Skin - Chapter 32

Chapter 32- Speculating

　　”Hey, I’m just working for someone else.” The HR manager put away the flattering smile on his face and asked, “Officer Meng, do you have any other questions?”

　　”Please provide us with Xu Yingying’s phone number and address.” Zhou Qiyang said.

　　Taking the note, Meng Zhao and Zhou Qiyang left Yunya Technology Company and drove to Xu Yingying’s home.

　　After getting into the car, Meng Zhao called his colleague at the Municipal Bureau and asked him to help check the records of Xu Yingying’s bank account.

　　”That CEO looked too young.” Zhou Qiyang spoke while driving, “Hey Brother Zhao, I think he looks a bit like your friend.”

　　”Which friend? Lu Shichen?”

　　”Yeah.”

　　”How are they similar?” Meng Zhao’s mind flashed with the deliberately emphasized style of ‘Boss Wu’ from a while ago. Although that guy was not bad looking, compared to Lu Shichen…

　　”Not even close.” Meng Zhao stated. Comparing the two, Lu Shichen looked naturally noble, while Boss Wu gave off an indescribable sense of deliberateness.

　　”Their temperaments are quite similar.” Zhou Qiyang said.

　　Meng Zhao glanced at him and asked, “How did you pass the city bureau recruitment interview with those observation skills?”

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　　Xu Yingying lived not far from the Yunya Technology Building, near the old site of Mingtan City Government. If Huaian District is the ‘rising star’ of Mingtan City, then Baoyue District is a long-lasting treasure.

　　It was Mingtan City’s most prosperous CBD square¹ and the place where the most lively nightlife gatheredm. Here, the housing prices were even higher than those of Yuhu Bay. Before the city bureau was moved, it was located in Baoyue District.

　　Xu Yingying lived on the 20th floor. When Zhou Qiyang knocked on the door, Meng Zhao walked to the window at the corner of the stairs and looked out. Compared to Huai’an District, which was under construction everywhere, the view at Baoyue District was obviously better.

　　One could imagine just how beautiful the night view would be when night falls and all the neon lights are turned on.

　　Meng Zhao inexplicably thought of Lu Shichen again. Why would Lu Shichen think of renting a house in Yuhu Bay? Of course, there was nothing wrong with Yuhu Bay. In the long run, it was close to the government and the municipal bureau, and public security was guaranteed. There was definitely no doubt about the development prospects and appreciation of space. But at present, the surrounding areas of Yuhu Bay were being demolished and rebuilt, and the construction noise was everywhere. From a high place, the new and old buildings intertwined, and the view was far inferior to the Baoyue District.

　　Could it be that the gaze that had been on him for weeks belonged to Lu Shichen? Unconsciously, the thought occurred to Meng Zhao.

　　”Brother Zhao, no one’s here.” Zhou Qiyang had been knocking on the door for a while. When he heard no movement in the room, he turned around and suggested to Meng Zhao, “Shall we go in and take a look?”

　　At that moment, Meng Zhao’s phone vibrated. The colleague he had contacted a while ago had called him. “Captain Meng, I found Xu Yingying’s bank card information. Since the 16th, there have been no changes in her accounts. I have sent the records to your phone. Take a look.”

　　After hanging up the call, Meng Zhao opened the account records of Xu Yingying sent to him by his colleague. Before the 16th, the account had large and small expenditures almost every day. But, since Xu Yingying stopped live streaming on the 16th, her account had gone dormant with no sign of change… Could it be that something had happened to Xu Yingying?

　　”Open it.” Meng Zhao looked up at Zhou Qiyang and said, “Let’s go in and take a look.”

　　Zhou Qiyang swiftly unlocked the door, and Meng Zhao followed him in.

　　The two-bedroom, one-living-room house was empty. Meng Zhao walked into Xu Yingying’s bedroom. The dressing table was filled with all kinds of cosmetics, some of which had even not been shut properly. It was obvious that Xu Yingying had put on makeup before going out.

　　”If she put on makeup before going out,” Zhou Qiyang speculated as he looked at the cosmetics, “then, could she have gone to meet her boyfriend?”

　　”Not necessarily,” Meng Zhao thought of Meng Ruoshu. Although she was sloppy and unkempt at home, she would still spend a few minutes in front of the mirror even when she went out to pick up a package. If she went out to hang out with her friends, it would not be surprising for her to spend an hour or two in front of the mirror.

