The long search made Gu Chen's team suffer a lot in the dense forest, but Zhou Xiaotong's trace was not found.
Seeing that everyone searched from day to night, Gu Chen knew that staying in the forest at night was a dangerous thing.
Therefore, Gu Chen could only take everyone back the same way after marking the way.
...
...
7:20 p.m.
The Office of the Criminal Investigation Team of the Furong Branch.
Gu Chen, Lu Weiwei, and Police Officer Wang were resting on office chairs at the moment, while Yuan Shasha was carrying some steaming beef noodles and putting them on the table.
"Senior Brother Gu, Senior Sister Lu, Senior Brother Wang, your dinner is here, and Master Kong cooked it himself." After saying that, Yuan Shasha directly brought one of the beef noodles to Gu Chen.
"Thank you, Xiao Yuan." Gu Chen sighed softly, sat up straight, and took the beef noodles from Yuan Shasha's hand.
Seeing that Lu Weiwei and Police Officer Wang did not leave, Yuan Shasha could only bring the other two beef noodles to Lu Weiwei and Officer Wang respectively.
According to the previous habit, if the two of them saw beef noodles, they would immediately rush to themselves.
But this time, Yuan Shasha deeply felt the tremendous pressure everyone is under.
There was no trace of Zhou Xiaotong, and no way to even investigate, but the mysterious person following everyone, but there is no definite evidence to prove that person is He Xu.
In addition to the four trucks that spent a lot of effort squatting in the morning, even police dogs were called in to assist, but still no doubts were found.
All kinds of blows exhausted the team physically and mentally, so it was no wonder that Lu Weiwei and Police Officer Wang lost their energy.
Especially Yuan Shasha walked all the way, and the other police officers who returned to the police dormitory to rest all looked tired.
"Hiss!" Gu Chen took a sip of the beef noodles, looked at He Junchao, and asked, "Senior Brother He, are there any unusual movements among these suspects?"
"No." He Junchao cocked his legs while drinking the milk he cheated from Lu Weiwei, and said involuntarily:
"It's strange to say that Zhang Da, Zhuang Qiang and He Xu seem to have become very cautious."
"These people didn't go out much at all today. They were all honest and stayed in their work areas."
"What about the owner of the hot strip factory?" Lu Weiwei said casually after taking a bite of beef noodles.
He Junchao continued to shake his head: "The owner of the spicy stick factory, he didn't go out much."
"Ever since you took someone to his hot strip workshop to check the delivery quantity in the morning, this guy hasn't gone out."
"In short, it seems that these people are becoming cautious now, for fear that they will get into trouble."
"It is precisely because of these people's excessive caution that it is difficult for us to find flaws." Police Officer Wang paused for a while, rolled the beef noodles in the chopsticks, took a bite, and then said:
"In our opinion, these people are quite cunning. It seems that everything before is digging holes for us."
"Especially this Zhang Da and Zhuang Qiang, both of them have been in prison before, and Zhang Da and Zhuang Qiang once had a duel in the woods because of He Xu."
"But later, we also checked with Zhuang Qiang. It was because Zhang Da tampered with his master's car in order to seize the master's property, which caused his master's car to crash and die."
With a faint sigh, Police Officer Wang also shook his head helplessly: "But now, so much time has passed, the vehicle that got into the accident at the beginning must have been scrapped long ago."
"As for the witnesses in the prison who heard about this incident, if they want to let others testify now, such testimony is not very credible."
"But now I am more willing to believe that Zhang Da and Zhuang Qiang are actually on the same team." As soon as Police Officer Wang finished speaking, Lu Weiwei couldn't help but say.
Officer Wang nodded silently: "Maybe, maybe they have been acting for us all the time, treating us like monkeys."
"This group of people gives me the most intuitive feeling that they are very capable of dealing with the aftermath."
"Even if there were some mistakes before, they can use their expertise to quickly erase the clues, preventing our police from having the opportunity to investigate."
"Or, they want to create some illusions for us, so that we can go in the wrong direction of investigation. This is their real purpose."
"Then besides closely monitoring these suspicious people, is there no other way?" Yuan Shasha couldn't sit still.
Although he stayed in the office and provided various technical support for everyone, he did not directly participate in the clue collection work of Gu Chen's team.
