Silent Reading

5.20.2019 - 5.28.2019

"The missing girl's name is Qu Tong, 11 years old, originally sitting at the back of the bus. She threw a siren keychain out of the window to help distract the offenders from the teacher, and then escaped from the window too. Now we lost track of her."

"Ask for some patrol dogs from the Xiling Bureau." Luo Wenzhou was surprisingly calm for such a dire news: "I think the kid won't be able to run very far. Get someone experienced to console the parents. To be honest, if she hadn't run away, once the offenders realize what she did, she'll be in bigger trouble. I think she is a smart one."

Fei Du turned around and whistled to his buddies in the distance. He was the head of this pack of lazy bones who had just enjoyed the thrill of the motorcycle racing followed by an adrenaline-imbued hostage rescue mission. Although they weren't much more than props of the show and none of them actually saw a single hair of the abductor, it was enough material to talk about for the rest of the year. Hearing Fei Du's whistling, they rushed over: "Sir Fei, anything else?"

"From the Yan-cheng Bureau." Fei Du introduced the handsome dude in front of him with only four words, then went straight to the point: "An eleven-year-old girl is missing from that bus. I'll share her picture on WeChat in a minute. If you guys are free tonight, the search team could use some extra hands."

"Yes Sir! Not a problem!" Zhang Donglai rarely had the opportunity to impress Officer Luo Wenzhou. Apparently he decided to make the most of it. He nodded with a wide grin from ear to ear: "Salute, Captain Luo! If the Captain has any use of us, don't hesitate to ask. You are like a family, you know."

Luo Wenzhou kept a straight face and measured him from head to toe. Accordingly, the young master Zhang had been grounded for more than two months after his last epic screw-up, and was probably just "released" from his "prison cell" recently. He was wearing a vest with nothing underneath. There were two giant holes on either side of his pants. His hair was styled into colorful Mohegan spikes with some kind of an abstract calligraphy shaved on the back of his head.

Luo Wenzhou asked curiously: "What the heck is that?"

Zhang Donglai stood at attention and replied with all seriousness: "the word 'restraint'."

Luo Wenzhou had to admit that he was impressed -- who could have guessed that this outlandish look of the young master Zhang was the result AFTER applying restraint.

"Captain Luo, don't you worry. I know this area like the back of my hand." Zhang Donglai said, "Let me put it this way: We are in a 'big melting pot' of the bourgeoisie. These mountains, there is no monster in there what so ever... other than the monstrous beasts of indulgence and extravagance perhaps. Within 30 miles, the most dangerous wild animals are the squirrels. The girl is going to be fine."

Indeed. The Xiling mountains were quite tamed to begin with, not to mention that after the heavy rain, there were even fewer activities of anything. Besides, how far could a scared little girl run?

That's why when the crew first heard about the missing girl, they weren't too too worried. Everything was still rolling according to plan: the abductor Han Chengzheng, who completely lost it, was carried away in a body bag; the ambulances took away the heavily wounded Miss Hu and the other abductor, Han Jiang; the group of shocked students reunited with their parents and were scheduled for immediate body and mental check ups; even the borrowed police dogs arrived quickly on scene.

The police officers formed several search units going in different directions. Zhang Donglai borrowed some convertibles from god knows where, each carrying a loud speaker that played the theme song of the cartoon "the Happy lamb and the Grey Wolf". He and his friends went searching along the driveways.

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The professionals and the amateurs each went their own way and, surprisingly, complimented each other quite well...except that the endless "Don't look down on me because I am a lamb" got a bit annoying after a while

Fei Du held the car door open and nodded at Luo Wenzhou: "Let's go take a look at where the girl escaped."

Luo Wenzhou shamelessly accepted the free ride. What's more, he pointed at Fei Du's chest and commented with his feudalistic old man voice: "button up, young man -- What were you kids doing at this hour over here anyways?

