Special Forces Medic

Chapter 1085 - 1056: The Haunted House on the Street Corner

"No! Rochester, you’re mistaken, that’s not what I meant." Xiao Lin’s denial pushed them back into the fog. "Meisai is definitely not the mastermind I’m looking for. He may or may not know the person I’m after, but I know Meisai has another identity as a freelance designer, right?"

"That’s correct; it’s one of my hobbies, but that doesn’t mean anything!"

"Yes, but..."

Just then, the phone on the table rang. Rochester hesitated for a moment before picking it up. In half a second, his expression turned grim, and he seemed to be murmuring to himself.

"What’s wrong, Rochester? Is there a problem?" Meisai asked, frowning. "Two bodies were found by the beach, the deceased are Edmund’s neighbors, that elderly couple."

Xiao Lin was perhaps the only one at the scene who remained calm. "The bodies have been found, so my hypothesis can confirm my imagination."

"You had suspected that they weren’t the elderly couple from the start?"

"Initially, I didn’t suspect anything. When Rochester brought people from the bureau to examine the scene, I was smoking on the balcony. At that moment, the old gentleman chatted with me a bit, and I had a very strange feeling. It wasn’t about why his hearing seemed to improve—though that was one reason for suspicion. More importantly, when I appeared on the balcony, he didn’t find it odd at all. An old man who likes to meddle, but why did he see my presence on Edmund’s balcony as so ordinary? That didn’t make sense. So when I looked at the wall that should have been loud, I realized one thing—not that it was quiet, but that they might actually be the murderers."

"Rochester, immediately send someone to Edmund’s apartment and make sure to bring those two people back." Meisai commanded Rochester without delay.

"Director, it’s impossible to catch the culprits now, and you guys aren’t a match for those two. However, searching their room might yield something."

Meisai fell silent. Rochester had already instinctively gone out to make arrangements, leaving only Kate and Cross still sitting there, not intending to get up, their eyes fixed on a photo.

"Young Master Xiao, do you think this is someone’s foot?" After a long time, Kate finally couldn’t help but pull out a photo, where it was indeed hard to notice the tip of a shoe merging with the night in the dim light.

Based on the photo’s position, it should be behind where Wang Zhantian had crawled out with his limited strength, at where the limbs were. At the time, they were only a few meters away from this person. The brown vintage shoe tip appeared to be of quite high-quality material, could this imply someone of status? Xiao Lin pondered.

"How long did you stay at the scene?" Xiao Lin asked.

"About fifteen minutes. The bodies were already packaged by the time you were there. The colleagues from the police stayed another fifteen minutes taking photos before leaving."

"Is there still a restriction in place?"

"Yes!"

"Director Meisai, do you have time to go with me to the scene again?" Xiao Lin suddenly turned to ask Meisai, who was observing the photo but saying nothing. "Do you want to see this photo?"

"Yes!" Meisai received the photo, taken from the left towards the right, where the suspicious toe was at the top, the inner end of the alley. "Mr. Xiao, I think there’s a need to go with you again. This dismemberment case might already be in the news. If the person left at the scene is the culprit, or a journalist, it won’t be long before all kinds of intimidating rumors boil over."

"Kate, you handle the ’Wu Yue’ information, and I’ll go to the scene with the Director first."

Xiao Lin sat in Meisai’s car speeding towards yesterday’s crime scene. From afar, one could see the yellow and white police tape blocking the intersection, with several officers keeping watch outside. "Park the car here; we’ll go over in a bit from outside!" Xiao Lin told Meisai, not explaining why, just asking him to park across the road from the alley, looking from outside into the depths of the alley. Even in broad daylight, it still felt dark in there. In such an environment, hiding someone in the dark during a rainy night makes noticing someone truly difficult.

"Mr. Xiao!"

"Call me Xiao Lin; calling me Mr. Xiao feels a bit awkward." Xiao Lin moved from the passenger seat to the back seat, then said to Meisai, "You must be puzzled why in the case analysis earlier I mentioned your identity and targeted you as a suspect!" Looking through the tinted glass into the alley made little sense. Meisai couldn’t understand what this young man was trying to do. If investigating a case, shouldn’t they be on-site?

