"Don't touch the bloody clothes, the cardboard box and the sealing tape. Send everything for fingerprint extraction and physical and chemical identification. Give Shen Xiaoqi's mobile phone number to the technical investigation team, ask Director Huang to do another triangulation, I want to know where the kid is. Someone call the Cultural Protection Department, tell them to contact Shen Xiaoqi's school teachers and ask for the list of the students who came on the field trip and their guardians' information, immediately!"
Yan Xie's roar resounded through the corridor, and all the police officers on duty at the city bureau responded, all becoming busy at the same time.
"Yan-ge," Gao Panqing asked in a low voice as he hurried forward, "should I call director Wei?"
Yan Xie did not answer immediately, but looked at father Shen.
The father was dialing his son's number over and over again, and every time the voice prompting that the subscriber was outside the coverage area could be heard in response. Just by looking at his expression, Yan Xie could tell that the couple's tormented nerves were about to snap.
"Wait for Lao Wei," Yan Xie said softly to Gao Panqing, "call Ma Xiang and the others and tell them to come back."
Gao Panqing nodded in response, and left quickly.
"Why is he always outside of the coverage area? Where did your child go on the outing?" Yan Xie asked.
"Tianzhong Mountain." I hadn't heard of it at first, but later I found out that it was a new scenic spot in the south-east - the phone calls have been intermittent since their arrival yesterday morning, saying it was due to the poor reception in the mountains."
Yan Xie raised his chin towards the physics and chemistry lab side, "Then when, where and exactly how was the box found?"
"After we went back in the afternoon, we talked to the child on the phone. And when we came out from the office in the evening....His signal was poor too...."
The mother was so anxious that she was stammering and could hardly speak clearly. Yan Xie couldn't help but frown, wanting to tell her something, but seeing so many people in the corridor made him a little apprehensive. After thinking for a moment he gestured and said, "Come with me first."
Mother Shen, unsure of what to do, pulled father Shen along and followed Yan Xie into a small meeting room.
"It's against the rules for me to say this in advance," Yan Xie said straightforwardly as he closed the door, "but since you're in such a panic, I'll tell you now. The bloody shirt smells a little different from human blood, so the possibility of your son being in an accident is relatively small."
The mother was so excited that she almost bit her tongue, "Huh?"
Yan Xie nodded his head.
"You can smell that too?!"
Yan Xie said to himself that he had smelled more fresh, rotten, deteriorated and congealed human blood than had ever eaten Mao Xue Wang in his life, so how could he not be able to smell it?
What's scary is that there was a man named Jiang who didn't even need to smell it, he knew it was animal blood just by looking at it twice!
But he didn't say this out loud, just simply replied: "At present, it is only a speculation, the details depend on the physical and chemical identification results. Did you find the box at the door of the company at night?"
Mother Shen was finally able to calm down a little, although her voice still trailed off: "Yes, yes, we had a particularly important dinner to attend tonight, and when we came out of the office..."
Shen Xiaoqi was a teenager from a well-off background, his parents owned a clothing company - as Jiang Ting said, if the kidnappers had only demanded two million yuan, likely it wouldn't have been reported to the police at all, and by now the kidnappers would've gotten their money already.
On the way back from the police station in the afternoon, the frightened Shen couple called their son again, telling him to end the outing and hurry home. But Shen Xiaoqi said he had made plans with the classmates to have an "event" in the evening, and even if he did try to return early, he would have to leave tomorrow morning at the earliest, and his mobile phone signal might not be too good at night.
The parents made their son promise that he would stay in the hotel, and would not separate from his classmates to go out alone, before hanging up the phone and going back to work with anxiety.
After work, the couple had a particularly important contract to sign at the dinner, so they set out early. But as soon as they went out, they saw the cardboard box with bloody clothes lying on the ground.
--The Shen company's warehouse is located far away in the industrial area, but the office is set up downstairs in the building in their own district for the sake of convenience. The surrounding area isn't as well equipped with cameras as a regular office building.
