I See Murders Before They Happen

Chapter 258: Chapter 256: It’s That Woman

”Your downstairs neighbor is named Su Miaoyi. She works at the Municipal Police Department. Go to the department now and find her. Tell her to come see me by herself, and I’ll give you back your son. Remember... she has to come alone. Don’t let those people try any funny business and follow her. If even one person follows, I’ll kill your son immediately.”

After the recording ended, there was a pause of a few seconds, followed by an address.

Zhuang Yanzheng and the others quickly exchanged a look.

The woman saw them exchange glances and immediately grabbed Zhuang Yanzheng. ”You can’t go! None of you can go! She has to go by herself! Let her go by herself! Or that woman will kill my son!”

”Please, calm down!” Zhuang Yanzheng said.

”How can I calm down?! You’re telling me to calm down?! That’s my son! Not your son! We were living a perfectly fine life, and then we get a neighbor like this! What did we do wrong?! What did I do?!” the woman shouted. ”Aren’t you the police?! Save my son! Save my son! No one can go but her! No one!”

Lu Zhishen and Chu Xingrou ran over.

Zhuang Yanzheng said, ”Describe the kidnapper’s face to him.”

”I can’t remember, I can’t remember! Can’t you save my son first?! Save my son! Hurry up and go!” After pulling on Zhuang Yanzheng, the woman started pulling on Su Miaoyi.

Su Miaoyi looked at her. ”I’ll go.”

”Then hurry up! Go! Go!” She pushed at Su Miaoyi.

”Please, calm down.” Zhuang Yanzheng pulled Su Miaoyi behind him and looked at the woman. ”And please cooperate! We will dispatch officers as quickly as possible. Please trust us.”

He finished speaking and looked at Chu Xingrou.

Chu Xingrou immediately stepped forward to comfort the woman.

”She saw the kidnapper,” Zhuang Yanzheng said to Lu Zhishen.

Lu Zhishen nodded and walked over to the woman’s side.

Su Miaoyi and Zhuang Yanzheng’s group immediately went back upstairs.

Seeing them leave, the woman started to get up and chase after them.

Chu Xingrou stopped her. ”Please trust us. We will definitely rescue him. We’ll move out as soon as we confirm the location. It’ll be fast.”

The woman watched their retreating backs.

「Zhuang Yanzheng’s Office.」

Zhuang Yanzheng had someone run a check on the kidnapper’s car first.

Su Miaoyi pulled up a map based on the location from the recording.

”An abandoned factory on the outskirts,” Brother Zheng said.

”The surrounding area is too open. It’ll be hard for us to follow,” Zhuang Yanzheng said. ”We’ll be spotted as soon as we get close.”

”Is it within sniper range?” Brother Zheng asked.

”Not easily,” Su Miaoyi said, looking at the factory’s surroundings. ”The terrain here is bad, and if we deploy, we’ll likely be discovered.”

Zhuang Yanzheng stared at the map without speaking.

”Then what do we do? We can’t let you go by yourself. This is obviously a trap meant to kill you. What if there’s a bomb or something in the factory? You could be dead the moment you get near,” Brother Zheng said. ”Most importantly, we don’t even know if the hostage is there. It’s probably just a trap.”

”I still have to go. We have to save him,” Su Miaoyi said. ”If there’s a bomb... I can run fast. Besides... I think I learned how to disarm one.”

Brother Zheng looked at her, wanting to say something, but ultimately held his tongue.

’If it were me, I’d go too.’

’If only I could go in her place...’

’Instead of just standing here worrying.’

”Captain Zhuang, the equipment.” Qi Feng came running over in a hurry.

Zhuang Yanzheng took the items from Qi Feng’s hands and gave them to Su Miaoyi. ”Stick this one on your collar. It’s a communication device and a tracker. Put this one in your ear so you can hear us.”

