Chapter Twenty-Four: Escape (Bonus Chapter for a Ten-Thousand Starting Coins Reward)

The list was in hand; the only problem was that Lin Zhen’s house was large, beautifully renovated, well located, and, most importantly, not expensive. On the website, it was unquestionably the best value for money. So during the period when she opened it for short-term rentals, it had practically never been empty; one tenant would leave and another would arrive.

The high turnover left her tenant list long enough to fill several pages. More than half of those staying alone were men, and the age range of people choosing this sort of short-stay platform was generally concentrated in their twenties and thirties. The man in Li Jialong’s photo could plausibly be described as a man in his thirties with ordinary features, or as someone in his early twenties with a mature face. And since Li Jialong did not know the other man’s full name, every solitary male tenant on the list had to be checked carefully.

After a great deal of effort, the two of them finally found a male tenant whose appearance matched the photo. They successfully obtained his personal information and learned that his name was Chen Ziliang, he was twenty-eight years old, had no fixed occupation, and astonishingly, he was a local of City W.

This discovery surprised Yan Xue and Kang Ge. They had originally assumed that people renting short-term places would all be from out of town, staying briefly in another city for study, work, travel, or some similar reason. But for a local to choose a short-term rental, and not just once or twice but many times, always selecting the same place, with the records showing two nights each time before leaving, was very strange indeed.

After discussing it, the two of them decided to investigate Chen Ziliang’s background.

However, before that inquiry could even begin, a phone call from Lin Zhen’s parents around seven or eight that evening shattered their carefully laid plans to pieces.

“Officer Kang, please, you’ve got to think of something. Lin Zhen is missing!” Lin Zhen’s father’s voice trembled with panic over the phone.

“What? Missing? Since when?” Even Kang Ge, usually so calm and composed, shot to his feet the moment he heard that. “Weren’t you with her the whole time? When did you realize she was gone? Had anyone been in contact with her during that period?”

“We were together, my wife and I stayed with her the whole time! No one contacted Zhenzhen during that time either. She probably left the house in the afternoon. Oh, this child has really terrified us both!”

Lin Zhen’s father said anxiously, “After we separated from you in City Y, Zhenzhen told us she hadn’t been resting well these past few days, that she couldn’t sleep, and after hearing about what happened at home, she had been terribly unsettled. We were afraid she was frightened or had suffered some kind of mental shock, so we hurried her to the hospital. After the examination, the doctor said there was nothing major wrong, probably just temporary, and prescribed three days’ worth of sleeping pills. Then we took her home — not the house in City W, I mean the home where we do business.

“After something like this happened, if we as parents still dared to leave her side, that would be far too heartless. Today we didn’t dare relax for a second; we put business aside for the time being, didn’t even step out the door, and just stayed with her the whole time.

“Through the day, she seemed all right, so we relaxed a little. The child was lying in her room all morning, and when it was time to eat, she ate. We really thought things were fine.

“In the afternoon she got up and spent a long while fussing in the kitchen, grinding coffee beans and all that, and made coffee for us to drink. We didn’t think much of it and drank it right away. Not long after, my wife and I both felt so sleepy we could barely keep our eyes open, and then we both just passed out. When we woke up, it was this time, and Zhenzhen was no longer at home!

“We were terrified. We checked the security footage at once. There’s only one camera at our front gate, but it can see the courtyard. Then we saw Zhenzhen driving off in my car. We called her, but her phone was off. Later, when we looked more carefully, we realized her phone had been left at home at all and wasn’t taken with her.

“She drove away in our private car, and there’s no tracking device installed in it. We can’t reach her now, and we have no idea where she’s gone. My wife and I are nearly out of our minds with worry!”

“Don’t panic yet. Let’s confirm a few things first.” As Kang Ge listened to the father’s account, he had already regained his composure from the initial shock. “Lin Zhen didn’t take her phone, so what about her bank card?”

“She took it! She took her bank card and her favorite bag, and she even took the twenty thousand in cash we had at home! That’s what’s making us feel both relieved and uneasy at the same time!

“You say she took her bank card, so at least we don’t need to worry about whether she’ll have food or lodging outside. But if she secretly took the cash and doesn’t use her card for a while, where are you supposed to find her? And the murderer hasn’t even been caught yet! If that person really came for our Zhenzhen, and realizes they got the wrong victim before trying to go after her again, what then? Please, you must think of a way!”

