I See Murders Before They Happen

Chapter 257: Chapter 255: Taken by the Kidnapper

Su Miaoyi returned home, washed up, and went straight to bed.

She slept until noon.

She sat in bed for a while, then walked over to the curtains, parting them slightly to peek outside.

She’d been so busy these past two days that she had forgotten about the figure she saw over the weekend. Remembering it now made her feel uneasy.

She looked out the window.

The midday sun was bright, a little dazzling, and the temperature was high. At this time of day, most people were either at work or at school.

So, there was hardly anyone outside.

Su Miaoyi watched for a moment, then pulled the curtains open and turned to wash up.

After freshening up, she went out to get something to eat.

She paid special attention to her surroundings but didn’t get any strange feelings. So, after her meal, she went to the municipal bureau again.

The municipal bureau had traced the car Lu Xian was in, and Zhuang Yanzheng had already led a team to the location.

Based on the IP addresses of the top-up accounts found in the game, they had arrested some people in several locations.

But in other places, the targets had already fled by the time the police arrived.

The ones they caught were all people who had been deceived, similar to Liang Ran. After being brainwashed, they had continuously poured money into the game.

These people all shared some common traits, more or less.

For one, they were wealthy. For another, they all had severe psychological trauma, making them easy to brainwash.

As for those who escaped, they were likely the ones similar to Xing Chang and Chang Yong.

Authorities everywhere were prioritizing this case, tracking the fugitives.

So far, there was no news.

Yan Cheng was performing Yuan Man’s autopsy.

Su Miaoyi went to take a look, then returned to her workstation. She sorted through the current clues and reviewed the existing surveillance footage at the municipal bureau.

They still hadn’t figured out how Yuan Man had vanished from the surveillance feeds.

Half the day passed quickly.

Zhuang Yanzheng and Brother Zheng returned with their team, but it was just them.

Lu Xian wasn’t with them.

"He got away?" Su Miaoyi asked.

Zhuang Yanzheng nodded.

Brother Zheng’s expression was grim.

Zhuang Yanzheng said, "The car we traced was parked near a farmhouse. We conducted a large-scale search around the area but found no one. And they didn’t show up on any surveillance cameras."

"Abandoned the car and fled?"

"Mhm."

"This is just cursed. Doesn’t this feel familiar?" Brother Zheng said. "We’d just found Feng Ruihao, and before we could even see him, he was killed. Now, we just got a license plate number, found the car, and the person is gone again. Another dead end."

Su Miaoyi and Zhuang Yanzheng fell silent.

Su Miaoyi did recall some things—how key leads in the case five years ago would often go cold, and also her past interactions with Lu Xian. But the memories were all fragmented, incomplete.

Chu Xingrou looked at them.

"Don’t overthink it," Zhuang Yanzheng said. "Lu Xian knows us too well, and he knows our procedures inside and out. Besides... he’s an extremely cautious person. It’s highly likely he switched cars and avoided the cameras. Plus, the surveillance infrastructure around that farmhouse isn’t very developed, making it easy to evade."

"He would have definitely parked the car in a secluded spot where it would be easy to switch vehicles," Su Miaoyi said. "Our people would have been easily spotted going to Feng Ruihao’s home and the building materials factory. If Feng Ruihao hadn’t gone out last night, we would have caught him for sure."

Zhuang Yanzheng nodded. He trusted his team; they couldn’t start suspecting one another.

"Brother Zheng is just on edge from running into Lu Xian again," Su Miaoyi said.

"He’s got me spooked."

"For a long time, he didn’t trust anyone. He saw everyone as a potential bad guy," Zhuang Yanzheng said.

Brother Zheng shot him a glare. "And now he’s gotten away again. Once he leaves Jinghai, he’ll be even harder to find."

"We started monitoring all the major intersections last night, and all searches are underway. We’ve done everything we can," Zhuang Yanzheng said.

Everyone fell silent.

Suddenly, the desk phone on the table rang.

Zhuang Yanzheng casually picked it up.

He had been sitting on the edge of the desk, but as he listened to the call, he suddenly shot to his feet. "Where is the person?"

"Okay, we’re on our way."

Hanging up, he looked at Su Miaoyi. "Come with me. Brother Zheng, you too. Xingrou, go get Lu Zhishen and have him meet us in the first-floor lobby."

The two of them immediately followed him downstairs.

"Does someone live on the floor above you?" Zhuang Yanzheng asked.

"Yes." Su Miaoyi didn’t know why he was suddenly asking about her upstairs neighbors. "I’ve only ever seen the mother and her son."

"Your upstairs neighbor called the police. She said her son has been kidnapped, and the kidnapper wants to see you," Zhuang Yanzheng said.

"See me?" Su Miaoyi was astonished.

"Yes."

The three of them ran quickly down the stairs.

A woman was sitting in the lobby, trembling uncontrollably and shedding tears. A police officer was comforting her, patting her arm and trying to help her relax.

The woman kept repeating, "Save my son, save my son, save my son..."

"Ma’am," Zhuang Yanzheng said as he approached.

The woman looked up, her gaze flicking past Zhuang Yanzheng before landing on Su Miaoyi.

She shot up and grabbed Su Miaoyi’s arm. "It’s you! It’s all your fault! You’re the one who harmed my son! What did you do?! Why am I so unlucky to be your neighbor!"

Zhuang Yanzheng gripped the woman’s arm. "Please calm down and tell us the details of what happened."

"It’s all your fault, all of it!" the woman clutched at Su Miaoyi frantically. "We just exchanged a few words with you this morning, and then this happens in the afternoon! You’re a jinx! A menace! Why don’t you just die!"

As she spoke, she tried to strike Su Miaoyi.

But with Zhuang Yanzheng holding her arm, she couldn’t land a blow.

Su Miaoyi grabbed the woman’s other arm and shouted, "Calm down! Saving your son is what’s important! When was he taken? Who took him? Where was he taken from?"

The woman burst into tears, her legs giving way as she nearly collapsed onto the floor.

Several people caught her and helped her back into a chair.

Sobbing, the woman explained, "I went to pick him up from school. I got him, and we were already halfway home when he said he’d left a book at school. I was angry, so I scolded him a bit. I pulled the car over and told him to go back and get it himself."

"But we were already pretty far from the school, so after he got out, I felt worried and got out to go after him. Because I’d yelled at him, when I called his name, he just ran a few steps ahead. Then I saw a car parked on the side of the road. A woman suddenly got out, grabbed him, and threw him into the car."

"I was scared to death. I took off running after them. But the woman ran a red light and just sped away. I couldn’t catch up no matter how I tried."

"I was shouting as I ran, and another parent even tried to chase them in their car, but we just couldn’t catch them. Then someone who was helping me search the area gave me a recording pen. They said the woman dropped it before she got in the car. I listened to the recording and rushed straight to the municipal bureau."

...