Chapter 140: The asthma case.

He Xiao Yi, leaped to his feet. “Get Liwu in here, now.” He barked.

An officer rushed out and returned about thirty seconds later, pulling Liwu roughly and quickly as if they were late for the last bus.

“Slow down, just a little.” She suggested.

But the officer did not such thing, not until Liwu was deposited next to Xiao Yi. “Look, I was right. There are six cases that match the method of operation. In two of the cases, parents reported their children missing and mentioned the ransom, giving the exact figure that the Su’s were asked for. But, it was a decade ago, in different cities and the children were returned so no connections were made.

The last case was five years ago in Wuhan, and it ended with the death of the child from asthma related complications. The body was found in the home of the parents. According to the coroner’s report, death had only occurred thirty to thirty five minutes before the body was returned. It was ruled a felony murder because the death occurred during the commission of a crime. We are hunting a murderer.”

Liwu tapped Xiao Yi on the shoulder. “Great job. Your instincts were right. I think you should take the lead on this case.”

He Xiao Yi smirked. “I think the key to breaking the case wide open lies in understanding the kidnapper’s motives. We need to find out what made these families targets back then. A past enmity, a financial deal gone wrong…anything. Did they ever cross paths? If yes, when and where? We need to move fast because I am afraid…..”

“Afraid of what?” The chief walked up to them.

He Xiao Yi pointed to the picture of the dead child from the last case. “That the death of that child made the kidnapper realize he could cause more pain in the parents by returning dead bodies. Look at all the other cases, the kids were taken from public places but there was no…performance like I think there is with this one.” He paced from side to side. “His choice of location was deliberate, his timing, the shimmer witnesses reported seeing. I think he was wearing some kind of costume.”

Liwu nodded along. “Most kidnappers would have gone for a plain outfit and a mask. Something that makes sure they don’t stand out and witnesses remember close to nothing.”

Xiao Yi snapped his fingers. “Exactly. He wanted to be remembered. But the question is, by whom? The witnesses, the parents, the police or the world?”

Chief Abby gasped, “I spoke to someone that said he made the sign of the horns before vanishing.” He did the gesture of the index finger and pinkie raised while other fingers were curled down. “So…the world?”

“So he is in a rock band.” Xuanji suggested, waving a bunch of documents. “My turn to update you on the finances of the Su family. They were not as glamorous as everyone imagined. Whatever the daughter made, the father took and invested. She started acting at the age of three and he has made seven bad investments since then.

They moved to a big apartment which they couldn’t afford. Mr. Su quit his job to focus on investing and trading in stocks. The mother sells home made jewelry online and she uses Su Wan to endorse it by dressing her up in what she sells. Her income is meager but their expenses are great, the family is living beyond their means.

I spoke to Su Wan’s agent and she admitted to inflating the zeroes on that Hollywood deal. She is getting paid twenty thousand dollars to star in an indie movie. It is not a blockbuster and there is no million dollar pay out.”

Chief Abby pinched the tip of his nose, yawning softly. “I can see why Mrs. Su is in tears. They can’t afford the ransom.”

Xuanji pointed to the screen. “I was wrong profiler He, you were right. And I will go and start digging into the financial situations of the families of the past kidnapped victims.

“I will go and meet with the family of the dead boy.” Liwu volunteered for the task which would be heartbreaking. Digging up old wounds like that was never easy. Often, people welcomed her because they were happy to talk about their children or they chased her away with unkind words.

He Xiao Yi picked up his scarf. “I will go with you.” He gestured from Chief Abby to the screen. “Have at it, I hope you find something. Maybe we will get lucky and find a member of a rock band who wears shimmering costumes. We have an estimate of height and weight, there can’t be many rockers in this country. Let the algorithm rule them out.”

Then he looked around and saw Linlin at the back, focused on tracking any unreported teleportation activity within the country.

“Do you need some donuts for the road?” Xuanji asked. He had a big box, like he did, every morning. He was a firm believer in the whole cops and donuts thing!

Liwu pushed the box aside. “We are taking the express route so we won’t be needing donuts.” She replied.

As soon as she finished saying that, her uncle Aang appeared in the room, took her hand and He Xiao’s Yi’s and teleported them out. They came out of the haze, standing outside a small courtyard in a village in Wuhan. It smelled faintly of damp earth and roses, bright red ones that were planted everywhere.

Liwu adjusted her trench coat as they stepped through the wooden gate. There was a dog playing in the yard and it barked loudly.

The door to the house was opened before they reached it. A man stood in the entrance and looked at the them. He was gaunt, hair streaked with gray though he was not yet old. His name was Rong Jian, according to the information they had received. He was a widower, his wife had died just a few months after their son was kidnapped and ended up dead.

He Xiao Yi had looked so closely at the pictures of the scene and memorized them all. So, he knew the dog house in the yard was the same one the family owned when they lived in a villa in the city. The kidnapper had dumped the boy’s body next to it.

Rong Jian’s eyes were hollow. He didn’t greet them. He simply stared at them as though he had been expecting them for years.

Liwu spoke first, her voice steady, “Uncle Jian, we are sorry for intruding like this without calling ahead. It’s just that something has happened. The man who kidnapped your son five years ago has struck again. He took another child. We just learned that there were five others before your boy.”

In a certain voice, He Xiao Yi said, “We have forty five hours before the next child dies.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep