It was nine o'clock, one hour before the book signing event.

All the staff of the bookstore had arrived, a total of more than a dozen people, and it would be a waste of time to question them one by one. Jian Jing used a rough and simple method, joining the other party's work group and directly collecting information about Lu Xue.

Ordinary messages cost 200 yuan, important information costs 500 yuan, and key information costs 800 yuan.

The management salary of Butian Bookstore is not low, but the monthly salary of ordinary people is only about 3,000 yuan. They have no reason to give up this transaction.

Jian Jing received a lot of private chats, most of which were repeated, but each person's focus was different, which made the one-sided content more complete.

Lu Xue is a beautiful young girl, cheerful and enthusiastic, serious about work, and many people like her. However, unlike what the activity manager had guessed, some people disliked her not because she was too pretty or too popular.

Rather, she was quite resourceful in the workplace, and those who disliked her were all from the same department as her.

When Lu Xue entered the bookstore, she applied for the position of a librarian. Her daily work was to sort out the books on the shelves, clean the shelves, and put the books that customers had put in their proper places.

This job was not a problem if it was understood as moving bricks, but it was extremely hard to move around all day.

In the same position, other people honestly moved books, climbed up and down, and were exhausted, but Lu Xue was not like that.

While she was slacking off, she chatted with customers to understand what kind of books were more popular with customers and what kind of publicity was more likely to attract customers.

So, at the weekly meeting, other people only knew what books were placed where and how much time it would take to organize them, but she could talk freely and make targeted suggestions.

The leader naturally appreciated such employees, and people from other departments knew about it and would only think that she was capable.

Only her colleagues looked "F*ck": We are the ones to do your job, but you do nothing and just do things that are not your job. It's not fair. What's

even more outrageous is that when the leader assigned a task, others didn't say anything, but Lu Xue agreed immediately: "No problem, I think Brother X and Sister X will definitely be OK with it. If you are too busy, I can help."

Brother X and Sister X: "..." Get lost.

Half a year later, Lu Xue was promoted to library management. Her daily work was to assist the purchasing department in selecting new books, registering and cataloging new books, classifying and sorting them, and managing the normal activities of the library area.

She was very serious about her work and was also very picky.

The time she broke her bone was because she was dissatisfied with a certain librarian for not arranging the bookshelf correctly and the series of books were not in order. She criticized her in public and climbed up the ladder to sort the books herself.

Then, the ladder was hit, and Lu Xue, who was not standing firmly, fell down. When she landed, she supported herself with her right arm and unfortunately broke her bone.

"She didn't do it when she should have, and she started doing it when she wasn't needed." The employee who revealed the news hinted, "No wonder she fell. It's not strange, right?"

Jian Jing responded with a smile.

It seems that many people think that Lu Xue's fracture was not an accident, but was deliberately done by a colleague who was dissatisfied with her.

"Is that person still here?" she asked.

An employee: "She resigned a long time ago. Did she kill Lu Xue?"

Jian Jing: "There is no evidence to show that the two are related."

In addition to the evidence, there is also insufficient motive. The conflict between Lu Xue and her was not serious. Changing jobs is much easier than killing someone. Even if we take a step back, the workplace grudges and the lesson of fracture are enough. There is no reason to kill someone.

"I heard that Lu Xue later went to the purchasing department?"

"Yes, the store manager is too partial, no wonder there are rumors."

The store manager himself was present, and Jian Jing directly asked him for confirmation.

He denied: "I have a wife and children, and Xiao Lu has a boyfriend. I don't know why those people are so boring that they have to make up some sentences to feel happy. If they have the energy, they can work hard like Xiao Lu. Are they afraid that I won't mention them? If they don't do their job well, they think others are the same as them."

Jian Jing did not comment, but just asked: "Why did you transfer Lu Xue to the purchasing department?"

"Xiao Lu is a down-to-earth person. She never forgot to improve herself when she was in charge of books. She gave me a lot of useful suggestions in private. I wanted to let her go to the purchasing department for a long time. It happened that she couldn't do her original job due to a broken bone, so I transferred her there."

The store manager was very regretful: "She did a good job. With two more years of training, it won't be difficult for her to get promoted. To be honest, when she suddenly resigned, I thought she changed jobs. Who knew... Was that person really Xiao Lu?"

"It's highly likely, but we won't know the details until the police do a DNA test." Jian Jing changed the subject, "Do you know if Lu Xue has any enemies here? I mean competitors or something like that."

The store manager hesitated, "It's said that the workplace is like a battlefield, there is definitely competition, but it can't be called an enemy."

Perhaps because of the reputation of the bookstore, he has a candidate, but he won't say it. Jian Jing thought about it, but didn't take it seriously: "Do you still have Lu Xue's information?"

"Yes." The store manager breathed a sigh of relief and quickly agreed, "I'll ask the HR department to send it to you."

"Sorry for the trouble."

Jian Jing looked at the watch, it was 9:20.

She called Ji Feng.

The call was answered quickly, but the voice was vague: "What's the matter?"

It sounded like she had disturbed her sleep after staying up late. Jian Jing couldn't help but feel a little sorry: "Did I wake you up?"

"Nothing, go ahead." Ji Feng had long been used to it.

"Something happened here." She explained the cause and effect as briefly as possible, and finally asked, "Lü Xue disappeared a year ago. I want you to check if there are any related reports."

"Well." There was a rustling sound of dressing on the other end of the phone. "Okay, wait a minute."

The police have an internal platform, and different levels of case files can be viewed according to different permissions. Most missing cases have no threshold, and formal police officers can view them.

