Tracing capital flow was an extremely tedious task since a sum of money may pass through dozens of transactions in a year. Since this wasn’t the sort of task I could help with, Xiaotao and Lao Yao turned to the rest of the force.
With nothing to do, the three of us sat listlessly in the conference room. I played with my cell phone while Song Xingchen hugged his sword as he lazily looked out the window, appreciating the autumn scenery. As usual, Wang Yuanchao was drinking.
He suddenly rolled up his sleeve and placed his arm on the table. "Come, let's have a match."
Song Xingchen couldn’t be bothered to spare him a glance.
"Are the flowery fists and fancy footwork any use, or are you just a weak-limbed little boy?" goaded Wang Yuanchao.
"Flowery fists?" Song Xingchen sneered, "You know nothing."
"Then let’s have a match!" Wang Yuanchao dared in a display of valiance.
Song Xingchen glanced at me, to which I nodded, "As long as there are no hard feelings between the two of you."
Arm on the table, Song Xingchen grasped Wang Yuanchao’s hand. At the count of three, both men exerted strength at the same time. The veins on Wang Yuanchao's muscular arm bulged but Song Xingchen made it seem effortless.
The two wrestled for five whole minutes when beads of sweat started to appear on Wang Yuanchao’s forehead. The table below rattled. It was Song Xingchen’s profound internal skills against Wang Yuanchao’s brute force. Afraid they would get into trouble, I urged, "Alright, that’s enough!"
Both men turned a blind eye, gaze fixed on each other. To my surprise, there was vapor emitted from Song Xingchen’s forehead; it turned out he was sweating.
Crack! Right then, one of the legs broke so the oak table tilted to one side. They stood up at once, eyes still riveted on each other. Just when I thought they might break out in a fight, Wang Yuanchao smiled and bumped Song Xingchen on the shoulder, "You’re good! I give up."
"No, you’re very strong. Right now, you’re relying on pure brute force, but if you practice internal skills for a few years, I'm afraid I would be no match for you!" Song Xingchen politely replied.
Much to my relief, the match ended on an amicable note. Xiaotao returned, staring open-mouthed at the devastation before her. "All I did was leave for a few seconds and you’ve managed to destroy the table. Wang Yuanchao, that'll be deducted from your salary."
"Whatever!" Wang Yuanchao took a sip from his hip flask, eliciting yet another dirty look from Xiaotao.
"Did you have anything?" I turned to Xiaotao.
"A bunch of messy accounts but we managed to trace a sum of money back to its origin, and guess who it is? It’s someone you know," hinted Xiaotao.
"Your dad?" I looked up curiously.
"Of course not! It’s Mr. Mu."
According to Lao Yao’s search, one of Mr. Mu’s companies transferred a large sum of money to Yang Xingdong three years ago, which was rather odd since the two shouldn’t have known each other at the time.
No wonder Mr. Mu fled as soon as he heard about the incident. It turned out they had such a connection which I never expected.
While Lao Yao continued to investigate Yang Xingdong’s accounts, the rest of us would head to Mr. Mu’s villa.
"If I leave the two of you here, you might just tear down the office. You might as well come along with us!” Xiaotao said, turning to Wang Yuanchao and Song Xingchen.
Thus, the four of us climbed into Xiaotao's car and headed out. We had three stops–Mr. Mu’s company, his current residence, and the home he shared with his ex-wife, Madam Li.
Xiaotao consulted me on our first stop, so I said, "I’m guessing he’s stayed in that villa for the longest time. Let’s head there first!"
"You're not thinking about that young woman, are you?" laughed Xiaotao.
Because the progress of our investigation had me in a good mood, I couldn't help myself from teasing, "Now that you mention it, I would like to see that flirtatious young woman again!" My little joke netted me a playful punch on the chest.
Half an hour later, we arrived at Mr. Mu’s villa. Accustomed to a life of debauchery, Mrs. Mu slept during the day and enjoyed herself at night. We stood at the door and rang the bell for a considerable amount of time before the young woman showed up, leaning languidly against the door frame with an eyebrow arched. "Hey, it's you again, Officer Huang. Lao Mu hasn't been back yet."
"No, we’d like to search his residence. I hope you’ll cooperate."
Mrs. Mu welcomed us into her home, those amorous eyes sweeping over Wang Yuanchao and Song Xingchen. "I have to say, the police are all such fine specimens. Would you like something to drink?"
"No thank you, we’re on official duty."
Song Xingchen and I searched the bedroom while Xiaotao and Wang Yuanchao covered the study. Unfortunately, we found nothing even after looking through every nook and cranny. Xiaotao removed the books on the shelf and went through every single one but found no clues to prove their connection.
Standing at the door with a glass of champagne in her hand, Mrs. Mu asked, "What are you looking for? Did Lao Mu commit a crime?"
"I’m afraid we can’t disclose that," answered Xiaotao.
"You guys are so boring. What’s there to hide? Isn’t it the same old stuff? I know exactly how the rich are. The old man started from scratch and his hands are definitely dirty," Mrs. Mu nonchalantly remarked.
"Do you know something?" I asked.
Mrs. Mu shook her head, "I do, but I won't say it unless..." She flashed Wang Yuanchao a devious smile, "This officer will accompany me for a drink."
"You’ve picked the right man. Wang Yuanchao, take it easy," said Xiaotao.
Mrs. Mu pulled out a bottle of brandy from her husband’s private collection. Glancing at the liquor cabinet, I was suddenly inspired. After a drink with Wang Yuanchao, she began, "Do you know why Lao Mu and his ex-wife separated?"
"Isn't it because of you?" Xiaotao said.
"No. In fact, his ex-wife went missing..."
We were surprised to hear that when Mr. Mu came to Nanjiang City in the 1980s, he was a poor rural boy who waited at restaurants and washed toilets, before being hired by a real estate company.
His ex-wife was the boss’ daughter, so it took all his efforts to pursue her. Later on, during the real estate business boom, Mr. Mu joined the ranks of the top one percent in Nanjiang City with the help of his shareholders and his father-in-law, from whom he inherited company shares after his death.
Despite the glory outside, he was now under the control of his ex-wife at home. Fearing he might fool around, she even sent detectives to follow him. Every day, she would check his urine samples to see if he was cheating.
Day in, day out of this sort of life frustrated Mr. Mu. He repeatedly filed for divorce but was threatened by his ex-wife. If he wanted a divorce, he could forget about a single penny!
Five years ago, Mr. Mu’s wife suddenly disappeared. After two years of investigation, the police declared her dead. Thus, Mr. Mu inherited everything and walked away a new man. However, he always claimed they were divorced and he married the current Mrs. Mu as a cover.
Upon listening to her story, Xiaotao exclaimed, "That’s what my dad said as well!"
Mrs. Mu smiled, "The whole thing is suspicious. His ex-wife just disappeared into thin air."
“Well aren’t you kind!" mocked Xiaotao.
"Isn’t it the duty of every citizen to report a crime?" she laughed.
When Xiaotao told Mrs. Mu to leave the room, the latter dawdled, taking her sweet time chatting up Wang Yuanchao before walking away.
In connection with the nature of this case, my heart sank, "Disappeared into thin air... Could his ex-wife have been..."
Xiaotao nodded, "I think so! But we might not find any evidence."
I approached Mr. Mu’s private liquor cabinet and picked up the three bottles of liquor that he forbade others to touch. The bottle of Lafite felt a little off, as if there was something inside.
Without the slightest hesitation, I smashed the bottle against the cold, hard floor. A tape sealed in a plastic bag fell out of the bottle. "It seems he kept a souvenir!"