But from the tired eyes of everyone, Yuan Shasha also knew very well that this time she encountered a hard problem.
Gu Chen shook his head, and said directly: "It's not that there is no such thing, for example, Hu Peng, the non-staple food distributor who disappeared in Haidong City, I think this talent is the key."
"Because no matter how strong these people are in telling lies before, as long as Hu Peng from Haidong City makes mistakes here, all the previous statements of these people will be completely overturned."
"And these days, why do vehicles returned from Haidong City come to Jiangnan City frequently? I think this secret cannot be kept secret."
"However, there is no news from Officer Xiaoxuan," Yuan Shasha said.
"It makes sense." Gu Chen sighed softly, but also shook his head helplessly:
"Actually, I guessed about this matter a long time ago. I once told police officer Xiaoxuan that it might be difficult for them to find that dealer Hu Peng again."
"Because if I belong to this group of people, then I will definitely not let Hu Peng see the sun tomorrow."
"Because once Hu Peng is arrested, the truth about Jiangnan City's statement and the vehicles delivered by Haidong City's freight company will be revealed."
"Hu Peng, if it is a dead person, then it is more in the interests of these people."
"So Senior Brother Gu, do you think Hu Peng is dead?" Listening to Gu Chen's analysis, Yuan Shasha also asked him curiously.
Gu Chen nodded slightly: "It can be understood in this way, at least these people have handled Zhou Xiaotong's issue very cleanly."
"There are almost no useful clues left, let us police investigate in depth."
"We can only find the empty mineral water bottle with Zhou Xiaotong's fingerprints in the dense forest. Other than that, we have nothing to gain at all."
"That at least proves that Zhou Xiaotong has been there before, and we didn't get nothing." Seeing that Gu Chen would also be pessimistic, Lu Weiwei couldn't help but said encouragingly.
But Gu Chen didn't answer the conversation. Instead, Police Officer Wang "hissed" and sucked the last noodle into his mouth. Then he smashed his mouth and said:
"In my opinion, these people are indeed very capable of dealing with the aftermath. Zhou Xiaotong, it must be difficult for us to find them."
"Because from the very beginning, they have decided to get rid of Zhou Xiaotong on the border of Jiangnan City."
"In this way, it is safer than getting rid of Zhou Xiaotong in Haidong City."
"However, they dealt with the dealers in Haidong City in Haidong City, and even the dealer Hu Peng who communicated with his employees the day before."
"I think they may leave some traces, at least in terms of time, these people may not have enough time."
"So?" Yuan Shasha's eyes lit up when she heard Police Officer Wang's explanation.
Officer Wang glanced at Gu Chen, and also reminded him: "Gu Chen, I think, instead of doing futile investigation here, it's better to go to Haidong City and find the dealer Hu Peng yourself."
"You and I both know that all these links seem to be linked together. Regardless of the current group of people, everyone has an alibi."
"In other words, we can't prove that they are not at the scene. In this way, this place has become a dead end."
"No matter where you investigate, they have arranged a chess game for you and prepared a sack."
"No matter how we investigate, we are very passive, but it is different when we go to Haidong City. Because of the rush of time, there may not be a good way to cover up their crimes."
"Maybe, with the cooperation of Officer Xiaoxuan and the others, they can find some suspicious clues by themselves, what do you think?"
In fact, Police Officer Wang knew Gu Chen too well, and the reason why he said this was actually speaking from Gu Chen's heart.
According to Gu Chen's habit, when a section of investigation comes to a dead end, it is necessary to find a breakthrough.
Once the clues are found from the breakthrough, it can be said that the dead end will be revived.
Having partnered with Gu Chen for so long, Police Officer Wang could already guess Gu Chen's intentions.
It's just that this time I used my own mouth to tell the story.
As soon as Police Officer Wang finished speaking, everyone looked at Gu Chen curiously.
After Gu Chen ate the last noodle, he picked up a large disposable bowl and drank the noodle soup in one gulp.
Putting the empty bowl on the table, Gu Chen took out a tissue, dabbed his mouth leisurely, and then said calmly:
"If possible, we will leave for Haidong City tonight."
"Leave tonight?" Hearing Gu Chen's words, everyone was startled.
