The Vanished Wife (3)
Han Ma said, "No, Madam only repainted the walls of a few rooms. If she were to repaint them all, the workload would be too great, and Madam doesn't want to do that for the time being."
Jian Tanxi nodded.
Next, the group went to the movie theater.
Han Ma explained, "My husband and wife come to watch movies when they have free time. Would you like to watch one? I can show it to you."
Professor Pan said, "There's no need to show the film. Turn on the brightest light; we want to do a search."
"OK."
After the lights in the movie theater were turned on, the players searched the theater carefully, including turning over every single seat cushion.
However, the result was still nothing.
Just as everyone was about to leave, Xie Wei suddenly said, "I want to watch a movie, can you let me play it?"
Han's mother was a little surprised, but still said, "Sure, what kind of movie would you like to watch?"
Xie Wei: "Any type is fine."
Professor Pan said, "Now is not the time to watch a movie."
Xie Wei: "I don't really want to spend several hours watching movies. I just want to find out what kind of movies Ms. Jin usually likes to watch, so that I can gain a deeper understanding of her."
Han's mother turned on the movie screen and handed the remote control to Xie Wei.
There was a "View History" button on the screen. Xie Wei clicked on it and saw that a suspense film had been shown five days ago, a science fiction film seven days ago, an animated film ten days ago, and a martial arts film twenty days ago. Further back, there were several romance films.
Xie Wei asked, "Does this movie theater usually only have Mr. Liang and Ms. Jin watching movies?"
Han Ma said, "Yes. Madam usually likes to watch martial arts movies or romance movies, while Mr. Liang likes to watch a variety of movies, he watches all kinds."
"Ms. Jin went missing about two weeks ago, right?"
"Yes."
"I think I understand now. Here's the remote back. Please show us the rest of the rooms."
"Oh, you're not watching anymore?"
"Um."
Han Ma then turned off the movie screen and led the players on a tour of the remaining rooms.
The villa has quite a few rooms, and it took another two hours to tour the remaining rooms.
Next, the group arrived at the top floor. There were a few more steps leading to the balcony, but at the end of the steps was a door.
You can only enter the balcony by opening the door.
Professor Pan said to Han's mother, "Han's mother, could you please open the balcony door?"
Han's mother: "Sorry, the balcony door can't be opened. There's nothing much to see on the balcony. If you want to sunbathe, you can go to the garden."
"I see that the balcony door has a fingerprint lock?"
"Yes, only the wife's fingerprint can unlock it, but the wife has disappeared again."
"Um."
At this moment, Qin Man said, "Let me see."
Qin Man walked up the steps and stared at the door for a while.
Then she said to her teammates, "Let's go down first."
Jian Tanxi was quite curious about what was on the balcony. Although she had a key, she could only open the kind of lock that required a key, not the fingerprint lock.
The fingerprint lock on the door looked very old and rusty. Jian Tanxi was curious whether it could still be used. Even if Ms. Jin came back, she probably wouldn't be able to open it.
Jian Tanxi asked, "Did Ms. Jin open this door when she was home?"
Han's mother said, "I don't know either. I've only been with the Jin family for a few months, and I've never seen Madam go to the balcony. However, I clean every day, so I can't see Madam all the time. Maybe she opened it."
Jian Tanxi nodded, and then went down with her teammates.
When I arrived at the living room on the first floor, Mr. Liang was still there, but a young woman was sitting opposite him.
The young woman was wearing a white dress and had light chestnut curly hair, similar to Ms. Kim. However, she looked a bit younger than Ms. Kim.
Jian Tanxi asked, "Mr. Liang, do you have a guest?"
Mr. Liang stood up and introduced, "This is Golden Rose, my wife's sister."
The players all looked at the golden rose, their eyes scrutinizing and examining her.
Golden Rose was very beautiful, with a slightly chubby face, and seemed like the kind of person who lived a pampered and carefree life. However, at this moment, she looked somewhat sad, probably because she was worried about her sister.
In comparison, Ms. Jin appeared more tired. Judging from previous photos, Ms. Jin was thinner, had an oval face, and her skin was darker than Jin Meigui's; her eyes also revealed fatigue.
Golden Rose addressed the players: "Are you detectives? Do you have any leads? Can you find my sister?"
Jian Tanxi said, "We've only been here a short time and don't have any leads yet. Miss Jin Rose, do you really hope Ms. Jin can return?"
"certainly."
"You don't know where Ms. Jin went?"
"I don't know. If I did, I would have gone to find her already."
At that moment, Jian Tanxi activated her mind-reading ability again. She heard Jin Meigui's thoughts: "I don't know where she is."
It seems that Golden Rose was indeed unaware of the situation, and her anxiety did not appear to be feigned.
Professor Pan asked, "Ms. Jin, where does your sister usually like to go when she goes out? Have you looked for her in those places?"
Golden Rose: "Actually, my sister rarely goes out because we have everything at home. Even if she wants to watch a movie or exercise, we have a movie theater and a gym at home."
