Chapter 30: The Big Fish

Robin and the lawyer moved aside and started whispering to each other. Sometimes they argued, sometimes they just stared in silence, and after a lengthy conversation, they finally smiled and shook hands.

Ao Xi was utterly puzzled by this, but from his observation, none of the other officers seemed surprised. He decided to approach Carles directly, asking, “Chief, what are the deputy director and the lawyer discussing?”

Carles glanced at Ao Xi—when there’s business, he’s ‘Chief,’ otherwise just ‘Carles,’ huh? Still, he answered, “Didn't I explain earlier? The suspect, Zhang Yue, is likely just a distributor, not a drug lord. Putting her in prison won’t do much, and she has two minor children. Even if it goes to court, she might not get a heavy sentence.

So, we’ve devised a plan: a three-way deal between us, the district attorney, and Zhang Yue. We’ll only pursue the cases where we’ve identified real buyers, and the DA won’t charge her with a serious offense. Zhang Yue must provide the intelligence we want, and in return, she gets to go home quickly and regain custody of her kids.”

Ao Xi was incredulous. “With so much weed found in her car, and actual sales, there’s still a chance she won’t be prosecuted for a felony?”

This would be unimaginable back home, where any drug trafficking is met with swift and uncompromising action. Is America really so lax?

“Of course. Let me educate you, buddy. In California, recreational weed is legal, but possession over 22 grams is still illegal. We found a lot in Zhang Yue’s car, but not enough to be considered ‘a lot.’ Zhang Yue has a medical marijuana card, and she and her lawyer can claim it was for medical use—just a large supply. Most likely, she’ll only be charged with illegal possession of a controlled substance. Weed has medicinal properties and isn’t the same as cocaine or heroin. Carrying those would be straight-up felony drug possession, no question.

Her sales were all small amounts, and we can’t trace every single transaction. The total isn’t enough for felony drug supply charges; it’ll probably just count as distribution of a controlled substance. She’s mentally ill, didn’t carry a gun, didn’t resist arrest, is a minority, a divorced woman with two minors to support—she’s got nearly every mitigating factor stacked up.

Most importantly, our real target isn’t her anymore. We want the drug lord behind her, and Zhang Yue, eager to minimize her sentence, will likely tell us everything. If she doesn’t, it’s a loss for us.

So, we compromise for information, the DA needs to show they’re enforcing the law but with compassion, and the lawyer needs to prove his fee is worth it.

The key is, as I said, we know, the DA knows, the lawyer knows—but Zhang Yue probably doesn’t.

Imagine a woman in this predicament. The lawyer tells her he fought hard and won great terms: just give up some info, and the felony charges will be dropped. We and the DA agree. What will she do? Of course, she’ll spill everything.

Everyone gets what they want—a four-way win.”

“What about that Black guy we arrested this morning?”

“Him? He’ll be charged with illegal possession and sale of drugs, and enjoy his time in prison. Too bad he couldn’t afford a lawyer.”

Ao Xi looked like an old man baffled by a smartphone—just one feeling, really: his eyes had been opened. America played the game for real.

Carles shrugged. “That’s America, buddy.”

To hell with your America!

Is there any law left? Any sense of order? Is this really how things are done?

Ao Xi was fuming, when a new thought crossed his mind—what does their petty scheming have to do with a system holder like him?

No matter how hard it might be to enforce responsibility in the real world, that’s their problem, not his. As long as the evil mark above someone’s head is red or black, he can take them out. The important thing is not to let anyone know Ao Xi did it, or have any connection to himself.

Take Zhang Yue, for instance—the police, for various reasons, chose to let her off.

But, if Ao Xi wished, he could kill Zhang Yue and the system would even reward him.

Should he do it?

Ao Xi thought it over and decided against it. A mother of two, struggling as a Chinese immigrant, harming Americans—if she turns over a new leaf, she deserves a second chance.

With that thought, Ao Xi realized he had no right to disdain others; he couldn’t strictly enforce things himself.

Great, just after boasting to Mark, he hadn’t even moved on and already crashed.

While he wallowed in self-pity, a few men in suits walked in and shook hands with Deputy Director Robin. They were from the district attorney’s office. Together, they entered the interrogation room where Zhang Yue was held, and after a long while, they came out with Robin and Zhang Yue’s lawyer.

Everyone was smiling, chatting enthusiastically, like good friends.

Disgusting! Dirty deals!

Ao Xi grumbled inwardly, when he saw one of the DA men suddenly point him out to the leader, muttering something.

The leader glanced at Ao Xi, said nothing, chatted briefly with Robin, then left.

Ao Xi, confused, decided to ask Mark, who was playing Spider Solitaire on his computer.

“It’s simple,” Mark said, nonchalant. “You think you’re some saint? In half a month, you’ve killed three people. Your reputation’s reached the DA’s office. Lucky for you, you did the job cleanly; otherwise, the DA would’ve made your life hell.”

Do you realize how close you are to getting punched, Mark?

Ao Xi was thinking of how to squeeze two meals out of Mark, when Carles called everyone to a meeting in the conference room.

When all the officers had gathered, Carles spoke, “Night Angel has revealed how she got weed and weed products from her supplier.

She found a cryptic message on a Chinese forum in Los Angeles while looking for work, then tried adding the contact on an app called ‘WeChat.’ When she wanted to place an order, she’d tell her supplier what and how much she wanted via WeChat and pay through the app.

The supplier would ship the package to her by FedEx, never meeting in person. So Night Angel doesn’t know if her supplier is male or female, or their age.

But that’s not a problem for us. When we searched Night Angel’s house, we found some discarded package boxes. We believe these boxes contained weed, and by checking the sender information, we found the supplier lives in Temple City. I’ll share the exact address soon.

Next, a team will head out for covert surveillance and investigation.”

An officer raised his hand. “Is the sender and Night Angel’s supplier really the same person? Could it be a whole drug ring with many people behind it?”

“I don’t know, buddy. But Night Angel told us that after ordering, sometimes she’d receive fewer packages than expected. She argued with her supplier about it, and ultimately believed FedEx employees were stealing the packages. Knowing what was inside, she didn’t dare report it—just had to accept the loss.

So, I believe if we use our heads, someone will help us, maybe escort us to the shipping address and identify the sender, whether it’s one person or several.

If it turns out to be a drug ring and the investigation gets too complex, I’ll consider asking for backup or handing off the case.”

“What if the supplier sends packages from somewhere far from their own home?”

“Night Angel says all the sender addresses were the same. I doubt anyone would go far from home every time just to use the same shipping location.

Besides, I think our arrest of Night Angel wasn’t noisy and happened recently. It’s unlikely the supplier knows what happened yet. So, I’ll deal with FedEx, then have Night Angel place another order via WeChat, and we’ll catch whoever comes to ship the package.”