Chapter 19: 19 Chapter 18

◎A New Missing Person◎

Xu Jinyao’s just-closed eyes opened again, but this time with a hint of confusion in them.

Catching someone and bringing them back to the Bureau had only happened a few hours ago. To avoid the reporters, they’d made a point not to enter through the main entrance on the way back. She was certain that at this very moment, no information whatsoever could be found online.

But from Xia Xun’s tone, these words were clearly not a bluff meant to test her. She seemed to genuinely know.

“How did you find out?” she asked.

Xia Xun said mysteriously: “You know about intelligence networks, right? You guys have them, and so do we detectives. This case has stirred up such a commotion lately. It’s not just the Lan City police watching; others are watching too. Tell me, Great Detective Xu… with so many eyes staring, can information really not leak out?”

Xu Jinyao now understood why the bookstore had broken its usual pattern to operate at this hour.

Someone knew she would come, so they deliberately waited for her arrival.

“So, what you’re saying is, your intelligence network is pretty impressive?” Xu Jinyao shifted her gaze, looking off into the distance.

Xia Xun followed her line of sight: “No matter how impressive, naturally, it can’t compare to the police.”

Xu Jinyao gave a cold hum, remaining silent for a long while before she spoke: “You were wrong before. That wasn’t a keycard for the underground casino.”

A few hours ago, the Crime Scene Investigation Unit had sent back a report. The keycard retrieved from the Forensics Department had failed to be recognized. The elevator door in the secret passage had not opened. After the technical staff read the data on the keycard’s chip, they found it to be damaged and unusable.

Afterwards, the technical staff also read the keycard seized from the arrested man’s person and cloned a completely identical copy. However, as soon as it was placed against the glass panel inside the passage, the chip in the card would immediately be disabled again.

Because the conditions inside the elevator couldn’t be confirmed, the Crime Scene Investigation Unit hadn’t acted rashly for the time being.

As of right now, all members of the Special Task Force were waiting for the analysis report from the Spatial Detection Unit. Only once that report came out could they map out the entire structure of the underground casino and formulate a capture plan.

Xia Xun said nothing, nor did she look surprised.

She had known about the keycard matter earlier. As for the chip failing, that was news to her.

Xu Jinyao withdrew her gaze and looked at her: “Are you still not planning to tell the truth?”

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about.” Xia Xun blinked.

“You don’t understand?” Xu Jinyao sneered. “If you truly don’t understand, you wouldn’t have deliberately given yourself away from the very start, drawing the police’s attention. You clearly knew about the underground casino long ago, but you keep leading me in circles. On the surface, it seems like you’re trying to clear yourself of suspicion, but it’s not that at all, is it?”

Xia Xun’s legs had gone numb from crouching. She braced herself on the chair and slowly stood up: “Then what do you think my objective is?”

“If I’m not mistaken, you guiding the police to uncover the underground casino was meant to divert attention and confuse the identity of the serial case’s True Culprit.”

“Why would I do that? What benefit does that bring me?”

“I don’t know, but I believe that since you know about the underground casino, perhaps you also know who the True Culprit of the serial case is.”

Xia Xun shook her head with a smile, her tone rather helpless: “Things without evidence, it’s best if the Officer doesn’t make wild guesses.”

Xu Jinyao’s gaze traveled down from top to bottom, sizing up the person before her.

Xia Xun, wearing slippers, was about the same height as her. Since their reunion, no matter how hot the weather got, she always wore long sleeves and long pants. Even when she rolled up her sleeves from the heat, she only ever exposed her wrists at most, as if afraid to show even a sliver more flesh.

Perhaps due to years of staying up at night and sleeping during the day, her skin could be described as fair—not the rosy-white kind of fairness, but a pallid, ashen white like A4 paper stacked in a corner.

Even her lip color was paler than most people’s.

She looked like a patient, a terminally ill one at that. Only under direct sunlight did she seem somewhat normal.

Still, that face hadn’t changed much from before. The only difference was that her eyes weren’t as bright anymore. The corners of her mouth naturally curved upwards when she wasn’t smiling, yet it looked eerie. The dark circles around her eyes were like natural eyeshadow, making her gaze seem even deeper.

Back then, Xu Jinyao had loved her eyes the most, because when sunlight shone into them, they looked like glass amber. And from a young age, she had always loved those kinds of crystal-clear things. So it was predestined that she would fall for Xia Xun.

Unfortunately, no matter how beautiful those eyes were, now they only filled her with disgust.

“Are you so sure I don’t have evidence?” Xu Jinyao frowned. “If I do, would you dare admit it?”

Xia Xun pounded her stiff thighs a few times and smiled: “If the Officer had evidence, wouldn’t I be on my way to the police station by now?”

Xu Jinyao stared into her eyes for a long while, not continuing the conversation.

Xia Xun smiled again: “Looks like I’ve let the Officer down once more.”

Xu Jinyao suddenly stood up and grabbed Xia Xun’s wrist tightly: “Where is the keycard that the courier delivered yesterday afternoon?”

The grip on her wrist was neither too light nor too heavy, just enough to leave a red mark on the fair skin. Xia Xun frowned and tried to pull back: “What are you talking about?”

