Chapter 172 She's Here

When Li Qihan heard what Xia Lili said, his eyes suddenly turned: "Could it be that she just wants to attract other people's attention?"

Xia Lili was surprised by Li Qihan's idea for a moment, but then the more she thought about it, the more it seemed to make sense. "Yes, experienced dry cleaners wash a lot of items, so they're very sensitive to smells and materials!"

"If you didn't want to draw attention to yourself, why would you take the risk of sending a bloodstained carpet for cleaning?"

But Xia Lili had a new doubt: "But why did she do this? Did she suddenly have a change of heart?"

“That’s so weird.”

Li Qihan's eyes were gloomy. "It's very likely that something unexpected happened, causing her to change her mindset after always following the Demon Butcher."

Xia Lili's doubts only grew. Why would the victim be willing to stay with the murderer? And now he suddenly changed his mind?

"But right now, we believe the murder of a family of three was committed by the Devil Butcher. This is just speculation based on his modus operandi, and it hasn't been confirmed yet."

Xia Lili held up her chin and said, "It's just speculation that the carpet cleaning woman is the victim who disappeared with the demon butcher."

——"But what is certain is that this carpet cleaning woman will lead us to the answer."

The shadow between Li Qihan's brows deepened a little: "She comes to the laundry to pick up the carpet. We must not miss it."

Xia Lili glanced at the time on her phone: "It's 4:20 pm now."

"The woman must have come to get the carpet late at night. I wonder if it was tonight."

Li Qihan began to pack up his fishing gear: "I will first go to the Haicheng General Administration to apply for secret deployment of personnel in the Panhu Villa District."

Xia Lili was just about to reel in her fishing rod when she suddenly felt the rod in her hand sink suddenly. The fishing line instantly tightened, drawing a sharp arc on the water surface.

"Ah! A fish has taken the bait!"

She exclaimed and subconsciously gripped the fishing rod tightly with both hands.

The fishing rod was bent into a dangerous arc, and the end of the rod was shaking violently.

She quickly began to reel in the line, but found it incredibly difficult. "This thing is a bit heavy!"

She bit her lower lip, her arms trembling slightly from the exertion, and looked at Li Qihan beside her for help.

"Hold steady." Li Qihan didn't take over directly, but stood behind her. "Let out the line, then reel it in." He observed the water intently. "It's swimming to the left."

The two of them held the fishing rod together and coordinated the rhythm of reeling in the line in tacit understanding.

With a "splash", a silver carp broke out of the water, and the water droplets from the fish's tail splashed all over Xia Lili's face.

"Ah!" She subconsciously closed her eyes, and cold water droplets slid down her cheeks.

When she opened her eyes, she met Li Qihan's smiling eyes.

"I'm so lucky! I caught a fish just by going out for a walk."

Li Qihan stuffed a pack of tissues into Xia Lili's hand and said, "Wipe it off."

His eyes were dull, and Xia Lili almost thought she had misread the smile just now.

Xia Lili turned to look at the huge fish gleaming in the sun and breathed a sigh of relief. "It's so heavy, I almost thought the hook was hooked on a suitcase or something else!"

“It’s a very rich imagination.”

Li Qihan helped her lift the bucket of fish: "We've returned with a full load, let's pack up."

Everyone returned to the Haicheng General Bureau. For the sake of confidentiality, the Haicheng police did not know Xia Lili's identity. The police officers all thought that Xia Lili was Li Qihan's apprentice.

Xia Lili was sitting in the lounge practicing painting, while Li Qihan was participating in an expert discussion in the conference room next door.

The door of the conference room opened and criminal investigation experts walked out one after another.

Li Qihan was the last one to come out.

Another expert at the meeting said to him, "Professor Li, we believe in you. This is the longest time we can strive for."

The gray-haired expert, Mr. Li, deliberately took two steps behind and said in a low voice, "It's a good thing for young people to be motivated, but the task force's resource allocation..."

He glanced at the assistant director who was packing up materials in the conference room and said, "We always have to consider the input-output ratio."

Xia Lili's heart skipped a beat when she heard these experts' words. Li Qihan was the youngest of the criminal investigation experts present; most of the others were specially hired after retirement and had extensive experience.

Commander Zhao from the Haicheng General Administration patted Li Qihan on the shoulder and said, "This case should be closed. I've heard of you since you were in college, but I didn't expect your promotion to come so quickly."

"Since you've volunteered to take charge of this operation, I'll wait and see. I hope our youngest criminal investigation expert won't let me down."

"I understand." Li Qihan nodded slightly. "My partners and I will let you see for yourself that efficiency has nothing to do with seniority."

Commander Zhao's face froze.

Li Qihan gave Xia Lili a look, signaling her to follow.

Xia Lili asked as they walked: "What happened?"

Li Qihan said calmly, "They promised to place someone on guard in the Panhu Villa area for two days and one night. If they fail to do so, they will withdraw."

The two-day and one-night deadline is consistent with the police's regular tactical window period. If there are no clues after 72 hours, the investigation will focus on technical investigation.

"Can't we get three days and two nights?"

Xia Lili suddenly felt under tremendous pressure. Allocating manpower was already a big problem, not to mention that the case was being handled in a different place.

Li Qihan shook his head: "It depends on the situation, and we'll take it one step at a time."

She took a deep breath. "Then I just have to wait for the woman in the wide-brimmed hat to come and get the carpet."

However, for the next two days, the Haicheng police found nothing while staking out the Panhu Villa area. They did not see the devil butcher, nor did they see the thin woman who delivered the carpet cleaning.

There was no news from the laundry.

According to the plainclothes officers who were on duty, Feng Jinyan had been sitting in the laundry shop for the past two days, but there were not many customers coming, and no woman wearing a wide-brimmed hat had appeared.

The police force ambushed in the Panhu Villa area will be withdrawn tonight.

Xia Lili and Li Qihan are under tremendous pressure.

Xia Lili was also puzzled: "Isn't that woman in a hurry to clean the carpet? She even paid Feng Jinyan for the expedited fee. Now three days have passed. Isn't she in a hurry to pick up the carpet?"

Li Qihan pondered for a moment and said, "Give Feng Jinyan a try."

Xia Lili nodded and did as she was told.

"Hello? Sister Feng!"

After the call was connected, Xia Lili said in an awkward tone, "I haven't come to work for the past two days. My parents transferred me living expenses, which is enough to pay for tuition. Can you give me a definite answer? Are you still accepting apprentices?"

"Of course I want an apprentice. I think you're quite talented! But... you have to wait another two or three days. I have something urgent to attend to these days."

Feng Jinyan sounded hesitant on the other end of the phone, as if she didn't want to miss out on Xia Lili, the free labor, but she also had some concerns.

"Wait for my news."