The Dark Room Under the Ground

At noon, Huang Xiaotao ordered takeout boxes for everyone. Wang Dali, after watching videos all morning, excitedly said, "Let's get the takeout!"

I rolled my eyes at him. He didn't show any tact in his words.

The takeout was curry pork chops rice and teriyaki chicken rice, very delicious. One takeout box probably cost over twenty yuan. I thought to myself that Huang Xiaotao was really willing to spend money.

After the meal, the police officer who had gone to investigate the license plate came back, saying he had found it. The owner was a self-employed wholesale towel merchant.

Upon hearing this news, everyone's eyes lit up. In the midst of the case being at an impasse, a new clue had finally emerged, like a clear spring bubbling up in stagnant water. Everyone was extremely excited, of course.

When I heard which residential area the self-employed merchant lived in, it sounded very familiar. It turned out to be the same area where Master Tang sold his buns!

Huang Xiaotao said, "Don't get too excited too early. He's just the owner of the car, not necessarily related to the case. Song Yang, let's go check it out."

Wang Dali excitedly said, "Sister Xiaotao, I want to come along too."

"No need for three people to go. You stay and keep watching videos."

Wang Dali was a little unhappy, but under Huang Xiaotao's firm demand could only obey orders. Huang Xiaotao and I left the police station. She stretched her neck and said, "After staring at the TV all morning, my neck is stiff. It's good to get out and move around, get some fresh air."

I smiled and said, "You really know how to abuse your authority."

"What's wrong with that? I brought you along, didn't I? You should be thanking me!" Huang Xiaotao winked.

We drove to the residential area in question, and asked the property management office about this car owner's residence. The owner was a middle-aged man. Huang Xiaotao asked if he had ever lent out his car. He said he never had.

Huang Xiaotao also asked if he had gone to a certain residential area late at night on a certain date. The owner also said no.

I was observing the whole time. He really wasn't lying.

Huang Xiaotao sighed in puzzlement, "So was your car stolen then?"

The owner said, "No ah, it's always been in the parking lot. What case are you guys investigating anyway? I have a shipment to pick up this afternoon!"

I asked, "What is your license plate number?"

The owner casually recited a number, but it was different from the one we had. It turned out he had two cars. The older one had all kinds of problems, so he'd left it in the parking lot near the residential area and hadn't checked on it for a long time.

Huang Xiaotao asked him to take us to see it. The owner led us to the parking lot near the residential area, walking all the way to the innermost spot. We discovered a different sedan parked there. He scratched his head and said, "Oh no, where's my car?"

"It looks like it was stolen." Huang Xiaotao let out a sigh.

The owner was quite easygoing about it. He said, "No problem, if it's lost then it's lost! I bought that car twenty years ago. I wanted to get rid of it for a while now. This thief did me a favor, officers. I won't be filing a report."

Huang Xiaotao glared at him, "Alright, you can go!"

After the man left, Huang Xiaotao gave me a wry smile, "See, I knew it wouldn't be that easy."

"Why would the perpetrator steal a car here?" I asked.

"Jin Huo Ma must often come around this area, and noticed this old car long ago. This type of van probably doesn't have a security alarm either. Oh right, the car has probably been to a repair shop before. Should we go ask around?" Huang Xiaotao had a brainwave.

"Good idea!"

While agreeing verbally, my eyes couldn't help looking toward Master Tang's steamed bun shop. It was still closed at this time.

Huang Xiaotao asked what I was thinking about. I said, "Why do I feel like everything that's happened so far has some subtle connection to Master Tang, yet the suspect Jin Huo Ma we've singled out is like a ghost, elusive?"

"Didn't you say the owner didn't lie? Or did you see it wrong?" Huang Xiaotao stopped in her tracks.

"My eyes are like a high-precision lie detector, able to capture a person's microexpressions when they lie, even subtle changes in the pores and blood vessels on their face. But I don't rule out special circumstances, like people with extremely resilient mental states who can lie without any emotional fluctuations. It's said that highly trained special forces can fool lie detectors and even truth serums." I explained.

"Could Master Tang be that kind of person? I think he's just an ordinary, timid citizen." Huang Xiaotao said disdainfully.

"That's what I think too..." I replied.

Huang Xiaotao slapped my shoulder, "Oh well, since we're here already, let's see him one more time. No need to be polite this time, ask more questions, see if there are any clues we've missed."

"Okay!"

We knocked on Master Tang's door, but no one answered. Huang Xiaotao made a phone call, to the undercover cops staking out the place, asking if Master Tang had gone out. They replied he'd been home the whole time.

But no matter how we knocked, no one answered the door. Huang Xiaotao handed me two hairpins, "Come on, Detective Song, time to show your skills."

"Breaking into a private residence, isn't that bad?" I hesitated a little.

"No worries, I'll take responsibility for anything!" Huang Xiaotao thumped her chest.

It only took me ten seconds to jimmy the lock open, but there was no one inside the house. Huang Xiaotao immediately flared up and called back the same number, yelling at the cops for losing surveillance on a person. How could they let a whole man leave the shop without seeing?

The call came back, "We're going to look for him right away!"

I saw two people get out of the black car across the street, splitting up in different directions.

I walked back and forth in the shop, using my Abyssal Eyes to carefully investigate. On the cutting board was some flour and a lump of freshly kneaded dough. Next to it was a bucket of prepared meat filling. The lights were all on.

It looked like Master Tang had been about to start steaming buns, but where was the person? There was no other entrance or exit in the shop. Could he have vanished into thin air?

Huang Xiaotao said, "Looks like he's not here. Let's go back for now!"

"Wait!"

My gaze fell to the floor next to the cutting board. Some flour was scattered on the ground, with two straight track marks across it. Huang Xiaotao followed my line of sight and showed a trace of doubt, "What's this about?"

I looked up. Next to the cutting board was a large freezer. I immediately understood, "Someone just dragged this freezer over."

"There must be a hidden door under the freezer!" Huang Xiaotao exclaimed excitedly.

"Come on, let's move it and see."

Huang Xiaotao and I worked together to shift the freezer, revealing a large metal trapdoor underneath. We looked at each other in shock, then I pulled open the door. A stream of cold air rushed out from below.

"It's a bomb shelter!" I said.

"Why is there a bomb shelter under the steamed bun shop?" Huang Xiaotao asked in surprise.

I looked around. The mottled limestone walls had some faded slogans that looked to be from the 1970s. I explained, "This was probably a warehouse originally. When China broke ties with the Soviet Union back then, the Soviets threatened to drop nuclear bombs on China. To respond to the national policy of 'dig deep and store grain', all provinces and cities built quite a few bomb shelters, many of which still exist today."

"Should we go down and take a look?" Huang Xiaotao asked.

"Sure!"

I had an inkling that some important clue was hidden down below.