The Disappearance

A middle-aged couple reported to the police, claiming that their daughter had inexplicably gone missing.

For missing person cases to be officially filed, the disappearance must exceed forty-eight hours. In general, the police will not handle cases that fall short of this time frame.

After some questioning, the dispatcher learned from the couple that their daughter had been missing for three days, which exceeded the forty-eight-hour requirement.

The dispatcher instructed the couple to bring the necessary documents to the police station and relayed the information to Han Fei and Xu Mo.

...

Half an hour later.

The middle-aged couple arrived at the police station.

Accompanying them was a man, the husband of the missing woman, who had come with his in-laws to file the report.

"Mom, Dad, don't worry. The police will definitely help us find Xiao Jing," the man comforted his in-laws.

As soon as he finished speaking, the couple lashed out at him.

"You're the one who doesn't care! We wanted to report this earlier, but you stopped us. What kind of husband are you? She's your wife! We entrusted her to you, and this is how you take care of her? If Xiao Jing isn't found, you'll see how I deal with you!"

Seeing their agitation, Han Fei stepped in.

"Please calm down. I understand how you feel, but panicking won't solve anything. The most important thing right now is to find her. Could you provide us with some information about the missing person? We'll use Skynet to look into it."

Han Fei didn't take this missing person case too seriously at first. He planned to use Skynet to locate her.

Missing person cases were almost a monthly occurrence, and about ninety percent of them turned out to be intentional runaways.

In an era where surveillance cameras were everywhere, unless someone deliberately avoided them, their movements would be captured.

Prompted by Han Fei, the couple immediately handed over the household register that the dispatcher had asked them to bring.

The register contained the missing person's ID number and name, which could be entered into Skynet to begin the search.

After obtaining the detailed information, Han Fei instructed the officers to use Skynet to investigate. While they worked, he continued to reassure the couple.

Soon, the results from Skynet came in.

The records showed that the woman had last been seen near a residential complex three days ago.

An officer printed out the scene of the woman's last appearance on camera and handed it to Han Fei, whispering in his ear.

"Captain Han, this is the last time Li Jing was captured on camera. The location is near Mingyue Community, three days ago. It's possible she may have been harmed."

"Mingyue Community?" Han Fei turned to the three people who had come to report the case. "Is that where you live?"

The elderly couple shook their heads and then looked at the man. "Mingyue Community is where we bought a house for the young couple. We don't live there; they do."

"Officer, have you found my daughter?"

Han Fei shook his head with a grave expression.

The couple had reported that their daughter had gone missing three days ago, and according to Skynet, the last time the missing woman appeared on camera was exactly three days ago.

A person who had been unreachable for three full days without appearing on any surveillance footage was not a good sign. Such a long absence from the cameras suggested she might have met with foul play—either kidnapped or killed.

Seeing Han Fei's expression, the couple panicked and grabbed his hand.

"Officer, has something happened to my daughter?"

Han Fei didn't intend to hide the truth. He planned to be straightforward, and he also had a question for the three of them.

He spread the paper the officer had handed him on the table.

"This is the result from Skynet. Your daughter was last captured on camera near Mingyue Community three days ago. After that, there's no record of her."

Without Han Fei needing to explain further, the couple understood the implications. They clung to him like drowning people clutching at a lifeline.

"Officer, has something happened to my daughter? You must help us find her!"

"Don't worry, we'll do our best..." Han Fei glanced at the couple and the missing woman's husband. "Have any of you received ransom messages or calls recently?"

All three shook their heads, indicating they hadn't received anything of the sort.

From their clothing and demeanor, it was clear they were well-off.

This led Han Fei to consider that the woman's disappearance might have been a ploy to extort money from them.

However, that didn't seem to be the case.

If it wasn't extortion, then there were only two other possibilities.

First: She had been abducted.

Second: She had been killed.

The first scenario was somewhat better, as there was still a chance for the family to reunite. But if it was the second, Han Fei couldn't bring the family back together.

The only thing he could do was bring the perpetrator to justice, ensuring they faced the consequences and giving the victim's family some closure.

"Can you recall..."

Almost as soon as Han Fei began speaking, Xu Mo, who had been silent until now, nudged him and walked to the side.

Han Fei immediately understood Xu Mo's gesture.

He turned to the couple. "Sorry, could you wait a moment?"

With that, he walked over to Xu Mo.

Xu Mo glanced at the paper on the table and then showed Han Fei his phone.

"The missing woman wasn't leaving when she was last captured on camera. She was heading home, facing the direction of Mingyue Community."

During the earlier period, Xu Mo had opened a map, switched to real-view mode, and located the spot where the woman had last been seen on camera.

The missing woman had been walking toward Mingyue Community, her home, when she was last captured on camera.

This detail had escaped Han Fei's notice, as he wasn't familiar with the layout of Mingyue Community.

Although Xu Mo wasn't familiar either, he had checked the map and discovered this fact.

"So, she was either on her way home or had already returned when something happened to her?"

As soon as Han Fei finished speaking, he shook his head, dismissing his own theory. "No, it couldn't have happened on the way home. She was last captured on camera at 6 p.m., during rush hour. The road back to the community would have been crowded. No one would dare to act at that time."

Han Fei quickly concluded: The woman must have been harmed at home!