Chapter 40: A High-Heeled Shoe

Outdoors—remote, desolate outdoor locations might actually be the best places to hide a body.

The outdoor venues Li Bing frequently visited were highly suspicious.

However, looking at Li Bing's profile, his life was quite disciplined.

He essentially lived a routine life, moving between only two points.

Home and the feed mill; he basically just commuted between these two locations.

No frequently visited outdoor venues had been discovered.

Lu Chuan thought for a moment and closed the file. "Team Leader Ren, do you have a map?"

"A map? Yes! Hold on."

A moment later, Ren Qiang retrieved a map of Haizhou City.

"Where are the locations of Li Bing's home, the feed mill, Huang Lan's home, and the farm?"

Ren Qiang had already made countless trips to these places.

As Lu Chuan spoke, Ren Qiang completed the markings.

Four small dots were concentrated in the northwest corner of the map.

Lu Chuan picked up a marker and a ruler, drawing a straight line between Li Bing's home and the feed mill.

He also drew a straight line between Huang Lan's home and the farm.

As the two lines intersected, Lu Chuan pondered, "Team Leader Ren, how do these two usually commute? Have their routes been checked?"

"Checked. Both of them walk to work. I've walked the routes myself."

As he spoke, Ren Qiang drew two winding curves on the map.

They were roughly in the same direction as the straight lines Lu Chuan had drawn.

However, because straight lines cross through buildings, the actual walking curves naturally did not perfectly align with the straight lines.

What made Lu Chuan's eyes light up was that a segment of their walking routes overlapped on Tongguan Road.

"Team Leader Ren, let's go take a look at Tongguan Road."

The overlapping segment of the two walking routes was on Tongguan Road.

Ren Qiang already understood what Lu Chuan meant.

In the car.

"You suspect Li Bing committed the act on Tongguan Road?"

As it stood, this was the only place where the two individuals could have possibly intersected.

However, Ren Qiang knew Tongguan Road all too well.

Geographically speaking, Tongguan Road was indeed somewhat remote, located near the northwest corner of the entire city.

But being in a remote location did not mean there was low foot traffic.

Along Tongguan Road, there were many massage parlors with small red lights hanging outside.

There weren't many people during the day, but at night, especially in the late hours, there was a significant amount of traffic.

If Li Bing had acted in such a place, there would absolutely be eyewitnesses.

This was why Ren Qiang was skeptical about the crime occurring there.

As a local, Lu Chuan was certainly aware of Tongguan Road's reputation.

"I just checked their commuting times. Huang Lan finishes work at 6:00 PM, while Li Bing doesn't finish until 9:00 PM."

"In terms of timing, although their routes overlap, the possibility of them meeting is slim."

"Furthermore, given the unique nature of Tongguan Road... it is indeed unlikely that Li Bing would act there, but..."

Lu Chuan opened the map on his phone. "Tongguan Road is backed by Jiguan Mountain. I used to play there when I was a kid; there are many abandoned air-raid shelters inside."

"Given the current temperature in Haizhou, if the killer dumped the body in an air-raid shelter, the temperature inside would be just right to allow the body to decay within three months."

Hmm?

Lu Chuan's analysis was clearly not on the same wavelength as Ren Qiang's.

Lu Chuan was considering the external conditions required for the formation of skeletal remains.

He was then trying to match those conditions with locations where Li Bing might appear.

Twenty minutes later, at Tongguan Road.

During the day, Tongguan Road was lifeless, with most of the street-side shops shuttered.

Of course, there were some dedicated workers, but in this sweltering heat, no one was standing outside.

Only behind glass doors partially covered with frosted paper could one vaguely see silhouettes.

Occasionally, a man passing by would peer inside, then hurry away.

Then, he would turn back and peer in once more.

As if trying to confirm the appearance of the people inside.

Tongguan Road was roughly a kilometer long; Lu Chuan and Ren Qiang walked from one end to the other.

After experiencing the unique atmosphere of the area, the two stopped at the entrance to Jiguan Mountain on a fork in Tongguan Road.

"Team Leader Ren, did the surveillance footage from the day Huang Lan went missing reveal anything?"

Ren Qiang nodded. "Huang Lan left the farm at 6:10 PM on the day she disappeared. We checked the surveillance along the entire route she took."

"On that day, Huang Lan arrived home at a normal time, 6:50 PM. There were no issues with the surveillance along that route."

"However, at 8:00 PM that night, Huang Lan left her house again, and she was not seen on surveillance after that."

"Why did Huang Lan go out again at 8:00 PM?"

"It's still unclear. Huang Lan lived alone; her husband works in another city, and her child is being raised by her parents."

"However, according to her neighbors' descriptions, Huang Lan basically went out every day around 8:00 PM and didn't return until around midnight."

Lu Chuan nodded and pointed toward Jiguan Mountain. "Team Leader Ren, has Jiguan Mountain been searched?"

Ren Qiang shook his head. "Do you think the original crime scene where Huang Lan was murdered was on Jiguan Mountain?"

"It's uncertain, but looking at the spatial intersection of Li Bing and Huang Lan, there are many air-raid shelters on Jiguan Mountain. The temperature and environment there could satisfy the time required for Huang Lan's body to decay for three months."

"Moreover, for a woman living alone to go out every night and only return at midnight, there might be something suspicious about her behavior itself."

A mountain search was not a decision Ren Qiang could make alone.

However, he largely agreed with Lu Chuan's judgment.

In the current situation, as long as there was even a shred of a clue, Ren Qiang would not give up.

"I'll ask Captain Qin for instructions. A mountain search requires not just manpower, but it would be best to bring the police dogs as well."

An hour later.

Qin Yong personally led the team to Jiguan Mountain.

"Can we be certain?"

"There is no evidence to prove that the primary crime scene must be here."

As the one who proposed the mountain search, Lu Chuan was explaining to Qin Yong: "But based on the decomposition time of Huang Lan's body, Jiguan Mountain fits the environmental and temperature conditions, especially the abandoned air-raid shelters inside."

To be honest, Lu Chuan's suggestion lacked sufficient evidence.

But at least it provided a direction.

Qin Yong frowned in thought for a moment, then waved his hand. "Search the mountain!"

Jiguan Mountain was not large, but even with a hundred men scattered into the dense forest, it still felt stretched thin.

Fortunately, Qin Yong had called in all twelve dogs from the police dog unit, which significantly increased the search speed.

*Woof! Woof! Woof!*

A continuous series of barks disrupted the tranquility of Jiguan Mountain.

Everyone, including Lu Chuan and Qin Yong, stiffened.

Police dog training is extremely rigorous; under normal circumstances, a police dog will not bark.

The fact that it was barking continuously now meant they had found something.

"Captain Qin, we have a discovery! Entrance to Air-raid Shelter No. 3!"

Sure enough, good news came through the walkie-talkie.

Qin Yong and Lu Chuan, who had been following him, rushed over immediately.

By the bushes next to the entrance of Air-raid Shelter No. 3, a handsome and powerful German Shepherd was crouching.

With its tongue hanging out, it was guarding a single red high-heeled shoe.