Chapter 454: 428 Open Door_1
January 6, 2013
Hesheng City, Huining Province.
Liu Yufei hung up the phone and waved her hand towards several people behind her.
"As you all just heard, Zhang Wannian’s ex-brother-in-law, Zhang Song, appeared here. Director Xu and the others have provided us with a location: he made a withdrawal from an ATM at an Agricultural Bank of Hesheng City. Therefore, we need to adjust our plan now.
Mr. Shan, you lead a team and continue to follow the local counterparts to that outdoor sports company to find Sun Nan. Stick to two principles: first, personally clarify their company’s operational situation. Liu Xiangrui has been missing for over a month, no one has searched, and no one has filed a report. What’s the reason? Can the company really make decisions without him?
After all, it’s the end of the year, involving a variety of data summaries, the busiest time for a company’s operations. Even for promotions, as well as stocking and launching new products, pricing at various branches—so many issues that don’t require Liu Xiangrui’s decision-making? This is somewhat incomprehensible, and we must clarify.
The second point is to indirectly find out about Sun Nan’s itinerary and check their company’s surveillance. Didn’t you bring technicians with you? Have them do their best to recover surveillance footage from November 26 to November 30, 2012. The same saying goes—let the local departments cooperate without alerting anyone."
Mr. Shan nodded his head, carefully noted these two points in his notebook, and then looked firmly at Liu Yufei.
"Mrs. Fei, don’t worry. We’ll clarify everything and report back as soon as we can."
Mr. Shan left quickly, while Mr. Bai seemed a bit anxious, blinking and looking at Liu Yufei.
"What about me, Mrs. Fei? What should I do?"
Liu Yufei gave Mr. Bai a glance, feeling a bit uneasy about letting him out alone. It would be safer to have him accompany her. After all, this was Huining, where local cooperation was very good; vehicles and personnel were provided, and there were quite a few people following them. If there was an emergency situation, Liu Yufei didn’t want Mr. Bai to tarnish the reputation of Qindao.
"Follow me, let’s go. Directly to the identified Agricultural Bank ATM. We’ll discuss the next steps when we get there."
She was the first to get into the car, followed by Fang Mu, the deputy captain of the third division of the Qindao Criminal Police Brigade. Both were looking at the map on the tablet, analyzing it continuously. Mr. Bai pursed his lips, not daring to rebel—he had been advised by Xu Dayuan before leaving to be compliant and obedient to Liu Yufei’s command. At this point, he didn’t dare get ruffled.
"Mrs. Fei, the ATM is located next to the east gate of the Guotai Shopping Mall. The surrounding area is considered a business district, with several pedestrian streets intersecting. There are several hotels. Should I contact someone to check on hotel check-ins?"
Liu Yufei nodded.
"Please do. Ask the Public Security Brigade to help us look into it. The guest might not have checked in under Zhang Song’s name, so let’s broaden the search. Anyone from Dayao City is worth checking; we’ll go door-to-door based on this information.
If it’s a pedestrian street, they wouldn’t casually drive to withdraw money, which is actually good for our search. Moreover, Zhang Song is a person known for indulging in all vices. According to investigations in Dayao City, he usually likes to gather with people in hotels."
Fang Mu quickly made calls, and the wait was a bit long. Liu Yufei and the others had already gotten out of the car since vehicles couldn’t enter the pedestrian street area. Blazing in with a police car would cause panic. Liu Yufei also didn’t want Zhang Song to hear the news and leave, resulting in a failed attempt.
Standing in front of the ATM, Liu Yufei looked across at the three tall buildings, which were connected, with various shopping malls below—it was very bustling. Above the third floor of these buildings were various hotels, with neon signs everywhere, some even indicating hourly rates.
In such a densely packed area, hotels weren’t meant for people from out of town. Young couples and some special groups mainly chose this place for quick, consumptive stays. It goes without saying what activities were implied.
In such a place, could someone stay for a long time?
Liu Yufei’s eyebrows knit tightly as she pondered, and just then, Fang Mu received information. Glancing at the list, he quickly passed it to Liu Yufei.
"Mrs. Fei, take a look. I asked to expand the search range. I’ve compiled a list of people from cities on the Ludong Peninsula, including their check-in times. Which one should we visit first?"
Liu Yufei quickly glanced at them—indeed, all four were residents of the Ludong Peninsula with noted check-in times. One of them, Pang Xingguang’s check-in date was November 15, 2012. By calculation, this individual had been staying there for nearly two months.
The remaining three had only stayed for three to five days. Liu Yufei became intrigued and pointed to Pang Xingguang, saying:
"Let’s go check on this Pang Xingguang. The disappearance of Zhang Song is almost two months ago, which roughly matches up with this person’s check-in time."
Fang Mu nodded and motioned to the team behind him.
"Let’s start with the Hesheng Yintai Juntin Hotel. You four, hurry to the parking lot behind and secure it. You four, guard the east gate. The rest of you come with me through the front door to assist Mrs. Fei with the arrest. Check the photos received on your phones—one is Pang Xingguang, and the other is Zhang Song. Report immediately if you see them come and go. Understood?"
"Understood!"
