Chapter 34: This Is Where the Trail Went Cold

In this video, it took Zhang Yan a mere fifteen seconds from the moment she appeared until she walked out of the surveillance frame. This was even while she was walking and talking on her phone at the same time. Had she maintained a normal walking pace, she likely would have covered that stretch in under ten seconds. After all, the surveillance coverage in front of a shop is relatively narrow, spanning only about ten meters.

Yu Dazhang watched that segment over and over, his eyes locked onto the movement of Zhang Yan’s lips on the screen. He had already watched it for the fourth time, yet he still found it incredibly taxing. It was a strain on his eyes. Compared to the facial expressions in the first video, the difficulty of this one had doubled; he had to decipher what Zhang Yan was saying by meticulously observing her lip movements.

In a real-life scenario, Yu Dazhang could rely on his superior-than-average eyesight to easily capture the subtle changes in someone's lips. But when faced with surveillance footage, there was no way around it. Pixels dictate clarity, and no matter how good your vision is, it is of no use. Fortunately, surveillance footage can be replayed, and in this particular clip, Zhang Yan only spoke two sentences. Even so, it took Yu Dazhang four viewings to be certain of them.

The first sentence: "I'm not listening, I'm not listening, I don't want to hear you say these things. If you do this again, I will never speak to you again."

After she finished this sentence, there was a pause of about seven seconds in the video. This implied that the person on the other end of the line was speaking.

The second sentence: "I already told you, I never thought of it that way. You misunderstood."

Something was fishy. Yu Dazhang had a hunch that the person Zhang Yan was talking to and the person who had sent her the messages earlier were likely the same individual. But the content of the conversation... Under what circumstances would Zhang Yan say such things? Dating? It didn't seem like it; even when couples fight, they don't usually talk like this. The first sentence clearly indicated that the other person had said something Zhang Yan didn't want to hear, leading her to threaten them with cutting ties if they continued. The second sentence pointed out a misunderstanding on the part of the other person. The relationship between these two was unusual. If they weren't close, there would be no talk of "cutting ties." And there are far too many misunderstandings that can arise between acquaintances.

The video was too short; he wished there were a few more lines... Yu Dazhang was momentarily at a loss.

"Play the next segment."

"Dazhang, wait a second," Lyu Zhongxin couldn't help but ask, "Did you find something in that video?"

"No," Yu Dazhang shook his head, denying it. He really couldn't be bothered to explain. He came here to find new clues, not to run a remedial class. What if his master and Qian Cheng asked him to teach them lip-reading? That would just be creating trouble for himself. Besides, lip-reading isn't something anyone can learn; it requires talent. First and foremost, you need to have a gossipy heart.

"If you didn't find anything, why did you watch it so many times?" Lyu Zhongxin’s tone carried a hint of dissatisfaction. He had clearly seen Yu Dazhang stretch his neck and stare wide-eyed at the computer screen, his head almost touching it. He looked for all the world like someone trying to see right through the Zhang Yan in the footage. If there hadn't been something deeply compelling, why would he act like that?

"It's precisely because I didn't find anything," Yu Dazhang replied with a matter-of-fact expression. "If I had already found something, would I need to watch it so many times?"

This counter-question left Lyu Zhongxin speechless. It seemed... well, there was no flaw in that logic.

Seeing that the two were no longer speaking, the police officer started the next surveillance clip. Yu Dazhang intended to continue his lip-reading work, but in this next segment, Zhang Yan was not on the phone. She was walking at a normal pace and quickly disappeared from the surveillance frame. The entire process lasted only eight seconds. Yu Dazhang glanced at the time display in the top right corner of the screen; there was a gap of about three minutes between the two videos.

"Are there no other surveillance cameras that captured the victim between these two sections?" Yu Dazhang asked, feeling unwilling to let it go.

"No," the officer replied with certainty. "The road near the shops is quite remote, and the nearby storefronts are all currently vacant. There are only two shops on the entire street with surveillance; the other one is across the street and couldn't capture Zhang Yan. I searched along her route home step-by-step, and this is the closest camera to the previous segment. There is definitely nothing missing."

It was evident that this officer had investigated very thoroughly; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to rattle off these details so easily. It seemed the lip-reading work would have to come to a halt. In this video, Yu Dazhang only noticed that Zhang Yan looked unhappy. It certainly had a direct connection to that previous phone call. Other than that, he found no other abnormalities.

"Continue."

There were three more videos of Zhang Yan on her way home. Yu Dazhang watched each one very carefully, but he found no other special circumstances. The final piece of surveillance footage was at the entrance of the residential complex where Zhang Yan lived. Through this video, one could clearly see Zhang Yan walking into the complex and eventually disappearing around the corner of a residential building.

Before Yu Dazhang could even ask, the officer beside him took the initiative to explain, "I went to the scene to check. The building she turned behind is adjacent to the one where she lived."

Yu Dazhang nodded slightly. "In that case, she must have gone straight home."

With that, the surveillance footage concluded. These clips recorded the entire process of Zhang Yan walking home after leaving the school gate. Although the first two videos showed some abnormal behavior, judging by the overall situation on her way home, she did not encounter any suspicious people or incidents.

Furthermore, Yu Dazhang noted that the residential complex where Zhang Yan lived was an open-access area. Usually, such old, dilapidated complexes lack effective management and maintenance, and it is common for them to have no surveillance facilities. Only the supermarket within the complex would have a camera at the entrance for security. At the same time, such complexes lack access control systems. Residents and outsiders alike can come and go as they please without any restrictions.

"Is that all?" Yu Dazhang couldn't help but frown. "Are there no videos of her coming back out?"

This was the key point of the whole case! The last image of Zhang Yan showed her walking in the direction of her home. Although she disappeared around a corner, Yu Dazhang was certain she had made it home safely. It was the afternoon, and in broad daylight, if there had been any sudden incident, it would surely have attracted someone's attention. Even if they were afraid to intervene, they would have called the police.

"That's where the clues end," the officer said, looking frustrated. "I later checked the surveillance at every exit, and I didn't even skip the footage from the supermarket in the complex, but I never saw her again."

And then, Zhang Yan's body appeared five days later in Kong Lingjie's rented room... Yu Dazhang added to himself. If the previous task force had been busy with the ending, then coming to the police station today was like learning the beginning of the story. What on earth happened in between?