Red Makeup Serial Murder Case (19)

"Lu He! Lu He!"

After Meng Siqi received Zhao Leiting's call, he rushed to the door of 302, knocked on the door and called him, but there was no one inside.

Where would Lu He go in such heavy rain? She remembered that she came back with Lu He today.

Maybe no one inside heard her, so she called a few more times and pushed the door. The door creaked open a crack, and it turned out that the door was not locked.

Meng Siqi pushed the door open and entered the house. The lights were on in the study and the living room, but not in the other rooms. She immediately walked to the study and took a look, but there was still no one inside.

Could it be that a team member had called him away temporarily? She suddenly remembered something. Lu He had said that he would arrange for someone to follow Meng Tingzhe and Zhong Yanbin on rainy days. Was it possible that they were suspected tonight? Lu He went to gather them. Perhaps he was worried about her safety, so he didn't call her.

Considering that Zhao Yuting hadn't returned home for a long time tonight, she felt very anxious.

"Ring, ring, ring..." Suddenly the phone in the living room rang and Meng Siqi hurried to answer it.

Lin Tao's voice came from the other side: "Captain Lu, are you home?"

"Brother Lin Tao, I just got to Team Lu, he's not at home, I don't know where he went."

"Xiao Meng, quickly find the route team. Meng Tingzhe has set out on a rainy night, and Shuangxi and Yunfeng are following him now."

Meng Siqi's heart sank, and he asked, "Where did Meng Tingzhe go?"

"It seems to be in the direction of Fuping District."

Fuping District, isn't that the urban area where Zhao Leiting's community is located? Why did Meng Tingzhe go there?

Could it be related to Zhao Yuting? Because Zhao Yuting has met the suspect, the suspect needs to be eradicated?

Meng Siqi didn't dare to think about it at all, she hurriedly said: "Brother Lin Tao, don't lose me, I will find the team and meet up with you guys right away."

"Okay, don't worry."

After hanging up the phone, Meng Siqi shouted a few more times in the house. She turned on the lights in all the unlit rooms, but there was no sign of Lu He at all.

She was extremely anxious. Would Lu He go looking for the murderer alone? Would the unsolved mystery of death happen again?

She stood at the bedroom door, feeling more and more suffocated and uncomfortable, but she tried hard to control her emotions. She knew she had to stay calm at this time.

Just as she was deciding on her next course of thought, she heard rapid breathing in the room. She was startled and quickly looked towards the source of the breathing.

It turned out that the breathing sound came from the closet in the bedroom. She was very familiar with this closet, which had an antique flavor and was out of tune with the other furniture in the house.

Could Lu He be in there? Meng Siqi opened the cabinet door cautiously and was stunned.

Lu He curled up in the cupboard, his whole body shivering, just like the last time he lay on the ground.

She squatted down and hugged Lu He's head distressedly, "Lu He, Lu He, what's wrong with you, Lu He?"

"Siqi..." Lu He said weakly, "Hold... hold..."

Meng Siqi picked him up without any hesitation and held his head tightly in his arms.

She could feel his body getting cold and her body temperature was gradually dissipating. After a few minutes, Lu He moved his arms and he once again took the initiative to hug her waist.

She remembered that he was like this last time, and he seemed to be recovering gradually.

She began to wonder why Lu He became like this on a stormy night, and why she would recover after a hug.

She smelled the unique woody scent again, but this time it was particularly strong. When she opened the cupboard door, the strong woody scent came from inside.

She finally understood that the unique woody scent that emanated from him since the first time she saw him came from the cabinet.

Is it possible that Lu He would crawl into the cupboard every rainy night? What kind of secret is hidden in it?

Lu He seemed to have fully recovered, and she could feel that his face had regained its normal color.

But now is not the time to hug, because Zhao Yuting has not returned home for a long time, and because Meng Tingzhe took action on the rainy night.

"Lu He, Meng Tingzhe has gone out, and Zhao Yuting is missing. He went in the direction of Zhao Yuting's home." Meng Siqi said hurriedly.

"What?" Lu He seemed to recover in a second and raised his head, "Then let's go immediately, Siqi."

Meng Siqi: “…”

Lu He quickly got up, picked her up again, picked up the walkie-talkie and flashlight, "There's a police car downstairs, we'll leave immediately."

The two of them didn't usually carry pistols with them, so Meng Siqi didn't have time to think about making any preparations and just followed Lu He out the door.

Both of them were wearing white shirts. Meng Siqi's was a bit looser. She liked to wear it like that at night and had no time to change.

