novelPerplexed and Smitten (118)
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Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
"What evidence have you got to prove that you didn't take him away?"
"How am I supposed to prove that? I really don't have a way to prove it. Why would I take him away stealthily when I clearly know that I would be the first person whom you'd suspect if he were to go missing?" Sister Zhang scoffed.
Actually, she did make sense.
"Please excuse us, " An Xiaoning said to the man sitting on Sister Zhang's lap.
Sister Zhang gave him a peck on his cheek and said, "Be good, wait for me outside."
The man stood up and left reluctantly.
The moment he closed the door, An Xiaoning sat down on the couch and asked, "Do you dare to let me hypnotize you?"
"Hypnosis?"
"Yes, I do know a thing or two about hypnosis. That's the only way to prove your innocence, I'm afraid."
"What if you ask me for my bank account details and password?"
"You mean, you think I'm short of cash? Get your bodyguards to monitor the process closely. How does that sound?" said An Xiaoning.
After some consideration, Sister Zhang agreed, "Sure." She called Liang in before saying to An Xiaoning, "You may begin."
An Xiaoning had practised her skills only on subjects who were asleep. In fact, she had very little confidence in hypnotizing those who are awake and lucid. Thus, she said, "I'm not sure if it'll work, but if it doesn't, I'll have to get my professional hypnotist to make a trip here."
To her surprise, she succeeded on her first try.
After hearing that Sister Zhang really was not the culprit, she decided to take further precautions, for fear that Sister Zhang was feigning being hypnotized. Thus, she whipped out her gun and pointed it at Sister Zhang.
Liang frantically interjected, "An Xiaoning, what are you doing? Sister Zhang has already stated that she wasn't the one behind it. Why are you still pointing your gun at her?"
Noticing that Sister Zhang was still lying motionless on the couch, An Xiaoning put her gun away and said to Liang, "I was just testing her. You don't have to be so uptight."
Pursing his lips, Liang remarked in contempt, "You're a lunatic."
She awakened the sound-asleep Sister Zhang and left straight away.
As soon as she stepped foot out of the door, she put on her earphones and switched on the live feed from the surveillance cameras. In no time, Sister Zhang and Liang popped up on her screen.
She had pasted a mini surveillance camera beneath the couch when she was in the room earlier.
Her purpose was to test Sister Zhang further, so as to determine if she was a suspect.
In the live feed, Liang was seen talking to Sister Zhang indignantly. He said, "Sister Zhang, you have no idea what An Xiaoning did to you during the hypnosis. She even pointed her gun at you, saying that she was just testing you. I was scared out of my wits."
"If I were the one who did it, why would I still let her hypnotize me? But just whom did Yun Chen offend? Who was the one who abducted him?"
"Who cares whom he had offended? Sister Zhang, you looked him up several times and tried to change his mind, but he just wouldn't concede. He simply insisted on working for An Xiaoning. An Xiaoning must have offended plenty of people. Who knows? Maybe it's one of her enemies who decided to take it out on her bodyguard."
Sister Zhang picked up her cigarette box and lighter, after which she lit up a cigarette and took a deep puff."That lad has got quite a bit of a backbone. If it weren't because of the circumstances that forced him to be so unwilling to continue working for me, would that secondhand good Mo Li have stood a chance? How is she any better than me? I even heard that she can no longer conceive. She's not any better than me, apart from the fact that she's younger. Fancy Yun Chen treasuring Ye Xiaotian's unwanted good."
Liang remarked, "They're both the same. Sister Zhang, isn't he also a damaged good that you didn't want back then?"
Sister Zhang stood up and gave him a tight slap."Shut your trap, who allowed you to criticize him? I'm the only person who can do that."
Liang clutched his face in pain, not daring to utter another word.
An Xiaoning switched off the live feed and put her earphones away inside her bag.
This Sister Zhang is so devoted to No. 8.
An Xiaoning had been pondering over the matter while on the plane back to A City.
She did not agree with Liang's opinion about the culprit taking it out on No. 8 as revenge against An Xiaoning.
After all, No. 8 was just her subordinate. The culprit could have acted on the rest of her bodyguards too. Yet, he or she didn't.
Hence, she was certain that the culprit was after No. 8 alone.
She could now strike Sister Zhang off the list of culprits.
Next up...
An Xiaoning had a clear idea.
It was also already past ten o'clock when she arrived back in A City.
No. 5 showed her the screenshots from the surveillance camera footages and said, "Sis, these are all the people who have entered the lobby within the past three days. There are a total of 64 units in this 32-floor apartment building. There are more than ten empty units. Apart from children, there are 112 people who have been captured by the surveillance cameras."
"One hundred twelve?"
"Yes, 112. There are indeed quite a lot of people. Should we eliminate the elderly and women?"
"We don't have to, the culprit doesn't necessarily have to be a man. Have you verified with the guards in the guardroom if they're residents?"
"Yes, the photos match the information here. Their identities are also stated clearly. They've all entered and left the estate within the past three days."
An Xiaoning took the document from him and scrutinized the contents. All of a sudden, she felt like they might not get results any time soon.
"Sis, Ms. Mo is calling you." No. 5 showed her the caller display on her mobile phone.
"Answer it."
"If she asks about No. 8, what do I say?"'
"Just tell her that No. 8 has followed me to settle some matters and that we won't be returning in another few days."
No. 5 nodded and hurriedly answered the call. Mo Li only called No. 5 because she couldn't reach No. 8 on his mobile phone.
When she asked about what No. 8 was busy with, No. 5 answered her according to An Xiaoning's instructions. Finally, he added that No. 8 was not allowed to use his mobile phone due to special reasons.
Mo Li did not doubt the credibility of his words.
The moment he ended the call, No. 5 clutched his chest and said to An Xiaoning, who was beside him, "Sis, I feel so guilty about lying. I really wonder how No. 8 is doing now."
"There's no point in letting her know the truth right now anyway. It's better to keep it from her for the time being. Although there was a short period of time when the surveillance cameras became faulty, the culprits are very likely to be amongst those people. After all, he or she wouldn't have known the exact timing that No. 8 was to return. We'll try finding some leads from the frequency of entries and exits."
No. 5 and An Xiaoning got back inside the car and sat together in the back seat. They began tabulating the frequencies of entries and exits based on the footages.
After doing so for half an hour, they finally got the results.
They could immediately eliminate some people.
For example, working adults who leave in the morning and return home in the afternoon for a short while before leaving and returning home again in the evening.
Another example would be housewives and older women who stay home to take care of their children.
| ← Ch. 1057 | Ch. 1059 → |