Fei Du casually buttoned his shirt without paying attention to whether the buttons were correctly matched at all. It was hardly making things better, if not worse, because the front of his shirt was still soaked. He replied: "Came for a race."

Luo Wenzhou: "with the car tops open?"

"With motorcycles. Two crashed actually. Before you guys shut down the roads, an ambulance just drove out someone with a broken leg." Fei Du pressed lightly on the gas pedal. Then, quite unusually, he joked in a lighthearted tone without too much sarcasm : "Of course, it might be a little too much for you mid-aged folks."

Luo Wenzhou glanced at Fei Du's muddy boots and suddenly came to a rather depressing realization that perhaps he was indeed well on his way to mid-age -- because he absolutely cannot understand how these young people nowadays can be so empty.

"What is it with your hand?" Fei Du noticed the "three-stroke band" (1) on him: "who was this wild beast?"

Luo Wenzhou was paying attention to the reports from each search unit over the intercom at the time, so he replied perfunctorily: "Your little brother."

Poor Fei Du was completely lost.

"Got it. Pay close attention to the possible hideaways such as the trenches. The child might be in shock and probably will find somewhere to hide. " Luo Wenzhou finished giving the orders, put down the walkie-talkie, and turned towards Fei Du, "Does this look like the mark from a primate to you? Have a little common sense. The street cat that Tao Ran gave you, remember?...Gosh...nothing lasts for you kids. Someone always have to clean up behind your backs."

Fei Du was taken by surprise at first. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, his droopy peach-blossom eyes widened.

The night sky silently whooshed by them. Fei Du did not respond for a long time. Not until they approached the well-lit crime scene did he finally opened up his mouth again: "After all these years, you still kept it?"

"Yeah...what else could I do? Give it to you? If you want it, come and take it. Just don't give it back again." Just the thought of Luo Yiguo made those scratch marks ache. Luo Wenzhou scratched the back of his hand while ordering: "Park here. Don't drive too close -- the child might have left some foot prints. Let's not disrupt the trace."

So Fei Du parked somewhere further away: "You...ahem...Do you need to get vaccinated?"

Luo Wenzhou wasn't prepared for such a 'normal' caring question and was quite shocked: even more shocked than if Luo Yiguo suddenly came to him and asked for a pet; so shocked that his tongue was tied: "N...No, actually, my last one is still effective."

Luo Wenzhou was so often vaccinated that he was pretty much under "effective" coverage for eleven out of the twelve months of a year. The doctor who usually gave him the vaccine even suggested that he get a yearly member card -- he'd really benefit from wholesale rather than retail.

After the initial shock, Luo Wenzhou found his voice again and couldn't help but strike back: "Don't show so much filial piety all of a sudden. I can't take it."

Fei Du hid away his uneasiness and picked up his usual vexing tone: "Caring for the abandoned elderly is every citizen's duty. Tut-tut...long and lonely nights with only the cat as the company, what a pity. "

Perhaps Fei Du's shirt was too wet, or perhaps Luo Wenzhou's self confidence was too over the top. Either way, he sensed something flirty going on from the way Fei Du looked at him while firing those provocative words. The enticing look, coupled with the way he humphed "long and lonely nights", made the atmosphere so suggestive that Luo Wenzhou accidentally stepped over the line.

"Then what?" a naughty joke rolled off Luo Wenzhou's tongue without him thinking too much: "are you only going to console me with words?"

Fei Du: "..."

Luo Wenzhou: "..."

As soon as the inappropriate joke was made, the two were both tongue-tied, and the air in the small racing car bubbled with awkwardness.

Lou Wenzhou wished he could fetch those words back as easily as they were thrown out. After a short silence, he coughed, and tried his best to amend the situation (although not so successfully): "Just...remember to bring Daddy a gift basket during the holidays."

Fei Du smiled reluctantly: "And light up three incense sticks to pay homage?" (2)

The two -- almost telepathic this time -- jumped off the car at the same time as if trying to lock behind the awkwardness in that innocent car.

