Chapter 20 Chapter 20 The Ninth Drawing
In the interrogation room, Xu An looked at Zhao Shuan in front of him and glared at him: "Did you see him in the casino?"
As he spoke, he poked his finger at the photo of Ma Youan on the table.
Zhao Shuan nodded timidly, and Xu An asked again: "When?"
Zhao Shuan: “Two days ago.”
Xu An: "What number?"
Under his gaze, Zhao Shuan trembled: "It was like this on the 10th and 11th. I didn't pay attention to the time at that time..."
…
Xu An and Ji Wu were sitting on the stairwell. Xu An took a puff of his cigarette, which made a crackling sound.
Ji Wu was reading the transcript.
After re-interrogating a group of gamblers in the underground casino, the gamblers had a vague impression of Ma Youlin. Only Zhao Shuan clearly recognized Ma Youlin's photo. Later, Xu An gave Zhao Shuan several sets of different photos to identify, and Zhao Shuan also recognized Ma Youlin's photo accurately.
Xu An said to Ji Wu, "Something is wrong. How come Zhao Shuan is the only one who can recognize Ma Youlin's photo?"
Ji Wu and Xu An have known each other for several years and know Xu An very well. Hearing this, he asked, "Do you suspect that he specifically recognized Ma Youlin beforehand?"
Xu An: "According to what Zhao Shuan said, he has only met Ma Youlin once. He can recognize Ma Youlin no matter whose photo is put together with his. His memory is really good."
He thought of a plan: "Well, let's find someone to test him."
Xu An and Ji Wu walked out of the stairwell and waved to a policeman not far away. The policeman was in plain clothes. Xu An said to him, "Go to the interrogation room later and get a glass of water there."
The policeman was a little confused and looked at Ji Wu.
Ji Wu: "Just go and let the people inside see what you look like."
The police officer did as he was told, and after he came out, Xu An waited for an hour and prepared several sets of photos, inserting the police officer's photos in them, for Zhao Shuan to identify.
Zhao Shuan's face flushed as he saw the photos passing by and pointed out one of them.
Xu An's expression remained unchanged and he moved on to the next group.
For five groups in a row, Zhao Shuan identified different people.
Xu An and Ji Wu looked at each other and confirmed that something was wrong with Zhao Shuan.
With such a good memory, how could he accurately identify Ma Youlin in different groups of photos?
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It takes at least two hours to drive from Minrong Xiangju to Hongmen.
When she arrives, she might not even be able to see Han Xiao.
Pei Qing was anxious and called the police first.
She told the police Han Xiao's name and address in detail on the phone, hoping to ask them for help.
After hanging up the phone, Pei Qing stared at the chat history and sent another tentative message: [You got off work so late? Didn’t you say your boyfriend would pick you up? ]
The message fell on deaf ears and received no reply.
Pei Qing stared at the chat history and found sparks. She was afraid of arousing suspicion and did not dare to make another video call.
She sat in the passenger seat, with a lot on her mind.
The car drove away quickly and arrived at Hongmen after an hour and a half.
Li Muxu had called several bodyguards to the vicinity of Hongmen early on. As soon as they saw him, the bodyguards surrounded him and said, "Mr. Li."
Li Muxu: "Did you find anything suspicious?"
Bodyguard: "We went to Han Xiao's house and knocked on the door, but no one answered. We also looked for Han Xiao on the roadside nearby, but couldn't find him. It's possible that we were too late and Han Xiao had already been taken away."
It took at least half an hour from the time Pei Qing discovered something was wrong and called the police, to the time Li Muxu notified the bodyguard and the bodyguard arrived.
After all, the bodyguard lives some distance away from the Hongmen.
And half an hour was enough for Han Xiao to be taken away silently.
Pei Qing asked: "It's twelve o'clock now. Are there many cars nearby?"
Bodyguard: "Not many, just a few every now and then."
He went on to elaborate: "Han Xiao lives in a shantytown, which is too remote and full of all kinds of people. There are many suspects."
As he was speaking, a policeman in uniform came over and asked who had called the police.
Pei Qing raised his hand: "Can I adjust the surveillance?"
The police officer glanced at her and asked more detailed questions.
"The missing person is your friend?"
Pei Qing: "He's my friend, what's wrong?"
"Have you called yet?"
Pei Qing: "I made a video call, but the other party hung up. I didn't dare to call again."
The police officer asked, "Where does this woman work? Do you know her boss? Is she working the night shift?"
Pei Qing: "I..."
Another policeman came over from the corner and said to Pei Qing politely: "I just asked the residents nearby, and they didn't hear the cries for help. Maybe you misunderstood."
How is that possible? Pei Qing thought, I'm not a fool.
She looked at the policeman who had just spoken and suddenly found that he looked familiar.
It was that day, the day when Pei Qingqi’s newly bought electric bike was stolen. She had seen this policeman. What was his name?
Pei Qing searched his memory and found Officer Lu Qilu. It was him, the policeman who advocated mediation.
Pei Qing was shocked. Why was it him?
Recalling the previous confrontation with Yao Shun, Pei Qing's heart began to pound, and she could even hear her own rapid breathing.
Lu Qi continued, "So, where does your friend work? Go look for her. Maybe she's busy and hasn't gotten off work yet."
Pei Qing didn't know whether to nod or shake his head.
Can they really find Han Xiao, or are they trying to lure her to another place?
Suddenly, a hand pressed down on Pei Qing's shoulder and said on her behalf: "Sorry to bother you, officer. My sister is really too anxious."
Li Muxu said slowly, with three bodyguards following behind him.
Lu Qi looked at them, his eyes moved a few times, and then asked Pei Qing and Han Xiao where they worked.
