Walking through the courtyard, they headed straight for the criminal police brigade ahead, where the most westerly room seed to be a eting room. Smoke drifted continuously out of the two open doors, giving the impression of clouds and mist swirling about, and the sound of phone calls echoed from within.
There was no need to ask; this was definitely the brigade’s eting room, where all the mbers of the special case team should be.
Upon reaching the entrance of the eting room, Cao Pingzhang was already choking and rushed in to open the windows, waving his wrists incessantly.
Zhou Ning looked around and saw that most of the people inside had a similar appearance: hair disheveled, eyes red, dark circles under weary eyes. But despite their fatigue, the tone of their phone calls was light and their actions quick and agile.
Mr. Huang saw Zhou Ning and his group and quickly stood up, gesturing with his hands.
"What brings you all here?"
Without answering, Zhou Ning walked up to Mr. Huang and Mr. Qu.
"The dical reports have co out, and our analysis has just concluded. I thought I should check on your progress here. After all, I consulted with dical professionals, so perhaps I could help you narrow down the search."
Mr. Huang’s delight was evident, and he hastily waved for everyone to find a seat.
"Mr. Qu has helped us screen these over one thousand five hundred pregnant won. Seventy were filtered out during prenatal screening and received treatnt in obstetrics, and three had problematic test results but didn’t seek further treatnt. We’ve contacted those three—they had gone to the provincial city.
As for the remaining seventy, we’re calling each one to verify their status and, based on their addresses, we plan to visit each of them in person. This is a large workload, but having a clear direction energizes everyone. The past few days have been frustrating for them."
Zhou Ning smiled; he understood their feelings well. After all, having worked with Xu Dayuan for two years, he had experienced many such awkward monts. When they were buzzing around without direction, it was most distressing. But having a clear objective, they actually felt much more settled. A bit of busyness and fatigue was of little concern.
"Have there been any unusual calls? I an, ones not answered by the person herself or where the pregnant woman can’t be reached for now, or even when a eting is arranged, the other party tries to avoid it?"
Mr. Qu looked at Mr. Huang. It was clear that Mr. Huang was unaware of any issue, given the sheer number of people and the chaotic situation making it difficult to single out any problems. Their accents were quite distinct, each speaking with a thick Dayao accent, which was quite indecipherable.
Zhou Ning’s question clearly made Mr. Huang puzzled.
"We’ve just been instructing to confirm the current status with seven assigned individuals each by phone, then register the address and visit them tomorrow to verify. We only said it was a follow-up with the doctor, and didn’t dare say more. We couldn’t risk saying it’s from the criminal police; if sothing went wrong, it would be hard to explain."
Indeed, Huang Youdao’s concerns were not superfluous. After all, judging by the months the deceased had been pregnant, so of the won in question were likely already in labor, if not having given birth. Hearing of an investigation into a dismbernt case would definitely cause an uproar.
"Mr. Huang’s experience shows. Well then, let’s get in touch. That’s a good excuse. I’m not sure if there are any pregnant won living in the village near that industrial park, what’s it called?"
Cao Pingzhang leaned in hurriedly.
"Renhe Industrial Park, mostly light industrial enterprises. To my knowledge, quite a few are high-pollution factories. They’ve been sowhat overlooked in the pursuit of economic developnt. There was an incident involving cent dust pneumoconiosis from a cent factory within the industrial park.
We checked, and there are several glass lampshade factories in Renhe Industrial Park. These factories are right next to three villages—Qitai Village One, Two, and Three. Director Zhou suggests we pay close attention if there are any pregnant won living there and conduct a thorough investigation."
Mr. Huang realized the significance and imdiately raised his hand, signaling the detectives who were making phone calls. They too, having heard the discussion, hung up their phones.
"Everyone check the information you have, to see if there’s anyone registered as living in Qitai Village One, Two, or Three, or if their household registrations are there. You’ve all searched and allocated the nas from the system, so quickly have a look."
As he finished speaking, a burly detective stood up and shook a list.
"I’ve got two people on my list whose identities and household registration information I searched: one has her husband’s ho in Qitai Village One, the other has her parents’ ho in Qitai Village Three. However, the registered addresses for both are in the city."
Mr. Huang quickly added:
"That’s how it generally is locally. The older generation doesn’t like living in the city. In fact, these villages hardly have any farmland. They’re completely surrounded by the industrial park, yet the villagers are still used to their local environnt. But generally, young people buy houses in the city when they get married."
Zhou Ning nodded in understanding, as this practice was much like Qidong before it was divided into districts. However, after the division, housing prices jumped overnight, and those considering buying a house had to think twice.
Glancing at his watch, Zhou Ning saw it was 17:12. It should be the ti when people working regular hours were finishing up for the day. The hos of the won on the list should have soone present, as according to this ti, so might have already given birth or were close to labor. It wouldn’t be appropriate to visit suddenly, especially since he was a police officer.
