Qin Feng had driven at high speeds, and yet, by the time they had arrived, half an hour had already gone by.
After making one last turn at a corner, they finally arrived at the address that Liu Ming had given them.
It was the condominium where the informant, Liu Ming, and his wife had lived in. The environment was beautiful and the necessary security facilities were all in place.
Qin Feng and Mu Qianqian parked the car and greeted the security guard. After asking where the estate manager's office was, the two of them headed there to check the security footage.
Upon arrival, and after providing their credentials, the estate manager pulled up the footage of Li Caihua before and after her disappearance. The video showed that Li Caihua was last seen in the elevator with her daughter, Liu Xiaohui. Furthermore, Li Caihua was holding a cake in her hands. It seemed that she was planning to celebrate her daughter's birthday at home.
However, once she had gotten out of the elevator, she was never seen again. Just to be safe, Qin Feng and Mu Qianqian went through the surveillance footage again, and indeed, she had no longer reappeared once she had stepped foot out of the elevator.
"Thank you for your cooperation. We will contact you again should the need arise."
Qin Feng put away the copy of the video and thanked the staff.
"It's okay. It's the duty of every citizen to cooperate with the police," the manager of the property, Sun Ning, said with a smile.
Qin Feng and Mu Qianqian then left the office. After a quick discussion, they decided to head to Liu Ming's home to understand more about the situation and also to visit the neighbors to see if anyone had seen Li Caihua.
The duo had come out with two hypotheses for Li Caihua's sudden disappearance. The first explanation was that Li Caihua was familiar with all the surveillance cameras in and out of the area, and had perfectly avoided the surveillance cameras while leaving the condominium. The other explanation was that Li Caihua had been killed or imprisoned, and she was still most likely within the confines of the property.
Naturally, it was impossible for the surveillance cameras to cover every nook and cranny of the property, but there was nothing they could do about it.
"Qin Feng, I feel like this case is more complicated than it looks. Something feels off about this situation, what do you think?"
Mu Qianqian raised her head to look at the surveillance cameras at the property entrance and asked with a frown.
"I share the same thoughts as well. Let's head to Liu Ming's house first. Who knows what else we might find," Qin Feng replied.
The two of them found Liu Ming's house according to the address given.
Building 1, Unit 402. There was a big "fortune" poster attached on the door.
Qin Feng and Mu Qianqian had just found out from the estate manager that Li Caihua and Liu Ming were second-weds. The unit was Li Caihua's pre-marital property, and in other words, Liu Ming was not the owner of the property.
"Ding dong, ding dong."
Qin Feng rang the doorbell and waited quietly outside the door with Mu Qianqian.
"Coming, coming. Who is it?"
Liu Ming's voice echoed from within the house, and the sound of flip-flops smacking against the ground could be heard audibly.
Buzz.
The door was pushed open from inside. Liu Ming was stunned when he spotted the two people in front of him. Then, he looked around and asked anxiously, "Officer, have you found my wife? where is she?"
Qin Feng shook his head and said, "I'm sorry, Mr. Liu. We haven't found your wife yet. We're here to learn more about your wife's disappearance. Is now a good time to talk?"
"I see, sure thing. Come on in."
A disappointed expression could be seen on Liu Ming's face as he turned around and walked into the room, saying, "Just come on in, officers. No need to take off your shoes."
"Crime scene detected. The crime scene is now being reconstructed!"
A mechanical voice devoid of emotion appeared in Qin Feng's mind the moment he stepped into the house. In an instant, the space in front of Qin Feng began to morph continuously until it stopped at a certain point in time.
In front of Qin Feng was a warm and happy home.
As he had already seen the surveillance footage, Qin Feng immediately recognized the woman in front of him as Li Caihua, and the child as Liu Xiaohui. This was Liu Ming and his family of three.
The mother and daughter happily entered the house while Liu Ming brought out the dishes he had cooked to celebrate his daughter's birthday.
"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to Xiaohui, happy birthday to you."
"Happy birthday baby, blow out the candles and make a wish!"
Under the blessings of her parents, Liu Xiaohui smiled happily and closed her eyes to make her birthday wish. Once she had opened her eyes, the family of three then happily shared the cake amongst themselves and discussed where to go on the weekend. It was truly a joyous occasion.
Qin Feng was like a bystander in the scene as he took in the events that were transpiring before him.
As time passed, and as the birthday celebration neared its end, the warm atmosphere suddenly took a harrowing shift.
Qin Feng had seen it with his own eyes. He spotted Liu Ming taking two cups of drinks and dissolving sleeping pills into them. He also watched as Liu Ming coaxed his daughter and his wife to gulp it down. Following this, he then waited quietly for the drugs to take effect, and once his wife and daughter were soundly asleep, he then began the brutal and perverse killing process.
"You b*tch! What's wrong with giving one of your many houses to my son! I tried to persuade you politely, but you wouldn't listen! Now this house is mine! I can give it to whoever I want! You no longer have a say in this! YOU NO LONGER HAVE A SAY IN THIS!"
With a twisted expression, Liu Ming swung his knife at the woman who had been his partner for many years. He continued hacking at the body until he had grown tired. After resting for a while, Liu Ming got up and went to the kitchen. He took out the tools that he had prepared beforehand and began to dispose of the corpse. Clearly, the man had planned the murder in advance, and he had planned as far as to make his wife disappear without a trace.
Qin Feng looked as if he had gone through a memoir. Once he had finished witnessing the killing, the bloody scene before him vanished, and he was returned to reality.
Qin Feng realized that Liu Ming and Mu Qianqian were acting as if nothing had happened. It was as if time had stopped at that moment.
"Officers, please take a seat. What would you like to know?" Liu Ming asked as he poured tea for his guests.
"I'm here to ask about the details on the day your wife went missing. Thank you."
Mu Qianqian said to Liu Ming as she took the teacup.
Qin Feng was dragged to his seat by Mu Qianqian, but he had yet to recover from the brutality he had just witnessed. The person before them had killed his wife in a savage manner, and he had even possessed the guts to report her disappearance to the police. Qin Feng could not accept it, he could not believe that the helpless-looking individual who had come begging for help to be the murderer himself.