Solving the case: Combining the police dog's olfactory genes at the beginning

"Boss, is this the car you called? Are you sure you want to book it for the whole day?"
This price isn't cheap.

Without wasting any words, Luo Fei took out a thousand yuan in cash from his wallet and handed it to the passenger seat.

"Here's the deposit, let's drive."

Upon seeing the real gold and silver, Master Zhao's face immediately lit up with a smile, and he quickly started the car.

"Alright! Boss, you're so generous! Where shall we go?"

"Let's go check out the white sand beach first."

Luo Fei casually mentioned a famous tourist attraction in Haizhu City, and then added...

"You can drive wherever you want, just wander around."

"Alright! Hold on tight!"

Master Zhao skillfully shifted gears and started the car, merging it into the traffic.

After driving for a while, Mr. Zhao started chatting with the passengers as usual.

"Are you two bosses here for tourism in Haizhu? Judging from your demeanor, you're not ordinary people."

Luo Fei glanced at the street scene rushing past the window and replied casually.

"We are police officers."

"Oh, the police... Ah?! Police... police?!"

Mr. Zhao instinctively agreed at first, then suddenly realized what was happening. His hand on the steering wheel trembled, and the car visibly jerked. He quickly steadied the car, his face filled with astonishment, and looked at Luo Fei and Chen Xuanran with suspicion through the rearview mirror.

"You...you two are police officers? Are you here in Haizhu to handle a case?"

Master Zhao's tone became cautious.

"Ah."

Luo Fei nodded, turning his gaze from the window to the driver's eyes through the rearview mirror.

"Mr. Zhao, I have a question for you. On the 3rd of last month, around 4 pm, did you pick up two young girls at Jinwan Airport?"

"The 3rd of last month? At 4 PM?"

Master Zhao frowned, trying hard to recall.

"This...it's been a while. The airport has such a large passenger flow every day, I really can't remember..."

Luo Fei didn't say anything, but took out his phone, pulled up photos of Guo Mengyun and Gong Xiaorui, and held the screen up to the driver's face.

"Master Zhao, take another look. Are these the two girls?"

When Mr. Zhao's gaze fell upon the two youthful and beautiful faces on the phone screen, his pupils suddenly contracted, the color drained from his face instantly, and his eyes widened like copper bells!

"squeak--!"

As if he had seen something extremely terrifying, he instinctively slammed on the brakes!

A screeching sound of brakes rang out! The immense inertia caused the unprepared Chen Xuanran and Luo Fei to lurch forward, nearly slamming into the back of the front seats!
A car following closely behind them nearly rear-ended them, honking angrily as the driver leaned out and cursed.

But Master Zhao seemed not to hear the cursing behind him at all. He stared in horror at the photos on Luo Fei's phone, his voice trembling.

"She...they...have they...disappeared?!"

Seeing the driver's violent reaction, Luo Fei immediately concluded that he definitely knew something!
He put his phone away and asked in a deep voice.

"Master Zhao, you remember them, don't you? Tell me, where did you take those two girls that afternoon?"

Mr. Zhao's face was filled with fear and struggle. He frantically grabbed the thousand yuan from the passenger seat and stuffed it back to Luo Fei, his voice trembling.

"Officer, I don't want this money!"

I'm not doing this business anymore! Please, get off the bus! Get off now!

He actually refused to take a ride and even gave up the money he had already received?!

This unusual behavior made Luo Fei even more certain that the driver knew far more than they had imagined, and that he seemed to be afraid of something!
Luo Fei did not take the money. Instead, his expression turned serious, and he took out his ID from his pocket, showing it directly to Master Zhao. His tone was authoritative and unquestionable.

"Look carefully! National Security! I'm not asking for your help, but legally questioning you! I order you to tell me immediately, where exactly did you take Guo Mengyun and Gong Xiaorui on the afternoon of the 3rd of last month?!"

Upon seeing the national security badge in Luo Fei's hand, bearing the national emblem and radiating unquestionable authority, the fear on Master Zhao's face was instantly replaced by a deeper sense of dread—the natural awe that ordinary people have for state-level law enforcement agencies.

His lips trembled, as if he wanted to say something, but seemed afraid to speak.

"Master Zhao, don't be afraid."

