Retrogade Mission

Chapter One: Rainy Night

On a cold winter night, with rain and a biting wind, the main entrance of a small two-star hotel was left wide open due to a malfunction, and the chill relentlessly filled the entire hotel lobby.

It was already midnight, and only one security guard and one front desk staff member were still on duty in the entire lobby. The front desk staff member glanced at the main entrance; the cold rain lashed against its edges, spraying droplets onto the lobby floor. She was displeased; the hotel's engineering department was far too inefficient.

The security guard leaned against the front desk, facing the draft. His only pleasure on the night shift was chatting with pretty girls; perhaps that was his only motivation. However, the front desk staff ignored him, engrossed in their phones, occasionally replying with a few disjointed words.

The quiet atmosphere was suddenly shattered as a man in a suit, soaking wet and with blood stained his white shirt, stormed into the lobby. Holding a pistol in his right hand, he quickly scanned his surroundings, panting heavily. He looked at the receptionist, pulled at his badge with his left hand, and asked, "Where's the elevator?" His voice was loud, creating a buzzing vibration in the quiet lobby.

The security guards and front desk staff were stunned. They stared at the man, who was about 26 or 27 years old, with short hair, 1.85 meters tall, strong and burly, giving off a natural sense of intimidation.

"Elevator," the man repeated.

"The elevator isn't running after midnight... I'll open it for you." Seeing the man's brows furrow, the receptionist instinctively said, "The stairs are over there."

Without saying a word, the man ran towards the stairs. The security guard said, "Call the police," and hurriedly followed the man.

The hotel wasn't tall, only nine stories. The man sprinted up to the ninth floor in one go, leaving the security guard still on the fourth. One more flight of stairs led to an iron gate—the iron gate to the rooftop.

The man pushed the door, but it got stuck. He took two steps back and kicked it several times with his right foot. Seeing that the door was loosening, he slammed into the iron door. The door was forced open, and the man fell to the ground, but immediately got up and ran in a southeast direction.

To the southeast was a billboard, a hotel billboard, with a man suspended from the edge of the neon lights. He was a man around forty years old, his mouth taped shut, his hands tied to the billboard with ropes. A component in the center of the ropes suspending him emitted a faint red glow intermittently.

Five meters away from the bound man, a sealed plastic bag was placed on the ground. Inside the bag was a cell phone, which was vibrating and emitting a light. The man looked at the bound man, tore open the plastic bag, took a deep breath, and answered the phone in a calm voice: "Hello, I've arrived."

You're late.

The man glanced at his watch: "Two minutes and twenty seconds."

"You were late again. I don't understand why you weren't given enough time to arrive on time."

The man replied, "Someone needs help."

So you're late.

"Yes."

"What's more important? Your partner's life, or a stranger's?"

"I was wrong, please give me another chance."

"Mistakes have consequences. Goodbye."

"No!" The man heard the phone ring and rushed towards the billboard. The ropes suspending the bound man suddenly snapped, and the man plummeted like a sandbag. The man reached through the railing and touched his hair, peered over and saw his face, his eyes... watching him crash face-up onto the empty parking lot floor.

The man stared blankly, then heard a voice beside him. There was a cell phone in the shadow of the billboard. He took two steps, tore open the plastic bag, answered the phone, and said fiercely, "You bastard, you're dead."

“I don’t think so, Officer Zuo. I admire you very much. This tragedy should not have happened. It’s just that someone crossed the line, and the person who crossed the line must die.”

The man asked in a deep voice, "So you meant to kill him from the start?"

"Yes. But I respect you, so I'm giving you a chance, a choice. If you hadn't gone to save the person lying on the roadside bleeding, you would have had plenty of time to rescue your partner. Your choice was foolish."

"I will definitely catch you."

"I'll wait for you, hehe."

The man resisted the urge to smash his phone; it was evidence, and he had no right to do so. Feeling utterly exhausted, he slumped into the cold rain, leaned against the railing, took out a pack of cigarettes, and lit one.

A few minutes later, police cars arrived, a helicopter appeared, and more than a dozen police officers went to the rooftop. No one paid any attention to the man; everyone silently collected all the evidence on the balcony.

court!

"Officer Zuo Luo, here are my questions, please answer them. First question, you were following the defendant, were you?"

The man looked at the lawyer with cold, empty eyes and replied, "We have the right to track suspects."

"Of course you have the right to follow the defendant, and then the defendant had a car accident in a remote place, and the defendant asked you to save his wife, right?"

"yes."

"Your partner, Officer Liu Mo, used this to threaten that if the defendant doesn't admit his crimes, he won't rescue the defendant's wife, is that right?"

"We performed first aid and called emergency services."

The lawyer leaned against the armrest next to the man, looked at the judge, and said, "According to the defendant's statement, Officer Zuo Luo, you were very eager to prioritize saving lives, but your partner, Officer Liu Mo, stopped you and even punched you. Is that right?"

"I forgot."

The lawyer said, "Officer Liu Mo dragged the complainant's wife to the defendant and loudly interrogated him, was that right?"

"I forgot."

The lawyer then asked, "The defendant, under duress, told Officer Liu Mo about the clue of the white-and-red yacht at the East Coast dock. Following this clue, the police found a batch of jewelry that had been robbed in Thailand ten days earlier on the yacht, and also detained several suspects. Is that correct?"

"I forgot."

The judge reminded him, "Witness, you are a police officer, and you have an obligation and must answer this question."

The man remained silent for a long time before answering, "Yes."

"So you're admitting that your partner used the defendant's wife's life to blackmail the defendant?"

The man remained silent for a longer time, and while everyone waited, he answered, "Yes."

“Thank you, Officer Zuo Luo. My client, the defendant, admires you greatly and says you are a role model for police officers.” The lawyer turned to the judge and said, “Your Honor, the defendant is not a criminal; he simply knows some bad people. At a banquet, he overheard someone mentioning that stolen goods were on a yacht. With his wife’s life threatened, he had no choice but to tell Officer Liu Mo the only piece of information he knew that the police were interested in, in order to beg for the police’s help.”

The lawyer continued, “The testimonies confirm that one of the people arrested on the yacht had attended a dinner with the defendant. I also have CCTV footage from that dinner, which shows that the defendant and this suspect were not acquainted; they simply happened to speak English as their native language and chatted briefly at the dinner. It was then that the defendant overheard about the stolen goods on the yacht. As a foreigner, he should have reported it to the police, but he was too cowardly to speak up. All the testimonies and evidence presented so far indicate that the defendant is innocent. Thank you.”

Scenes replayed in Zuo Luo's mind: the car accident, the forced confession, the fall... Zuo Luo looked at the defendant's dock, where a man in his forties stood. The man wore an expensive suit, his hair was neatly combed, and he always wore a smile. In his breast pocket was a rose folded in black gauze, a tribute to his wife who had died a little over a month ago.

"The defendant is not guilty and is released in court."

The defendant stood up, bowed slightly to the judge and the audience, then smiled and nodded at Zuo Luo before leaving the courtroom with his lawyer.