Montage is a transliterated foreign term, originally used in architecture to mean composition or assembly. It can be explained as a deliberate, meaningful splicing of time and space, a technique used in film editing.
We all know that human memory operates subconsciously, unlike a computer's hard drive, which retrieves data from specific locations. Li Xiude used techniques involving time, place, and people to create a montage of sorts, like a film editing process, in our minds, generating the illusion that they were not present. This allowed his family to escape legal responsibility.
He combined his actions on the 17th with the family's outing on the 18th, creating a time splice and using multiple bystanders as witnesses, making it seem as if he wasn't home on the 18th. He also used a wolfdog to destroy the car, but unfortunately, the destruction of the white Porsche ultimately exposed him.
While I was lost in thought, the little girl suddenly ran out. I was startled—she was an important witness and couldn't be left alone. So I immediately chased after her.
The layout around here looked quite similar, almost unbelievable, and the abstract paintings were still posted everywhere.
The ground was extremely uneven and difficult to walk on, but I noticed that the little girl was not affected at all.
She was barefoot, and no matter how much I called out to her, she kept running.
I lost her. The further I went, the more impossible it seemed. It was like a subterranean world.
Did Li Xiude and his family know about this place?
After running through the secret room for a while, I reached a fork in the path. A wolfdog was lying on the ground nearby, glaring at me with cold, sinister eyes.
I froze in my tracks. Our eyes met, and the wolfdog's gaze made me shiver. Just as it was about to pounce, a voice echoed: "Laifu! Where are you?"
It was Li Xiang's voice. The wolfdog, hearing its owner's call, gave me a reluctant glance, wagged its tail, and left.
I breathed a small sigh of relief. Though I wasn't afraid, fighting a healthy wolfdog could be quite dangerous.
I lost sight of the little girl. After taking a few photos, I found an exit from this underground world and made my way out. The exit was near the cemetery. Once outside, I saw a house to my left, filled with wine bottles and a hoe.
I looked down at the hoe. Although it had been put back, the marks on the ground suggested it had been moved recently.
Just as I was about to inspect it more closely, someone called out to me from behind: "Captain He, finally found you! Why did you come here alone?"
"Shh! Quiet! Don't let them hear!"
I covered Xiao Yuande's mouth.
He immediately closed his mouth, and I pulled him behind the house. Then I whispered to him, "There's a basement in the mansion!"
"Really? Did you go inside?"
I nodded. "There's a very young girl beggar inside. She's an important witness. When she saw me, she ran. I almost caught up with her, but she escaped."
"That's a pity. We should get some people to help investigate together!" he suggested.
"No, not yet. We're so close, but we don't want to alert them!" I stopped him. Right now, we still needed physical evidence in addition to the witness testimony.
The next morning.
Gao Qiang returned, bringing good news: he had finally found Huang Xueming. More accurately, Huang had returned from his activities out of town.
I immediately dragged him to the interrogation room and pressed him: "Huang Xueming, tell me honestly, do you know any secrets about Zhang Jiye?"
"I don't know anything! Zhang Jiye and I were just ordinary classmates!"
While he spoke, I looked at him deeply and noticed that his heart rate was fast, signaling that he was lying.
"Is that so? He's missing, and you had a conversation with him before!" I slammed my hand on the table and played a recording for him.
After hearing the recording, Huang Xueming could no longer deny it. He hesitated for a moment before saying, "He did call me before he went missing. He said that Li Xiang was really beautiful and that he wanted to get closer to her. He said they had already set a time and place."
"That's it? How did you know him? What happened at the party?" I picked up my police baton, wanting to strike him.
Knowing he couldn't hide anything anymore, he pulled out his phone and opened a video. It showed disturbing footage of Zhang Jiye tearing off Li Xiang's clothes, slowly trying to assault her!
I glared at the screen, and just then, Zhang Huilong and his wife arrived. Upon seeing the video, they immediately grabbed Huang Xueming, but at the same time, they felt shame for their child's actions.
With this video, we could find Li Xiang's motive for murder, but we still needed someone to testify.
The little girl in the basement was now the most crucial witness. Once we found her, the case would likely be solved.