But think about it, this is Gu Chen, at least Gu Chen has made clear the direction of the investigation, which is a good thing for everyone.
Although Lu Weiwei was a little tired, she still happily agreed, "Then let's go tonight. After all, we are in a hurry. It is a good thing for everyone to find clues as soon as possible."
"Investigate the dealer Hu Peng in Haidong City. If it is simply handed over to police officer Xiaoxuan, maybe they are just investigating with a cooperative attitude, and there may not be so much sense of urgency in terms of time."
Seeing everyone nodding frequently, Lu Weiwei quickly clarified for herself: "Let me explain first, I don't mean to look down on my colleagues in Haidong City, I just want to say that our investigation here may be the most urgent one." of."
"Don't say anything." Gu Chen took out his phone and said directly to Lu Weiwei:
"Senior Sister Lu, help me, Senior Brother Wang, Xiao Yuan, and yourself, book a high-speed rail ticket each. I'll talk to Police Officer Xiaoxuan, and then we'll set off immediately."
"Okay." Seeing that Gu Chen had said that, Lu Weiwei felt what else could she say? He took out his mobile phone and opened the train ticket booking software.
...
...
At 6 o'clock in the morning, the exit of Haidong North Railway Station.
When Gu Chen, Lu Weiwei, Police Officer Wang and Yuan Shasha appeared at the entrance, Officer Xiaoxuan was waving to everyone: "Gu Chen."
"Officer Xiaoxuan, please come and pick us up." Gu Chen took a step forward and also took the initiative to shake hands with Officer Xiaoxuan.
Officer Xiaoxuan also grinned, and said involuntarily, "I didn't expect that we would meet again so soon? It seems that you are really hardworking in investigating the case."
"In the past, we often heard from Director Li that your criminal investigation team of Furong Branch is very efficient in investigating cases."
"At that time, I just heard it, but I didn't feel it myself." Looking at Gu Chen up and down, Officer Xiaoxuan also smiled and said:
"Now I finally understand why you, Gu Chen, were able to become the captain of the criminal investigation team of the Furong branch at a young age, and now you are the acting deputy director of the Furong branch."
"Based on your working habits like this, I guess most of us Haidong City police can't beat you. If you don't become the acting deputy director of the Furong branch, who else can?"
"Officer Xiaoxuan praised you, let's take us to the stall of the dealer Hu Peng first." Gu Chen only had work in his eyes, facing Officer Xiaoxuan's compliments, Gu Chen really didn't want to say too much.
Police Officer Xiaoxuan also looked embarrassed when she ran into trouble with Gu Chen, but she didn't care too much, and explained with a smile:
"The car is parked nearby, and I will take you there now."
After finishing the words, Officer Xiaoxuan just greeted the others briefly, and then led everyone to the parking lot.
The vehicle drove all the way through the street in the early morning, and soon came to the door of a non-staple food store.
Officer Xiaoxuan parked the car firmly at the door.
At this moment, in the early morning of Haidong City, many middle-aged and elderly people were still dancing the early morning square dance in the open space in front of the store, not paying attention to the police cars around them.
Officer Xiaoxuan also pointed to the gate of the stall and said, "See? This is Hu Peng's largest non-staple food stall in Haidong City."
"The day before you called me to investigate, Hu Peng was still on the phone with his employees."
"But after only one night, this Hu Peng disappeared, as if he disappeared out of thin air."
"Not only that, all the stalls have been closed, and the warehouses have become empty."
"Could it be that all the goods in Hu Peng's warehouse and stalls have been emptied?" Gu Chen followed Officer Xiaoxuan's introduction and asked her curiously.
Officer Xiaoxuan shook her head: "Not all of them, some stalls, I heard that there are still some products that have not been emptied."
"Also, there are still some goods piled up in some of his stall warehouses, and they haven't all been emptied."
"Are these the results of your colleagues' investigation?" Lu Weiwei asked her curiously.
Police officer Xiaoxuan nodded silently: "It's about the same. The situation that my colleague is investigating is basically these."
"However, the specific whereabouts of Hu Peng have not been grasped yet. At present, it is suspected that he is hiding from debts. After all, he seems to have lost a lot of money in real estate speculation, and many of them were borrowed from others, because the bank will no longer give him loans. gone."
