Criminal Psychology Chapter 28

Reporters were the most well-informed people in the world.

Therefore, it wasn't Huang Ze who first found out that there was a missing bus from Feng Jing School with 26 children and 2 teachers on board. It was a female reporter from the province's Daily News station.

At the time, they had just finished the interview on the bus hijacking scene and were preparing to pack up and return.

The female reporter tapped on her phone while walking up to Huang Ze. "Inspector Huang, my friend in the municipal bureau said something big occurred at Qiong Mountain. If you let me have exclusive access to report this, I won't tell anyone else."

Looking at this woman with delicate make-up, Huang Ze felt inexplicably bitter.

Indeed, this was what had happened. And since that was the case, what else could he do?

Like ants transmitting information through pheromones or similar to the dancing of bees, news of a whole class from Feng Jing School going missing in a bus soon spread among the reporters like wildfire.

For journalists, what could be more exciting than encountering another major news story in the middle of an interview?

Huang Ze was trapped amidst microphones and cameras, which forced him to respond formally. "The police are still investigating the case, so we can't give you any details."

But how could mere humans expect to stop the tentacles of reporters who poke into any hole they could find? Rather than letting their tentacles run wild, it'd be better to limit them to a scope that was within control, right? 

And thus, Huang Ze took the reporters with him to Qiong Mountain.

On their way, they saw numerous vehicles rushing out of the Lang Chuan R&R Station. The management staff wore grave expressions, guiding passing cars at the intersection. The news van behind Huang Ze had even been driven into the R&R station before he did. When he got out of the car, there were already cameramen with their equipment out and shooting.

Huang Ze took a deep breath. The air was mixed with a strange scent. The smell of Zongzi with a hint of Oden's aroma and the subtle scent of baby milk were all enveloped by the strong smell of gasoline. More vehicles were leaving the area — smoke from their exhaust pipes was everywhere he looked. And several staff wearing badges on their chests hurried towards him, expressions full of panic. 

He immediately knew something had happened here.

He also knew that Lin Chen and that captain were right, again.

Coincidentally, just as he thought of those two, the other party was also thinking of him.

His personal mobile phone vibrated in his pocket.

He took it out and looked down — an unknown number. But the area code was from Hong Jing.

Very few people knew his personal number.

"Hello."

Huang Ze's indifferent voice resounded in the Hong Jing Expressway's monitoring hall. Wang Chao held up his phone, his crying face seemingly wanting to break out into a sob.

Xing Cong Lian glanced at him, taking the phone.

Hearing no response, Huang Ze's tall and straight uniformed figure on the screen glanced sideways and asked in a low voice, "Where are you?"

The question made them sound so familiar with each other, there was a tangible awkwardness in his tone. Xing Cong Lian raised his gaze to the big screen and said, "Hello, Inspector Huang."

That low and slightly hoarse voice entered Huang Ze's ear — all of a sudden, he had a bad feeling. Huang Ze frowned.

"First of all, thank you, Inspector Huang, and the media following you for coming. There is a small matter that I need your help with." Xing Cong Lian's gaze moved to the huge LED screen in front of him, which was displaying a school bus in the corner of the parking lot. His voice was calm and relaxed. "I think you should have known that a tourist bus from Feng Jing School went missing a few hours earlier. If you'd turn to the direction of nine o'clock from your current position, you should find a bus with blue clouds painted on it. That's the missing bus. The problem here is the driver is strapped to his seat with a time bomb…."

Hearing this, Huang Ze's head snapped up and whipped to the direction Xing Cong Lian mentioned. He started to run. He spared no energy sprinting, yet from his mouth came such an irrelevant question: "Xing Cong Lian, how did you get my personal phone number?"

At this, Xing Cong Lian glanced at Lin Chen. "Special times call for special measures."

"Ah, a time bomb, and special measures?" A sardonic smile appeared on Huang Ze's face. Seeming to sense something, he looked up at the surveillance camera in the corner of the parking lot. "Give Lin Chen the phone."

Lin Chen was standing on one side in the monitoring hall. Noticing Xing Cong Lian's sweeping glance, he reached out after seeing how the captain looked like he wanted to say something. 

At this moment, Huang Ze was standing in front of the bus. Inside, the driver was trapped with a pallid complexion and drenched in sweat. He continued his desperate struggle in his seat with the red timer on his chest, ticking away. Seeing this, Huang Ze was full of inexplicable anger. "Xing Cong Lian, are you proud now?"

This time, however, the voice on the other end of the line was no longer the previous low and hoarse one. Instead, it was clear and peaceful. "Huang Ze."

Huang Ze found this situation quite ridiculous. "Lin Chen, you said that something big might happen on the highway, and it really did. Even I am beginning to think it's you who arranged all this."

