The Three Disappeared

Huang Xiaotao smiled and said, "That's a good idea. Let's start hunting for prey!"

So we began searching at lightning speed. According to this criteria, anyone above 35 or below 15 was directly eliminated. Anyone with illnesses, disabilities, weakness or obesity was directly eliminated.

Using a killer's mindset to hunt for prey, seeing each living person as discounted pork at the supermarket, even I felt a little twisted!

We threw the eliminated files on the left side of the table, leaving the rest on the right. Gradually the left pile grew while the right dwindled, until only eight were left.

Huang Xiaotao said, "These eight may be potential victims."

"Wait, let me take another look," I said.

I carefully reviewed one file and took it out, "This one has a history of mental illness and was hospitalized before, eliminate him."

"Why?" Huang Xiaotao asked.

"The mentally ill have to take lots of antidepressants, and long-term lack of exercise makes the meat quality poor," I explained.

When I said this, Huang Xiaotao's cheeks twitched slightly.

"This one has bad teeth so his appetite is poor. He looks sallow and thin, must have long-term malnutrition," I continued.

"This one has had plastic surgery, lots of filler and Botox in his body, the meat definitely won't taste good," I said.

"This one is a sewer worker, his body must have a sewage smell, too smelly to eat, eliminate," I concluded.

With these eliminations, only four were left. Huang Xiaotao said, "Listening to you say all this, I suddenly feel like you're the twisted one making meat buns."

"If I were the twisted killer, the first person I'd want to eat is..." I glanced at Huang Xiaotao but didn't finish the sentence.

"Who's the first you want to eat, who is it, tell me!" Huang Xiaotao demanded angrily, puffing up her cheeks.

"Let's not talk about this, let's not talk about this," I said.

"Humph!"

Just then, I noticed the fifth file in my hand. The missing person was named Ma Yaozu. He had worked in a slaughterhouse and was from a small village under Nanjiang City. He was 32 years old.

Huang Xiaotao peeked over and said, "He looks sallow and thin. By the killer's standards he probably doesn't taste good either, eliminate him!"

She was about to take the file from me but I shook my head, "Wait, I have an intuition this could be Ma Jinhuo!"

"But it doesn't say he worked at the meat factory, and the name is different too," Huang Xiaotao said skeptically.

"It's not strange for someone with slaughterhouse experience to find work at a meat factory, right? Many rural folks have a formal name for official settings and a casual nickname they normally use. Call the HR department at the meat factory and ask if Ma Jinhuo's formal name is Ma Yaozu," I suggested to Huang Xiaotao.

"Ok!" She took the file from me and made the call.

The two other remaining people were a young man working at the supermarket, 24 years old, and a car wash worker, 26 years old. Both were male.

I said, "These two may be the next victims, or perhaps they have already been victimized..."

Huang Xiaotao said, "Let's go visit their residences and see if we find anything."

"Good idea!"

We went to the parking lot, got a car, and rushed to the supermarket where the first missing person used to work. We asked the boss, who said Xiao Zhang suddenly stopped coming to work a month and a half ago. His phone was disconnected. The boss reported him missing to the police station after 48 hours.

"His family didn't come looking for Xiao Zhang after he went missing for over a month?" I asked.

"I think he hadn't contacted his family for years. Only his landlord came by once asking me to pay the utility bills Xiao Zhang owed. How ridiculous! No way would I pay for that deadbeat," the boss said.

"Do you know his address then?"

"Let me check the employee registry...here, I'll copy it down for you," the boss offered.

The boss copied down an address for us. Xiao Zhang's residence was three blocks from the supermarket. We went and found his former landlord, a middle-aged woman. As soon as Xiao Zhang's name was mentioned, she started complaining about what a slob he was, throwing trash and dirty water everywhere. He left without notice, and she later found his lights and TV left on for a whole week. She had to pay over 100 RMB out of her own pocket for the electricity he owed. The landlord got all worked up recounting this.

I asked, "Has the room been rented out since?"

"Nope, still listing it on 58.com. Officers, while you're investigating, could you help spread the word about my rental..." The landlord started rambling nonstop about how great her rental property was.

Huang Xiaotao cut her off, "Sorry, we're detectives, can't help with that."

"Detectives?" The landlord was shocked. "Did this kid do something illegal? I always saw him shutting himself in and avoiding people. Must be up to no good!"

The landlord talked too much. If we kept listening, it could go on all night. Huang Xiaotao asked her to take us to see Xiao Zhang's place.

We went inside. The landlord had cleaned it thoroughly already. I took a look around and asked, "When Xiao Zhang left, the TV and lights were on?"

The landlord quickly nodded, "Yes."

"What about the door?"

"Closed but unlocked," she answered.

"What clothes was he wearing when he went out?"

The landlord recalled, "I remember when I came in later, his shoes were still by the door and his jacket was on the chair."

Seeing the ashtray on the windowsill, I deduced that Xiao Zhang had stepped out for cigarettes when he was abducted. Taking away a live person would draw a lot of attention, so the perpetrator must have had a car.

Examining the victim's residence wasn't meaningless. I mainly wanted to find out if the killer had planned this or acted on impulse.

Huang Xiaotao found a box of military magazines under the bed, and some hand-assembled model tanks. Someone who liked these things must be quite the homebody.

I looked out the window and saw an abandoned building. I asked the landlord, "What's the story with that building?"

"Abandoned mid-construction. The developer and investors couldn't agree, so it just stopped halfway. It's been years. Lots of homeless stay there overnight. Even the Residents' Committee is stumped on how to deal with the negative impact it has on security and sanitation here. Officers, you must report this up the chain when you get back!" The landlord quickly urged.

I tried not to laugh. She thought we were like magistrates who could resolve anything!

Huang Xiaotao asked, "Should we go take a look?"

"Sure!"

We bid the landlord farewell for now and went to the abandoned building across the street. After a month and a half, I didn't expect to find any clues left.

I paused on each floor, looking toward Xiao Zhang's rented place each time. The angle from the fourth floor was best, with a full view inside his room. I saw some cigarette butts on the ground, three different brands, impossible to know if the killer left them.

I sniffed the air carefully and noticed some peculiar smells, finally shifting my gaze to a large cement pipe next to me...