Case Files 013

Chapter 77: Private Investigators

After hearing that story, I felt my left kidney pulse with phantom pain. If the venture wasn't successful, wouldn't he have lost everything? How a genius' mind worked was definitely different from normal. The determination and conviction were unrivalled. Those in the venture capital business had to strike quick and ruthless, only then they could find a path in the ever-changing market. If this old man's eye was as sharp as Captain Zhao said, then I believed he must have received messages through grapevine that made him confirm his daughter had been kidnapped.

Captain Zhao said, "Therefore, the moment after he made the police report, Mary and I immediately pulled up all the information we could find on his past and current competition, anyone who might have crossed the line from business to personal." Captain Zhao tapped on the white board. There were about more than 10 pictures, men, women, old and young. Each picture came with the person's information like their names, ages, occupations, family histories, addresses and their histories with Liu Yinyan. The pictures were connected by red lines and it was labelled with the individuals' connections. Mary and Captain Zhao sure moved fast to have come up with the whole crime board considering the daughter had been missing for just an hour. Looks like the city had pulled its full force into this case, after all, Elder Liu had much weight in the city council.

"There are so many of them?" Xiao Liu scratched his head. "If we investigate them one by one, it'll already be tomorrow by the time we finish."

Captain Zhao explained, "The city has sent us additional manpower and this is really not a lot. These are just people who have had history with Liu Yinyan. We haven't even included the possibility of this being a random ransom. Kidnappers who never knew Liu Yinyan personally but abducted his daughter for ransom money. So in other words, we have a lot of work to do."

Gu Chen couldn't help but grumble, "No one would have cared if a girl from a normal family goes missing. What makes this girl so unique? That so many people had to be mobilized to investigate a case that has not even been confirmed to be a missing person or a kidnapping case." We all turned to Gu Chen, his face was hard set with angry lines. I knew Gu Chen was someone who spoke without a filter and didn't quite know how to read the room, but then again, he was not completely wrong.

Hearing that, Captain Zhao said lightly, "Ah, the fury of the youth, but you have to understand that there will always be unfairness in this world.

"I told you about Liu Yinyan's past because I want you to understand that back then when Liu Yinyan had to sell his kidney to join the business, no one stepped out to defend his rights either. That was unfair to him, no?

"The world is like a tipping scale, it can't ever be fair. The moment we are born, we are placed on one side of the scales. Some are born with the silver spoon while others fall into poverty, but you have to understand that our positions are not permanently fixed. Change is possible for everyone. Some might tumble down from the pedestal because they didn't know how to treasure what they have and others could slowly make their ways to the top based on pure hard work. Therefore, fairness is relative. If you want special privilege, then you have to work hard; if you don't want to work hard but demand for privilege? Then I'm sorry, the world won't respond to you. There is no free meal in this world." Captain Zhao looked at Gu Chen and said gently, "Therefore, we have to find Liu Fei'er, got it?" Gu Chen nodded subconsciously.

Captain Zhao nodded in return. "Then we'll proceed like usual. Mary and I will handle the big picture, giving you the direction and the target to investigate. But now the four of you should go to Liu Yinyan's house to see if you can find anything. Oh, by the way, other than the police, some private investigators will be participating in this case as well."

"Private investigators?" I shook my head. "Isn't that not allowed in China due to the lack of monitoring available?"

Captain Zhao shook his head as well. "It can't be helped. Since Liu Fei'er's mother is Russian so the city has granted her special permission. She is not currently in China but she has powerful connections with the Russian embassy. Her relationship with her husband is complicated but there's no time to get into details now. Just do not lose face for Dong Xing City's police station, you better find Liu Fei'er faster than private investigators do. You'll have the city's full support." If it turned out this was just because Liu Fei'er forgot to turn on her phone, it would be so awkward.

"By the way, did Liu Yinyan have any special request on his end?" I asked.

Captain Zhao extended one finger. "There's only one, which is to ensure Liu Fei'er's safety. No matter what happens, she has to return safely. He is willing to go bankrupt if that's necessary. Okay, you should go. The private investigators would have arrived at the airport and heading to Elder Liu's house now."