Pei Qing: "In a restaurant."
Lu Qi asked patiently, "What's your name?"
Pei Qing paused for a few seconds, then said the name of the restaurant: "Jinshan Hotel."
A group of people went to Jinshan Hotel.
On the way, Pei Qing was extremely silent.
Li Muxu touched her hand and found that it was cold.
Li Muxu: "Is it cold?"
Pei Qing came back to his senses: "I'm not cold."
Li Muxu put his coat on her.
"Wear."
It was a thin black jacket, which almost fell off Pei Qing, and Pei Qing grabbed it with his hands.
She hid in her coat and asked Li Muxu: "What should I do?"
Li Muxu had no hope that the Hongmen police would handle the case, so he asked Pei Qing, "Aren't you carrying a bag?"
Pei Qing touched the backpack covered by the jacket.
"Doesn't this look a bit strange?"
But her tablet was in her bag, giving her a great sense of security.
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Outside the Jinshan Hotel, from around 6pm to 3 or 4am, it is the peak season for barbecue and the area is bustling with people.
It is now the middle of the night and the barbecue stall outside is booming.
Just as Lu Qi was about to look for the boss, Pei Qing quickly grabbed the worker who was serving dishes outside.
She asked, "Has Han Xiao finished get off work?"
The worker was a middle-aged woman in her forties or fifties. She was busy all the time, her eyes fixed on the barbecue tables, wondering whose skewers the skewers in her hands belonged to. She didn't even look up at anyone. When she heard the voice, she nodded and said, "She got off work at around nine o'clock, so she came home early."
A customer urged: "Where are my 100 skewers of lamb?"
The young worker waved his hand and asked Pei Qing: "Here, here!"
Pei Qing watched her blend into the crowd and kept apologizing, saying he was sorry for the delay, then turned around to look at Lu Qi at the door.
Lu Qi didn't walk into the restaurant, but stared at Pei Qing.
Pei Qing glared back.
Li Muxu pulled her and Pei Qing finally calmed down.
A few people walked into the restaurant again, where a big man and several helpers were stringing meat and vegetables onto skewers. When he saw someone coming in, the man wiped his hands on his clothes.
Lu Qi took out his police ID and asked, "There's a girl named Han Xiao in your store. She works here, right?"
The big man's eyes stayed on Lu Qi's ID for a while before answering Lu Qi's question.
"She used to work here, but she was too tired from barbecuing at night, so she just paid the bill and left tonight. What happened? What happened to her? It has nothing to do with me. I transferred her wages to her in full. If you don't believe me, just look!"
The big man took out his cell phone and showed it to Lu Qi. Pei Qing also looked at the phone. It was Han Xiao's profile picture. A total of five hundred yuan had been transferred.
The big man said again: "See, it's right."
Pei Qing: "She's gone."
The big man said: "She said she wanted to find her fellow villagers. The place where she lives is too remote and the environment is not good. I heard her say yesterday that food, clothing, housing and transportation are expensive here, so she plans to contact her fellow villagers to go home together."
Go to hell! Isn't this guy talking nonsense?
Han Xiao came to City A with a broken suitcase, but she has to go back to her hometown less than a week later? Is this reasonable?
Do you think I'm a fool?
Pei Qing was so angry that he wanted to quarrel with someone, but was stopped by Li Muxu again.
Li Muxu realized that it was useless to argue with them here, as a strong dragon cannot defeat a local snake.
After walking out of Jinshan Hotel, Pei Qing was still very unhappy.
Lu Qi asked Pei Qing: "Are you still looking for him? Your friend should have gone to look for other friends."
Pei Qing: "She didn't answer my call."
Another policeman became impatient. He had to go out on duty late at night. He spent two or three hours outside and was bitten by mosquitoes more than ten times.
He said to Pei Qing: "I just don't want to pay attention to you. We are adults and we have our own things to do. Why should I answer your call? She didn't tell you when she wanted to go back to her hometown."
Lu Qi pulled him, trying to get him to talk less.
Pei Qing forced himself to laugh angrily: "You know shit."
Police: "How can you, a little girl, curse at me..."
Pei Qing was not afraid of him: "I——"
Lu Qi hurriedly stopped him: "Alright, alright, she's worried too, Brother Mao, I'll take care of it."
He took Pei Qing back to the police station. Pei Qing didn't believe a word the restaurant owner said and still insisted on checking the surveillance footage.
Lu Qi explained to her in detail: "There is no surveillance in the shantytown area. I can't find it even if you ask me to. The rent there is cheap, there is nothing valuable, there are a lot of gangsters, and there is really no surveillance."
Pei Qing gritted his teeth, took the police report receipt and turned away.
If you don’t want to show it to me, forget it. I’ll find it myself!
＊
She sat in the passenger seat angrily, and Li Muxu handed the tablet to her.
"I just said it, there's no point looking for them."
Pei Qing: "It's not the 1990s now."
Li Muxu said suddenly: "Draw quickly while you are angry, maybe you can draw more."
Pei Qing looked at him, feeling a little aggrieved.
"Why is that?"
Why are these people different from Xu An and other police officers?
What went wrong?
Pei Qing took the tablet, opened a new canvas, recalled Han Xiao's appearance, and began to paint on the canvas.
Soon, a small red and white Western-style building appeared on the canvas. The building had an attached garden with many bouquets of flowers in the garden, and roses could be vaguely seen.
The iron gate of the small western-style building was wide open, and a black Volvo drove in.
Pei Qing was immersed in the painting, while Li Muxu beside him recognized the small Western-style building at a glance.
This small Western-style building was built in 1944. During this period, the owners changed several times and it is unknown to whom it is currently owned.
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