Chapter 482: Public Kidnapping
This fitness club requires members to swipe their cards every time they enter or exit, so they know exactly when Xiao Qin left: 7:04 PM that evening. The second voice message was sent at 8:16 PM, over an hour later.
Chen Shi remarked, “Xiao Qin really has a poor sense of time. She said she was almost there an hour ago and still wasn’t. Even in high heels, it shouldn’t take an hour to walk from here to the restaurant. She must have gone somewhere else.”
Lin Dongxue asked, “Should we look for surveillance cameras nearby?”
Chen Shi opened the navigation app on his phone, carefully examining the map. He then told Xu Xiaodong, “Xiaodong, go check out that winery. We’ll look for surveillance footage around here.”
Though the nearby shops had surveillance cameras, they were scattered. Lin Dongxue and Chen Shi spent a long time checking footage and found two clips showing Xiao Qin lingering around the area at about 7:10 PM, seemingly trying to catch a cab.
Xu Xiaodong called, saying, “The winery owner said she was there. Come over.”
Chen Shi excitedly replied, “That matches the timeline.”
“How does it match?”
“From the gym to the restaurant, there are no railroads, but from the winery to the restaurant, she would pass by the railroad. At 8:16 PM, a train would be passing through there.”
“Do you think the killer was waiting in ambush or following her?”
“That depends on whether the killer knew her route that night. Let’s check the winery first.”
They drove to the winery. The surveillance footage and the owner confirmed that Xiao Qin arrived by taxi around 7 PM on August 3rd, bought a bottle of red wine, and left around 8 PM.
Chen Shi asked the owner, “Is she a regular here?”
“Sort of. We’ve been having promotions recently, and I invited Miss Qin to join. She often comes by.”
Noticing the owner seemed nervous, Chen Shi asked with a smile, “Are you one of her regulars?”
“What… I don’t understand!”
“Relax, we’re not investigating that. Just tell us everything you know.”
The owner awkwardly admitted, “Alright, I did meet her at the club. I gave her my contact information, saying she could get a discount on wine here. She often comes because I give her a 30% discount.”
Lin Dongxue noted, “No wonder you knew who she was right away. She must come often.”
The owner smiled sheepishly, “I’m just running a legitimate business. I have a wife and kids.”
“We’re not interested in that,” Chen Shi said. “Did you notice anything unusual when she came? Any suspicious people or vehicles following her?”
“Uh, while we were talking about wine, I remember a car parked outside.”
“What kind of car?”
“An SUV or a van, I think it was white.”
Chen Shi asked, “Can you hear the train passing from here?”
“Yes, every night at eight.”
Chen Shi stepped out of the winery, looking at his phone’s navigation. “If she took a cab from here to the restaurant, the car would have to take a big detour, but if she went through the alley next to us, it would save a lot of time. Let’s go!”
The three of them entered the alley. Lin Dongxue pointed to a spot among the garbage where there were broken wine bottles. Chen Shi put on gloves, picked up a piece with a label, and said, “Yes, it’s from that winery. This might be the bottle Xiao Qin broke when she encountered the killer.”
Lin Dongxue looked up. “It’s open above. The sound of the train would be very clear. Should we do a test?”
“Testing will have to wait until evening. No rush.”
Xu Xiaodong said, “Even if this is the second location, we still can’t determine where the killer is hiding.”
Chen Shi checked his phone. “The third voice message was sent at 8:20 PM, only four minutes after the second. Think about what could have happened in those four minutes.”
Lin Dongxue looked down the long alley and speculated, “Xiao Qin was caught by the killer and forced into a car.”
“At that time, her hands and feet weren’t restrained, so she managed to send a message. The noise in the audio was the killer smashing her phone.”
“Yes, her friend said they couldn’t reach her after that. The phone must have been smashed… I think there must have been a lot of commotion. Maybe someone nearby saw it?”
“Let’s split up and ask around!”
The three of them split up to find witnesses. An elderly lady told Lin Dongxue that she saw two men dragging a woman into a van that night.
“What did the men look like?”
“I don’t remember clearly.”
“What color was the van?”
“White, I think.”
Lin Dongxue felt uneasy and asked, “Did it have any markings?”
“No, nothing that I saw,” the old lady replied.
An hour later, they reconvened. The inquiry had yielded surprising results. They pieced together that two men jumped out of a van, dragged Xiao Qin into the vehicle, and one of the men kept explaining to bystanders that it was a marital dispute, then they drove off.
Xu Xiaodong was frustrated. “The whole thing took five minutes, and a bunch of people saw it, but no one called the police during or after. It’s infuriating.”
Chen Shi explained, “That’s the bystander effect. They weren’t stupid enough to believe the story but felt no responsibility or moral duty because there were so many people around.”
Lin Dongxue added, “And no one remembered or took a picture of the license plate. Witnesses described one man as fat and the other as thin… Looks like Zhang Xiao had an accomplice. But why did the accomplice only show up now? He’s hidden too well!”
“First, let’s find that white van,” Chen Shi said.
He relayed the information to Lin Qiupu. They could only find the van through traffic cameras. Near noon, the three went to find a place to eat.
During lunch, Xu Xiaodong looked at the calendar on the wall and remarked, “Hey, Qixi Festival is in a few days.”
“Is it that time already?” Lin Dongxue sighed.
Chen Shi suggested, “Any plans for Qixi? Want to go out? Hopefully, we’ll have solved the case by then.”
“Hopefully…” Lin Dongxue smiled wryly, seeming to have something on her mind.
Chen Shi didn’t press her for details, focusing on his food and thoughts. Suddenly, he tapped the table and smiled, “I think I know where Xiao Qin is.”