Chapter 13 Missing

◎Let’s go! Let’s go to the rooftop and take a look◎

Ji Zhao, whom I just met an hour ago, is missing?

The proud son of heaven, surrounded by the crowd, applauded and praised, disappeared right under the noses of so many people?

Ji Zhao's oil painting with rural wildness flashed before his eyes. Zhao Xiangwan sat up straight, took a sip of tea, and listened carefully to Lu Manning's words.

"Captain Xu! Ah, Captain Xu is here too." Lu Manning knew that her son Zhu Feipeng was hosting a dinner party at her hotel today. She originally thought it was a gathering of his playmates, but unexpectedly, they had invited Xu Songling, the captain of the Criminal Investigation Brigade of the Municipal Bureau.

"Great!" Hearing that the entire Criminal Investigation Brigade's Serious Case Team was here, Lu Manning couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, "It's great to have you guys. I'll ask President Ji to come over right away."

Ji Jinmao hurried over, with two tall and mighty bodyguards in black standing behind him.

Even though he was used to storms, as it concerned the life and death of his only child, Ji Jinmao was extremely anxious. He wiped the sweat from his forehead while answering Xu Songling's questions.

"When did you find out Ji Zhao was missing?"

"Half an hour ago."

"He's an adult now. Disappearing for half an hour is nothing, right?"

"Ji Zhao is a closed person and never interacts with outsiders. He has a speech impediment and usually takes Luo Yihui with him when he goes out. He is usually very obedient and will never let us find him."

“Are there any obvious signs of abuse at the scene?”

"No, no."

"I'm afraid this doesn't constitute a missing person case."

"I know, I know. But Ji Zhao is different from ordinary people. I am worried about him."

The standards for public security organs to file a case for missing persons include: obvious signs of abuse at the scene of disappearance; the person is missing along with the motor vehicle or is missing with a large amount of property; a minor under the age of 14 is missing for more than 48 hours; the missing person has a major conflict or dispute with others before disappearance; the reason for disappearance is unknown and the missing time exceeds 3 months; and other situations of suspected abuse[1].

Although Ji Jinmao believed that his son was missing and the consequences were serious, there were no obvious signs of abuse at the scene, and it was not ruled out that Ji Zhao went out on his own. The police would most likely not file a case for investigation.

Ji Jinmao calmed down, looked at Xu Songling and said, "Luo Yihui came down and told me that Ji Zhao was missing. I immediately blocked all the exits of the hotel. I just hope that we can act fast enough and Ji Zhao is still in the hotel. If he is not in the hotel... Such a quick action must be a planned kidnapping, so I can only wait for the other party to contact me."

The second time he heard the name "Luo Yihui", Xu Songling was a little cautious: "Who is Luo Yihui? Is he trustworthy?"

Ji Jinmao said: "He is the son of my eldest brother-in-law, Ji Zhao's cousin, and one of our own."

Xu Songling glanced at Ji Jinmao and nodded, "Since you think it's okay, then that's good."

Ji Jinmao was silent for a moment, and a sharp light flashed in his eyes: "As long as Ji Zhao is fine, I can agree to any conditions. It's okay to spend money to avoid disaster."

He gritted his teeth and said what he feared most in his heart: "I'm afraid, I'm afraid of Ji Zhao..." He didn't dare to think about it. What if it was a kidnapping, what if a corpse was found? What should he do?

Xu Songling comforted him, "Mr. Ji, let's think about the bright side first. Maybe Ji Zhao is still in the hotel. Regardless of whether the case is filed or not, the people from the Serious Case Team are all in the hotel today. We will help you find him."

"Thank you, thank you!" Ji Jinmao also knew this. When he heard Xu Songling was willing to help find someone, he was very grateful and told him in detail how he found out that Ji Zhao was missing.

Ji Zhao didn't like socializing, and his personal art exhibitions were all organized by Ji Jinmao. Ji Zhao only appeared at the thank-you banquet for five minutes, and then he and his cousin and personal assistant Luo Yihui took the private elevator to the top floor.

Half an hour ago, Luo Yihui found Ji Jinmao in a panic and told him that Ji Zhao was missing.

"Gone? How could it be gone?" Ji Jinmao almost yelled.

Luo Yihui is two years older than Ji Zhao. When he was six, his parents divorced. He was taken to the Ji family by his aunt Luo Danfeng and grew up with Ji Zhao. Because they were relatives, Ji Jinmao dared to let him stay with Ji Zhao.

Luo Yihui explained hurriedly: "It was getting dark, and the street lights were on. Ji Zhao sat on the terrace beside the swimming pool and looked at the sea of ​​lights. He didn't say anything. I had a stomachache today, so I was away for about ten minutes. Before I left, I told Duan Yong to keep an eye on them. But when I came back, Duan Yong and Ji Zhao were gone."

Duan Yong is the Ji family bodyguard.

"Have you found the studio?"

"I looked for it, but it wasn't there."

"Where's Mother Feng?"

"She has a slight cold today and is afraid of infecting Ji Zhao, so she stayed in the house and didn't come out."

"Where are the people working on the top floor?"

"Ji Zhao doesn't like to meet strangers. They usually stay at their posts and don't dare to come out. They all said they didn't see him."

"What did the guard at the private elevator say?"

"I didn't see Ji Zhao coming down."

Ji Jinmao only has Ji Zhao as his only child, and he treats him like the apple of his eye. He usually protects him very well. Even though he has autism, he still dotes on him and pampers him, wishing to pile all kinds of useful, fun, and delicious things in front of him.

The 2,000 square meter private club on the top floor of the Four Seasons Hotel is not open to the public and is only for Ji Zhao. Ji Zhao hates socializing and only appears in public during art exhibitions. He usually spends his time either painting in the studio or swimming or daydreaming in the club.

