I am a super cop

Chapter 3042 Ruins
There was also an in-depth discussion about whether Zhang Meng was putting on an act for everyone.

After considering the different opinions of Zhang Meng from various groups, people suddenly realized that Zhang Meng seems to be a veteran actor.

He can act like a quiet person when facing his neighbors, preferring to stay at home, and even his grocery shopping trips follow a specific routine.

When dealing with antique shops, he displays extensive knowledge and erudition, even inspiring respect from the shop's staff.

It's clear that Zhang Meng actually has real knowledge; his low profile in the residential area is just an act.

In order to get closer to Zhao Wen, he deliberately got the antique shop to cooperate with him in staging a good show.

Although Zhao Wen had already seen through the trickery, Zhang Meng still showed his prowess and achieved his goal: to get to know Xu Lang.

Behind this series of operations, Zhang Meng was strategizing. Such a cunning person naturally needed to present something favorable to himself when the police came to investigate.

Gu Chen suddenly remembered something and quickly said, "No, it seems we've really been used by this Zhang Meng."

"Junior Brother Gu, what do you mean by that?" Seeing that Gu Chen suddenly understood, Lu Weiwei quickly asked.

Gu Chen then turned around and said, "We went to Zhang Meng's house to ask about Wang Tianming's watch. After all, Zhang Meng was unwilling to return it, so we took the initiative to come and communicate with him."

"At that time, Zhang Meng probably guessed that we were coming to his door, because it seemed that everything was under his control."

"Xu Lang first tried to communicate with him and asked him to return the watch, but he refused. If we don't get the watch back, the police will definitely get involved."

"At this point, it seemed he needed to wait for us in the yard."

"Wow, now that you mention it, it makes a lot of sense." Upon hearing this, Lu Weiwei suddenly felt that things were getting more and more interesting.

Gu Chen continued his analysis: "Since I'm going to visit Senior Sister Lu, Zhang Meng will inevitably need to adopt a posture that is favorable to his image when he talks to us."

"So that's what happened next. He didn't want to return it and made all sorts of excuses. Obviously, if he's a cunning person, then he was just putting on an act for us."

"Once we sense that there seems to be some connection between him and the owner of the lost item, we will definitely go to find the owner, Wang Tianming, based on the subsequent investigation."

“But once we find Wang Tianming, we will inevitably learn from him where this watch came from, so we will have to contact Zhang Meng again.”

"At this point, all Zhang Meng needs to do is have his dog killed and then disappear, and we will definitely investigate his situation."

"So, does that mean Zhang Meng is guiding us?" Officer Wang asked, feeling curious after hearing Gu Chen's explanation.

Gu Chen nodded silently: "If Zhang Meng has the brains, then he will definitely use this opportunity to make our police investigate according to his plan."

"So, does that mean our investigations into Wang Tianming, Xu Lang, Zhao Wen, and the antique shop were all under Zhang Meng's control?" Yuan Shasha blurted out.

Gu Chen nodded silently: "Very likely."

"Then what was his purpose in doing this?" Yuan Shasha asked again.

Gu Chen also said with a headache, "I wish I knew, but I have a feeling that Zhang Meng is guiding us to investigate the truth."

"He may want to tell us some truth, but it seems he has to disappear for a while."

"Perhaps he's trying to use his disappearance to get the attention of the police?"

"My God!" Officer Wang was completely taken aback after hearing Gu Chen's analysis.
"If Zhang Meng is really that scheming, then there's a serious problem."

"Our police force is completely being led by the nose by him. What exactly is he trying to do?"

"Perhaps they want us to investigate Xu Lang," Lu Weiwei said.

"Investigate Xu Lang?" Officer Wang turned to look at Lu Weiwei.

Lu Weiwei also said with a serious expression: "Yes, if we review all the issues, it's not hard to see that all of Zhang Meng's actions seem to be pointing at Xu Lang."

"I got to know these people in the antique shop because I wanted to get to know Zhao Wen through them, but getting to know Zhao Wen was actually a way to get to know Xu Lang through him."

"In order to establish contact with Xu Lang, he bought the watch. But before buying the watch, he had Hu Xue win over Wang Tianming and steal his watch."

