"Right, Officer. I remember that not long ago, this Li Ming suddenly called me and said he'd soon make a fortune. After that, he'd buy an apartment in our hometown county and live a steady life with me. But I haven't seen him since that night."
The woman gave the date, which happened to be the same date shown on the surveillance as Li Ming's last appearance here.
This lead matched up.
After Lao Li got a clear understanding of Li Ming's general situation, he lost much interest in the woman's own affairs.
"Do you know where Li Ming used to work?"
"Sure. He worked as a car washer at the Red Sun Car Wash. He wasn't very promising. In my opinion, he was just bragging to me. How could it be so easy to make a fortune?" The woman's endless chatter continued.
Xiao Chen didn't know how to tell this woman, who still had some expectations for life, that Li Ming was probably a murderer or an accomplice.
It would be too cruel.
In the end, the woman didn't ask them why they were investigating Li Ming.
After getting information about Li Ming, they didn't stay any longer.
"Officers, call me if you need anything in the future. I'm quite good at hair - cutting."
Although it was a normal way of soliciting customers, Xiao Chen always heard a hint of coquetry in it.
After leaving the building, Lao Li sighed, took out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it.
Xiao Chen, standing close by, was choked and coughed a few times.
Lao Li joked with him, "Young man, don't you want one?"
Xiao Chen's face turned red from coughing. He refused the cigarette Lao Li offered and said seriously, "My dad is a doctor. He'd break my legs if he saw me smoking."
"Haha." Lao Li took back the cigarette, took a deep puff, then tucked the cigarette that Xiao Chen had refused behind his ear and sighed, "You're still young. In our line of work, you'll end up loving it even if you don't smoke at first."
"Senior, what's so good about cigarettes?"
Lao Li didn't answer him. He looked at the distance sadly and thought to himself, "He's still young. After handling a few more cases, he'll know cigarettes can give you inspiration and briefly numb you when you're desperate about human nature."
"Senior, why didn't you tell that girl the truth just now?"
Maybe it was because of the fragrant flowers or the girl's expectations when she talked about buying a house, Xiao Chen didn't want to refer to the woman under investigation as just "a woman".
Lao Li took a hard puff of his cigarette. Watching the smoke ring slowly fade and disappear in the air, he sighed, "I just couldn't bear to. Didn't you notice? That woman clearly still had expectations for Li Ming."
Maybe, as she said, if Li Ming could really give her a promise, even if it was just to go back to a small city, that girl would probably be willing.
Xiao Chen didn't say a word. His heart was filled with a complex mix of emotions.
"Senior, give me one." Xiao Chen said calmly.
"But look on the bright side. This is just a shitty life. There are so many things we can't do anything about. Think about it. Although Li Ming might have loved that girl, what about the victim? What did Wang Lin do wrong? A girl who had never even enjoyed love was just gone. Shouldn't we bring such people to justice?"
Xiao Chen knew Lao Li was trying to comfort him, but he still couldn't accept it emotionally.
A criminal, yet so tender towards another woman.
If he hadn't embarked on the path of crime, the two of them might have been happy, right?
"Is this the meaning of our existence? To fight against criminals?"
"No. The meaning of our existence is to give hope and light to kind - hearted people." Lao Li finished his cigarette and looked at the blazing sun with emotion.
Xiao Chen chewed on Lao Li's words repeatedly. Suddenly, the darkness in his heart was dispelled and his heart brightened up.
"Yes!" He answered firmly.
The Red Sun Car Wash wasn't far from here.
Especially when Xiao Chen stood in front of the car wash and found that he could see the girl's place from outside, he got goosebumps all over.
Did Li Ming choose this job because he could see his beloved from here?
When they found the person in charge and learned that Li Ming had quit his job, they weren't surprised at all.
No matter what role Li Ming played here, since he had contacted Wang Lin, his next step must be to run away. Otherwise, would he just wait for the police to arrest him?
"When did he quit? Did he say where he was going?" Lao Li asked the person in charge.
The person in charge was an efficient employee who could keep the place in order. Knowing he had to maintain a good relationship with the police when they came, he cooperated fully.
"Li Ming said he wanted to buy a house in his hometown. Could he have gone back there?"
Xiao Chen was also a bit suspicious.
"That's impossible." Lao Li said firmly.
"Why?"
"Think about it. If he went back, how could he bear to leave that girl here to suffer?" Lao Li looked as if he saw through everything.
"That's true." Xiao Chen mumbled.
"Then where did he go?"
Lao Li didn't answer this question. Instead, he turned to the person in charge and asked, "Can we take a look at this person's employee locker?"
Li Ming was provided with food and accommodation here. According to the regulations, all employees here had dormitories and lockers.
The person in charge took them to Li Ming's bed first.
The bedding was neatly arranged, with a bit of dust on it. It was obvious that he hadn't been back for several days.
Xiao Chen rummaged through it but found nothing except a few pieces of white paper.
"Take us to the locker." Lao Li suggested.
So they came to the locker.
When the person in charge took out the key to unlock it, he found he couldn't open it no matter what.
After trying countless keys, he looked closely at the lock and said dejectedly, "Why has the lock been changed?"
"Wang Chun!" He called over a co - worker and asked, "Why was the lock changed?"
Wang Chun explained, "Oh, Manager. Li Ming said the lock wasn't working well, so he bought an identical one and replaced it himself."
Here, each employee had a key to their locker, and the person in charge kept a spare one in case they carelessly lost their keys and needed to get a new one made.
No one expected the lock to be directly replaced.
Lao Li narrowed his eyes and politely asked the person in charge, "Would it be convenient to pry open this locker?"
"Convenient, of course. It's for the investigation. It's our duty to cooperate." The person in charge said with a smile, showing no sign of dissatisfaction. He called Wang Chun over and told him to force - open the locker directly.
The car wash had all kinds of tools. Wang Chun picked up a wrench and quickly broke the lock.
The locker door opened.
Xiao Chen held his breath, thinking there might be something inside.
Unexpectedly, the locker was completely empty.
What was going on?
If it was empty, why did he add a new lock?
He wasn't convinced. He stepped forward and checked it up and down, and it was indeed empty.
Xiao Chen looked at Lao Li for help.
In situations like this, an experienced person always helped to stabilize the situation.
Lao Li walked over to the locker unhurriedly, waved his big hand, and started tapping here and there.