　　For an anchor like Xu Yingying who faced the camera every day, it would be common for her to put on makeup before going out. But, this was really not a strong clue.

　　Meng Zhao walked around the room again but found no other clues.

　　Where had Xu Yingying gone? Had she disappeared like Xu Yulin did ten years ago? Or was she murdered like Zhou Yan? Meng Zhao realized that things were not that simple.

　　He called his colleague again: “I’ll send you a number. Please help me check the last few call records of this number.”

　　A few minutes later, the colleague sent Xu Yingying’s call records and the information of the call recipient.

　　Before Xu Yingying disappeared, the last person she spoke to was a man in his early 40s. According to the call records, Xu Yingying would talk to that man every now and then. After the 16th, there was no record of that number. There were other numbers trying to get in touch with Xu Yingying, but none of the calls were received.

　　Meng Zhao looked at Xu Yingying’s dressing table. Had Xu Yingying dressed up
carefully just to meet that man?

　　What was the relationship between that man and Xu Yingying? Were they a couple? It was not impossible for a 27-year-old girl to find a boyfriend in his early 40s… But there was one thing which seemed strange. After the 16th, that man had never called again. Did he know that Xu Yingying was missing?

　　Gao Hui. Meng Zhao looked at the name and swiped the screen to the address behind it.

　　According to the information, Gao Hui is 41 years old, currently divorced and single, and works as an executive at Qingtong Real Estate Company in Mingtan city.

　　”Have you found any other clues?” Meng Zhao looked at Zhou Qiyang who was still searching for clues in the room.

　　”There are no other clues,” Zhou Qiyang stood in front of the refrigerator, “All I can see is that Xu Yingying couldn’t have planned and disappeared. There’s also a half-cut watermelon in the refrigerator, and it’s all rotten now.”

　　”Let’s go,” Meng Zhao made a decision. “We’ll split up. I’ll go meet the man who last spoke to Xu Yingying. You go retrieve Xu Yingying’s taxi records, and then go to the address she was last seen at to get the surveillance video and see if you can find out where she went. Call me anytime if you have any news.”

　　Zhou Qiyang closed the refrigerator door: “Okay, Brother Zhao.”

Chapter 36

　　Qingtong Real Estate.

　　”Yes, I spoke to Xu Yingying on the phone on the 16th.” The man opposite was dressed in a suit and tie, well-maintained, and looked mature and steady.

　　Meng Zhao looked at the man opposite him and thought that if Xu Yingying found a boyfriend like him, it wouldn’t look too out of place. “Can you tell me the content of the call?”

　　”The content of the call…” The other party showed an apologetic smile, “It involves privacy, I think you cannot force me to tell you, right? What’s the matter, Officer Meng, did something happen to Xu Yingying?”

　　Few people refused to answer questions during police investigations. Meng Zhao speculated on the reason why the man in front of him avoided the question. After a few seconds, he did not answer the other party’s question, but asked another question instead, “Excuse me, are you and Xu Yingying in a relationship?”

　　”Well…I guess so.”

　　”Xu Yingying has been out of contact with you since the 16th. It has been almost a week today. Your girlfriend has been missing for such a long time, have you never thought of calling the police?”

　　The other party was silent for a few seconds, then laughed again: “Okay, Officer Meng, you are forcing me to tell the truth. Yingying and I are indeed not in a relationship, and we don’t meet often. As for what our relationship is, we are both adults. Officer Meng should understand without me having to explain it clearly.”

　　Meng Zhao asked bluntly: “Is it a financial relationship?”

　　”That’s not the case. We are men and women just getting what we need.”

　　The other party spoke in a high-sounding manner, and Meng Zhao understood it. To put it bluntly, Gao Hui and Xu Yingying were just friends with benefits.

　　”Now that we’ve come to this, Mr. Gao, there’s no need to hide the content of that day’s conversation, is that right?”

　　”Indeed,” the other party smiled, “Then I’ll be frank. I called Xu Yingying that day. The content of the call was actually that I wanted to end this relationship. The reason was… I found that she seemed to be dating another man. I couldn’t tolerate this kind of situation, so I just directly confronted her.”

　　”You haven’t seen Xu Yingying since then?”

