Directly ahead was a wall, covered with a corkboard, which was entirely filled with photos pinned up with thumbtacks.
Li Li, Liu iling, Zhang Fangfang, Xu Qingquan, Xu Qingshu, Kong Wanshan, Li Li’s nanny Liu Zhen, Xu Qingshu’s two children, even these people’s vehicles, residences, companies, training classes, parents, colleagues, and so on.
One could say that these hundreds of photos encompassed all information about these nine individuals. Even next to the photos, there were printed slips of paper with detailed notes on them, such as hobbies and allergies, who was related to whom and how, connected by lines, unimaginably thorough.
But upon closer inspection, you would notice many holes in the board, and a box of used thumbtacks lay discarded on the floor.
Xu Dayuan stared at the corkboard, examining it thoroughly.
"Have you noticed what’s missing from here?"
"Plans, various tilines of plans, pictures of baked goods, although they are above Li Li’s head, they lack detail. This has been ticulously cleaned, and by the looks of it, not too long ago. One misstep leads to many; we really should’ve collected her blood sample early on for comparison," Liu Yongxin said, rubbing his chin.
Zhou Ning gazed at the corkboard and waved Mr. Zhao over.
"You all check inside, if I’m not mistaken, this place is her base of operations, surveillance, analysis, strategizing, everything was done from here. From what she sees now, perhaps the plan is complete..."
As he spoke, Zhou Ning hesitated. Why did he use the term "complete the plan"?
Zhang Fangfang was still around, taken under police protection. Xu Qingshu’s two children were within the police’s sight as well, an early warning would have been issued if there was danger. Kong Wanshan was right outside, as for Xu Qingshu, her situation was truly unknown.
Then what about Shi Yun, no, now called Zhong Xiaoyan, how did she co to know the police’s progress?
Before Zhou Ning could speak, Xu Dayuan had already dialed a number on his phone.
"Did you pick up the two children?"
"Picked up, they’re on the police car. We also asked the school teachers if anyone approached the children, showed them Zhong Xiaoyan’s photo too. They said she looked familiar, and that she likely picked up the children."
Xu Dayuan breathed a sigh of relief.
"Alright, hurry and bring the kids back. What about Xu Qingshu?"
Mr. Bai paused, his voice faltering.
"When I went to Xu Qingshu’s place, only the nanny was ho. I thought you had sent soone for her, so I didn’t ask. Do you need to look for this person, chief?"
"No need, bring the children straight back to the station. Your job is to ensure the little ones are safe,"
Xu Dayuan hastened downstairs after hanging up the call, where he imdiately beckoned Fang Mu and Liu Yufei over. He kept dialing Xu Qingshu’s number on his phone, but the female voice on the other end inford him that the call was unreachable, either powered off or out of the service area.
Listening to the sound from Xu Dayuan’s phone, both of them looked serious.
"What’s wrong, boss?"
"Xu Qingshu is missing, not at ho, nor did she go to pick up the kids. I’m imdiately having Mr. Qu check the surveillance caras. You two split up and search any places she might go, make sure your phones are reachable," Xu Dayuan instructed.
Fang Mu’s expression fell, flustered.
"Boss, Xu Qingshu is just a housewife, her days are spent picking up kids, buying groceries, cooking, and occasionally looking after Xu Qingquan. Now she’s not with the kids, not at ho, and you’ve already checked the hospital first. I’m afraid things don’t bode well for Xu Qingshu. We should focus on capturing Zhong Xiaoyan," he said.
Liu Yufei nodded.
"Fang Mu is right. I’ll have soone take Kong Wanshan and check the hos of all Xu Qingshu’s known relatives and friends. Has there been any news of a layout from Peng Da’s side?"
Xu Dayuan shook his head.
Just then, Mr. Zhao ca running up to the first floor, out of breath, signaling to Xu Dayuan.
"Boss, co have a look downstairs, we’ve found a lot of monitors and a computer. Mr. Qu says these devices are quite advanced, even higher grade than his own equipnt; they’ve got everything from surveillance to wiretapping.
Mr. Qu restored the system briefly and found so residual traces. According to the markings, this place once monitored multiple mobile phones and landlines. Of course, there are also a few wiretapping devices with no listed users, so it’s impossible to guess. We’re currently compiling all the information," Mr. Zhao reported.
On hearing this, everyone hurriedly rushed downstairs.
Upon seeing the corkboard wall, Liu Yufei and Fang Mu’s eyes widened in disbelief. After all, this setup held more detailed information than their departnt’s case eting whiteboards. Only soone who has worked such cases knew how difficult and ti-consuming such ticulous groundwork was.
Circling around the corkboard wall, the scene that presented itself was even more astounding - a wall of monitors with seven or eight computers below, and a large pile of tal boxes on the desk. Xu Dayuan had no idea what these were, but the equipnt looked far more professional than what Mr. Qu and his team used.
"In the recovered files, is there anything particular?"
Mr. Qu nodded.
"Director Xu, I found that among the people she was surveilling, there’s even Zhang Ping. As for the volu of deleted files, it’s substantial. The suspect formatted all the computers when leaving the room. I’m now gradually restoring them; the fastest one is 80% complete and the slowest one, 41%. I’ve taken a look at the content.
