Skin - Chapter 80

　Chapter 80 – Lin Mai is being Threatened

　　After hanging up the phone, the girl said to Meng Zhao: “Officer Meng, it’s done. She said she’ll come over to take a look now.” After that, a trace of worry appeared on her face: “I lied to her like this, she won’t complain against me, right? Our salary is not high to begin with, and if it’s deducted again…”

　　”Don’t worry,” Meng Zhao said, “You are helping her. She won’t complain about you.”

　　”That’s not necessarily true. You’ve helped so many people, aren’t you being complained about now? The more I think about it, the angrier I get…” The girl said, sighed, and looked at Meng Zhao again, “Officer Meng, I’m just complaining. Don’t worry. Even if I lose my job, I will help you. I’m not a noble person, but at least I have a conscience. If you need anything in the future, just tell me.” The girl said sincerely.

　　”Thank you.” Meng Zhao thanked the girl solemnly.

　　A few minutes later, the woman walked over hurriedly with her head slightly lowered.

　　The receptionist stepped forward and led the woman to the conference room: “Hello, Ms. Lin, the electricity bill is checked in this conference room, you can go in and handle it.”

　　When the woman pushed the door open, she was stunned to see Meng Zhao and Lu Shichen in the meeting room. The receptionist closed the door and returned to her workstation.

　　”Ms. Lin, I’m so sorry,” Meng Zhao looked at her. “Considering that you and your son may have been threatened and your home may have been bugged, we had no choice but to use other means to invite you here. Please forgive us.”

　　The woman looked up at Meng Zhao, opened her mouth, and looked frightened and surprised, and couldn’t say anything for a moment.

　　”Sit down.” Meng Zhao pointed to the round table. The three of them sat down around the round table.

　　”Ms. Lin, please answer me again, where did your son go?” Meng Zhao looked at the woman opposite him, “If you don’t tell the truth, no one can save you and your son.”

　　The woman lowered her head and still said nothing.

　　There was a moment of silence in the room, and Meng Zhao spoke again to break the deadlock: “I guess the kidnappers are now threatening your son’s life, asking you to find the bag in exchange for him, right?”

　　The woman said nothing, but Meng Zhao could see that her eyes instantly turned red when she mentioned her son.

　　”Ms. Lin, strictly speaking, this group of people should not be called kidnappers, but a group of killers. You are also very clear about the purpose of their kidnapping of your son. It is not for money, but just for the bag of evidence left by Zhang Linqing. Do you think your son will come back if you hand over the things? Based on my understanding of this group of killers, after they get the things, not only will they not let your son go, they may also choose to kill him to silence him. Especially when they are not sure whether you really know what is in the bag, the possibility of taking action will be greater, after all, only dead people can bury all evidence.”

　　A few seconds later, a woman’s sobbing could be heard in the room. She raised her hand to cover her mouth, tears rolling down her cheeks: “Officer Meng, please save my son, I beg you…”

　　”What’s going on?” Meng Zhao looked at her solemnly, “Tell me the whole story first.”

　　In just a few seconds, the woman was already sobbing and finally spoke after a while: “Not long after you left yesterday, someone came to my house and knocked on the door. I was still looking for the bag in the house, and my son went to open the door…”

　　Based on the woman’s narration, Meng Zhao reconstructed the situation in his mind.

　　Boom boom boom.

　　There was a knock on the door. Lin Mai was bending over in the closet looking for the black handbag she had that year. When she heard the knock on the door, she asked loudly, “Who is it?”

　　”Police.” The man outside the door said in a deep voice.

　　”Wait a moment.”

　　Lin Mai was about to get up and open the door when she heard the sound of a chair rubbing against the floor in the next room. Her son got up and walked out, “Let me open it.”

　　Because she didn’t want his son to know what happened that year, Lin Mai immediately stood up and said as he walked out, “Officer Meng, the things haven’t been found yet. Tomorrow you…”

　　Before she finished speaking, she took a deep breath when she saw the scene in front of her.

　　Her son was being held in front of him by a strange man, with a sharp knife pointed at his carotid artery.

　　Seeing Lin Mai panicking and about to scream, the man lowered his voice and threatened, “Don’t make a sound! You must answer whatever I ask you, otherwise your son will die in front of you, understand?”

　　Lin Mai stared at his son in horror, immediately held his throat and nodded in panic.

　　”You just said that the thing hasn’t been found yet, so what did the police ask you to find?”

　　”It’s… a bag.” Seeing his son’s life in danger, Lin Mai didn’t dare to lie. “It’s the bag Zhang Linqing gave me before his death. That’s what they asked me to find…”

　　”What’s in the bag?”

　　”It’s a small black box. I don’t know what it is… This has nothing to do with my son,” Lin Mai pleaded helplessly, “Please let him go first. He doesn’t know anything…”

　　The man frowned and looked at her: “Don’t talk nonsense, go find it quickly, and give it to me when you find it, and your son will be fine.”

　　“Okay, okay,” Lin Mai was almost scared out of his wits, “I’ll find…”

　　The man coerced her son and followed her into the inner room. Seeing Lin Mai rummaging through the cabinet, he urged, “Hurry up! What does the bag look like?”

　　”A black cloth bag,” Lin Mai glanced at his son and gestured with his hands, “It’s about this size…”

　　”Hurry and find him.” The man once again put the knife to the young man’s neck and warned, “Don’t try to do anything bad, otherwise your son will die at any time.”

　　After he finished speaking, Lin Mai began to search the bedroom at home like crazy, crying and looking back at his terrified son who was being threatened. His spirit was on the verge of collapse.

　　A few minutes later, there was another knock on the door.

　　Boom boom boom.

　　Everyone in the room stopped moving at the same time.

　　”Go wash your face before you open the door,” the man looked at Lin Mai and lowered his voice, “pretend as if nothing happened. Once you’re exposed, you know what will happen to your son.”

　　Lin Mai nodded immediately.

　　She took several deep breaths as she walked to the door. For the sake of her son, she had to appear calm.

　　She opened the door and looked at the two young men outside: “Officer Meng, what’s wrong?”