My chat group members are all legendary criminals.

Chapter 58 They just want a killer

Late at night, Santa Maria Medical Center.

The corridor of the intensive care unit was silent.

A hooded, dark figure scurried awkwardly along the wall, carrying a pizza box, as if trying to disguise itself as a deliveryman.

He looked around and moved to the outside of the intensive care unit.

On the hospital bed, there was a vaguely human-shaped bulge, covered tightly by the blanket.

The shadowy figure slipped inside without hesitation, reaching into the pizza box and pulling out a silenced pistol.

puff!puff!puff!

Three muffled thuds were heard, and several holes were punched in the blanket.

The anticipated scene of blood soaking through the sheets did not occur.

The shadowy figure paused for a moment, then rushed forward and yanked the blanket off.

what?

There was only one dummy inside, with three bullet holes in its chest, thigh, and head.

Snapped!

In an instant, the overhead lights suddenly turned on.

"Drop the gun! Hands on your head!"

"Get down! Cover your head!"

A dozen or so police officers carrying M4 carbines filed in, and a dozen red dots were locked on the hooded man's head and chest.

The hooded man was so terrified that his pistol clattered to the ground, and his legs buckled, causing him to kneel down.

Marcus lunged forward, kneeing him in the lower back and pinning him to the ground.

"Can't you understand human language? I told you to put your hands on your head and squat down!"

The hood was roughly ripped off, revealing a terrified black face in his twenties.

"I surrender! I surrender!" The young black man's face was covered in snot and tears.

Once the situation was completely under control, Gu Qiu and Lu Yiming walked in side by side.

Lu Yiming coldly stared at the person on the ground: "Who ordered you to do this?"

"I don't know! I really don't know!"

The young man sobbed uncontrollably, saying, "I took a job on the dark web. The sender was anonymous. They wanted me to come to the hospital and kill someone..."

Lu Yiming frowned: "How did you sneak into the hospital last night?"

The young Black man looked up blankly, only to be immediately pushed back to the ground by Marcus.

"What? Last night? I only took the job tonight! Waaah, I went to a motel with a female international student last night..."

Lu Yiming frowned.

Good heavens, so this bastard actually dares to play dumb here?

wrong……

His gaze moved upwards and landed on the dummy that had been hit by a bullet.

The three bullet holes were scattered, and one bullet hit the thigh.

It was more like a blind shot fired in a panic.

This technique is nothing compared to the two shots fired last night.

What's going on?

"Oh...right!" The young Black man seemed to suddenly remember something, struggled to pull something out of his pocket, and threw it on the ground. "He also told me to leave this at the scene after I killed him..."

It was a paper bird folded crookedly, with a sharp beak and outstretched wings.

Lu Yiming bent down to pick it up, not immediately realizing what it meant.

This thing looks like a marker.

But the key point is that this guy isn't a professional killer at all.

He was just a street thug who was hired temporarily. He hadn't even handled a gun properly and was simply pushed out as cannon fodder.

The real killer wasn't fooled at all! The top assassin realized it was a trap, so he just hired a fool on the dark web to step on it.

It both tested the waters and mocked the police's incompetence.

Lu Yiming looked at Gu Qiu, and their eyes met.

Gu Qiu nodded and instructed, "You can all go out now."

The officers quickly left the ward, closing the door behind them.

Only Gu Qiu, Lu Yiming, Marcus, and the trembling black man on the floor remained in the room.

As soon as the door closed, Lu Yiming immediately spoke up: "Chief, this is a scapegoat. He's not the real killer; the methods don't match up at all."

Lu Yiming thought Gu Qiu would be annoyed, after all, this trick of luring the snake out of its hole only caught a small fish.

To everyone's surprise, Gu Qiu patted his shoulder and sneered after hearing this.

"That's not important."

Before he could finish speaking, Gu Qiu suddenly snatched the pistol from Marcus's waist.

He shouted, "What are you doing! Don't run!"

boom! boom! boom!

The gunshots were deafening.

The bullet pierced the young Black man's chest and forehead.

Blood splattered everywhere. The young Black man convulsed twice and then died.

Gu Qiu expressionlessly shoved the gun back into the completely dumbfounded Marcus's hand.

The next second, the door was kicked open, and officers rushed in with guns at their ready.

There was only a black corpse lying in a pool of blood in front of him.

Gu Qiu turned around and announced with an air of righteous indignation:

"The suspect violently resisted arrest and was decisively shot and killed by Sheriff Marcus Hunter!"

After speaking, his gaze swept over Marcus and Lu Yiming with sharp intensity, and he said in a meaningful tone:

"You two worked together perfectly just now and did a great job. The police station will not treat you unfairly."

Lu Yiming wiped the blood splattered on his face.

He stared blankly at Gu Qiu's righteous face, as if what he had just said was the truth.

He almost believed it if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes.

At that moment, Lu Yiming understood.

Gu Qiu was planning to make the best of a bad situation.

What the public wants is not the truth, but the result.

As long as someone takes responsibility and pays the price, this matter is considered closed.

As for whether this is the real killer?

It doesn't matter; money can solve everything.

Gu Qiu is a ruthless old fox.

Since the real culprit can't be caught, let's use this black web shill who's conveniently delivered to our doorstep as a scapegoat. He'll take the blame, and there will be no way to prove it.

That last sentence was nothing short of a blatant hush money offer.

—Once this matter is settled, the positions of bureau chief and head of the homicide squad will be yours.

Gu Qiu slowly wiped the blood from her knuckles with a handkerchief and instructed Marcus in a low voice:

"Go and clean up the hospital's surveillance footage. Find someone to film a few more gunfight scenes to create a complete chain of evidence. Hold a press conference first thing tomorrow morning."

"Also, investigate the international student that black man met up with last night. Create an accident, leave no survivors."

Marcus broke out in a cold sweat and swallowed hard. "...Yes, sir!"

Lu Yiming breathed a long sigh of relief.

Although the methods were a bit underhanded, the huge mess that had been thrown at the police station has finally been overturned.

He was about to get a promotion and a raise, and become the head of the homicide squad.

Just then, Mia rushed in, holding an envelope.

"Director Gu, someone slipped this into the police station's complaint mailbox, specifically asking you to open it personally."

The envelope had no sender's name on it, only a line of printed text:

"Gu Qiu, open this personally, or he's finished."

Lu Yiming subconsciously thought it was a provocative letter from the real culprit, and leaned over to take a look.

Gu Qiu remained calm and opened the envelope.

There were no threatening letters inside, only a thin piece of paper.

Lu Yiming glanced at it.

The paper was densely covered with rows of numbers and names.

Gu Qiu paused for a moment, then quickly folded the letter in half to prevent anyone from seeing its contents.

But Lu Yiming did not miss his momentary panic.

Lu Yiming's heart skipped a beat.

This is a bill; he's seen it before.

It contained the contents of Mia's father's lost ledger.

Those were bribery records used to maintain a vast network of relationships; they were a death knell that could implicate half of California's political and business circles...

If the real killer has this in his possession.

Everything they did tonight will be in vain...