　　”Well, she said on the phone that she wanted to come see me, but I was at the airport at the time and had to go on a business trip, so I asked her not to come to me and told her that we wouldn’t meet again in the future. Officer Meng, I’ve already told you the content of the call. Can you please tell me a little bit about what happened to Xu Yingying?”

　　”She’s missing.” Meng Zhao stated, observing the expression on the other person’s face.

　　The other person showed a surprised expression on his face: “Missing?”

　　”Well, the police are still investigating other situations.”

　　”Then if the investigation is complete, can you please let me know the results? If something happened to her because of my phone call…” The other party paused in the middle of his words, shook his head, and handed over a business card, “This is my business card. Please let me know if there is a result.”

　　”Okay.” Meng Zhao took the business card.

　　After coming out of Gao Hui’s office, Meng Zhao took out his mobile phone and looked at Xu Yingying’s call records again.

　　The final call lasted three and a half minutes. If the call was about a showdown to end the relationship, would it have been so short?

　　If such a kind of friends-with-benefits relationship were to end, was it easier than a romantic relationship? For the first time, Meng Zhao felt that his life experience was somewhat inadequate… Could it be that he should ask Lu Shichen for advice on this issue?

　　However, with Lu Shichen’s self-righteous scumbag method, it might not take three and a half minutes, instead half a minute would be more enough.

　　Meng Zhao called the bureau again and asked his colleagues to help check Gao Hui’s travel records on the 16th.

　　”He did take a plane to Wucheng that day. The flight was at 3pm on the 16th, and the trip lasted for three days.” A colleague told him on the phone.

　　”Got it.” Meng Zhao hung up the phone and looked through the messages he had not checked. About half an hour ago, Zhou Qiyang had sent him a file package.

　　【Brother Zhao, I have retrieved Xu Yingying’s taxi record. I am going to Wenzhao District to get the surveillance video now.】

　　Zhou Qiyang retrieved all the taxi records of Xu Yingying from the month before she disappeared. Meng Zhao opened the file and swiped the screen to browse through them. Judging from the distance she took taxis, Xu Yingying was a heavy user of the taxi app. She even took taxis for short trips of 800 meters. Her travel records were clear at a glance, mostly including shopping malls, restaurants and hotels.

　　Xu Yingying had clearly rented an expensive house in the city, and had checked into a hotel five times within one month… From this point of view, what Gao Hui said was somewhat credible. If the two were a couple, they probably wouldn’t have frequently visited an expensive hotel to do business.

　　Meng Zhao continued to scroll down, and when he saw the words 【Wen Yi Sanatorium】 written on the last itinerary, his finger paused.

　　He just ran into Lu Shichen at Wen Yi Sanatorium the previous day, and now he was seeing that location on the case file. It seemed too coincidental…

　　Meng Zhao drove to Wenzhao District and met up with Zhou Qiyang after more than 20 minutes.

　　”I’ve been running around all afternoon,” Zhou Qiyang opened the car door and got in. “I first went to the sanatorium to get the surveillance video of that day. The video showed that Xu Yingying entered the sanatorium at about 2:30 p.m. and left a little after 3:30 p.m. Then I asked for surveillance of the nearby streets. This is it,” Zhou Qiyang raised the hard drive in his hand. “Let’s go back and look for her frame by frame in the video to see where she went after leaving the sanatorium. I’ll probably have to stay up all night tonight… How’s it going over there, Brother Zhao? What did Gao Hui say?”

　　”He said that he and Xu Yingying were friends with benefits, and the content of the phone call was about ending the relationship, and he has not seen Xu Yingying since the 16th.”

　　”Is it credible?”

　　”It’s hard to say. He’s a company executive in his forties. He looks like a smart guy.” Meng Zhao unbuckled his seat belt and pushed open the car door. “You drive. I’ll check the surveillance video.”

　　”Okay.” Zhou Qiyang swiftly switched positions with Meng Zhao.

　　The car was on the road, and halfway through the journey, seeing that Meng Zhao had finished watching the surveillance video of the nursing home, Zhou Qiyang said: “I was just thinking, Brother Zhao, you said that the second attack on Zhou Yan, the one who induced Zhao Yunhua to kill and commit suicide, and the one who caused Xu Yingying’s disappearance, could it be that the same person did it? These three cases are all related to the school bullying incident from that year. Could it be that the murderer is trying to avenge Zhao Tong?”

