building - Chapter 5
Chen Mao nodded and said, "Yes."
I pushed open the door and went outside. The area was very secluded; I had to walk down a rather long, sloping path, and waited for a good ten minutes.
It took a while before they managed to flag down a streetcar.
While I was waiting for the car, I realized that the impact I had with the glass door was quite severe; my forehead was swollen.
It swelled up in a large lump, and it hurt like it was being pricked with needles.
Once in the car, I told the driver Xiao Guo's address.
About ten minutes later, I pressed my forehead with one hand and rang the doorbell with the other. It was Mrs. Guo who opened the door.
As soon as Mrs. Guo saw me, she exclaimed happily, "Welcome! It's been so long!"
When I heard her say that, my heart sank, because it proved that Xiao Guo had not returned yet.
I quickly asked, "Where's Xiao Guo?"
Mrs. Guo smiled and said, "Please come in and sit down. He's a man of unpredictable fate; he might come home at any time!"
I stood at the doorway without going in. Mrs. Guo probably noticed something was off about my expression; her expression turned surprised, and she looked at me...
"It's settled," I took a breath and said, "Just now, I was with him."
Mrs. Guo was even more surprised. I added, "I went with him to look at apartments in that building. You remember, it was the last time..."
"A reckless person came rushing down the slope and crashed into the building where your car is!"
Mrs. Guo nodded and said, "Of course I remember, what happened to him!"
I smiled wryly. I didn't have time to explain anything further to Mrs. Guo, because I was afraid something might happen to Xiao Guo. I still had to...
When I went to find him, I simply said, "We went together, but something might have happened. He was driving alone and rushed..."
"I'm off, I'm going to find him now!"
Mrs. Guo cried out anxiously, "What on earth happened?"
I had already reached the stairwell and turned around: "I don't have time to explain further, because he drove his car down the ramp."
"His speed is even faster than that reckless fellow!"
I ran down the stairs and could still hear Mrs. Guo calling me. I looked up and shouted, "Keep in touch!"
I went downstairs and flagged down another streetcar. All night, I directed the streetcar driver, driving around the streets.
Of course, the main roads we passed through were between that building and Xiao Guo's residence.
Whenever there's a phone booth, I get off and make a call to ask Mrs. Guo if Xiao Guo has returned yet, but Mrs. Guo always seems anxious.
The answer, urgent and trembling with tears, was: "No!"
The streetcar driver practically thought I was crazy, and I kept calling the police to ask if there had been an accident. (Big City)
Every night in the city, there are car accidents, and there were several this night as well, but none of them involved Xiao Guo.
I was hoping to see Xiao Guo's car crash into a lamppost on the street, but I never did.
As dawn approached, the streetcar driver said, "Excuse me, sir, I need to rest now!"
I paid him the fare and got out of the car.
Where did Xiao Guo go? Now, I no longer care what happened to him in that building's elevator.
I'm just concerned about where he went!
He should go home immediately, or at least go back to the office; however, I have repeatedly called both places.
One response was Mrs. Guo's increasingly anxious sobs, while in another place, no one was listening at all.
When I made my last phone call with Mrs. Guo, it was already eight o'clock in the morning. I suggested that Mrs. Guo go to the police station to report the incident.
I was exhausted, but I still went to the Guo family home again to accompany Mrs. Guo, who looked utterly distraught, to the police station to file a report.
Report Xiao Guo's disappearance.
I knew quite a few people at the police station; several senior officers greeted me, but I wasn't in the mood to respond. When I asked...
After finishing speaking, a police officer walked over and said, "There's a car floating on the shore. We're currently retrieving it. The license plate..."
The number is 4086.
He recited the license plate number, and I froze, while Mrs. Guo opened her mouth wide as if to shout, but before she could utter a sound, she...
He fainted.
The ensuing chaos was truly dizzying. Mrs. Guo was taken to the hospital, and I rushed to the beach, which was packed with onlookers.
A bustling crowd; a marine police vessel anchored on the sea; a barge with a crane slowly lowering a car into the water.
They were hoisted up, and seawater gushed out of the vehicle.
I also felt a wave of dizziness. If Xiao Guo had panicked and driven straight into the sea, drowning, that would have been truly...
