In May 2018, I honestly stopped wanting to write these diaries long ago, though I suppose what I write are more like monthly entries. This month, something major happened: my mother passed away. She was hit by a truck, a large one, which crushed her head. When I saw her body, I was so terrified, I thought I was dreaming. But when I woke up, I realized it was perhaps because of me that my mother ended up like this. Did they see I wanted to quit, and then…
The monthly entries stopped there. From Zhang Huihong's records, we realized some things. It seems she was truly being threatened. Before, due to her craving for excitement, she was taken somewhere, but what exactly remains unclear from these records.
I asked, "Director Zhang, you didn't find this diary before?"
"No, when she went missing, the school gave it to me. But I didn't notice it then. A few pages had writing on them. This time, when I went back and looked casually, I found these entries on the middle pages."
"You've had it authenticated, right? It's really Zhang Huihong's handwriting?" I said.
Director Zhang nodded, "I had a handwriting expert verify it."
"Then, Director Zhang, have you been to these places behind the photo album?" I asked, putting down the notebook.
"I had people look, but they don't exist. It's as if these places were erased by some special means."
"I've heard that some places aren't officially on maps because something unexpected happened," Ma Biao guessed.
"But all of them are like this. I saw about five such addresses behind the photo album. They weren't written by them. And look at the angles of these photos; they definitely weren't taken by them. I think someone secretly took photos of them!"
"Secretly photographed? So, they were being threatened?" Liu YuNing asked in surprise.
Director Zhang nodded heavily, "In fact, I also received similar photos with addresses on the back."
Director Zhang then placed the photos in front of us. This time, it was of Director Zhang and his wife.
I saw them driving together, eating together, even sleeping together...
How is this possible? I looked at Director Zhang in astonishment. He said with a grave expression, "We've been targeted. First my wife, then Huihong..."
"Don't be nervous, Director Zhang. With us here, you'll be fine!" Xiahou comforted him.
Now things were becoming clearer. These incidents might be aimed at Director Zhang's family. I thought and then said, "What about the other girls? Have they also had something happen to them now?"
"That's right. I inquired and had people investigate. They have all disappeared!" Director Zhang's tone became even more somber.
"All disappeared? Then who was the first one? Do they have any connection?"
"The first was Huang Haihua, our former neighbor. She used to be very close to my daughter, but after we moved, they lost contact. I really can't imagine what fate awaits them if they were taken away. I'm very worried. What happened to them?"
"Could it be that your previous negligence was because you felt this matter was extremely serious?" I finally couldn't help but ask about my persistent confusion regarding this case.
Director Zhang nodded sadly, "Yes. Actually, I didn't want you to get involved at first, but I really couldn't hold on any longer. Without you, I wouldn't be able to find the truth alone."
At that moment, I saw Director Zhang's hair turn white as if in an instant. It was the first time I had seen the usually confident him show such despair.
"Don't worry, I, He Sheng, will definitely help you. And we will get to the bottom of this case. Analyzing the records in the notebook, these photos, and details like role-playing, if I'm not mistaken, there must be some factory or research institute behind all this, and those girls were all taken there."
At that point, Liu YuNing had no objections. With multiple girls missing, it was definitely not a simple matter.
Director Zhang patted my shoulder, "I also believe in you, He Sheng, and the Crime Punishment Team. We will handle this case together. I will be the overall commander."
"Alright, Director Zhang, we are all eager to witness your personal supervision!"
Everyone stood up and saluted. The morale of the entire Public Security Department was incredibly high.
The number of missing persons increased from one to six, which also expanded the scope of our investigation. And there were definitely more missing girls than these; the others were simply unknown to us yet.
We first found the addresses of the families of the missing individuals in the national household registration database and went to visit them. Zhang Keying and I were a team. We went to the current residence of the parents of the first victim, Mu Zishan. This was in Longhai Town, Gangcheng City. When asked about their daughter, Mu Zishan's mother said, "This child disappeared shortly after we moved here. It was September 4th, five years ago. She was still in college. It was not long after the semester started that day."
"Why did you move here from Yingtan?" I asked curiously.
