Criminal Psychology Ch23

Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

---

Chapter 23

After Xing Conglian finished surveying the outside of the bus, he bypassed the ground full of debris and walked inside. Yang Dianfeng followed behind him.

Lin Chen stood outside the bus and talked with Wang Chao.

“You’re saying the tablet he took appeared in the city?”

“Yeah, strange, right? And the route was weird. It looked like the GPS was broken.” Wang Chao looked at the man who was following the back of Xing Conglian’s ass and poked Lin Chen. “I suspect there’s a problem with that one.”

After listening to Wang Chao’s words, Lin Chen frowned lightly. “On what basis?”

“Ah, haven’t found it yet. It’s just that his appearance is too flattering, so there must be something wrong.”

Looking at the police officers investigating the scene in the bus, Lin Chen only felt that this case was very strange and dangerous.

A teenager who could hijack a bus yet only took candy led the police to track him for ten kilometers and then completed an impossible smuggling mission. These actions were pretty great, but though great, they were meaningless.

No one would spend such a high price doing something so meaningless, which, in and of itself, was the strangest part about this case. This was worthy of being vigilant.

Suddenly, the roar of an engine came from a distance, interrupting Lin Chen’s thoughts.

Lin Chen turned his head and found that the other lane was unusually empty, and dozens of cars were coming from the distance at a high speed in the opposite direction.

The leader was a white police car, followed by some large and small commercial vehicles. Without exception, those commercial vehicles were sprayed with the logos of major television stations. It was obvious they were from the news network. At the end of the convoy, there was a highway clearance vehicle.

In the blink of an eye, the convoy arrived in front of Lin Chen. The white police car slammed on the brakes, screeching over the white divider, making a sharp sound. After that, more than a dozen cars stopped one after another, spilling out countless smoke and dust, but no one got out of the car.

At that moment, several workers jumped off the clearance vehicle. They moved in a uniformed manner and quickly removed the section of the guardrail. Dozens of cars passed through it, and finally they all stopped outside the yellow cordon.

Looking at the pure white police car nearby, Lin Chen had a bad feeling in his heart.

With a click, the door opened, and someone stepped out. The leather boots were shiny, and the pants were straight. It was Huang Ze.

If Lin Chen saw Huang Ze, then obviously Huang Ze also saw him. It seemed as if he was being closely followed.

However, Huang Ze ignored him.

It seemed that Inspector Huang had more important things to do. He turned around, walked to the rear of the police car, and opened the door. He behaved upright and gentlemanly, attracting a series of flashes from the cameras.

Then, Jiang Zhe got out.

Lin Chen was stunned, but what surprised him even more was that just after Jiang Zhe got out of the car, all the spotlights and microphones were quickly pulled away from Huang Ze’s side and focused in front of the young man with messy, curly hair.

“Mr. Jiang, what’s your analysis of the scene?”

“Mr. Jiang, do you think another hijacking will happen again?”

“Mr. Jiang, can you analyze the psychological condition of the teenage hijacker?”

“Mr. Jiang…”

The reporters asked many questions and spoke very quickly.

Jiang Zhe had just returned from abroad and served as the host of an emotional talk show on a famous TV station. He was known for his sharp and merciless style. This was the first time he had taken over a case after becoming a consultant for the police force. All reporters received the news in advance. Teacher Jiang would first go to the rest stop and interview the victims. Then he would do an on-site inspection, and he welcomed the media to follow him throughout the process. Naturally, the reporters were extremely excited.

What was more, the case of the Candy Bandit was very interesting. The hijacker was just a cute boy who was stealing candy. He acted decisively and was humorous. He was playing the police like a fiddle. He could be chewing bubblegum at one moment and maybe mixed in with the passengers at the rest stop the next.

The Candy Bandit, coupled with Jiang Zhe, who was popular himself, made the media love this combination.

“According to the age analysis of the teenage hijacker, he should be in a rebellious period of his youth, and this rebellious behavior is to attract attention, similar to an exhibitionist who takes off his pants and orgasms when someone looks at him.” Jiang Zhe was as sharp as ever. With his own explosive points, the atmosphere of the scene became more enthusiastic. The sound of shutters followed one after another as every reporter’s face was full of excitement.

“Is that so?” Seeing a large number of people arriving, Xing Conglian stepped off the bus and stood beside Lin Chen.

“He’s quite right.” Looking at the interview scene, Lin Chen said, “Because he’s right, it’s scary.”

“Indeed,” Xing Conglian said.

Wang Chao was confused. “Huh? What are you talking about?”