Technically, it's entirely possible for someone to purposely put a bloody t-shirt into a cardboard box, leave it there and slip away unnoticed by the surveillance. But the scary part is how the other side knew where the Shen parents' office was, and how they managed to catch the exact moment when Shin Xiaoqi's phone reception disappeared.
If there was a possibility that the afternoon incident was a telecom scam, the target of the crime was now becoming very specific.
"Beep----beep----"
The message that the other party was not in the service area suddenly disappeared, and everyone's spirits lifted at the same time. Father Shen's entire body was shaking so violently that the phone almost slipped out, and sure enough a few seconds later he heard from the other end of the line:
"Hello, Dad?"
Mother Shen's legs went weak, and if Yan Xie hadn't held her up in time, she would have fallen to the ground.
Just then, with a clicking sound Jiang Ting pushed the door open and entered.
"..." Yan Xie rushed towards the door amidst the sound of father Shen's roaring into the phone, closed it and asked in a low voice, "What are you doing here?"
"Didn't you say that Director Lu and Director Wei were not here," Jiang Ting said flatly as if he didn't care at all, "Where is the steamed stuffed bun?"
Only then did Yan Xie realise that his hands were empty, the steamed stuffed buns had long since been thrown to some corner.
"Fuck, why are you so delicate, come on I'll order another one for you..."
Jiang Ting looked at the anxious and angry father Shen, then he suddenly raised his hand to stop Yan Xie and walked forward.
"Don't you know how anxious mum and dad are? Don't go to some corner where there's no mobile phone signal, just stay in the hotel! Activity? What activities? They sent a bloody t-shirt to our doorsteps today! ..."
"Mr. Shen?" Jiang Ting asked to confirm.
Father Shen was yelling at his son as he looked up "Huh?"
Jiang Ting pointed to his mobile phone, "Turn on the video."
It was as if father Shen woke up from a dream, thinking that the police comrades were quick-witted, he immediately asked his son to hang up and make a video call.
Judging from Shen Xiaoqi's reaction, he was probably a bit reluctant, but he couldn't refuse his extremely worried parents, so he switched to the video call a few seconds later, and the young boy's handsome face appeared on the screen: "Hello, Dad, is it okay now?"
Jiang Ting put his thumb on the chin, his hand was clenched into a fist as it covered the small part of his face, his teeth were gently pressed against the base of the index finger-- a habitual action when he was thinking.
Yan Xie walked up to his side and found the pair of eyes peeking out from under the brim of the baseball cap, staring intently at the mobile phone screen.
"Your mother and I are going to pick you up right now, it's too dangerous! Don't say anything!"
"Jeez Dad, that was all a prank, yet you guys have called the police twice..."
"Why aren't you at the hotel? Where are your classmates? How come you're out there alone?!"
Shen Xiaoqi complained endlessly: "I'm just collecting wood for the bonfire tonight, can't I? I promise to leave for home tomorrow morning, I'll do it early in the morning!"
...
"Well?" Yan Xie asked softly.
Jiang Ting's eyes didn't leave the phone screen, "What do you think?"
"At this age, it's normal for boys to want to experience a social life outside after they've just finished their exams, I can't really see anything off."
Jiang Ting nodded, suddenly leaned into Yan Xie's ear and said softly, "Look at this boy's eyes."
The warm air flow was not so much a breeze as it was a shock to Yan Xie's eardrums and veins, rocking and shaking every nerve. For a few seconds, Yan Xie's expression and mind went completely blank, his heart was beating like a drum. Every word of Jiang Ting's was heard in his ears, but its meaning did not reach his brain for a long time.
"Yan Xie?"
"..."
Jiang Ting pulled away: "What's wrong with you?"
"..." Yan Xie's gaze fell straight on Jiang Ting's lips and seemed to drift a little before turning to the phone screen, "...Mm-hmm. "
Mm-hmm?
