Chapter 151 This is really crazy
The couple was told not to leave Shangshuang City in the near future, and to keep their phone open 24 hours a day. If necessary, they would be called in advance to ask them to cooperate with the police investigation.
Although the couple had suffered an unexpected disaster, their attitude was very good, without any reluctance on their faces. After nodding repeatedly in agreement, the woman asked, "Comrade police officer, is the child... missing?"
The officer from the local police station didn't hide anything and nodded readily, "Yes, we're still searching."
The couple looked at each other with regretful expressions. They wanted to say something but didn't. They stared at the policemen around them.
Seeing this, the older female police officer asked, "Do you have anything else to report?"
The woman hurriedly shook her head and said, "No, no, I just wanted to ask if there's anything we can do to help? Or maybe we can post something on WeChat Moments or a short video, that's fine."
The couple was so enthusiastic that the police officers at the police station certainly did not refuse. They patiently explained that the case had been spread and searched in various communities, and they could check it out in the community group and then forward it to some social platforms.
After the explanation, the police officer from the police station thanked the couple very sincerely, said a few polite words, and then watched them walk into the glass door.
After the couple left, the older female officer looked at Guan Xia and the others and said, "My colleague was a little rushed on the phone and didn't explain clearly. How about this? Let's go back to the station and talk about how to investigate this case."
Back at the police station, Jiang Yingyao and Wang Yu were the ones who negotiated the whole process. I don't know what they talked about exactly, but when they came out, they told Guan Xia and the others that the case had been transferred to Captain Zhou and his team from the Nanping Branch, and they would continue to follow up on the investigation.
Guan Xia was not surprised. After the few of them successfully handed over all the case files, relevant clues and surveillance videos, they trotted out of the police station and jumped into the car.
The group didn't even have time to eat and drove back to the Nanping Branch at lightning speed.
As soon as they returned to the office, the Nanping Branch brought the computers that Guan Xia and the others needed, one for each of them. After placing them on the conference table, everyone wolfed down their food while holding a brief case analysis meeting.
As usual, we start with Wang Yu first.
Wang Yu had already posted the photo of the missing little boy on the whiteboard, along with several photos of the interior of the community.
Wang Yu first pointed at the photo of the little boy with his finger. "The missing person's name is Yan Xingyu, he is 6 years old this year. He disappeared around 2:00 PM on August 9, 2025."
Wang Yu tapped a few more photos with his finger. "This is the missing person's complete movement trajectory that day. According to the confession of the missing person's grandfather who took him out, he took the child out around 1:15 pm and took the elevator downstairs instead of the stairs. It was a weekday, and the sun was at its hottest. He remembers that there were not many people in the community, only a few familiar old friends playing chess under the shade of the trees. He first took the child to play in the water near the green belt that had just been watered. The missing person was very excited at the time and refused to leave after playing for more than ten minutes. The old man felt that the sun was too hot, and he persuaded the child twice, but the child refused to move to a cooler place to play. He felt that there were no outsiders in the community, so he left the child alone and went to the shade of a nearby tree to cool down."
"The missing person's grandfather was quite alert at first," Wang Yu pointed at two photos. "This is where the child was playing in the water, and this is where the child's grandfather was cooling off. You can see the two places weren't far apart, and the child was completely within the grandfather's field of vision. It wasn't until 1:35 p.m. that the grandfather felt the child had been in the sun for twenty minutes and would have suffered a heat stroke if he continued playing. So he half-forced, half-cajoled the child to the chess game, which is here."
Wang Yu clicked on another photo.
Guan Xia watched carefully. No wonder those old people liked to play chess under this tree. This tree was really lush. It was unknown how many years it had existed. It looked comparable to the tree in the old community where Ning Xin lived before his death. The trunk was so thick that two people might not be able to hug it. There was also a circle of wooden benches built around the tree for people to sit on, so it was indeed easy for people to gather.
Wang Yu continued, "From the old man's confession, it seems the child's grandfather wasn't a very good chess player, but he loved to join in the fun. Initially, his eyes were fixed on the child, but after a while, he became so engrossed in the game that he didn't even notice the child ran off. At that time, the only people in the neighborhood who were still active were the elderly, so no one paid much attention. It wasn't until 2:03 p.m., after a game of chess was over, that the child's grandfather subconsciously turned around to look for the child and realized he was missing. He then called a few elderly people under the shade of a tree to help search, but they couldn't find him. He called the police at 3:47 p.m.."
