American Zombie Detective

The next day, the case was in its final stages.

Detective Willie and his team's investigation was clear: they found the remains of the people who had been eaten. Their skins had not been removed, suggesting that they were intended as food rather than replacements.

As for Sherry, she also discovered O'Reilly's true identity—

Her disappearance information was entered into the system by the San Jose City police about two months ago. The person who reported her missing claimed to be her brother. It seems that this should be the place to continue tracing the origin of the Painted Skin Ghost.

After some consideration, Qin Jin gathered everyone together and held a brief meeting:

First, thanks to Detective Willie, Constable Herman, and Constable Shelly for their recent assistance; it has now been confirmed that their cadaveric infection has been cleared and they are able to return to their posts.

Their efforts and achievements in this "Painted Skin Ghost" case will be noted in the report and submitted to their supervisor.

Second, the final stages of the case were completed by Constantine and Catherine, with Catherine responsible for the reports and documentation, and Constantine responsible for preparing the weapons, including:

Catherine needs the special bullets and self-defense dagger for the second group; Alessa needs the bullets for her Gru Super Red Eagle; and finally, Qin Jin himself needs a sidearm or a similar weapon!

Third, Qin Jin himself planned to go to San Jose with Alessa to continue investigating the origin of the Painted Skin Ghost.

Of course, Selena will be informed of this trip.

His stated reason was fear of breaking his promise if he didn't return in three days, but after Detective Willie and the others left, Constantine immediately laughed—

Qin Jin's intention to use Selena as a free bodyguard is all too obvious!

The day was spent in preparation, including reporting the trip to Frank, getting fresh chicken blood, and asking for leave for Alessa and the school... All sorts of things were done on this day, and it went relatively smoothly overall.

When Alessa heard the news, the unpleasantness of tearing her skirt yesterday immediately disappeared, because Qin Jin told her that San Jose is only about fifty kilometers away from San Francisco, and if possible, she could go there and kidnap two people.

Life is simply wonderful!

Around 7 p.m., Qin Jin set off with Alessa.

More than six hours later, Dodge arrived at the Northern California city, which was still on the verge of falling asleep.

They found a roadside motel, checked in quickly, and the room was filled with the mixed smell of disinfectant and old carpet. The two rested for about two hours and received a call from Selena before dawn.

"I've arrived," Selena said calmly.

"The Blood Moon Bar in the west of the city. Aside from bringing me the scrolls, don't bother me with anything else."

Before Qin Jin could reply, the call was abruptly ended. Qin Jin tossed the phone aside and continued sleeping on his pillow.

As zombies, Qin Jin and Alessa don't need much sleep each day, only about two or three hours. They can skip sleep if needed.

So, around 9 a.m., Qin Jin and Alessa arrived at the address on the police report and found O'Reil's brother.

A haggard-looking white man in his thirties opened the door. His name was Philip Hughes; Aurel’s original name was Mary Hughes.

"Officer? What's the matter?" He looked at Qin Jin's police badge, then glanced at Alessa, who was holding a doll and had a blank expression.

"There are some things that need to be verified regarding the disappearance of your sister Mary," Qin Jin said calmly.

Philip ushered the two into the small living room, where they had a simple but dull conversation.

According to his description, Mary had been working at a secondhand store called "Past Days" before she disappeared. Her disappearance was extremely abrupt, and Mary had shown no signs of anything unusual beforehand.

Even more strangely, the owner of the secondhand store, Jason, also disappeared around the same time. The police have searched both the store and the home, but have found no clues about their whereabouts.

Subsequently, the shop was partially closed. Jason's son would occasionally open the shop to sell some items, but because he also had his own job and the case was not yet closed, the shop remained open for the time being.

In addition to her work situation, Philip also provided other information about his sister before her death:

The cafes, shops, and shopping malls I frequent; the names of a handful of friends; the men I've met...

Qin Jin listened patiently, and intuitively felt that only the secondhand shop was worth investigating; the other clues were almost worthless.

After leaving, the two headed straight for their destination.

The secondhand store is located in a large secondhand market in San Jose. The roller shutter door is closed, and the glass windows are full of opportunities. Through the blurry glass, you can see the outlines of the messy pile of items inside. The door is sealed with police tape.

There were quite a few pedestrians around, and breaking down the door would make too much noise, so Qin Jin and Alessa tacitly went around to the back alley of the shop.

The back alley was narrow and piled with trash cans and odds and ends. It was there that they found the toilet window of the secondhand store.

"Tsk, a bit high, Alessa, you come here." Qin Jin looked at it.

Alessa silently stepped onto Qin Jin's shoulders, grabbed the two iron railings with both hands, and with a little force, "creak—" two dull snapping sounds followed as she tore the rusty railings open with her bare hands, and then opened the window.

After Aresa climbed in, Qin Jin nimbly followed and squeezed in as well.

The store was dimly lit and filled with the smell of dust, mildew, and the musty odor of old objects.

As expected, the place had clearly been searched by the police; many things had been turned over, and papers and debris were scattered on the ground.

Qin Jin and Alessa split up and carefully searched through the mountains of old furniture, appliances, books, and miscellaneous items. Time passed slowly, and apart from some unimportant old items and a few scattered documents that the police had overlooked, they seemed to have found nothing.

Just as Qin Jin was frowning, preparing to give up and look for another way, Alessa stopped in front of the bottommost drawer behind the counter. She crouched down, her gray-blue eyes fixed on the gap at the bottom of the drawer, and stretched out her small hand, scratching the edge with her nails.

"Qin," she called out flatly.

Qin Jin went over and pulled out a drawer. He fumbled around for a bit and opened the entire drawer panel. Inside the drawer's inner shelf was a small booklet about the size of a palm.

I flipped through it briefly; it was an account book containing records of certain items traded through illicit means.

Jewelry of unknown origin, antiques suspected of being stolen, gold teeth possibly taken from corpses... and some items designated for trade.

It appears that Jason's transactions cover a wide range of areas and are quite varied, with unclear origins for the items.

But none of this concerned Qin Jin. He searched through the records from before his disappearance, and soon, an acquisition notice caught his eye:

"Buying an ink painting from the East, a gourd landscape painting, $300."

Ink painting? Landscape? Gourd?

Qin Jin immediately thought of the scroll painting that sealed the Painted Skin Demon. It was a similar ink painting, but it depicted temples and bronze tripods. The style was so similar!

"Alessa, look carefully! Find a painting, something with a landscape or something else, and a big gourd by the door!"

The two then conducted another thorough search of the store, turning over bookshelves, painting tubes, rolled-up tapestries, and even the back of cabinets containing paintings.

No! The painting has vanished!

Qin Jin took out his phone and dialed Selena's number.

The phone rang for a long time before being answered. Selena, her voice laced with suppressed anger, said, "Qin! You'd better have a good reason! It's daytime!"

"I might have found the source of the Painted Skin Ghost," Qin Jin said, ignoring her morning grumpiness.

"Now I want to ask, where did you get the scroll that sealed the Painted Skin Demon?"

"..." There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone, as if someone was suppressing anger, or perhaps deep in thought and reminiscing:

"I don't know! Eli found it, only saying it was a powerful Eastern artifact, without mentioning its origin, and I didn't ask! Now that you've killed him, there's no point in asking! Is there anything else?"

"That's all, go to sleep." Qin Jin hung up the phone decisively, ignoring the silent roar that might erupt from the other end.

The trail seems to have gone cold again.

Qin Jin felt that this thing was likely the key to the whole incident, so... he decided to go to Jason's house and see if his family knew anything.