Tiger Police

Chapter 380
"This is the third time we have changed trees. Although we are a public institution, there are funds from the higher authorities, but the number of times we can change them is too much, no one can bear it! The higher authorities still need to be held accountable. What is the situation?"

Seeing the helpless faces of Wu Chaoping and Wang Wei, Hu Pingtao smiled understandingly and asked, "Then who do you think would do this?"

Different industries have different views and focus on affairs.

Wu Chaoping turned around, looked at the shops facing the street across the sidewalk, and lowered his voice: "It should be them...or...one of them."

"Why?" Hu Pingtao asked.

Wu Chaoping explained: "When we first started planting trees the year before last, someone came to stop him. He said that we planted trees on the side of the street and blocked his front door."

Hu Pingtao couldn't help shaking his head: "There is such a saying? Planting street trees is a municipal project. Why should he stop it?"

Wu Chaoping said: "The sidewalk in this section is very narrow. The south is a residential area, and the red line cannot be retreated. In recent years, more and more vehicles have been added, and the roads in the city are congested. Look at the bus stop over there. It was originally set up on the side of the road. Yes, it was moved to the middle of the road during rectification, and the side was used as a non-motorized vehicle lane. The space is so large, and the sidewalk can only be compressed and moved back as a whole. In the past, the distance between the street trees and the shops was about six meters, but now it is shortened. halfway, narrower and narrower."

After saying this, Hu Pingtao understood.

"Okay, I've made a note of this." He nodded and took notes: "Do you have any other suggestions and clues?"

Wu Chaoping smiled bitterly and shook his head: "If you want to talk about clues... there is really no such thing. Although our water trucks come to water every morning and evening, there is no way to monitor this area at night. Even what I just said is just My personal guess."

Wang Weidao: "We had no choice but to call [-] to call the police. The street trees on this section of the road have been replaced three times, and they will die if planted. On the one hand, it is a waste of resources, and on the other hand, we have been held accountable several times by the higher authorities. .Citizens called and complained that the street trees in this area were not growing well. We could only check the feedback. Back and forth, both legs were about to break."

"If the tree died because of a technical problem in transplanting, then there is nothing to say, and we have nothing to do with fines. But now the problem is that some people deliberately destroy it, which is very annoying."

"To put it bluntly, do we have any enmity with you for greening?"

Hu Pingtao understood this very well. He raised his hand and patted Wang Wei's shoulder, persuading him: "It's hard to do anything, I want to open it up. I wrote this down, and I will do an investigation later. If there is any result, I will call Call you."

……

Back at the institute, Hu Pingtao called Wang Xiongjie to report the situation.At the same time, I made a request: I hope to get the cooperation of the criminal police team and watch the surveillance video of the relevant section of Jinping Road.

It's not hard to find out.After all, it is not the same now as it used to be—surveillance cameras are all over the streets, and they are a guarantee to reduce the crime rate.

Tan Tao pointed to the fixed-frame surveillance screen: "This is the target we selected. For two consecutive nights, she appeared after three o'clock in the middle of the night. Look at her movements, walking from under one tree to another, He had something in his hand, I guess it was a knife. No normal person would squat under a tree root for so long, unless it was cutting the bark."

On the screen is a woman.The shooting angle is from the back.Her dress is neutral—jeans, jacket, running shoes... The most obvious gender identification feature is her curly, wavy hair.

She was wearing a mask and a pair of big sunglasses.The street lights were bright, providing her with enough light.

Hu Pingtao nodded: "I can be sure that this guy did it. If you peel off the bark and destroy the cambium, the tree will be hopeless."

Tan Tao said: "I took someone to Jinping Road this afternoon. That section is full of shops, the perpetrator must be one of those shops, and the motive for the crime is plausible—the street trees blocked their shop front, reducing the number of shops. passenger flow."

Hu Pingtao tapped the table a few times with his finger: "The problem now is how to identify the suspect."

Tan Tao frowned: "Arrest and question all the operators on that section of the road... This is definitely not acceptable. First, it will scare the enemy, and second, it will be easy to be fooled. After all, we have surveillance videos in our hands, and there is no update. There is a lot of evidence. But this guy is still difficult to deal with, and the surveillance did not capture her face at all."

Hu Pingtao thought for a moment: "This matter is not difficult to say, but we have to work hard."