“Don’t worry. We’ll figure something out right away. Wait for my news.” After asking for Lin Zhen’s father’s license plate number, Kang Ge soothed the couple briefly and hung up. Then he pulled over the keyboard and began logging into the hotel registration system.

“Whose name are you checking? Lin Zhen’s or Bai Yueni’s?” Yan Xue had followed along clearly. At the sight of Kang Ge’s actions, she could already guess his intention, though she wasn’t entirely certain.

“Of course Bai Yueni’s,” Kang Ge replied while skillfully searching. “Lin Zhen could never have used her own name to register at a hotel. If she weren’t frightened, she wouldn’t have gone to such lengths — lying about insomnia, tricking a doctor into prescribing sedatives, first putting her parents to sleep and then running out of the house.”

“So the person she’s afraid of must also know where her parents live?”

“Mm, that’s my suspicion too. Since Lin Zhen has gone into hiding, if she wants to stay in a hotel, she can’t avoid registration. If she checked in under her own name, she’d probably still feel unsafe. We already know Bai Yueni’s identity, but if the murderer’s original target was Lin Zhen, then even after realizing they killed the wrong person, they might not know the victim’s real name.

“So if she keeps checking in under Bai Yueni’s name, the chance of us finding her is higher, but it doesn’t endanger her immediate safety. The key is that no one can know she’s using Bai Yueni’s identity.”

While Kang Ge talked with Yan Xue, his hands never stopped moving. He entered Bai Yueni’s ID number, which he had long since memorized, and sure enough found a brand-new registration record.

“Found her. Lin Zhen hasn’t run far this time — City Z.” Kang Ge showed Yan Xue the result and pulled out his phone to enter the hotel’s address, confirming the exact location. “City Z is between City Y and our City W. It’s a little farther from Lin Zhen’s parents’ place, but if we set out directly from here, we should still make it in time.

“Let me see her check-in time... just moments ago. So tonight she probably won’t leave. If we go straight there to find her later, and depart now, it shouldn’t be too late.

“We can use this chance to ask her everything that needs asking, settle things with her, and then send her back, so nothing else comes of it.”

“Mm, your plan is good, but I’m afraid we won’t find her that quickly.” Yan Xue gave a wry smile and signaled to Kang Ge. “Look here! Just now there were two new check-ins, both under Bai Yueni’s name.”

Kang Ge hadn’t expected that either. He hurriedly looked again. Good heavens, it was true. After a brief pause, he laughed. “This Lin Zhen is playing a little game of many lairs, either with us or, more likely, with the person she fears.”

“So she spent money on several hotel rooms, but where she’s actually staying is hard to say?” Yan Xue glanced at the time. “At any rate, she really is in City Z. I’ll keep watch here and see if there are any more changes. You contact her parents!”

“Okay. Then note down the addresses of those hotels and work out the best route. We’ll set off in a bit!” Kang Ge checked the time. “If we head over tonight and make do there, then first thing tomorrow morning we’ll be waiting to catch Lin Zhen. Otherwise, even if we leave early tomorrow, something unexpected might happen.”

Yan Xue nodded. In order to escape from home, Lin Zhen had even drugged her own parents into unconsciousness. That alone showed just how uneasy she was inside. In such circumstances, no one could know whether she had devised some other backup plan beyond her many hiding places, so it was wiser to stake out the place overnight in advance.

Yan Xue was already used to this sort of stakeout. She calculated the temperature for spending the night in the car at this time of year, and while Kang Ge was on the phone, she went to the cupboard, took a few heat packs, and changed into a thicker down coat.

At this time of year, a down coat was still more or less unnecessary in daytime, but at night it was a completely different matter.

After getting everything ready, she returned and searched Lin Zhen’s check-in records again. Sure enough, she found two more different hotels, and the latest registration had been made more than twenty minutes earlier.

Yan Xue confirmed the locations of those two hotels and found that, aside from the first one, which was relatively far away, the others were only about ten minutes apart on foot and none were particularly distant.

She quickly planned the most suitable route for checking them, and just then Kang Ge finally finished speaking with Lin Zhen’s parents.