Chapter 661: Hiding Place

Translator: Azza

Editor: Conspiracing

The next morning, Chen Shi used breakfast and sweet words to coax Peng Sijue into going to Zhuoyuan Company first thing in the morning and surveying the scene again. Cao Man was cunning and they couldn't believe everything he said, so Chen Shi had to check the scene himself to be relieved of his worries.

In Dong Xiao's office, Chen Shi found a secret compartment at the back of a cigar box, which could fit an object the size of a USB flash drive. Chen Shi thought, Sure enough, this liar had already taken something.

However, Peng Sijue had some other findings. There was a set of shoe prints on the floor which were extracted with a film-forming agent. They should be women's footprints. Chen Shi didn’t necessarily agree. "There’s so many people going in and out of this office. A set of shoe prints wouldn’t be too strange, right?"

"No, I’ve been here three times. I have carefully checked every inch of the floor. This shoe print is definitely new."

Looking at the distance between the footprints and the bookshelf, Chen Shi thought about Cao Man’s conversation with him last night. There seemed to be a smile at the corner of his mouth. He wondered if something had happened here that prevented him from getting the confidential documents.

Maybe it was someone who beat him to it. As long as it didn't fall into the hands of the police, Cao Man still had a chance. That’s why he had acted so relaxed and calm.

Who could it be?

"Captain, a pistol has been found here!" a policeman shouted.

After the office search was over, Chen Shi deliberately checked the back door. That is, the door where Dong Xiao had escaped from. The door was locked and there was no sign of being picked. It was obvious that Cao Man came down by himself last night.

As he walked out of the building, Chen Shi looked up. Something seemed to catch his attention. He said, "Go to the rooftop!"

"Why are we going to the rooftop?!" Peng Sijue asked impatiently.

"Please, please!"

Peng Sijue shook his head and sighed. He could only follow him to the roof. On the edge of the roof, the two found a round head nail that had been nailed into the concrete floor. The nail was fixed with a steel wire connected to the building on the opposite side. Peng Sijue inspected it a little and came to a conclusion. "Someone used this wire to slide to the opposite side. There was still snow the night before, but the wire is very clean. It should have only been installed yesterday."

"So, there was a woman here last night. This woman must have taken the confidential documents..." Looking down from here, the height would make people dizzy. Chen Shi pondered, "This woman’s skills aren’t bad. She flew over even at this height. Who could it be? Could it be Su Chan?”

She was the only woman involved in this case, so Chen Shi naturally suspected her.

"It's not possible. She should be running away with Lu Qi right now. How could she come back alone?"

"Check the surveillance footage!"

Chen Shi searched all the surveillance footage around the area that he could find, only to find that a car was parked nearby last night and a person in a windbreaker got out of the car. Their height and physical appearance were very similar to Su Chan’s.

When this person came back, it was from the opposite direction, as if she had "flown" from Zhuoyuan company to the opposite building. This route was completely consistent with what they expected.

This case was getting more and more interesting. Each party had their own purpose.

Chen Shi told Lin Qiupu about this discovery. Maybe they could find Lu Qi's current hiding place based on this lead. Lin Qiupu summoned everyone to start the investigation, mainly checking for the license plate and surveillance footage.

Whenever they heard the words "check the surveillance footage", the police all got headaches. They checked the footage from various intersections. They kept investing manpower and time crazily into it. This kind of method wasn’t useless, but it was exhausting.

The car belonged to Dong Xiao. After several days and nights of this fierce battle, they finally found traces of the car on several major roads including Linyang Road, Andong Road, and Binhe Road, and found a factory along the way.

Chen Shi was very surprised that Lu Qi would hide in such a large place. The police rushed there immediately. The factory was abandoned and the current owner was Dong Xiao. He bought the land but the purpose was unknown.

Everyone walked into the factory area and there were scrapped mechanical parts everywhere. The factory was completely empty, which was clear at a glance.

Naturally, there was no surveillance camera in this place, but the footage did show that Su Chan came here by car. Everyone's hard work finally exchanged for such a measly return. Everyone could not help being discouraged and complaints filled the air.

Lin Qiupu looked around and couldn’t find any clues either. When he was about to dismiss the team, he found that Chen Shi was missing. He called him, to which Chen Shi replied, "Come to the east of the factory. I have found some things."

Everyone mustered up their drive again. When they found Chen Shi, they found that Chen Shi was squatting in a corner studying a litter of wild cats. The mother cat was lying on a broken mattress with many kittens in her arms without opening her eyes. The kittens were squirming trying to find a nipple.

"So, this is your discovery?" Lin Qiupu said.

"No. Look at the shrubs nearby..." Chen Shi pointed in one direction.

Lin Qiupu saw some cat food, chicken bones, and fish bones. He understood. "Someone is feeding these cats?"

Chen Shi picked up a grain of cat food, broke it, and smelled it. Then, he called Xu Xiaodong to have a taste. Xu Xiaodong tasted it and reported, "This is imported cat food. The retail price is quite expensive... It's quite dry. It should have been fed to the cat recently."

"Search! We have to find them even if we have to dig this place up!"

𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Eventually, someone finally found a basement with an unremarkable entrance hidden in a warehouse. When they walked in, they found that the place was very spacious with some lathes and tools. The lathe had been lubricated recently, and it was obvious that someone was still using it.

Chen Shi noticed that the computer was still powered on, and when he touched the router, he found that it was very hot. There wasn’t any dust on the table and there was a lot of food in the refrigerator. Someone had stayed here, and they moved in a hurry.

"Could it be Lu Qi and Su Chan?" Lin Qiupu said.

"Why are they hiding in this place? Looking at this scene, it seems they’re tinkering with something." Chen Shi said.

"They don't intend to build a rocket to escape, right?!" Xu Xiaodong exclaimed. When everyone cast incredulous eyes at him, Xu Xiaodong awkwardly defended, "Aren’t they a communications company? There is a precedent for a communications company launching a rocket in China."

"That's for launching a satellite. Building a rocket to escape? Where can they go, the moon?" Lin Qiupu instructed, "Check what this place is for. It doesn't look like there are only two people hiding here. Captain Peng, take your people over to investigate."

Everyone was divided into two groups. Lin Qiupu went to the company to check. Chen Shi and Lin Dongxue stayed behind to accompany Peng Sijue in investigating and collecting evidence. Many people's footprints and fingerprints were found here. Fingerprints were left on the tools. They were indeed making something. It’s just that everyone wasn’t a professional, so they couldn’t tell what it was just by looking at the parts on the ground. Peng Sijue made a list of the things that they found there and was going to go back to consult an expert.

They found foreign wine and cigarettes, some food, and a bed in a small room. What they found on the bed proved that not only did Lu Qi and Su Chan stay here, but they also conducted "business" there. The days they spent here weren’t bad.

In addition, there was a computer. This computer, like other computers in the workshop, had its hard disk formatted. It would take time to recover the data.

It seemed like Lu Qi was very vigilant and moved locations before the police arrived. Peng Sijue made another important discovery. His subordinates found a sack in the garbage dump and found Dong Xiao's DNA in it.

It could be seen that Dong Xiao was indeed murdered and Lu Qi escaped with his body.