Secret Melodies

Chapter 2

The days seemed to pass creeping slowly, tough as tree sap, each hour dragged by.

Friday, a bank robbery that Jiang Yuelou, Song Rong and Sun Yongren had only gotten into by accident. They had just come from interviewing witnesses when they heard a gunshot. It sounded very close. A boy, perhaps thirteen or fourteen years old came running toward them.

Jiang Yuelou stopped him, explained that they were police, and asked what was going on. A little out of breath, the boy told him that the bank one street over was robbed at this very moment. Jiang Yuelou had him explain exactly where the bank was and sent the boy away, to safety. Sun Yongren he sent to the nearest telephone to report.

Jiang Yuelou hurried to the bank together with Song Rong. From the outside, everything looked calm. They had taken cover behind the cars parked on the opposite side of the street. Sun Yongren had now also arrived at their side. It would take a few minutes for reinforcements to arrive.

The doors of the bank were closed. A second shot and some horrified screams could now be heard.

Jiang Yuelou was getting restless, but there were only three of them. They didn't know how many enemies they were up against, whether there were already injured or even dead.

After the reinforcements arrived, everything happened very quickly. The team had barely taken up position in the immediate vicinity of the bank when the doors were pushed open from the inside. Four men, armed with heavy guns, came rushing out of the bank. They fired indiscriminately into the area. It seemed as if they were hoping to shoot their way out.

The attack came as such a surprise that two officers could not find cover quickly enough and were hit by the bullets. Jiang Yuelou had found sufficient cover behind a wall ledge very close to the entrance to the bank, but a ricochet hit him in the left shoulder.

With his face contorted in pain, he ordered the uninjured officers to take care of the bank robbers. It did not take long. When the pistols were emptied, the bank robbers had no time to reload. A few well-aimed warning shots kept them from trying and ultimately they surrendered.

Song Rong drove Jiang Yuelou to the hospital. He wanted to protest, as usual, but Song Rong had known him for so long that he had grown a thick skin and dared to disobey the commissioner's orders now and then.

Jiang Yuelou knew Song Rong long and well enough not to hold it against him. He knew that Song Rong meant well and was usually right. Song Rong seemed to have made it his business to watch over him from time to time, after all, there was no one else around to do it.

Song Rong escorted Jiang Yuelou to one of the chairs in the emergency room.

"Wait here, boss. Don't run away."

Jiang Yuelou scowled at him and waved his uninjured arm's hand to send him away. After all, it had been completely unnecessary to tell him not to run away.

Barely two minutes later, a nurse was there with a wheelchair.

"Commissioner, sit in the wheelchair, please."

"What? No way! My legs are perfectly fine."

"But you mustn't move any more than absolutely necessary to keep the wound from getting any bigger. Please."

"I made it from the crime scene to here without a wheelchair. These few meters won't make any difference now," Jiang Yuelou grumbled.

"Commi..."

"Let me handle this, nurse," Jiang Yuelou suddenly heard a voice beside him.

"Yes, with pleasure, Dr. Chen."