The weapon by the pillow

Chapter 75 Murder on the Film Set

"puff--"

A large hole appeared in the back of the woman's head. "Key..." Before she could finish the sentence, she stared at Chen Ming in horror and collapsed in front of him.

A spray of blood landed on Chen Ming's face.

It is warm and viscous.

The woman was still holding onto the car door with one hand, her eyes were still open, her pupils were already dilated, but the last fear was frozen in her eyes, like an undeveloped film negative.

"Who the hell fired the shot? Who?!"

Chen Ming roared, his finger still on the trigger, but he hadn't fired the gun.

The shot came from the side, from the direction of our own men.

Nearby, a SWAT officer, gun raised and slightly trembling, responded, "Yes, it's me! The gun... it went off!" His voice was clearly panicked, and his face was obscured by his helmet, but his body language revealed his tension—he was extremely tense.

Chen Ming whirled around, staring intently at the SWAT officer. Accidental discharge? Having spent six years in the SWAT team, he knew all too well what "accidental discharge" meant. The probability of a well-trained SWAT officer accidentally discharging a weapon in actual combat was extremely low, let alone such a precise shot to the back of the head.

"Put down your gun!" Chen Ming shouted sharply, his own gun already pointed at the SWAT officer. "Take your hand off the trigger! Slowly lower it!"

The SWAT officer froze, seemingly wanting to explain something, but Cheng Jing's voice cut in like an ice blade:

"Everyone, take control of the scene!" She had already rushed to the transport vehicle, her gaze sweeping across the fallen woman, Chen Ming with his gun raised, and the SWAT officer who claimed an accidental discharge. "You," she pointed at the SWAT officer, "number, name, unit!"

"I... Captain Cheng, it really was an accident. She suddenly tried to take something out, and I..." The SWAT officer's voice trailed off, and under Cheng Jing's icy gaze, his explanation sounded weak and powerless.

Just then, several people rushed into the scene and shouted:

"Stop! Stop! The director hasn't said 'action' yet! How can you start filming already?!" Two men in business suits were holding megaphones. "All cast and crew, stop! Stop! The cars behind are blocking the way, filming hasn't even started... Please stop!"

Their voices were loud and clear, filled with obvious anxiety and confusion, which sounded particularly jarring in the tunnel.

"Why hasn't it started? Production crew??? Isn't it supposed to start when the police cars come in? What's going on? Are you even following the script?" An actor still lying on the ground playing the "robber" shouted, raising his head. His face was covered in blood makeup, but his expression was genuinely angry. Then, as if realizing something, he bent down and pulled at his fallen partner, then let out a terrified scream:

"People are dead!! They... they weren't using props! It was real blood! Real guns!"

The scream shattered the eerie and tense atmosphere in the tunnel.

Cheng Jing was stunned.

She looked around and noticed some details she had previously overlooked: the police badge painted on the side of the wrecked "police car" had blurry edges, like a hastily pasted sticker; some of the "glass shards" scattered on the ground reflected a plastic texture under the light; several "attackers" lying on the ground were motionless, but one of them had his fingers twitching slightly, clearly holding his breath to play the role of a corpse...

A cameraman carrying a camera came running up, panting, and demanded angrily, "Who just followed our prop truck onto the set? Disrupting our live-action filming? Pay for our damages! We rented this tunnel for three hours; time is money! And what... what's going on here?"

His gaze fell on the corpse of the woman in black, and his voice suddenly changed.

On set. Filming on location.

These words suddenly struck Cheng Jing's mind.

She quickly took out her phone and pulled up the municipal traffic and police notices she had just received—Jianghuai Road Second Tunnel, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., temporary traffic control will be implemented due to the filming needs of the movie crew of "Dark War Moment".

She didn't even notice it.

No, it was because she discovered the message too late. A series of unexpected events this morning—Cheng Tan's warning, the ambush downstairs, and the emergency escort plan—left her with neither the time nor the inclination to check a simple temporary traffic control notice.

This route is one of the regular routes used by the convoy to return to the city police station.

Coincidence? Or a carefully designed trap?

Cheng Jing's gaze returned to the SWAT officer who had accidentally discharged his weapon. He had already lowered his gun, but his hand was still trembling slightly. Cheng Jing remembered him; his surname was Zhao, he had been with the unit for three years, and his performance was usually average, with no particularly outstanding records or negative reviews.

"Captain Cheng, this..." Chen Ming also realized that something was wrong. He pulled off his hood, revealing his blood-stained and confused face. He looked at the woman on the ground, then at the "film set" around him, and then at Cheng Jing.

Cheng Jing did not answer immediately. She walked to the body of the woman in black, squatted down, and examined it carefully.

The woman was dressed in professional black sportswear made of high-end, moisture-wicking fabric. Her running shoes were a limited edition from a certain brand, quite expensive. Calluses were visible on her finger joints, especially between her thumb and forefinger, marks left from long-term weight training.

She had nothing in her pocket except an old-fashioned non-smartphone.

No ID card, no wallet, no keys.

Cheng Jing picked up the phone and pressed the power button. The screen lit up; the phone's contacts were empty, and the call log showed only three received calls, all from the same unsaved number, the most recent being at 7:05 this morning. The text message inbox was also empty.

A well-trained, well-prepared person who has no identity.

"Captain Cheng," Chen Ming said in a low voice, "she just said, 'Cheng Tan can't go back to the police station; it's more dangerous there. Someone wants to silence him.'"

Cheng Jing's heart sank. She stood up and walked up to the special police officer surnamed Zhao.

"Do you know her?" Cheng Jing's voice was frighteningly calm.

"No, I don't know her! Captain Cheng, I really don't know her! I just saw that her actions were suspicious and I was afraid that she would hurt... hurt the suspect, so I got nervous..." Officer Zhao's face turned pale.

"Give me your sidearm," Cheng Jing said, holding out her hand.

Special Officer Zhao hesitated for a moment, but still handed over the gun. Cheng Jing ejected the magazine, pulled the slide again, and a bright yellow shell casing popped out. She picked up the casing and roughly compared it with the bullet she found on the ground; the models matched.

"Xiao Zhang," Cheng Jing called over another detective, "take Officer Zhao over there and make a simple statement, recording in detail what happened just now, especially what he saw and heard before he fired the gun."

"Team Leader Cheng, I..." Special Officer Zhao wanted to say something, but under Cheng Jing's gaze, he shut his mouth and followed Xiao Zhang to the side.

Cheng Jing walked back to Chen Ming's side and said in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Remember what he said—'Someone wants to silence us.' This 'someone' might be one of us."

Chen Ming was taken aback. "Using someone else to do the dirty work?"