"Absolutely not!" 32-year-old police Inspector Zhao Yunlan stood up and began to pace. His superior, Superintendent Wu, watched him calmly.
"It wasn't a question," he said. "Ever since Chong Bin left, your department has been missing someone with behavioural forensic experience. And that's not my opinion. It's a fact."
Zhao Yunlan ran his fingers through his messy hair in frustration.
"I'm not saying you're wrong. I'm just saying that I don't think this is the best option. You know how I feel about my people. It took me a long time to put this team together. I can't just bring someone in without knowing anything about them."
Superintendent Wu sat forward, sensing an opening.
"That's exactly why I'm suggesting this. Think about it for a second. If we bring in an external consultant, it's not permanent. You can feel each other out, so to speak, and if it doesn't work, no harm done. Just go your separate ways."
Zhao Yunlan threw himself back into his chair, and before he even said another word, Superintendent Wu knew instinctively that he had won this particular battle.
"Fine." The younger man rubbed his eyes. "But the decision on if, and when, he goes is mine. No questions asked."
"That works for me. Just be sure to give him a proper chance. You won't find anyone more qualified, I can assure you. In fact, he will be assessing you as much as you are him."
Zhao Yunlan waved an arm dismissively.
"Whatever. You know me. I'm not exactly a saint, but I pride myself on judging people fairly. I'll give the guy a shot, but I'm warning you, my standards are high."
Surveying the scruffily dressed man slumped haphazardly in the chair opposite him, Superintendent Wu just barely managed to supress a snort of amusement. Instead, he raised an eyebrow.
"Indeed. I can tell just from looking at you."
Zhao Yunlan wisely chose to ignore the undercurrent of sarcasm in his superior's voice.
***
Shen Wei turned back from where he had been furiously scribbling on the whiteboard and allowed himself the luxury of a quick glance around the room as he adjusted his glasses. Thankfully, no one was asleep. In fact, all of the class looked fairly engaged. That was the benefit of teaching a graduate subject, he supposed. They were all there through choice, rather than because their parents had forced a university education onto them.
He frowned. There were as many laptops as there were students in the room. Suddenly, his whiteboard seemed rather archaic. Still, it wasn't his fault that he disliked technology. He specialised in human beings, after all.
He glanced at his watch. Three minutes before the hour. He smiled.
"Class dismissed. We'll pick this up again next time. Read chapter nine before then, please."
He reached for a pile of papers and swept them into his briefcase in a single, well-practised motion.
At 31 years old, Shen Wei had already built a name for himself as one of the foremost experts on behavioural analysis in Dragon City. It had not been a deliberate bid for fame. On the contrary, the psychology professor was more inclined to shy away from the limelight. However, unfortunately for him, his seniors at Dragon City University were not averse to shameless promotion if it brought more fee-paying students their way, and Shen Wei was young, talented, and extremely handsome. The perfect poster boy.
Even now, he stood in the doorway of the classroom, preparing to run the gauntlet back to the safety of his office. If he was lucky, he would make it without being accosted by a well-meaning colleague or an overly enthusiastic student demanding his individual attention.
Thinking about it, perhaps this consulting role with Dragon City Police Department wasn't such a bad idea. Life at the university was pretty monotonous at the moment. A change of scenery from time to time might be just what the doctor ordered. Suddenly, the appointment at police headquarters the next day wasn't such a grim prospect after all.
***
Zhao Yunlan leaned back in his chair and put his feet up on the desk. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a lollipop and looked at the plastic. Blackcurrant flavour. Using one hand, he deftly unwrapped it, while his other hand reached for his laptop to open the email that had just landed in his inbox. It was from the crime lab and he already had a pretty good idea what it would say.
Sure enough, his suspicions were confirmed. The only fingerprints at the scene which did not belong there were the criminal's own. Not that they needed them to charge the man of course. Black Robe had seen to that.
Zhao Yunlan's expression turned thoughtful as he picked up a grainy photo from a CCTV image and studied it intently as he sucked on the boiled candy.
Black Robe had first appeared on the scene around a year ago. A police unit had received a call late one night from a concerned passer-by about a possible robbery in progress at a convenience store. However, when they arrived, they had found the would-be thief secured to the shop counter with cable ties, and a handkerchief stuffed into his mouth.
An interview on the scene with the shop clerk, who was working the night shift alone, revealed an extraordinary set of events. As the unfortunate employee had been cowering in the corner at knifepoint, ready to hand over the key card for the till, a figure dressed all in black had hurtled through the door and tackled the thief from the side, completely disregarding their own safety in the process. The fight between the two was over almost as soon as it had started, and the criminal was soon incapacitated, his knife plunged into the countertop, out of reach.
