We searched everywhere. He Xin was with us at the time and took out her bracelet to release a micro-drone. We no longer use traditional drones because they are too conspicuous. Our provincial department recently acquired a batch of drone equipment the size of flies. As it flew out, He Xin’s bracelet displayed a panoramic view of the entire Kang Fu Lai Plaza, showing every corner.
Once the police dog unit was deployed, citizens finally noticed the unusual atmosphere around them. We didn’t want to alarm everyone, but since Chi Lingxuan might still be hiding in Kang Fu Lai Plaza, we had no choice but to evacuate the people and have Fei Hu and Xiao Niu take the opportunity to search the crowd.
This was the easiest time to approach the people in the plaza, and we had a reason to investigate them one by one. Although some citizens grumbled, they realized the seriousness of the situation upon seeing the large number of SWAT officers on standby nearby, and they all fell silent.
Many people were checked and then allowed to leave. He Xin continuously tracked another mobile signal of Chi Lingxuan and surprisingly found a reaction on a little girl. Our people immediately surrounded the girl, causing her to cry in fear. He Xin walked over, comforted her, and found a mobile phone on her. It was evident the little girl was not Chi Lingxuan. He Xin politely and gently asked, "Little sister, is this phone yours?"
"Yes, I was playing by the flower bed earlier, and the phone disappeared for a while. My mom even scolded me. Later, the phone inexplicably returned, so she didn't scold me anymore!"
As the little girl spoke, a woman hesitantly moved closer and said, "Yes, officer. What's going on? Has my daughter committed a crime?"
"No, we received some strange messages, and they were sent from this phone!" He Xin said.
"What?" The woman exclaimed in surprise, then turned back to the little girl with a scolding tone, "What did you send? You caused so many police officers to come here?"
"No, Mom! I don't know!"
Being scolded by her mother, the little girl was on the verge of tears again. He Xin, however, held her hand and said, "Hey, madam, the situation isn't what you think…"
She patiently explained to the little girl's mother, who then looked enlightened and said, "That criminal must have taken my daughter's phone earlier and then put it back. What was he trying to do, frame my daughter?"
"Madam, I think you should pay more attention to your daughter and stop blaming her. Educate her patiently!" I said.
"I'm sorry, officer. I will!"
Although the woman said this on the surface, she yanked her daughter closer and pinched her daughter’s thigh fiercely, saying, "Say goodbye to the officers quickly!"
"G-goodbye!" the little girl said almost in tears. The woman then pulled her daughter away. Liu Yuning shook her head from behind, "Honestly, how can she be a parent…"
"Well, let's not worry about it. The phone is with us, we'll take it back. I think that person must have appeared nearby. Seeing that the little girl had put down her phone before making a move, I was quite curious why she would come to a place like this to send a signal. Now it seems there's a high possibility of coincidence." I analyzed.
"Then what was her purpose in doing this?"
"Perhaps to provoke us in a way we couldn't trace? So she enlisted the help of a stranger. This is the most cautious approach, as the little girl has no prior connection with Chi Lingxuan."
"This person is very clever."
"She definitely thought that with so many people around, she could find such an opportunity. However, it also required a bit of luck." I replied, and we searched the vicinity of the plaza again but found nothing. We had to withdraw, otherwise, the people in the plaza would complain.
However, after our commotion, they probably lost their enthusiasm. After we left, they would likely start leaving one by one.
At this moment, I deliberately returned to the plaza. Based on the psychology of criminals who often like to revisit crime scenes afterward to savor the feeling of committing a crime, I harbored a sliver of hope. Unexpectedly, near a clock tower inside the plaza, I saw a girl who looked very much like Chi Lingxuan lurking in a corner, scanning her surroundings. I ran over immediately. I had also asked Xiao Yuande to help, and when he appeared from behind to intercept Chi Lingxuan, she had nowhere to run.
"What are you two big men doing? Trying to bully a woman?" Chi Lingxuan shamelessly said.
I grabbed her clothes forcefully, "We are police officers, not here to play. You know yourself what you've done. Come back to the provincial department with us!"
I handed her over to Xiao Yuande, who, like a fierce tiger, dragged Chi Lingxuan out of the plaza. Soon, we escorted her to the car. Liu Yuning was waiting in the driver's seat. Seeing that we had actually brought her back, she couldn't help but tease, "Well done, looks like you guessed everything right!"
"It was just a small effort. If we couldn't catch her like this, we'd be too incompetent!" I said.
Chi Lingxuan knew struggling at this point was meaningless and followed us back. In the interrogation room, Liu Yuning and I conducted a stern interrogation.
"Chi Lingxuan, let's be direct. You should understand why we brought you back," Liu Yuning said.
"Of course, I know. You think I'm connected to the drone-related incident? Did my junior, Zhao Qingsheng, tell you that?"
"It wasn't him. We investigated and found you were very familiar with these things. We also used forensic technology and discovered you were in the vicinity before Zhang Yangcheng's incident. We also found out about your relationship with that guy; you were together. We know your private life clearly. Because Zhang Yangcheng had AIDS and infected you, and after you found out, you wanted to retaliate against him, so you killed him, right? But recently, the supermarket destruction, what were you thinking?" I said sternly.
"Perhaps I shouldn't have done it at all. Yes, you're right, someone like Zhang Yangcheng deserved to die. He was with me while having AIDS, and he infected me too… Woohoo, Zhao Qingsheng was probably infected too…"