Jiang Ting frowned, but before he could say anything, suddenly there were a few knocks on the door of the small conference room, followed by Huang Xing pushing it open, "Lao-Yan!"
Yan Xie was granted amnesty, he didn't even have time to respond when father Shen ended the video call and hung up. Hastily waving to the couple, he asked Huang Xing, "Are the results out?"
"Uh huh, this is the latitude and longitude of Shen Xiaoqi's cell phone signal, and here's a map of the vicinity." Director Huang glanced at Jiang Ting, who was in casual clothes, but because there were too many policemen in civilian clothes in the city bureau today, he didn't pay too much attention and hastily pointed out the positioning results to Yan Xie: "Here, Tianzong Mountain is in the southeastern suburbs of Jianning City, which has just been developed into a tourist attraction earlier this year. This list shows the registered rural inns and family hotels in the scenic area. Tianzong Mountain is said to be very well preserved in its original form, but because it hasn't started to be advertised yet, it's not a popular destination for the local youngsters for the time being, although I guess it will be soon."
Yan Xie took the location data, flipped through a few pages, and muttered, "That's not right."
Huang Xing asked, "What's not right?"
"A newly developed scenic spot that hasn't even started to be advertised yet, why would a few kids who graduated from junior high school think of going there?"
Mother and father Shen looked at each other, neither could say anything.
"It's understandable," Huang Xing had a son at home who was asked to talk to him every day by the teacher, and had a better understanding of the situation: "When teenagers are rebellious, they always want to look different, and they run to the places that could show off their unique taste. It almost makes sense"
Yan Xie hissed and breathed in softly, the look of suspicion on his face intensified.
Suddenly a voice came from behind several people, "It doesn't make sense."
Yan Xie turned his head back.
Jiang Ting maintained the same pose he had just had with one hand covering the lower half of his face, and judging by his naturally descending gaze and relaxed facial muscles, his face probably had his trademark expression - that is, it was expressionless.
"How so, Comrade policeman?" Father Shen hurriedly asked for an explanation, and tapped his forehead again, "Aiya just look at me, I haven't asked for your rank yet?"
-- Jiang Ting was born with that particularly calm, steady aura of an old cadre, to the extent that Shen's father thought his rank was higher than Yan Xie's, the detachment captain, to say the least.
"I'm his friend," Jiang Ting met Huang Xing's puzzled gaze and gestured to Yan Xie as if nothing was wrong.
It's obvious that he doesn't want to be just friends with me, Yan Xie said to himself.
"Although adolescents are mostly rebellious, their show-off mentality is also relatively strong. The kids who have never left home before will often choose the tourist spots with high internet publicity and popularity as their first stop, and will post a lot of moments for their friends to attract attention. Tianzhong Mountain is a less likely choice for first-time hiking, because firstly it's inconvenient to get back and forth, and secondly there's no way to show off."
Jiang Ting rubbed his eyebrows and seemed to ponder for a moment before his words suddenly changed, "But there may be another situation."
"What?"
"Someone in particular wanted to go, and that person is the leader of the small group."
Father and mother Shen both subconsciously shook their heads, but then hesitated, and mother Shen said coyly, "Our kid... plays basketball, swims, and seems to be quite active among his classmates... "
Father Shen also said, "We also give him pocket money so that he could occasionally treat his classmates to a meal and drink....."
Probably seeing the subtle looks of several police officers, father Shen hurriedly added: "But that boy has a great personality and never gets into trouble with anyone, let alone bullies other students in his class! We'd beat him to death if we knew!"
"Think about why Shen Xiaoqi wanted to go to Tianzong Mountain." Jiang Ting apparently didn't bother to pay attention to the undercurrents of concern about school violence that was in the air and said indifferently, "Picking this time to strike means that they're are not completely ignorant of your family's situation, which means that ordinary telecom fraud is basically ruled out."
The poor Shen family's newly relaxed nerves were once again strained. The couple looked at each other in a panicked manner as they began to whisper their speculations about who their family had offended in the business world, whether they had shown off their wealth and pierced anyone's heart, and what villains they might have provoked.