"You suspect me!"

"Yes! But it’s not the issues I mentioned that make me suspect you. I just want to know your relationship with Tang, as well as with Mu Rongyun. You yourself have no relation with these cases. Your connection is with Miss Jenviss, which I’m not interested in. You just did something not very glorious, which happened to be an opportunity for me to stir things up."

As Xiao Lin spoke, he observed the street’s geography. At that time, his car was parked across the street, ’tomor’ was in the diagonal alley, and Yelu Shou found Jean Lucas thirty to forty-five minutes earlier. He drove from Xia Xue’s place in twenty minutes.

During Yelu Shou’s wait, Wang Zhantian was still alive. From when they got in the car and wandered this street for roughly fifteen minutes before parking on the opposite side. During this time frame, Jean Lucas being at ’tomor’ was likely no more than twenty-five minutes, so he couldn’t be the murderer.

But why he emerged from this street becomes hard to evidence; the time and place don’t match. Crucially, his appearance led Yelu Shou to tail, while Wang Zhantian’s cries for help during the rain were not clear, unable to judge his real reaction then.

Though it was rainy, it wasn’t devoid of pedestrians. Why did he cry for help only when Yelu Shou pursued, evidently intending for him to hear at that moment, witnessing Wang Zhantian’s death.

At this thought, Xiao Lin’s gaze was attracted by a building. "Meisai, what’s that place?" He pointed to a building with four corners, standing opposite to ’tomor’.

"It used to be a restaurant here, but some unpleasant rumors turned it into an unwanted deserted spot."

"Rumors?"

"Since it’s a street corner, unusual events often happened, and bizarre matters as well. Anyone attempting business here wouldn’t last over a month, various incidents forcing them away, what you Chinese might call a haunted house."

"Yesterday, my car was facing this building, let alone Lucas emerged from its front or another place, what’s your relationship with him?"

"Why are you so focused on that child?"

"If I told you he’s a lost child, would you believe me?"

"Absolutely not!" Meisai answered without hesitation. "Tang started working at the police station half a year ago, well liked by everyone."

"Half a year ago?" The timing matched perfectly, making Xiao Lin smile silently. "I knew someone named Hong, who’s dead already. Tang is like another Hong. I believe there’re at least two to four identical people worldwide, but for two people to share even detailed commonalities is rather uncanny, even matching interests and hobbies is impossible."

"With just that, you think I know the person you’re looking for?" Meisai adjusted into a comfortable posture, while the overseeing officers appeared idly uncaring.

Xiao Lin fell silent, unable to explain verbally, but in fact, Tang and Mu Rongyun indeed shared an inseparable connection. "If you know Mu Rongyun, or recognize him, pass a message: I’m here to reclaim what’s mine."

Having said this, Xiao Lin was the first to step out of the car, as the police visibly grew restless. Crossing the street, Xiao Lin quickly ran, as he approached the officers, a wave of heat hit him, making Xiao Lin shout out. But it was too late, only a gigantic explosion was heard, scattering rocks and hardened materials from all directions.

Meisai had just stepped out of the car when he witnessed the so-called haunted house that Xiao Lin pointed out blast into the air, its debris scattering far, showcasing the bomb’s power, causing Meisai to worry for the colleagues present opposite the haunted house.

Xiao Lin lay on the ground, small debris sometimes falling onto his head, his ears buzzing, the deafening roars felt like they might shatter his entire ear canal.

"Are you alright?" Meisai rushed over from across, squatting beside Xiao Lin.

"I’m fine!" Xiao Lin got up, quickly moving to the policemen, checking their breath, shaking his head towards Meisai.

The street corner house was blown up, its fallout directed towards the opposite alley, as if piling half the alley shut tight. Distant sirens already sounded, Xiao Lin glanced at the blockade of debris in front of him, giving a cold smile.

"It’s a precision bombing, using a high-power explosive, someone did this intentionally."