Lin Dongxue returned to Peng Sijue's car with a very frustrated expression. Peng Sijue glanced at her and said nothing to show concern.

Lin Dongxue said, “Have you had this experience before?”

“...”

“If you were eating a good cake and a cockroach suddenly appeared in the middle, wouldn’t it be disgusting?”

“I don't quite understand what you want to express.”

“Why do men need to go to this kind of place?”

“What kind of place?”

“Prostitute houses!”

“Liking good things is human nature[1]. Rather than saying that everyone has desires, it’s better to say that desire is the basis of human nature. But there are some people who have unlawful ways of venting this desire.”

“If your good friend goes to that kind of place, what would you think?”

“I wouldn’t think about it much. It's personal freedom and I don't scandalize it. It has nothing to do with me.”

Lin Dongxue said, “Captain Peng, you are really open-minded!” She glanced at the GPS navigation and said, “I want to go to Huaguang Community.”

“Chen Shi’s house?”

“Uh, forget it. Let's go home!” Lin Dongxue waved her hands again and again.

Peng Sijue glanced at her without asking more.

The disappearance of Jiang Hui and Jiang Ming had officially been classified as a criminal case. The case was formally transferred to the Public Security Bureau the next day. Lin Qiupu allocated some staff to Lin Dongxue.

The identity card incident was quickly found out. The sex worker bought Jiang Hui's ID card from a black-market vendor who sold it, and the information trafficker claimed that he had picked it up from a trash can.

The place where the ID was found was very close to the mall where the two children had been.

Lin Dongxue immediately thought of the cleaner and went to see her again. When Lin Dongxue asked her if she had picked up an ID card, the cleaner seemed very flustered, but she still denied it.

Lin Dongxue warned, “If you are not willing to tell the truth, I will ask you to assist the investigation at the bureau!”

“Don't do that! I don't want to leave any stains on my file. I'm afraid I won't find a job in the future.”

“Then be frank!”

“Officer, is it illegal to pick something up?”

“It is illegal to make a large amount of improper profits...” Lin Dongxue knocked on the mountain to scare the tiger first[2]. After the other party became panicked, she added, “Whether we sue you or not depends on your attitude.”

The trick she learned from her colleagues worked and the cleaner stammered, “I picked up a wallet that day, but there wasn’t much money in it. It only had a hundred or so yuan in it, so I took it.”

“Where's the wallet?”

“On the way to work, I dropped it in the trash.”

“What else was in the wallet?”

“Identity card and bank card. It was a girl.”

Lin Dongxue found Jiang Hui's photo from her mobile phone and asked, “Is this the girl?”

“It's her! Officer, you won't sue me, right?”

“Is there anything else you want to add?”

“Uh... I heard someone shouting in the safe passage that day, but I didn’t think much of it. I didn’t go over to look.”

“What time was that?”

“About 6:00!”

Lin Dongxue thought that Jiang Hui might have had an accident, so who was the person photographed in the surveillance?

Jiang Hui had short hair, and so did Jiang Ming. The siblings were about the same height. Would the two have swapped clothes?

If Jiang Hui was killed, where was the body?

To find out the truth, she searched back and forth in the safe passage and found a rubbish passage. She opened the door and illuminated it with the flashlight on her mobile phone. Looking inside, she saw a layer of dried blood on the inner wall of the passage.

She immediately called the task force over and searched nearby. She also contacted the company that handled the garbage. The other party said that they hadn’t seen anything out of the ordinary that day.

They found several less visible blood stains in the alley, showing that a body had been moved to the roadside. Nearby traffic surveillance footage photographed a man in a cap throwing a black plastic bag into a parked car that night.

It took almost a day to find out these clues, and the identity of the car owner was still under investigation.

That evening, the local police called and said, “Officer Lin, the little boy is back at home!”

“When did he get back?”

“Just now. He seems to be in shock and hasn’t spoken.”

Lin Dongxue rushed to the Jiang family’s house immediately. The Jiang house was now very lively. Parents and grandparents all crowded around Jiang Ming. At the door, she also met Jiang Hui's class teacher. The class teacher was talking to the police. When Lin Dongxue nodded and said hello, he said, “The school is very concerned about this, so they asked me to come and have a look. Is Jiang Hui still not around?”

“Jiang Hui may not be back.” When saying this, Lin Dongxue felt a bit depressed while the family inside was full of laughter and happiness.

“What? Jiang Hui, she...”

“We’ll talk later!”

Lin Dongxue entered the room and the stepmother laughed. “This Officer Lin has spent a lot of time in order to find you. Why don’t you go and thank her?”

Jiang Ming held his shoulders and said nothing.

Jiang Ming's jacket had been taken off and Lin Dongxue noticed that there was a school uniform for a female student on the chair next to him.

The stepmother touched his head and said soothingly, “This child doesn't know what to say.”

“Jiang Ming, what about your sister?” Lin Dongxue asked.

Jiang Ming didn't speak and the stepmother mediated, “The child stayed outside for two days, so he might be in shock. Why don’t you let him rest for the day, and then we can pay a visit to the bureau tomorrow, okay?”

The father scolded, “What are you saying?! Isn't Little Hui our child as well? You only care about Ming Ming!”

“So what if I care about Ming Ming? I carried Ming Ming over a full pregnancy.”

“Little Hui is my daughter!”

“It's your daughter. I haven't seen you love her that much either. Who was the one who hit and scolded her since childhood?”

“What did you say?! Say it again!” The father yelled.

“Enough!” Jiang Ming shouted. “Sister died for me!”

The room turned quiet and the teacher ran in and asked the question inappropriately, “What did you say? Jiang Hui died? How did she die?”

Jiang Ming had tears in his eyes and his lips were trembling. “We went to that mall together after school that day and there was a sick kitten there. It was really pitiful. Sister said that she could euthanize it and then gave it an injection. We originally wanted to put it on the rooftop, but the door wouldn’t open, so we had to put it on the stairs. When we went downstairs, we were blocked by a man. He looked at me and smiled, asking this and that. He even touched me. I was thinking that this person was a pervert and my sister pushed him away. Then, he suddenly pulled out a knife on us. We hurried down and found that the door on the fourth floor was locked. It was very noisy outside, and nobody could hear us banging on the door. The pervert caught up with us and I was really scared. My sister told me to change jackets with her. She said she was going to lead the pervert away while I made my escape and to hurry to the police. As a result… As a result… I heard my sister’s scream when I went downstairs. She was killed!”

At this point, Jiang Ming was sobbing and everyone in the room was surprised. Lin Dongxue asked, “Why didn't you call the police later on?”

“My cell phone ran out of battery. I ran to a nearby police station and I got scared.”

“Why?”

“Because the pervert was the policeman!”

1. This was a quote from Hongzi. He mentions that eating and sex is part of human nature.

2. Scared her first.