Chapter 272 164: Cold Case: 'The Vanished Person' (Part 1)

"Captain Li, Captain Li, do I get any credit? I'm the one who dragged Brother Huo into this!"

Wang Chao said excitedly.

"Here's two hundred yuan. Go have some fun."

Li Jianye thought for a moment and pulled out two hundred yuan.

Over the past four months, he'd gotten a real taste of the rewards and bonuses.

Although it couldn't compare to Xu Huo's bonuses—he'd never even dreamed of getting two or three hundred thousand from a single case—the bonuses from several cases combined had still exceeded twenty thousand!

Besides, he didn't really have the time or opportunity to spend money, so he'd saved it all up until now.

He didn't mind pulling out two hundred.

"Alright!"

Wang Chao happily took the two hundred yuan and went off to have his fun.

Making any money at all was good enough for him; he wasn't about to be picky.

As for Xu Huo...

"Here are the keys to my house. I've already bought the place, so it's ready to move into. You should know where it is."

At that moment, Xu Huo was standing next to Chu Xi, who stood obediently in place. He put the keys he was holding into her hand.

"I have a case to investigate right now, so I don't have time to look after Niuniu for the moment."

"You can stay with Niuniu in my house."

"Master Du'e and the others should be back in the evening, and they won't be too busy."

Chu Xi blinked, asking uncertainly, "All the keys to your place?"

Xu Huo didn't think much of it. "Yes."

"There are two guest rooms. You can arrange them however Niuniu likes."

It wasn't suitable for Niuniu to stay at Chu Linhai's. He has a wife and child, and it would be presumptuous to have them move in.

Of course, judging by how he had accepted Chu Xi, he probably wouldn't think it was presumptuous.

But Xu Huo still felt that he should handle the responsibilities he'd taken on himself.

Besides, it wasn't just Niuniu he had to look after.

Five in total: Niuniu, Du'e, Xiao Long, Xiao Hu, and Xiao Bai.

"Can I open any door I want?"

Chu Xi asked again.

"You can." Xu Huo nodded.

"Really?" Chu Xi blinked.

"Of course. Have I ever lied to you?" Xu Huo replied.

Then, he paused. Seeing a car slowly approaching them, he began to speak more quickly.

"Don't worry too much about Master Du'e and the others. Chao Zi will make the arrangements."

"The shop in Jiangsan City is still being renovated. You can start by training some pastry chefs."

"That's all. It's a bit urgent, so I'm heading to the crime scene first."

And so, with Chu Xi holding Niuniu, one big head and one little one watching, Xu Huo got into the car.

The car started up and drove off into the distance.

Chu Xi thought for a moment, then hailed a cab with the others and headed for Xu Huo's residence.

The residence wasn't far.

The only reason Xu Huo had thought it was far back in September was because he had to squeeze onto the bus.

'Man, riding the bus these days is a real "squeeze." Every second feels like a year—I'm not kidding!'

For passengers, the hardest part wasn't getting on, but getting off.

But with a private car, a little distance like this was nothing.

「Fifteen minutes later.」

"CREAK~"

A door opened to a house that had been thoroughly cleaned inside and out by the landlord not long before the handover, a house that hadn't been opened in a long time.

The door opened a crack.

Two heads, one big and one small, peeked through the crack. Chu Xi's head was on top, Niuniu's below.

They didn't go in, just observed from the crack in the door.

「A moment later.」

Chu Xi looked down, meeting the upturned gaze of Niuniu, then tentatively tiptoed inside.

Chu Xi was curious about everything she saw.

She walked into the bathroom and fell into deep thought while looking at the toilet and the bath towel.

After a moment's thought, she walked to the bedroom door.

She looked at the bedroom door, keys in hand, pondering certain questions, lost in deep contemplation.

After a long while, a sentence echoed in her mind.

'You can open any door you want.'

Chu Xi had found her answer. She took out a key, aimed it at the lock, and pushed it in.

The next second...

"CLICK!"

...

...

「Meanwhile.」

After a journey of nearly thirty minutes, the car driven by Li Jianye finally stopped inside a residential complex.

"Chaoyang Community. It's a decent complex."

"The deceased's home is in Building A, apartment 102."

Li Jianye opened his door and casually stated the location while looking at the surrounding high-rises.

Xu Huo got out of the passenger seat as well.

He scanned the surroundings.

Chaoyang Community looked quite new. It had plenty of green space, and there were people sweeping the paths.

However, there were few signs of pedestrians near Building A.

"Someone died in Building A. After it got out, the property values for the entire community plummeted."

"On top of that, the case was never completely solved, so the scene wasn't thoroughly cleaned. There's still police tape on the door."

"The victim lived on the first floor, so residents would come home every day, open the main door, and see the police tape. It wasn't great for their mood."

"Over time, they sold their apartments and moved elsewhere."

"That's why there are so few people in Building A."

Zhao Shui, getting out of the back seat, quickly explained.

Before Li Jianye returned, he had been the one to take over this case. He'd been here several times and had a much clearer picture of the situation.

"Tsk, fewer people..."

Xu Huo clicked his tongue in thought.

He wasn't sighing over the property values, but simply because there were fewer people.

Why?

Because one of the most important sources of information for a police investigation is interviewing the neighbors!

Especially for something like an extramarital affair!

Let's put it this way: sometimes, the neighbors know more about someone's affair than the person's own spouse.

But now, after more than four months—almost half a year—the delay had caused all the neighbors to move away...

That line of inquiry, interviewing the neighbors, was now a dead end.

"Tsk, we haven't even started, and the most important chain of clues has already been broken."