Su Miaoyi looked at the two rice-sized devices, stuck one to her collar, and placed the other in her ear. ”Can you hear me?”

She tested it.

A voice came through from the other end of the device.

”We can,” Zhuang Yanzheng spoke into the device, and his voice came through Su Miaoyi’s earpiece.

”I can hear you too,” Su Miaoyi said. ”I’m leaving now. Give me a car.”

Brother Zheng opened his mouth as if to say something, but then closed it again.

Zhuang Yanzheng tossed her a set of car keys, then went behind a bookshelf and retrieved a dagger for her.

Su Miaoyi took it and drew it from its sheath to inspect it.

Seeing the dagger, Brother Zheng’s eyes flickered slightly.

”Is this mine?” Su Miaoyi asked.

Zhuang Yanzheng nodded.

Su Miaoyi twirled it on her fingertip. ”Feels familiar. Handles well.”

She ran a hand over the pattern on the dagger’s hilt.

”You head out first. We’ll take another route, here...” Zhuang Yanzheng pointed to a route on the map. ”We’ll circle around from this side and wait for your signal at this position. We’ll have a sniper with you. The terrain isn’t great, but they should be able to set up. If you need to, communicate with us at any time to open fire.”

”Okay,” Su Miaoyi said. ”Don’t worry.”

Lu Zhishen also pushed the door open and came in.

”Finished the sketch? That was fast,” Su Miaoyi said in surprise.

Lu Zhishen held up his phone. ”It’s her. Based on the caller’s description just now, I thought it was a match, so I showed her the photo. She confirmed it’s her.”

The picture on his phone was of the woman who went to the hospital to kill Xing Chang and Chang Yong, and also the woman who killed Feng Ruihao.

Su Miaoyi and Zhuang Yanzheng exchanged a look. ”Related to Lu Xian? Can’t be, right? Why insist on seeing me by name? She knows where I live, knows my neighbors...”

She paused. ”Last weekend, I did feel like someone was watching me in the neighborhood, but I checked the surveillance footage and didn’t find anyone suspicious.”

”Did Lu Xian discover your identity?” Brother Zheng asked, then immediately shook his head. ”No, no, that’s not right. He probably doesn’t even know you were ’sacrificed’.”

Qi Feng’s eyes widened as he listened.

’What? Who?’

’Who was sacrificed?’

’What does that mean? She’s standing right here! How was she sacrificed? Huh?????’

”Even if she knew you were ’sacrificed,’ why would she want to see you now? It can’t be because she used to curse you out all the time back then and didn’t get enough of it, so she wants to keep going, right?” Brother Zheng wondered.

”It’s not necessarily Lu Xian,” Zhuang Yanzheng said. ”Lu Xian is very cautious. He doesn’t want to deal with us, and he wouldn’t send someone directly to the Municipal Police Department to find a person.”

Everyone fell silent for a moment.

”It could be anyone. We’ve handled a lot of cases this past year, and we’ve stepped on a lot of toes,” Su Miaoyi said. ”I’ll know once I go see them.”

”Be careful with everything. Your safety is the priority,” Lu Zhishen said.

Su Miaoyi acknowledged him, tucked the dagger into the back of her belt, and walked straight out.

Lu Zhishen and the others looked toward Zhuang Yanzheng.

Zhuang Yanzheng looked at the map, paused, then glanced at the time. ”It’s almost the end of the workday. Lu Zhishen, Brother Zheng, Qi Feng, take your own cars, bring your people, and leave the department separately. We’ll split up from here, here, and here, and head to these positions to wait for word from Su Miaoyi.”

”Yes, sir!” the group replied.

”I’ll take Yan Cheng’s car with my team and take this road to set up the sniper here,” Zhuang Yanzheng said. ”By leaving separately, we’ll be harder to spot. These three waiting positions will also form a perimeter around the location. If anything happens, we can rush in directly. Everyone on comms. Don’t act without communicating first.”

”Yes, sir!”