"This is the location where the child was last seen, according to the surveillance footage from the local police station at the time of the incident," Wang Yu circled a photo with a pen, then another on the photo next to it. "This is the direction the child ran to. This is the surveillance blind spot after the last location. The police from the police station have visited the site. The location of this blind spot is very clever. It's only a very narrow distance. If you walk close to the wall, you can easily reach the next surveillance blind spot. Then there's a small path where the surveillance camera has been destroyed. Next to that path is the fence of the residential area. Because this is a residential area, to facilitate access between the two communities, the residents have removed a railing in several places on the fence, which is enough for a very heavy adult to pass through."
Lu Tingfeng was the first to react. "That is to say, those places are big enough for a moderately obese adult to carry a child. It seems that this group of people either live nearby or have been scouting the area for a long time. Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to identify the blind spots so clearly."
"And that surveillance camera," Guan Xia continued, "it's such a coincidence. It's very likely that this group of people did it. Although the criminal methods are different, the planning is as thorough as the disappearance of Ning Xin and her daughter."
Guan Xia finished speaking and immediately asked, "Did the police officers who investigated this missing person case find out when the surveillance camera was damaged and by whom?"
Wang Yu said, "The work of police officers at the police station is more complex than that of criminal police. There were only two people investigating this case. Because the disappearance was so recent and there were no other cases to merge with, the case couldn't be transferred to the next higher level public security bureau. By the time we found them, we had only these few leads."
Guan Xia knew it was time to start her most common task again. She collected the empty food packaging on the table and said, "Let's start watching the surveillance video now without further delay."
Guan Xia was the easiest to find clues in this regard, so the others waited until she had finished picking before dividing the items among themselves.
Guan Xia chose the surveillance camera closest to the place where the child was last seen before disappearing, because in her opinion, no matter whether they lived nearby or had scouted the area for a long time before taking action, since they were looking for blind spots in surveillance, they would inevitably go in and out frequently and stay for a long time.
In fact, it was just as Guan Xia expected. She saw several people passing by frequently in the surveillance video. Compared with other residents of the community who appeared in the surveillance video, these people passed by much more frequently, and they would stay in one place for a long time from time to time. They seemed to be enjoying the cool air, or watching people playing in the community, but looking at the direction of their eyes, they were clearly in some corners, and they were always looking around, as if observing something quietly.
But unfortunately, these people had disguised themselves. Because it was summer, some of them wore sun-protective clothing and even hats, so they could only be identified by the direction they were looking. Some wore sun hats and sunglasses. No matter which one, they could only be identified as adult women by their body shape. The fattest one was estimated to weigh no more than 140 pounds. Even if there was no one to help, she could easily pass through the gap with a child in her arms.
Judging from the frequent visits of these people, at least this group of people does not live nearby. If we continue to track them, there is hope that their identities can be confirmed.
Guan Xia immediately perked up and was about to tell others about her discovery when she suddenly heard Wang Yu shout, "Guan Xia, I found the person who destroyed the camera."
Guan Xia's attention was immediately drawn to him. He immediately stood up from his chair and walked to Wang Yu's side.
Wang Yu skillfully pulled back the progress bar, and waited for everyone to gather before tapping the keyboard to start playing.
From the angle of view, it can be seen that this is a surveillance camera mounted on a street lamp. Judging from the sky, it should be late at night.
The surveillance camera is located on the small path close to the fence of the community, so in addition to being able to capture the small path, it can also capture part of the scene outside the community.
Unexpectedly, there was a deserted area behind the fence. Everywhere you looked was raised land, piled up into small slopes of varying heights, and there was a lot of garbage piled up in the low-lying areas.
Guan Xia glanced at the time in the upper left corner of the surveillance video. It was 1:12 in the morning. It was late at night and there were no pedestrians on the small road under the street lights. It was not until a few seconds later that he clearly saw a short figure coming through the fence, and then walked straight to the bottom of the camera with a clear goal. He only saw the man raise his hand, and he couldn't see clearly what was thrown out. Then the camera flashed suddenly, and the normal picture was lost.
After pressing the pause button, Wang Yu pulled the progress bar back until the figure raised his face to face the camera, then he pressed the pause button again.
"Judging from her height and build, as well as the exposed neck skin," Wang Yu said, "I suspect she's a young or middle-aged woman. I personally think she's a young woman, as she has absolutely no neck wrinkles."
Because we were close enough and under the street light, we could see the person clearly.
