Captain Zhao tried to persuade me over the phone, but I didn't listen to a single word. I don't even remember when he hung up. After I put down the phone, I wandered to the outside of the interrogation room like a zombie. Zhang Yihan was inside interrogating Li Xia. I didn't know how to tell her the bad news. I was very worried about whether Zhang Yihan could handle it.
At that moment, I felt a bit luckier than Zhang Yihan. At least I had some hope, while her father was already confirmed dead. I don't know how long I stood outside the interrogation room until Zhang Yihan suddenly pushed the door open and came out, snapping me back to reality.
Zhang Yihan looked at me with suspicion, "Xiao Lin, what's wrong? Why do you look so pale? Who bullied you?"
"Senior, I..." I stammered, not knowing how to start.
"Did something happen at home? Tell me, even if the sky falls, your senior will hold it up for you. Don't be afraid!" Zhang Yihan patted my shoulder and smiled brightly, "You're my little brother. I should take care of you!"
Seeing Zhang Yihan smile so brightly, I became even more afraid to tell her.
"Are you a man or not? If something happened, just say it directly." Zhang Yihan said grumpily, "No matter what happens, we should find a way to solve it. Standing here lost won't help anything."
Zhang Yihan's words cleared my mind a bit. She was right, no matter what happened, we should face it.
"Senior, my house caught fire." I said despondently. My mind was full of images of my mother struggling in the fire.
Zhang Yihan was stunned for a moment. She froze for a few seconds, then pushed me hard, "Are you stupid? Your mom has mobility issues, so why are you still standing here? Go check on her!"
As she spoke, she pushed me towards the door, "Go quickly, leave everything here to me. Don't worry, I'll make sure you get credit for solving the case when you get back. I'll make sure Captain Zhao promotes you."
At that moment, I felt Zhang Yihan was truly a good person. Though she was usually fierce, she had a kind heart.
She pushed me all the way to the office building entrance. I couldn't hold back any longer and said, "Senior, not only my mom is in trouble, but your dad is also in trouble."
"What?" Zhang Yihan exclaimed. Then she smiled slightly, "What happened to my dad?"
"Captain Zhao said your dad died in a car accident..."
"Oh..." Zhang Yihan only paused for a moment, then pushed me again, "It's okay. That was my stepdad. Go back and check on your mom!"
"Senior, are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I need to go back and continue the interrogation. Go now!" Zhang Yihan said as she turned and walked back upstairs.
Watching her leave, I couldn't believe my eyes. Is this woman even human? Even if it was her stepdad, she shouldn't be so indifferent, right?
I knew now was not the time to argue with Zhang Yihan, so I quickly left. Before heading home, I stopped by the hospital to see Captain Ge and Zhao Xiaotian.
I went to Zhao Xiaotian's room first. To my surprise, Captain Ge was there too. When they saw me come in, they stopped their low-voiced conversation.
"Xiao Lin is here," Captain Ge smiled at me, "How is the interrogation going?"
"Captain Ge, we'll talk about the case later. Both my and Senior Zhang Yihan's families are in trouble," I said anxiously, "I suspect there's someone behind Li Dapeng. My house caught fire this morning, and my mom is missing. Senior Zhang Yihan's father died in a car accident this morning. I came to say goodbye and to warn you to have your families be extra careful and try to stay home."
"These people are lawless! This is outrageous!" Captain Ge was furious.
"Damn it, if I find out who did this, I'll kill their whole family," Zhao Xiaotian said fiercely, completely unlike a police officer.
"Xiao Lin, you and Xiao Zhang go home quickly. Leave the case to us," Captain Ge said.
"Captain Zhao called and said we should hand the case over to Captain Jin Zhijian of the Fourth Squad..." I started, but Zhao Xiaotian interrupted with a shout.
"Bullshit!"
"Xiao Zhao, that was your dad's order," Captain Ge sighed.
"So what? He can be wrong too," Zhao Xiaotian said defiantly, "I'll call him right now!" With that, he hobbled out of the room with his phone.
"Xiao Lin, where's Xiao Zhang? Why didn't she come with you?" Captain Ge asked.
"Captain Zhao wanted both of us to go home, but she..." I smiled bitterly, "By the way, Captain Ge, is Senior Zhang Yihan's father her stepfather?"
"Stepfather? What stepfather?" Captain Ge glared at me, "She's like you. You grew up with your mother, and she grew up with her father. Both of you were raised in single-parent families. Sometimes life is really unfair! You go on, I'll go talk to Xiao Zhang..."
Hearing Captain Ge's words, I finally felt relieved. I didn't dare to delay any longer and drove home as fast as I could. I borrowed a police car from the county police station, but it still took me three hours to get home.
When I arrived, there were still many fire trucks below my apartment. Thick smoke was still coming from my home and the neighboring apartments. I pushed through the crowd, crossed the police line, and rushed to my building's entrance, where I saw firefighters carrying a burnt body down the stairs.
Leading them was Captain Zhao Mingzhu. When he saw me, his face darkened, and he quickly came over and grabbed my hand, pulling me aside. "Xiao Lin, I'm sorry. We didn't do a good job protecting your family..."
I was on the verge of breaking down. I pushed Zhao Mingzhu away and stopped the firefighters, then slowly lifted the white cloth covering the body.
The body was burnt beyond recognition, with severe skin and tissue contraction, making it impossible to identify. But after a careful check, I noticed the legs were straight. My mother's right leg had been bent since her car accident, so this couldn't be her.
Even so, I asked, "How many victims were there?"
"Officer, so far we found only one victim in apartment 707..." a young police officer responded.
"Thank you, thank you!" I said, shaking his hand.
Captain Zhao noticed my reaction and asked, "Not your mom?"
"No," I shook my head, "but I'm sure this was arson. The target was definitely my mom. She has good safety habits and wouldn't have an accident like this at home."
"Then who is this?" Captain Zhao pointed to the body being carried away.
"Probably our housekeeper," I said through clenched teeth.
"Where's your mom then?" Captain Zhao frowned, "Given her mobility issues, she shouldn't be out alone."
Hearing this, I became even more anxious. I began searching the neighborhood, asking familiar faces if they had seen my mom, but no one had. Then I ran to the security office to check the surveillance footage.
The footage showed our housekeeper pushing my mom out the door at seven in the morning. That was normal, as my mom liked to go out for fresh air every morning. But half an hour later, the housekeeper returned alone. As she opened the door, a man in black work clothes rushed from the stairwell into our apartment.
When he came out, he pointed to his back in front of the camera, and shortly after, smoke began pouring from our apartment. Unfortunately, the camera never caught his face.
Initially, I didn't understand why he pointed to his back. But after having the video analyzed by our technical team, we discovered a phone number written on his back.
I quickly dialed the number, and a man with an icy voice answered, "Your mother is with us. If you want her to live, follow my instructions."
"I want to hear my mother's voice," I said calmly. I had anticipated this the moment I saw the number on his back.
He didn't waste time. Soon, I heard my mother's voice, "Xiao Jun, don't worry about me..."
"Mom..."
Before I could say more, the voice cut off.
"Your mom is fine for now, but if you don't cooperate, I can't promise anything."
"What do you want?"
"Simple. Get some information from your captain's computer."
"Impossible!" I said without hesitation.
"Then prepare to collect your mother's body!"