Pei Xin pulled some photos from the file and placed them in front of Bai Qi and Hong Yi. Both of them frowned as they looked at the photos. "Now, who are all these kids?" Bai Qi asked.
"They are the children who have gone missing in recent years," Pei Xin explained.
"And how are they connected to Hong Lin?" Hong Yi asked. "I suspect he's behind their disappearances."
"And what's the reason for your suspicion?" Hong Yi questioned, moving the photos one by one. That's when Pei Xin pulled out another set of pictures. "This was taken yesterday by my men at one of Hong Lin's farmhouses.
"The pictures showed two kids being tied up and forced into a truck. "Now, compare those two girls in that picture with these pictures," Pei Xin said, placing two of the earlier photos showing teenagers.
"These are the two girls who went missing recently," he continued. "I've checked the FIR details - they went missing about a week ago. I don't know what he's doing with these kids yet, or where the other children are.
"But Bai Qi and Hong Yi were struck by the photos of the kids, who were just reaching their adolescence. "What in the world is he doing with these kids?" Bai Qi exclaimed.
Hong Yi frowned as he looked at the pictures. "These kids are still so young," he mumbled to himself, gaining both of his friends' attention. "All of them seem to be between 12 and 15 years old."
"Look, why is kidnapping done?" Bai Qi asked, making Pei Xin roll his eyes. "We don't have time to answer your silly questions," Pei Xin grumbled.
"Pei Xin, let him share his thoughts," Bai Qi smirked, looking at Pei Xin. Hong Yi shook his head. "See, generally kidnapping is done for one reason: ransom. Which is clearly not the case here. Two: forcing them into prostitution, which could be a reason in this case, but no one wants un-differentiated kids. Three: for selling their body parts," Bai Qi said, making both of them draw a breath into their lungs. "Worst-case scenario: medical experiments."
Hong Yi listened to every case Bai Qi listed. Something caught his attention as he shuffled the photos again with the recent FIR copies. "What Bai Qi said makes sense. It's the kids who haven't been differentiated yet, and selling body parts is one possibility." Hong Yi paused a second before analyzing and continued. "But one thing I don't understand is If I were in his place, I would have gone for an easier approach than kidnapping kids. Orphanage kids would have been my option, or low-income families who couldn't afford to register a case."
"May be this is just tip of the iceberg we are seeing. Look there are 30 kids who are missing under the records but what about off records. How many would have been missing? who had no one to even register the case?" Bai Qi said staring at the pictures. Pei Xin clutched his head, trying to digest what kind of whirlpool they had stepped into. "Oh god, what have we gotten ourselves into?" Pei Xin gulped some water to calm his mind.
"What about the other things you've collected, Pei Xin?" Hong Yi asked.
"Well, I did tell you about Doctor Lee being in contact with your uncles, right? But now he's been missing. His social media accounts haven't been active for the past 15 days, and even his family doesn't know where he is right now," Pei Xin said."The last time he was spotted was leaving his apartment on CCTV footage in his car. Afterward, he just left a message for his family saying there was an emergency surgery he had to attend abroad and wouldn't be available for a month or two."
"And his family didn't suspect anything?" Hong Yi frowned.
"Apparently, he usually goes abroad for operations, so they didn't find it unusual," Pei Xin replied.
"I wasn't successful in getting their bank financial statements, but according to the call records, there were frequent calls made between Hong Li and Hong Lin's PAs until the day Doctor Lee went missing. Now we can't track his phone. The last location of his phone was at the airport.
"Before Pei Xin could continue, Manager Li knocked on the door.
"Mr. Hong, your guest is here," he said with a smile. Hong Yi got up from his seat and turned behind to find a man who might have just reached Hong Yi's shoulders standing there.
"Detective Cody, it's nice to meet you," Hong Yi moved his hand forward for a handshake. "Mr. Hong, it's nice to meet you too."Hong Yi turned towards Pei Xin and Bai Qi. "These are my friends, Pei Xin and Bai Qi." Detective Cody greeted both of them. "He's Cody Lee, a private detective."
"Have a seat," Hong Yi said, sitting down. Cody Lee sat beside Hong Yi. While Pei Xin and Bai Qi turned towards Hong Yi for answers, Hong Yi just ignored their questioning looks.
Cody paused, unsure of how to address the two unexpected figures in the room. He hadn't anticipated an audience when he entered.
"Don't worry about it. I trust them both," Hong Yi said, assuring the detective.
"Mr. Hong, last time you asked me about the girl, Mo Zixi, and the letter sent to you," the detective began. Hong Yi nodded. "The envelope you received is from Mo SiYue. She's the mother of Mo Zixi, the one who left her at an orphanage at the age of two."
"What's this Mo SiYue's motive behind sending me the details?" Hong Yi asked.
"Mo SiYue used to work as a waitress at a hotel in Wan City. During one of your father's business meetings, they met. She's a woman with many ambitions. Regardless of the details, she drugged your father to escalate his rut, and well, things happened. She thought this could turn her life around and land her in a rich household, but your father threatened to expose her and ruin her life, forcing her to leave the job and settle for some money. A year later, she contacted your father again. I think she threatened him with Mo Zixi, but your father didn't budge. He just gave her some money and asked her to leave the child at an orphanage."
Cody Lee pulled out some pictures and showed them to Hong Yi. Pei Xin and Bai Qi were looking back and forth between Hong Yi and the detective.
"This is Mo SiYue, and this is the hotel she used to work at," Cody Lee continued, showing different photos."If my father was giving her money, then why does she have to send me the details?" Hong Yi asked.
"That's what I couldn't figure out either. She's been off the radar for the past 10 days. I've been keeping an eye on her movements. She hasn't come out of her apartment in the last 10 days, but all her groceries are being delivered to her doorstep," Cody Lee said.
"What's going on, Hong Yi? Why did you never tell us this?" Bai Qi asked."
I think you both get the picture of what's going on right now," Hong Yi sighed and continued. "Apparently, I have a younger sister too, who's 10 years old."
Pei Xin, who had been calm until now, looked at Hong Yi and spoke up. "I don't get it. How did she get your address? As far as I know, other than Aunt Shu, no one else knows the address of your apartment."
"And don't you think it's funny that both Doctor Lee and this Mo SiYue have been missing for who knows how long, since the same time? How did Mo SiYue even get his hands on rut escalators, which are banned in the market?" Pei Xin pointed out.