Inspector Zhang and the Disappearing Drugs Read Online Free
Author: Stephen Leather
there were any trapdoors or hidden compartments. The ceiling was as solid as the floor.
Inspector Zhang gave the broom to Sergeant Lee and she returned it to the kitchen.
"Did you speak to the occupants of the apartments on either side of this one?" Inspector Zhang asked Inspector Kwok.
"Of course. There is an old couple to the left. He is a retired schoolteacher and his wife is bed-ridden. Their bedroom is next to the kitchen and bathroom of this apartment. To the right is a young Indian girl with two young children. Her husband is a construction worker in Dubai. She only leaves the house to go shopping or to occasionally take the children to the park. We checked her side of the party wall and there is no way anyone could have gotten through."
Inspector Zhang stood in the middle of the sitting room, looking around. "So, we are sure that the drugs did not pass through the walls, or through the floor or the ceiling, or go out of the windows."
"That is correct, Inspector Zhang."
"And you saw the ten boxes being brought in? Each box would be how big, exactly?"
Inspector Kwok used her hands to demonstrate the size of the box. About fifty centimetres wide, twenty-five centimetres long, a foot wide, and twenty-five centimetres tall.
Inspector Zhang rubbed his chin. "And you have checked the sofa and the television?"
"Of course." She moved the sofa so that he could see a long cut that had been made in the material at the back. "We took the television apart and the refrigerator. And the shower cubicle. And the bed. There is nowhere in the apartment where a hundred kilos of heroin could be hidden."
Sergeant Lee came out of the kitchen. "What about the drains, Inspector Zhang?" she asked.
"The drains?" said Inspector Zhang, frowning.
"What if they unpacked the drugs and somehow dropped them down the drain? In the shower room or the kitchen."
"Throw them away, you mean?"
"No, Inspector, I meant they could have wrapped the drugs in something waterproof and then sent it down the pipes to an accomplice down below. The accomplice could have intercepted the drugs before they reached the sewage system."
Inspector Zhang. Nodded approvingly. "Why, Sergeant, I had no idea that you were so resourceful. What an intriguing idea."
"Do you think it's possible?"
"Sadly, no," said Inspector Zhang. "The heroin was packed in one kilo packages , and they would not fit down the pipes in either the kitchen or the bathroom. Someone would have had to have repackaged all the heroin which would have taken hours and we know that there was no one else in the apartment." He looked across at Inspector Kwok. "Is that not the case?" he asked.
"There was no one inside, we are sure of that," said Inspector Kwok.
"But can you be sure?" asked Sergeant Lee. "Your men did not enter the apartment with the delivery men. There could have been someone hiding in the bedroom. They could have waited until the delivery men left and then repackaged the drugs and flushed them down the waste pipes to be collected by an accomplice downstairs."
Inspector Kwok's lips tightened in annoyance. "We had the apartment under constant surveillance and no one left the premises. There was no one there when we entered. Therefore we are certain that the apartment was empty all the time we had it under surveillance."
"What about the recording of the CCTV footage?" asked Inspector Zhang. "Where is that?"
"We have taken it to New Phoenix Park," said Inspector Kwok. "We wanted our technicians to check that there was nothing wrong."
"What did you think might be wrong?"
Inspector Kwok shrugged. "The Senior Assistant Commissioner thought that perhaps the camera had been interfered with. That perhaps someone had blocked the camera somehow while they removed the drugs."
"And what did the technicians find?"
"That the CCTV footage was fine. The simple fact is that no one entered or left the apartment while we had it under surveillance."
"Then let us go and examine it
Inspector Zhang gave the broom to Sergeant Lee and she returned it to the kitchen.
"Did you speak to the occupants of the apartments on either side of this one?" Inspector Zhang asked Inspector Kwok.
"Of course. There is an old couple to the left. He is a retired schoolteacher and his wife is bed-ridden. Their bedroom is next to the kitchen and bathroom of this apartment. To the right is a young Indian girl with two young children. Her husband is a construction worker in Dubai. She only leaves the house to go shopping or to occasionally take the children to the park. We checked her side of the party wall and there is no way anyone could have gotten through."
Inspector Zhang stood in the middle of the sitting room, looking around. "So, we are sure that the drugs did not pass through the walls, or through the floor or the ceiling, or go out of the windows."
"That is correct, Inspector Zhang."
"And you saw the ten boxes being brought in? Each box would be how big, exactly?"
Inspector Kwok used her hands to demonstrate the size of the box. About fifty centimetres wide, twenty-five centimetres long, a foot wide, and twenty-five centimetres tall.
Inspector Zhang rubbed his chin. "And you have checked the sofa and the television?"
"Of course." She moved the sofa so that he could see a long cut that had been made in the material at the back. "We took the television apart and the refrigerator. And the shower cubicle. And the bed. There is nowhere in the apartment where a hundred kilos of heroin could be hidden."
Sergeant Lee came out of the kitchen. "What about the drains, Inspector Zhang?" she asked.
"The drains?" said Inspector Zhang, frowning.
"What if they unpacked the drugs and somehow dropped them down the drain? In the shower room or the kitchen."
"Throw them away, you mean?"
"No, Inspector, I meant they could have wrapped the drugs in something waterproof and then sent it down the pipes to an accomplice down below. The accomplice could have intercepted the drugs before they reached the sewage system."
Inspector Zhang. Nodded approvingly. "Why, Sergeant, I had no idea that you were so resourceful. What an intriguing idea."
"Do you think it's possible?"
"Sadly, no," said Inspector Zhang. "The heroin was packed in one kilo packages , and they would not fit down the pipes in either the kitchen or the bathroom. Someone would have had to have repackaged all the heroin which would have taken hours and we know that there was no one else in the apartment." He looked across at Inspector Kwok. "Is that not the case?" he asked.
"There was no one inside, we are sure of that," said Inspector Kwok.
"But can you be sure?" asked Sergeant Lee. "Your men did not enter the apartment with the delivery men. There could have been someone hiding in the bedroom. They could have waited until the delivery men left and then repackaged the drugs and flushed them down the waste pipes to be collected by an accomplice downstairs."
Inspector Kwok's lips tightened in annoyance. "We had the apartment under constant surveillance and no one left the premises. There was no one there when we entered. Therefore we are certain that the apartment was empty all the time we had it under surveillance."
"What about the recording of the CCTV footage?" asked Inspector Zhang. "Where is that?"
"We have taken it to New Phoenix Park," said Inspector Kwok. "We wanted our technicians to check that there was nothing wrong."
"What did you think might be wrong?"
Inspector Kwok shrugged. "The Senior Assistant Commissioner thought that perhaps the camera had been interfered with. That perhaps someone had blocked the camera somehow while they removed the drugs."
"And what did the technicians find?"
"That the CCTV footage was fine. The simple fact is that no one entered or left the apartment while we had it under surveillance."
"Then let us go and examine it
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