Chapter 80

Trying hard to calm down, Luo Jingyao seemed to have returned to the morning when she had just arrived at the Qingshan Rescue Association.

In addition to Ah Chao's warm greeting, there were also some unclear children's words mixed in.

In front of the bungalow on the west side, several young children sat obediently in a row on small benches, each of them holding a biscuit and eating it happily.

One of the girls, wearing a red cotton-padded jacket, caught Luo Jingyao's attention. She looked no more than three or four years old, with her dry yellow hair braided into two pigtails.

The little girl's eyes were obviously different from those of normal people. It was basically certain that she was the Guoguo who disappeared with Xiaozhe.

Was this the last time Guoguo would appear within her sight? Luo Jingyao frowned uncertainly, the scene in her mind quickly switching to her making the donation and walking downstairs from the office to the lobby.

At that time, Liu Miaomiao was talking to her about something, and out of the corner of her eye, she seemed to see that small, red figure again.

Because he couldn't see, he was at a disadvantage when playing with other children. His short arms and legs made him tremble when he ran. He fell to the ground after just two steps, making a whimpering sound like a cat.

What happened next? It seemed like Aunt Zhang spotted Guoguo in time and picked her up. As for where she took her...

After searching her memory to no avail, Luo Jingyao finally opened her eyes again. "The last time I saw Guoguo was when she fell in the yard. It was around 10:20 in the morning. Aunt Zhang took her away and I haven't seen her since."

"Are you sure? Aunt Zhang didn't mention this matter when she was questioned just now." Lao Lei said, turning his head and whispering a few words to the young policeman next to him.

The other party nodded and walked out of the activity room.

"That was indeed the last time I saw Guoguo in the yard." Luo Jingyao emphasized that what she saw and heard could not represent others.

Two minutes later, the policeman who had left earlier came back, followed by Aunt Zhang who looked nervous.

When Lao Lei coughed, the wrinkles between his brows could almost kill a fly. He was about to speak but was stopped by Lin Jiafan who handed him a cup of hot water.

Lin Jiafan then took two steps forward and motioned for the old lady to sit down. He said soothingly, "Nothing special, I just want to know some details about Guoguo before she disappeared. Please tell me whatever comes to mind."

After seeing the man's face clearly, Aunt Zhang seemed to be less nervous all of a sudden, and even nodded repeatedly in agreement.

Luo Jingyao, who had already stood up and walked to the side, looked at Lin Jiafan and then at Lao Lei. It turned out that no matter how old a woman is, she knows how to please herself.

"I heard from others that Guoguo seemed to have fallen this morning?"

Seeing that the old lady had obviously relaxed, Lin Jiafan spoke at the right time.

Aunt Zhang looked bewildered when she heard this. "Really? I don't remember anything... I always forget things when I get older."

After rambling on for a few sentences, the old lady suddenly clapped her hands: "I remember now, it really happened. Before lunch, Guoguo fell down while playing in the yard. I saw her and carried her into the house."

"Because I was washing the sheets at that time, I played the radio for her and left two biscuits for her!" Aunt Zhang tried her best to prove her competence.

"So which room did you put her in?" Lin Jiafan went straight to the point.

"I put her in the north room..." Aunt Zhang stood up and tried to point the way through the window. Finally, she realized something when she was halfway through her words: "I... I put her in the room where Xiaozhe sleeps!"

"Oh my! How could I leave her in that room? That's why that bad kid had the chance to kidnap Guoguo, right?"

As she spoke, the old lady felt as if the sky had fallen. She stumbled back into her chair and began to cry, slapping her thigh.

Seeing this, Lin Jiafan could only offer words of comfort: "No one could have known in advance that something like this would happen. Since Xiaozhe has this thought, it would have been another child if not Guoguo."

However, Aunt Zhang's unintentional action did provide some convenience to the other party.

Otherwise, if he wanted to kidnap a child and leave here with him, he would have to find a way to avoid the sight of everyone in the association, which would definitely not be that easy.

"It's all my fault, it's all my fault!" Aunt Zhang was still crying.

Lin Jiafan always uses the right method at the right time. He took two steps back to behind Lao Lei and reached out to hit him.

Old Lei was caught off guard and was shaken for a moment. He glared at him in dissatisfaction, but for the sake of the case he still gave in spinelessly.

Taking a deep breath, Lao Lei shouted with full energy: "What's the point of crying now? Why don't you think about when you sent the child into the house?!"

The sudden shout coupled with his fierce look at the moment was quite intimidating, and scared Aunt Zhang so much that she held back her tears on the spot.

"What time... How can I remember it!" The old lady wiped her tears in grievance, but because of Lao Lei's sobs, she still tried to recall: "After putting Guoguo in the room, I went out to continue washing the sheets. At that time, an episode of a TV series had just finished on the TV in the laundry room. It was about half past ten."

