They all stood or sat rooted to their places when they heard the telephone ring.
Ring!
A second ring was heard.
Dongfang Jenqyih turned around. He ran to their phone. He immediately picked up the receiver. Instantly, he put the receiver to his right ear.
"Hello!" came a voice from the other end.
Jenqyih gasped. The voice that came out of the receiver was Shinnshiow's.
"Shinnshiow?"
There was a gentle tap on Jenqyih's shoulder. When he turned his head, Jenqyih saw everyone had gathered behind him.
"Wear this," Yihshyong put the earphones connected to Huahshiang into Jenqyih's left ear.
"Yihge! That's right, I'm Shinnshiow," said the person from the other end.
"Mr. Dongfang! I am Chioulin Shinnjaang. Please ask Mr. Beeihae where he is. If he is inside a room, please ask him to describe the room!"
Jenqyih could clearly hear the police officer's words.
"Yihge! Right! It's me, Shinnshiow."
"Shinnshiow. Where are you?"
"I don't know where I am. I'm in a room right now."
"Please explain in detail the state of the room you are in right now."
"This isn't the room they kept me in. I made it out of that room. There are lots of rooms here. I went into this room, which is right next to the room where I was being held. I saw there is a telephone. So I tried calling home. "
Suddenly there was no more Shinnshiow's voice.
"Shinnshiow, Shinnshiow!" Jenqyih shouted. "What happened?"
"Mr. Dongfang, please don't panic."
Jenqyih was really worried. It was possible the criminals caught Shinnshiow using the phone. If that was indeed the case, Jenqyih couldn't imagine what they would do to Shinnshiow..
"Mr. Dongfang, please put down the receiver first. Maybe Mr. Beeihae will call again," Chioulin said.
<
The situation was silent for a moment. The crowd behind Jenqyih also didn't move.
Ring
The phone rang again.
Jenqyih, who was still standing there, picked up the receiver right away.
"Yihge!"
<
"Shinnshiow, what happened?"
"I don't know. The telephone connection suddenly went off. I'll continue what I was talking about earlier."
"Okay! What's in that room? I mean, the room you're in right now."
"Tables, chairs, beds, and cupboards. Just like an ordinary bedroom."
"Is there anything else?"
"There isn't any."
"What about the room they held you in?"
"It's bigger than this room. There's a bathroom there. So I'm free to go to the bathroom anytime."
"Is there anything special in there that could be a clue?"
"Nothing. Everything is like a normal bedroom."
"How did you get out of the room? I mean, the room they held you in."
"About an hour ago, someone came. He asked if each of us had relatives in this city. Casually, I said I didn't have one. Indeed, I have no relatives here. So I wasn't lying at all. But I told them you all have relatives living here. I made up the names carelessly. But I said I didn't know where your relatives live. I said that we all wander here wanting to be away from family, so of course visiting relatives here isn't a good option."
"Eh?" Jenqyih felt a little confused.
<
"Yihge, they always lock the door of the room where they kept me. From inside this room, I could hear their conversation. They usually talk loudly. About ten minutes ago, suddenly there wasn't any sound. I decided to try opening the bedroom door. Turned out they forgot to lock it. So I just walked out."
"Mr. Dongfang. Try to get Mr. Beeihae to talk about the people who detained him." Chioulin Shinnjaang's voice sounded so calm.
"Shinnshiow! How many people detained you?"
"I don't know how many people there are in total. But so far, I've only seen four."
"Four people?" Are they all men?"
"Yes. All men. They are in their late twenties. They appear alternately. Ah, this afternoon I managed to slip the pen I brought into the pocket of the person who took my lunch plate and bowl. I wrote a brief message on the torn sheet. Then I folded the torn sheet and stuffed it into the end of the pen. I don't know if such an action is useful or not, but I have to try it, right?"
"What did you say?" Jenqyih was so surprised to hear Shinnshiow's statement.
"Pen! Do you remember? Before leaving the house, Renge gave me the pen. That's the pen I put in one of them's pants pocket!"
