HH Chapter 87

“These are shopping receipts,” Chen Xiaonuan glanced at them. “This one is for the lipstick.”

She separated the receipts, examining each one. Except for the used lipsticks, all the other lipsticks matched their corresponding receipts. Even some of the unopened cosmetics and skincare products on the table were reflected in the pile of receipts.

Cheng Ye looked at these, seemingly deep in thought. He picked up a receipt and said, “Have Jiang Fei and Fang Yuan check these places’ surveillance footage to see if they find anything.”

“Got it,” Chen Xiaonuan responded.

Pei Qinghuai glanced at the receipts and then went back to the wardrobe. He carefully pulled out a bag containing a dark blue shirt. After a moment of examination, he took out more of Sun Xiaoyu’s clothes from the wardrobe.

“This probably isn’t Sun Xiaoyu’s shirt,” Pei Qinghuai said, holding up the blue short-sleeved shirt. “Let’s take it back for testing.”

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Sun Xiaoyu’s apartment was small, and apart from the receipts and clothes, there were no other useful clues. They contacted Sun Xiaoyu’s friends and learned that she was called out to the bar on the night of July 10th without prior arrangement, which matched the state of her apartment. No further questions were needed.

When they obtained the surveillance footage from the bar, they found that apart from the clear footage from the camera above the bar, the other cameras were practically useless, capturing blurry images that made it impossible to identify people in crowded scenes. Cheng Ye was so frustrated he wanted to punch someone.

Zhang Yibao also retrieved the footage from Sun Xiaoyu’s apartment complex for the night of July 10th, which showed her leaving the building and taking a taxi to the bar. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

Standing behind Zhang Yibao, Pei Qinghuai said, “So, Sun Xiaoyu is actually the third victim in this series of disappearances. She disappeared on July 10th, while Wu Xie disappeared on July 11th.” He sighed, “There’s no discernible pattern.”

Suddenly, Zhang Yibao turned around and said something startling, “Mr. Pei, do you think this could be an organized crime?”

Pei Qinghuai’s eyes twitched, and his expression turned serious. At that moment, Cheng Ye came over, put his hand on Pei Qinghuai’s shoulder, and said, “Let’s go. Don’t get lost in thought. We need to review the surveillance footage.”

“Oh…” Pei Qinghuai responded absentmindedly as Cheng Ye dragged him away.

They had almost gotten sick of reviewing the surveillance footage from the previous disappearance cases, but without any useful leads, they had no choice but to go through the footage over and over again.

“Still thinking about what Erbao said?” Cheng Ye pulled out a chair and sat down. “I know what you’re thinking, but let’s hope for the best. After all, they’re just missing for now.”

Pei Qinghuai’s breathing became heavier. He moved his chair closer and murmured, “I hope so.” He pressed the spacebar and asked, “Any updates on Tang Jiale?”

Cheng Ye scrolled through the footage, “No, we’ve been tailing Tang Jiale for a few days. Besides staying home, she goes to the library or shopping with Qin Nan. Nothing unusual.”

“I have an immature thought,” Pei Qinghuai said. “Tang Jiale gives me a strange feeling, like she’s trying to convey some message. This has made me focus all my thoughts on Qin Nan.”