Chapter 89
In a flash, Luo Jingyao seemed to have grasped something.
She grabbed a small stool and sat down across from Aunt Zhang, helping her pick beans. Still chatting, she asked, "Oh, by the way, Brother Li seemed to have said he'd contacted He Jinzhe's family. Why haven't any of his relatives come over?"
This was exactly what the man in the raincoat, Brother Li, said on the night she came to hide from the rain, but now it seemed very problematic.
She was sure that He Jinzhe had no family, otherwise there would not be only a representative of a juvenile protection organization present during the police interrogation.
And it wasn't just this time. At the end of last year, he was sent to the police station for theft. The police station conducted a detailed investigation at that time, but in the end they still sent him to an orphanage.
"If I were you, I wouldn't want such a bad guy either." Aunt Zhang continued to curse.
Forced to agree, Luo Jingyao then asked, "How did you contact his family in the first place? I just heard Officer Lei say outside that they were trying to find He Jinzhe's relatives. If our association has their contact information, that would be great."
Aunt Zhang paused, a look of bewilderment on her face. "Oh... I'm not sure. Usually, Ah Chao handles these things. He must have gotten the contact information through the police, right? How could Officer Lei not know?"
"Oh... maybe they are not from the same department, so they can't communicate with each other." Luo Jingyao's eyes flashed, and she made up an excuse to deal with it.
Soon, the lunch bell rang from the cafeteria in the east.
She stood up and wiped her hands on her apron. Aunt Zhang warmly invited her, "Miss Luo and your friends, please stay here for lunch! We have bitter melon stuffed with meat today. I bought the bitter melon at the market early this morning; it's so fresh!"
"Please help me take care of these ancestors. I'll go get their food first." After saying that, Aunt Zhang left without waiting for her to refuse.
After exhaling a breath of foul air, Luo Jingyao turned her head and stared at those timid little kids.
Less than two minutes later, Lin Jiafan came out from behind the bungalow on the west side and slowly returned to the yard.
"There is indeed a hidden dog hole under the east wall, but I looked carefully around the hole and it doesn't look like someone has just dug it, and there are no obvious footprints. The hole is too small, barely enough for Guoguo to pass through, but it is a bit tight for He Jinzhe." Lin Jiafan lowered his voice and came close to her and said.
"But at the back of the two-story building, I found a rusty iron door. It was very narrow, about 60 to 70 centimeters wide. The door was locked, and the lock was covered in rust. It looked like no one had used it in a long time."
"The strange thing is that there are traces of fresh friction on the keyhole."
"I also have some discoveries..." Luo Jingyao expressed her suspicions.
"Speaking of which, there's another strange thing." Lin Jiafan narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. "You were the one who saved He Jinzhe by the creek at the campsite. Don't you think it's a bit too much of a coincidence?"
"While we don't know why He Jinzhe ran away from the Qingshan Rescue Association without completing his 'mission' that day, we can be sure that the people behind him found him and violently beat him."
"You said you asked someone from the association for his photo on the rainy night of the incident? Who was that person?"
Luo Jingyao swallowed her saliva, feeling her throat sore: "It's Ah Chao."
"So he knew you would go there." Lin Jiafan said with certainty.
"You should know."
The camping site closest to the above-mentioned B&Bs is that one, and even if Achao is not sure which B&B she lives in, with the relationship between the other party and the driver, he can find out with just a few words.
"So, everything was planned. They chose that campsite because they knew I could recognize He Jinzhe. So I would definitely notify the Qingshan Rescue Association first, and they would be able to take the child back before the police arrived." Luo Jingyao frowned slightly in confusion when she said this.
"Why go to so much trouble? The people in the association are already searching for He Jinzhe everywhere, and Ah Chao is a member of the search and rescue team. Can't he just find him and bring him back?"
"It was just a reasonable means of avoiding danger. You were the one who found him, and he was carried away in full view of the public, so He Jinzhe's injuries wouldn't arouse suspicion." Lin Jiafan analyzed in a deep voice: "Also, Ah Chao should have been with the other people from the Qingshan Rescue Association all night, so he wasn't the one who found He Jinzhe, nor was he the one who beat him up. He was just an insider."
First, He Jinzhe escaped. Achao pretended to take people out to look for him and notified Lu Deshu's gang. Lu Deshu and others found He Jinzhe, beat him up and then left him near the campsite.
Luo Jingyao's appearance and kind actions made everything go smoothly.
"What should we do now? What we just said are just our reasonable speculations. There is no substantial evidence." She watched Aunt Zhang coming back with a small iron basin with a tray of food, and spoke with her lips moving slightly.
Lin Jiafan gave her a look that told her to stay calm.