Standing in front of the LED screen, Lin Chen's face was tinted blue with the faint light being emitted. He glanced up at Huang Ze's words, but there wasn't a trace of anger in his eyes, just deep disappointment. "Shut up, Huang Ze. I have no time to discuss conspiracy theories with you." His voice was frigid. "You look at the bus driver in front of you. If you don't want to save him, then please turn around and leave at once."

"What's this, your ethical question for me? You're telling me to dismantle a bomb without any protective measures to see if I will use my life on a gamble for the lives of both the driver and mine?"

"No, it's not an issue of ethics." Lin Chen paused before continuing. "Saving people is just your duty."

One had to admit, Lin Chen had the absolute upper hand when it came to persuading people.

"That is to say, if I don't, then I'm a coward who derelicts my duty." Sneering, Huang Ze then whispered, "Go on, what do you need me to do?"

Lin Chen returned the phone to Xing Cong Lian, who'd stood there listening the whole time. Captain Xing stared at him, mouth agape.

Stabilizing his breath, Xing Cong Lian took the phone. "Inspector Huang, the bus just happens to be in the blind spot of the surveillance camera. Among the reporters you brought with you, there must be someone who's carrying a camera capable of wireless transmission. Please get him to connect the camera to the rest station's wi-fi. We need to see the scene in real-time."

"Oh, then?"

"And then…" Xing Cong Lian sounded a little embarrassed. "Please point the camera at the time bomb. We need you to dismantle it personally…."

"Sure."

On the screen, the reporters in the parking lot were running towards Huang Ze. 

Surrounded by the crowd, Huang Ze said something that made a portion of reporters turn tail and run. Some of the remaining braver ones ran to get Huang Ze a wireless camera. The rest, instead, directly aimed their cameras at him.

All of a sudden, the crowds seemed to have gotten into a quarrel, the scene turning a little chaotic.

Xing Cong Lian called out to the other line twice and vaguely heard Huang Ze saying something.

Right after, a loud voice interrupted.

"Young Master Huang, you can't take that risk!"

The one who spoke was Jiang Zhe, the psychology expert who had thought the carjacking incident was just a rebellious teenager's prank.

Jiang Zhe gripped Huang Ze's sleeve tight. He was crystal clear on the fact that if Huang Ze really took the risk to dismantle the bomb himself and something happened, he who brought Huang Ze here would surely bear the anger of the Huang family a hundredfold.

"Didn't you say it's just a prank? So I shouldn't be in any danger, right?" Huang Ze looked at the psychology expert beside him, showing a faint, mocking smile.

"Yes, yes, Mr. Jiang. Is the time bomb in the bus also a means for the "candy thief" to attract attention? Can you analyze where the children have gone?"

The reporters' weapons quickly shifted aim from Huang Ze to Jiang Zhe's mouth.

"No, no. The hijacker's behavior has escalated. This was no longer the simple act of a rebellious teenager. I suspect the teen actually has antisocial behavior disorder! Violence and aggressiveness are engraved in his core. He did all this to satisfy his urge to commit crimes. He may be watching us through the surveillance cameras. The more people die, the more delighted he'll be. So Young Master Huang, why do you think he parked next to a petrol station? Because he wants to blow up this place, he wants to commit a large-scale massacre. Even if you try to dismantle the bomb, it won't work, since he must have tampered with it!" Jiang Zhe always spoke fast, and thanks to his words, the reporters who were planning to stick around started to panic. 

However, Huang Ze still wore an indifferent expression, as if this didn't matter. Jiang Zhe knew very well that Lin Chen must have said something to Huang Ze in that call just now.

Now agitated, Jiang Zhe snatched the phone from Huang Ze and shouted into it. "Lin Chen, if you really want to take revenge on the Huang family, then you can take it out on me. Don't let innocents die because of that!"

At the other end of the line, Jiang Zhe's impassioned voice resounded loudly through the loudspeaker, spreading throughout the monitoring hall.

All eyes immediately became focused on Lin Chen's figure.

Lin Chen looked at Xing Cong Lian as Xing Cong Lian stared back.

Listening to the silence from the other end of the call, Jiang Zhe was ready to follow up his victory with a hot pursuit when he heard a question.

"Jiang Zhe, can you recite it?"

Feeling as though he had just punched cotton, Jiang Zhe felt stifled. "Recite what?"

"Can you recite the criteria for a diagnosis of that personality disorder in the DSM-IV-TR?"

"What is that?!" Jiang Zhe blurted out. "Lin Chen, stop playing tricks!"

"The DSM-IV-TR is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders revised by the American Psychiatric Association in 2000. It's one of the most authoritative diagnostic manuals of mental illnesses in the world. Since you think the suspect has antisocial personality disorder, then please recite the diagnostic criteria."

Jiang Zhe flushed red. "Who would be able to recite that in a situation like this! Do you think you're all that just because you can do it?!"

"Yeah, do you want to listen?"

Chapter end