Hospital 444
Chapter 89 - 2 Where Is He?

Chapter 89: Chapter 2 Where Is He?

"Residents of this building... targeting you and your husband?" The police felt something was amiss and continued to inquire, "Have you done anything to offend them?"

"Not at all... When we were renovating, both my husband and I supervised the progress of the construction, and we’ve both managed to establish a good relationship with the property management. We never had any disputes with the other owners here."

Upon hearing her say this, the police thought for a moment and then said, "Think again carefully, have either of you specifically offended anyone? It doesn’t have to be a severe dispute; perhaps it was something you considered trivial."

"This..."

Lu Yanran, looking at the police who were searching for clues inside the room, said, "If I must say something, it’s just that my husband would occasionally complain about their leaders at home, but it was merely grumbling. Since marrying me, I quit my job to stay at home, and I usually just go out to buy groceries. I’m from out of town and don’t have many friends here, so I really can’t remember offending anyone."

"How exactly did your husband grumble?"

"Just... feeling that their boss often made them work overtime. And if it’s overtime, then it’s overtime, but they were expected to ’volunteer’ for it. Who would dare not to volunteer?"

"Just... like that?"

"Just like that. I can’t think of anyone he could have offended."

"Has your husband been acting strangely lately? Out of the ordinary?"

Lu Yanran clutched her hands tightly, nodded, and said, "He has indeed been very strange lately. I remember, for the past month, he always seemed preoccupied. He’s someone who loves to play games, but recently he stopped playing and would often sit on the sofa in a daze, as if pondering something. When I asked him, he always said it was nothing."

The police immediately followed up, "So, Ms. Lu, beyond that, has he displayed any other behavior? The clearer the clues you provide, the sooner we can find Mr. Zhang’s whereabouts."

"Let me think... Ah, right! About, yes, roughly a month ago, he was working late again that day. I always wait for him to come home before going to sleep, and I always warm up a cup of milk for him. That night, when he entered the house, I saw he was extremely panicked, his face all sweaty, his hair drenched and disheveled. I was startled and asked what happened. He looked at me but didn’t say anything and instead went straight to the peephole, examining it for a long time. I hurried to ask what was wrong, and then he said there was a German Shepherd chasing him."

"A German Shepherd?"

"Yes," Lu Yanran wouldn’t have remembered this incident but for this explanation: "At the time, I didn’t think much of it, only asked if he was bitten. He said no. After hearing that, I laughed and said how could he, a big and tall man, be so timid. Anyway, we’re home, what’s there to fear? A German Shepherd can’t come through the walls, after all. I handed him the warm milk, but he was shaking badly and said he needed to shower first. Later, I just forgot about the whole thing."

At this point, Lu Yanran fell into contemplation.

"Speaking of which... it seems like his preoccupied demeanor started after that... But it’s been a month, I’m not too sure anymore."

"Does anyone in your building own a German Shepherd?"

"There shouldn’t be. In our building, as well as the whole compound, I’ve never seen anyone walking a German Shepherd, just some small breeds."

"Think carefully about that day, exactly which day was it? We can check the surveillance footage afterward."

"It’s been a month; how could I remember..." Lu Yanran thought hard but still shook her head and said, "I really can’t recall. It must have been a month ago."

"He looked through the peephole, right?"

"Yes, that’s right."

"What was his expression after he looked through the peephole?"

"This... I really can’t remember, it’s been too long. Anyway, he was in a very panicked state at the time. As I recall, my husband has always been a very brave man. Not long after we met, we were on the subway and happened to see a thief stealing an old lady’s wallet. The thief had an accomplice with him, a tall one, but my husband dared to step forward and stop them."

"Then..." A nearby policewoman suddenly thought of something and said, "Could it be that thief came back for revenge?"

"This, that can’t be. It was a matter of two years ago, and neither the thief nor his accomplices knew us."

Lu Yanran said this and then added, "But maybe it’s possible he was indeed chased by a German Shepherd at that time..."

After all, she was afraid that if the police went to investigate and found nothing, they might think she was providing unreliable information and might start to suspect her instead.

"I have a question, Ms. Lu, that puzzles me," the police said.

"What is it, officer?" she replied.

Looking at Lu Yanran’s phone, the officer asked, "Mr. Zhang called you several times, but you didn’t hear due to the phone being on silent. So why didn’t he call the police instead?"

Hearing this, Lu Yanran was momentarily taken aback.

She immediately remembered how Zhang Bei had repeatedly admonished her not to contact the police.

"This, I, I really don’t know..."

As a housewife who had watched plenty of detective and spy dramas alone at home, Lu Yanran couldn’t help but speculate: Could there be a traitor within the police working with the criminals?

Afterward...

The police were greatly disappointed to find that Zhang Bei’s mobile phone location was entirely untraceable, possibly because it was switched off.

At the same time, the surveillance equipment in this building was old and in disrepair, having long been broken. The property management hadn’t bothered to fix it, making it impossible to glean any clues from the surveillance footage.

Fortunately, the surveillance within the residential complex was still functioning normally.

Around noon, Lu Yanran followed the police to the property management’s surveillance room to review last night’s footage.

The first thing the police confirmed was that Zhang Bei had indeed returned to the Amber Twilight Building last night.

Lu Yanran could tell that the police didn’t fully believe her story. After all, if Zhang Bei had suffered some misfortune, she would undoubtedly be the prime beneficiary. With Zhang Bei’s parents deceased, if he were also gone, the fully paid house would automatically become her property. Lu Yanran had seen such cases in the news before, so it wasn’t strange for the police to think this way.

Then... the police began to review the surveillance footage...

After speed-watching the footage, the officers’ expressions started to turn grim.

Lu Yanran was also surprised.

From the time Zhang Bei returned to the Amber Twilight Building at nine o’clock last night until six o’clock...

Zhang Bei had not left the building once!

The surrounding surveillance of the Amber Twilight Building was all functioning normally, with no blind spots, meaning Zhang Bei definitely hadn’t left the building!

"Wait," Lu Yanran gasped, turning to the police officer beside her, "Officer, doesn’t that mean my husband is still inside the building? Hurry, apply for a search warrant!"

"Hold on, let’s continue to see if, up to this moment, your husband hasn’t gone out..."

Lu Yanran quickly began to think, if her husband hadn’t left the building from beginning to end, then... where exactly in the building could he be?

There were no signs of the door lock being tampered with, nor any traces of a struggle in the room. This meant that it was very likely that her husband had left the room of his own volition. Or perhaps someone came to see him, and then he went out with them.

Then, perhaps a hidden captor within the building had imprisoned him...

But thinking this way, many questions remained unexplained.

What about the meat in the fridge?

Why did Zhang Bei instruct her not to leave the building for more than twelve hours a day?

And if he was imprisoned, why wouldn’t they take his mobile phone?

Most importantly, Zhang Bei had told her to hide all this from the police. Now she thought about it, even though he had the means to contact others through his mobile, he not only didn’t call the police, but he also didn’t seek help from other relatives. Otherwise, his relatives would have surely contacted her by now.

However, if her husband was still in the building, then perhaps there was still hope to save him!

As long as the police conducted a comprehensive search, they would definitely be able to find him!

Where exactly...

Is he in this building?

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