Trafford's Trading Club

Volume 8 – Chapter 43: Calm

“Who are the two women in there?”

Outside the door of the surveillance room, a crew member walked over while drinking coffee. He asked the crew member who was supposed to be manning the surveillance room, now standing outside the door.

“Probably, they are also the police?” The crew member shrugged. “Anyway, they are with Officer Ma. They said they wanted to look at the surveillance video again. So, I showed them.”

“Don’t we need to tell the captain?” the crew member holding the coffee asked curiously.

“Anyway, the police have to go back and forth several times to get evidence. We will tell the captain or deputy captain when we see them later.”

“It’s up to you.” The crew member holding the coffee smiled and said. “I’m off work. I’m going to change my clothes and do sightseeing on the island.”

“Go ahead. I reckoned that I would still be working by the time you all come back.” The crew member yawned. “I’ll go and pour myself a cup of coffee.”

In the surveillance room, Ren Ziling and Li Zi were watching the surveillance video of a particular location intently with other locations cast aside – Their focus was the scene of the murder, the corridor that the deceased Qian Guoliang walked through.

Ren Ziling had been playing the video backward and fast forward back and forth several times.

“So, that’s how it is...” Ren Ziling adjusted the timeline of the video to about three o’clock last night. “It’s here... Li Zi, do you see it?”

Li Zi nodded and said, “Sister Ren, this picture frozen. If you slow down the video, it will be more obvious.”

Then, Ren Ziling fast-forwarded again to six o’clock in the morning. She then said again, “This section is also frozen... Six o’clock, where it was time to change shifts.”

“You go and look at the video that was recorded at other places at three and six o’clock.” Ren Ziling frowned and ordered.

Soon after, Li Zi turned back and said, “Sister Ren, all the videos at that period of time were frozen...”

At this time, Ren Ziling sat down, looking at the ceiling with her hands behind her head, thinking, “When Qian Guoliang died, it should be about eight forty-five in the morning... The power outage was at four...”

“Sister Ren, what causes the video to lag?”Li Zi asked puzzled.

Ren Ziling said, “If it’s just one video, it may be the problem of the machine. However, if this applied to all of the videos, then I’m... afraid that someone has edited the video for this time period, and used the old video.”

“Why are you so sure?” Li Zi said curiously. “Are you sure that someone edited this section with something else?”

Ren Ziling began to adjust the timeline to about five in the morning, and the video they selected was... the corridor of the room where they were staying this time.

Ren Ziling fast-forwarded and said, “Did you see that? This video didn’t even show me. This proves that this video is fake.”

“But... weren’t you sleeping then? How can you be in the hallway?”

Ren Ziling blinked and said, “The soundproofing of the room is so good that I can’t hear anything. When I got up to go to the bathroom, I just walked out and listened to the outside situation. What I found was that the fella’s room was extremely quiet. Old Ma’s room on the other hand was as noisy as if demolition was going on... Hmph, this old thing can still be so potent! My precious medicine was really... wasted on an old guy like him!

She really... would not let go of this.

However, it was no wonder that when she woke up this morning, Sister Ren was so angry with Officer Ma.

“Do you have any comments?” Ren Ziling glared at Li Zi.

Li Zi shook her head and quickly changed the subject, “Sister Ren, from what you said, this video is really edited... but who did this? Why edit it? Besides, why are there past videotape materials?”

“They edited the video from three o’clock to six o’clock... Six o’clock was exactly the time where the crew changed shifts. So, the crew will ignore events on the screen or any unusual happenings when changing shifts.” Ren Ziling pondered. “That is to say that the person who edited the video is somewhat familiar with the crew’s schedule. Then, there are also past videotape materials... Li Zi, you ask the guy outside. How often do these surveillance videos are automatically erased? Will the videos be saved before being erased? Where are the videos being kept? Who has access to it?”

“Oh... Okay.” Li Zi quickly said, “It seems that we can’t go sightseeing at the island.”

Ren Ziling sneered and said, “It’s not a real tourist area. It’s a small island on the sea with stones and woods on it. What is there to look at when there is nothing else on it?”

When she saw Li Zi went out and to find out, Ren Ziling started to mutter again, “Old Ma, Old Ma, you really are a boor... You didn’t even notice the unresponsive part of the video. However, there was only the crew member in the monitoring room at that time and Mu Qinghai who stayed back to take care of things... Can one of them be the one editing the videos? No, there was a power outage in the middle... The power outage was probably to lead them away. If the blackout lasted for ten minutes, there was enough time for someone to change the video...Who was it? Huh?”

Ren Ziling suddenly climbed on the monitoring station, quickly pressed the button, looking at the video on one of the screens... She was just curious because who she saw on the screen was the old captain Mu Enli.

He seemed to have just come out of his room, carrying a black handbag in his hand... This was actually nothing, but the action of the old captain made Subeditor Ren feel a little uneasy.

