Eyes that are the same as those of evil

Chapter 218 Unexplained Motives 8
The criminal investigation team returned to that old alley.

Because of the murder, a large area was cordoned off, and the surrounding restaurants and clothing stores were not doing well, with far fewer people around.

In the shady spot on a summer afternoon, the people who were walking around, chatting and laughing were gone. The wind blew, only stirring up a few withered leaves.

They first went to the local police station to inquire whether anyone had reported missing in the last two days.

The murder case hasn't been solved yet, and now there's a missing person case. The police officers at the local station are very attentive to things in the alley and can immediately answer: "No. No one has reported missing in the past few days."

Zheng Yan pondered for two seconds and said to Tan Jia and the others, "Since there was no missing person report, she probably doesn't live with her family or was recently away on a business trip. Like the deceased Yang Jia, she might be renting a place here alone."

Tan Ming: "I immediately asked the community management, and they should have conducted a resident population survey recently."

In all standard rental procedures, this step is involved: the agent or landlord takes the tenant's information to the local police station for registration, and the community calls periodically to check if the tenant is still renting the property and how many people are living there.

Xiao Chen: "Then I'll check the surveillance footage. Even if this unidentified victim didn't appear in the surrounding surveillance footage before the incident, she must have been going in and out of the alley regularly, so there must have been times when she was filmed. Let's check everyone's footage and see if any suspicious people have been in contact with her."

Tan Jia raised his hand.

Zheng Yan: "Your task..."

"It's not a task. If both victims are people who work in other cities and rent their own apartments, could the killer be targeting people like that? You could ask other female renters if they've felt like someone is following them or frequently appearing around them recently."

Zheng Yan: "Very good. I'll have a policewoman go with you on this. I've noticed that you're trusted by female victims. Wu Yang... Oh dear, when is Wu Yang coming back?"

Wu Yang, who was taking a nap on a deck chair in the village, sneezed.

After the division of labor was clear, Tan Jia went to the residential area in the alley.

The buildings here are very old, with peeling paint and water seepage. There are no elevators, and many electric scooters are parked inside the unit doors. A charging cable hangs down from the stairwell, connected to a power strip, which looks like a major safety hazard.

But it has one very real advantage: it's cheap.

Looking at the rental ads on the wall, a two-bedroom apartment was only 800 yuan.

They entered the apartment building and climbed to the fifth floor in one go, where they knocked on the door of the first girl.

In the late afternoon, there weren't many people at home. It wasn't until after six o'clock, when people gradually returned home from get off work, that their visits reached their peak.

Without exception, the feedback received was always "I didn't feel like anyone was following me" and "There were no strange people around."

They focused their visits on the neighbors of the deceased, Yang Jia, both upstairs and downstairs. Although they didn't know each other, they tried their best to recall any occasional encounters they might have had, hoping to provide some clues.

But there was still nothing obviously "strange," as if Yang Jia was killed inexplicably and without warning.

After running around for half the afternoon, Tan Jia was covered in sweat. Downstairs, she encountered a mysterious black car that kept appearing next to her. She opened the car door and received a bottle of cool electrolyte water.

He also shared a piece of fruit with the female police officer who was with him, and held a handheld fan, blowing it towards her.

“It’s a bit strange. Among all the people we’ve looked for, we’ve hardly seen any suspicious individuals. Even if this was the first time the murderer committed the crime, they should have appeared around the crime scene and near the victim multiple times to screen the time, location, and method of the crime.”

The policewoman nodded in agreement: "Unless the perpetrator was already very familiar with these two places, and their daily behavior could replace the 'repeated occurrences' situation."

Daily behavior is already consistent with what frequently occurs...

Tan Jia paused for two seconds while drinking water, just as she was about to think about something deeper, when her phone suddenly vibrated. Tan Ming called and said, "We found someone whose phone has been switched off for a long time. His name is Liao Wenxiang, and he lives on the fourth floor of Building 13, Block C, Baima Lane. We contacted the landlord, but we couldn't get through to him by phone, and no one replied to our messages. If you live near Block C, Baima Lane, go up there with the police and knock on the door."

“Bai Ma Lane, Block C?” She glanced at the wall in front of her, which stretched for more than a dozen buildings and had a sign indicating that it was Pingjiang Lane, Block A. “How many residential buildings are there in this lane?”

"Anyway, there were a lot. According to Captain Zheng, who recalled the past, tricycles used to be able to ride directly into the community to sell snacks. It would take half an hour to drive from the entrance to the innermost part."

"...It seems no one noticed anything was wrong because we haven't found enough people."

She started sweating again, and after hanging up the phone, she simply tied her wolf tail up.

With her green hair ends curling into her black hair, her fashionable and unapproachable aura finally softened a bit.

Then, after waving goodbye to Lin Zhiyue, who seemed hesitant to follow, he went to Section C of White Horse Lane with the policewoman.

Although the area is large, the buildings here are actually not tall, only six stories high, with two households per floor, totaling twelve households.

Moreover, Baima Lane is more remote than Pingjiang Lane, and there is no property management. Vegetables are planted on the lawn downstairs, and there are clotheslines strung up haphazardly to dry quilts. There are also different fruit trees at the entrance of the unit, with green dates peeking out from among the leaves. She stopped downstairs to admire them for half a minute.

Immediately, someone on the second floor opened a window and peered out to keep an eye on things.

She could only pretend to be lost and leave nonchalantly.

On the fourth floor of building 13, the door on the left was open, with some furniture packaging shells piled up in front of it. The sound of a spatula sizzling and cooking came from inside, followed by a "sizzle" sound, and the aroma instantly wafted out.

It seems the other victim's home is through the door on the right.

The policewoman knocked on the door, making a few knocks, pausing for two seconds to listen to the sounds inside, and knocking again after finding no obvious noise.

"Hello! Police are on duty! Could you please open the door? Hello?"

Still no movement.

Tan Jia and the policewoman exchanged a knowing glance.

Then she thought for a moment, then went to the neighbor's house and knocked on the door to ask.

Have you seen the girl across the street leave the house in the last couple of days?

The man installing the furniture hesitated and shook his head, while the woman who came out of the kitchen answered more fluently: "No. Usually, when she leaves for work in the morning, I see her at the door when I take the kids to school, but I didn't see her yesterday or this morning."

It seems that Liao Wenxiang is another victim.

She then asked, "Have you noticed anything unusual about her lately? Her expression when she leaves the house, her mannerisms when she comes home, or has anyone come to see her recently?"

The other person thought for a moment and said uncertainly, "I'm not sure if anyone has come looking for her, because she usually likes to order takeout, and delivery people often knock on her door. When others come to see her, they also knock on the door. I can only hear the sound through the door, so I'm not sure. But there were two times when I only heard the knocking sound and didn't hear her open the door."

"Do you remember it so clearly?"

The other person lifted their cheeks, revealing a smile that didn't show much emotion: "I'm a housewife. I stay at home every day, and I can count every sound as quickly as the rice in the pot. I even meddlesomely told the girl across the hall to order less takeout. I made dumplings for her to take some home and cook for herself. She ate a few dumplings and then gave me a box of local specialties from her hometown. She's a really nice girl."

"You're a really nice girl. She might be in trouble now. Could you please help me take a detailed statement? It might be able to help her."