American Zombie Detective

Chapter 144 Lily's Disappearance

Chen Anni's legs went weak, and she almost collapsed to the ground if she hadn't been holding onto the railing. The assumption that "the ghost will come to eat her tonight" filled her with extreme fear and panic. She cried and pleaded incoherently, "Detective! Detective Qin, please, save me! I don't want to die! I want to live! I'll tell you anything, as long as you get rid of that thing—yes! Money! Golden Sail Yacht Club, number 33 is Lin Guofu's private dock, the password is 987888, there are hundreds of thousands of dollars in emergency cash in the safe, the password is 767689, the key is in the tea canister in the study—and also, the Mountain God, I'll tell you where the Mountain God is—"

Qin Jin's eyes flickered slightly, gesturing to the Duke recorder behind him.

Chen Anni spilled the beans, no longer daring to hide anything: "We...we brought back a stone, dark and black, with patterns on it that look like—like a face!"

She was breathing heavily, her fingers clenching so tightly her knuckles turned white: "It—it was enshrined in the basement of an empty house in the Rand Park neighborhood!"

"The exact location?" Qin Jin's voice remained calm.

"Room 17! Room 17! Lin Guofu—bought it in his private lawyer's name! No one can trace it back to us—the key, the key is with Lin Guofu, I don't know where he put it—"

Qin Jin understood immediately; so that's how it is—

Using lawyers to hold the property on their behalf, and setting up a hidden altar near their own mansion, it was indeed well hidden, no wonder they couldn't find the Lin family no matter how many times they searched.

Now that we know the location, does the key still matter? It's all just a matter of kicking it!

Next, Chen Anni, following Qin Jin's instructions, recounted the entire situation in detail. The account largely matched Chen Zhenni's, except that the eldest daughter's death wasn't an accident, but rather a sacrifice made by Lin Guofu and Chen Anni because they couldn't appease the mountain god.

"I have no choice! I have no choice!" Chen Anni cried, her makeup ruined, wailing heart-wrenchingly as if all the guilt she had felt for her daughter over the decades had finally surfaced. "We have no money at all! Our second and third children are starving to death! We believed in that fortune teller's evil ways, thinking that as long as we offered up a little girl, we would have a good life from now on—who knew the mountain god wanted all our children dead! We regret it, we regret it so much! But it's too late—my child! You are so pitiful—"

She cried so bitterly that even a stone would break its heart.

However, Qin Jin and Hansen remained unmoved. They were both shrewd people; how could such acting skills fool anyone?!

As for making that phone call, Chen Anni was actually panicked at the time. She was afraid that the mountain god would come after her, so she wanted to involve the police.

In her imagination, once the police find out about this, they will send out characters like the Men in Black, S.H.I.E.L.D., exorcists, etc., to deal with the mountain gods and rescue them from danger. Even if they die, it will be the police who go to their deaths.

Even if things are exposed, it will be Lin Guofu and Chen Zhenni who go to jail, and it will have nothing to do with her.

Qin Jin listened to her rambling on and on, having explained most of the things except for one last one, so he couldn't help but interrupt her: "One last thing, whose child is it?"

This question struck Chen Anni like a bolt of lightning; her body stiffened abruptly, and a complex expression flashed across her face—

Shame, resentment, confusion, and a hint of something unsettling.

She lowered her head, her fingers unconsciously twisting the hem of her dress. After several seconds, she said in an almost whispered tone, tinged with embarrassment and a hint of despair, "—It's Tagore's."

"Tagore?" Qin Jin and Detective Hansen exchanged a glance, immediately recalling the boy—the one who had fought with Mike and come to the police station. His words and strange expression before leaving resurfaced in Qin Jin's mind.

"Detective, there's something else—Lin Hao is smarter than he looks! Many people misunderstand him; you'll see if you investigate—I've never met anyone smarter than him—everyone's wrong about him!"

Tagore spoke very seriously, almost as if he were announcing something, or emphasizing or proving something.

He instantly realized that he seemed to have overlooked Tagore a bit, and Qin Jin immediately whispered in Hansen's ear: "Send someone to find Tagore's girlfriend immediately and bring her to the police station."

Although Hansen didn't know why Qin Jin suddenly mentioned Tagore's girlfriend, he didn't say much and immediately went out to arrange for someone to handle it.

