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墨書 Inktalez
At that moment, the office was occupied only by me, Gu Chen, and Zhao Li. We were of similar ages, and although Zhao Li was a bit shy, she chose to share her experience.
Zhao Li said, "Those ten minutes were the longest of my life. When I woke up, I found myself tied up. At that moment, I realized I had been deceived, but I didn't know by whom. The person was dressed in black, wearing a mask and sunglasses, completely obscuring their face."
As she spoke, Zhao Li rolled up her sleeves, revealing clear marks on her wrists where ropes had constricted her skin. There were deep impressions that had already turned bruised. This evidence confirmed that Zhao Li had indeed been kidnapped.
"I have other injuries as well," Zhao Li continued, "but it's a bit inconvenient to show you."
We understood her hesitation; it wasn't appropriate for an eighteen-year-old girl to undress in front of two older men.
I waved my hand dismissively. "There will be professionals to examine you shortly. For now, can you tell us what happened to you?"
Zhao Li lowered her sleeves and replied, "At first, I was terrified. I screamed and struggled wildly. The person was afraid my cries would attract attention, so they covered my mouth. While I struggled, they tied me up with ropes and pinched my flesh."
We frowned at her words but continued listening intently.
"I knew that the more I struggled, the more they would take advantage of me." Zhao Li seemed reluctant to recall those moments; a look of sadness crossed her face. "So I stopped screaming and struggling, and they stopped hurting me. At first, they asked if I knew where Hao Ren and Wang An were."
"They asked you that?" I inquired.
Zhao Li nodded seriously. "My first thought was whether my father had gotten into trouble with someone outside. But my dad has a good temperament; he is always kind to others. Even though he is skilled in martial arts, he has never bullied anyone."
"I also wondered if my brother had caused some trouble." Zhao Li continued. "My brother Wang An has always been a fighter; I thought maybe he had picked on someone else's child and ran away. But that's not really who he is—Wang An is a good person who never bullies his friends."
Wang An could be a bit aggressive but generally adhered to the principle of not bothering others unless provoked. If no one messed with him, he wouldn’t instigate trouble either. This was evident in how he treated Guo Feng. Despite Guo Feng's intellectual challenges and the ridicule from others, Wang An not only refrained from mocking him but also comforted him. This showed that Wang An had truly learned the martial spirit from Hao Ren.
I looked at Zhao Li and asked, "Since you couldn't see the person's face, did they have any other distinguishing features? Anything at all—don’t leave anything out."
Zhao Li pondered for a moment before finally recalling something significant: "Yes, there was something. During the struggle, they pressed down on me to restrain me. When I touched their left arm, they noticeably flinched back."
A spark of realization lit up in my mind.
Zhao Li continued, "I felt like there was an injury on his arm, and later he managed to avoid me touching that arm."
"And then?" Gu Chen asked.
At that moment, tears began to fall from Zhao Li's eyes. She said, "For the first few days, I constantly thought about escaping, while he always kept an eye on me. By the fifth day, I realized this place was very remote, and I could hardly hear any sounds from outside. I knew I couldn't betray him; I had to pretend to comply."
I nodded.
Zhao Li went on, "He kept asking me where my father, Hao Ren, and my brother, Wang An, were, but I truly didn't know. After seven or eight days, he became increasingly agitated, often threatening me that if I didn't help him find them, he would kill them all. He grew angrier and angrier; it seemed that if he couldn't find my father and brother, he would lock me up here."
"I didn't understand what my father and brother had done to make him so angry," Zhao Li said anxiously. "But I knew he was capable of anything. By the tenth day, still not knowing where they were, he stripped me of my clothes."
Tears continued to flow down Zhao Li's face. "Since he couldn't find my father and brother, he used me to settle his debts. Then he raped me. After that, he left without giving me any clothes; my pants were thrown aside. I picked up my pants and used the needle on my belt to cut the rope and escape."
"Once I got out, I realized how desolate it really was here. I walked along the road until I finally found a ride willing to take me back," Zhao Li recounted with lingering fear. "At that time, I was terrified he would find me again, so as soon as I got out of the car, I took a taxi straight here."
I frowned and asked her, "Do you know where that place is now?"