Lou Wenzhou suddenly thought of something. He turned around to Fei Du: "Speaking of, I remember that you liked that cat a lot initially. Why did you want to get rid of it later?"

Fei Du's one hand was still on the car door. Luo Wenzhou's question made him pause. The dim lights from afar casted delicate shadows of his chiseled face.

"A pet?" After the short stiffness, Fei Du answered with his usual nonchalant tone: "I don't like pets. They are too much trouble. I didn't want to say that to Tao Ran directly. Also, well..."

He looked up, one brow slightly twitching: "Perhaps I am a habitual animal torturer who couldn't control the urges. To avoid disappointing Tao Ran, I had to stay away from animals. Captain Luo, what do you think of this explanation?"

"Luo Wenzhou was slightly taken aback. His gut told him that Fei Du wasn't just telling a malicious joke. However, before he was able to straighten things out, the search team's reporting came through his headphone: "Captain Luo, we found the siren keychain thrown by the girl, and some foot prints."

When Miss Hu was stabbed, the rain was already getting lighter so the trace of the bus wasn't completely washed away. The driver was in the front, and the other abductor was pushed out by Miss Hu from the front entrance, so if the girl were to escape, she had to jump out from the back of the bus and run towards a direction that avoids the head light. Following this reasoning the search crew quickly found some foot steps of the girl.

The police dogs followed the trace and got to work right away.

Everyone felt that they had it - the abductors picked a very muddy place to park, where Qu Tong left many foot prints. Following the footsteps, finding her seemed only a matter of time.

However, all the way until dawn, there were no news of Qu Tong.

Her parents waited longingly at the search site. Each time when someone passed by, the mother's eyes lit up like the motion-sensor lights - going on the and off again and again as the search crew and volunteers came and went.

"Captain Luo, you need to see this."

Luo Wenzhou separated the crowds. A couple of the search dogs all stopped at the same spot, their tongues hanging out, panting heavily. He rubbed one of the dog heads while squatting down to check the scene. A leather shoe lace was tangled on a sharp rock where a trace of blood lingered. "

"We showed it to the parents, and they confirmed that this shoe lace is from Qu Tong's shoes." The search crew member said, "There are some child's foot prints on the back, and some scratch marks. Looks like the girl ran over here, tripped over the rock, and fell down? Here, there are some foot prints of an adult and break marks of a vehicle. I think it 's a size 41, or 42. Very likely a man's foot print."

Luo Wenzhou pondered, then said: "What you are trying to say is, someone happened to drive by, and took the child away?"

"Very likely. The dogs can't smell anything from here on."

Luo Wenzhou borrowed a flash light from a colleague and scanned the surrounding.

The foot prints were very messy. The girl's fall messed up the traces, making it hard to ascertain what exactly happened here after.

"Captain Luo, I think this might be a good news actually. After all, it was raining heavily, and this is quite a deserted mountainous area. The rocks and the road beds are loose and there may be safety hazards. If someone drove by and took the girl away, at least she doesn't have to spend the night out in the wild."

Luo Wenzhou still looked very solemn. He didn't reply. After a while, he finally nodded, slowly: "Alright. Keep the scene intact. Inform the technical crew, see if they could tell from the trace whether the child got on the car voluntarily. And...prepare the missing child posters. Pay close attention to relevant calls from the sub-bureaus in this area."

"Yes sir!"

"Also, contact the museum that the students visited this afternoon." Troubled, Luo Wenzhou picked up a cigarette. He carefully thought through everything again to make sure that nothing was missed. Then, he added: "Check the museum visitors. Also, screen the security camera footage from the nearby interstate highways."

The search crew member was baffled: "What? Why?"

"See which cars passed by." Luo Wenzhou answered in a low voice, "pay special attention to single male drivers. I have a feeling that this might not be pretty..."

