Case Files 013

Chapter 151: Missing Girl

Then Guan Zhenglin added, "Xiao Qi is indeed not a virgin, I checked her reproductive organ and she had signs of a sex life. But there was no vaginal tearing so if it was a forced rape, it must have happened a long time ago. If that's true, she must have held that pain in for a long time." I nodded. Guan Zhenglin added, "Or perhaps, she had a consistent boyfriend and this thing that she couldn't tell others isn't a rape at all. That's possible. So who really knows?"

After we left the morgue, we soon gained contact with the headmaster of Second Middle School through the citizenry database. Initially, the headmaster was quite jovial, thinking we were students or parents calling to wish him a happy new year, but when I told him we found a dead body on the river that was confirmed to be a student of Elm Town Second Middle School, the headmaster had me repeat it thrice before the news really sank in.

However, based on the name, "Xiao Qi" alone, the headmaster couldn't tell who the student was. Therefore, we sent a picture of Xiao Qi to him and then the headmaster sent it to all the staff of the school. Guan Zhenglin already tried her best to find the most presentable picture but she didn't have a good material to work with. Xiao Qi's whole face was shattered, there was no good angle. I wondered what would be going through the teachers' mind when they got the picture. Half an hour later, we got a reply from the headmaster.

Looks like this headmaster was quite efficient, he already confirmed which class Xiao Qi came from. However, he wished to talk to us in person and asked us to meet him at Second Middle School. With Gu Chen driving, we headed to our appointment. When we arrived, the headmaster was waiting for us at the gate.

The headmaster came to greet us as we got out of the car and he ushered us into the school. One of the rooms in the admin office had its lights on and that was our destination. As we opened the door, I saw a woman around 25 standing inside. She was pacing nonstop, from the beads of sweat on her forehead, her nervousness was palpable. Seeing us walk in, she said hurriedly, "Headmaster."

The headmaster was a man over 50, clearly he was calmer than this young teacher. He signaled for her to calm down and then said, "This student is from your class? What is her name, have her parents been notified?"

The young teacher failed to calm down, she said in a panicky voice, "I, I don't know what to do. That, that picture was How could Fang Xiao Qi end up like this? What happened to her?" So our girl's name was Fang Xiao Qi. I intervened, "Miss, please calm down. We'll do it like this. You just focus on answering our questions, okay?" The teacher nodded.

"What is your name?" I started with a simple question.

"Wang Lulu."

I nodded with encouragement, "Miss Wang, can you be sure that the girl is Fang Xiao Qi?"

Wang Lulu nodded firmly, "Yes, it is Fang Xiao Qi She, she looks wrong in that picture But yes, she was my student, I wouldn't get it wrong."

I continued to ask, "How was Fang Xiao Qi as a student? Did she do well at school?"

"She scored very well." Wang Lulu answered, "She was always in the top 5 of the class, she has a great chance to get into a good university. Which is why I don't understand this, why would she do this?"

I didn't answer but instead posed another question, "Did Fang Xiao Qi have a boyfriend?"

"Boyfriend?" Wang Lulu paused to think. "I am not sure. She was a quiet girl, she didn't have that many good friends." If Fang Xiao Qi didn't have a boyfriend, then she wouldn't be having sex; then again, Wang Lulu did say that she wasn't sure. After all, as she said, Fang Xiao Qi was a quiet girl, she could have a private life without her teacher's knowledge.

"We should contact Fang Xiao Qi's parents." I told Wang Lulu, "She has been missing for about 4 hours already, they must be worried sick." Wang Lulu obliged. She picked up her phone to call Fang Xiao Qi's parents but then there was no answer. I frowned and asked, "What's wrong?"

Wang Lulu looked at me and then at her phone. She said with confusion, "I don't know, but her parents didn't seem to be picking up."

"Is the number not available?" I enquired, "Or the line is occupied?"

Wang Lulu answered, "It's neither. The call is connected but no one is answering."

I frowned and pulled on my hair. This was the night of the reunion dinner, but the call to Fang Xiao Qi's family was not answered? If the line was occupied because her family was busy calling around to ask for Fang Xiao Qi's location, it would be understandable. But not to answer the phone? That was suspicious. Was her family purposely not picking the call up, or they didn't have the phone with them? Or they were afraid that it might be a scam phone call? In any case, a 16 year old girl just committed suicide and her family refused to pick up the call which might have her information That was just weird.

I was silent and then said, "Then do you have her family address?"

Wang Lulu shook her head. "I don't. Since the students are already in middle school, the teachers don't coddle them that much. We don't even have a parent-teacher conference that often. Furthermore, Fang Xiao Qi was never a problem student and this is actually the first time I'm calling her family"

The headmaster was quite angry when he heard this. "I know you younger teachers have some new philosophy about being friends with your students but there are certain basics that as an educator you should know. Things like your students' home address and family relationship. Those will be incredibly helpful for us to guide our students." Wang Lulu had tears in her eyes, the pressure was getting to her.

I said, "Is there a student who has the word, Yu in her name in your class? She is good friends with Fang Xiao Qi. Perhaps through her, we can get to Fang Xiao Qi's family."

Wang Lulu quickly looked through her contact list. "Give me a moment." Then she exclaimed, "Yes, found it! Mo Yu has her own phone number."

I nodded, "Call her."

Wang Lulu obeyed and this time, the call was immediately answered. "Mo Yu, do you know what Fang Xiao Qi's home address is?" Wang Lulu asked directly.

Since it was on speaker, we could all hear Mo Yu say, "Miss Wang, is that you? Happy new year. What's up?"

Wang Lulu was fidgety to have run into something like this. "Mo Yu, I have something to discuss with Fang Xiao Qi but she doesn't have her own phone and her parents are not picking up. Do you have her home address? I know you are close friends with her."

Hearing the panicked tone in her teacher's voice, Mo Yu said, "Okay, I'll send you the address." Soon, the address arrived. I took down the address, and then turned to the headmaster and Wang Lulu, "We will head to Fang Xiao Qi's home, what do you plan to do about this?"

The headmaster said, "I drove here and Fang Xiao Qi is my school's student so of course I'm coming with you." We didn't object and moved towards Fang Xiao Qi's home.

Inside the car, Gu Chen said, "Something doesn't feel right about this case."

I nodded, "I agree."

Gu Chen elaborated, "It's new year's eve and a girl disappeared from her home, how could her parents not care about that?"

Guan Zhenglin added, "Rainbow Bridge is also quite far from her home. Why did she choose this location to commit suicide? Is there significance to this place?"

I thought for a while before saying, "From known information, the possibility of Fang Xiao Qi committing suicide is very high. There has to be a reason she came so far to commit suicide. Possibility 1, she hesitated for a long time as she wandered around town and only made up her mind when she reached Rainbow Bridge; Possibility 2, she came so far because she didn't want her family to accidentally find her body."

The group nodded. I continued, "But the key is still why."

Gu Chen shook his head. "Normally, after we know that it is a suicide, the case can be closed."

I nodded. "That's true but since we feel like there's something off with the case, we have the responsibility and power to keep on investigating. A girl has lost her life, that is enough reason for us to keep investigating."

One hour later, Gu Chen glanced at the GPS and said, "It's just ahead, we're here."

This was a small alley, a car couldn't get through so we had to finish the rest of the journey on foot. The air of celebration disappeared immediately as we stepped into the alley. There was not a single red lantern or decorative element in sight.

As we moved deeper into the alley, a big gate charred fully black appeared before us.