Watching Surveillance Tapes

"Sergeant Xu, we've seen every single surveillance footage we currently have on our hands, but the suspect doesn't appear in any of them," grumbled Xiao Li as he massaged his neck and slid in front of Xu Lan with his revolving chair.

"Go and tell Lao Hu and Sun Fei that from now onward, we'll gather everyone into one room to watch the footage, and each person will look at the footage that the other is watching," Xu Lan said dully.

His subconscious mind felt his pants pocket. He was absolutely dumbfounded as to why Xiao Li only bought one pack of cigarettes.

"Why?" he asked puzzled and frowning, as three horizontal lines appeared on his forehead.

"You're right, why?" Xu Lan had no idea that Xiao Li's guilelessness had reached such a degree.

"Are you pig-brained? You're always asking 'why', 'why'. When you're asked to do it, just do it!" came Zhu Jing's annoyed reply.

"Umm, Sergeant Xu, I was asking why we should all cram inside and watch it together." Noticing that Xu Lan had zoned out, Xiao Li wanted to laugh but dared not to.

"Oh, you mean that," Xu Lan sneered as he slapped his thigh. "Well, since we can't see if there's anything more than meets the eyes, we should let others see the tapes as well. It's rare that the killer would appear at the same place within a particular time frame, but there remains a possibility that he will appear someplace else. And there will always be a blind spot, be it in a person's field of view or thought processes. Wouldn't it be a good thing if someone were to look at that blind spot?"

"Mm, indeed. But before that, we could also share any information that we noticed amongst ourselves and compile any information that looks useful. When it's time, we can gather everyone's opinion and discard anything useless. Then we'll be able to come up with a narrative that everyone can agree is closest to what actually happened." Wu Wendi nodded in acknowledgment of Xu Lan's view.

"But up till now, we haven't found anything that's of use," Zhu Jing opined candidly. She felt dejected just thinking about it. It was almost daybreak and not a single outline had been obtained.

"Hence the need to inform them as soon as possible."

All of Xu Lan's attention was shifted back to the screen. He intended to speed up the tapes and watch them all over again like a fast-forwarded movie.

"Oh, okay." Xiao Li shrugged his shoulders and headed for the door.

"Eh, why did you come here Officer Li?" As soon as Xiao Li walked out of the room, he saw Li Xiu coming over.

"Li Fei my comrade, what's the matter? I came to invite Sergeant Xu and Section-Chief Sun over. I was thinking that everyone should come together and watch the videos," Li Xiu replied with a smile.

"What a coincidence! We were prepared to do the same and invite you over. Ay, the sage sure presents himself as an ordinary person, Officer Li." Xiao Li let out his unfeigned lament as he looked at the refined Li Xiu — it was truly unexpected that Li Xiu's and Xu Lan's uniqueness were similar to one another.

"Hmm, in that case, I'll ask Sergeant Xu. You go on ahead and let Section-Chief Sun know. He's at surveillance room three-o-four," Li Xiu straightforwardly instructed Xiao Li to call on Sun Fei.

"Alright." Xiao Li nodded and went on his way.

Li Xiu knocked on the door.

"Come in."

"Sergeant Xu, how are things? Are there any new findings?" Li Xiu asked as he smiled and pushed the door open.

"Officer Li, come and sit down. Xiao Jing, pour a cup of tea for Officer Li." Xu Lan greeted Li Xiu and requested Xiao Jing to prepare the tea.

"How's everything on your end?" he asked after Li Xiu had taken a seat.