"It's not necessarily the same case, maybe your wife left for another reason?" I guessed.
Director Ma shook his head vigorously, "No! Impossible! Director He also received a Liu Yue Ju. When I found the letter, it was in the flowers, the same situation as 12 years ago!"
As he spoke, Director Ma took out a bunch of June flowers from under the coffee table, "It's this one. When I saw this bunch of flowers, I was astonished and knew that guy was back!"
"Could it be that everyone who receives a June Chrysanthemum..."
"That's right, their wives all disappeared!"
I suddenly looked at Liu Yuning. As if sensing what I was thinking, she immediately walked over, "Don't worry, I won't disappear so easily!"
"You should still be cautious. This Cao Xiangchen is very likely still alive. Moreover, he recently learned that his son was arrested, so he must be furious. That's why there have been cases recently. I don't think this is a coincidence."
"I understand, I'll be very careful!"
At this moment, Su Yaxin walked over, "Captain Liu, let me protect her. It's alright, Director He, I guarantee I'll complete the mission!"
"Please do. I'll be very busy during this period. I must find Cao Xiangchen!"
As I spoke, both of them nodded. Director Ma, however, sighed, "This guy is hard to find. Back then, even your grandfather couldn't find any trace of him. Later, he was attacked and had no choice but to live in seclusion. Now, those people will definitely trouble your grandfather often, so your grandfather's place is also well guarded!"
"I've already sent people to guard it, and also people from Hejia Village."
"That should be fine!" While we were talking, Gao Mingqiang arrived, "I've watched the surveillance. It was Zhang Zhiwei who received the June Chrysanthemum back then, and she seemed quite nervous. She should have known about this case 12 years ago, right?"
"Yes, all our family members knew at the time because it was on the news. We actually found it very strange because the case was kept secret, but it was revealed to the public before it was solved. This made everyone around us know about it, so our wives became extremely frightened. Some officers even wanted to send their families abroad, but they weren't allowed."
"So the first officer to experience this was Officer Huang?"
"That's right. Later, after we started investigating, the wives of Officer Guo, Officer Yang, and Officer Li all disappeared. These few were all veterans in the provincial department, but within that month, they all fell into despair due to illnesses in their families. We worked hard to investigate and only then did we find some clues that led us to Cao Xiangchen. We were already at the stage of prosecution, but in the end, he escaped..."
"So there were already so many victims. Including Zhang Zhiwei, there should be 5 women missing now!"
"That's right. They have been sending them messages all these years, but not in the last two years!"
I wondered why. Could it be that they were alive before, but were only killed two years ago?
Or perhaps, they were killed long ago, and it was someone else impersonating them who sent the messages. Another possibility is that they are still alive, but for some reason, they have stopped sending messages.
I asked Liu Yuning and Gao Mingqiang to investigate the content of all the messages. This time, we need to find all the officers, even those who resigned or changed careers. I myself would return to the provincial department with the forensics team. I would start with the surveillance and then proceed with the handwriting analysis simultaneously.
The surveillance was of the street outside Director Ma's house. The colleagues from the traffic management bureau quickly provided it to us. Gao Mingqiang and I quickly reviewed it. Fortunately, there was surveillance footage of Zhang Zhiwei leaving Director Ma's house. Based on the time she left, we narrowed down the time frame and found footage of her on the road. We quickly discovered that she took a taxi when she arrived at Huarong 2nd Road.
Director Ma said that Zhang Zhiwei couldn't drive and always took a taxi wherever she went. According to the dashcam footage, we found that she got off at Zhongshan 1st Road and then seemed to be waiting at a cafe, after which she never came out.
Director Ma, who was watching the surveillance with us, was extremely agitated, slapping the table. "This cafe must be problematic! How can people go in and never come out!"
"Let's go and search it first. Ask around. Mingqiang, Xiao Yuande!"
"Okay!" The two set off immediately. Now that Gao Mingqiang was back, I wouldn't have to run around as much. After entrusting them with the task, Director Ma and I went to the handwriting identification department. Dao Zhiyong and Su Yaxin were already standing there, as if they had results.
Seeing us, Dao Zhiyong spoke first, "After our identification, these words were indeed written by Zhang Zhiwei. However, there's a problem: it's unlikely she wrote them voluntarily. Furthermore, based on the ink diffusion, these words have existed for a month. This means she had written this farewell letter long ago. What does this imply? She knew she was going to leave a long time ago, it wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision. Director Ma, during this month, have you noticed anything unusual about Zhang Zhiwei? Perhaps focusing on some details might reveal some clues."
"Well, I've been very busy recently, attending meetings at the Ministry of Public Security frequently, and rarely going home. By the time I get home, she's already asleep, so I didn't notice."
"I see. With Ma Biao in the hospital, there's probably no one who knows her situation. Is there anyone else at home who has close contact with her?"
"We have a nanny at home. Her name is Huang Yourong."
"We can find this nanny to get some information first. Perhaps she knows something."
Following Dao Zhiyong's suggestion, Director Ma and I found her. We called her to the provincial department. She seemed surprised to learn of Zhang Zhiwei's disappearance, saying, "How could this be? Wasn't she fine before? How could she have disappeared? Madam, what has she encountered that she had to leave?"
"We are investigating. During this month, did you notice anything unusual about her?" Director Ma asked.
"I don't come every day, you know, Director Ma. I was supposed to come today, but I didn't expect Madam to have disappeared. She was the same as usual this month, working at home and then going out for walks. You know, Madam is a landscape designer, but she has her own clients and doesn't need to work outside. Her personality is quite reclusive. If it weren't for today's incident, I would have thought she rarely went out in her life?"