In a deserted country side, a panicking little girl suddenly stops your car and tells you that some abductor has taken control of their bus. What would normal people do under this circumstance?

Normal people might not have the courage to intervene directly. They might not even dare to let the child on their car without verifying - after all there is no short of news stories about criminals using children as baits. So, most likely they will either drive away as if nothing happened, or, after sorting out the situation they will report to the police as soon as possible.

After the police had located the bus in Xiling County, the whole county's emergency calls were transferred to him. Then, why was it that so many hours after the girl had escaped, there was still zero information about her whereabouts?

The missing girl casted a dark shadow on the whole rescue mission.

Three days passed with no progress. The mysterious driver who picked the girl up was no where to be found. Neither the investigation of the museum guests nor the security footage screening brought any valuable information.

On the late afternoon of the third day, Qu Tong's parents came to the Bureau and brought a USB drive.

"We don't know who left it, or when...We found it in the milk box. Since Tongtong's missing we haven't been checking the milk box regularly." said the red-eyed father, "then this morning the milk delivery boy knocked on our door because the milk box was too full. We opened it, then this dropped out."

"Lang Qiao put on a glove and took the tiny USB drive in her hand: "What's inside?"

She hardly finished her question before Qu Tong's mom bursted into tears. She started wailing uncontrollably.

"T...There is...a recording."

Fifteen minutes later, Lu Youliang finished hearing the recording. His brows were tightly tangled. The recording was only less that one minutes long. It started with a girl's heart-wrenching screams. Then there was the sound of intense struggling. The screaming and struggling gradually weakened, and finally stopped. Then, a sudden sharp rattle -- like the sound of someone shaking a metal box full of small jingle-bells. The stinging jingling pierced through the listeners' ears and right into their hearts.

Lu Youliang's eye twitched. Slowly, he lit up a cigarette.

"Chief Lu," Luo Wenzhou broke the silence, "this is probably too early to say - with the little evidence that we have - but...I heard Lao Yang mentioning it for so many times that I have to bring it up: the case twenty years ago -- we only heard it second-handedly, but you were directly involved. Do you think this recording resembles the phone call from that abductor? Could this be a copycat of the old serial abduction case?"

Lu Youliang slowly blew out a smoke ring. He didn't respond right a way.

After a disturbingly long silence, he finally spoke: "That case received very high publicity back then. You could find its news coverage on the old newspapers even today. Back then, because of the lack of privacy protection, many details were leaked, such as 'the victim's parents received black-mailing phone calls'. However..."

There was a very rare solemnness on the face of the old Chief.

"I remember that in the first case of the Lian Huashan serial abduction cases, there was a particular detail." said Lu Youliang, "The father of the victim provided this testimony during the investigation. He said that he heard the sound of a metal pen case over the phone. Back then, the students liked to use metal pen cases. The missing girl's parents said that the girl collected some colorful jingle bells in her pen case and would sometimes shake it for the sound of the jingles. The adults found it irritating and had yelled at her for it before...The sound that he heard from the phone was definitely the shaking of a pen case. And because of the sound, he was certain that the screaming girl over the phone must be his daughter."

Lang Qiao, the note-taker on the side, felt a chill down her spine.

This detail was too minuscule. Also, since there weren't any recordings back then to serve as the physical evidence and it was all based on the parents' testimony, the police took it with a grain of salt. After all, under extreme anxiety and fear the parents' state of mind could be less stable, and their memory less reliable. What's more, there was always the possibility of mishearing. Therefore, this piece of the testimony was not treated as the key evidence.

There was no mentioning of this in Yang Zhengfeng's note, so even Luo Wenzhou and Tao Ran did not know it.

Obviously, the police wouldn't include such details in their public reports. Then...

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(1) "three-stroke band": a rank symbol of the Chinese youth organization "the young pioneers"

(2) Incense sticks are typically only lit for the dead.