The Gift

Chapter 6

Chu was in a dilemma, he couldn't think of an answer for Yunlan and couldn't explain how he knew that it was a different person involved in this crime. There was no way to convince him that Black Robe wasn't a bank robber. The reception was full of terrified customers showing clear signs of shock, most of whom were crying or pacing the floor unable to calm themselves, while the rest sat on the soft furnishings in a daze, unaware of their surroundings.

Chu was looking for something that could point them in a different direction away from the black outfit, but there wasn't anything at first glance, making it look worse for Black Robe. The manager agreed willingly to handing over the security tape to be used as evidence if it could help catch the people involved, and it gave Yunlan and Chu the chance to compare both recordings for similarities.

When all the work was finished, Yunlan and his team returned to the office and started to collect all the statements for comparison, hoping that there would be a lead of some kind hidden in the details. Yunlan and Chu were in the small office running the two recordings simultaneously, attentively looking for differences between the two outfits and their subject's behaviour. Although Chu knew without a doubt that they were two different people, he had hoped that there would be something, anything, to convince Yunlan that it wasn't the same person.

Chu spoke about the way they moved, their body language wasn't the same but Yunlan had said that a different camera angle was the reason. He then tried to draw attention to the way they used their hands, but that didn't work either. Chu stated that their shoes were different styles, and Yunlan became frustrated with his pointless suggestions.

"What makes you so sure that it's not the same person, Chu Shuzhi?" Yunlan shouted at him and Chu shouted back.

"What makes you so sure that he is Zhao Yunlan?"

Chu left banging the small office door closed behind him, going straight to his desk and sat with his head resting in his hands for a couple of moments, feeling as if he was in an impossible situation before getting himself a coffee and walking out of the office for some fresh air.

Yunlan had never seen Chu so determined and angry which made him think about the possibility that maybe he was right, but he would need proof before he would agree with him, and he ran the tapes over and over again for the rest of the afternoon, not seeing anything to substantiate Chu's idea. When it came time for the staff to leave and go home, Yunlan stayed and asked Lin Jing for the witness statements from the first robbery, and after everyone had gone, he started reading every single one of them.

All the witnesses had said the same thing, that he was courteous, kind and willing to help in any way, he even wrote out a message for one of the elderly ladies, for her son to come and visit her. Yunlan studied the video and he saw the man in black handing over what looked like a letter to an older woman who smiled back at him, then he looked at the still frame image of the man in black, firing the gun into the air to put fear into the customers in today's robbery. It didn't seem like the same person but he couldn't prove it and he looked again. In one video he was right handed and in the other, he was left. It wasn't concrete proof but it was a doubt, a possibility that Chu was right to insist, but why was he so sure? Never mind, time for home and Yunlan said goodnight to the evening shift and left.

Chu called in to see how Shen Wei was, if he had improved much from yesterday and he had a quiet word with Daqing first before he put the energy drinks and the fruit smoothies in the fridge.

"How has he been today?" Chu asked, showing that he was tired.

"He slept a lot and took his tablets, but you don't look so good, what happened this afternoon?" Daqing asked him.

"Maybe just tiredness, or frustration. I argued with Yunlan. He thinks that the two bank raids were carried out by the same person. We know differently, but I couldn't say how we knew and I was angry."

"Go home, have a rest and a good sleep, sometimes things look better in the morning."

Daqing suggested to Chu who was exhausted but he came into the bedroom to have a look at Shen Wei and found him sleeping. He checked his pulse and temperature, both were good and he felt confident leaving him in Daqing's care.

"Before you go, I meant to ask you something, if by some chance, I need help here for a serious reason, if it involves our safety, how do I contact the guards?" Daqing asked.

Chu stared at him for a moment. He was right, he was the only line of defence for Shen Wei here, and if he needed help immediately, it would be the guards.

"I'm sorry Daqing, I never thought about that. There are some talismans in the top drawer beside the bed, throw one and they'll come. But it has to be a real emergency, I'm off home, I'll bring more energy drinks and smoothies in the morning. Sleep well, Good night," and he left to go home and get some much needed sleep.

Chu collapsed into bed that evening and was dead to the world for the rest of the night. Daqing slept well and never heard the activity next door in Wei's room. Although Shen Wei had spent most of the day asleep, he had heard some of the conversations, enough to make sense of what was happening and he called the lead guard to quietly come alone.

Guo Ying appeared and bowed before he approached Shen Wei, helping him to sit up and rest his back on the pillows for support.

"Someone is using the identity as an aid for robbery. Zhao Yunlan has no knowledge of me or Black Robe, the only thing he associates with the identity is crime. I need you to watch him, watch his actions, keep him safe but don't influence him in any way, he has to work that out himself, before he meets me. Do you understand what I'm asking you to do?"

"Yes My Lord, he has to believe the truth, before he encounters the truth." and Guo Ying bowed once more before he disappeared, leaving Shen Wei to struggle reaching for a drink but he dropped the glass which smashed into small shards, and awoke Daqing who came running through to make sure that he was alright.

"I'm sorry Daqing, I didn't mean to awaken you, I was reaching for a drink and the glass slipped." Wei said as he tried to move closer to the bedside table.

"No worries, I'll fetch you another one, would you like anything else? Oh, forgot to tell you, Chu was in earlier and he brought you some drinks, he's coming back tomorrow."

Shen Wei smiled and nodded to Daqing as he hurried to the kitchen for a replacement glass before going back to sleep on the comfy chair. Wei settled down as well, knowing that Yunlan would have some help in the new case that had started, which was already giving him trouble.