Hearing this, Zuo Mu became quite curious. He took a sip of the steaming coffee. A bitter yet fragrant taste spread on the tip of his tongue. He asked, "Shouldn't you all be focusing on your studies? Why are you working part - time outside?"
"Yeah," Tang Tang replied seriously and cutely to Zuo Mu, "It's not just me. Many of my classmates are doing part - time jobs. We want to buy something, but our parents are strict with our pocket money, so we earn money through part - time jobs to buy what we want."
"Oh, I see." Zuo Mu didn't think much of it. He thought part - time jobs were something only college students did. These kids nowadays...
Suddenly, a light bulb went off in his mind. He instantly sobered up and asked Tang Tang, "You said many of your classmates are doing part - time jobs?"
"Yeah, brother. Don't think high school students can't do part - time jobs. Many convenience stores nearby like to hire students. And we're already over 16 years old."
Tang Tang chattered on and on.
Zuo Mu couldn't listen at all. He was thinking about something else.
He had suspected many ways. How on earth did the culprit manage to deceive one student after another into following them obediently? High school kids study all day, don't consume much, and have simple social relationships.
Tang Tang's words reminded him. If it was about part - time jobs, everything would make sense.
"Tang Tang! Thank you!" Zuo Mu excitedly handed the coffee to Tang Tang. Without caring about anything else, he closed the study door right in front of her.
Tang Tang felt the warmth of the coffee in her palm and stared blankly.
Well, he's just a single young man who's gone crazy over the case. Tang Tang, be kind.
Telling herself this, Tang Tang calmly held the cup. Since she couldn't help much, she went back to her room to sleep.
Zuo Mu was very principled. He said he wouldn't let her know, so no matter what she did, he wouldn't tell her.
Tang Tang knew this about Zuo Mu very well, so she didn't force it.
Zuo Mu rushed to the whiteboard and wrote the words "part - time job" in the middle of all the words on the board with a marker.
Got it! Looking at it this way, all the clues became clear!
It was the part - time job!
Zuo Mu's eyes turned red with excitement.
He couldn't wait a moment longer and called Xiao Chen.
Coincidentally, Xiao Chen and his team were there too. They had finally found a lead in Buhai, and the whole team was extremely busy.
Xiao Chen had been challenged during the day and was eager to get back at the person. When he saw that Zuo Mu was calling him, he happily answered the phone, planning to take his revenge.
Unexpectedly, Zuo Mu's voice on the other end of the phone was extremely excited.
"I think I know where the key point is."
"What? What key point?" Xiao Chen was confused.
"The case!" Zuo Mu's voice showed an unusual emotional fluctuation.
Xiao Chen had never seen him like this before, so he didn't say anything but quietly listened to Zuo Mu.
Zuo Mu was still very excited on the phone, "This case is not an isolated incident. What's the key point? I've thought about it for a long time. Suddenly, I thought of Wang Lin's message. Part - time job!"
Xiao Chen more or less understood from his confused words.
"Part - time job?"
"Yes. I have enough reason to suspect that the culprit has committed more than one crime. You can ask the information department to check the organ disappearance cases in recent years. The keyword is 'part - time job'. If there are any matches, there's a high chance they're in the same group as Wang Lin and the others."
Could it be that simple?
Xiao Chen thought about it and found that it was indeed the case.
Most of the victims were students. Students lived a simple life in school. Logically, they shouldn't be exposed to such dark things. So what could make students obediently follow them to a specific place?
Part - time jobs.
Only information about making some pocket money could make students obedient.
Thinking of this, Xiao Chen angrily punched the table.
Why? Those kids just wanted to save money to buy something they liked, but unexpectedly, they had to pay the price of their lives in the end.
Xiao Chen's eyes were blood - red. He said hatefully, "I got it. I'll ask the information department to check right away."
Because of his extreme anger, his voice became hoarse.
Zuo Mu naturally knew why Xiao Chen was like this.
Maybe because of his good family environment and kind nature, Xiao Chen was actually an idealist.
Encountering such a thing right after graduation was really a big blow to him.
Maybe he should introduce a psychologist to Xiao Chen after the case was solved.
After hanging up the phone, Xiao Chen immediately reported this information to the headquarters.
The leader of the special task force naturally attached great importance to it after hearing this. He went to the information department in person and asked them to conduct a strict investigation. The result came out quickly.
Sure enough, just as Zuo Mu had said, this criminal gang was actually a wanted gang that had been active for many years.
Through cross - comparison, the information department found that three years ago, this gang had committed crimes in City S and City Y. Although their modus operandi was a bit different from now, it was generally the same.
Three years ago, there were such news reports in City S and City Y. Young boys and girls were found in the wilderness, half - naked. The most cruel thing was that all their organs were missing.
Due to many reasons such as under - developed technology or the severely damaged crime scene being discovered too late, the criminals were extremely cunning. They fled immediately after committing the crime and never showed up again. This case was ultimately not solved.
There was only one survivor at that time. According to the survivor's description, the criminals lied about recruiting temporary workers to deceive them to a strange place and then attacked them.
After Xiao Chen learned all the information, he immediately organized and sorted it out and sent a copy to Zuo Mu.
The information of the survivor was highly confidential. Even Xiao Chen didn't have the permission to know it.
This was also to protect the victim so that the criminal gang wouldn't persecute the survivor again to avoid exposing clues after seeing the news.
Although they didn't have that permission, they got all the information they needed.
Zuo Mu planned to follow the lead of part - time jobs and investigate further.
Xiao Chen and his team were extremely busy. Especially after getting this useful information from Zuo Mu, all the clues could be connected. The most important thing for them now was to find Li Ming.
Finding Li Ming wasn't difficult. Buhai was a small coastal city with limited population flow. Since they came to Buhai, they could easily track Li Ming's figure every time they checked the surveillance cameras.
He went to a nightclub and had a wild night yesterday, and today he went to a club.
All these behaviors made Xiao Chen frown.
But in order to dig out the bigger fish behind Li Ming, the police were still very patient.
According to the current situation, Li Ming was at most a small errand - boy and couldn't cause much trouble. How to expose the forces behind him was the focus of the police.