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墨書 Inktalez
Finding a car among a hundred does not take long. After less than twenty minutes, a vehicle appeared before us. It was an old van, unlicensed, parked in a corner of the lot, quite inconspicuous. It looked like it would be scrapped soon.
"This is the car!" Liu Ding declared firmly. "This van is very worn out and parked in such a remote corner, clearly trying to avoid attention. Plus, the trunk can easily fit two people, so I conclude that this is the kidnapper's vehicle!"
Looking at Liu, I felt a pang of reluctance to reveal the truth. This van was most likely not the kidnapper's car because anyone with the kidnapper's intelligence would surely realize that this vehicle was too old and shabby—probably the oldest and most dilapidated among the hundreds of cars here.
It's not just luxury cars that attract attention.
Amidst a crowd of elites dressed in designer brands, someone wearing baggy shorts and a tank top stands out as truly ostentatious.
"This car is definitely not what we're looking for."
To my surprise, I found myself speaking up alongside Jesse. We exchanged glances; Jesse seemed to have reasoning skills on par with mine, which explained why he could run his own Detective Agency in Nara. I gestured politely, "If that's the case, which car do you think belongs to the kidnappers?"
Jesse smiled at me and began to walk around. "In this vast parking lot, this old van is actually the most conspicuous. It’s undoubtedly a smokescreen set by the kidnappers to divert our attention towards this worn-out vehicle, leading us to waste our efforts."
With that, Jesse approached a black Audi and said, "What do you think of this car?"
The Audi A6 was parked not far from the van; it had seen some years but was neither new nor particularly old. If I had to describe it in one sentence, I would say it was very understated. In the city, driving an Audi A6 would generally indicate wealth; however, in Dongxing City, it could only be considered an ordinary family car.
"This car?" Liu said, feeling embarrassed after being contradicted in front of so many people. "It doesn’t look like a kidnapper's vehicle at all. Just look at its body and license plate; they seem very ordinary. How did you come to that conclusion?"
"Wu Meng," Jesse glanced back at me and continued, "Since I've found this car, why don’t you explain why it’s significant?"
Jesse looked around at everyone and then back at me with a challenging glint in his eyes.
It seemed Jesse wanted to test me further; since that was the case, I wouldn’t shy away.
"Did you notice the scratch next to the door?" I pointed at the scratch on the door and said, "This mark is suspicious."
Everyone turned their gaze to the vehicle where they saw a long scratch on the right side of the door. It appeared to have been made by some metal object; judging by its appearance, it was still quite fresh. I added, "Take a closer look at the height and width of this scratch."
I reached out and used the crown of my watch to compare with the scratch: "We can imagine a scenario where Liu Fei'er was unconscious at that time. The kidnappers shoved her through the right side door. Her hand must have been dangling down; thus, the watch crown scraped against the door and created this mark."
Jesse shook his head, seemingly unconvinced by my words.
Liu, although somewhat puzzled, remained silent. I knew he was considering my reputation; in front of outsiders, even if I was talking nonsense, Liu would absolutely support me. However, since Liu didn't speak up, Jesse's assistant, Vivian, chimed in, "Ha, that's a bit far-fetched. Why don't we let Jesse talk about it?"
I waved my hand and said, "That's just one point, but it's correct. However, the most important clue is on the tire, right, Jesse?"
I crouched down and pulled a leaf from the tire's tread. I held it to my nose; at first, it had a faint fragrance, but after a while, it developed a rather unpleasant odor—complex and hard to describe.
"Although I don't know what plant this is," I stood up and showed it to everyone, "the first time I saw this leaf was in the villa area of Dongxing City. I haven't seen it anywhere else. This means that this vehicle must have passed through an area where this plant exists—most likely the villa area."
Guan Zengbin stepped forward to examine it closely and said, "Fragrant Ash; more accurately, it's called Western Purple Cabbage. This plant is only cultivated near the villa area in Dongxing City! You observed it very carefully."
I shrugged and then asked Jesse, "I wonder if you have any other insights?"
Jesse burst into laughter and replied, "You've given me what I wanted! It's autumn now; the leaves are falling everywhere. I've conducted a thorough investigation outside the villa area. If a vehicle has passed through here, it would definitely crush these leaves. Thus, they would inevitably get embedded in the tire tread. So when I traced my way here, I didn't expect you to be here as well."
