Chapter 18: Apprehending the Primary Human Trafficker (2)

It took less than two hours—to be precise, just over an hour and a half—for Liang Song and Zhang Heng to arrive in Taiyuan, the provincial capital. Following the directions provided by Officer Wu, they took a taxi straight to the Taiyuan Police Department.

By the time they arrived, night had fully descended; the clock read 18:52. Several officers were waiting at the entrance, and as the car pulled up, they stepped forward immediately. As the vehicle came to a stop, Officer Wu approached to open the rear door. Liang Song and Zhang Heng stepped out, and the taxi pulled away. Officer Wu greeted them with a firm handshake.

"Welcome, comrades from Beijing," Wu Cong said.

"Hello, I am Liang Song," Liang replied.

"Officer Liang, good to have you."

"Hello, I am Zhang Heng."

"Officer Zhang, good to have you."

"Comrades, our leadership is waiting just inside. Please, follow me."

Wu Cong led them inside, moving to the front of the gathered crowd to make introductions one by one.

"This is the Director of our Provincial Public Security Department."

"A pleasure to meet you."

"This is the Chief of our Municipal Public Security Bureau."

"A pleasure."

"This is the Chief of the Y-City Public Security Bureau."

"A pleasure."

"This is the head of our Provincial Office for Combating Organized Crime."

"A pleasure."

As Wu Cong continued the introductions, Liang and Zhang exchanged handshakes with everyone present.

"Shall we proceed to the conference room?" Wu Cong asked.

"Please," they replied.

"After you, officers from Beijing."

Surrounded by the group, Liang and Zhang were escorted to the second-floor conference room. Once everyone was seated, Wu Cong stepped onto the podium.

"Leaders, I suggest we begin by offering a warm round of applause to our criminal investigation colleagues from Beijing, who have come to assist our province in resolving a cold case," Wu Cong said. He began clapping, and the other officials followed suit with enthusiastic applause. Liang and Zhang joined in as well.

After a minute, the applause died down, and Wu Cong addressed the room. "Leaders, let me first provide some background on the case from several years ago."

He picked up a remote control from the lectern and pressed the start button. The overhead projector hummed to life, casting an image onto the large screen behind him. Using a laser pointer and the remote, Wu Cong began his presentation as if he were teaching a class.

He clicked the remote, and a screenshot of a news segment appeared on the screen. He gestured to it with his pointer. "Leaders, please look. This is a screenshot from a 2016 evening news broadcast on Beijing Television. The headline reads: 'Missing Child of Rural Woman from Y-City, Shanxi, Found Begging on the Streets of a City Near Beijing—How Heartless Must These Traffickers Be?'"

Wu Cong clicked the screen off. The Provincial Public Security Director turned to the Chief of the Y-City Bureau and asked, "Chief Yang, how was this handled at the time?"

"Reporting to the leadership, we took the harm against vulnerable, defenseless members of our community very seriously," the Chief replied. "However, at the time, the victim did not provide us with significant information or leads, leaving us with no clear path forward. That is what led to the current situation."

The Provincial Director slammed his hand on the table. "You mean to tell me that just because the victim didn't provide information immediately, you just sat on your hands and ignored it?"

"I apologize, sir. We will learn from our mistakes and be more diligent in the future," the Y-City Chief responded.

The Provincial Director turned back to Wu Cong. "Officer Wu, please continue."

"Yes, sir," Wu replied. He activated the projector again. This time, the image showed a hospital document, though the text was blurred and illegible.

"Please look, everyone. This is a photograph of a hospital examination report. I realize the text is no longer legible, but I can confirm that this was the death certificate issued by the doctor three days after the child was brought to the hospital. Because of the sensitive nature of the document, we didn't take a clear photo during the initial investigation, and the hospital staff actively tried to prevent us from doing so. Our officers had to take the risk to snap this photograph clandestinely..."

Just as Wu Cong was mid-sentence, a knocking sound echoed from the door.