You're supposed to be a security officer, what case are you solving?

Chapter 122 Nighttime infiltration of the TV station.

8pm.

Construction Road, An'nan City TV Station Building, Personnel Department.

Section Chief Huang Guanglu turned off the office light, picked up his briefcase, greeted his subordinates who were preparing to leave work in the hallway, and then stepped down the stairs.

The second floor houses the Arts and Literature Department, and the lights were still on in the office cubicles.

A young female news reporter sat in a chair, drinking water from a thermos.

Huang Guanglu could have gone downstairs directly, but the new female reporter in front of him was young, beautiful, had a good figure, and a pretty face.

He couldn't help but walk over and greet her, "Xiaowen, why aren't you off work yet?"

Zhang Wen quickly put down her thermos, stood up, brushed her hair behind her ear, and smiled, "I still have some things to finish."

Huang Guanglu rested one hand on the desk partition and said with concern, "Don't work so hard. There's not much to do in the Literature and Art Department. Don't ruin your health."

Zhang Wen's smile widened: "Thank you for your concern, Director Huang."

Suddenly, Huang Guanglu noticed a pile of freshly developed photos scattered on the table.

These photos include pictures of buses, passengers waiting at train stations, buildings slated for demolition, and two women washing hair standing with their arms crossed in front of a hair salon.

They were wearing black leather miniskirts and leopard-print tops, and their hair was styled in big, wavy curls; it was obvious they weren't actually washing customers' hair.

These photos are highly characteristic of their time, revealing the unique imprint and symbols of an era.

Huang Guanglu noticed that there was another photo in the picture, which showed four people and a cow.

A bullock cart was parked in front of the funeral home, with a country man smoking welding fumes sitting on it.

Three people were standing by the roadside: an old farmer and two young men.

The old farmer had dark skin and wore green, patched-up liberation shoes.

The two young people, one tall and one short, were facing away from the camera, their faces obscured.

Huang Guanglu picked up the photo, frowned, and asked, "When did you take this?"

Zhang Wen was a little puzzled, but still replied, "I took this picture the day before yesterday when I passed by the funeral home."

"Do you know what's on the oxcart?"

“A dead person.” Zhang Wen nodded, seeing the director’s displeasure, she didn’t say anything more.

"Yeah, a corpse. Why are you filming something like that?"

Zhang Wen puffed out her cheeks and said, "Director, our department is preparing for the arrival of the new millennium, and these photos are for planning purposes."

"The millennium?" Huang Guanglu smiled. "There are still more than two years to go. Why are you preparing so early?"

"This is what the station director ordered."

Huang Guanglu curled his lip: "But you can't photograph corpses, besides..."

He picked up a photo of a woman washing hair and waved it in front of Zhang Wen: "And this one, you took a picture of them even though you know what they do?"

Zhang Wen nodded: "I know, they are sex workers."

"Skilled woman!" Huang Guanglu threw the photo on the table: "Xiaowen, as an elder, I have to remind you that the station director and deputy director don't like these things. Don't make trouble for yourself. You should still spread a positive image, understand?"

As soon as he uttered the words "Do you understand?", Huang Guanglu leaned closer to Zhang Wen and widened his eyes.

Zhang Wen took two steps back and said with a smile, "Director, you mean to spread a positive spirit, right? Then how do you explain why our station broadcasts those obscene programs after midnight?"

"you……"

Hearing this, Huang Guanglu gritted his teeth: "Fine, I'm just trying to remind you, but you won't listen."

He raised his hand to unbutton his shirt collar, then, suppressing his anger, picked up his briefcase and strode into the corridor.

As you walk around the corner, there's a counter against the wall with a flowerpot on it.

Huang Guanglu swept his left hand, and the flowerpot fell to the ground with a thud.

"Boom."

He snorted coldly, didn't even look, and quickly went downstairs.

In the empty corridor, only Huang Guanglu's footsteps echoed, indicating his anger.

Zhang Wen was startled and stared blankly at the ceramic shards and dirt scattered all over the ground.

After a while, she took a breath, walked forward, picked up the ceramic shards, threw them in the trash can, and then swept the dirt away with a broom.

There used to be a green bamboo, about the length of an arm, growing in the flowerpot, but now it lies there all alone on the ground.

After picking it up, Zhang Wen returned to her desk, took out an empty glass jar from under the desk, poured some water from a thermos, and then inserted the green bamboo into it.

It was already 8:30 p.m., and everyone at the TV station except for the broadcasting department had already gone home.

Zhang Wen picked up the desk calendar and crossed out today's date (July 18th, Friday) with a pen.
She tidied her desk, preparing to leave work.

But suddenly, her gaze froze.

The photo she took in front of the funeral home is gone!
After Huang Guanglu finished reading it, she saw it with her own eyes, even though it was clearly thrown on the table.

"Where have you been?"

Zhang Wen pulled out the chair and looked left and right on the floor, but she just couldn't find it.

After failing to get anywhere, she sighed, packed up the other photos, put them in a drawer, slung her handbag over her shoulder, turned off the office lights, and went downstairs to go home.

Outside the TV station, the heat was intense, and even at night, it didn't cool down; there wasn't even a breeze.