But Zhou Ning couldn’t say that. If Xu Dayuan were standing in front of him, he could have spoken without reservation. Seeing Zhou Ning’s movent, Liu Yongxin approached, understanding the situation without further question. He smiled at Huang Youdao:
"Mr. Huang, this ti slot is perfect for visiting hos since people are likely to be there. Any earlier or later wouldn’t be suitable. I think we don’t necessarily have to wait until tomorrow to start checking. We can go check these two households right now to speed up the process. As for the remaining seventy-plus people, we might as well visit each of them and verify their identities with their ID cards to ensure there are no slip-ups."
Mr. Huang laughed. He wouldn’t mind working 24 hours straight if it ant cracking the case; he was willing to endure any hardship to solve it.
"My apologies for not making things clear earlier and causing you to worry. I’ve already contacted the largest third-grade hospital in Dayao City and asked them to dispatch obstetrics and gynecology staff to join our investigation. There are about twenty of them, and they will pair up with our teams to begin door-to-door questioning of these seventy-plus households."
Upon hearing this, a realization dawned on everyone, and soone approached holding up a cellphone.
"Mr. Huang, the hospital staff have arrived. Shall we go down now?"
With a wave of his hand, Mr. Huang signaled all the people in the eting room to stand up; they were already organized into groups, waiting for instructions.
Mr. Huang scanned the room and pointed to Zhou Ning and his group:
"I’ve brought in the experts, and we’ve found so leads. You all know how important this case is. I won’t say more. Each of you, according to the list assigned, must thoroughly check every household. First, make sure the pregnant won’s information matches what you have on your police tablets. Second, have the doctors examine and verify again. Third, and most importantly, if a pregnant woman is not ho or has gone out, you must set up a video call. If the video call fails, contact on the spot. That will be the focus of our investigations. Understood?"
"Understood!"
The voices of everyone in the eting room echoed powerfully, and each person was eager to get to work, ready to exert their efforts in the field. Zhou Ning glanced around but did not see Mr. Wu, wondering where he might be.
At that mont, Mr. Huang gestured with his hand.
"One last thing before you all head out. When you visit these won who are pregnant or may have just given birth, keep your voices down and be gentle. Let the doctors and nurses lead so as not to frighten them. Now, let’s move out!"
The group quickly dispersed from the eting room, leaving only Zhou Ning, his team, and Mr. Huang. Mr. Huang slapped Zhou Ning’s arm appreciatively.
"Thanks for your hard work, Director Zhou. Let’s wait together for further news. The tech departnt is still filtering through the surveillance footage; it’s a ti-consuming process because there are quite a few bridges. Soone will bring boxed als soon. I won’t beat around the bush with you—this case is pressing, and we’re willing to burn the midnight oil. That’s not a problem, right?"
Hearing Mr. Huang speak, Zhou Ning actually breathed a sigh of relief.
"I’m here to be part of the taskforce; it’s normal to be busy. By the way, I haven’t seen Mr. Wu. He’s gone to investigate in Qitai Villages One, Two, and Three, or to check out the bridges along the 23.4-kiloter route. If he is checking the bridges, we’d also like to go and take a look. After all, we are more professional when it cos to searching for traces."
Mr. Huang was imnsely grateful. According to Cao Pingzhang’s words, they had many contacts at the provincial office and frequently interacted with ’experts.’ To et soone as active and enthusiastic as this was a first for Mr. Huang.
"Alright, I won’t stand on ceremony either—it’s not our style to be pretentious. Wu Chunming has gone to investigate Renhe Industrial Park and will also visit the three villages. Let’s head out now and go look at these bridges, shall we?"
Zhou Ning nodded, taking the map printout from Mr. Zhao. The map had a line drawn on it, and several bridges were marked with star symbols.
"There were seven bags, each weighing at least fifteen jin. The guardrails on the bridge are high; you have to lift the bags high to avoid tearing them. Otherwise, the bodies would be easily discovered. Let’s go against the flow and check each bridge, shall we?"
"Right, let’s go!"
...
17:44
The group headed west, arriving in front of the second bridge, Cuizhao Bridge.
They didn’t stop at the first bridge, Quetian Bridge, because it was right at the entrance to the ancient town, flanked by squares, with a huge spotlight above. A place like that wouldn’t be used to dispose of a body, so they headed straight to the second bridge.
On seeing this bridge, Mr. Zhao sighed and turned to look at Zhou Ning.
"Zhou Xiaozhou, are we going down?"
Zhou Ning nodded, understanding Mr. Zhao’s point. The bridge was narrow, with just a two-lane road, and the guardrails on either side featured an antique loop-shaped pattern made of tal, freshly painted in bright red.
The group got out of their cars, and as Zhou Ning walked to the east side of the bridge and raised his hand, he found that the guardrail ca just below his armpit. With Zhou Ning standing at 184 centiters, the guardrail was about 160 centiters high. Based on earlier analysis, the killer wasn’t a tall person; surely they wouldn’t be tossing bodies off bridges with a ladder or stool in hand?
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