The Vanished Wife (6)
Golden Rose replied, "It wasn't pre-arranged. My sister and I both wanted to renovate, and we had the same idea. As for using the same paint, that's not surprising, because it's the best quality paint. My sister and I aren't short of money, so when we buy things, we always buy the best."
Xie Wei tapped his nose with his finger and continued, "I feel like your house is missing something."
"What is missing?"
"There are no photos, like photos of you and your sister. Even if you sisters don't have any photos together, you should at least have some solo photos of yourself, right?"
"I don't like taking pictures, so I don't have any photos at home."
"However, I found traces of photos being placed or hung in several rooms, indicating that you originally had some photos, but they were recently taken away."
"Yes, those photos were old, so I threw them away."
"Didn't you just say that you don't like taking pictures, so you don't have any photos at home?"
"I... I mean, it's not that my family has never had photos, it's just that I haven't taken any recently."
"I see. By the way, do you need me to fix your car? I have a car repair gadget."
"Car repair? What kind of car need repair?"
“You have two old, dilapidated cars in your garage that most repair shops can’t fix. But I have a tool called the ‘Car Repair Master’s Wrench,’ which can fix any car. You invited me to tour your villa, so I’ll fix your cars in return.”
"No need, those two cars haven't been driven for many years."
"No, I'll fix it for you, it's just a favor."
Seeing Xie Wei's response, Golden Rose did not continue to refuse.
Xie Wei arrived at the garage, and Jin Meigui followed him in.
There were several cars in the garage, two of which looked quite old, covered in dust and with worn-out parts.
Xie Wei asked, "When were these two cars bought? They look at least ten years old."
Jin Meigui said, "My father bought it when he was alive. He drove it for more than ten years before giving it to me. I haven't driven it much since."
"I see."
Xie Wei pulled out a gleaming gold wrench and fiddled with the two abandoned cars for a while.
A dozen minutes later, the two wrecked cars were repaired. Although they were very different from new cars, they could still be driven if needed.
Golden Rose said, "Thank you, although I don't need these two cars."
Xie Wei was covered in dust, and when he laughed, dust flew into the air.
He said, "It's okay, whether you turn it on or not, I've fixed it for you. But I'm too dirty, I might need to take a shower, is that alright?"
"Sure, I have several bathrooms at home, all with hot water. You can choose any one."
Xie Wei chose a bathroom and took a shower. The room where the bathroom was located had also just been painted. Xie Wei secretly used a dagger to cut open the paint on the wall, wanting to see what was inside.
However, after cutting it open, all that was inside were walls, and nothing special was found.
Just then, a voice sounded behind Xie Wei: "Detective Xie, isn't it inappropriate to damage my walls without permission?"
Xie Wei was startled, then turned around with a grin and said to Jin Meigui, "I'm sorry I didn't inform you beforehand. I have a reason for doing this. Your sister is missing. What if she was harmed by the construction team and they buried her in the wall? You wouldn't be able to find her for a while. That's why I wanted to cut open the wall to take a look."
Golden Rose said coldly, "How could my sister have a conflict with the construction team? That reason is too far-fetched. Since you suspect that I bricked my sister into the wall and deliberately painted the wall to cover it up, why don't you just say so? I know I'm a suspect, and it's perfectly normal for you to suspect me too."
But I can tell you, the wall renovations in my and my sister's houses were done about twenty days ago, just before my sister disappeared. After the walls were painted white, my sister was still in her own house; there's no way she could have gotten into our walls.
“You’re right. In fact, if there really were a corpse inside the wall, it would have started to smell bad long ago, and that section of the wall would have rotted away.”
"Since you know this, why did you still damage my wall?"
"Sorry, I just realized that myself."
"You can smell all over the new walls of my house and see if there's any stench of corpses inside."
"No need. If there really was a stench of a corpse, it would have filled the whole house by now. There's no need to go out of your way to smell it. I apologize for my rudeness earlier, but I don't have any money on me. I'll help you fix your car, consider that as offsetting the damage to the wall, okay?"
Golden Rose's tone softened slightly: "Of course, I won't ask you to pay me back. Actually, you did this to find my sister. That proves you're a responsible detective. I can rest assured that my sister's case is in your hands. If you have any news about my sister, be sure to let me know."
Xie Wei said, "Okay. We're new here and don't know you well, so we can only investigate everyone who's a suspect. We're not targeting you on purpose. I'm relieved that Miss Rose isn't angry."
"I'm not angry."
"That's good. By the way, do you have anyone you suspect?"
Golden Rose hesitated for a moment, then said, "I think... if something happens to my sister, the biggest beneficiary would be my brother-in-law. In the absence of a will, my brother-in-law could inherit all of my sister's estate."
"Okay, we'll keep a close eye on him."
"Please don't tell my brother-in-law that I suspect him."
"I understand. Goodbye, Miss Rose."
After Xie Wei left Golden Rose's villa, he caught a stray cat near the villa, put it in his car, and took it away.
————
At the same time, Professor Pan arrived at the home of the nanny, Wu Yaoyao.
