"You're quite the sophist, aren't you? Do you think not admitting it now makes your earlier words void? We will find evidence of your crime!"
"Then go ahead and find it. I was just talking nonsense anyway."
This person was actually trying to retract their statement, facing us with the defiance of a pig that fears no boiling water. But I wasn't afraid of her. "Since you're sticking to it, once we find the evidence, your crime will be considered the most serious. You won't be able to get any leniency. I really don't understand why you're persisting when you'll be convicted in the end. Is it just a matter of clutching at straws?"
"Mind your own business, go find it if you can!"
This person acted as if we would never find anything, closing her eyes and ignoring us completely. Gao Mingqiang was also getting annoyed at this point. "Stubborn as a mule! Doing this won't do you any good!"
After we left, He Xin found one of Jia Hainan's residences for us. It was a place she had rented when she was a nanny. She had always lived near Liu Chuxin's home and had been working as a nanny for the Liu family for some time.
By the time we arrived, the forensic team had already been there. I had to find evidence to prove Liu Yuning's innocence and bring the real culprit to justice.
The place Jia Hainan was living in was a rented one-bedroom apartment. It was a small space, so theoretically, it should have been easy to search. However, we searched for a long time without finding anything. The apartment was exceptionally clean, spotless. Jia Hainan was a nanny, and it seemed she was meticulous about cleaning.
This resulted in nothing being left behind, but it made us even more suspicious. I took out Luminol reagent and sprayed it everywhere, hoping to find traces of blood. But after spraying, there was no reaction at all.
I now understood why Jia Hainan was so calm. It turned out she knew we wouldn't find anything here. Perhaps she had other places to stay. I had already found this place too easily, and it struck me as odd.
I called He Xin and asked if she had found any other residences belonging to Jia Hainan. She told me, "I'm already looking into it. I was worried you wouldn't find anything there, so I started searching in advance."
"With your speed, you should have found something by now?" I inquired.
"No, this apartment was rented by Jia Hainan using her ID, which is why we found it so quickly. But if her real hiding place is not publicly registered, it will be troublesome to find."
As the primary crime scene, it was unlikely that Jia Hainan, or any other criminal for that matter, would use their own rental unit. If the police investigated, they would find evidence immediately. Now, all we could do was observe Jia Hainan through the surveillance footage to see where she had been, perhaps that would lead us to some locations.
As we left the apartment, we had no intention of returning to the interrogation room. If we went back now, Jia Hainan would surely mock us.
We roamed around outside for a while before returning to the provincial department. We joined He Xin to review surveillance footage, while several others conducted a round-robin interrogation of Jia Hainan.
While watching the surveillance, every desk had coffee. I could see they had been at it for a long time. The amount of surveillance footage for one person was enormous, as they had to review her entire life trajectory, every place she had been. Even for the past week, the amount of footage was substantial. If it weren't for the skilled technical police at the provincial department, I suspected Jia Hainan might have been released by now just from watching the footage.
"We need to hurry. There are less than 10 hours left until the 24-hour mark," I urged. Everyone dared not slack off, their eyes intensely focused on the screens.
"Do you see that? Jia Hainan entered this beach several times." Suddenly, a technical officer said.
"Yes, it's her. Isn't this beach one of our former tourist attractions in Guangming City? I remember there was diving service, and also an aquarium nearby," He Xin replied.
Shao Zhengzhi asked, "You've only been here a few years, how do you know so many places in Guangming City so well?"
"There's the internet in this world!" He Xin rolled her eyes at him, then sent me a location. "This place is highly suspicious. You should go check it out!"
"Alright, but Jia Hainan seems to have been to the streets on both sides as well. Let's split into groups and search all these locations!"
"Yes, Team Leader He!" everyone responded and dispersed. Only Gao Mingqiang and I were in one group.
I had temporarily set aside the matter concerning Xiao Yuanba. My priority now was to rescue Liu Yuning.
When we arrived at the beach, I found that there was indeed an aquarium nearby. However, it was currently closed. After inquiring, I learned that the aquarium was still under construction and remained sealed off. I then instructed the others to search the beach area, while I went to a service station to the left of the beach. I opened the door, and a dog suddenly jumped out. I didn't get a clear look at it at first and was startled by it.
This stray dog, I don't know where it came from, didn't pay me any mind and ran directly towards the aquarium. I felt something was off. What was the deal with this dog?
I followed it to the aquarium. It went around to the back wall of the aquarium and barked a few times. I immediately realized this Labrador was warning me.
I didn't call for others. Instead, I squeezed through a gap in the wall and entered sideways. The dog followed behind me.
Upon entering the aquarium, we discovered that many of the facilities were still being repaired. There were empty glass tanks everywhere. The ground had been disinfected, and a strong smell of disinfectant lingered in the air. Dim lights shone overhead. I didn't know why the dog had brought me here until I saw rows of machinery not far away, and then I understood!
I went over to the machinery and smelled residual medicinal powder nearby. There were also drug residues on the worktables. I immediately collected some with a piece of paper and put it into an evidence bag. It seemed this was another workshop for manufacturing Kangfuning. When we had tracked them before, they had already moved. This time, I had finally found this place.
However, just as I finished collecting the evidence and was about to leave, many people in blue work uniforms ran into the aquarium. They looked at me vigilantly. The leader, a bald man, cursed when he saw me. "The boss said a cop would come here today, and it seems he was right. You guys, don't worry about the consequences. Take him out! We've already led the other police away!"