Zhao Li nodded. "Yes! I memorized the route while in the car."
I asked again, "So throughout all this time, was it just him? Or were there others involved who looked similar so you didn't recognize them?"
Zhao Li thought for a moment before replying, "He did come alone, but that house had more than one room. I once heard him arguing with someone outside."
"What did you hear?" I inquired.
Zhao Li answered, "It seemed like someone was advising him to stop before things got out of hand. But he didn't listen and kicked that person out of the house. To him and me, human lives meant nothing. No one dared oppose him; sooner or later, he would kill my father and brother."
"Very well," I said to Zhao Li. "Let's leave for now. We'll have that forensic woman check your body; if everything seems fine, we can go to the place where you were held. Is that okay?"
Zhao Li nodded.
We stepped out of the room, and I informed Guan Zengbin about the situation. Guan Zengbin nodded in response.
Guan Zengbin drew the curtains in the office, and when we looked outside, we couldn't see anything inside. We could only hear the murmurs of two people, but we couldn't make out what they were saying. This was actually better, as it spared us from feeling awkward listening from outside. After a while, Guan Zengbin was the first to walk out of the house.
She glanced at us and said, "I just checked Zhao Li's body. She has many bruises, varying in size. While examining her, I asked her about the origins of these marks; some were clearly made by someone squeezing her with their hands, while the larger ones were inflicted with a belt. From what I can tell, there are both new and old injuries, so it seems likely."
"However," Guan Zengbin shook her head and looked again at the office where nothing was visible.
"What is it?" I asked.
Guan Zengbin replied, "Before she came here, she was raped by someone. So I focused on examining her lower body, but there are no signs of tearing at all. This means that if it was indeed rape, her reaction might not have been very strong. But that doesn't clarify much; she could have been too frightened to react."
Gu Chen and I didn't quite understand this aspect of things, so we just stared blankly at Guan Zengbin.
Guan Zengbin continued, "Moreover, there are no traces of male semen or prostate fluid on her lower body; it seems her assailant used protection. Perhaps they were afraid that if things got exposed, we would trace them through the semen. This indicates that they still had some awareness of being tracked."
I furrowed my brows and said slowly, "We can't be certain yet, but since Zhao Li isn't seriously hurt, let's go check that house. Bring your bag along. We have Zhang Bin's fingerprints; if we find his fingerprints at the scene as well, then we'll be quite close to solving this."
Gu Chen drove while Zhao Li guided us; Wang An stayed behind at the police station.
On the way back, Zhao Li seemed a bit scared. With our reassurance, she managed to calm down. When we arrived at the house, the interior was unchanged from when Zhao Li had left. The person who had kidnapped Zhao Li still hadn't returned.
The door was open; it was a simple three-room apartment.
This place was located in the outskirts of Yumu City. I wondered how much it would cost to rent such a house.
I frowned and walked inside.
In a bedroom, we could clearly see the severed rope inside. I put on gloves and picked up the rope, examining it closely. The way the rope had been cut suggested that someone had used a not very sharp metal object to slice through it strand by strand. The other end of the rope was still tied to the bed leg, which was heavy and appeared difficult to escape from.
Guan Zengbin had already begun searching for fingerprint traces in this place, while I surveyed the house.
The house was very clean, indicating that it was regularly maintained.
I provided the address of the house to Mary, asking her to find out who the homeowner was.
Moments later, Mary discovered the homeowner's identity and gave me their phone number.
During my conversation with the homeowner, they informed me that the house had been rented out a month ago. They had gone to work in another province long before that, and the house had been vacant since.
I asked, "Who is the person renting the house?"
The homeowner replied, "I haven't met this person. I entrusted a real estate agent to handle it. However, the agent told me that the renter's name is Zhang Bin."
Zhang Bin! It was indeed Zhang Bin, the person whose right arm had been slashed twice by Wang An.
At that moment, Guan Zengbin said, "I found several fingerprints. Comparing them with those left by Zhang Bin at the detention center shows a complete match. However, I only found the thumbprint; no other fingerprints were located. Still, this is enough to clarify the issue."
"Zhang Bin?" Zhao Li clearly did not understand what had transpired between her father’s brother and Zhang Bin.
"That's right," I replied. "Zhang Bin."
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