For this, Henry Clark must make every possible preparation. For example, he needs to change his appearance and accent as much as possible.

From now on, he has to speak with a Ningbo accent. He is from Ningbo, and there are over five hundred thousand, maybe even a million people from Ningbo in Shanghai, so speaking with a Ningbo accent here is perfectly normal.

His hairstyle will also be completely different from before. And braces—those are a good thing. Although they might make him look a bit ugly, with braces on, even Peter Brooks probably wouldn’t recognize him face to face.

Prepare for failure before planning for victory. As long as Peter Brooks is alive, he must always be ready for the worst.

Chapter 0003: The Veteran

The gunshots at Jinshenfu Road, Shuanglong Lane quickly alerted the nearby patrol officers. Upon learning that the victim was the deputy detective chief of the French Concession police, Brian Carter, the French Concession police dispatched over a hundred officers and nearly all their informants to assist in the investigation.

The French Concession police decided that the Chinese detective chief, Harold Perry, would be in charge of the case, and he rushed to Jinshenfu Road, Shuanglong Lane at once. Looking at Brian Carter lying on the ground, Harold Perry sighed inwardly.

Brian Carter was active in arresting anti-Japanese personnel and had close ties with the Japanese military police and No. 76. Being shot dead in the street, there was no need for an investigation to guess the outcome.

Many people in the French Concession police took money from No. 76—some as much as a hundred or two, others at least several dozen. Take money from others, and you must help them avoid disaster. When No. 76 operated in the French Concession, they could always count on close cooperation from these people, and Brian Carter was one of them.

Harold Perry visited the neighbors on both sides but found no useful clues. The incident happened so suddenly that even if someone heard the gunshots, they were too scared to leave their homes.

Harold Perry then went to the entrance of Shuanglong Lane on Jinshenfu Road to ask around and finally got a lead: someone saw a limping stranger quickly walk out of Shuanglong Lane at the time of the incident. Unfortunately, that person didn’t get a good look at the killer’s face—just that he wore glasses and seemed to leave in a car.

There are four major taxi companies in Shanghai: Xiangsheng, Yunfei, Silver, and Tailai, which own more than eighty percent of all taxis in the city.

Normally, it would take at least ten days or half a month to get results, but tonight, it only took a few hours to track down that car.

Harold Perry personally spoke with the driver, but unfortunately, the driver hadn’t paid attention to the man with glasses’ appearance. However, he did provide another clue: the man with glasses had a small mustache.

Harold Perry took a car and had the driver follow the original route, heading north along Jinshenfu Road toward Fuxu Road. When the car stopped at the intersection of Fuxu Road and Yao’erpei Road, Harold Perry got out and knocked on the doors of all the nearby shops and residents.

However, after questioning everyone on several nearby streets, he still found no clues. The limping, bespectacled man with the small mustache seemed to have vanished into thin air.

Harold Perry was very frustrated. Even after mobilizing over a hundred officers, the trail had gone cold halfway through. The gunman was so cautious that Harold Perry really wanted to know what kind of person could kill without leaving a single trace.

Harold Perry had worked at the French Concession police for over ten years, spending a few years as a traffic officer before becoming an informant. So-called informants were plainclothes officers who often frequented restaurants and teahouses, eavesdropping on conversations and gathering intelligence.

From informant to deputy detective chief, and now detective chief, Harold Perry had handled hundreds, even thousands of cases. But this was the first time he’d encountered a case where someone dared to kill a police officer and did it so cleanly, leaving no trace.

Just as Harold Perry was at a loss, a Lincoln car pulled up on Fuxu Road, and a man got out. He was in his twenties, with an ordinary appearance—the kind of person you wouldn’t notice in a crowd. But at this moment, he exuded an aura different from ordinary people.

Harold Perry glanced at him and recognized him as Michael Brooks from No. 76, head of the First Division, specializing in dealing with the Military Statistics Bureau.

“Detective Perry, how’s the investigation going?” Michael Brooks’s voice was not loud, but it was cold—hearing it in the heat of summer felt like stepping into an ice cellar.

Although the victim was from the French Concession police, the blow was to No. 76’s reputation. If this case couldn’t be solved, would other officers still dare to cooperate with No. 76 in the future?

Harold Perry sighed and said, “All we know is that it was a bespectacled man with a small mustache, limping, who disappeared around here.”

Michael Brooks nodded. “It was probably done by the Military Statistics Bureau. The method is very familiar—he’s a veteran.”

Harold Perry sighed, “Not only a veteran, but a shrewd one at that.”

This case was extremely tricky, and he actually welcomed Michael Brooks’s involvement.

Michael Brooks suddenly asked, “Detective Perry, could we go to the scene again?”

This was just a temporary stop for the gunman. To find more clues, they needed to go to the crime scene.

Harold Perry thought for a moment and said, “Alright.”

If he couldn’t find any clues, maybe Michael Brooks would have a way.

Michael Brooks questioned the witnesses again in detail and interviewed every resident of Shuanglong Lane one by one. Sure enough, he found a new lead: yesterday—no, it should be the day before yesterday afternoon now—a man with a big beard had appeared in Shuanglong Lane.

Harold Perry asked, “Director Brooks, who do you think the killer is?”

From the crime scene, it seemed like they had found a lot of clues, but none of them were useful. A man with a small mustache suddenly became a man with a big beard, and he wore glasses—he must have been in disguise.