Chapter 4

I asked at the station. No one had reported a disappearance in the past two days.

Just then, I noticed Captain Xu was back in the office.

I hurried over to ask how things had gone.

He said he had mainly asked Xu Xiaofeng one question. Once she received her husband's insurance money, whom did she intend to give it to? Xie Jintao, or someone else?

Unexpectedly, she had fallen silent.

The question had thrown her.

She didn't have to choose either of the answers he offered. She could simply say she would keep it and spend it herself.

A car, an apartment, luxury goods—it was entirely her decision.

That suggested something.

The money had already been earmarked.

And if someone could make those arrangements for her, surely it would be Zhang Mingxiang?

She hadn't even questioned something as important as buying a home. She had left it all to him.

Captain Xu was rather discouraged. The case was at a serious impasse.

More than half a day had passed since the burned body was found. We had called Xu Xiaofeng in twice, but still had no strong evidence. Suspicion alone was driving the investigation.

I wanted to continue.

First, I didn't want a wrongful or mishandled case on my hands.

Second, I really wanted to know whether my theory about her was nothing but personal prejudice.

Fortunately, the case moved forward.

Because I had asked at the station about missing people, the colleague responsible had kept it in mind.

That afternoon, someone came in to report a possible disappearance.

It was an unusual report. The caller was a restaurant owner, and he didn't even know the missing man.

The man was homeless and had some mental health problems.

He wasn't a beggar. He usually slept in a small wooden shack beside the market's rubbish dump. He was quiet, slept most of the day, and neither frightened nor hurt anyone.

Every evening after closing, the restaurant owner packed up leftovers and waited for him to collect them.

Three days earlier, the man had stopped coming.

At first, the owner hadn't thought much of it. Perhaps he'd found enough food elsewhere.

But the second evening passed, then the third, with no sign of him.

Worried he was ill, the owner went to the shack that day.

The man was gone.

His belongings remained, so he probably hadn't left town.

Afraid he might die somewhere without anyone knowing, the owner found time to come to the station and tell the police.

Could we help find him? Given his mental state, he might suffer a sudden death somewhere.

My interest sharpened immediately.

I went to the shack with colleagues from the station and noted the positions of nearby security cameras.

Back at the station, I hurried to obtain footage from the public security unit. Starting before the disappearance, I watched it on fast-forward.

At last, I found a lead.

One camera showed a man leading the homeless man away.

Of course, he too wore a cap and mask. His face couldn't be identified.

Fortunately, I had already contacted the couple's gaming friends and added them on WeChat.

I took a screenshot and sent it to them.

It was evening by then, but gamers were night owls. Several replied at once.

"Isn't that Zhang Mingxiang?"

"Looks like Xiang. Can't be certain without seeing his face."

"Probably Mingxiang. When was this taken? Didn't he die in a crash?"

...

The man who had taken him away might indeed be Zhang Mingxiang.

Which meant the unrecognizably burned body in the truck might belong to the homeless man.

I reported everything to Captain Xu.

"If Zhang Mingxiang is alive," he asked, "where could he be hiding now?"

That was the crucial question.

I had visited Xie Jintao that day. Whether or not they were accomplices, Zhang couldn't be hiding there.

He had nowhere left to go.

Unless he had abandoned the insurance money and fled the area entirely.

But the money brought me back to our unresolved question.

Xu Xiaofeng would receive it.

When I thought she and Xie Jintao had planned everything, there was nothing odd about that.

Now the prime suspect was Zhang Mingxiang, who apparently wasn't dead at all.

That meant she would hand the money straight to him.

Husband and wife had staged a murder to defraud the insurer.

It also explained why she had identified him from a single belt buckle.

I hastily offered my theory.

"Could Zhang Mingxiang be hiding in his own house?"

Captain Xu raised his eyebrows, apparently agreeing it was possible.

"Take Zhao Jun and look. What time is it? Not ten yet. Right. Go quickly. Catch them by surprise. If you find something, good. If not, say you've come with follow-up questions."

"On our way."

Zhao Jun and I hurried to Xu Xiaofeng's home.

The journey to the village took some time. We arrived at half past ten.

The house was completely dark.

Rural or not, young people didn't usually go to bed that early these days, did they?

I knocked. No answer.

I had no choice but to call her.

The phone rang and rang. She didn't pick up.

"Wait," Zhao Jun said. "Can you hear ringing?"

I lowered my phone. A faint ringtone was indeed coming from inside.

In other words, she was home.

Why wouldn't she answer her phone or our ringing at the door?

"I'll try the side window. Keep calling."

He hurried around the house.

Seconds later, the front door flew open.

I was utterly unprepared. A man burst out, slammed straight into me, and knocked me down.

Ignoring the pain, I shouted, "Stop!"

He was already running.

"What happened?" Zhao Jun asked, rushing back.

I pointed frantically after the figure disappearing into the dark.

"There! After him!"

"I'll chase him. Check inside!"

He ran off.

I scrambled up, rushed into the house, and switched on the light.

The living room was empty.

In the bedroom, I found Xu Xiaofeng lying on the floor.

A length of coarse hemp rope lay beside her.

"Are you all right?"

I hurried to lift her, but she was unconscious.

A deep ligature mark encircled her neck.

Fortunately, she was still breathing.

I called an ambulance immediately.

Zhao Jun soon returned, gasping for breath. He had found nothing.

The fugitive clearly knew the terrain and had easily shaken him off.

The ambulance arrived soon afterward. We helped the medical team get Xu Xiaofeng onto a stretcher and take her to the county hospital.

She went into emergency care.

Before long, she was out of danger and transferred to an ordinary ward for observation.

We stayed at the hospital. We needed the doctor's permission before speaking to her.

By then, I had also recognized the man who had knocked me down.

It was Zhang Mingxiang.

Zhao Jun and I waited at the hospital all night, snatching a little sleep on a bench.

What I couldn't understand was why Zhang Mingxiang had attacked his wife.

Weren't they committing insurance fraud together?

They hadn't even received the money. Why would he already want her dead?

Shortly after nine the next morning, the overnight observation period ended. She was in no serious danger.

We could see her.

She lay in bed with tear tracks still visible on her face.

At last, she began to tell the truth.

And at last, I understood that my earlier prejudices really had been just that.

This was a sad story.