Captain Lu was aloof again today.

Chapter 189 Hiding
Chen Jin was already used to Wei Qingsong's decisive style, so he wasn't surprised at all. He just asked curiously, "Why?"

"The woman we're looking for is mysterious, cunning, arrogant, and aggressive. Anyone who has met her can feel her oppressive presence. She has always played the role of the behind-the-scenes manipulator at Liyang Hotel, never stepping into the limelight. Her name is not on the list of Liyang Hotel executives that we already have, which means that she enjoys this feeling, this feeling of controlling everything from the shadows."

“How could someone like that openly and brazenly operate in the sunlight without any disguise? Zhang Meixi’s beauty salon is quite well-known locally. It’s located in a shopping mall in the city center and is very high-profile. It often shoots short videos for promotion, and she herself often appears in them.”

Wei Qingsong spoke slowly and deliberately.

As for why she knew about short videos—she has a friend who loves to have fun and enjoy life, and posts these things on her WeChat Moments all day long to help promote them, so it's hard not to know.

That's right, it's Shen Fu.

Zhang Meixi's beauty salon is quite large and well-known, frequented by many socialites and heiresses in Tangzhou. Therefore, she is not the kind of rat that likes to hide in the gutter.

“That’s true, this beauty salon seems to have been open for seven or eight years.” Chen Jin stroked his chin, pondering with a troubled expression. “Then she has nothing to do with this case.”

“No, there is still a connection, but it’s indirect.” Wei Qingsong raised an eyebrow slightly, tilted her chin up, and pointed at the screen.

"Although the white Hyundai she drives is understated, the real estate in Tengluo Bay is not simple. Combined with what you said, seven or eight years ago, she was a young girl in her early twenties who had the ability to find a shop in a shopping mall in the city center to open a studio. This shows that she herself is either rich or noble, either a low-key and unassuming rich heiress or a rich man's mistress. I personally tend to believe the former."

"In other words, she is likely the daughter of a powerful family involved in the Liyang Hotel case. Her family may be under investigation and have secretly arranged for her to go abroad to avoid the limelight. She is unable to accept the facts and is wandering around the hotel to find out what's going on, which is when she happens to witness the shooting at the hotel."

"After seeing the police surround the hotel, she was in a state of panic. She wanted to listen to her family and go to the airport to run away, but the inner conflict made her give up the idea and stay in a hotel near the airport."

Chen Jin nodded in sudden realization: "That makes sense. Moreover, this car has a license plate, which is why we were able to identify the owner so quickly. Speaking of which, the other two cars are even more suspicious. One deliberately scratched its license plate, and the other simply used a fake license plate."

As he spoke, he projected the screen to the next page: "This is the black Phaeton with the scratched license plate. According to the surveillance footage, this car has been passing by the area around Liyang Hotel multiple times every morning since about half a month ago. After comparative analysis, it is preliminarily determined that this car is circling around Liyang Hotel."

"The last time the surveillance cameras captured this car was around 11 p.m. last night. Like Zhang Meixi, this car was also parked in front of a hotel. However, she was wearing a baseball cap and a mask the whole time, so we cannot confirm her identity. We have already sent a team to keep watch outside the hotel."

“Going in circles,” Wei Qingsong said slowly, her eyes slightly narrowed. “Then it’s not her anymore.”

"Huh?" Chen Jin was completely puzzled. "But she deliberately scratched the license plate and made a point of disguising and hiding her identity. She seems very suspicious."

“It’s very suspicious.” Wei Qingsong nodded in agreement. “She scratched off the license plate and deliberately disguised it, which was indeed to hide her identity from being discovered.”

"Ah...then why do you say it wasn't her? Doesn't that mean there's something wrong with her?" Chen Jin looked at Wei Qingsong's confident expression, feeling completely bewildered and like a fool.

"Because going in circles is too clumsy and not her style."

The "she" that Wei Qingsong was referring to was naturally the mysterious woman who had them completely fooled.

"She dared to calmly plot and trick us when we came to her door, and only swaggered away from the hotel at the last moment. She hid her identity very well, not because she was cautious enough, but because she was smart and confident enough. She would not deliberately drive around in circles to clumsily hide herself. She would only be smug and leave after her scheme succeeded."