Of course, the CCTV footage from the incident had gone viral, and the media had quickly named the hero Black Robe because of the long, dark coat he wore which billowed out around him as he fought and, unfortunately for those who tried to identify him, successfully obscured the shape of his figure. Also, his face had been hidden by a baseball cap pulled down low over his forehead. Consequently, all the police could say for certain was that the person was male, tall, and very skilled at hand-to-hand combat. But that wasn't the only glimpse they and the public were going to get of the man in black. Over the course of the next year, he made many more appearances, apprehending muggers, pickpockets, and drug dealers, always making an exit with plenty of time to spare before the police arrived.
Zhao Yunlan was reluctant to call Black Robe a vigilante, as that implied he was using violence to take the law into his own hands, when it had become obvious early on that the man was careful to employ the minimum amount of force possible in order to subdue his targets. Consequently, even if they did manage to get their hands on him, there was little that the police could do other than arrest him on some minor charge, and even then, it would probably lead to a public outcry, such was the man's popularity.
To tell the truth, the reason Zhao Yunlan was getting more and more concerned about finding Black Robe was to ensure the man's safety. It hadn't been too much of an issue when he was taking on petty thieves and low-level street thugs, but in the last month he had managed to intervene in two gangland transactions, and now the mob bosses were starting to sit up and take notice. Stopping lone criminals was one thing, but facing off against the entirety of the mafia was something else entirely, and the good Samaritan may have just bitten off far more than he could chew.
Zhao Yunlan had always had more than just a professional interest in Black Robe. If he was being honest with himself, he supposed he could be described as a fan. He had seen all of the CCTV footage that the police had managed to get hold of from the various crime scenes, and he was consistently impressed with the man's clean, elegant fighting style and the way he always tried to draw the criminal away from innocent members of the public. It was perhaps unfortunate that Zhao Yunlan's own department specialised in homicide and violent crimes, as until now it had given him no legitimate reason to investigate Black Robe in a work capacity. Still, that hadn't stopped him eagerly devouring every piece of information he could find out about the man.
He turned at the sound of a tap against his glass office door. It was his second-in-command, Zhu Hong. He motioned her in, and her attention was immediately caught by the printed image in his hand. She raised an eyebrow.
"Indulging in a bit of Black Robe stalking, fanboy?" she asked.
Zhao Yunlan picked up a pen and launched it at her head. She dodged it easily, laughing.
"Whoever this guy is," she said, "I owe him a drink. It hasn't been this easy to get a rise out of you in years."
"Don't be ridiculous," he muttered. "I'm just trying to keep him from becoming our next case. He's managed to piss off some pretty dangerous people this time, so I think this justifies us giving him some professional attention from now on."
Zhu Hong's expression turned serious.
"Any new leads?"
"Not much." He sighed. "A camera from a bank close to the latest scene managed to pick up a few images. Looking at them, I'd say our guy's build leans more towards slim. It's something I suppose."
Zhu Hong came closer and peered at the picture.
"Well, at least I can rest assured now that it's not Huang Shuo."
Zhao Yunlan grunted in agreement. Zhu Hong's fiancé was a bit of a man mountain. Then, he suddenly realised that he hadn't asked his deputy why she was there. As if sensing his question, she put a folder down on the desk in front of him.
"Here's the case file you wanted, Chief, but isn't it a bit cruel to throw the new guy in at the deep end like this?"
Zhao Yunlan smiled mischievously.
"Not if he's as good as people say he is." His tone softened slightly. "It's not like I'm expecting him to solve the case on the spot. If he can come up with a few sensible insights, I'll be satisfied for the time being. He's going to have to fit in with the rest of the team though. If he walks through the door wearing a bowtie and a tweed jacket and sporting a handlebar moustache, he can turn around and walk straight back out again."
Zhu Hong's mouth curved ever so slightly upwards.
"I take it you haven't looked him up online, then?" she asked, her tone innocent.
"Too busy," Zhao Yunlan replied, "and I'll meet the guy tomorrow anyway, so there doesn't seem much point now."
The young woman nodded slowly. Her expression was blank, but her eyes were sparkling with amusement.
"You're right. It's probably best not to have any preconceptions before the meeting."
Closing the door behind her as she left the office, Zhu Hong finally allowed her face to break into a wide smile. Unlike her boss, the first thing she had done on hearing the name 'Shen Wei' was type the man's name into a search engine, and the result was not at all what she had expected. Zhao Yunlan was in for a real surprise.