In these audio materials, according to the categorization within the folders, several people’s phones were bugged. This device is so much more advanced than the one Yi Xiaou used in the Jingkou District arson case on June 29, by countless tis - it could be called beginner-level spy gear.
How should I explain this so you can understand? I can do so of the restoration, but in terms of using these devices, as well as expertise in surveillance and tracking, she’s far better than I. What I can see depends entirely on what she wanted to leave behind. Do you understand what I an?"
Xu Dayuan squinted his eyes, while Zhou Ning spoke up first:
"You’re saying, Zhong Xiaoyan is a pro. She deliberately left parts that are ti-consuming and require effort to recover, as a purposeful act to slow down our investigation, to buy her ti to escape?"
Mr. Qu nodded, but Zhou Ning shook his head and said:
"You’re thinking too much. Zhong Xiaoyan isn’t soone who ever thought about escaping. These traces she left are just to show her capabilities, which ans ’I intend to wipe clean all traces; none of you should even think about catching .’
Mr. Qu looked puzzled.
"Soone who never thought about escaping, what do you an by that, Chief? Isn’t Zhong Xiaoyan currently a suspect?"
Zhou Ning nodded emphatically.
"Exactly right, Zhong Xiaoyan is currently just a suspect, but our evidence isn’t complete. We can only use Xu Qingquan’s statent to prove that Zhong Xiaoyan might have been at the scene of the traffic accident and checked whether the people in the car were dead.
As for anything else, Mr. Yang is collecting DNA evidence, which will take five or six hours to yield results. Regarding the traffic accident, she made an illegal overtake, and there were no brake marks left by her at the scene of the crash, nor did she collide with either car. The footage from the surveillance caras didn’t catch anything - how can you prove that Zhong Xiaoyan is the killer?"
Mr. Qu was stunned, then shook his head after a mont’s thought.
"On the way here, Mr. Zhao ntioned that the vehicle involved in the hit-and-run might have headed west towards an unmonitored side road. As for where it rged back onto the main road, that’s uncertain. After all, there are construction sites everywhere for building overpasses, making it hard to judge.
Also, I searched Zhong Xiaoyan’s license plate number and it didn’t appear in the vicinity. However, one person’s car was spotted in the early morning of September 2 on a section of the Huanwan Expressway. I captured images from the surveillance footage. Although you can’t see the whole picture, you can tell the driver is a woman, very slender, not very tall, wearing a white short-sleeved T-shirt with dark pants or a skirt below, but her face is unclear."
Zhou Ning and Liu Yongxin exchanged looks, both exclaiming simultaneously:
"It’s not Zhang Fangfang’s plate number, is it?"
Mr. Qu nodded and quickly retrieved the screenshot.
"This is the image I captured. You can see that the vehicle’s driver is female, thin, doesn’t sit very high, wearing a white short-sleeve t-shirt, and dark pants or a skirt below, but the face is indistinct."
"Try using the facial recognition system to analyze and see whether this person is more likely to be Zhong Xiaoyan or Zhang Fangfang."
"I did the comparison. Since only the lower jaw is visible, and the person’s mouth is not open, plus the hair is unkempt, one has a similarity of 49% and the other 50%. After all, what’s visible is the least distinctive part of the face."
That puzzled Zhou Ning. Xu Dayuan took out a cigarette, thought better of lighting it, and said with furrowed brows.
"I have a feeling that this revenge isn’t over yet. After all, there are still two people involved in the original incident who haven’t been punished, and she’s now achieved the perfect cri. If she kidnapped Xu Qingshu, then she’s no longer concerned about Zhang Fangfang? This isn’t like her."
Zhou Ning shook his head, pointing to a photo in front of Mr. Qu, and said:
"Not that she’s unconcerned. First, there are only two people who use this niche brand perfu, as Xu Qingquan ntioned; one is Zhong Xiaoyan, the other went out and bought the sa brand after slling it on Xu Qingquan, which is Zhang Fangfang. He suspects Zhong Xiaoyan because of the scar on her finger seen at the scene of the accident;
Second, after Xu Qingquan’s DNA was checked and he was taken back to Qindao, they chose a stretch without surveillance during the trip, using the ti difference to cross at the junction of vehicles and thus trigger this accident. Still, this is just Xu Qingquan’s testimony.
Furthermore, as to how the car accident will be classified, further investigation is needed because both the truck and the police car could be suspected of speeding. Regarding the car that overtook the police car in the sa direction, it was also speeding but didn’t have an accident with the other two vehicles. There were no traces left at the scene, so it can’t be proven;
On the early morning of September 2, Zhang Fangfang’s car appeared at the cri scene, also on the Huanwan Expressway; the sa perfu, I don’t know whether Zhang Fangfang has any injuries on her hands. If she does, wouldn’t all suspicions fall on Zhang Fangfang? Could this be considered a kind of revenge?
Additionally, the DNA found in Liu iling’s autopsy must be compared with all the females involved, and we must check the outside of all the won’s little fingers for cuts. As for Xu Qingshu, if she was taken by Zhong Xiaoyan, I’ve thought of a place."
Liu Yongxin and Xu Dayuan both looked at Zhou Ning with hopeful faces, asking:
"Where?"
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