Police officer Chen Shu

Chapter 397 Discovering clues
Criminal Investigation Brigade of Zhengming District.

Left behind by Chen Shu and the others, Li Meng sat in his messy office, getting angrier and angrier. Usually so busy he was practically running around, but now he wasn't paying any attention to work at all, and had been sulking with himself for most of the day.

In the end, he found a reason to convince himself to settle down and start working. Using the information he obtained from Chen Chuan's statement during the day, Li Meng successfully obtained Sister Hua's personnel information and call records from the public security intranet.

After reviewing a bunch of call logs from before she went missing, Li Meng calmed down and began to investigate one by one all the people who had recently contacted Sister Hua.

An hour later, Li Meng leaned back in her office chair in disappointment.

“During the period of the incident, Sister Hua’s call records were extremely scarce. All the numbers could withstand scrutiny and analysis, and the owners of the numbers did not have the means to commit the crime. From the communication records, we could not obtain any useful clues.”

Li Meng vigorously wiped her face, then picked up the mouse again and opened another system on the intranet. She began searching through the food delivery records, hotel registrations, and courier station records associated with Sister Hua, but still found nothing.

According to standard case-handling procedures, at this moment, we should directly check all video surveillance footage on Lianhua Road and all video surveillance footage from hotels and guesthouses on the street, based on the time of Hua Jie's disappearance.

However, this kind of investigation work, which involves reviewing surveillance footage, is extremely time-consuming and manpower-intensive. Since it is not a major criminal case, even as the deputy captain, he cannot arbitrarily use the already scarce police force.

Li Meng frowned as she looked at the thick stack of case information she had just printed out. After thinking it over, she finally took out her phone and called several of her most senior and capable subordinates into her office.

Li Meng casually placed her hands on the table and said, "It's been a while since I've handled a case, and I'm a bit stuck. It's not really a big case, I just called you over to ask you a few questions."

"Li Da, please tell us. We will answer everything we know."

"That's strange, there's something you don't know, Li Da?"

"Li Da, you're not trying to test us, are you?"

The crowd chimed in, their voices brimming with the undeniable confidence of the detectives.

Li Meng touched her nose noncommittally and asked, "Where do you think those high-end girls and escorts get their business? No, I mean, where do they conduct their transactions?"

During the day, while in the troop carrier, Li Meng was still bothered by the "homestay" that Chen Shu had mentioned as a powerful tool for selling drugs.

"A budget hotel, please."

"Yes, yes, it's similar to those roadside hotels."

"High-end? Does that count as something in a car?"

This answer was not ideal. Li Meng interrupted their discussion, took out her phone, called in several young police officers from the brigade, and repeated the same question.

The conclusion reached was the same, and Li Meng frowned without saying a word.

The group of detectives surrounding the desk knew that their deputy captain was not satisfied with their answer, so they all obediently shut up.

"Li Da, may I say a few words?" A young-looking policeman standing in the corner raised his hand and asked.

"explain."

The young policeman organized his thoughts and began, "Short-term rentals are popular now. It's like a prostitute renting a nicely decorated apartment in a nice neighborhood from a landlord for only three months, using it only as a sex shop. When the lease expires, she just abandons the apartment and doesn't even ask for her deposit back."

"Since the lady's business is not always fully booked, she will rent the house to other business associates outside of her own schedule, for a day or a few days, in order to spread out the expensive rent."

This is new information, but it still doesn't connect to Sister Hua's disappearance case. Li Meng nodded calmly, signaling the other party to continue.

"Oh, and another option is guesthouses. These days, the ladies are smarter; they know hotels and guesthouses are more likely to be raided by the police. So after receiving an order on WeChat, they directly book those guesthouses hidden in residential areas through their mobile apps."

With a sudden "bang," Li Meng pushed aside the table and chairs and stood up.