Just as I was about to respond, my phone rang—it was Gu Chen calling: "I've arrived at the underground garage but haven't seen you guys. Now that I know where you are, I'll come over right away."
As he spoke, Gu Chen followed the sound of my ringtone and soon appeared with Wang Er Gou.
It had been several months since I last saw Wang Er Gou. Seeing him now brought me some joy. Wang Er Gou seemed even more excited; upon seeing me, he acted as if he had encountered his master—or rather, he should be acting like he had met a true master. He rushed over on all fours and desperately rubbed against my legs.
I felt a pang of emotion; on one hand, seeing Wang Er Gou like this made me feel a bit guilty—after all, he was once human. But then again, if Wang Er Gou truly remembered his past and became human again, how sad would that be?
Sometimes people are unhappy simply because they know too much.
If given the choice, what would be wrong with being a happy dog?
Jesse looked visibly startled, not understanding how someone who seemed perfectly fine could act so much like a dog.
I patted Wang Er Gou's head and said, "Don't be shocked; the world is vast."
Jesse Gent smiled, "It's nothing." On the contrary, Vivian looked excited, "So cute! I really like it. Can you give it to me?"
Now it was our turn to be shocked.
I cleared my throat, "No! Let's take a look at these two cars instead."
"How do we open them?" I asked the group.
At that moment, Moriko walked over to the car and bowed to us. "Leave it to me."
With that, Moriko took out a cube-like device and placed it on the driver's side door. The cube lit up, and after fiddling with it for a moment, we heard a 'click' as the car door opened. The alarm went off, but the door was already unlocked.
"Let's check it out!"
Everyone put on gloves. Vivian pulled out a magnifying glass from her coat and handed it to Jesse, while Guan Zengbin took out a special forensic toolbox from the Ministry of Public Security. The process was almost the same each time: checking for fingerprints and footprints, looking for sweat or saliva as bodily fluids. In criminal investigations, these are considered direct evidence.
If those were not found, they would search for items that might have been left by the murderer, such as a lighter or tissues. If there were no fingerprints or other direct evidence found, it would be classified as indirect evidence, requiring deeper investigation to potentially uncover clues.
However, the results were somewhat frustrating yet expected. There was no direct or indirect evidence in the car; although disappointing, it was bearable. Now we had to wait for Mary’s update on the surveillance investigation. But after so long, Mary hadn’t called us, indicating that things weren’t going smoothly on her end either.
I held Wang Er Gou's leash and leaned against a pillar in the underground parking lot.
Suddenly, Wang Er Gou tugged at the leash and moved towards the car, his nose twitching as if he had caught a scent.
"What’s wrong, Ergou?" I asked.
Wang Er Gou made his way to the passenger side and sniffed around the door handle for quite some time.
"Did you find something?" I asked him.
Wang Er Gou barked twice and then happily exclaimed, "I smell tobacco, along with sugar and wine!"
Tobacco and White Sugar Wine. I recalled what a so-called Crime Boss had told me during my time in prison. Some old smokers often rolled their own tobacco for the taste. They would crush the cigarettes they usually bought and pour out the tobacco inside.
Then, they would add a bit of wine, a little sugar, or one or two grams of honey to the tobacco. Mixing these ingredients thoroughly, they would bake the mixture in an oven for twenty-four hours. After that, they could roll it up in paper and enjoy it.
Such rolls had a richer flavor compared to ordinary cigarettes. When savored slowly, there was a subtle sweetness, and the taste of the tobacco would be enhanced. However, to be honest, not many people did this. If the combinations were off, the smoke could taste quite strange and unpleasant.
Perhaps I could find a few people to help me—someone who loved making their own rolling tobacco and someone who knew how to mix it properly.
“Ergou, you did an excellent job this time,” I couldn't help but praise Wang Er Gou.
“Of course! I'm the smartest dog around,” Wang Er Gou replied happily.
Jesse naturally overheard our conversation and said, “Sir, that's impressive! You can really smell that?”
“I’m a dog!” Wang Er Gou was quite displeased with Jesse's comment.
I ignored Jesse and turned to Guan Zengbin. “Since you can smell it, there might be some tobacco strands that fell into the gaps. We need to search carefully; this is crucial.”
Half an hour later, Guan Zengbin used tweezers to extract a strand of tobacco from the gap in the car window.
It was a strand of tobacco with rolling paper attached.
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