“That courier has already confessed. The item was definitely in your hands.”

Xia Xun’s brow was tightly furrowed: “I told you, there was only a glass bottle in the box. I sniffed it and fainted. You know everything that happened afterwards. Now you suddenly start talking about some keycard—I honestly have no idea what you mean.”

“Stop pretending!” Xu Jinyao increased the pressure on her wrist. “From the investigation so far, you’ve been the one pulling the strings behind the scenes the entire time. Do you really think I haven’t noticed anything?”

Xia Xun opened her mouth, suppressing her voice. Ignoring the pain in her wrist, she continued explaining: “I really never took any keycard. If you don’t believe me, go ahead and search. I stand firm against any false accusations.”

Xu Jinyao stared at her silently, suddenly detecting a faint tremor. She looked down and realized it was Xia Xun’s hand trembling slightly.

She released her grip and said coldly: “Why are you shaking?”

Xia Xun offered an awkward smile: “You scared me.”

“Are you truly not lying?”

“I swear I’m not. I can take a deadly oath. If I…”

Xu Jinyao cut her off: “Forget it.”

The fingers Xia Xun had just raised dropped back down.

Before leaving, Xu Jinyao warned her in a low voice: “You’d better not let me get my hands on evidence, or you’ll be the first one I arrest.”

Xia Xun made a clumsy salute: “Rest assured, Officer.”

–

Two hours later, Xu Jinyao was woken by her mobile phone ringing. It was Du Chang.

Rushing to the Municipal Police Bureau, Du Chang was already waiting at the main entrance.

“Captain Xu, Captain Xu, aside from those currently out on field duty, the rest are already waiting in the conference room. Let’s hurry upstairs.”

Entering the conference room, over ten core members were seated around the table. They all turned their heads.

Xu Jinyao nodded slightly at them, then sat down in the central seat: “Let’s begin.”

The Special Task Force was divided into different sub-units, each responsible for distinct investigation tasks. Therefore, regular meetings were necessary to cross-report the real-time progress of each investigation, ensuring every member understood the others’ situations and preventing the investigation direction from going astray.

There wasn’t supposed to be a meeting today, but during the three hours Xu Jinyao had gone back to rest, both the Screening Team and the Crime Scene Investigation Unit had made new progress.

Du Chang felt the clues found by both sides were critical, so he immediately contacted Xu Jinyao. After receiving a definitive confirmation, he quickly organized the heads of all units for an emergency meeting.

The first to report was the leader of the Screening Team.

“The cleaning lady from the bar we located a few days ago—we learned from her the appearances of all previous cleaners. Through sketch comparison and identification checks, we found that every single one of those cleaners who quit after only a few days on the job is, without exception, currently listed as a missing person.”

This was indeed an important lead.

Xu Jinyao nodded, gesturing for the team member to continue.

Photos of the missing persons were projected onto the screen, along with the last surveillance footage captured before their disappearances.

“Through analysis and comparison, we quickly discovered that the last place these missing cleaners were seen was almost always near the Underground Bar. Judging by the appearance, age, and final known location of the missing persons, we can confirm that the reason for their disappearance is heavily tied to that bar.”

“These women were all aged between 30 and 40, all unmarried and childless. Each had a professional job relevant to their field, not struggling for money. Why would they go work as cleaners?” Xu Jinyao asked.

The team member said: “We asked the missing persons’ families about that, and they said they weren’t sure. But that cleaning lady told us that the monthly base pay at the bar was around ten thousand, and during peak times, it could be several tens of thousands. The work is easy and the hours flexible. Many women in this age bracket face the threat of being laid off. I believe these missing persons were likely lured there by the promise of a high salary.”

Xu Jinyao looked puzzled: “Then why was only that oldest cleaning lady kept on?”

The team member was stumped by the question. Others also started murmuring, discussing the matter in low voices.

One person spoke up hesitantly: “Captain Xu, do you think it’s because that cleaning lady’s looks and figure were just too plain, so no one targeted her?”

Xu Jinyao shook her head: “I’ve met her in person. With a little dressing up, she wouldn’t look any different from those missing persons.”

“Then could it be that the Bar Manager thought she was more competent?”

Xu Jinyao still shook her head: “The cleaning work at this bar is extremely simple. Work ability simply isn’t a factor.”

So what was the reason?

For a moment, no one had an answer.

However, this clue from the Screening Team was very crucial. It also cleared up some doubts Xu Jinyao had previously: why the bar was constantly hiring cleaners, and why the Manager never knew the new cleaners. Because ‘cleaner’ was nothing but a complete and utter front.

The second unit to report was the Crime Scene Investigation Unit.

“The overall structure of the secret passage has been fully surveyed. Here is a structural simulation map.”

The image on the screen switched to a floor plan.

“The foremost passageway is an air vent, connecting to the Underground Parking Lot. The glass panel next to it is actually a Fingerprint Scanner. Only individuals with pre-recorded data can successfully gain access. After scanning confirmed that no Self-Destruct Device was installed inside the elevator, we forcefully opened the elevator doors and determined that the elevator leads to the Parking Lot.”

Definitely an exit point! Xu Jinyao thought to herself.