"Mr. Dongfang! Check to see if the tip of the pen that Mr. Duanmuh found has torn sheets like the one Mr. Beeihae just mentioned," Chioulin Shinnjaang said.
"Yihge!" Suddenly Shinnshiow whispered. "Looks like they're back. I need to get back to my room soon."
After that, the phone connection was lost.
"What did Shinnshiow say?" Iren asked.
"Shinnshiow said he slipped a pen into the pocket of one kidnapper. At the tip of the pen he stuffed torn sheets."
"That's very dangerous," said Iren. "What if the kidnappers find the pen?"
Jenqyih nodded. "It's dangerous. But it's worth it."
"I think Shinnshiow hid the piece of cloth in a fairly hidden place in the pen," Yihshyong said. He looked at Jenqyih. "You said at the tip of the pen?"
Jenqyih nodded. "Shinnshiow said so. We have to dismantle the pen to find the cloth."
"We just need to open the tip. But we really have to open the pen so we can see the inside, which is the ink storage rod."
"Now we have to check the pen," said Jenqyih.
"Where's the pen that Jinqkang found earlier?" Yihshyong asked.
Iren instantly ran into his room. He immediately returned holding the pen that Jinqkang had found this afternoon on the side of the road in front of the grocery store in front of their housing complex. He gave the pen to Yihshyong, who opened the tip of the pen right away.
"Ah!" Yihshyong shouted. He twisted and removed the tip of the pen.
"Is there really something inside it?" Iren asked.
Yihshyong nodded. He tried to pry the object in the small object. It didn't take long before he managed to pry a piece of cloth out of it. He gave the piece of cloth to Iren, who spread it straight away.
The piece of cloth was tiny. The length was only about five centimeters, while the width was about one centimeter.
"There is writing," shouted Iren. "But it's not clear!"
He brought the piece of cloth to the dining table. He sat down and tried to read what was written on it. Everyone walked to the dining table and surrounded Iren. Jenqyih removed the earphones from his left ear and immediately joined the crowd around Iren.
"Help me, Beeihae Shinnshiow," said Iren.
"Shinnshiow must have written that message before inserting this piece of cloth into the tip of the pen," Yihshyong said.
"What's next?"
"It looks like a series of numbers. But it's not clear," said Iren.
Chioujen looked down at the piece of cloth. "It's like our landline number. I guess Shiowge hoped that someone would find this pen and then be kind enough to contact us."
"I think the chances that someone will return this pen to us are slim," Jenqyih said.
"But the truth is this pen did come back to us, right?" said Iren.
<
Jenqyih ran back towards the Huahshiang. He put earphones to his ears.
"Hello Mr. Chioulin Shinnjaang!"
"How is it, Mr. Dongfang?" asked Chioulin Shinnjaang.
"That's right, sir! There is indeed a piece of cloth inside the tip of the pen that Mr. Duanmuh found this afternoon. So it seems Mr. Beeihae's kidnapper was around here!"
"Thank you, Mr. Dongfang. This is a precious clue."
"Mr. Chioulin, this time it was not the kidnappers who called here but Mr. Beeihae himself. So it's very possible that there wasn't any scrambler installed on the phone that Mr. Beeihae used to call this house. I mean, did the police manage to track down where Mr. Beeihae was calling from this time?"
"Too bad, Sir! Even this time, we failed to trace where Mr. Beeihae called from. I think, It's clear they installed the scrambler, but not on their phone."
Jenqyih sighed. He had hoped that a phone call from Shinnshiow would end all of this in an instant. But it turned out that their struggle was still very long.
"Jenqyih, let me talk to the police." Yihshyong suddenly tapped his shoulder. "Before this, you almost stepped out of the house."
Jenqyih smiled broadly. He gave the earphones to Yihshyong. After that, he continued what had been delayed, namely going to the nearest bus stop.
After exiting the gate, Jenqyih did not look left or right. He walked right away. He walked with firm steps.
"Where are you going, Sir?"
Jenqyih turned towards the source of the voice. He saw their neighbor, Shiuander Janji, standing in his yard, about a meter from the gate of his yard.