"It's understandable." Listening to Officer Xiaoxuan's introduction, Officer Wang rubbed his stomach and couldn't help but say:
"I have seen many people who play leverage like them and end up playing themselves in."
"If this was in the early years when the real estate market was good, then he could indeed make a lot of money by playing leverage like this."
"But it doesn't work now, if you continue like this, you have to play yourself to death."
"Officer Wang." Seeing Officer Wang rubbing her belly non-stop, Officer Xiaoxuan grinned:
"Then what? You haven't had breakfast yet, right? There's a breakfast shop next to this stall, or? May I treat you to something?"
"Hey." Seeing what Police Officer Xiaoxuan said, Officer Wang said unceremoniously:
"Not to mention, last night we worked overtime until very late, and then took the high-speed train to Haidong City at night. We have been busy until now, and we are indeed very hungry."
"Then eat something." Seeing this situation, Officer Xiaoxuan pushed open the car door, and everyone got out of the car one after another.
After passing the line of aunts dancing in the square, everyone came to the breakfast shop next to Hu Peng's non-staple food supermarket.
The owner of the breakfast shop is a middle-aged couple. At this moment, the shop is already full of customers, many of whom are having breakfast.
Officer Xiaoxuan led everyone to an empty seat, and then asked, "What do you want to eat?"
"Fried rice noodles." Gu Chen glanced at the price list on the wall of the breakfast shop, and said curiously:
"Authentic fried rice noodles from Jiangnan City? So the owner here is from Jiangnan City?"
"Yes." Seeing Gu Chen mentioning this matter, a middle-aged woman turned around to look at Gu Chen after serving two bowls of fried rice noodles to the guest next door, and said:
"We came from Jiangnan City, and we have been doing business in Haidong City for almost 10 years."
After the words fell, the middle-aged woman also stared blankly, she couldn't help scratching the back of her head, pointed at Gu Chen and said curiously:
"Eh? I seem to have seen you somewhere, are you a celebrity?"
"Pfft!" Upon hearing this, Officer Xiaoxuan on the side almost couldn't hold back her laughter.
Gu Chen was a little embarrassed, but still replied calmly: "I'm not a celebrity."
"No, you must be a certain star, because I seem to have seen you somewhere, where is it?"
"Isn't this Police Officer Gu?" The proprietress was still scratching her head thinking, she brought out some breakfast snacks from the back kitchen and handed them to the middle-aged male boss who was at the next table. She also looked at Gu Chen and said:
"I remember, there seems to be a poster of you near my neighborhood."
"Is it the neighborhood in Jiangnan City?" Yuan Shasha asked afterward.
The middle-aged man nodded silently: "Yes, my family is from Jiangnan City. We go back once or twice a year. Anyway, the anti-fraud poster in my community seems to be you, Officer Gu."
After the words fell, the middle-aged man looked at Lu Weiwei, Police Officer Wang and Yuan Shasha again, and his eyes were stunned:
"Eh? You guys seem familiar, you seem to be on that poster, right?"
After thinking about it, the middle-aged man pointed to Lu Weiwei and said, "You are that Police Officer Lu."
Seeing that Lu Weiwei nodded silently, she responded with a smile.
The middle-aged man looked at Police Officer Wang and Yuan Shasha again: "You seem to be Officer Wang, are you Officer Yuan?"
"Yes, it's us." Seeing that he was on this side of Haidong City, there was still someone he knew.
Police Officer Wang's vanity was satisfied enough for a while, and he felt flattered.
The middle-aged man also smiled and said: "Oh, I didn't expect that all the star policemen in our Jiangnan City came to my shop to eat today. No, I have to take a photo with you."
After the voice fell, the middle-aged man directly wiped the apron with his hands, took out his mobile phone from his pocket, walked to the middle of Gu Chen and the others, and took a photo with Gu Chen and the others in reverse.
Gu Chen and the others were also quite cooperative, gesturing together to take pictures of the middle-aged man's phone camera.
The conversation between the middle-aged man and Gu Chen quickly attracted the attention of other diners.
Since this is the boundary of Haidong City, many people have never seen Gu Chen.
At first, hearing what the proprietress said casually, I thought it was some celebrity artist who came to the store for breakfast.
