Chapter 217: Breakthrough Progress

The three of them went to have breakfast and invited Xu Xiaodong along. Xu Xiaodong held an envelope and said, “This is the missing persons file I got from the police station. When I came back last night, you were already gone. Do you want to take a look?”

“Hand it over,” Chen Shi took the file and flipped through it, then asked the young monk, “What did your mother do for a living?”

“She didn’t have a job.”

“No, it says here she was a cashier.”

“Let me see!”

The young monk took the file and, upon seeing his mother’s photo again, was moved to tears. These were just copies. While he examined one photo, the others looked through the rest. Lin Dongxue read aloud, “Disappeared in 2005, around the same time as the incident.”

Chen Shi noticed the investigator’s signature and said, “Officer Liu was involved in this case too.”

“Isn’t he from another district?” Xu Xiaodong asked.

“Maybe he volunteered. It seems Officer Liu was very dedicated,” Chen Shi replied.

Lin Dongxue asked the young monk, “Little Master, can we see the photo you’re holding?”

“It’s just a photo of my mother,” he said, passing it over.

Lin Dongxue took it and remarked, “Your mother was very beautiful! Both sisters are stunning.”

“Thank you,” the young monk said with a bow.

In one photo, Yin Wen was wearing a sweater and holding a metal comb with fine teeth. Lin Dongxue curiously asked, “What kind of comb is this?”

“It’s for pets,” Xu Xiaodong said.

“Did your family have pets?” Lin Dongxue asked.

“Well…” the young monk recalled, “We had dogs, but not for long because I was scared, so my father gave them away.”

“How many?”

“Quite a few! They were big dogs!”

Chen Shi searched on his phone, showed it to the young monk, and asked, “Was it this kind?”

“Yes, exactly! They were very fierce, and I was often scared to tears.”

“Those are Tibetan Mastiffs!”

Lin Dongxue suddenly remembered, “Yin Lin also had a Tibetan Mastiff! Thirteen years ago, there couldn’t have been many places selling Tibetan Mastiffs in Long’an City.”

“Chen Guang is a pet doctor, and all three missing people were connected to animals!” Chen Shi stood up, “Let’s investigate!”

At that moment, Chen Shi’s phone rang. It was an unknown number. He answered, and a gloomy voice said, “Are you looking for me?”

“Who are you?”

The voice coughed, sounding like an old man, “Didn’t you leave your contact information at my company yesterday?”

“Officer Liu?”

“I’m no longer an officer. Just call me Old Liu. Why are you looking for me?”

“To be honest, we are criminal investigators and want to ask you some questions.”

“Ha! After ten years, the municipal bureau finally takes this case seriously. It’s about time! Come to my house!”

After noting down the number, Chen Shi raised his eyebrows, “Just when all hope seemed lost, we see light at the end of the tunnel.”

“Don’t get too excited,” Lin Dongxue cautioned. “He’s just a police station officer. How much could he know?”

The four of them drove to Officer Liu’s residence. Officer Liu, holding a Golden Retriever, waited downstairs. He looked to be in his fifties or sixties, with gray hair but still energetic and sharp-eyed.

“Who are you?” Officer Liu asked.

Chen Shi introduced each of them. Upon learning the young monk’s identity, Officer Liu was very excited, “I can’t believe a witness survived that case!”

The young monk bowed, “Amitabha.”

“Come upstairs with me!” Officer Liu said.

Officer Liu’s home was on the sixth floor. As he slowly ascended, he said, “You might not know this, but the three missing persons cases you’re investigating are connected to several other cases. For over a decade, I’ve been chasing this case. I believe these are not just missing persons cases but homicides. However, I couldn’t find any evidence to convince my superiors, leading to a major conflict, so I resigned. But I’ve continued to follow this case and watch that bastard, yet I’ve never found a flaw.”

“Which bastard?” Chen Shi asked.

“We’re here!” Officer Liu stopped to unlock the door. Once inside, everyone was stunned. This wasn’t a home; it was a private detective office.

Five whiteboards lined the walls, covered with photos and notes, linked by lines showing relationships between people. The room was lit with spotlights to illuminate the boards.

“Close the door!” Officer Liu instructed.

“What is all this?” Lin Dongxue asked, looking around in astonishment.

“The first missing person case happened in ’98. The victim was a dog seller named Bai. Of course, the case went nowhere, but a few years later, another case caught my attention. Since then, I’ve been monitoring these missing person cases, collecting these materials. From ’98 to ’15, there have been thirty suspicious missing person cases in Long’an City, all connected to one person!”

Officer Liu pointed to a photo of a man on the board, radiating lines linking him to others.

“Liu Hong!” Officer Liu read the name with weight, “A businessman who made his fortune in the ’90s by selling Tibetan Mastiffs. He has a dog farm in the suburbs and is now the largest dog dealer in Long’an City. Individually, the missing persons cases don’t show much, but when connected, you’ll see that everyone who stood in Liu Hong’s way, whether health inspectors, competitors, or gang members, all disappeared without a trace, as if they vanished from the face of the earth!”

The four were stunned. Xu Xiaodong said, “Is there a serial killer in Long’an City? Why hasn’t the criminal investigation team opened a case?”

“Without bodies, they’re just missing persons cases, not under the criminal investigation’s purview,” Officer Liu sighed. “The intervals between crimes are long, spanning various districts. I once called for these cases to be investigated together but didn’t get any support, so I had to go it alone!”

Lin Dongxue said, “He breeds Tibetan Mastiffs? Has a dog farm in the suburbs? Could those missing people…”

“Haha!” Officer Liu laughed, “I thought the same initially. To find out, I sneaked in at night and checked dog poop piece by piece, almost got torn apart by the dogs.”

Chen Shi pondered, “Those people probably didn’t disappear like that. Dogs have short digestive tracts. Humans have many parts that dogs can’t digest, like hair and teeth. For Liu Hong to stay free for twenty years, he must have another method!”

“Exactly!” Xu Xiaodong said, “Even my cat throws up hairballs. A Tibetan Mastiff couldn’t completely eat a person.”

The young monk silently stared at the photos of his relatives on the board, eyes glistening.

Officer Liu added, “Do you know why I live here?”

They shook their heads.

Officer Liu pulled back the curtain, pointed to the opposite window, and said, “That’s Liu Hong’s house!”