She noticed I seemed unable to recall and tapped my head, "Today is my birthday!"
"Ah, I completely forgot. But I'm really busy with work now, I probably won't have time to celebrate your birthday with you!"
"It's okay, we can celebrate it at the bureau!"
"You want to celebrate it here? That's even more impossible!"
"In your office, no one will know. I've already ordered takeout!"
Ugh, it seemed I couldn't refuse He Xin, but it was her birthday after all, so I reluctantly agreed.
I secretly notified Liu Yuning to come over, but she said she was busy investigating the deceased's family and friends. It seemed the man's identity had already been found out.
I had He Xin return to the technical department with me. Looking at Yuan Hezhe's computer, I confirmed that the male victim this time was Ji Feipeng, 36 years old, the director of Guangming City Central Television Station. He had a wife and no children.
Yuan Hezhe told me that Liu Yuning had already gone to find Ji Feipeng's wife, accompanied by Xiahou and Gao Mingqiang. It seemed she wouldn't be free anytime soon, so I had to go back to the office with He Xin to eat.
Unexpectedly, He Xin's phone rang at that moment. She picked it up and couldn't help but laugh, "Captain Liu still remembers my birthday!"
"Ahaha, did she remember because she celebrated at our house last year?"
"Probably. She has a better memory than you!"
"That's right. To spare time for you amidst your busy schedule and send you a message, let me see what she said to you?"
I leaned my head over, but He Xin immediately covered her phone and stuck out her tongue, "That's our secret!"
I rolled my eyes at her and urged her to finish eating quickly. Who knew she'd pull me and say, "You haven't sung me Happy Birthday yet!"
"Why are you so troublesome? You're not as difficult as Liu Yuning!"
"Hmph, if it were her, you would have sung it immediately. Why are you so hesitant when it comes to me!"
I was a bit speechless. This girl was actually jealous. I had no choice but to sing. As I was singing, the landline rang. I quickly answered, "Hello, Criminal Investigation Team!"
"Team Leader He? Thank goodness I finally found you. I am Ji Feipeng's wife, Zhao Mei. Please come over quickly!"
"What? Didn't Captain Liu come to find you?"
"No, I don't know where she went. Someone left a number and told me you could help, so I called!"
I suddenly felt uneasy and quickly said, "Were you captured?"
"I'm restrained. This is a very dark room, it should be a factory workshop. I can see a chimney outside from one of the windows. I don't know where I am!"
"Chimney??"
I was about to say something when a man's rough voice came from the phone, "I told you to make the call, not to expose our surroundings! You damned woman, are you tired of living?"
Bang! A loud thud came from the phone as if a head had been hit. I immediately cursed, "Don't do anything rash! Did you kidnap Zhao Mei?"
"Ahaha, Officer He, you're right. I knew you would find her. This whole family deserves to die. If this woman hadn't been traveling and had just returned, she would have been crushed by the rocks long ago!"
"Why did you do this? Did they offend you?"
"You could say that. You want to find me, right? I'll tell you, I'm right beside Zhao Mei. If you can give me 5 million, I'll let her go, how about that?"
"Don't do anything rash. I'm telling you, with your situation, it's still not too late to surrender to the police!"
"Surrender? Haha! I've killed several people, the death penalty is certain. Do you think I'm that stupid?"
"Regardless, you can't make another mistake!"
"I've made no mistake. This is caused by loopholes in the law. Do you know, Officer He, that you're not actually a police officer, you're just a consultant, isn't that right?"
I didn't answer. In fact, after the Punishing Crimes Unit was established, I had official status, but I didn't need to tell him that. "Does that matter?"
"Of course. If you were a police officer, I would be more at ease!"
"What do you mean?"
"Because I want you all to die together!"
Beep beep...
The man seemed to answer incoherently and hung up. I felt he was speaking without much logic. And he didn't say when or where to deliver the ransom. How was I supposed to find him?
I looked at the call duration, it was less than a minute. He Xin fiddled with something nearby, "His location can't be traced, how is that possible? Captain Liu and the others don't know about this yet, do they?"
As expected, Liu Yuning called me soon after. I answered and directly said, "Zhao Mei is missing!"
"We couldn't find her at her villa. Do you know where she is?"
"What are you asking? I just received a call. Someone claimed to have kidnapped Zhao Mei."
"How could that be? We can't enter her house yet, so we'll have to withdraw for now!"
"It's okay to go in and take a look. She won't blame us afterward!"
"Alright, if I find anything, I'll tell you later!"
Liu Yuning hung up. I was suddenly at a loss, not knowing what to do. After all, if that man didn't contact me, I had no idea where to look.
Oh right, didn't Zhao Mei say earlier that she saw a chimney outside the window?
I had He Xin come with me to the technical department, and we tried hard to search with Yuan Hezhe, but there were too many factories with chimneys. Searching like this was meaningless.
I had already expected this. After all, this was reality, not a deduction novel or a TV show where evidence would magically appear. Therefore, Zhao Mei's clue was essentially useless.
I had no choice but to pace back and forth in the technical department alone, hoping the bastard would call.
But I waited until Liu Yuning and the others returned, and the phone never rang.
Noticing me pacing in the technical department, Liu Yuning asked, "What's wrong?"
"Did you not find anything at Zhao Mei's house?"
"No, it seems she was tricked into leaving. Everything in the house is normal."
"It's like this again? It seems the killer used the same method against Ji Feipeng and Zhao Mei."
"What do we do now? Hasn't that bastard contacted you?"
I glanced at my phone and shook my head.
Unexpectedly, in the next second, a ringing tone, like a death knell, sounded on my phone. I was startled because my phone definitely didn't have such a ringtone set.
It sounded like a terrifying ringtone from a movie, right, it was a familiar sound from the latest horror film, "Incantation."
This highly anticipated horror film was Ke Mengrong's new work.
Damn it! We were all so shocked as if we had seen a ghost. Everyone stared intently at my phone!