"Hey, my police flower," Yan Xie asked in a low voice, inclining his head, "what did you just tell me to look at?"
"The eyes."
"What's wrong with his eyes?"
"...," Jiang Ting said softly, "Your fluctuating professional level sometimes really surprises me."
The warmth of his breath brushed against the nape of Yan Xie's neck again, and his ears started burning.
--Fortunately, Yan Xie went on a blind date today, so he was wearing a pair of custom-made leather shoes. There was a height difference of nearly ten centimeters between him and Jiang Ting, who was wearing a pair with soft soles. Jiang Ting did not deliberately look up to see the other man's ears, so he did not notice it.
"The tree canopy in the background of the video is clearly low and dense, not like those of the trees that grow in places with a lot of people, but this may be the environment in the Tianzong Mountain scenic area. What I noticed even more was that the boy's eyes flickered, if anything he was avoiding looking at his father, he looked back twice while talking, as if he were deliberately paying attention to something. "
The nerve that belonged to the criminal policeman was instantly touched in Yan Xie: "What was he avoiding?"
"It's hard to say, I think the boy seems to be in a state of excitement." Jiang Ting thought for a moment and said, "But it could be that I'm being over-observant."
"Lao Yan! Hey!" Director Huang hung up the phone and beckoned him, "I'm telling you, the physical and chemical identification results of that bloody shirt are out!"
Not only Yan Xie, but also father and mother Shen were immediately paying attention: "What about it officer?"
"No valid fingerprints were extracted from the box for the time being, and the inside of the tape needs further analysis. As for the bloody clothes," Huang Xing paused, seemingly a bit perplexed, but he continued, "It's not human blood, but it belongs to a ..... bird species."
The Shen couple immediately breathed a sigh of relief, and a look of joy appeared in their eyes.
-- This was natural, although the couple suspected that their family was being targeted by perverts, at least they were not perverted to the point of using human blood to soak clothes, which could be considered a blessing among the misfortunes.
But Yan Xie didn't think so: "I saw your reaction, so by birds you don't mean chickens and ducks, do you?"
Director Huang hesitated.
"No, it's an eagle. It's possible that ... it's a white-tailed eagle."
Everyone showed a look of confusion, and mother Shen subconsciously blurted out, "What kind of eagle?"
"The white-tailed sea eagle, a large bird of prey of the eagle family. It used to be endangered worldwide in the last century, but its population has since recovered. Although its subspecies is still a first-class protected animal within our country." Huang Xing explained, "the city bureau's technology could only identify it as a bird, but we wanted to get further details. And it just so happened that Director Chen had returned to the provincial office, so we asked him to take care of it. And the results came out from the physical and chemical analysis room of the provincial bureau just now."
Yan Xie looked at Jiang Ting, who shook his head slightly, signalling that he couldn't think of anything either.
"Let's call the Forestry Bureau first," Yan Xie only said, "how many eagles must've been killed."
Huang Xing nodded, and was just about to leave when suddenly a mobile phone rang behind him.
Yan Xie subconsciously touched his trouser pocket, and then looked for the source of the sound - everyone's eyes turned back to see that father Shen's mobile phone, which he had just put on the table, was ringing.
The caller ID was a series of unordered numbers.
"That's it, that's it!" Father Shen pointed at the phone and gritted his teeth, "That blackmail call from this morning came from the same number! It's this sick grandson!"
"Pick it up, try to buy time to bargain and don't let the other party hang up." Yan Xie made an immediate decision, "Da Huang! Set up the machine and start tracking, quick!"
Before the words were out of his mouth, Director Huang already leapt out as if he had burnt his butt. Yan Xie picked up the phone and pressed the answer button, handing it to father Shen and giving him an encouraging look.
"..." father Shen took a deep breath and adjusted his emotions, "Hello-"
The next second he was interrupted by the cold electronic synthesized voice on the other side of the line.
"You've called the police, right?"