Zhang Wen went down the steps, found her bicycle in the bike shed, and as soon as she got on, she felt something was wrong. After getting off, she checked the rear tire and found it had been punctured.

She stood there stunned for a long time before taking a deep breath, putting her bicycle back in the shed, and walking towards the gate.

The guardhouse was lit up, and the security guard was inside enjoying the breeze from the fan. He glanced at her, then lowered his head and continued reading the evening newspaper.

----------------

10 PM.

When Yang Jinwen and Jiang Bala returned to their rented room, Fu Yun and Maozi were already back.

"How about it?"

"Did you find anything?"

Jiang Bala and Fu Yun asked in unison.

Fu Yun raised the documents in his hand and said happily, "I'm retiring after achieving my goal!"

He pointed to a large pile of materials on the small square table and patted the cat's shoulder forcefully.

"It's all thanks to this kid, he appears and disappears like a ghost. He sneaked into the TV station building and nobody noticed him, isn't that strange?"
We just got back. We've got the TV station's staff list, and also the finance department's payroll from last month.

"You can even get the payroll?" Jiang Bala was taken aback, looking at the unassuming Maozi: "You're a real talent, damn it. With my years of experience in anti-pickpocketing, it's a shame you're not the King of Thieves!"

The cat pouted and asked, "Did I commit a crime?"

"A crime? You're supposed to be serving the people, right? If this case is solved, you'll at least get a major credit!"

"Under what pretext?" Cat blinked. "And, will we get separate rooms?"

"Want me to share a wife with you?" Yang Jinwen laughed. "You are destined to be an unsung hero, keeping your merits and fame hidden."

Cat raised an eyebrow. He was happiest to hear such praise from Yang Jinwen, this amazing person.

This is like when the results of the college entrance exam come out, and the top student and the poor student spend a long time comparing the questions. The top student says: "Your answers on the whole paper are exactly the same as mine."

Isn't that exciting?
The cat was happier than ever before, even happier than when it got paid.

There was only one small square table in the room; there were too many materials and not enough space.

So Jiang moved the table to the corner of the wall, clearing the floor.

It was hot, and there was no fan in the house, so Fu Yun opened the window to let in the night breeze, although it didn't really help.

Then, the four people sat cross-legged on the ground, with a dim light bulb above their heads. Mosquitoes that hadn't yet been killed by the heat were flying around the bulb.

Jiang Bala spoke first, recounting what he and Yang Jinwen had discovered.

After 5:30 p.m. on July 8, Ma Weiwei went to a night market four blocks away, bought a sanitary napkin and a thimble, and then took a shortcut back to school.

The path is lined with residential buildings on both sides, but these are the backs of the buildings, not the fronts.

In other words, people living in apartment buildings are unlikely to notice her.

This road wasn't deserted; Ma Weiwei wasn't the only one who passed through this alley that night.

The alleys connect to each other, winding and turning, but at the junction of each alley, there is a passage on the right that faces the main road.

Yang Jinwen and Jiang Bala tried walking the route; it would take fifteen minutes to return to the side gate of Chengnan Health School on foot.

At seven o'clock in the evening, it wasn't completely dark yet, and there were still pedestrians passing by in the alley.

Yang Jinwen concluded, "In other words, Ma Weiwei was abducted in this alley at 7 p.m.

Fu Yun frowned: "Seven o'clock in the evening? It's not even dark yet. If she was kidnapped, there's no way she wouldn't be seen!"

"Yes, so I guess either they were tricked or the perpetrators used some kind of method, such as ether or other chemicals that can cause unconsciousness."

Cat analyzed, "If Ma Weiwei was drugged, the perpetrator would have to have used a vehicle, not a motorcycle or bicycle, but a car."

Jiang asked, "What if they were lured away?"

Yang Jinwen replied, "We also need a car, after all, Ma Weiwei is an adult woman, and if she senses something is wrong, she might run away."

Starting in 92, the perpetrators committed the crimes seven times. In particular, Qin Xuelan and her daughter Zhang Huiqun could not have been easily lured away by the perpetrators.

Unless the perpetrator lives nearby.

"Do you live around here?" the cat repeated.

In the sweltering summer heat, everyone's backs were soaked with cold sweat.

Yang Jinwen sighed: "Alright, let's check the list and screen them one by one."

Fu Yun held a list of employees in his hand: "The TV station has a total of 116 employees."

Yang Jinwen said, "First, exclude women and those who joined after 92, then start checking according to the payroll."

Jiang asked, "What about income? Should we exclude those with very low incomes? For example, the security guards or those working in the cafeteria? After all, the perpetrators had cars, so their wages should be quite good."

Yang Jinwen shook his head: "Let's not rule it out yet. What if he borrowed the car?"

"it is good."

Immediately afterwards, they laid dozens of documents one by one on the floor, covering an area of ​​one square meter.

Four people sat around the materials in four directions and began to screen the suspected individuals one by one.

The light bulbs above their heads were sometimes bright and sometimes dim because of unstable voltage.

More than an hour later, the voltage finally gave out, and with a "pop," the light bulb went out. The hot tungsten filament also dimmed within seconds, plunging the entire room into darkness.

(End of this chapter)