Chapter 462: Chapter 455: There’s a Tunnel
Police dogs were also ineffective, Duan Hongjun felt an unprecedented challenge, as he had never encountered such a difficult case since he started working in criminal investigation!
At last, their focus was still on Liu Chunshan, but it had been three days since the incident occurred, and Liu Chunshan’s daily routines remained unchanged, completely unaffected, sometimes even giving them a mysterious smile, which sent chills down their spines.
He Shishi must have been hidden by Liu Chunshan!
Everyone was certain of it.
But where could she be hidden?
It was really frustrating knowing who the culprit was, yet being unable to do anything about it.
It had been three days; could He Shishi have starved to death?
A lightbulb went off in Sisi’s head, and she excitedly said: "Whether Liu Chunshan is after money or lust, he wouldn’t let He Shishi die. Over these three days, he must have brought food and water to He Shishi, otherwise if she starved to death, wouldn’t all his efforts be wasted?"
"Exactly, if we find out where Liu Chunshan has been these past three days, we can deduce where He Shishi is hidden?" Duan Hongjun’s eyes lit up.
Everyone analyzed Liu Chunshan’s whereabouts together, his daily routines were very regular, other than going up the hillside to collect firewood, he would just stay at home, but they had already searched that small hillside numerous times, where even a fly could be found.
So, the last place left was his home.
"But didn’t you search his house already? You found no one," Qiao Xingbang said, curling his lips.
Duan Hongjun’s face turned a bit red, embarrassed to let the Hong Kong guest see their weak criminal investigation capabilities!
After discussing a while, everyone agreed that He Shishi was hidden in Liu Chunshan’s home, only it was still puzzling why they couldn’t find her.
"Maybe there’s a hidden room in Liu Chunshan’s house?" Mo Qing suggested.
That was a very likely possibility, Duan Hongjun went back to the county to apply for a search warrant, and brought people again to Liu Chunshan’s home, and because He Chunfeng and others had a special relationship with the missing person, they also participated in the search.
This time they brought the police dogs again, but the dogs still paced around Liu Chunshan’s house restlessly.
Liu Chunshan’s parents, who were honest people, trembled non-stop in fear when they saw the public security officials bring so many people to search their house, they could barely stand stable, while Liu Chunshan himself remained indifferent.
As soon as Sisi walked in, she noticed a large basket placed in the courtyard, which was much larger than usual, and it was her first time seeing such a basket.
"Why is this basket so big?" Duan Hongjun asked Liu Chunshan, pointing at the basket, and Sisi also looked over.
"The bigger basket can carry more firewood," Liu Chunshan answered leisurely.
Such a big basket could probably carry a person, right?
Liu Chunshan subdued He Shishi, stuffed her into the basket, and covered her with firewood to conceal her, thus stealthily transporting the person away.
The more he thought about it, the more it seemed plausible, but if this basket had carried He Shishi, why couldn’t the police dogs smell her?
Sisi approached the large basket, bent down and sniffed, there was a pungent smell of Sichuan pepper on it, and the air in the courtyard seemed to also carry a hint of Sichuan pepper fragrance, no wonder the police dogs couldn’t detect the perfume on He Shishi.
"Why is there such a strong scent of Sichuan pepper?" Sisi asked again.
"I dried a basket of Sichuan peppers a few days ago, and the smell hasn’t completely dissipated yet!" Liu Chunshan answered calmly.
Duan Hongjun heard Sisi’s question, he sniffed hard and indeed there was a scent of Sichuan pepper, which made him realize why the hounds couldn’t find anyone.
What a tough opponent!
Duan Hongjun was even more certain that He Shishi was hiding somewhere around here, otherwise Liu Chunshan wouldn’t have bothered to cover up the scent here.
The group searched again, still no entrance to the hidden chamber was found, and the three-kiln cave didn’t seem to have an interlayer.
Liu Chunshan watched this group searching aimlessly, his lips curling slightly, apparently in very good spirits.
Duan Hongjun’s face grew uglier, if they couldn’t find the Hong Kong guests, not only his promotion was no longer secure, he might even lose his current position.
Sisi was also anxious, she grabbed Tian Xinhua and helped searching, complaining, "It’s just three kiln caves, even if you dismantle it, it’s just the size of a palm; why can’t we find He Shishi? Could she have burrowed underground?"
Underground?
After looking at each other for a few seconds, they couldn’t help but laugh.
Sisi was so frustrated that she wanted to slap herself – how could she forget about the famous "Underground War" from her past life?
Without notifying Duan Hongjun, the two started searching in the cave, walking and knocking with wooden sticks. Liu Chunshan saw this and his face suddenly changed, but soon he regained his composure.
Seeing the actions of Tian Xinhua and Sisi, Duan Hongjun and his men also realized what they were looking for and started knocking as well, but after covering the entire floor of the three-kiln cave, they found no tunnels.
Could it be that they were wrong? Was Liu Chunshan wronged?
Liu Chunshan watched the dejected crowd, hanging his head and smiled triumphantly.
"Is there any place we haven’t searched yet?"
Sisi remembered a scene from "Underground War" where an entrance to the tunnel was located under the stove; the stove burned fiercely on top, but deep underneath was a tunnel sheltering the villagers, which the Japanese never found.
Suddenly, Duan Hongjun also thought of it, and he rushed towards the stove first; the stove was connected to the bed stove, still burning. Nobody noticed Liu Chunshan’s complexion turn ashen.
"How could there possibly be a tunnel under this?" Qiao Xingbang doubted.
Brother Li glared at him, followed Duan Hongjun, extinguished the fire, pulled out the firewood from the stove, and revealed the deep hole below.
"It’s here!"
Brother Li shouted happily, at this moment Duan Hongjun had already jumped down, after thinking it over, Brother Li also jumped down, while Liu Chunshan’s parents looked confused, seemingly still unclear why there was a tunnel in their son’s house.
Shortly after, Duan Hongjun jumped out first, his face looking very grim, as if holding back anger, he coldly said to his subordinates, "Keep Liu Chunshan under strict watch; he has several lives on his hands."
Everyone else was puzzled; wasn’t it just a missing case? Why did it involve several lives?
Duan Hongjun didn’t explain further, found a hoe to enlarge the tunnel entrance, and soon, Brother Li jumped out holding He Shishi.
He Shishi seemed extremely frightened, clinging desperately to Brother Li, shaking uncontrollably, nowhere near the imposing Miss He from before.
Thinking about the undeserved ordeal she suffered, Sisi also felt some sympathy for her; after all, He Shishi wasn’t a bad person, aside from her unpleasant words, liking to poke fun, and being a bit dramatic, she didn’t seem to have done any harm.
Seeing her so miserable, she decided not to scold her in the future.