"Regardless, Zhang Meng's life always revolved around Xu Lang, including the fact that Xu Lang's younger brother, Xu Ming, also visited the vicinity of Zhang Meng's house later."

“Even Zhao Wen said that Xu Lang might be doing other business. All of this indicates that Xu Lang definitely has a problem.”

"Zhang Meng's need to disappear might be because his negotiations with Xu Lang broke down, and he might be afraid of Xu Lang's retaliation, so he chose to go into hiding."

"But to avoid making his actions seem abrupt, he killed his dog and left it in the yard."

"He just wanted people to notice the dog as soon as they looked for him."

"Moreover, he deliberately didn't answer the phone, just to arouse our suspicion and make us feel that someone was going to harm him."

“Yes.” Yuan Shasha replied without hesitation, “It seems that Zhang Meng is in control of everything.”

"Let's ask Senior Brother He first." After listening to everyone's analysis, Gu Chen took out his phone and dialed He Junchao's number directly.

Shortly after, He Junchao answered the phone, and Gu Chen quickly asked, "Senior Brother He, is there any news about Xu Lang and Xu Ming?"

"Not for now. Both of them are staying where they're supposed to be and haven't gone anywhere else," He Junchao said over the phone.

Gu Chen thought for a moment and then asked, "Are there any other suspicious people around Zhang Meng's house?"

"No." He Junchao quickly reported back over the phone:

“I have been reviewing the surveillance footage near Zhang Meng’s house and found that it only showed signs of activity from Zhang Meng’s neighbors, and no other people were seen.”

"Okay, I understand. Senior Brother He, please keep a close eye on these people. I'm going to Zhang Meng's place to see what's going on there."

"Don't worry, we're keeping an eye on things for you. We'll let you know immediately if anything happens."

"it is good."

Gu Chen also hung up the phone after exchanging a few words with He Junchao.

Then Gu Chen looked at everyone and said, "Let's go to Zhang Meng's house and see where Zhang Meng is hiding."

“If he didn’t leave, then he must be hiding nearby. After all, there are large areas of ruins there. If he wanted to hide there, he should be able to find a suitable place.”

"Okay, let's go take a look." At this moment, Lu Weiwei was also a little impatient.

So everyone drove towards Zhang Meng's house.

……

...An hour later, Gu Chen slowly parked the vehicle next to a truck. Gu Chen rolled down the car window, and the truck driver's window also rolled down.

Ding Liang, disguised as a truck driver, also peeked out, looked around, and then smiled at Gu Chen, saying, "Everything is normal here. No suspicious persons have been found."

"Can you see it from all around Zhang Meng's house?" Gu Chen asked.

Ding Liang nodded silently: "We can see everything. We're sitting in the car, and we can see the road in Zhang Meng's neighborhood and the intersection with this main road."

"And that old bus stop, you can see it all, I keep staring at it."

"Very good." Seeing that Ding Liang and Huang Zunlong were fine, Gu Chen was able to drive the car in with peace of mind.

So Gu Chen drove the car to the vicinity of Zhang Meng's house and chose to park it on the side of the road.

After everyone got off the bus, they returned to Zhang Meng's house.

At this moment, the gate to Zhang Meng's courtyard has been cordoned off.

Gu Chen still chose to climb over the wall, then opened the courtyard gate and let everyone in.

Since the dog had already been photographed and taken to the city police department for testing, the location of the dog's death was only roughly outlined in chalk.

After pacing back and forth a few times, Gu Chen turned his gaze to the room.

Lu Weiwei couldn't help but sigh, "Ding Liang and Huang Zunlong have already reviewed and checked the situation inside, and they haven't found any suspicious signs."

“Zhang Meng himself certainly wouldn’t leave any trace,” Gu Chen said slowly.

Officer Wang then moved closer to Gu Chen and reminded him:
"There seems to be a large area of ​​ruins behind their neighborhood."

"Yes, that's the site of their old chemical plant. It's been demolished now, and it's basically all ruins."

"However, because this was formerly the site of a chemical plant, even though the plant has been completely demolished, the land here is still polluted and cannot be developed into real estate for decades."