According to the ID number provided by Jian Jing, Ji Feng quickly found relevant information about Lü Xue.

"Her father called the police a year ago and said his daughter was missing." He read the information at a glance. "On April 18, 2019, he said his daughter had not called home for three consecutive days. The phone was not connected for a long time. He called the company and said that she had resigned, but the old man didn't believe it and insisted that something had happened to his daughter."

"Has the case been filed?"

"Nonsense, otherwise where would the case file come from? But in cases like this, it is usually the parties who choose to disappear. Especially since Lu Xue's mother is seriously ill and her father is just a cleaner, the family is under great pressure..." Ji Feng has seen many joys and sorrows, and the good and evil of human nature. It is not difficult to guess what the local police are thinking.

However, if the corpse is Lu Xue, there is obviously another hidden story: "I'll go there as soon as possible. Is there anything else?"

Jian Jing said, "Can you send me her parents' information?"

"No." Ji Feng refused ruthlessly, "We can't leak personal information."

"Just take a look."

"No discussion."

"I'm helping the police investigate the case, it's not a private matter." Jian Jing argued.

Ji Feng: "Rules are rules."

She: "Really?"

"What do you want her parents' information for?" Ji Feng asked back.

Jian Jing asked back: "What do you think is the possibility that someone sneaked into the bookstore before seven o'clock, hid the corpse, and escaped unscathed by all the cameras?"

"Very small." Ji Feng was pragmatic, "Most criminals are ordinary people, and most police officers are also ordinary people."

Jian Jing agreed with this statement - even though there was still a trace of weirdness in her heart - so she said: "I tend to think that the phone call was just a decoy, and the person who put the corpse was among the nine people before. But everyone's appearance when entering the door was photographed, and no one carried any large objects."

"Oh, you think the corpse has been in the store all the time." Ji Feng became interested, "Go on."

"Jinwu's employees agreed to arrive at seven o'clock. The later they arrive, the more difficult the operation will be and the greater the possibility of exposing the body. Therefore, the later they arrive, the less suspicious they are. The planner, copywriter, and operator arrived almost immediately. No matter who they are, there is a high probability that they will not be able to act alone."

Jian Jing said as she organized her thoughts: "The ones with the most time are the manager and the cleaner. Although the manager may have lied and there was no phone call, the police can check the call records and will be exposed soon."

"I understand." Ji Feng fully understood her thoughts, "Lü Xue's father is Lu Weiguo."

There was a sudden silence on the other end of the phone.

Jian Jing stood at the door of the bathroom, looking up at the display board, which had two names written on it: "Jiang Hong, the cleaner" and "Lu Weiguo, the cleaner". Next to each name was a photo of a single person.

"Today's cleaner is Lu Weiguo." She said softly, "I'll go talk to him."

Lu Weiguo was cleaning the bathroom.

Seeing her coming, his old and dull face showed no expression, and he said calmly: "Little girl, is there anything wrong?"

"You were the one who put Lu Xue's body in the study room, right?" Jian Jing got straight to the point, "You are Lu Xue's father, right?"

Lu Weiguo was silent.

She said, "You hope to find the murderer this way?"

This time Lu Weiguo finally spoke with a thick accent: "I don't know anything, I have no education, and the police don't believe me. There is nothing I can do."

"Uncle, I can help you." Time was tight, and Jian Jing had no time and no need to comfort him. She asked directly, "Where did you find Lu Xue?"

As she expected, Lu Weiguo did not need comfort, but revenge: "In the flowerbed."

"The sky garden on the third floor?" Jian Jing was surprised.

The dark and thin old man nodded slowly: "It was raining that day, and the dog was barking, and I was a little concerned. You may not believe it, but I always knew that my daughter was here."

In his eyes, his daughter is the most filial child in the world.

The family was poor, and the child's mother was ill. With her meager salary, she could not support the family. The daughter was smart and capable since she was young. After going out to work, she could send 2,000 yuan home every month.

"Dad, the leader is optimistic about me, and my salary will be increased soon."

"Dad, I got promoted again. I will give you 3,000 yuan next month to buy some delicious food for my mother."

"Dad, I work in the office now. I can use the air conditioner every day. Don't worry."

Every night, the child would call home to ask about the family's three meals a day and remind her mother to take medicine on time every day, rain or shine.

Until April 15 last year, the family never received a call from her again.

He knew that something must have happened to his daughter, and he immediately went to the police station to report the case.

However, no matter how he said his daughter was filial and would never abandon them because of the burden of the family, the police said they could not find her because the child was an adult and could go anywhere.

He did not believe it.

After the mother died, he sold the things in the house and found his daughter's job. People here said she resigned, but he did not believe it. It seemed that something was guiding him, telling him that the child was not far away, but here.

He was uneducated and did not know how to find someone, so he used the most stupid method, walking through every corner.

For a whole year, he came to work the earliest and left work the latest. He worked seriously and did not miss any place. He walked through every corner of the building.

Finally, the heavens were merciful. A month ago during the rainy season, a guest came to the third floor with a puppy. The dog was running around on the terrace, and when it passed by the flowerbed, it suddenly barked at that place.

He was cleaning up the dog's urine at the time. When he heard the barking, his heart skipped a beat - he had looked everywhere, but he couldn't find her in the flowerbed. Could his daughter be... there?

After work in the evening, he stayed until the last, sneaked up to the third floor, and dug the flowerbed with his hands.

The soil in the flowerbed was half a meter high. He dug for a long time and found a hand bone.

The yellowed hand bone lay in his cracked palm, as if his daughter had escaped from the grave and held her father's hand again.