18: Not missing, but dismembered

When Ye Lin and He Xinmin arrived, Zhang Jun was at home, being interviewed by the TV station. "I don't know what happened. We had a few arguments before, but they were normal quarrels, like we've had in the past."

"Who knew that when I woke up, she was gone, and her phone was gone too."

"See, Police Officer is here too; he knows the latest situation."

Zhang Jun was annoyed by the reporters and pushed He Xinmin and Ye Lin out.

The two Yuezhou TV public interest reporters immediately turned their microphones to Chief He, who quickly straightened himself.

"Uh, the case is still under investigation, so we cannot comment at this time."

"So what is the police mainly investigating now? Can you confirm if the person is still in Yuezhou? Or is there a possibility of him being harmed? Is it a case of transient criminals?"

The reporter bombarded Chief He with questions, leaving him bewildered. He had only been called back temporarily this morning and didn't know such detailed information.

But he was cornered by the reporters and couldn't get away, nor could he offend these uncrowned kings, so he could only deal with them.

Ye Lin didn't want to be like Chief He; he slipped into Zhang Jun's house.

This was a two-bedroom, one-living-room apartment, which Zhang Jun's wife, Qu Xiaoli, received as part of a demolition resettlement.

Zhang Jun was from out of town, and Qu Xiaoli was a local. After they got married, although Zhang Jun wasn't a live-in son-in-law, it was pretty much the same, as they lived in the resettlement apartment provided to the wife.

Zhang Jun himself usually did small businesses and didn't earn much money.

A few years ago, Qu Xiaoli retired and started enjoying a happy retirement life at home with her girlfriends, while Zhang Jun retired last year.

They also had a daughter, but she was already married and didn't live there normally.

It was supposed to be a stable retirement life, but then this incident happened.

These basic facts were briefly introduced by Zhang Degen during the station's morning briefing.

After dealing with the reporters, Zhang Jun sat alone in the room, silently smoking, his face full of worry.

It seemed he had been bothered a lot these past two days.

Over there, Chief He finally managed to send off the two reporters and walked over.

"Old Zhang, I'm telling you, if someone is missing, you call the police, why call reporters?"

Chief He was an old acquaintance, so he complained a bit directly.

Zhang Jun's face was full of sorrow; he offered a cigarette to Chief He, "Chief He, I didn't want to, but I had no choice. If I had known, I wouldn't have argued with her. Sigh."

"You know, if I had just given in to her, it would have been over. It's been three days, and I don't know if she's still alright."

The honest man started shedding tears as he spoke.

They say a man's tears are more impactful than a woman's; Ye Lin felt it for the first time.

Several other neighbors also rushed in, "Old Zhang, don't panic. We'll all look together; we'll definitely find her."

"Exactly, our Yuezhou isn't that big."

"And with so many Police Officers also looking, there will definitely be no problem."

Ye Lin also secretly cheered himself on, "Come on, I can't let down the hopes of the people."

The two-bedroom, one-living-room layout was clear. One room was their bedroom; the quilt on the bed was still messy. It seemed that after his wife left, he didn't have the heart to tidy up.

Their wedding photo, a bit old, still hung on the main bedroom wall. It was clear they were a handsome couple back then.

However, from the photo, Qu Xiaoli seemed to be quite a big person; she didn't look any shorter than Zhang Jun in the picture.

The guest bedroom had a simple bed and some miscellaneous items, but nothing else.

The kitchen wasn't very big, but the floor and countertop were surprisingly clean, which seemed a bit out of place with the messy bedroom.

Ye Lin excused himself to use the restroom. The small space had a dry and wet separation, with a shower room and a toilet.

Like the kitchen, the floor was very clean; not even a single strand of hair could be seen in the grout lines of the small tiled floor.

Ye Lin thought for a moment and quietly activated Hao Tian Quans Nose.

With a light sniff, a rush of disinfectant smell instantly hit his nose, making him cough.

A faint hint of blood was also hidden within.

Indeed, there was something suspicious here; it had definitely been cleaned after a large amount of fresh blood.

Ye Lin remained silent and quietly walked to the kitchen.

A faint smell of blood.

Ye Lin located an inconspicuous thick-backed cleaver; the smell of blood was coming from it.

Based on the amount of blood smell, the smell in the bathroom should be stronger.

Ye Lin had a bold guess.

He tugged at He Xinmin, signaling him to return to the station together. Chief He, without knowing why, comforted Zhang Jun with a few words and left.

"Master, let's go back to the station," Ye Lin said with a serious expression.

Chief He was a bit confused. "What's wrong? We still need to continue our visits. Why go back to the station?"

"Just come with me," Ye Lin held onto He Xinmin tightly, and they returned to the station.

The station was empty now, with only Chief Xie and two officers on duty.

Chief Xie was in front of a large map of the jurisdiction, constantly drawing something.

"Not at home, not in the community, no surveillance footage. Where did he go?"

Chief Xie muttered to himself.

"Chief, I have an idea." As soon as he entered, Ye Lin went straight to Xie Changkun.

"Speak."

"Is it possible that Zhang Jun killed his wife?" Ye Lin directly dropped a bombshell.

Chief He, who had just taken a sip of tea, immediately spat it out with a "Pfft."

"Xiao Ye, you shouldn't say such things carelessly. The couple had a good relationship, and look at how sad Zhang Jun was just now. Does that look fake?"

"Don't be ridiculous."

"Even if it's a guess, it needs to be based on facts. Acting recklessly like this is a major taboo for a Police Officer."

He Xinmin sternly lectured Ye Lin.

Xie Changkun wasn't as direct. After all, Ye Lin was still young, so he was a bit more subtle:

"Xiao Ye, I know you also want to contribute to the station."

"However, our grassroots police work might be a bit different from what you see in movies; there aren't that many mysterious cases."

"Actually, most of them are simple matters. Like this missing person case, the station has encountered it before. It seems very strange now, as if no one can be found, but when the truth is found, it might be incredibly simple."

"It's good to be imaginative, but you still need to think things through more."

Ye Lin was not in a hurry and patiently listened to the lessons from the two senior officers.

He also knew that everything they said was true, based on experience, and something he would have to learn in the future.

"Chief, Master, there's a smell of blood," Ye Lin said.

"What do you mean?" Chief Xie asked.

"I just went to Zhang Jun's house. The bedroom was messy, a normal kind of messy, but the kitchen and bathroom were very clean, clearly cleaned on purpose."

"Then I smelled disinfectant and blood in the bathroom. The kitchen also had it, but fainter."

Ye Lin slowly explained.

"Impossible, right? I just went there too, and I didn't smell anything," He Xinmin questioned.