　　Meng Zhao followed his train of thought and said, “If he wanted revenge, would he use Zhao Tong’s mother to do it? And he also induced her to commit suicide afterwards.”

　　”It’s possible. Didn’t Zhao Tong write in his diary at the beginning that he didn’t want to go to school, but Zhao Yunhua scolded him for being useless? Could it be that the murderer thought that Zhao Tong’s death was also caused by Zhao Yunhua?”

　　”That’s a possibility.” Meng Zhao thought for a moment and continued, “But if that’s the case, why did the murderer choose Zhou Yan as his first target of revenge? Judging from the content of that public account, the person who induced Zhao Yunhua to commit suicide was very clear about Zhou Yan’s role in the bullying incident. Why would he choose someone who had shown kindness to Zhao Tong as his first target of revenge?”

　　”Maybe the murderer thought that Zhou Yan was too close to the people who bullied Zhao Tong, and was a hypocritical and cowardly bystander. Although he helped Zhao Tong, he also condoned the development of the situation because of his silence.” Zhou Qiyang continued Meng Zhao’s words, “Moreover, the murderer targeted Zhou Yan as the first target, and used Zhao Yunhua to make a false case. Could it be that he wanted to reverse the matter again and again, so as to cause a public sensation and cause panic among other bullies… In this way, it can also explain why Xu Yingying was chosen as the second target. After all, Xu Yingying is a well-known live broadcaster, which can further intensify the panic. Brother Zhao, do you think what I said makes sense?”

　　Meng Zhao thought for a moment and said, “There are too many speculations about the murderer’s psychology. It’s a bit far-fetched.”

　　”What’s so far-fetched about that?” Zhou Qiyang was a little unconvinced. “It’s normal to conduct a psychological profile on the murderer. Brother Zhao, you are too opposed to psychological profiling.”

　　”I just want to ask you one thing,” Meng Zhao said, “According to your speculation, the murderer now wants to dig up this bullying case and make it a big deal to cause panic, but then, why did he paint the wall of Zhou Yan’s old home? What did he want to hide while uncovering this matter? Give me a profile.”

　　Now, Zhou Qiyang had nothing to say.

　　”Profiling is not a bad idea, but it’s a bit too arbitrary to directly identify the murderer’s purpose as revenge for Zhao Tong. If we reverse the case based on a wrong conclusion, we may deviate farther away. This is how false cases and wrongful convictions are caused. Just follow the evidence step by step, don’t be too hasty.”

　　Zhou Qiyang sighed: “But the deeper we dig into this case, the more clues there are. It was originally just a murder case, but now it involves two missing persons cases which are ten years apart. Why do I feel like there is no end in sight…”

　　”That only means that we don’t have enough evidence.” Meng Zhao said calmly.

　　After saying that, Zhou Qiyang sighed and concentrated on driving.

　　Meng Zhao fell into another kind of thinking. Just now, when the conversation came to the issue of ‘digging’ and ‘hiding’, he suddenly realized the strangeness of the case. It was obvious that the mastermind who bullied Zhao Tong had been doing public relations with the media and appeasing his accomplices over the years, all with the goal of completely hiding the bullying case. But the article sent by the murderer to Lu Yang exposed the truth behind the bullying in a very provocative way… Could it be that the murderer went to great lengths to dig out this bullying incident in order to avenge Zhao Tong? What was the connection between that person and Zhao Tong…?

　　Meng Zhao reached out and lowered the window to let the wind in. The many clues of the case were tangled together in his mind, making him feel three times more overwhelmed.

　　The car drove to the traffic light in front of the Municipal Bureau. Meng Zhao blinked and saw a familiar figure standing across the intersection.

　　Across the intersection, Lu Shichen was standing on the side of the road, seemingly waiting for someone.

　　‘Are you waiting for me?’ Meng Zhao pulled himself away from thinking about the case and couldn’t help but think of this.

　　Lu Shichen lowered his head slightly, as if he was deep in thought about something. He looked out of place with the people passing by him, as if he belonged to another world.

　　For some reason, he was feeling a little annoyed about the case, but the moment she saw Lu Shichen, the annoyance suddenly disappeared.

Glossary:

CBD – Stands for Central Business District, which is the commercial and business center of a city. It typically includes offices and commercial space.

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T/L NOTE:

It’s getting more interesting~

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