“You see, if he did all this to attract attention, he undoubtedly succeeded.” The reporter’s solemn broadcast and the sound of the interview drifted in the wind. Jiang Zhe was in high spirits, amusing the reporters. Lin Chen paused, then glanced at Xing Conglian. “Then, this begs the question, why does he want to attract attention?”  

“Adolescent second-year teenagers are like this,” Wang Chao replied disapprovingly.

“That’s right. The onset of puberty will cause young people to urgently need social attention. There’s no problem with this. But young people with this kind of problem are bound to be unbalanced. They have extreme paranoia in their hearts and their reactions would match the state of their behavior. However, that teenager behaved decisively, gracefully, and spoke in a funny way…”

“If you talk about it, you will think the persona is a bit cute!”

“Yes, he gives off the feeling of being cute and cool. He’s an armed robber, yet you have this idea. Isn’t this the scariest thing?”

“He’s not right in the head. Don’t pay attention to him.” Xing Conglian grabbed the technician by the collar and dragged him back.

“How was it?” Lin Chen asked.

“The bus is clean.” Xing Conglian took off his gloves and stuffed them in his pocket.

The so-called cleanliness that the police captain spoke of, naturally, didn’t refer to the hygienic state of the bus, but to the fact that the teenager didn’t leave any clues that could be used for tracking.

“There are no fingerprints, no hair. He even took the candy wrappers with him.”

“Bold, cautious, and deliberate,” Lin Chen said.

“His purpose must not be as simple as just wanting attention.” Xing Conglian looked at Jiang Zhe and Huang Ze, who were isolated outside the interview site as he spoke coldly.

Lin Chen looked at the reed field that stretched out endlessly and finally spoke, “Xing Conglian, close off this entire area.”

Before his words fell, the first reaction of the transportation manager, who had been quietly listening, was, “Are you kidding me?!” The Hongjing Highway had a total length of 317 kilometers, starting from Qiong Mountain in the west to the Yongchuan River in the east. It was a transportation hub connecting two provinces. The average daily traffic flow was more than 30,000 a day. Even if it were closed for only half an hour, there would be a long line at the highway entrance stretching endlessly. What was more, it was unheard of to close the entire highway for the sake of a highway robbery that had already occurred.

Xing Conglian looked at Lin Chen’s face as if he was joking. In fact, he, like Lin Chen, had a very bad feeling in his heart.

In his experience, whether it was the tablet running around the city or the women’s perfume in the reed field, it was all a distraction for the police. Now that the police forces were dispersed, it meant the teenager who kept hijacking buses was about to take his final action.

However, this was purely conjecture, without any substantial evidence, so they could only watch the danger come.

“I don’t have the power to do that,” he said very sincerely.

Lin Chen seemed to see the unease in his heart. He pointed to the upright inspector in the distance and asked, “Then can he call the shots?”

“Captain Xing, the superior who kicked you off the investigation, is it Young Master Huang?” Yang Dianfeng suddenly made the connection.

“Yes, that’s him,” Xing Conglian answered casually and continued to talk to Lin Chen. “Want to try?” he asked.

“Young Master Huang is a well-known hardliner, and he already has preconceived notions about you. Why do you want to make a fool of yourself?” Yang Dianfeng persuaded anxiously.

Xing Conglian glanced at him and said indifferently, “Persuading Huang Ze is a shortcut, and if there’s a shortcut, we have to try it.”

Lin Chen nodded, obviously having the same attitude as him.

At this time, Huang Ze had already walked in front of them. He didn’t look at Lin Chen but said to Xing Conglian, “Captain Xing, this case doesn’t seem to be under your jurisdiction anymore. Please take the unrelated people and leave immediately.”

Naturally, the unrelated person Huang Ze was referring to was Lin Chen.

“Huang Ze, this is all so meaningless.” Xing Conglian lowered his head slightly and looked at Huang Ze as he spoke calmly.

“Captain Xing, don’t you have other cases to investigate? Why are you still here? Taxpayers don’t pay you so you can go sightseeing.”

“I have no cases at the moment that are more important than this one.”

“Oh, important? You really think this case is important? Then why has there been no progress in the investigation for months? Now you come to talk to me about importance, don’t you think it’s a bit late…”

“There’s no point in quarreling. If I want to quarrel, I can quarrel with you for three days and nights, but you’ll definitely lose. Now listen to me carefully.” Xing Conglian interrupted Huang Ze. “We suspect the criminal is likely to make a big move. I hope you can contribute to a higher level of reaction by closing down the highway, just in case.”

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Advertisement