"Therefore, this area can only remain here. Otherwise, it would have been bought up by those up-and-coming developers and used for housing developments a few years ago."

"Yes, that's right." Hearing Gu Chen say that, Yuan Shasha couldn't help but sigh:
"Because this is a chemical plant, the land here cannot be used in a short period of time, so it has been abandoned."

With a soft sigh, Yuan Shasha couldn't help but lament, "It's such a pity that such a good piece of land has been abandoned like this. No wonder the people here have all moved away."

"Because this place may not have any development value for decades, otherwise it wouldn't have become overgrown with weeds."

"There's no use talking about this now." Officer Wang looked around and asked Gu Chen, "Gu Chen, if it were you, where do you think Zhang Meng would be hiding?"

"In the ruins of the chemical plant," Gu Chen said.

Officer Wang flicked his right index finger and said without hesitation, "You're thinking the same thing as me. If Zhang Meng is really hiding from something, he'll definitely be hiding in the ruins."

"Or perhaps he has already stockpiled a large amount of food and water there, enough to keep him from starving for a long time."

“That’s right, why don’t we go take a look?” Lu Weiwei said.

“Okay.” Gu Chen nodded silently, agreeing to the suggestion.

Afterwards, everyone left the courtyard again, walked along the slightly bluish cement road, and went up a stone staircase covered with moss, arriving at an abandoned fire station site.

This used to be a chemical plant, so a fire station was set up outside the plant area, located between the chemical plant and the residential area.

This fire station is basically equipped with two fire trucks as standard, so that it can go to the scene immediately to deal with the emergency and control the risks when a chemical plant malfunctions.

The fire station has long been abandoned, the training building has been demolished, and the wooden equipment used for fire training has rotted away.

Everyone walked uphill from the fire station and finally arrived at the entrance of the chemical plant.

The main gate is still there, but the small iron gate next to it is now open.

Everyone pushed open the iron gate and went straight inside.

On the right is a connected building. Based on this structural layout, it is not difficult to see that this is the office building of the chemical plant. On the various wooden doors of the corridor on the first floor, there are signs for various departments.

On the other side of the connected building is a place that resembles a guesthouse.

"It seems this chemical plant used to be quite profitable. The office building is directly connected to the guesthouse, and the rooms are all standard, just like the guesthouse setup from decades ago," Lu Weiwei remarked with a sigh.

Officer Wang walked into a room, glanced around casually, then nodded silently and said without further ado:

"That's right, it was the standard configuration for that era, it was pretty good."

"Could Zhang Meng be hiding here?" Yuan Shasha asked.

Gu Chen hesitated for a moment, then shook his head: "Probably not. This place is too close to the residential area. If someone comes here to investigate, they will appear here first."

"If Zhang Meng wanted to hide here, the risk would be too great. He wouldn't be so careless."

“Yes.” Hearing Gu Chen’s explanation, Lu Weiwei couldn’t help but sigh, “Although living here is very comfortable, I don’t think Zhang Meng would be that stupid.”

"Then we should at least check everything, right?" Officer Wang looked around and explained.
"This is the ruins of a chemical plant, the only building that looks relatively normal."

"Of course, everyone should check every room thoroughly, making sure nothing is missed," Gu Chen said.

So, following Gu Chen's instructions, everyone began to check each room one by one.

There are offices and guesthouse rooms here, and some miscellaneous items are still kept inside.

The team searched from the first floor all the way to the fourth floor, and then returned to the first floor again.

Everyone gathered in the lobby on the first floor to report their respective search results.

"Gu Chen, we have checked everything, and there is no trace of Zhang Meng."

“Yes, it looks like no one lives here, so Zhang Meng shouldn’t be hiding here,” Yuan Shasha quickly chimed in.

Lu Weiwei crossed her arms and asked Gu Chen curiously, "Junior Brother Gu, could Zhang Meng be hiding in the ruins of the factory workshop? After all..."

After a pause, Lu Weiwei peered at the ruins of the workshop in the distance and couldn't help but sigh:

"After all, the ruins over there are so large, and they're overgrown with all sorts of weeds. Zhang Meng could easily hide in any corner of those ruins."

……