He urgently asked the young policeman, "Repeat what you just said. Wait, no need to repeat. WeChat, Momo, mobile phones, online chat apps—everyone uses WeChat to contact each other now. Who would be foolish enough to make a phone call?"
"If it's inconvenient, you can send a text message. If the customer wants to test the sound, they can send a voice message. If they really want to connect, they can have a voice chat directly, or even video call to verify the goods. Once the order comes in, just add a location, and you're all set!"

“Once the transaction is over, you can choose to block or delete the number. No worries! Making a phone call still costs money! It’s not cost-effective no matter how you look at it, and it’s troublesome to operate. In the end, you might have to go back to WeChat to send your location.” Li Meng slapped her hands together, finally giving herself a reasonable explanation.

No wonder Chen Shu never mentioned the phone call log before; it turns out that this ancient technique has long been eliminated by the times without anyone noticing.

I need to start checking WeChat from now on!

Li Meng was deeply moved, and only when he came to his senses did he realize that a room full of police officers were staring at him and listening intently.

He waved his hand, signaling his subordinates to leave the office.

After the office quieted down again, Li Meng stood alone by the window, gazing in the direction of the SWAT team, stroking her chin and muttering to herself:
"Should we conduct a full investigation according to the procedures for suspected homicide cases involving missing persons?"

Chen Shu's meticulous face seemed to faintly appear on the transparent windowpane.

Those eyes made Li Meng uncomfortable.

Not far from the entrance of the food stall, next to the well.

Chen Shu squatted by the well, staring into the well whose cover had been opened. He mumbled "uh-huh" for a while, then casually made up an excuse to hang up the phone.

"Li Meng? What's wrong?"

Standing to the side, Chen Chuan held an outdoor searchlight in one hand, pointing it towards the well, his eyes constantly fixed on the bottom, as if afraid of missing something good.

"Oh, he said he has acquaintances in Guangdong Province who can help us contact Tencent executives to retrieve Sister Hua's WeChat chat history."

"Nonsense! How could that be? If they could pull this out, I'd change my surname! And this is just a kidnapping case; even if it were a murder, they wouldn't record it. Sigh!"

Although Chen Chuan had been slacking off in technical investigation for many years, he was still involved in high-tech operations and had to deal with tech companies like Tencent. Therefore, his understanding of the company far exceeded Li Meng's own expectations.

That final long sigh clearly had a story behind it.

Chen Shu casually agreed, showing no intention of continuing the conversation with Chen Chuan. His attention was entirely focused on the bottom of the well: "Bowen, take your time searching, be careful, we're not in a hurry."

"okay!"

Under the direct beam of the high-powered searchlight, the well, which was originally pitch black, was now as bright as day. However, all that could be seen was a dark mass of mud, and from a distance, no patterns could be discerned.

Ma Bowen, who was lying on the edge of the well, held a long hook and stretched his arm down into the well, scooping things out one by one. Once he caught something, he pulled it up and threw it on the ground.

After a long time, the group watched as Ma Bowen retrieved a pile of dirty things and placed them on the ground. Chen Chuan carried several buckets of water that he had prepared beforehand and rinsed the pile of things over and over again.

As the tap water rinsed them repeatedly, these things that were originally indistinct gradually revealed their true appearance.

"A book, what is this? It looks like bones to me, could it be human bones?"

After rinsing several buckets, Chen Chuan squatted down, reached out and rummaged through the pile of filth, picking out several bones of varying shapes.

Chen Shu bent down and picked out all the bones that looked like bones. He had never been to a market and rarely cooked, so he really couldn't tell whether these were human bones or pig or cow bones.

He called over the food stall owner, whose hands were still tied, and pointed to the well next to her, asking, "Is this well connected to your shop?"

The food stall owner initially thought the police were there to inspect food, drug, and environmental products. But seeing them all huddled around the stinking well, busy for a while with serious expressions, she was a little bewildered and could only honestly say:

"It's connected to our shop. When we were renovating, it was the contractor I hired who installed the pipes."

(End of this chapter)