We took the city's ride to Liu Yinyan's home, which was among the bungalows that peppered the coastline. Various kinds of luxury automobiles were parked in front of the large iron gate. Compared to the other cars, it felt like we arrived riding a tricycle.

"The fuck, why are there so many people?" Xiao Liu gasped. "It's like a car expo here." I rolled down the car window and saw the crowd gathered near the gate. Most of these people I had only seen on tv before, this was the first time I saw them in person. I used to think these people lived in a different world, it was hard to imagine they lived in the same city as we did. After all, in our years of living here, we had never run into them on the streets before.

"They probably rushed over the first moment they heard something was wrong." I looked at the 5 security guards at the door. "But it appears like Elder Liu is not seeing any of them at the moment. It's understandable, after all, the kidnapper might be one of these people."

"Looks like the life of the rich is as complicated as ours." Guan Zhenglin got down from the car and showed the leading guard our id. The guard spoke into his walkie-talkie and soon the gate opened a small gap just enough for one car to pass through. Guan Zhenglin got back into the car. "Come on, Captain Zhao has already informed them so we can go in now." I looked at the crowd that was blocked behind the gate and smiled. "I believe it wouldn't take long for the mass media to get here. The whole of Dong Xing City is about to be rocked." Xiao Liu added, "You're right about that. If there's one thing good about reporters, it's that they move so freaking fast"

The car entered the compound and there was still quite a distance to go before we would reach the actual bungalow. I looked around with a frown. The area had more than one entrance, probably one on each nautical side. But all the gates were guarded and the compound was surrounded by an iron fence. As we moved along the path, we could see patrolling guards. If we lifted our heads, we could even see the many different cameras hidden among the trees and electric poles. The security here should be very good, if someone managed to steal an 18 year old girl away from her room without raising an alarm, this had to be the work of a professional team. In other words, the kidnappers would have scouted this place beforehand. They expertly avoided the patrols, cameras and sneaked into and out the bungalow. While I was thinking, the car stopped as we had arrived. The bungalow was about 200 square metres wide, it had 2 floors. Currently, there was a platoon of guards at the entrance. The moment they saw us, they directed us into a parking spot. Then, someone who appeared to be the butler came to ask, "I'm sorry but you are?"

Xiao Liu answered, "We are the people from the city, sent to investigate the truth."

The butler frowned in worry as if not trusting that we could come up with anything but that was normal. After all, the oldest among us was Xiao Liu, and he was only 24 and the youngest, Guan Zhenglin, was not even 20. Sending such a junior team did not speak well for the image of the city. But he kept his opinion to himself and showed us to the front door. The moment we walked in, we saw Liu Yinyan sitting on a real leather sofa in the living room. His eyes were closed but his brows were deeply furrowed. His worry was plain.

"Mr. Liu, the people from the city are here." The butler reported. Liu Yinyan opened his eyes and studied us. His face was expressionless. He didn't show any concern like the butler. He only nodded and said, "You're sent by Captain Zhao, since he trusts you, then I trust you too."

Standing before someone like Liu Yinyan, we couldn't help but be a little nervous. I said, "Then we will skip the formality. You want to find your daughter as soon as possible, right? So may we look at your daughter's room?"

Liu Yinyan nodded and turned to the butler. "Ol' Lee, bring them to Fei'er's room. By the way, Xiao Zhao should have told you that my wife has made the decision to hire a group of private investigators. She is worried sick and she only wants to help. I didn't stop her because we both just want our daughter back. The private investigators have already started their investigation, you have to help each other. Do not turn this into a competition." When Liu Yinyan said this, his tone was sharp and commanding. "My daughter's life is on the line here. If anything happens to my daughter, your life won't be easy either." Then his tone returned to normal. "Go now, actually, wait, I'll bring you there myself."

Liu Yinyan led us up the stairs, the second floor was a whole new world. After taking several turns, we finally reached Liu Fei'er's room. Her room door was open and a person was standing at the door taking pictures on the camera. Based on the sounds, there were more people inside the room. This should be the team of private investigators hired by Liu Yinyan's wife.