Because of the heavy rain, the wind in the corridor penetrated into her body, making her feel a little chilly. The two of them quickly rushed downstairs.

"Siqi, I'll drive the car, wait a moment." Lu He ran into the heavy rain and ran to the police car.

Meng Siqi didn't care anymore and rushed into the rain. After Lu He opened the door, she also opened the passenger door.

Meng Siqi reminded, "Fuping District." The car immediately drove out of the community. Lu He turned on the intercom and contacted Cai Shuangxi.

"Team Road, we are following Meng Tingzhe's car closely, don't worry."

"Shuangxi, please don't lose me, no matter what. Keep in touch at all times."

"Understood. I won't lose you. Team."

After putting down the intercom, Meng Siqi said, "The only route Zhao Yuting might have taken today alone is Xingfu Road near their home. Zhao Leiting has already been there. Should we go meet up with him?"

If Meng Tingzhe really wanted to kill Zhao Yuting, he would definitely appear on that road, so that road must be the murderer's only way.

"Okay." Lu He responded and sped up the car.

Even in the heavy rain, the car was still going very fast. Meng Siqi felt that the front of the car window had been corroded by rain and the wipers could not scrape it.

It usually takes half an hour to get from Zhao Leiting's home to the police station, but it would take at least 40 to 50 minutes in heavy rain. However, the police car drove very fast, and after more than 30 minutes, it arrived near Xingfu Road.

Lu He slowed down the car. Meng Siqi was nervous all the way. She stared out the window and suddenly she spotted a figure. "Look, there's someone there."

There was a person standing in the rain who was particularly conspicuous, and Meng Siqi became more and more nervous. Lu He immediately drove over and the headlights shone on the person. Meng Siqi was startled. The person was Zhao Leiting. He was standing in the heavy rain without an umbrella, and there was an umbrella lying on the ground.

Meng Siqi was particularly afraid that something might happen, so he immediately opened the door and prepared to run over.

"Siqi, umbrella." Lu He handed her an umbrella.

Meng Siqi took it and opened the door. Even with an umbrella, the heavy rain still soaked her pants and shoes, and in an instant she was completely soaked.

She trotted to Zhao Leiting and saw that he seemed unconscious, standing motionless in the rain.

Could something have really happened? Meng Siqi picked up the umbrella on the ground, lifted it above his head, and shouted, "Zhao Leiting, what are you doing?"

Zhao Lei Ting finally looked at her, his tone tearful: "I didn't find her. I looked for her all over here, even in the vegetable market, but I didn't find her!"

"How do you know she got into trouble here?" Meng Siqi asked loudly. Maybe Zhao Yuting went somewhere else to avoid the rain.

"Zhu Xiaoxuan's umbrella. This is Zhu Xiaoxuan's umbrella."

In Meng Siqi's right hand is the umbrella that Zhao Leiting mentioned.

At this time, Lu He had already arrived with an umbrella. He had a flashlight in his hand and shone the flashlight on her hand.

Meng Siqi deliberately loosened his fingers and found two words engraved on the umbrella handle, "Xiao Xuan".

Meng Siqi asked loudly: "Yuting had dinner with Zhu Xiaoxuan today. Did Zhu Xiaoxuan lend her an umbrella?"

"Yes." Zhao Lei Ting replied tearfully, "Yes."

At this time, Meng Siqi realized that Zhao Leiting's face was full of tears, but she couldn't see it clearly because of the rain.

"Zizizizi..." The intercom in Lu He's hand rang.

"Hurry, let's go under the eaves first." Lu He urged the two of them and walked over there. There was a shop on the side of the road with a shed under the eaves. Raindrops were beating on the shed boards, but the shop door was closed and the room was pitch black.

He picked up the intercom and heard Cai Shuangxi's voice: "Captain Lu, something bad has happened. Meng Tingzhe is missing."

"What!"

"We followed the car all the way and found it was driving back and stopped at a gas station. Yunfeng and I ran over to take a look and found that it was Meng Tingzhe who was driving the car."

Lu He shouted: "Didn't you notice Meng Tingzhe got on the bus?" His voice was not as calm as usual, but with a deep hoarseness.

"Yeah, he might have secretly gotten off the car halfway. Because it was raining so hard and we didn't dare to follow closely behind the car, maybe, maybe..."

Lu He held the intercom tightly, silent for a long while.

"Road team, road team, what should we do?"

"Then interrogate his driver. We must find out where Meng Tingzhe has gone no matter what!" Lu He almost shouted.

"Okay, okay, team."