The staff serving Ji Zhao included a housekeeper, two chefs, two cleaners, and two security guards at the elevator door, all of whom knew him well. With so many staff on duty, how could they just let two living people disappear?

The private elevator goes directly to the top floor, and there are guards on both floors. Since Ji Jinmao said that the elevator security guard did not see Ji Zhao, then no one else could take Ji Zhao away from the elevator.

He Mingyu asked: "What if we take the stairs?"

Xu Songling quickly calculated the time in his mind. The ordinary guest rooms in the hotel are three meters high, with 20 steps on each floor. The three floors below are restaurants and banquet halls, about five meters high, with 33 steps on each floor. If you go downstairs at a medium speed, one step per second, it only takes six minutes to walk down from the roof... If it is really a kidnapping, it is no problem to leave by stairs before Ji Jinmao reacts.

If Ji Zhao has already left the hotel, then the problem becomes complicated.

Zhu Manning said: "The 16th floor is the guest room. In order to prevent ordinary guests from taking the stairs to the 17th floor club, an iron fence is set up at the staircase entrance, which needs to be opened with a key."

Xu Songling: "Who has the key?"

Zhu Manning replied: "I have one, and the housekeeper Sister Feng has one. In addition, there is a splitting axe at the corner of the stairs. If there is an emergency and evacuation is required, the lock can be split open."

Xu Songling: "Are there any signs of unlocking the door?"

Zhu Manning replied, "I don't know. Luo Yihui searched the top floor but didn't find Ji Zhao and Duan Yong, so he came down to inform President Ji. I thought Xiao Peng was eating here, so I hurried over. I didn't have time to go up to check."

Zhu Feipeng said: "Is it possible to use equipment to transport people down from the roof?"

Xu Songling made a prompt decision: "Let's go! Go to the roof and take a look. If equipment is used to transport people, there will definitely be traces left at the scene."

Although it was a holiday, facing the emergency, police duty prompted Xu Songling to take over quickly and begin commanding his soldiers in an orderly manner.

"Zhu Feipeng, Zhao Xiangwan, come with me to the rooftop."

"yes!"

"He Mingyu, call the police station and ask them to send a police dog over."

"yes!"

"Liu Liangju and Ai Hui are a team investigating hotel guests."

"yes!"

"Huang Yuande and Zhu Kang are in a team to investigate the hotel staff."

"yes!"

All the detectives who had just been eating in the box, rolling up their sleeves and drinking and joking, now all went into work mode, puffing out their chests and responding to the captain's orders.

The view from the top floor of the Four Seasons Hotel is exceptionally wide.

In the early 1990s, high-rise buildings were rare, and the 17-story Four Seasons Hotel stood out among a group of six-story brick-concrete buildings.

The roof of the Four Seasons Hotel is covered with large expanses of grass, with flowers and trees scattered around, and sparse hedges. I don't know what kind of flowers are covered on the bamboo frames, and the fragrance of flowers fills your nose as you breathe, as if you are in a garden. A white building covering an area of ​​2,000 square meters is located among the flowers and trees, and to the southwest is a swimming pool with rippling blue waves.

Although Zhu Feipeng's family was wealthy, they were only modestly wealthy. When he saw the grandeur of the garden villa built on the roof, he could not help but open his mouth wide and was amazed inwardly: The Ji family is really rich!

Xu Songling put on white gloves and carefully checked the edge of the roof terrace and the windows of all the rooms on the top floor. He breathed a sigh of relief: "There are no traces of slings."

Then he walked to the staircase, bent down and pulled the padlock on the iron fence. Xu Songling turned around and said, "It's not locked. This iron fence has been opened before."

Ji Jinmao clenched his hands so tightly that his knuckles turned white, and it was obvious that he was very panicked.

[The door is unlocked! Ji Zhao went downstairs? Where is he? Although my son doesn't talk, he actually understands everything. He just doesn't like to interact with others. He is very obedient and warm, and never troubles others. Damn it! Who took him away? What are they going to do? ]

He quickly suppressed his panic and shouted, "Where is Aunt Feng? Where is the key? Why is this fence not locked?"

Everyone is looking for Ji Zhao, but time passes by without any clues.

It was as if Ji Zhao was a feather, blown away by the wind and never to be found again.

Zhao Xiangwan stood aside and watched carefully.

The chef had been busy in the kitchen and the workers' room, and the cleaning staff only dared to clean when Ji Zhao was away. They were a little scared when they saw the police, and although their voices were trembling, they were telling the truth and had not seen Ji Zhao before he disappeared.

The housekeeper, Aunt Feng, who was a little dazed after taking cold medicine, came a little later.

Mother Feng said, "I caught a cold and didn't dare to get close to Ji Zhao. I stayed in the house and didn't dare to come out. I didn't see anything. The key was in my pocket and I didn't take it out. Was the iron fence opened? Was it locked? I don't know. I was sick and didn't know anything."

The corners of the eyes are slightly red, with traces of tears, and yawning from time to time. These are typical signs of a sleepy person.

He spoke with a nasal tone, his eyes were a little wandering, and he didn't dare to look Xu Songling in the eye.

His attitude was respectful, but his hands were folded across his chest, his toes were pointed inward, and his whole body was in a defensive state.

There is something wrong with this person.

Zhao Xiangwan calmed down and listened to her heart.

[Why does Ji Zhao, a cripple, have to ask for clothes and food without a doctor, but I can only serve him and take medicine when I am sick? If he is gone, then he is gone. What's wrong with him wandering around the hotel without thinking? He caused such a big fuss that I had to get up from the bed to deal with the police! ]

Time waits for no one, Zhao stepped forward and said, "Captain Xu, let me ask this person?"

Xu Songling glanced at her and nodded.