Tan Tao understood: "What do you mean, let the greening department cooperate?"

Hu Pingtao nodded: "Although the street trees on Jinping Road have been replaced three times in a row, no matter whether the trees that have been planted were intentionally destroyed or died naturally, the replacement of trees has to continue. I have contacted the district greening department. Yes, Wu Chaoping said that the engineering team will enter the site next Wednesday and replace the dead tree on the same day.”

Tan Tao asked: "Then shall we strengthen patrols in that area starting next Wednesday night?"

Hu Pingtao shrugged his shoulders: "This is the only way. There is no way, this is our jurisdiction."

……

Wednesday.

In the morning, Hu Pingtao took Wang Gui to patrol along Jinping Road.

A huge crane was parked on the side of the road, and green workers tied steel cables to the trunk of the dead street tree. With the force of the mechanical arm, the whole tree was easily pulled up and placed on the truck that had been waiting for a long time.

During the whole process of mechanical operation, greening workers are responsible for twisting the angle of the new tree put into the tree pit, sprinkling root powder and sulfur powder, filling the soil and watering it, and finally installing braces to stabilize the tree and tying it with ties.

Seeing the electric car with the police badge approaching, Wu Chaoping walked over quickly, greeted Hu Pingtao, lowered his voice, and said sincerely: "Director Hu, I leave the matter of this tree to you."

Hu Pingtao comforted him with a smile: "I have made arrangements to strengthen night patrols."

"Thank you!" Wu Chaoping said with emotion: "In fact, it is not troublesome to change the tree, but after all, it costs the country's money. I really don't understand the psychology of these people. Why do you want to kill a good tree? !"

Hu Pingtao said: "Go ahead! I'll let you know when I have any news."

……

Late at night.

There is a sentry box in the middle of Jinping Road.Hu Pingtao greeted the traffic police department, and recently borrowed it at night.He arranged for Meng Hui to put on casual clothes and leave the police station after eight o'clock in the evening, quietly enter the guard box, and carefully observe the row of shops across the road from a distance of tens of meters.

There are a total of five clothing stores, a milk tea shop, and a restaurant in this section.

The clothing stores are very small, with a storefront of tens of square meters facing the street.Small-scale operation, the kind that takes goods from the wholesale market and earns the middle price difference.The price is not expensive, and the customers are mainly low-end income groups, mainly women.The price of clothes and skirts is between one and two hundred yuan.

The milk tea shop is a brand franchise store, and the business can only be said to be average.According to Hu Pingtao's observation, the traffic in this area is not large, and the surrounding residents are older, and their desire to buy is not high.If this continues, the milk tea shop will close sooner or later.

The restaurant is also a chain brand, Fujia Building.It is said that it is taking the traditional Yunnan flavor route, mainly targeting Meituan customers, the kind of "braised chicken and rice".

The task Hu Pingtao gave to Meng Hui was simple—to record the closing time of these shops.From eight o'clock in the evening to ten o'clock, contact yourself every hour to report the situation.

After ten o'clock, until twelve o'clock, contact once every half an hour.

This is a leisurely job. You don't need to record the various people who enter and leave the shops, you just need to see when the shops close.

This area is not a commercial area in the true sense, and there is no large-scale night market. The shops usually close after nine o'clock in the evening.

Meng Hui has been observing in the sentry box for several days, and the closing time of the shops opposite has formed a regular pattern: at around [-]:[-], the lights in the shop are turned off, and both shop owners and shop assistants change their clothes one after another, pull down the shutter door, and leave. shop home.

The milk tea shop is the first to close the stall every day.The business of that shop was not good, some days it closed early at 08:30.

The latest to close the stall is "Fujialou".The business of this store is very good, and the door is often full of errand riders waiting to take orders. Even across the road, you can smell the strong aroma of food coming from the opposite side.

Sometimes it closes after eleven o'clock, and sometimes it closes after twelve o'clock.

Regardless of milk tea shops, restaurants, or clothing stores, all shops are facing the street, the area is not large, and there is no deep second floor.

Because of the small size, this kind of shop cannot accommodate people, and even the workers who live in the shop at night cannot arrange beds.

At nine o'clock, Meng Hui called Hu Pingtao: "Director, everything is normal."

Hu Pingtao asked: "Are the clothing stores and milk tea shops closed?"

Meng Hui said, "The milk tea shop is closed, and there are two other clothing stores."