After all, Haidong City has a developed economy, and there are many filming crews who come here to shoot scenes all the year round.
Especially the campus of Haidong University is so beautiful that it is an excellent location for many youth campus idol dramas.
Therefore, it is nothing new to meet stars occasionally here.
Seeing that the husband and wife bosses were too enthusiastic and attracted all kinds of attention from the surrounding diners, Lu Weiwei also reminded in a low voice:
"Miss Boss, it's almost done, hurry up and get us some authentic fried rice noodles from Jiangnan City, and see if it tastes like the one we ate in Jiangnan City?"
"Hey, wait a minute, you all eat fried rice noodles, right? Then I'll make it for you right now."
After the words fell, the proprietress went directly to the back kitchen, preparing to make breakfast for several people.
The boss still wanted to chat with Gu Chen and the others, but it was the busiest time for business.
For a while, the student party who needed to go to school also began to come here in groups.
After being busy for a while, Gu Chen and the others finally waited for the fried rice noodles, and everyone ignored them, put the disposable chopsticks on the table, paused, and started to enjoy them.
After enjoying a short breakfast, the business peak has passed.
Seeing that the store started to become less busy, Gu Chen called out to the middle-aged man, "Boss."
"How is it?" Seeing that Gu Chen and the others seemed to be paying the bill, the middle-aged man hurried over from the back kitchen and asked:
"The fried rice noodles in my store are still authentic, right?"
"Well, it's very authentic. It tastes exactly the same as what we eat in Jiangnan City, and it's even better." Yuan Shasha dipped her mouth with a tissue and said in praise.
Hearing this, the middle-aged man immediately became complacent: "It's not me, many fried rice noodles in Jiangnan City are not authentic."
"I also thought that there are too many breakfast shops in Jiangnan City that serve fried rice noodles, and the business there is too serious."
"That's why, ten years ago, I decided to come to Haidong City to start a breakfast restaurant business with my wife."
"Unexpectedly, the authentic fried rice noodles in our Jiangnan City are very popular here."
"Even some breakfast shops see that our business is very good. They want to imitate us and make fried rice noodles, but they don't have that taste. Hehe, do you think this imitated food is delicious?"
"That's right, we are famous in this area, and many neighbors around here like to come to our store to eat." The proprietress brought out the packaged fried rice noodles from the back kitchen, and handed them directly to the customers at the door, and then said casually asked:
"Children, is my fried rice noodles delicious?"
"Delicious, very delicious." The little boy who got the packed breakfast and carried a schoolbag at the door responded very cooperatively.
Everyone grinned when they heard this.
Gu Chen nodded silently, and then asked again: "The neighbors in this area seem to like to eat your fried rice noodles, so the owner of the non-staple food supermarket next door to your house also likes to eat it, right?"
"Ah?" Gu Chen turned too fast, and the couple didn't react for a while.
Yuan Shasha also smiled, and quickly explained: "That is to say, the owner of the non-staple food business next door seems to be called Hu Peng, right? Does he also like to eat your fried rice noodles?"
"Oh, Hu Peng? He also likes to eat, and he often comes to eat in my shop, because he often stays in this shop, and my breakfast shop is next door, so he often comes here to take care of business." The middle-aged man smelled It is also a casual answer.
Officer Xiaoxuan looked up and asked again: "Then you should be familiar with him, right?"
"Familiar." Seeing that there is no business at the moment, the proprietress picked up a stool, sat across from everyone, and explained:
"Since our husband and wife came here to open a store, that Hu Peng, his store has already opened here."
"Before, he only had one store here, but later the business grew bigger and bigger, and then he opened stores in various places in Haidong City."
"He takes care of both retail and wholesale here, and the business is doing pretty well, with his warehouses everywhere."
"It's not an exaggeration to say that when it comes to making money, sometimes it is estimated that counting the money can be counted."
"Especially when there are activities in his store, the stage tent at the entrance is so popular, the surrounding residents will come here to spend and make a lot of money."
"Then what's the situation now?" Listening to the proprietress's narration, Gu Chen asked knowingly.
"Now?" The middle-aged boss came over and couldn't help waving his hands:
"It's not working now. Didn't you see that the store next door is closed?"
"Then what's going on?" Lu Weiwei took the opportunity to ask quickly.