That's such a pity!
Arranged by the police, once on the ship, the car had already been moved to the deck. There was no one inside, and the car doors were closed.
Everything is fine.
The police officer, with a strange expression, reached for the car door, only to find it locked. It seemed that Xiao Guo had opened the car.
The car drove into the garage, locked all the doors, and then seemed to leave, but in reality, the car was retrieved from the sea.
They got up.
I also found it strange, but at the same time, I couldn't help but feel a surge of joy, because judging from the situation, the car had fallen into the sea.
At that time, Xiao Guo was not in the car!
Because it's absolutely impossible for someone to fall into the sea with their car and then manage to get out of the car and turn back...
The car doors were locked one by one.
Part Three: The Mysterious Disappearance
The officer turned around and instructed his subordinate to immediately notify Mrs. Guo, who was in the hospital, that Mr. Guo had been injured when the car plunged into the sea.
It couldn't be in the car. I walked forward to look at the car.
This car, the one driven by Xiao Guo, the one that took me to that building, was full of water, and the car keys...
He wasn't in the car either.
I can't imagine how the car could have fallen into the sea, and besides, that's not what I care about. What I care about is, what happened to Xiao Guo?
Where did it go?
The issue I was concerned about became headline news in the newspapers three days later, and also became a concern for many others.
The matter. Because Xiao Guo hasn't reappeared since that night when he drove his car off the slope.
The police are making every effort to find him. He is a successful detective who runs a large detective agency with many subordinates.
He has many extremely capable assistants who are also doing everything they can to find him.
With so many people searching, it's no exaggeration to say that even if a single hamster were lost, it could be found.
But Xiao Guo was nowhere to be seen.
Xiao Guo's expensive watch was found in the bathroom of an apartment on the 22nd floor of that building. He originally intended to...
He went upstairs alone in the elevator to retrieve the watch, and the watch was still in the bathroom, indicating that he went upstairs again.
After I went there, I never entered that unit, otherwise, I wouldn't have left the watch there!
Chen Mao is not a suspect, because I personally saw Xiao Guo rush out and drive away. It seems I am the most suspicious person.
However, Mrs. Guo, who was heartbroken and anxious, insisted that the friendship between me and Xiao Guo could not possibly have been caused by me.
After five chaotic days, when I finally had a chance to be alone and quiet, I thought back to what had happened to Luo Ding.
It should be added that at the time, after waiting for Xiao Guo for a long time without him coming down, and seeing Xiao Guo rushing out of the building with such a flustered expression...
When I went to Xiamen, I thought of what happened to Luoding.
However, during the next few days of investigation, I never told anyone my thoughts.
Because of Luo Ding's experience, the police knew after the car accident that, without me mentioning it, and given how absurd this was...
It cannot be used as the basis for a formal investigation.
Moreover, after the incident, I took that elevator up and down several times in that building.
There was nothing unusual about it.
However, I finally remembered Luo Ding's experience, because Xiao Guo's disappearance was just too bizarre, so bizarre that...
This made me realize that we couldn't find him through normal channels; there must be some strange twists and turns that we could never have imagined.
Inside!
So I decided to visit Luoding.
I went to the company he worked for, which was a large commercial organization. Employees were not allowed to meet with private individuals during work hours.
The customer was someone I knew personally. Luckily, I own an import/export company, and they arranged for me to meet them at that large airport under the guise of discussing business.
In the reception room of the building, Luo Ding was seen.
On the surface, he seemed normal, around forty years old, a senior employee in a large organization, and somewhat educated.
He has a certain lifestyle; he is typical of this type of person, except for the two newly healed scars on his cheeks.
That was left behind after he and Xiao Guo had their car accident.
Luo Ding didn't know my true purpose for coming. We first discussed some business matters, and he readily told me...
They couldn't possibly offer me any help, so I changed the subject: "Mr. Luo, I heard that you once, in a large..."
Have you ever had a terrifying experience in an elevator in Xiamen?
Luo Ding's expression changed instantly, and he stood up. If it weren't for his good upbringing, which prevented him from losing his temper, I believe he would have...
He was furious.
He stood there, his face deathly pale, for a long while before finally saying, "Goodbye, Mr. Wei!"