Hu Pingtao said: "Continue to observe."

At ten o'clock, Meng Hui called: "All the clothing stores are closed. As usual, there is still "Fujia Building"."

More than 20 minutes later, Meng Hui called again: "Director, the lights at Fujia Building are turned off."

The tone of his speech was a little weird, and Hu Pingtao felt that something was wrong.

The business of Fujia Building is very good, especially at this hour, many people like to order supper online.According to Meng Hui's previous observation records, Fujia Building often stays open until after eleven o'clock.

"Lights off?" Hu Pingtao heard another meaning in Meng Hui's words: "Is someone left in the shop?"

"Yes." Meng Hui's slightly excited voice came from the other end of the phone: "Boss, I think something will happen tonight. Come here quickly!"

……

More than ten minutes later, Hu Pingtao rushed to the scene with Wang Gui.

He didn't turn on the police lights of the electric car, and the car stopped as soon as it reached the corner of the alley at the back.Hu Pingtao and Wang Gui walked around in a circle and entered the traffic post from the side.

Through the glass, you can see that the "Fujia Building" across the road has closed its doors.Through the gaps in the bottom and edges, a faint light can be seen inside.

Hu Pingtao lowered his voice and asked, "Is there anyone else in the store?"

Meng Hui nodded, and pointed with his fingers: "I have inquired, there are four people in this shop. One chef, two waiters, and one is the boss. The owner's surname is Wang, and his name is Wang Kai. The shop is small and can only There are six tables. Wang Kai usually presides over the business, and also serves as a waiter when he is busy."

Hu Pingtao knew about these situations and was very clear about them.He frowned and looked at the opposite side: "Why did they charge so early today?"

Meng Hui said: "I also feel that something is wrong. After you arranged the task for me, director, I went there in casual clothes a few days ago and bought a meal. Wang Kai seems to be quite honest and loyal. That kind. His food tastes good, and the price is not expensive."

Wang Gui asked: "It's early today, could something happen to his family?"

Meng Hui shook his head: "I'm watching with a telescope over here! There is a see-through kitchen in the Fujia building, and you can see it clearly from the outside—the chef left the earliest, and turned off the fire before ten o'clock. The two guys followed Wang Kai to wipe the tables and clean up, and there were a few passers-by who seemed to ask if they were selling food, but they all seemed to be rejected."

Hu Pingtao asked: "You mean, the two guys have left now, and Wang Kai is still staying in the store?"

Meng Hui replied, "He never came out."

Hu Pingtao smiled: "That's interesting. The owner of Fujia Building just closed the tree this morning... Okay! Let's work hard and see what's going on."

……

The three of them took turns on duty, and it wasn't too tiring.

At two o'clock in the middle of the night, Hu Pingtao was awakened by Meng Hui: "Director, there is a situation."

Hu Pingtao, who had just squinted for a while, quickly turned over and stood up.

The lights on the road outside are bright, and the situation inside the sentry box cannot be seen from the opposite side, but from here, the outside can be seen clearly.

The door of "Fujia Building" is a telescopic grid, and it has been opened. A man in a gray coat is squatting under a street tree by the side of the road, busy with something.

Hu Pingtao waited patiently until the other party stood up and walked to the next tree.

"Let's go! Arrest people!" He ordered in a low voice.

The three left the sentry box, strode across the road, and ran to the opposite side.

The man squatting under the tree heard footsteps and saw these people in police uniform running towards him. He panicked and turned around like a frightened rabbit and ran into the store.

Meng Hui blocked the store door in time.

Hu Pingtao rushed over and grabbed the opponent's shoulder.

A street lamp illuminated a terrified face.

Hu Pingtao asked meaningfully: "Are you Wang Kai?"

The other party asked in horror, "Who are you?"

Hu Pingtao laughed and said, "You don't sleep in the middle of the night, what are you doing outside?"

Wang Kai twisted hard a few times, but was firmly held by Hu Pingtao's big iron-like hands, unable to break free at all.He repeatedly complained: "I... I own this store. I sleep in the store and get up to pee."

Hu Pingtao put away the smile on his face: "Where did you spread it? Show me?"

Without waiting for Wang Kai to answer, he continued to utter a cold voice: "Think clearly, you will be lenient when you confess, and strict when you resist. If you don't explain the problem honestly, you will be more guilty."

(End of this chapter)