Criminal Psychology

After the fire at the Yongchuan Christine Cultural Center, two teams were jointly responsible for the follow-up to the Song Shengsheng case.

One was the original special task force, led by the head of the Yongchuan Second Bureau, Jiang Chao’s immediate boss.

The second was a contingent police force that was dispatched to investigate this series of cases after the meeting convened yesterday with Xing Conglian.

The leaders of the two teams now appeared simultaneously in the video, having a remote conference call with Xing Conglian. Wang Chao sat beside him, holding a laptop, wondering what his boss had figured out.

Without any pleasantries, Xing Conglian directly said, “Keep it simple, I’ll ask the questions, and you answer.”

“Okay,” the two people in the video replied in unison.

“Because Song Shengsheng endorsed AIH Insurance, many of his fans purchased AIH products.”

“Yes.”

“How many people are ‘many’?”

“1,922,” they replied.

Xing Conglian nodded. “So, Meijing took advantage of Song Shengsheng’s comeback concert ticketing system, filtering out 1,922 long-term purchasers of AIH insurance, and distributed the tickets to them?”

“Yes.”

“Then Meijing created a fire accident at the Christine Cultural Center, intending to kill the 1,922 fans who bought insurance?”

“Yes.”

“If 1,922 people died, what would be the total amount of the insurance policies?” Xing Conglian asked.

The two people in the video hesitated, and then one of them answered after a moment of recollection. “Each policy is different, but the total amount is about 41.31 billion dollars.”

Xing Conglian frowned. “That much?”

“There are many rich girls among the fans. This isn’t considered high.”

The other person said, “On average, more than two million per policy.”

“But the beneficiaries of these policies are all different?”

“Yes, they are generally their immediate family members.”

At this point in the questioning, Xing Conglian paused. The two team leaders were waiting for Xing Conglian to ask about the 21 insurance policies among the 1,922 people with the same beneficiary, but Xing Conglian didn’t.

He asked, “In your opinion, why would they set up such a large plot and deliberately kill these people?”

Jiang Chao’s boss, the old director of Yongchuan Second Bureau, gave a bitter smile. “We have always thought that this was a plot against AIH Insurance…but…”

“But AIH Insurance would be destroyed by a 41 billion claim,” the other person in the video call added.

“To cause social unrest?” Wang Chao interjected.

“Even if the insurance company goes bankrupt, there are still reinsurance companies to take over the policies. This wouldn’t cause turmoil in the country.” The old director of the Second Bureau answered.

“Who knows what these sociopaths aim to do? Maybe they just simply want to kill and cause trouble!” Wang Chao said.

“Enough,” Xing Conglian interrupted him, and then asked the two people on the screen. “Have you consulted financial experts?”

The old director of the Second Bureau nodded. “Experts have analyzed it. If AIH has to pay claims, its stock price will plummet. Although it won’t go bankrupt, it will affect many aspects of its business…”

Xing Conglian frowned, deep in thought. Wang Chao glanced at his boss, and somehow he thought of Zhourui Pharmaceutical.

At this time, Xing Conglian pulled over the phone on the desk and made a call. A loud, arrogant voice from an old man came from the speakerphone. “I have business worth billions here, so spit it out if you have anything to say.”

Xing Conglian had no mood to quarrel with the old man and directly said, “I have some information here. Take a look and tell me what AIH’s businesses would be affected and how likely it is to be acquired.”

Xing Conglian glanced at Wang Chao, who promptly sent the file over.

“Damn, I have to help you acquire an insurance company on top of a pharmaceutical company? Do you gay guys all have such thick faces?”

The old man was about to ramble on, but Xing Conglian interrupted him. “You have 15 minutes.”

He hung up quickly after saying that.

The old man’s voice was loud, and the two people on the computer heard it, making the situation extremely awkward. But with Xing Conglian’s current mood, he didn’t have the time to care about these things.

The old man called back faster than expected.

“AIH has a wide range of businesses,” the old man said.

“Go on.”

“Damn, do you really think I’m your servant?”

“You don’t have many days to live, so cut the crap,” Xing Conglian said.

“Well, you have a point.” The old man actually agreed with this. “Let’s put it this way. Do you know how many small insurance companies went bankrupt after 9/11?”

“I don’t know. Don’t beat around the bush and tell me the result,” Xing Conglian replied coldly.