Meng Siqi felt a chill all over his body. Could it be that Meng Tingzhe really got off the bus halfway, deliberately went around to this area, and kidnapped Zhao Yuting?

"Siqi, do you have any ideas?" Lu He seemed to have adjusted his breathing and asked her calmly, but his tone was still a little more anxious than usual.

Meng Siqi looked around. It was pitch black in all directions. She thought for a moment and said, "Lu He, the murderer might have kidnapped someone nearby. Maybe he's in a building. It would take the murderer at least an hour to put on makeup..."

When she finished speaking, she found that Zhao Leiting's body was shaking, and she hurriedly reminded him: "Zhao Leiting, are you okay? You must stay calm now. We are the police, Zhao Leiting!"

"Okay, okay." Zhao Lei Ting nodded heavily, "Siqi, if something happens to my sister, how should I tell my mother?"

"Zhao Leiting, the most important thing now is not to think about what to do if something goes wrong, but to think of a solution. Only by staying calm can you find Yuting."

"Yes, yes, I'm a policeman, how could I forget." Zhao Leiting wiped the water droplets on his face desperately and smiled, "I want to protect my sister." He took the umbrella from Meng Siqi's right hand, "Siqi, tell me, where to find her."

Lu He suggested: "Siqi, there is a safest way, send out the largest police force to surround the entire area."

Meng Siqi knew that Lu He was not calm now. This method was not feasible at all. Not to mention that there was no time at all, it was too far away in such heavy rain. It would take an hour for the police to arrive. And how could they surround such a large area?

She said, "Is there any other way?" If the murderer had an hour to put on makeup, now might be the most critical moment. Perhaps the murderer was already preparing to kill Zhao Yuting at this moment.

Meng Siqi didn't dare to think about it at all. She immediately said to Zhao Leiting: "Zhao Leiting, you should be familiar with this area. Think carefully, which place here has been vacant for a long time without people living there?"

If the murderer kidnapped Zhao Yuting here, he must have scouted the place in advance and was prepared. He must also know the necessary route for Zhao Yuting to get home. He must have come prepared today, and this rain was just his stage.

"I don't know, I really don't know. I have never been to this place, and my mother does the shopping for me." Zhao Leiting replied.

"How about this, let's ask around and find out where no one has lived there." Lu He suggested.

Meng Siqi felt that this was really a helpless solution. If the results of the inquiry were not ideal, the consequences would be disastrous. But it was better than standing here.

Now we have to race against time, Meng Siqi nodded in agreement.

The three of them then agreed to meet here in half an hour and go around to inquire about the situation.

Meng Siqi thought that half an hour was the limit. If it exceeded this time, Zhao Yuting might have been killed.

Except for the road surface on the south, there are exactly three directions here: west, north and east. Meng Siqi went to the north to ask for directions. She knocked on every door she saw. However, this area was close to the vegetable market, with many shops and few residents, so there shouldn't be many people staying overnight. It was almost eleven o'clock in the evening, and many people might have gone to bed.

She knocked on several doors but found no one answered. She kept knocking until one door finally opened. It was a middle-aged man who asked, "What do you want to buy so late at night?"

This looked like a tobacco shop. Fortunately, Meng Siqi had her police ID with her. She took it out and showed it to the police. "Boss, I'm from the Municipal Bureau. I want to ask if there are any houses around here that haven't been occupied for a long time."

The boss saw the police and said with a stern look, "This place is close to the market, it's quite chaotic, I really don't know where it is. You tell me who moved away after a while, I really don't know."

"What about you thinking about it?"

The boss thought about it carefully and said, "I'm sorry, but this place is always crowded, so it's hard to say."

"Okay, thank you."

He asked another boss and got the same answer. Meng Siqi ran a little further and found that a storefront was being sublet. Was it possible that such a house would be abandoned for a while?

But she couldn't get in now, so she turned to the back of the house and found a window. Without saying a word, she smashed the window glass with a flashlight, thinking that she would come back to compensate her later.

She opened the window and climbed in. It was pitch black and empty inside. She shone the flashlight in each room. This was a one-story shop. If it was really difficult to hide the people inside, Meng Siqi had no choice but to climb out through the window again.

Not only was she soaked through by the ordeal, but more than twenty minutes had already passed. Meng Siqi felt that she had to go back for the gathering. Perhaps they had found some clues.

The rain began to get a little lighter and was no longer a rainstorm. Meng Siqi ran back to the gathering place desperately. She found that Lu He was already standing there and Zhao Leiting was walking towards her nearby.

"Did you find anything? Lu He?" Meng Siqi asked breathlessly.