Luo Fei put away his documents, his tone softening slightly, but his gaze remained sharp.

"We are investigating a case and searching for missing persons, and we need your cooperation. By telling us the truth about what you know, you are helping them and fulfilling your civic duty."

I assure you, as long as you explain the situation truthfully, no one will cause you any trouble because of your cooperation today.

Perhaps it was Luo Fei's calm demeanor and his identity as a member of the National Security Bureau that had an effect, as Master Zhao's violently heaving chest calmed down a little. He sighed heavily, as if resigned to his fate, and restarted the car, slowly pulling it to the side of the road to avoid obstructing traffic.

"Sigh... Officer, it's not that I don't want to talk about it, it's just that the place... that place is too eerie!"

Master Zhao lit a cigarette and took a deep drag, as if only in this way could he suppress the fear in his heart. He looked at Luo Fei and Chen Xuanran through the rearview mirror and began to recall.

"That's right, on the afternoon of the 3rd of last month, I did pick up those two girls in the photo at the airport."

They seemed quite happy when they got on the bus, saying they were visiting friends. I asked them where they were going, and they said...to "Hequan Mountain Villa!"

"Hequan Manor?"

Luo Fei and Chen Xuanran exchanged a glance, their hearts pounding simultaneously! They hadn't found Black Spring Manor, but now a "Crane Spring Manor" had appeared!
The pronunciations are so similar, it's no coincidence!

"Yes! It's Crane Spring Manor!"

Master Zhao confirmed, a look of lingering fear on his face.

"When I heard that we were going there, my heart sank. I kindly advised them that the place was not safe and it was best not to go."

But the two girls seemed determined, saying their friend was waiting for them there and they absolutely had to go. I... I had no choice but to take them to the entrance of the apartment complex.

"You dropped them off at the entrance of the residential area and left? Did you see them go inside?"

Luo Fei pressed for an answer.

“I saw it. I watched them walk through that gate.”

Master Zhao pointed in a certain direction ahead, then lowered his voice and said mysteriously.

"Officer, it's not that I'm superstitious, but Hequan Manor is really haunted! Everyone in our taxi-driving circle knows that place is often haunted!"

"Haunted?"

Chen Xuanran frowned slightly. "That's right!"

Master Zhao became agitated again.

"Many guys who drive cars at night have said that near that neighborhood, especially in the middle of the night, they often see some blurry white ghostly figures floating outside the wall, and they can also hear some women crying or children laughing. It's really creepy!"

Moreover, people die in that neighborhood every few days, many of them jumping from the buildings! As far as I know, at least six or seven people have jumped from those buildings in the past few years!

"so much?"

Luo Fei's eyes narrowed.

It is highly unusual for a neighborhood to experience frequent unnatural deaths.

"you do not say!"

Master Zhao was blowing smoke rings.

"So many people who used to live there were scared and moved away. Now, even at half price, houses and villas in that neighborhood are hard to sell! Nobody dares to buy them! I tried to persuade those two girls, but they wouldn't listen, and now look what happened... I knew it, nothing good ever comes of going to that place!"

As he spoke, a mixture of lingering fear and relief, as if to say "I knew it," appeared on his face.

"That's why I didn't dare to answer your questions earlier; I really didn't want to get involved with that place's bad luck..."

Luo Fei silently memorized the name "Hequan Villa," took out a notepad, wrote down his phone number, and handed it to Master Zhao.

"Master Zhao, thank you for your cooperation."

Keep this phone number. If you remember any details about that day or that neighborhood later, feel free to call me.

Then, he said in an unquestionable tone.

"Now, please take us to Hequan Villa."

"Huh? We...we still have to go?"

Master Zhao's face immediately fell, his expression full of reluctance.

"go with!"

Luo Fei's tone was resolute, and he stuffed the thousand yuan back into the passenger seat.

"This is the transportation fee, including your ride there and any waiting costs that may occur."

Looking at the thick wad of banknotes and then at Luo Fei's unyielding gaze, Master Zhao hesitated for a few seconds before finally gritting his teeth and shifting back into gear.

"Sigh... Fine! What can I do? You're a cop! I'll take you there! But it's a deal, I'll only take you to the front gate, I dare not go inside!"

The car started again and headed towards the suburbs. At the same time, Luo Fei immediately took out his phone and sent a voice message to Zhou Xiaobei.

