“1148 and 1149?” The corner of Councilman Ding’s right eye twitched, but he collected himself without a moment of hesitation: “What - uh, what do you need to take a look at those cases for?”

“We’re also looking into a similar case, because they had this - this whole cultish group murder thing. Our current assumption is they are copycats. We’ve collected some stories and local legends circulating in the wild. But - we know that there are some forgotten details in the case because it was so many years ago and its handling and investigation faced quite a lot of challenges.”

Councilman Ding ticked his tongue, then shrugged: “I think what you meant is 1149 then? 1148 is not a murder case - it’s uh - it’s a case about some items being stolen from our most secure archives. I - I don’t think we have any of that, do we?”

“I surely hope not.” Captain Ko left out a fake hearty laugh: “Because if that’s true, we’ll have a full city lockdown.”

Councilman Ding laughed along with Captain Ko, the two men laughed for quite a while, at the confusion of the two detectives.

“Alright, Captain. I really appreciate your willingness to look at things from a different angle. Though I am not quite sure what you’d find on there, or IF you could find anything useful. I’d bring it up with the committee. And - also, if I remember correctly, there are still those related to the victims of 1149 living in the city. Some are still in this district, some moved to the South-Western. I don’t imagine any of them living in the South-Eastern District, but hey - it’s still possible. If you want, I can give you a list of their addresses and contact information. That is - if they are granting you this access and permission to share intel with the community collective. They - I meant the rest of the committee. I’m pretty sure they would agree, because you made a convincing case, and you found the right guy - ”

Captain Ko laughed again, then stood up and extended his hand to the councilman: “I’m so glad I went to the right advocate for my case. Thank you very much, Councilman Ding.”

“No problem.” Councilman Ding stood up and shook the captain’s hand: “Now, I hope you gentlemen have a good day. And good luck. I’ll try to get back to you within a week. If you don’t hear from me, feel free to reach out, huh?”

“Of course. Of course. And hope you’ll have a relaxed day soon. You definitely need it, my esteemed councilman.” Captain Ko smiled as he led the two detectives out of the councilman’s office.

“Okay. Pop quiz: what do you think of this meeting?” In the train station with the smell of expensive coffee in the air, Captain Ko asked Shrevas and Marcus.

“What?” Marcus asked, slightly confused.

“Yeah, what?” Shrevas also appeared confused.

“What do you think of this meeting? What did you get out of it?” Captain Ko shrugged, then took a sip of his expensive coffee from a well-designed paper cup, grimacing: “Ugh - this is not worth the fucking five dollars. What’d they put in here, tar?”

“It’s - it’s a specialized coffee, apparently from a very distant city with those special ingredients.” Marcus shrugged: “I think Kevin shared some with me once. There is actually dark brown broth underneath. So - ”

“Eh, enough, enough.” Captain Ko took another sip, grimaced another time, then asked once again: “What do you think? Tell me! Be honest, don’t worry - it won’t impact your future promotion.”

“Because we’re not getting any promotion?” Marcus chuckled.

“You won’t if you keep that attitude and dodge the question.”

“Okay, okay, maybe I should go first.” Shrevas sighed: “He’s basically dodged all of our requests and just given us an empty promise. I don’t think we’re gonna get the access from him. And - with all due respect, captain, I am a little flabbergasted by your bringing up the Ling family case. I mean, I guess it did give us more justification to ask for more access to the more sensitive Blue Envelopes. But I don't feel very comfortable not being honest about how we’re dealing with cases like this..”

“Duly noted. But understand that I didn’t really have much of a choice. If I don’t give him a number, the meeting’s off.” Captain Ko nodded, then turned to Marcus: “What about you, Marcus? You have any other input or readings?”

“I think - he seemed to be asking for too much information.” Marcus responded after thinking for a while: “I mean, I understand that his being the speaker and a member of the security committee would require more information before he could make a decision. It’s still - ”

“Way too much?” Shrevas asked.

“Yes. It’s a little too much. It’s as if he’s not looking for information to approve or deny our request - ”

“Keep that thought in mind.” The train arrived, and the doors slid open: “And - let’s make this clear: I don’t think we should make the mistake of thinking the city or the city council is on our side. In fact, it would be much more beneficial to us to assume that they are siding against us by default.”

“So, they’re not gonna give us access and authority in sharing intel then? I guess we’ll have to prepare the explanations for accessing the files repeatedly?” Shrevas shook his head: “Oh, man, paperwork time, I guess? ”

Captain Ko did not answer, he took a look at Marcus, then took a look at Shrevas, smiling and shaking his head: “No. I think they might just give us almost everything we asked for.”

“Because he and the committee can monitor our usage of the information and secretly follow up with our investigation?” Marcus scratched his jaw, then asked with a soft gasp.

“Yep. I may be wrong on that, but I’m pretty sure I’m not.”

“Hey! This - ” Shrevas frowned, almost yelled but immediately lowered his voice: “But that means the city - ”

“Yep. So keep your mouths shut. Share only with those who need to know.”