He shook his head slightly. Although Lu He looked calm, his brows were furrowed. He said, "Just now, Cai Shuangxi called and the driver said that Meng Tingzhe was picked up by another car after getting off the bus. He didn't see the license plate clearly and had no idea where Meng Tingzhe went."

Meng Siqi pursed her lips tightly and even bit her lips. She didn't notice the blood. She didn't know how to answer or what to do.

"Siqi, there is one more thing. Didn't I arrange two people to follow Zhong Yanbin? They just contacted me and Zhong Yanbin is missing."

"What?"

"Around nine o'clock, the lights in Zhong Yanbin's house were turned off, and a man walked out of the staircase. Our comrades drove over and followed him, only to find that the man was not Zhong Yanbin at all. Because the light was dim, he was wearing a raincoat, and his figure was very similar. He just happened to leave the staircase at that time. He was going to the pharmacy to buy medicine. When they returned to the community, they found that Zhong Yanbin's car was gone."

Zhong Yanbin's home is in the next district, and it takes at most half an hour to get here. Meng Siqi couldn't even imagine that Zhong Yanbin would disappear tonight...

At this time, Zhao Lei Ting staggered over. Judging from his posture, there should be no result.

Meng Siqi suddenly felt that there might be something wrong with her thinking. This area was close to the vegetable market and the shops were quite popular. The vacant houses should be rented out quickly, and there shouldn't be houses that were often unoccupied.

Unless the murderer took Zhao Yuting away using some means of transportation.

Is it Meng Tingzhe? Although he got off the bus halfway, it doesn't mean he didn't have other means of transportation. Lu He just said that Meng Tingzhe got on another car after getting off the bus.

He was being chased so closely today, he might have deliberately gotten out of the car, then took a new car to the nearby area and kidnapped Zhao Yuting.

If the murderer took Zhao Yuting away, then searching for her here would only lead to finding her further away.

"Siqi, have you thought of anything?" Lu He asked.

Even if Meng Siqi told them this speculation, it would be of no use. If the murderer wanted to take someone away, he would definitely take her to the most secluded place, where he might feel the safest.

Where would that be?

Zhao Leiting lowered his head, and his hand holding the umbrella was shaking. He might have sensed that something had happened to his sister.

It is already past eleven o'clock and Zhao Yuting has been missing for at least an hour and a half.

The three of them stood here. Meng Siqi felt getting colder and colder. She hugged herself and looked towards the buildings in the darkness.

You would never imagine where the murderer is in this city, on this night, committing such a brutal crime.

It was obvious that Zhao Yuting was crying and laughing in front of her a few days ago. It was obvious that her life was still full of infinite splendor. It was obvious that she would enjoy pampering all her life, with parents and a brother who pampered her.

Her life should have been smooth sailing. She should have found a job in journalism and went to get off work happily every day. She could also find a very good boyfriend, and the two of them would fall in love, get married, and give birth to a lovely baby. When the baby grows up, he may inherit his uncle's career and become an excellent police officer.

She shouldn't have died like this, she must have had a more brilliant life!

Meng Siqi's eyes became more moist and painful. She had promised to stay calm and not cry.

But at this moment, tears were already streaming down her cheeks.

Lu He stepped forward, held her arm, and comforted her: "Siqi, don't be sad, I will think of a solution."

"I'm so useless..." Meng Siqi could no longer control herself and burst into tears like a flood. She had never been so sad before.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's all my fault." Lu He said in a low voice, resting her frail head on his shoulders.

In an instant, Meng Siqi's tears soaked Lu He's wet collar again.

"Siqi." Zhao Leiting choked up, "Don't cry, don't cry. Blame me if you want to blame someone. Blame me for not taking good care of my sister. I'm even more sad when you cry."

"I won't cry, I won't cry." Meng Siqi sobbed desperately. She slowly raised her head and found that the rain began to subside. A flash of lightning struck, and in front of them, they all had wet eyes.

She was afraid that she would hear unfortunate news about Yuting tomorrow.

She raised her head from Lu He's shoulder and wiped away her tears with her sleeve.

She turned around and looked into the darkness, screaming silently in her heart.

Is this really the way I came into this world and it's going to end?

Is this the fate that is destined to happen? Nothing can be changed. Zhao Yuting is going to die? Lu He will die too?

Is fate really so unfair to them that they have to be shrouded in darkness for thirty years?

She looked into the night with fiery eyes, resisting the mockery of fate.

There was a loud thunder in the sky, and in the dark night, a ray of light finally came.

Meng Siqi once again sensed the long-lost scene.