Meanwhile, Chen Anni continued her narration: "Yes—it's Lin Hao's classmate, Tagore. I don't even know when they became friends—" Chen Anni's voice lowered further, her head bowed even deeper: "About two or three months ago—one afternoon, Lin Hao brought fruit to my house to see me, Tagore,

Tagore came with him at the time, and then, then Lin Hao suddenly received a phone call and left in a hurry, leaving Tagore alone—”

Her voice was somewhat unsteady, carrying a kind of confusion she couldn't quite explain: "And then—that's how it happened. Tagore—he—I don't know how it happened, we did it—so many times! Later, he came a few more times—and then—I found out I was pregnant—"

She abruptly raised her head, a twisted light flashing in her eyes: "I just found out! It wasn't that Jenny and I couldn't have children! It was Lin Guofu! It was him! He's the real useless one! He's the one who's impotent! He's the one who's ruined us all these years!"

This has become even more interesting —

Lin Hao brought his classmates to his home and then left, leaving Tagore and his mother alone? This is no coincidence! What is Lin Hao planning? What role did Tagore play in all of this?

A few days before Mike's death, Tagore and Mike had a fight, which, based on the timeline, must have happened after Tagore and Annie Chen had their affair.

Tagore's role in all of this suddenly became inexplicably important!

Seeing that Chen Anni had almost finished speaking, Qin Jin prepared to leave when Chen Anni suddenly cried out, "I've told you everything I know! Detective Qin! You promised to save me! You have to save me!"

Chen Anni stared intently at Qin Jin, her eyes filled with a desperate plea.

Looking at her terrified and desperate face, Qin Jin's lips twitched almost imperceptibly. He immediately nodded seriously: "Don't worry, I said I would save your life, and I will."

Detective Hansen noticed Qin Jin's unusual expression and understood that Qin Jin's serious demeanor clearly indicated he was prepared to give a perfunctory answer.

Just like when I gave Chen Zhenni advice yesterday! I looked serious, but I didn't care at all!

He also chimed in, reassuring her, "Ms. Chen, as long as you cooperate, Detective Qin will definitely have a way."

Anyway, this woman wasn't a good person, and Hansen wasn't very interested in saving her.

Having received the "guarantee," Chen Anni breathed a slight sigh of relief, slumped back into her chair, and gasped for breath.

It was still early, so Qin Jin prepared to go see Granny Wang.

On the surface, it was she who told Chen Anni about the "murder in seven days," but now it's clear that it was just a cover-up, a story Chen Anni came up with herself. But for someone who could calmly brew a "beauty soup," Qin Jin felt it was still necessary to take a look.

The bloated old woman, huddled in a chair, immediately put on a fawning, mournful face when Qin Jin entered. She pleaded in heavily accented Cantonese mixed with English, "Sir! Spare me, sir! I was forced! I had no choice! I need to eat—"

Qin Jin stood before her, his expression utterly unfriendly: "Doing such a heinous thing, using fetuses in medicine, aren't you afraid of retribution? Aren't you afraid of being struck by lightning?"

A flicker of panic crossed Granny Wang's cloudy eyes, but she grasped at it like a lifeline and hurriedly protested, "Retribution? Sir, I—I learned it from someone! I don't know! It's all—it's all Zhang the fortune teller!"

"Those three taught me!"

She said urgently, "When I first arrived here, I wanted to try something new. I heard that Master Zhang had connections—so I went to his counter and gave him a sum of money! Yes! He taught me this recipe! He said it could improve complexion and beauty, and help wealthy ladies improve their health. It cost a lot of money! I really didn't know the consequences would be so serious! I just wanted to have two peaceful meals a day, officer!"

Is it another fortune teller?

It seems that this fortune teller Zhang is quite capable; he can get involved in everything. He's definitely not a simple person!

Qin Jin asked Wang Po about other things, and as he had guessed, Wang Po only knew how to brew beauty soup; she knew nothing else. She was truly a tool, and more importantly—

Wang Po was surrounded by vengeful spirits and looked fat and big-eared, but she was actually not long for this world. Qin Jin couldn't be bothered with her.

Just then, a series of hurried footsteps rushed in. Before the person even entered the room, Detective Duke's voice rang out: "It's terrible, Detective Qin! Tagore's girlfriend, Molly, has gone missing. They reported it yesterday afternoon!"

"Hmm?" This was unexpected for Qin Jin. He quickly walked out of the cell, intending to ask for the specific details, when his phone vibrated. He picked it up and saw that it was a call from Detective Carter.

When the call connected, Carter's anxious voice came through: "Detective Qin! Lily, the Lily we're monitoring, she... she's gone!"

Almost simultaneously, the two mysteriously disappeared?