"Xiao Bei, focus your investigation on a place called 'Hequan Villa,' located in Haizhu City! I need all the detailed information about this community, including the developer, construction date, layout features, occupancy rate, and all unexplained deaths and paranormal rumors you can find! The sooner the better!"

The taxi was still driving on the road leading to the suburbs when Zhou Xiaobei's reply arrived via WeChat, demonstrating extremely high efficiency.

Luo Fei opened the message and read it carefully with Chen Xuanran.

According to available information, Hequan Villa is not a historic manor, but a new residential development built about ten years ago, positioned as a large-scale comprehensive community.

The entire community is quite large, including 24 detached villas, 8 garden apartments, 28 mid-rise residential buildings, and 6 high-rise buildings.

However, the layout of this community is very unique. Several aerial photos attached to the document clearly show that each building in the community faces a different direction, completely deviating from the conventional north-facing or neatly arranged planning, making it appear chaotic and disorderly.

Moreover, there is a winding red plastic running track inside the community that runs through the entire community. When viewed from an aerial view, it looks like a strange red blood vessel.

Another striking feature is that the community has a large lawn area but very few trees, which contrasts sharply with other lush and green communities in Haizhu City, making the overall space look somewhat strangely empty.

The information also mentions that when the community was built and opened for sale, it was during the peak of the real estate market. However, its opening price was lower than that of similar properties in the surrounding area. Although it attracted many homebuyers at the time, some minor issues were not noticed.

However, when about half of the houses had been sold, the developer suddenly suspended sales. After that, no matter how hot the real estate market was, the remaining units at Hequan Villa were never publicly sold again, and even the sales office was closed.

This directly resulted in a consistently low occupancy rate in the community, remaining at around 40% for a long time, with many houses remaining vacant.

With low occupancy rates and a bizarre design, strange occurrences began to happen frequently. More and more residents claimed to have seen blurry white figures in the community and heard inexplicable crying or laughter.

Moreover, even in summer, the interior of the community often feels cool and shady.

Even more disturbing is the fact that suicides have started to occur one after another. The data lists seven documented suicides, which occurred within the last four or five years.

As rumors of a "ghostly neighborhood" spread, many residents who could afford it moved out, leading to a further decrease in the neighborhood's population.

Just when the community was experiencing a decline in popularity and a bad reputation, the developer suddenly began to sell off the remaining units at low prices, reducing the prices to 60% of those in nearby properties!

The huge price advantage attracted a large number of homebuyers looking for bargains. Suddenly, the rumors of "haunting" were seen by many as malicious smears by competitors, and the public opinion seemed to have shifted.

Strangely, after a period of time, the sale of these new homes came to an abrupt halt again, and they have not been sold since.

Luo Fei looked at the information, his fingers lightly tapping the phone screen, his eyes growing sharper.

He whispered to Chen Xuanran.

Did you notice?
This developer's behavior is very unusual.

They don't seem to care about house sales and profits; instead, it seems like they're... controlling the community's foot traffic?

Upon hearing this, a hint of surprise flashed in Chen Xuanran's beautiful eyes.

"Controlling the population? You mean they deliberately keep the community at a certain population size, not too much, not too little?"

"It's possible."

Luo Fei said in a deep voice.

"Whether it's suspending sales in the early stages or attracting a wave of people with low prices and then stopping again, it's like artificially adjusting the residential density of the community."

There must be some ulterior motive behind this!

Just as the two were analyzing the situation, the taxi suddenly braked and came to a stop.

"arrive!"

Mr. Zhao's voice trembled slightly as he pointed out the car window.

"That gate up ahead is Hequan Manor! Officers, is this all I'll take you? I really can't go any further!"

Luo Fei and Chen Xuanran looked up out the car window.

Not far ahead, a magnificent and imposing Chinese-style archway stood, clearly the main entrance to the residential area.

However, the door exudes an indescribable sense of strangeness.

The gatehouse is in the traditional antique style, with green tiles and flying eaves, but the huge plaque in the center...

The four gilded characters of "Hequan Villa" were written crookedly and childishly, resembling the scribbles of a primary school student. They clashed jarringly with the grand entrance, even giving the impression of ugliness and discomfort. (End of Chapter)