Business Hindered

"Bastards. A bunch of worthless fools."

In an apartment on Hongkou Changchun Road, Minamida Yoko, chief of the Shanghai Special Higher Police, looked at the congealed blood covering the floor and at her subordinates, whose faces held terror, longing, or serenity in death. Furiously, she slapped the subordinate standing stiffly before her.

No one could understand how the Japanese agent who had been slapped felt. He merely stood at attention and nodded. "Hai..."

After glaring at him, Minamida Yoko tucked her hands behind her back to ease the pain and let out a long breath. Then she stepped onto the bloodstained stairs and went upstairs.

She carefully inspected every room but found not the slightest sign of a struggle, which matched the way those eight men had died. Some had noticed the intruder, while others had not, but none of them had possessed the ability to resist.

When she reached the master bedroom on the third floor, she saw Xia Changuo sitting upright on a sofa stained dark red with blood, his head tilted back and his mouth slightly open, looking utterly relieved.

Minamida Yoko immediately turned to look at the still-unrestored depression in the sofa opposite him, as well as the two cigarette butts on the floor. Her anger flared even hotter. It meant the visitor had leisurely sat there smoking, watching Xia Changuo bleed to death.

Suppressing the rage in her heart, she asked, "Tell me everything in detail."

The Japanese agent who had been following behind her, the one who had just been slapped, answered with a "Hai." "Based on our preliminary assessment, the deaths occurred sometime between five and seven yesterday evening. According to our investigation, someone saw a cripple coming from the south last night. Because of the torrential rain, and because he was wearing