The old captain on the screen was seen coming out of the room. First, he glanced back and forth. Then, he locked the door as normal and left.

“Why does it seem that he was afraid of being discovered? What’s the use of him doing so? Huh...” Ren Ziling’s eyes widened again, only to see that the old captain disappeared into the camera. Suddenly, another figure walked by.

Wearing a pink coat and sunglasses, she hurried past the corridor. Ren Ziling picked up the phone and made a call to Ma Houde’s phone, “Hey, Old Ma, where are you?”

“Engine room, catching criminals! Fei Ying, that fella probably did not dare stay in a crowded place. So, he must be hidden somewhere else. Anything? I’m busy!”

“Old Ma, I have to ask you something.” Ren Ziling suddenly asked. “The woman you chased before. Can you estimate her height and weight?”

“How tall? She’s about one meter seven, two or three? I remember she’s almost as tall as me.” Ma Houde thought. “She should be thin.”

“What about shoes? What do they look like?”

“Boots, I remember it was black, and there were star buttons on the boots.” Ma Houde frowned. “Why do you ask all this?”

“Old Ma? I think I found this woman...” Ren Ziling hurriedly said. “Quick! All of you follow the old captain immediately! This woman seems to be following Mu Enli! In addition, I have some major discoveries. I will tell you later. You must first catch this woman!”

“Got it... Lin Feng, come with me!” Ma Houde immediately hung up the phone.

...

“Officer Ma? What do you want to talk to me about?” Mu Enli frowned subconsciously after receiving a call from Ma Houde.

“Captain, where are you now?”

“I plan to get off the ship and walk around,” said Mu Enli indifferently.

“Get off the ship? When did the ship arrive at the shore?” Ma Houde asked in amazement.

The old captain said indifferently, “It’s not the shore. It’s just an island in the middle of the route. It’s not big. It’s about a kilometer, and it’s a scenic spot.”

“Captain, the suspect is still on the ship. You can not let anyone disembark. If the suspect takes the opportunity to leave, it will be terrible!” Ma Houde immediately objected.

However, the old captain said, “Officer Ma, there is nothing on this isolated island, not even a small boat. Where can this prisoner escape? In the vast sea, can this person swim away? Besides, we will make a record of the people who will disembark from the ship. When it is time to board the ship, won’t it be easier to know who the suspect is by seeing who is missing?”

“What you said makes sense... but you slow down first. Even if you get off the ship, I will get someone to accompany you,” said Ma Houde. “My other support team will be there in thirty minutes. How about you wait for thirty minutes?”

“Then... okay.” Mu Enli nodded and did not have any intention of strongly opposing Ma Houde. “By the way, Officer Ma, what did you want to tell me?”

“Captain, you listen to me now, but don’t be surprised. Keep calm and listen to me while walking, got it?” Officer Ma then quickly said. “I suspect someone is following you. She may be the key person in this case... Captain Mu Enli, I need you to help me do one thing, that is, take the person who follows you to a narrow place, preferably without any escape route, got it? ”

“Understood.” Mu Enli responded softly.

He did not look behind and he walked forward as normal. He then turned to a corner and entered another corridor.

...

“Sister Ren! I managed to get some answers from them.” Li Zi quickly walked into the monitoring room and was just about to speak.

However, at this time, all the pictures in the monitoring room became black instantly... Not only that, but the lights were also blackout. The two quickly went out and saw that all the instruments in the entire surveillance room had stopped working!

“So, what happened?”

“It may be that there is a problem with the electric supply. Let’s go and see immediately!!”

...

Fei Ying licked his lips, cut the last wire with the little knife on his hand, and put it on another wire, only to see a fierce spark at the interface of the wire. Thick smoke then burst out.

“Hehe... now you can’t catch me, right? It will take half a day to get here fixed...You cheap person! Officer Ma!! Try and catch me now!”

With that said, Fei Ying quickly pulled the chain of the trench coat on his body, put on a hat, and lowered his head. He left the electric room before the crew arrived.

Fei Ying rubbed his palms, revealing a hint of greed, and said with a smile, “So, the next thing to do is treasure hunting...”

...

“Master, it seems that we can’t disembark for the time being. I was told to wait thirty minutes.”

Just before the lift shaft was released, You Ye whispered in Luo Qiu’s ear – The master and servant duo was not the only group being restrained there but other tourists who planned to disembark and go sightseeing on the island as well.

Of course, there were not that many people... A quick look would put the crowd at only about a hundred people.

“It seems to be earlier than I expected...” Luo Qiu suddenly said. “You Ye, what did you say that this proved what?”

“Master?”

Luo Qiu said with a chuckle: “It proves that as spectators, it is good that we can be in this revolving world.”

Suddenly, a faint cool sensation flowed out of the wooden beads in his hand.

Boss Luo’s heart was really like a colored glass at this time, cleared inside and outside.