"That episode of the TV series ends around 10:30 every day."

It was around ten-thirty, not much different from the ten-twenty that Luo Jingyao had just said.

After listening to this, Lao Lei raised his head and looked at Lin Jiafan inquiringly.

Lin Jiafan waved his hand to signal the old lady to go out first, and the young policeman tactfully did as he was told. However, looking at this harmonious scene, Old Lei was still sitting there stupidly, not realizing that anything was wrong.

Luo Jingyao, who was seeing everything clearly, pursed her lips as expected and had to admit that the other party had such ability.

"If Xiaozhe is truly connected to the organization we discovered in Sichuan Province, this case is too big for your district criminal investigation team to handle alone," Lin Jiafan said gravely. "Report the case. If we want to find Xiaozhe as quickly as possible, we'll probably need the full cooperation of every department in the city."

This may not sound nice, but it is the truth.

Only some necessary surveillance cameras are installed in the scenic area near Black Wind Mountain, and there are even fewer traffic cameras on the winding mountain road outside. Anyone who is familiar with the terrain in the mountains can easily avoid those surveillance cameras and disappear without a trace.

"Okay, I'll report it right away." Lao Lei took out his phone without hesitation, stood up and walked out while dialing a number.

He knew very well that in cases like this, time was more important than anything else. Every hour wasted would make the hope of solving the case slimmer.

Watching Lao Lei's back as he paced back and forth in the corridor outside, Luo Jingyao found an opportunity to approach Lin Jiafan: "What should we do next? We can't just sit and wait, right?"

Although the case has been reported promptly, the intermediate review procedures may still take several hours, and by then the child may have been sent out of Jinshi.

Lin Jiafan first glanced at the policeman a few steps away, then gave her a soothing look without saying a word.

A few minutes later, Lao Lei returned and briefed Lin Jiafan on the current situation. "As for the case, our district bureau has already reported it to the higher authorities according to normal procedures. The bureau instructed me to continue the investigation according to normal procedures until a department officially takes over the case."

"I'm sending two people to retrieve the surveillance footage from this area. The laboratory has also begun analyzing and comparing the trace evidence recovered from the room. As for the rest of the people, prepare to spread out and conduct surveys nearby."

"Or does Captain Lin have any other suggestions?"

Hearing this, Lin Jiafan forced out a chuckle: "Brother Lei, what are you talking about? You've been doing criminal investigation work your whole life, you're much more professional than me."

Regardless of whether he was being insincere or not, Lao Lei was quite pleased by the compliment: "Alright, boy! Thank you for today. Thanks to your reminder, otherwise I would have been delayed."

"So we're going to get busy then?"

After saying that, Lao Lei waved at the two of them, but in the blink of an eye, everyone in the activity room had left.

Hearing the man's energetic shouting coming from downstairs, before Luo Jingyao could react, Lin Jiafan took out his cell phone and asked in a slightly hurried tone: "Do you have any photos of Xiaozhe and Guoguo?"

"Yes." Seeing his serious expression, Luo Jingyao also became nervous and fumbled out two photos from the album in a hurry.

It was Achao who sent it to her at noon when she went out to look for someone with the association workers.

Just at this moment, Lin Jiafan's phone was connected, and the next second Pang Guang's lazy voice came from the receiver: "Captain Lin? Aren't you on annual leave? Do you miss me? Are you planning to treat us to dinner?"

"Coach Luo will send you two photos later..."

As soon as he opened his mouth, Luo Jingyao stretched out her hand to interrupt him, then quickly turned around and ran to a wall, decisively tearing off a photo from it.

"And this child, this child also disappeared half a year ago!"

"I'll send you three photos and see if you can find anything in the system. As for coordinating with the traffic police to borrow their traffic cameras... we still have to wait until the case transfer procedures are finalized." Lin Jiafan changed his words in time.

"Okay." Pang Guang answered cheerfully, then quickly realized: "Eh? That's not right, Captain Lin, aren't you on vacation? How did you get together with Coach Luo?"

Do?

Luo Jingyao had just posted a photo. When she heard this, she turned her head away uncomfortably, feeling that something was not right.

"Oh! You two just have..." Before the young man could finish his words, the call was cut off by Lin Jiafan with an expressionless face.

A strange silence spread between the two of them. In order to cover up the sudden embarrassment, Luo Jingyao simply picked up the photo that had just been torn off and returned to the wall, trying to stick the photo back.

Fortunately, at this moment Lin Jiafan's phone suddenly rang.

As soon as they pressed the answer button, the familiar, nonchalant male voice echoed in their ears again.

"Captain Lin, you hung up on me?! You actually hung up on me because of Coach Luo?!"