Chen Jin nodded as if he understood, blinked at the screen, and asked in confusion, "Then, why would this Phaeton owner do these strange things?"

"Well, I can't make an absolute judgment either. Maybe she's doing the same thing as us," Wei Qingsong replied uncertainly after a moment's thought.

"You mean, this person is also investigating Liyang Hotel?" Chen Jin's eyes widened in shock.

"Perhaps. She might be a professional like a journalist or private investigator, or she might be... a relative of the victim. She's been appearing around the Liyang Hotel at the same time every day, probably to keep an eye on them."

Wei Qingsong waved his hand: "Alright, let's talk about that car with the fake license plate."

Chen Jin quickly pulled up the information and, thinking of what Wei Qingsong had just said, suddenly realized, "In that case, this car fits exactly what you said, Sister Wei. It sped away after the incident. We noticed this car not because it behaved strangely on the surrounding roads, but because it was a car with a fake license plate."

“Our initial approach to the investigation was to identify vehicles that frequently stopped on these road sections over the past month, and then eliminate those by comparing the vehicle owner information. This black Porsche appeared very frequently, but when we tried to retrieve the owner information, we discovered that the car corresponding to the license plate had been scrapped several months ago.”

"The most outrageous thing is that we found that this car changed its license plate three times in one month, and all of them were fake license plates. We also speculated that it might just be the same model of car, but by zooming in on the surveillance footage, we can see that the same woman is in the driver's seat of each of these black Porsches with different license plates. In other words, it is the same car."

Wei Qingsong frowned as she listened, not because of the absurdity of Chen Jin's story, but because the car was the same model as Yan Zhi's, which was repulsive to look at.

"Where is she now?" Wei Qingsong concealed the disgust in her eyes and asked as calmly as possible.

"After circling the city, the car returned to the city center and finally disappeared in the Sunshine Garden residential area. The car is still in the parking space, but the problem is that our tracking was delayed. We only know where her car is, not where she is..." Chen Jin touched his nose and explained somewhat awkwardly.

“Sunshine Home?” Lu Jingming, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up, raising an eyebrow slightly.

"Yes, what a coincidence." Wei Qingsong chuckled lightly, the smile not reaching her eyes, and said calmly, "It's good that we can't find her."

"This is the real her. She dared to return to the city while being tracked and hide among countless skyscrapers. This is what you call 'the greatest hermit lives in the city.' She is indeed a bold and intelligent person. I thought she would be eager to escape to the other side of the ocean."

Wei Qingsong's brows furrowed with a chilling aura.

"Just to be on the safe side, we should still pull up the photos that show her face clearly, verify them with Pei Dongmei, and then issue an arrest warrant and conduct surveillance at designated locations."

Wei Qingsong paused, then sneered, "The truly great hermit lives in the city. Ha, even rats have to face the light sometimes. Since she dared to make such a choice, she had better pray that she can hide for the rest of her life."

Susan and Xiaoya and their group were gradually preparing to leave Tangzhou, but Pei Dongmei was different. Pei Jiacai was still studying in Tangzhou, and it was a crucial moment for her, so she couldn't leave.

Moreover, she didn't want to leave.

She plans to take the adult undergraduate exams through self-study and start a new life.

She will stand tall and proud on this land, awaiting the final outcome.

Xiao Song, who had come in from outside at some point, heard this and volunteered, "I'll go. I'm quite familiar with her family's situation."

Wei Qingsong glanced at him thoughtfully, and was about to speak when there was a gentle knock on the glass door of the office.

"Oh, excuse me, but it seems you already know the true identity of that beautiful fugitive? In that case, it seems you don't need me anymore."

Wei Qingsong looked in the direction of the sound.

A young man, who looked to be about twenty-six or twenty-seven, was standing at the door. He was wearing a simple beige t-shirt and black jeans. He had a clean and quiet face and a refreshing demeanor. He was leaning lazily against the door frame with his hands in his pockets.

Has anyone noticed how many lines are running in parallel? I feel like I've completely confused myself.
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(End of this chapter)