Wu Yaoyao's home is quite remote, with few neighbors nearby. To get to her house from the main road, you have to walk along a very narrow path that's impassable by car, so Professor Pan walked there instead.
Although she lives in a remote area, Wu Yaoyao's house is quite nice and looks pretty. She must have earned a lot of money working as a nanny for the Jin family over the years.
Professor Pan knocked on the door, and Wu Yaoyao opened it. She was a middle-aged woman in her forties, rather thin, with fairly attractive features; however, her complexion was not good.
It could be because she has a difficult personality, or it could be because she was recently fired and is in a bad mood.
Professor Pan explained his purpose, and Wu Yaoyao did not resist, but said, "The police have come to question me before, but I didn't expect the detective to come again. So, Mr. Liang, you still suspect me? I'm not afraid of being investigated. My wife's disappearance has nothing to do with me. If you want to search my house, go ahead."
Professor Pan said, "Okay, thank you for your cooperation. I'm just doing a routine check."
Although Wu Yaoyao's home was quite luxurious, it wasn't very large, and Professor Pan finished looking around quickly.
Professor Pan didn't notice anything unusual, but he smelled paint and asked, "Was your house recently painted?"
Wu Yaoyao: "Yes, the wall was painted about twenty days ago."
“I see your house has been built for several years, why did you suddenly decide to paint the walls?”
"Because it rained before, the walls became damp, so I simply renovated them."
Professor Pan nodded and said, "May I use your toilet?"
"OK."
Professor Pan went into the restroom, picked up a bar of soap, and activated his "Storyteller" ability.
He listened carefully for a while, then put down the soap.
Then, he came out and asked Wu Yaoyao, "Ms. Wu, what is your relationship with Ms. Jin like?"
Wu Yaoyao said, "If I said we had a very good relationship, you probably wouldn't believe me. I'm just a nanny for the Jin family, but I've worked for them for many years. In my heart, the Jin family is my own family. I haven't gotten married in order to take good care of the Jin family. Sometimes, I give my wife advice, but she thinks I'm overstepping my bounds. Sometimes I teach new nannies how to do things, but my wife thinks I'm slacking off and acting like I'm a senior.
In short, she didn't like me, so she fired me. I do mind about it, but I would never kidnap or kill her.
Professor Pan nodded: "Yes, I agree. So, you haven't seen Ms. Jin since you were fired?"
"No."
Professor Pan stared into Wu Yaoyao's eyes and said, "Ability activated—mindset alteration. You now want to tell Jin Mingyue everything."
Wu Yaoyao stared blankly and said woodenly, "I have nothing to say."
Professor Pan frowned, seemingly puzzled.
He waited a while longer, but Wu Yaoyao still didn't say anything.
A few minutes later, her superpowers wore off, and Wu Yaoyao's eyes cleared up.
Then, Wu Yaoyao asked, somewhat bewildered, "What did we just talk about? I don't remember it?"
"It's nothing, I'll be going now."
After Professor Pan left the Wu family, he caught a frog from the ground.
——
During this time, Qin Man and Qu Chen stayed at the Jin family's house.
Every now and then, Qin Man would go to talk to Mr. Liang and ask him about Ms. Jin.
This was to ensure that Mr. Liang would stay with the Jin family and not leave.
However, Mr. Liang didn't seem to have any intention of leaving. He spoke in great detail about Ms. Jin's situation, and his eyes were full of concern.
It seems he genuinely wants to get his wife back.
After Qin Man finished her conversation with Mr. Liang, she planned to take Qu Chen back to the guest room.
However, Qu Chen broke free from her and ran outside.
Qin Man hurried to catch up, but Qu Chen ran too fast, and she was weak, so she couldn't catch up with him for a while.
After a while, Qu Chen actually ran to the old housekeeper's room, sat on the bed, picked up the remote control, and turned on the TV to watch cartoons.
Qin Man was both amused and exasperated, and quickly apologized to the old housekeeper, "I'm sorry, I'll take the child with me..."
However, Qu Chen refused to leave and moved closer to the old housekeeper.
The old housekeeper didn't say anything, but slowly glanced at Qin Man and Qu Chen before continuing to sit on the edge of the bed in a daze.
Qin Man felt a chill run down her spine. She wanted to take Qu Chen away, but Qu Chen refused and instead grabbed the old butler's hand.
Qin Man exclaimed in alarm, "Let go of me—"
For some reason, the old butler gave her a strange feeling, and she was even a little afraid to be alone with him.
However, the old butler was clearly not aggressive. He even took a piece of candy from the drawer and handed it to Qu Chen.
Qu Chen happily accepted it and grinned. His smile revealed only half of his two front teeth, which he had acquired from eating candy.
Qin Man had been trying to stop Qu Chen from eating candy, but to no avail. Unexpectedly, inside the game, Qu Chen even had the chance to eat candy again.
Qin Man could only smile helplessly.
Qu Chen enjoyed his meal very much. After finishing, he came over, took Qin Man's hand, and tried to leave.
Qin Man quickly led him outside, then said to the old butler, "I'm sorry to have disturbed you just now..."
The old butler suddenly said slowly, "Looking for...Miss......"
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