

In fact, from his perspective, all the criminals shown in the video Old Morgan had sent were already dead—eliminated by the mastermind behind the scenes in the explosion and fire at the Knight Bar.

The number of bodies matched, and everything aligned with the case’s current trajectory.

It was obvious.

Chief Walker believed the mission was complete. The criminals in the video had been found and dealt with. He could now report back to Old Morgan with a clear conscience. Any sense of urgency he once had was long gone.

If he weren’t worried that Old Six might report him to Old Morgan and cost him his position, Walker would’ve been the first to head home and sleep.

Though his detective skills were lacking, Chief Walker at least knew one thing—Morgan Financial Group was not to be trifled with. At the very least, he had to keep up appearances. He couldn’t be too careless and risk drawing Old Morgan’s ire.

…

Just as the officers in the conference room were about to collapse from fatigue, a thin white officer named Black quietly pushed open the door, as if afraid of waking the sleeping cops inside.

Vito, a Black officer who often partied at nightclubs and was currently wide awake thanks to some recreational substances, immediately waved a hot dog in greeting when he saw Black enter.

“Hey, Black, what’s the word?”

“Have we confirmed the identities of the eleven bodies?”

“If everything checks out, can we finally go home and sleep? It’s already 3 a.m., way past our regular hours. We’ve been working overtime for who knows how long.”

Vito’s booming voice instantly drew everyone’s attention to Black.

Even Chief Walker, who had been pretending to meditate but was actually fast asleep, was jolted awake. He looked over at Black, who was carefully closing the door, and quickly stood up.

“Well? What’s the result?”

Black set a stack of papers on the table in front of Walker, adjusted his glasses, and spoke with a serious tone.

“Using the US citizen database, we’ve confirmed the identities of ten of the deceased.”

“By comparing the photos of the suspects with the database portraits, I can confirm that these ten individuals were the same ten subordinates shown in the video.”

“In other words, they were under the command of that punk-looking man.”

“As for the last body, I couldn’t determine the identity through DNA, and I couldn’t find a matching photo for the punk leader in the database either.”

“In short, we can’t confirm who the last body is, and we can’t identify the punk man. He might be an undocumented immigrant who snuck into the United States.”

“Or… he could be a professional killer who’s never been officially registered, operating entirely in the shadows.”

“These are things we can’t confirm right now. No one has come forward to claim the body. While the height and age match the punk man in the video, I can’t make a definitive conclusion.”

After hearing Black’s report, Vito, who was itching to get back to his party life, couldn’t sit still any longer and immediately spoke up.

“What do you mean you can’t conclude?”

“Isn’t it obvious this was a cleanup job by someone higher up?”

“Eleven bodies, exactly the number of people shown in the video. From a criminal cover-up standpoint, it lines up perfectly.”

“Black, you just don’t have enough experience with investigations, that’s why you’re hesitant to make the call.”

Chief Walker, standing in front of the multimedia screen, nodded in agreement as he picked up the report Black had placed on the table.

“Vito’s right.”

“Eleven bodies, matching the number of people in the video. There shouldn’t be any mistake.”

“Plus, the explosion and fire were clearly meant to silence them. Logically, there’s little chance of mistaken or missed targets.”

“Also, we can reasonably assume these people were already dead before the fire. The arson was just to destroy evidence. That means the mastermind had plenty of time to eliminate all the witnesses.”

“That makes the chance of any survivors even lower. Vito’s probably right. The eleven people who killed Little Morgan in the video are most likely the same eleven corpses we’ve got in those body bags.”

“This case… it’s starting to look like a clash between two massive financial groups. I can finally see it now.”

“Neither side is someone we can afford to provoke, but at least we can report back to CEO Morgan now. In just a few hours, we’ve already identified the primary killer from the video.”

At this point, a smile finally appeared on Chief Walker’s face. He shook his head with a sigh of relief.

“I thought this case would be tough, but it turns out even God is lending us a hand.”

“Alright, boys, stay here tonight and keep the show going. Make do for one more night. Once I report to CEO Morgan in the morning, I’ll approve a fifteen-day vacation for all of you.”

“When the time comes, we’ll head to the west coast of California together, soak up the sun, and enjoy the beach.”

As his words fell, the officers in the conference room erupted with excitement. Some even put their fingers to their lips and whistled loudly.

They were already looking forward to the vacation that was just around the corner.

…

At the same time.

It was 2 p.m. in Dragon Country. The Huaihai Criminal Investigation Brigade in Shanghai was in the midst of an intense search for related clues.

Inside another conference room.

Su Ming stared at the news projected on the screen in front of him. His expression was calm, as if everything was unfolding exactly as expected.

“The case is progressing just as we predicted.”

“After K arrived in the United States, he used his signature method to silence witnesses in order to protect J.”

“According to the New York media reports, the explosion and fire resulted in eleven deaths, which matches the number of people shown in the video.”

“It’s obvious—K found a scapegoat. Combined with the fire, the bodies were unrecognizable. This kind of faked death and identity erasure… we’ve seen it too many times lately.”

“Keep digging. See if there’s anything else we can uncover that’s of value.”

“At the moment, we can reasonably assume that K is also in the United States, and likely staying close to J.”

Just as he finished speaking, the conference room door swung open. Xu Changsheng hurried in, his face lit with excitement.

“Xiao Ming!”

“After coordinating with Xin Qiao Airport in Luzhou City, we managed to get in touch with the crew members who’ve been flying cross-border routes these past few days.”

“One of the flight attendants gave us a key piece of information. She said… two days ago, on a flight to Dubai with a layover in Bangkok—”

“A business class passenger got off in Bangkok during the layover for a rest, but then suddenly disappeared. When the layover ended, he never reboarded the plane…”