Then, the two of them took the tray from Aunt Zhang and helped distribute lunch to the little kids.
During the action, Lin Jiafan spoke very naturally: "Just now, while I was in the bathroom, I had some free time and carefully observed the exterior of the association's building. It looks very old. Have you ever thought about asking Lala to sponsor a renovation or something?"
Aunt Zhang took over the conversation without noticing anything. "Getting sponsorship? How could it be that easy? The association is lucky if it can just cover its daily expenses with the few companies that regularly support it! There aren't many truly good people in this world, but Miss Luo is one of them."
Luo Jingyao didn't expect that this topic would involve her. She could only give Aunt Zhang an awkward smile of gratitude.
Although I know that Aunt Zhang is doing this because of the several thousand dollars she gave me yesterday, it still provides a strong emotional value to her as a donor.
"I happen to know a few people who are passionate about charity work. I'll ask them later." Lin Jiafan said half-truthfully, then turned and asked, "I think the association seems to have a backdoor? But isn't that Black Wind Mountain behind it?"
"You're talking about that? I've been working here for six or seven years, and I've never seen that door opened. The lock is all rusted." Aunt Zhang shook her head. Perhaps she took the man's words to heart, and her attitude became more positive. She obviously regarded him as a potential donor.
"I heard that going out the back door leads to the mountains, so I originally thought of using it as an escape route."
"Then it was abandoned. What's there to escape to in this godforsaken place? Besides, who would run to the mountains? Not to mention all the snakes, rats and wild animals. If there was a mudslide, would you still run to the mountains? Isn't that just crazy?"
"So that's how it is." Lin Jiafan blinked and asked curiously, "Aunt Zhang, have you ever thought about going out the back door to take a look?"
Aunt Zhang waved her hand. "The grass is already two meters high. Who knows what we might run into if we go out. Besides, it seems the only key is hanging on the wall in Xiao Li's office. None of us have it."
Hearing this, Luo Jingyao and Lin Jiafan subconsciously looked at each other.
An office that anyone can enter, and a key hanging on the wall that anyone can touch, means that anyone can open the back door.
Of course, the rampant growth of weeds is not without its benefits. At least it can preserve some evidence of crimes.
At this moment, the phone in Lin Jiafan's trouser pocket began to vibrate.
Taking out his cell phone, he walked to the corner of the yard and answered Pang Guang's call.
"Captain Lin, the background check you asked me to do on all the staff and volunteers at the Qingshan Rescue Association has yielded some findings..."
Listening to the young man's mumbling, Lin Jiafan raised his eyelids, his gaze swept across the empty concrete yard and fell directly on the two-story building in front.
"Well, you and Brother Guo come over here, and bring the people from the laboratory with you."
As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Jiafan felt Luo Jingyao's puzzled gaze. When their eyes met, he raised a barely noticeable smile.
It was more than an hour later that Lao Lei and his men slowly walked out of the two-story building, surrounded by people from the Qingshan Rescue Association.
In fact, when he received the text message from Lin Jiafan asking him to delay time, he realized that he had fallen into the other party's trap today, but people... believe that since you are here, you can only hold your nose and cooperate with this play.
With no clue at all, he simply asked everyone to rewrite the record of the day of the incident. The statement was almost the same as yesterday's, which made him drowsy.
At this moment, Lao Lei breathed a sigh of relief, and glared at Lin Jiafan who was smiling at him happily in the yard. He felt that he had no place to vent his anger.
Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Lao Lei shook hands with Brother Li, Achao and others who came to see him off, thanking everyone for their cooperation. When he came to his senses, he had already arrived near the gate of the association.
Just as he was waving goodbye to everyone, several police cars suddenly came from afar and stopped steadily on the side of the road outside the association.
In just two breaths, many policemen got out of the cars one after another.
"This..." The sudden change shocked everyone in the association, and the leader, Brother Li, looked at Lao Lei beside him inquiringly.
Lao Lei quickly waved his hand, distancing himself from the matter: "I forgot to inform you just now, this case has been officially transferred to the Municipal Public Security Bureau, and I am no longer the main person in charge."
Amidst countless suspicious glances, Pang Guang and Guo Zhen walked straight up to Lin Jiafan and said, "Captain Lin, the people from the laboratory are here. This is the search warrant for the Qingshan Rescue Association."
Lin Jiafan took the thin piece of paper and smiled warmly at everyone present. "I am Lin Jiafan, the head of the Special Case Investigation Team of the Jinshi Public Security Bureau. I am currently conducting an on-site search of the Qingshan Rescue Association regarding the abduction case of the rescued girl. Please cooperate."
With just a few short sentences, everyone's expressions changed.
Some were confused, some were surprised and stunned, and some... were nervous and uneasy hidden beneath their calmness.
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