"Then she'll need to buy clothes or go out to eat or something, right?"
“Our elders not only left behind a huge fortune, but also a lot of clothes. Most of the clothes were never worn, enough for my sister to wear for a lifetime. She doesn’t like the clothes in shopping malls, thinking they are of poor quality or too childish and not suitable for her. As for meals, she usually eats at home, and the nanny cooks. The nanny can cook any kind of food.”
Jian Tanxi thought of the expensive yet old-fashioned clothes in the walk-in closet and finally understood why. Those clothes were probably passed down from her elders, and Ms. Jin wore them all the time, so she didn't need to buy new clothes. She didn't follow trends, so she didn't care whether the clothes looked fashionable or old-fashioned.
Qin Man asked, "But your sister can't stay at home all the time and never go anywhere, can she?"
Golden Rose: "My sister likes quiet, so even when she goes out, she goes to places where there are hardly any people. Sometimes she'll even go up mountains where there are no paths. If we search in this way, we'd have to search every remote and uninhabited place in City B, which would be a huge undertaking."
Furthermore, since she didn't take anything with her, she couldn't have been gone for long. So my brother-in-law and I speculated that she might have been hidden by someone, or... murdered.”
Qin Man looked into Jin Meigui's eyes: "It seems your sister bought an insurance policy. If she were to be murdered, you could receive ten million?"
Jin Meigui explained somewhat anxiously, "There is such an insurance policy, but I would never harm her for a mere ten million... I have tens of millions in assets of my own."
Professor Pan asked, "So, according to this, most of the Jin family's assets were inherited by your sister, and not divided equally between you two sisters?"
"Yes, our ancestor was once the richest man in the country. In order to prevent his wealth from being diluted, he set a rule: only the first child of each generation could inherit most of the wealth, while the other children could only inherit a small portion."
Of course, this small portion was enough for the other children to live on for a lifetime. By the time it reached the older sister's generation, she was only the richest person in City B, not the richest person in the country. Over the generations, a considerable amount of the wealth had been divided up.
"Don't you feel resentful?"
"No, because that's how we were raised, and I don't think it's unreasonable. Anyway, I got tens of millions in my share, which is enough. My sister inherited the family business and has to manage family affairs, which is much more tiring than me."
Xie Wei stepped in with a smile to smooth things over: "I'm sorry, Miss Rose, we don't suspect you. It's just that as detectives, we need to explore all the possibilities."
Golden Rose: "I understand. If there's anything I can do to help you, I will do my best."
"Who did your sister have conflicts with? Besides the nanny who was fired, was it that old classmate who couldn't borrow money from you?"
Golden Rose shook her head and said, "It should be gone... I don't usually live here, so my brother-in-law knows more about my sister's situation than I do."
Mr. Liang said, “The detectives have worked hard. I have had the housekeeper prepare rooms for you. Each of you will have your own room. Ms. Qin Man and your son will share a room.”
Qin Man said, "We can all stay in one room, what do you all think?"
Others also felt that sharing a room would make it easier to discuss things, so they all agreed.
Mr. Liang hesitated for a moment: "But, there are men and women, young and old, and so many of you. It might not be convenient for you to share a room, right?"
Professor Pan said, "It's alright. We're all old friends, and staying together makes it easier to discuss the case. I see that your rooms are quite luxurious, many of them are suites with several beds, enough for us to sleep in."
Mr. Liang nodded: "Alright, then I'll have Aunt Zhang take you there. Let's choose the largest guest room."
Aunt Zhang came over; she was another nanny who had been cleaning the corridor earlier.
Golden Rose said somewhat anxiously, "Are you going to rest now? Aren't you going to investigate my sister's whereabouts first?"
Professor Pan said, "Ms. Jin, don't worry, we're just going to the room to discuss our ideas and rest a bit. We'll be going to find your sister soon."
"OK."
The nanny, Zhang Ma, led everyone towards the guest room.
Jian Tanxi asked Zhang Ma, "Have you finished cleaning?"
Aunt Zhang: "No. After I lead you to the guest rooms, I still need to continue cleaning. What would you like to eat? I'll make it for you in a bit."
"No need, we have a special constitution and don't need to eat."
"OK."
"So, you're responsible for cleaning the villa, cooking, and taking care of the guests?"
"Yes. We don't usually have many guests. As for cleaning, we mainly clean the places my wife and husband frequent. They eat simple meals, so we can manage."
"So, the Jin family doesn't have a dedicated chef?"
"No, Han Ma and I do all the chores, and the gardener takes care of the garden. We used to have a nanny, Wu Yaoyao, and when she was there, the three of us did the housework together. But she was fired, so Han Ma and I took over."
To be honest, it's better that Wu Yaoyao left. When she was around, she was always bossing us around. She didn't do much herself, but she would still criticize us for not doing this or that well. Besides taking care of my husband and wife, Han Ma and I also had to take care of her.
After she left, Han's mother and I felt much more relaxed.
Jian Tanxi asked, "You don't like Wu Yaoyao either?"
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