Chapter 824: 413, North Suburb Police Station_2
Jack nodded, indicating his understanding. Although he joined the criminal investigation team right after graduating in his previous life, he knew a little about these grassroots units and understood the difficulties they faced in managing such groups of people.
Chief Zhang led Jack and his companion to the police dormitory. Just as he helped them settle in, a policeman hurried over, whispered in Chief Zhang’s ear, and said, “Chief, the Han family’s two elderly couples have co to report a case. You should go and have a look.”
“The Han Family?”
Chief Zhang looked at the policeman in confusion and asked, “Which Han Family?”
“Oh co on, how many Han Families could there be in the North Suburb? It’s that rich Han Family, of course.” The policeman looked anxious and dragged Chief Zhang out while muttering.
Then Chief Zhang suddenly realized, “Oh, it’s that family. What’s happened that made them co here to report a case?”
As he spoke, Chief Zhang waved to Jack and his companion while walking out, saying, “We’re short on hands at the station, so you two co along and lend a hand.”
Jack heard this, and without saying a word, followed them out.
On the way, Jack and his companion learned that the Han Family Chief Zhang ntioned was well-known as a wealthy family in the North Suburb. They were typically modest and kind, and rarely had conflicts with their neighbors. Now that the elderly Han Couple had gone to the police station to report a case, they really couldn’t tell what had happened.
While speaking, Chief Zhang led them to his office.
As Jack entered, he saw an elderly couple with white hair sitting on the black leather sofa, supporting each other. The elderly woman was crying, dabbing her eyes continuously with a handkerchief, while the old man held her, gently patting her shoulder with his withered right hand, comforting her softly.
When Chief Zhang saw the Han Couple’s condition, he realized the situation might be more serious than he had imagined, and his expression beca serious. He went to the water dispenser, took out two disposable paper cups, filled them with water, and handed them to the elderly couple, then asked, “I hear you’ve co to report a case, could you tell what’s going on?”
Upon hearing Chief Zhang’s question, Old Man Han sighed and slowly began to speak, “The other day, when my son and daughter-in-law ca to visit us, they had a little argunt. We didn’t say anything then; it’s normal for couples to argue now and then, so we didn’t think much of it.
But these past few days, they haven’t co back. Chief Zhang, as you know, my son and daughter-in-law are very filial and would visit us every so often. It’s been so long without seeing them, so we started to worry that the young couple might have had a falling out. So, yesterday morning, my wife and I decided to go check on them.
But when we got there, the door was locked, and no one answered our calls. So, we unlocked the door and went in, only to find that they were not at ho. We waited all day, and they still didn’t return, plus all the valuable items in the house were missing. So I suspect sothing might have happened to them.”
After hearing Old Man Han’s story, Chief Zhang realized the matter could be quite serious. At the very least, it might be a burglary; at the worst, possibly a kidnapping.
In either case, these were not small matters to him.
Thinking of this, Chief Zhang decided to go to the scene to have a look first.
“Alright, I understand the situation. Could you accompany us to your son’s house so we can inspect the site?” Chief Zhang asked, standing up.
“No trouble at all, thank you, Chief Zhang.” Old Man Han said gratefully, shaking Chief Zhang’s hand.
Without further ado, Chief Zhang, Jack, and Aix, led by Old Man Han, arrived at a secluded two-story house at the foot of a hill.
Jack turned his head and looked around, noticing that indeed, the Han Family seed quite affluent. This courtyard was built against the mountain, with a substantial plot of land. The house looked quite luxurious in appearance. Moreover, a river lay opposite the courtyard, creating a scenic environnt that clearly cost a lot of money.
After getting out of the car, Old Man Han hurried to unlock the iron gate of the courtyard and let everyone in.
Following behind Chief Zhang, Jack entered the courtyard and began observing it.
This courtyard, for so reason, had very tight security asures. There was not only a cara installed at the main entrance, but also caras in the southwest and northeast corners of the courtyard.
Besides that, there was a large wolfdog in the yard, lying motionless in the kennel.
Finding it strange, Jack took a few steps toward the kennel, wanting to see why the dog had no reaction to strangers entering the yard, maintaining the sa posture.
“Young officer, that dog is fierce, be careful not to get bitten.”
Seeing Jack approaching the kennel, Old Man Han quickly warned him.
But Old Man Han’s words only confird Jack’s suspicion. He gestured reassuringly to the old man and then crouched in front of the kennel, looking inside.
Inside the kennel, the large wolfdog lay on the ground with its eyes open, its belly slashed with several deep cuts, clearly dead.
Chief Zhang and the others also noticed sothing was wrong when they saw Jack approach the kennel, where the dog lay with its head exposed and eyes open, yet still motionless.
“Jack, what’s the situation?” Chief Zhang asked.
Jack pointed at the dog’s corpse and then stood up, dusting off his hands as he replied, “The dog is dead, and it was stabbed to death.”
“Stabbed to death?” Chief Zhang repeated, realizing the situation was beyond their handling capabilities, he imdiately commanded seriously, “Jack, and Aix too, you both stay here and don’t let anyone in or out.”
With that, Chief Zhang hurried back to the car and drove toward the police station, seemingly intending to report the situation to the municipal bureau.
Later that afternoon, the municipal bureau’s criminal investigation team quickly arrived in the North Suburb, taking over the missing persons case. Leading them was none other than the acting team leader, Alicia Linder.
Alicia Linder and several detectives from the team followed Chief Zhang into the courtyard. Chief Zhang pointed to Jack and Aix and introduced, “These two are students sent here for practical training by the Los Angeles Police Academy.”
Hearing this, Alicia Linder nodded slightly, her gaze carrying a hint of scrutiny as she looked at Jack and Aix. Perhaps the intense trauma from the abandoned warehouse that day still lingered, making her appear sowhat haggard, as though she’d lost weight.
However, she did not dwell long on Jack and Aix, only giving them a brief glance before putting on shoe covers and gloves and entering the house.
Maybe wanting Jack and Aix to gain so experience, Chief Zhang unusually allowed them to don protective gear and follow inside.
Upon entering the house, Jack sensed sothing off about it, though he couldn’t imdiately pinpoint what was wrong.
The layout of the building was similar to most small buildings, with a spacious hall in the middle and rooms on each side on the ground floor, with a wooden staircase on the right side of the hall.
The first impression Jack got from the hall was a single word: clean!
Extrely clean!
Whether it was the pristine white tiles on the floor, the furniture placed in the center of the hall, or even the corners usually overlooked, everything was spotless, as if soone had just perford a thorough cleaning.
After inspecting the ground floor, Alicia Linder and the others went up to the second floor via the wooden staircase. There were three bedrooms on the second floor; besides the one the couple occupied, the other two had only furniture and were unoccupied.
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