Obviously, the person who destroyed the camera was well prepared. Just like the person Guan Xia had discovered before who was suspected of scouting the area, they were all fully armed. This person was even more tightly covered, with a hat, glasses and a mask. Although it was summer, he was wearing long sleeves and long pants, covering almost every part that could be covered.
And unlike Lu Manqing, the murderer in the previous Zhang Weiyan case, he was not wearing any jewelry or a backpack. When he raised his hand, it was clearly visible that he had no watch on his wrist, and his clothes had no markings at all. Apart from a simple guess about his age based on his body shape and skin condition, there was almost no information that could be analyzed.
After Wang Yu finished speaking, the office was silent for a few seconds before Guan Xia spoke up, "This case seems a little different from the disappearance of Ning Xin and her daughter. I've also made some discoveries. The surveillance footage shows a few people who appear to have been scouting the area. Coincidentally, they also look female. However, since they're either wearing sun protection clothing or a sun hat, I can't see the skin on their necks, so I can't tell by the wrinkles on their necks whether they're young women."
"That's a bit strange," Ji An said. "When I was investigating the disappearance of Ning Xin and her daughter, I came across many human trafficking cases and even busted several gangs. Of course, there are obvious differences between these two criminal organizations. Generally, small criminal gangs will have female criminals to lower the victims' vigilance, but they are not many. The actual perpetrators and supporters will definitely be men. This is to facilitate escape and violent suppression. But why is this so special? It is composed entirely of women."
Jiang Yingyao pondered for a moment and said, "Is it possible that they didn't send out male criminals because their target this time was a six-year-old child? Or perhaps they planned the attack in advance, ensuring that the child wouldn't be accompanied by uncontrollable adult male elders, which is why they didn't send out adult male criminals."
Several people were silent for a while as they pondered. After a moment, Lu Tingfeng frowned and shook his head, saying, "Something's not right. Ji An and I have traveled all over the country in the past few years, and have come into direct or indirect contact with many criminal gangs with more than three people. But no matter what kind of crime it is, it's rare for the entire gang to be composed entirely of women. And did you notice another thing? Guan Xia just said that when she found those people scouting the area, they were all women. This is obviously not in line with common sense. Even if it is to ensure the success of the operation, as long as there are male criminal accomplices in advance, it is impossible for none of them to participate, unless..."
After Lu Tingfeng's analysis, not only did he figure it out, but Guan Xia and the others also came up with something along the lines of his thoughts.
Guan Xia said quickly, "Unless the male criminals have other targets and can't spare any more men, but the little boy has to act quickly, then the entire scouting and execution is organized by female criminals."
"At the same time..." Wang Yu's eyes lit up, then his face tightened as he spoke, "In other words, on August 9th, the day this child disappeared, there was a high probability that another person also disappeared. This would explain why they couldn't spare any manpower. It's even possible that there was more than one extra person."
Guan Xia figured it out and opened her mouth in shock. "Has this criminal organization gone crazy? They're acting so brazenly now? Doesn't that mean that during the time we've been investigating, people could be disappearing at any time and anywhere?"
After Guan Xia finished speaking, the others immediately became restless. Lu Tingfeng was the first to speak up, "No, we can't just focus on this one case anymore. We can just leave two or three people behind to look at the surveillance footage, and the rest of us should continue searching for recently missing persons. It will be easier to find clues if we combine the cases."
As he spoke, Lu Tingfeng called out to Wang Yu, "Xiao Wang, shall we continue looking through the missing persons files?"
Lu Tingfeng's words sounded firm, but when he called Wang Yu, his tone was questioning.
Wang Yu agreed without hesitation, "Okay, since we are both experienced workers, why don't we work together?"
The two men acted very decisively. After a brief discussion, they said something to Guan Xia and the others and ran out of the office, apparently to communicate with the clerk of the Nanping Branch.
Guan Xia sat back in his seat with mixed feelings. Just as he was about to continue watching the surveillance video, the message alert on his mobile phone suddenly rang.
In unison, everyone else's cell phones rang, and Guan Xia realized that someone in the group had shared the progress of the case investigation.
Sure enough, when he took out his cell phone, it was a message from Qi Bai. The message was very brief, saying that they suspected that Geng Jing and his accomplices were planning a missing persons case, and they and Captain Zhou were preparing to start surveillance.
Guan Xia's emotions had just calmed down for two seconds when he became uncontrollably shocked again. It had only been two days since August 9th, and these people couldn't wait to set their sights on the next target. It was very likely that there was more than one target. This was really crazy.
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