National Forensic Doctor
Chapter 1002 - 938 Disappearance

Chapter 1002: Chapter 938 Disappearance

"Come on, tell us, what’s the situation?"

Mu Zhiyang stepped forward, stood in front of the local man, and took the opportunity to ask some questions. He had worked at the police station and the criminal police team, and he naturally had a very reliable feeling when facing parties involved or the public.

The local man who came to inquire was a male in his fifties or sixties, perhaps not that old, but he looked rather aged, with patches of gray in his hair, rough exposed skin. He glanced at Mu Zhiyang, then at Jiang Yuan, and asked, "You’re cops, aren’t you? Right? Are you all cops?"

"How did you figure that out?" Mu Zhiyang still asked a question.

"You’re wearing police pants." The local pointed it out, then continued, "My son is also a policeman, he used to wear these pants a lot when he came home. His name is Fang Guanhua, do you know him?"

Several people shook their heads.

Mu Zhiyang asked, "What’s your name?"

"Fang Mingfeng, you can call me Old Fang," the local man moved closer and said, "Are you from the local police station? Why are there so many of you here?"

Mu Zhiyang shook his head, gave Wang Chuanxing a look, and then said, "You first tell us what’s going on."

Wang Chuanxing turned and walked a little farther away, making a call to find out more about the situation.

Jiang Yuan, Jiang Hao, and the others gathered around the stove brewing tea while listening curiously with their ears perked up.

When they are off duty, the curiosity of detectives also gradually returns. It’s like a monkey that hasn’t eaten melon in a long time.

"I already reported it when I called the police, we have a missing tourist here. This matter needs to be taken seriously...uh, but why did so many of you come at once?" As Fang Mingfeng spoke, he felt something was not quite right again, hesitated for a moment, and said, "I’ll go get something to show you."

He began to have doubts, but seeing so many people like Mu Zhiyang around, he didn’t dare to ask directly and thought about running off first.

Mu Zhiyang couldn’t let him just walk away, he grabbed him and said, "Let me show you some identification first."

Mu Zhiyang took out his police ID from his pocket and showed it.

"You really are cops?" Fang Mingfeng frowned.

"We’re cops from out of town, here for a visit," Mu Zhiyang gave an answer this time. Because if there really was a missing person case, it would be necessary to get to know the situation.

"From out of town, which place?" Fang Mingfeng rambled on.

"Ningtai County."

"What are cops from Ningtai County doing here?"

"Team building."

"What’s the team building for?"

Mu Zhiyang laughed and said, "Tell us about your situation."

After examining the police ID again, Fang Mingfeng handed it back to Mu Zhiyang, then said, "I’ve called the police several times, and the police here... they just come up, look around, ask some questions, and then go back without any news..."

"You mentioned a missing tourist, do you have evidence?" Mu Zhiyang interrupted Fang Mingfeng. Having been a cop for a long time, you learn not everyone has the ability to express themselves clearly; it’s far too common for people to go off-topic, better to ask a direct question.

After being interrupted, Fang Mingfeng huffed a couple of times, then remembered what he wanted to say, "I don’t have the kind of evidence you’re asking for, but I know that someone is missing."

"How do you know?"

"I just know..."

Mu Zhiyang broke the repetitive cycle of conversation, saying, "Which tourist went missing? Do you have a name and a photo?"

"This one." Fang Mingfeng took out his smartphone this time, showing Mu Zhiyang the photo.

"Liu Yang." Mu Zhiyang read out the name primarily for Jiang Yuan and the others to hear, and after looking at the photo, he furrowed his brows, saying, "This is a male tourist in his twenties, right? Traveling alone?"

"Right. He came by himself. Left without even taking his deposit back," Fang Mingfeng stressed.

Mu Zhiyang got a hint of his meaning, and then asked, "How much was the deposit?"

"200 yuan," Fang Mingfeng replied.

Mu Zhiyang chuckled, saying, "A 200 yuan deposit, he might have thought it was not a big deal, just left it there."

"Impossible," Fang Mingfeng said. "This kid wasn’t that rich, he was quite frugal with his meals. He only ate steamed buns with pickles each day, maybe some porridge, and whenever I made him some stir-fried vegetables, he knew to say thank you. But he wouldn’t give extra money."

"You run a guesthouse?" Meng Chengbiao disliked the internet-famous concept of gathering around a stove to make tea, so he came over with a large titanium tea mug that Jiang Hao had provided for him.

Meng Chengbiao judged from personal experience that Fang Mingfeng’s description did indeed have some abnormal elements to it. Many people would not care about 200 yuan, but there were also many who would. There are some who would haggle to showcase or pretend to be frugal, even some rich kids like to play this game. However, young people who are willing to humble themselves to just eat steamed buns with pickles and who are also willing to eat simple carbohydrates are far less common.

Those kinds—mostly really are poor.

Fang Mingfeng nodded: "Yeah. My home is right at the edge of the village. My daughter-in-law said we could make some money doing this, so she taught me, and when the town unified the process for obtaining permits, I got all the documents sorted..."

"How much do you charge per day for your guesthouse, this Liu Hao, how many days did he stay, and how much did he pay?" Meng Chengbiao switched places with Mu Zhiyang and continued his inquiry.

"128 yuan a day. This young man bargained with me, stayed for 4 days, 420 yuan. He paid a 200 yuan deposit. But leaving without taking back the deposit, that’s impossible, right?" Fang Mingfeng said these few sentences, beginning to sound a bit more logical in his response.

"Indeed a bit," Meng Chengbiao agreed with Fang Mingfeng, and then asked, "So you think Liu Yang has gone missing, how many days has it been?"

"Three days now."

"Do you have his contact information?"

"I called, but the phone didn’t connect."

Meng Chengbiao nodded, holding the pure titanium mug as he deliberated.

Seeing this, Fang Mingfeng thought he was having difficulties, he sighed and said, "Actually, I also understand it’s not easy for you to check, my daughter-in-law also advised me before, saying nowadays young people, especially those who love to travel and are willing to travel despite being broke, perhaps he just went hitchhiking to Qinghai-Tibet, or even going abroad is possible. However, I have interacted with these young people, and as much as they are willing to go out and have fun, it’s true, but leaving without their deposits or even abandoning the room fee, that’s quite unlikely..."

"Several young men?" Meng Chengbiao caught the key point, suddenly raising his head: "Are there several missing young men? All of them left without taking their deposits?"

"Only this one left without taking the deposit. But there were a few others, I called later, no news from them, some of them said they would come back to stay after going into the mountains. Also, there was one who left belongings with me, and also did not come to claim them. I mean, perfectly fine young people, not wanting their money or possessions, phone calls not going through, that’s not normal, right..." Fang Mingfeng began to ramble on again.

Meng Chengbiao then proceeded to ask more detailed questions.

At this moment, Jiang Yuan finished his tea, strolling over.

Meng Chengbiao approached and whispered, "It sounds like a case, yet not quite. One didn’t take his deposit, one didn’t claim his belongings, one went into the mountains and never returned... Most hotel or guesthouse owners wouldn’t report to the police in such scenarios, it’s considered a normal occurrence during business, probably because the old man’s son is a cop, he’s being overly cautious."

"Gather the phone numbers and names, let’s just check it out," Jiang Yuan didn’t feel burdened, treating it as a minor challenge within the team-building event.