At this instruction, Liu Yufei felt approval, taking a longer look at Fang Mu. The Qindao Criminal Police Brigade was seriously understaffed, and Zhou Ning had recommended Da Wang from Dayao City, who was in the process of transfer. Fang Mu seemed quite capable, though it was a pity he might not want to go to Qindao, given his position in the provincial capital city.
Putting her thoughts aside, Liu Yufei quickly followed Fang Mu, striding towards the streets on the east side. Though it was past ten o’clock, the commercial street was bustling with people. Luckily, they were in plain clothes.
As they walked, Liu Yufei noticed Mr. Bai looking around curiously. She shot him a stern look, and he straightened up, pulling his cap down over his eyes. There were few who dared to meet Liu Yufei’s gaze.
In five minutes, Fang Mu led the team to the Hesheng Yintai Juntin Hotel. The distance was actually short, but they couldn’t rush too quickly because of the dense crowd, which made the journey longer than expected.
Entering the lobby, Liu Yufei quickly surveyed the layout of the elevators, stairs, and exits. Mr. Bai went straight to the bar. Accompanying Fang Mu to the front, he knew he couldn’t contribute much else. While not so skilled in other areas, he excelled in communication. He smiled at the bartender, presenting his credentials alongside Fang Mu.
"Hello, we’re the police, and we need to check someone’s check-in information."
The lady at the bar must have encountered such things often. She paused for just a moment, then quickly put on a professional smile, looked at the two individuals, and immediately picked up the intercom.
"Officers, just a moment, please. I’ll call the front desk manager over. Whatever you need to check, we will do our best to assist."
After a couple of calls on the intercom, a manager, straightening his tie, came through a side door from the first floor and hurried over upon seeing the police.
"Good day, officers. How can we be of assistance to you?"
The quality of service was certainly top-notch. Fang Mu nodded and raised his phone.
"Through networked systems, we’ve found that Pang Xingguang has been staying here, for almost two months now. Does your front desk know who he’s been staying with? I see he’s booked a suite, and not just one but two."
The manager nodded.
"No need to check; I remember this guest. They always order meals to the room and hardly go out. When they checked in, we asked all guests to show their ID cards. He said he wasn’t sure who would be staying, so we didn’t fill out the details then. However, the three people who came with him were all tall and under thirty."
Mr. Bai raised a photo of Zhang Song, the same one taken during his detention, which implied something specific—and the manager, given that hotels are also a kind of special industry, clearly understood its meaning.
"I think I’ve seen this man, but I’m not certain if he was with Mr. Pang."
Mr. Bai was somewhat puzzled and didn’t understand what he meant by that.
"Not with him, checked in separately?"
Fang Mu waved his hand and quickly said to the manager:
"I think we should just go upstairs and take a look ourselves. Lingering here for too long is pointless. A quick look will be the most telling. Please accompany us, and find a housekeeping staff with a master key."
The manager was quite cooperative; taking the walkie-talkie, he walked directly to the elevator and very politely invited everyone in. Liu Yufei followed and gave Mr. Bai a nod with her chin, prompting him to quickly raise two fingers.
"OK, I’ve got the main entrance."
The manager pressed the button for the 18th floor, then stood in front of the elevator doors facing them, without saying much else. Liu Yufei glanced at Fang Mu, recalling the scene when Xu Dayuan asked for people from Dayao City, she stepped forward to be beside Fang Mu and then spoke:
"Are you a local from Hesheng City, Mr. Dui? Your accent doesn’t seem local, your Mandarin is too standard—I would have thought you were from the north."
Fang Mu was slightly stunned, a sudden change to personal topics coming from Liu Yufei was somewhat unexpected, but he quickly smiled.
"You can tell? I was assigned here after graduation. My hometown is in Huning Province. My parents haven’t retired yet, and with my income being low, it’s quite difficult to think about buying a house in Hesheng City."
"Is housing expensive here?"
"The salary isn’t high, yet housing prices have been skyrocketing. I thought about saving for a down payment, but after several years, I still couldn’t afford it. I’m living in a dorm now. This is how it is for us in this profession, alas!"
As he spoke, Fang Mu sighed. Indeed, most people faced similar challenges. Leaving your original city to look for better prospects elsewhere usually involves significant initial investment.
Liu Yufei merely nodded her head, then asked another question.
"Police academy graduate?"
Fang Mu was somewhat embarrassed.
"Hua Country Criminal Police Academy, Criminal Investigation major."
Liu Yufei was taken aback, no wonder this man was so methodical, and his arrangements were so well-ordered—he truly had professional training, and from a prestigious school at that.
But before she could ask anything else, it was too late; the elevator doors opened, and they followed the manager to room 1825. The manager gestured towards the adjacent room and this one, saying in a lowered voice:
"Both suites 1825 and 1827 are booked by Mr. Pang. Which one shall we check first?"
Liu Yufei waved her hand, and the two criminal police officers from Qindao who had followed proceeded quickly, each taking a position at a door’s peephole. They took out stethoscopes as if they had been trained and began to listen intently to the sounds inside the room. The officer at room 1825 raised his hand after a moment of listening.
A smile appeared on the corner of Liu Yufei’s lips as she gestured to the manager.
"Open the door!"
