Chapter 12: A friend or a foe?

*Xin Lei*, ---

I had no words to say to Bai Li. The hotel wasn't big and tall. There were some cardboard boxes down at the backside of the hotel. Cocoa jumped on them, then to the small balcony of the room below us and then inside our room through the window, with absolute silence and finesse.

I typed and hit the speaker button. "If the owner catches Cocoa, we will be in trouble."

Bai Li glanced at my side. "Are you going to tell him?"

I typed. "No."

"Neither will I. So, we are good."

Then I typed. "You never said that we are going to share one room."

He shrugged. "You seem to have too many friends chasing after you. We should stick together."

So he really didn't have any impure thoughts?

"Arf!"

Cocoa seemed to agree.

He said, "Let's order some food now. I'm damn hungry."

*Duan Deming*, ---

The forensic doctor Guozhi called Tian Song and me to tell us about his findings after he did the autopsy of Liao Chuntao.

He said, "Somebody really hates this woman. She was hit with a bat repeatedly all over her body, and I also found the marks from a blunt instrument like a metal rod." Guozhi shook his head. "She is beaten up so much that I feel that the criminal was finding pleasure in doing this to her."

I looked at her cold body, the bruises on her pale skin, and agreed.

You can say that again.

Tian Song asked, "Sexual assault?"

"No. She wasn't sexually assaulted, but beaten to death."

I asked, "Did you find any DNA on her body?"

That was an important question.

Guozhi said, "Yes, I have. It is a tiny drop of sweat I found on the nape of her neck. I'm going to run it through our criminal database tomorrow morning."

I frowned. "On her neck?"

He nodded. "It might be when he was carrying her body. It's hot these days, so a drop of sweat must have trickled down on her skin."

I nodded.

"Any other thing?"

"Yes. I also found some traces of grease on her skin here and there. This can help us in finding the location where she was kept. It's an industrial oil. So, there are high chances that she was kept in a factory or an oil refinery of some sort."

Tian Song said, "We will look into such places in Langfang."

I nodded. We got a head start.

"Send us the report of DNA analysis as soon as it's out."

"Roger."

We bid him goodbye and went out.

Tian Song then asked me. "What did you find in the footage where she boarded the cab in Andingzhen?"

I sighed. There was not good news there.

"Negative. It was too dark in the night. The driver's face isn't visible. But her body is found in LangFang, so I'm sure that she crossed Beijing's border through Andingzhen and headed to Langfang."

Tian Song hummed. "Hm. There is no unknown number in the call records too. It's only her sister Liao Huifang and her office colleagues."

"Well, we can only hope on the DNA test now and that factory sort of place."

I don't know if I imagined it, but Song looked in a daze. "Song?"

"Nothing." He brushed me off. But I found it a bit odd.

"By the way, did Fu Ting admit to his crime? Did he say where he has hidden Fu Meili?"

"No."

I sighed.

"We are losing time, Song."

"I understand. You know our team is looking for her. We will find her soon."

I said, "We could have talked to his lawyer, Xin Nianzu, but he hasn't met Fu Ting in the last few days. Has he given up his case?"

He narrowed his eyes. "I don't know. It's indeed doubtful."

Well, I could only hope for the best.

---

Somewhere, in a dark room, a man was tied on a chair. The place was terribly dirty. There were some empty boxes lying here and there. There was not even a window. The walls were covered in spider nets. A bulb hung above to shed light on the man.

His face looked a little haggard and tired, but his mind was alert. He heard footsteps from a distance, and he quickly closed his eyes.

But the door to his room where he was kept tied didn't open. Instead, he heard the loud voice of a man yelling and shouting.

"Damn that woman! I lost five men because of her!"

Gen Gen...That man who had kidnapped him from office.

'Lei Lei, my daughter…' Xin Nianzu immediately put his concentration in listening to their conversation.

"It's just a woman! And it's been a whole week, but she is still slipping past us!"

Xin Nianzu smirked. 'That is my daughter for you.'

"As if that wasn't enough, God knows who is the man with her now who beat my men! Five men!"

Xin Nianzu narrowed his eyes.

'Man?'

"I don't care! Send more men after them, but I won't give up until I catch her!"

He heard one of his underlings say, "But Rodey has said not to send-"

"I will talk to him. And you work under me, not Rodey! So, listen to my orders, you bastard."

"Yes, boss!"

"And keep an eye on that man inside. As long as he is here, nobody can save that man, Fu Ting. The case must be closed with his sentence!"

"Yes!"

One of the men opened the door. Xin Nianzu quickly closed his eyes and drooped his head, feigning unconsciousness.

The underling then closed the door and locked it.

Xin Nianzu slowly opened his eyes.

He thought about the man who was helping his daughter. He wondered about the man.

'Did Lei Lei find the man, or did the man find my daughter?'

If it was the latter, then there could be a chance of him being a spy. But it was all a conjecture.

Was he really helping or trapping her instead?

Was he a friend or a foe?