The middle-aged man sighed, but also had no choice but to explain: "What else? Real estate speculation."
"I used to see people making money quickly by speculating in real estate, but I opened a supermarket by myself, working hard, and earning meager profits."
"So, in the years when the real estate market was booming, Hu Peng was tasked with throwing money into it."
"As a result, all the money earned from the business, the working capital, was invested in real estate."
"I followed those real estate speculators and learned to play with that leverage, and then bought and bought all kinds of things. Now, it's all kinds of compensation, and I almost lost all my underwear."
"Some time ago, at the door of each of his stores, there were cargo owners who came to collect debts, which made the place noisy."
"Is there such a thing?" In fact, Officer Wang had already guessed that this would happen, but he still showed a surprised expression, and said:
"So, this Hu Peng really lost money by speculating in real estate, and then he can only close these stores?"
"Almost." The middle-aged man took out a pack of cigarettes and handed them to Police Officer Wang and Gu Chen.
Seeing that Police Officer Wang and Gu Chen both refused, he took out one and put it in his mouth.
Then he took out a lighter from his pocket, lit it for himself, took a deep breath, and then said slowly:
"What's the specific situation? I'm not very clear. After all, although we do business next door, many of their business affairs are confidential and will not be easily disclosed to us."
"However, some time ago, there were quite a lot of suppliers who came to him to ask for money, most of them were suppliers of tobacco and alcohol, and there were also suppliers of non-staple food manufacturers."
"He lost a lot of money in real estate speculation, and he was unable to pay the customer's payment for the goods."
"Being helpless, many manufacturers have come to ask for debts. If they don't come back, they will return the goods..."
Here, the Chinese couple also explained in various ways, and Gu Chen and the others listened carefully.
It can be said that this is basically the same as what the boss of the Jiangnan Hot Tiao Factory explained before.
It is basically confirmed that this dealer named Hu Peng has indeed encountered difficulties in operation during this period of time.
Gu Chen nodded slightly, and said casually, "What about now? Do you still have contact with this boss?"
"No." The middle-aged man took a puff of cigarette, and said in a puff:
"This boss named Hu Peng usually comes to my store to have breakfast and chat with me."
"But recently, I haven't seen him for a long time. However, the workers of his trading company can contact him, but I heard that it is no longer possible to contact him."
"I also called him once, and wanted to ask him what happened recently?"
"After all, people come here every three days and ask him for money, which makes the noise at the door of our store. I'm also very annoying, so I want to contact him and ask about this buddy's recent situation."
"I can't get through the phone, right?" Gu Chen said.
The middle-aged man nodded fiercely: "That's right, we still contacted on WeChat before. He has something to do, such as the arrival of goods in the store, or some other things."
"If he's not here, he will ask me to help him handle it. Therefore, the two of us have a good relationship in private."
After the voice fell, the middle-aged man took out his mobile phone, opened WeChat, and said in front of Gu Chen:
"Look, this Hu Peng used to send some inspirational chicken soup links, but now, he hasn't moved for several days."
"I know he has been under a lot of pressure recently, so the number of chicken soup links sent to Moments is also a lot."
"But now, there is no movement at all, just like disappearing out of thin air, and no one can find it."
Gu Chen took the middle-aged man's mobile phone, clicked on Hu Peng's WeChat circle of friends, and began to roughly check Hu Peng's activities.
As the middle-aged man said, Hu Peng's circle of friends seems to have lost all activity.
But before, Hu Peng had to post at least three updates every day.
This is very intriguing.
"Could it be that Hu Peng has encountered an accident in the past few days?" Gu Chen thought to himself.
After all, what happened to Hu Peng? Gu Chen and the people Hu Peng involved are enough to guess.
If Hu Peng gets involved in the disputes among these gangs, then it will be difficult for Hu Peng to be alone.
This group of people, in order to cover up the truth so that their lies will not be exposed, then Hu Peng can obviously be their victim.
The disappearance of Hu Peng is also in their interest.
Therefore, when Hu Peng disappeared suddenly, Gu Chen could understand that it was possible for these people to control him in a certain place or kill him.
But now, everything needs to continue to be investigated.
...
Ask for votes, with a sincere face. ╰(‵ ′)╯