"Due to work requirements. This has nothing to do with her disappearance. If we had known something like this would happen here, we wouldn't have moved."
"Don't say things like that in front of the police officers. It's just a coincidence, right?" Mu Zishan's mother said, but her father responded.
"Whether it's a coincidence or not, we will verify. You two don't need to speculate here. Please tell us more about the changes in Mu Zishan before she disappeared."
"She, sigh, it was like her whole person changed. Her attitude towards us was very cold. But every day before she went out, she would dress herself up very beautifully, and she wore different types of clothes. We thought she was doing some kind of part-time job and even argued with her. But later, she said she was just participating in some makeup club and told us not to worry. Then she started coming back later and later, and eventually, she never came back." Mu Zishan's mother recalled sadly, unable to help but weep again.
I went to Mu Zishan's room, intending to investigate thoroughly. Upon entering, I elegantly searched everywhere, from closets to drawers. However, I discovered something peculiar. Mu Zishan's clothes seemed to have a common characteristic: she had almost only one set of each style, not even a repeat of the same piece. Moreover, they were all sorts of sexy professional outfits. Just looking at them could spark endless imagination. I searched through these clothes and accidentally found a document in the pocket of a maid outfit.
It was filled with coded language. I was curious: Was this Persian code? Or some kind of spell? I couldn't understand it at all.
It read: "different statements have different implications."
It meant that different statements have different implications. The rest was more complex, and I'd probably need to ask my precious daughter to translate it back at the precinct.
After putting away the document, I was already outside the room. Zhang Keying gave me a look, signaling that she hadn't found anything.
I showed the document to Mu Zishan's parents. They both said they had never seen it and even asked how I found it. I said it was in Mu Zishan's clothes.
At that time, they all felt it had no special meaning, perhaps their daughter had accidentally left a note and forgotten to take it out.
I didn't think so. When I returned to the provincial department, I asked He Xin to translate it. She translated the English text in just a few minutes.
The meaning was extensive, but overall it pertained to body language or triggers for certain personalities. He Xin said, "If I'm not mistaken, these should be code words that make girls enter various modes. Only insiders would know these secrets. If we are fortunate enough to find such a girl, perhaps saying the content on this paper will make them act according to our instructions."
"Code words for entering various modes? What's the difference from a robot?" I asked curiously.
"When I first saw these words, I had the same thought. But this may not necessarily be related to the case. Perhaps it's just a coincidence."
I didn't expect He Xin to have such an idea. I didn't answer her, holding the document and examining it carefully. Of course, I was looking at the Chinese version she had translated. It listed maid mode, housewife mode, student mode, white-collar mode, and so on. This reminded me of the movie "Robot Girlfriend." Could saying a code word make the other person switch to a designated personality?
If it were a living person, this would be almost impossible. Even with the most powerful hypnosis, I don't think it would be feasible.
At that time, I believed the girls had disappeared because they were taken somewhere and imprisoned, and someone forced them to do this. But how could this document be explained? Was it merely a coincidence?
Did Mu Zishan cut it out from some newspaper or magazine, and I just happened to find it accidentally?
When I returned to the Deputy Director's office, I was still thinking about this. Then Director Zhang came again and asked me to step outside.
I walked into the corridor and asked him what was wrong. He took out a cigarette and offered it to me, saying, "Just bought it. Want to try?"
"Uh?" I felt Director Zhang wouldn't be asking me for a cigarette for no reason, but I still accepted it. Then I asked, "Director Zhang, just say what you need to say. By the way, have you seen the thing I've been investigating recently?"
"That's exactly what I wanted to talk to you about. In fact, I also saw that kind of document at home before. A piece of paper?"
"It's about the size of an A4 paper. Did you also find some of the content written on it in Zhang Huihong's clothes?"
"No, I found that document under her bed. If I'm not mistaken, she probably dropped it accidentally and couldn't find it. This reminds me of something. Before she disappeared, she asked me if I had seen an A4-sized paper with a lot of English writing on it at home. It seems this thing is not a coincidence, especially since my daughter also mentioned it."