Chen Shi said, “It looks like I was right!”

Lin Dongxue responded, “The information we have shows that Liu Hong has never been married. Although his lovers have changed several times, he has always been single.”

“Is there anyone else in his house?”

“It's unlikely. If there was another person, Officer Liu would have already discovered it since he monitored him for over ten years.” Lin Dongxue thought about it. “These sanitary napkins may not be used by women. I’ve heard there are men with haemorrhoids who use it for padding, or they use them as insoles for their shoes.”

“Now the case is like a piece of iron. You can't find any breaks in it. You can't let go of even a hint of doubt... Starting tomorrow, we’ll monitor Liu Hong!”

“But we don’t have the manpower.”

Chen Shi pointed to himself. “Aren’t I a man? Officer Liu's room is perfect for surveillance. Can you help me get some surveillance equipment?”

“Surveillance?” Lin Dongxue frowned. “That's tough work.”

“It doesn't matter. I can’t help but feel uncomfortable in my heart and can’t sleep. That’s even worse in my books. Please take care of Yueyue for the next few days.”

Lin Dongxue couldn’t persuade him and gave in. “All right then!”

Chen Shi went home to pick up some daily necessities and then drove to the gate of the community. The two saw the young monk wandering around in front of the door. Chen Shi told him to get in the car. It turned out that the young monk had come to find them but didn’t know Chen Shi's specific address, so he could only stand at the front of the gate.

What the young monk wanted to ask was naturally the progress of the case. Lin Dongxue said in embarrassment, “Master, don't worry. We haven’t stopped investigating.”

“Sorry, I'm just a little anxious. If you have any needs, you can call me. Even helping the two donors sweep the floor or cooking is fine. If I can do even the tiniest of things, I would feel better!”

Chen Shi said, “You should really just stay and wait for our news!”

The next morning, Chen Shi took the eavesdropping equipment and telescope that Lin Dongxue borrowed from the team and went to Officer Liu's home. He set up the eavesdropper, which would emit a laser beam, sense the vibrations, and transmit the sounds.

Then, Chen Shi brought a chair over and sat down for a whole day of boring surveillance.

Lin Dongxue dropped by after work at night and asked if there was any progress. When she saw Chen Shi turning over two black bags in the room with gloves on, Lin Dongxue was startled. “Are you studying all the trash he throws out?”

“By understanding someone’s garbage, you can also learn more about a person's daily life.”

Lin Dongxue fanned the stench in the room with her hand. “If you were a policeman, this spirit would have already earned you a medal.”

“Don't talk and just come enjoy it.”

Chen Shi took out all the rubbish and let Lin Dongxue make a record of it all. It was all ordinary household garbage, such as banana peels, packaging bags, and the like.

Chen Shi spent the night there.

Lin Dongxue came again the next afternoon and saw Chen Shi being a lot more miserable than before. He was sitting on a chair by the window with a coat and binoculars hanging from his neck. The ground was covered with seeds and cigarette butts.

Lin Dongxue smelled the smell on him and said, “Would you like to go and take a shower while I monitor him for a while?”

“No, I don't smell that much, do I?!”

“What do you think?! Did you make any progress today?”

“The garbage is still the same. In addition, I recorded what he said.” Chen Shi opened his phone and played a few audio records, all of which were “Biaozi, eat!”, “Come to Dad!”, “Go take that over there.”

Lin Dongxue said, “This is all him talking to the dog.”

“Yes, I can't hear anything strange.” Chen Shi rubbed the stubble on his chin.

“You should take a shower outside!”

“I’ll go home to shower in two days to save money.”

“I don't like 'flavored' men!”

Chen Shi smelled the scent on his body and said helplessly, “Just help me monitor for a while.”

“I know! I know!”

On the third day Lin Dongxue came to visit him, Chen Shi's entire mental state was a bit debilitated. He was still holding a cigarette butt and saying, “No progress!”

“Why don’t you stop?!” Lin Dongxue advised.

“No progress is in fact progress!”

“What!?”

Chen Shi opened the book he had been recording in. “These are all the types of garbage I have recorded in these past three days.”

“Very ordinary!”

“Where's the sanitary napkin? Whether it’s been used or just the wrapping paper, I haven’t seen it in the trash!”

Lin Dongxue glanced at the book and said, “Generally, sanitary napkins are placed in the garbage in the restroom.”

“I looked into that as well. I even got the toilet paper stained with Liu Hong's blood from his ass and gave it to Old Peng for testing... He doesn't want to talk to me now!”

“Ugh, I haven't eaten yet.”

“Let’s eat together later!” Chen Shi casually said, “Why would he buy sanitary napkins without throwing it out? Did he cook the sanitary napkins?”

“You mean there’s a woman in his house, but he doesn't want it known?”

“It's possible. It's quite possible!”

“You’ve eavesdropped and monitored him. Are there any signs that another person lives there?”

“There are no signs, even when Liu Hong’s not at home. I have been staring at his window the whole time and the only movement seems to be from the dogs!”

“Then, you’ve thought too much.”

“In the past three days, Liu Hong's lover came by once and the two went out to open a room. Liu Hong never seems to bring outsiders into the house.”

The eavesdropper suddenly sounded like a door opening. Chen Shi immediately picked up the telescope and looked through the slit of the curtain to the opposite side but found nothing abnormal.

Lin Dongxue said, “Let’s go out for a meal. I'm really worried about your mental state.”

“Bring it here to eat.” Chen Shi was looking downstairs the whole time as a woman dressed as an ordinary aunty went downstairs.

Lin Dongxue only came back after a long time. In order to give Chen Shi a good meal, she bought two large packages of hearty dishes and set it on the table. Having Lin Dongxue accompany him for dinner and chatting with him, Chen Shi felt very relieved.

Lin Dongxue said, “There is an unclaimed TV in the evidence room. Shall I bring it to you tomorrow?”

Chen Shi smiled. “You think I’m going to live here now? No need, thanks!”

After eating, Lin Dongxue accompanied Chen Shi for some chatting for a little while longer and then said goodbye. When she got to the gate of the community, Xu Xiaodong alerted everyone in the group chat, “This is bad! Li Biao is missing!”

Lin Dongxue hurriedly went back to Chen Shi. Chen Shi was just calling Xu Xiaodong. “There are three of you monitoring him but you still lost him?”

Xu Xiaodong said shamefully, “Li Biao seems to be a little aware of us. He went to a bathing center tonight and never came out. We went in to find him and checked the surveillance footage. We found that he had escaped from the window on the first floor.”

“How long has it been?”

“It's been almost two hours!”

“He didn't go home?”

“No, we also went to the places he tends to frequent, but we couldn’t find him.”

Chen Shi ran to the window, looked at the other side with the telescope, and said, “Liu Hong is still at home!”

“What should we do then?” Lin Dongxue asked anxiously.

“We can’t do anything. We have to go to Li Biao's home to investigate!”

“We haven't formally filed a case yet and we don’t have any evidence. This is illegally entering a private dwelling.”

“I can't worry about that for now. I have a hunch that Li Biao may not come back!”