Chapter 829: Witnessing the Policemen’s Abduction

Chen Shi said, “Do you know what you’re saying? If the two policemen are still in the village, this is a kidnapping case. There are only villagers and you here. The villagers have no motive to kidnap policemen, but you do!”

“Nonsense! What kind of brain do you have?” the manager raised his eyebrows. “I saw someone drag the two cops into a warehouse that day.”

“Which warehouse?”

“Why should I tell you? You can’t get justice for Anqila anyway.”

Back to this issue again. Chen Shi sighed and said, “Alright, how much for the ferret?” He planned to settle this out of his own pocket.

“Anqila has been with Xiao Qing for years. It’s not about the money,” the manager became more arrogant.

“Usually, when people say ‘it’s not about the money,’ they mean ‘it’s not just a little money.’ Don’t think you can extort us. That ferret is worth at most a thousand.”

There was a tapping sound from inside the nanny van. The manager went over and whispered a few words with the person inside. He came back with a slightly improved attitude and said, “Xiao Qing is magnanimous. She said we don’t care about the compensation, but the person who killed Anqila must come and apologize.”

Chen Shi and Lin Dongxue exchanged a look. Lin Dongxue said, “Fine, we agree.”

“Now we’re talking. Come on, I’ll take you to the place where I saw the cops being kidnapped.”

The manager led them to the village, along with a cameraman who volunteered to come. Along the way, he chatted animatedly with Lin Dongxue, while Chen Shi kept interrupting. As the saying goes, photographers are often lecherous, and there was some truth to it.

They arrived at a warehouse made of earth bricks. The manager said, “Here it is!”

Chen Shi peered through the door crack. It was a tractor warehouse, with an old tractor and some miscellaneous items inside. He asked, “How many people were there, how did they do it, and what time was it?”

“Old Ma, let’s reenact the scene.”

The cameraman threw a fake punch, and the manager turned his head aside cooperatively. Then the cameraman dragged the manager towards the warehouse.

“The second cop tried to run but was pinned down…”

The manager mimicked the second policeman trying to escape, while the cameraman came from the side, reaching into his pocket as if holding a knife, and pressed it against the manager’s neck, dragging him back.

“The time was around eleven in the morning. No one else was here.”

“That’s not right,” Lin Dongxue whispered to Chen Shi. “The villagers all said they had lunch at Jia Laosi’s place.”

The manager said, “Can you trust the villagers? They always protect their own. There was a case where several young people went missing after visiting the countryside. The police searched, and the villagers unanimously claimed they hadn’t seen them. Years later, one of the girls escaped, having given birth to two children for a villager. Isn’t that terrifying?”

“First of all, let’s not discuss the authenticity of your story. Officer Jia is related to the villagers, and what motive would the villagers have to kidnap policemen?”

“How should I know? Catch the people and you’ll find out.”

“What did the suspects look like?” Lin Dongxue asked.

“Typical villagers, big and rough, definitely not as handsome as me,” the manager licked his lips. “I can’t remember clearly. It’s not every day you see policemen getting kidnapped. I was quite scared and didn’t dare to look closely.”

“Come here!” Chen Shi took the manager to the entrance of the village, where they could see the village entrance. He said, “Their police car was parked there that day. Villagers said they left around three in the afternoon. You must have seen it too.”

“Old Ma, did you see it?”

“Yes, I saw two cops go there and drive the car away.”

The manager shrugged. “I don’t know what’s going on. That’s all I know.”

“One more question. Why were you passing by there?” Chen Shi asked.

“Xiao Qing wanted some Chinese toon with tofu, so she asked me to pick some. I didn’t want to ask around, so I wandered around the village and saw what happened.”

“It’s May now. Did you find any?”

“Yes, tender ones, though they tasted a bit bitter.”

Chen Shi thought to himself, he probably didn’t pick Chinese toon. Judging from his expression, the manager wasn’t lying.

After they left, Lin Dongxue said, “A second version of the story is good. Ask more questions, and the liar will reveal flaws, bringing out the truth.”

“Maybe no one is lying. I can’t imagine the villagers or the film crew having a motive to kidnap the policemen. They probably just saw different parts of the same event,” Chen Shi stared at the locked warehouse door, thinking. “The problem lies with the rice harvesters. They kidnapped the police but needed to deal with the police car. So, in the afternoon, they dressed in police uniforms, got seen by the villagers, and drove the car away. After two days of disappearance, the police station would search. Keeping the captives here was unsafe, so last night, they hurriedly harvested Jia Laosi’s rice, hid the police in the rice, and drove off with them.”

“Is Jia Laosi an accomplice?”

“Judging by his sudden departure this morning, he’s likely involved.”

“What about the motive…”

“I can’t figure it out yet. Maybe after a meal, my brain will work faster.”

“Haha, I’m hungry too. Let’s go!”

The other police had just eaten at Lao Jia’s place and had left some food for them. The lunch was rice, steamed bacon, and some stir-fried vegetables. Though simple, it had a farmhouse flavor, probably due to the cooking utensils and stove.

“For the first time, bacon tastes this good,” Lin Dongxue said, holding her bowl.

“Indeed, it’s delicious!”

After the meal, Lao Zhang settled the food bill, as the village committee was not wealthy. Lao Jia declined but eventually accepted.

Chen Shi said, “We just got a tip. This afternoon, we’ll search a place. Oh, call Lao Peng over.”

Xu Xiaodong made the call and said, “Captain Peng said he might be a bit late.”

Lin Dongxue suggested, “Why don’t we find the rice harvesters first?”

“Alright!”

Chen Shi shared the newly gathered intel with the other police. Lao Zhang was astonished, “The manager saw the police being kidnapped and didn’t report it? He went to the city bureau and didn’t mention it? Is a ferret more important than people?”

Lao Jia, who was cleaning up, overheard and said, “I must interrupt. That noon, I did see Xiao Xu and Xiao Jia having lunch at Jia Laosi’s. I even greeted them. How could they be kidnapped at eleven?”