Chapter 99 The Chips in the Abdominal Cavity

"A chip?" Liu Fengxia pulled a palm-sized transparent sealed bag from her pocket.

Inside was a coin-sized chip, with a red outer ring and a white inner ring marked with the number 5.

The number five should correspond to 5 yuan. It seemed like a small denomination, but converted to later times, that would be 50 yuan.

"I had people investigate this chip when you went to the Xinli Hotel."

"I discovered that a private casino on Minshan Road uses chips of this exact style."

"And those people were taken down by the branch bureau last week."

... ... Luocheng Branch Bureau. Chen Mo and Liu Fengxia walked out from inside. A wave of muggy heat swept over them.

"Get in the car first." The hot weather was making him irritable, and he couldn't calm down at all. He turned on the car's air conditioning.

"According to the casino boss, casino chips generally cannot be taken out; they are the casino's property."

"But their casino isn't exactly a big one, so their security isn't that strict."

"If that's the case, any gambler could have taken the chip out. Doesn't that mean the lead is dead?"

Liu Fengxia looked thoughtful, considering if there were any other ways to pinpoint the chip's true owner.

"You're overcomplicating things."

"The fact that the casino's security isn't strict and anyone could take a chip out isn't entirely a bad thing for us."

"At the very least, it shows that this casino is very small, and the gamblers are few and consistent."

Liu Fengxia raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. Hmm... that actually makes sense.

"So, you were looking for Captain Shen earlier to get the list of gamblers, right?"

Chen Mo nodded and pulled a small notebook from his pocket. Since these were no longer useful to the branch bureau, they had given them to him.

It was filled with the information of about fifty gamblers.

"That's so many." Liu Fengxia looked hesitant.

Fifty people might sound like a small number, but these fifty were regular customers who basically went there every other day. In Luocheng, that already counted as a pretty large casino.

More importantly, are we supposed to investigate them one by one? These are just the regulars; that doesn't even include the occasional visitors.

"At least it's much fewer than over in Hong Kong or Macau, right?" Chen Mo didn't seem too bothered by the number of people; he had already seen it earlier.

"Investigating them one by one is too extreme. The chip was found in the deceased's abdominal cavity."

"I just asked the casino boss and the staff, and their answer was that they had never seen a female gambler."

They hadn't seen a female gambler, which meant the deceased wasn't a gambler. So, thinking about the act of swallowing the chip becomes much simpler from a logical standpoint.

"You mean the deceased was trying to stop the killer from gambling?" "And then swallowed it?"

"A stranger wouldn't care if another stranger was gambling. This means the deceased and the killer had a very close relationship, possibly even relatives."

"That's why the police didn't receive any missing person reports even a month after the deceased died—because the killer was someone very close to the deceased!"

Liu Fengxia quickly organized her thoughts and laid out the current situation. At the same time, she looked at Chen Mo beside her in surprise. This guy was pretty impressive.

He always managed to spot points she missed and then organize them into clues.

"Exactly, so investigating this list now has a specific focus!" As Chen Mo said this, he started the engine and drove back toward the Municipal Bureau.

"By the way, what is your position at the Municipal Bureau?" He asked casually, because from their few interactions so far, Liu Fengxia had always carried herself like a captain.

But they were similar in age and had joined the force around the same time. How did she become a captain so quickly? Was that reasonable?

If it was due to her grandfather's connections, then it made sense. But wouldn't doing that cause dissatisfaction among subordinates?

"Captain. Don't I look like one?" "The Municipal Bureau originally only had one criminal investigation team, but later it was split into two. I was originally just an officer, but the captain was suddenly promoted and transferred away, so I was elected as the captain."

Liu Fengxia explained the reason she became a captain at such a young age.

"I see." Chen Mo looked enlightened; this was about clearing a position for Liu Fengxia. This was a good thing for the promoted Second Team captain, for Liu Fengxia, and even for the bureau chief.

"From what you're implying, you think I used connections, right?"

"The truth is the exact opposite. My grades in every subject at the Capital Police Academy were in the top ten of my class, and after joining the force, I solved the 412 Family Annihilation Case and the Wang Feng Serial Rape and Murder Case!"

"I don't deny that my grandfather was a factor, but my abilities are also fully capable of holding the position of captain."

Liu Fengxia hated it when others said she became a captain at a young age because she used connections.

When she was in elementary school, while other kids were watching cartoons at home, she was reading case files of major crimes.

During middle school, when classmates would go to the park on weekends, she was being taken by her grandfather to simulate solving cases.

During high school summer breaks, she was taken by her grandfather to work on actual cases. She had sacrificed more than anyone else! She deserved to win at the starting line!

"Your situation reminds me of a saying: children from wealthy families often work harder than children from ordinary families."

... ... Time reached twelve o'clock noon. It was the hottest part of the day.

Chen Mo sat in Liu Fengxia's office, enjoying the air conditioning, while Liu Fengxia had taken Xiao Song and other Second Team officers to verify the list.

He sat in the office chair, directly facing walls of medals, certificates, and honorary banners sent by the public.

— — Tap, tap, tap. Rapid footsteps sounded from outside. Immediately, the office door pushed open, and Liu Fengxia walked in.

"Found it." As soon as she spoke, she noticed Chen Mo sitting in her chair. She couldn't be bothered to waste words on this.

"This person is named Li Sheng, male, 25 years old, elementary school education, parents both died in a car accident, and he is an employee at an electronics factory."

"While investigating, we discovered that we couldn't get in touch with Li Sheng's sister."

"And the Autopsy results provided by the forensic pathologist indicate that the deceased should be around 25 to 30 years old."

"Coincidentally, Li Sheng's sister, Li Xiaolan, is exactly 30 years old this year."

Chen Mo digested all the information upon hearing this, and he noticed the hesitation on Liu Fengxia's face.

"Are there other unexpected circumstances?" "Is Li Xiaolan married?"

Normally speaking, as the older sister, Li Xiaolan wouldn't want to see her brother gambling, so she swallowed the chip. In that case, the primary suspect would naturally be the brother, Li Sheng.

But only if this Li Xiaolan were married would it make Li Sheng's suspicion become blurry.

Because the killer's motive might not necessarily be that the sister wouldn't let the brother gamble and the brother killed her in a fit of rage. All of this is still unknown.

"Yes, she is married, and their relationship as a couple isn't very good. Li Xiaolan's husband also didn't report her missing."

"Xiao Song has already gone to Li Xiaolan's home. Let's go there too."