“Okay, okay. The result is, AIH will definitely be crippled by this payout, shrinking some regional and deficit-ridden businesses… Whether it will go bankrupt and restructure is hard to say. It’s complicated. I’ll find someone to make you a research report…” As the old man was talking, he suddenly shouted, “Where are my reading glasses?!”

“No need. Tell me, do the affected regions include the Angodo Republic?”

“Wait,” the old man succinctly replied.

Upon hearing the name Angodo, Wang Chao was stunned.

When they went to Dana, the plane landed in Angodo.

The Republic of Angodo bordered the Dana Region. It used to be poor, but then there was a good president who implemented universal health care and free education, which dramatically improved the country’s living standards.

If the other party has been planning for years to bring down AIH and consequently affect Angodo, then this was a move that could be described as nothing short of madness.

There was a long back-and-forth discussion and exchange of information coming from the other end of the phone.

A moment later, the old man replied, “On the list.”

“30-second briefing,” Xing Conglian said.

“All of Angodo’s national medical insurance is under AIH. If AIH encounters a payment crisis, it will shrink its business in Angodo. Moreover, many hospitals in Angodo are largely funded by AIH.”

“In other words, they would close down and run, turning Angodo’s universal health insurance and medical facilities into ornaments.”

The old man protested, “Be civilized. It’s a normal bankruptcy process. How can you say they’re running away…”

Before the person on the other end of the phone could say anything else, Xing Conglian decisively hung up.

The two team leaders in the video call were puzzled, not knowing why Xing Conglian thought of Angodo, but Wang Chao knew it was because of the Dana rainforest, but he couldn’t say.

“Angodo is not part of China. It’s poor, and there are no reinsurance companies to take over the policies,” Xing Conglian said.

“If AIH runs away, the national health insurance becomes a piece of paper, and medical care has never been something that the poor can enjoy,” he added.

“This is the so-called social unrest caused by the bankruptcy of an insurance company,” he concluded.

Whether it was Wang Chao or the two team leaders in the video call, they were all speechless for a long time.

Indeed, they had been immersed in this case for a long time, and they knew more about the case than Xing Conglian, but even Lin Chen wouldn’t have thought of Angodo.

They had never been there, so it was a blind spot in their thinking.

“Why would Meijing intentionally kill our citizens in order to bring down an insurance company?” Wang Chao asked subconsciously.

“Next, let’s talk about the issue of MSC Doctors Without Borders.” Xing Conglian directly ignored him.

In the video call, the director of the second bureau quickly added, “Of the 1,922 policies, 21 beneficiaries are the MSC Doctors Without Borders Federation—non-legal entities can become designated beneficiaries.”

Before Xing Conglian could ask the previous question again, he directly said, “MSC is the oldest Doctors Without Borders organization in the world. The fans were probably inspired by Song Shengsheng to fill in MSC as the beneficiary.”

“What’s the sum insured for these 21 people?” Xing Conglian asked.

“21 million.”

“Not much.”

“Compared to over four billion, it’s a small sum, but indeed, we can’t rule out the suspicion that this organization is defrauding insurance,” the director of the second bureau said. “At least the insurance company will investigate or try to refuse payment.”

“If MSC and Meijing are in the same boat, then this is insurance fraud,” the other person in the video call said.

“What if it’s not?” Xing Conglian countered.

“According to the idea of bringing down AIH behind the scenes, it’s hard to make an international medical organization bankrupt, but you can bankrupt its credibility with 21 million and some propaganda wars.”

Xing Conglian looked approvingly at the other party. “21 million, and you don’t have to pay for it yourself. It’s a good deal.”

“Killing two birds with one stone? What do these people have against insurance companies? What good does it do them to bring these two down?” Wang Chao interjected.

“That’s been our question all along,” the director of the second bureau in Yongchuan said. “More than three thousand people—what is the murderer’s motive?”

“Check your mailboxes. Wang Chao just sent you two documents,” Xing Conglian said. “Confidential files—be sure to keep them secret.”

Of course, these two documents were the virus documents found on the server. Hearing this, Wang Chao finally pieced together the puzzle pieces.

The Dana Rainforest, the neighboring Republic of Angodo, the Doctors Without Borders organization, the neurotoxin, the Borna virus, and the grand goal of this organization…

A horrifying concept emerged in his mind.

“Fuck.” He shivered.