novelraw Chapter 205: Hopefully Not Too Late
Chapter 205: Hopefully Not Too Late
"The man! The construction worker who threatened her, saying he wouldn’t let her off easily!"
It was the same man who almost became Dong Yi’s fiancé and got beaten up by Qiuqiu. Last time he came, he was looking for trouble but was stopped by Qiuqiu. Could it be him again?
"Mei, which man are you talking about?"
"It’s him, it has to be him!"
Qian recounted the situation from last time, and Yu Minglang nodded, indeed, it was possible.
"Let’s go find him immediately, I suspect that man has been drinking again." Qian wanted to run out, but Yu Minglang pulled her back.
"Mei, calm down, let’s analyze this."
Yu Minglang had dealt with many cases, and could always utilize key moments.
"She doesn’t have a phone, and she’s in the theatre. How could the other party find her? Is it possible another student called her away?"
"Impossible, Dong Yi basically has no friends except those in our dormitory. How did he find Dong Yi..."
Qian pondered over and over, not understanding where things went wrong.
"You said the last time that man appeared at night, wearing work clothes?" Yu Minglang filtered through the details and found a point of suspicion.
"Yes."
"Is it possible he lives nearby?" Yu Minglang scanned the surroundings, suddenly stopping at the new dormitory building under construction behind the school. The scaffolding reflected light at night, and although no construction work was done at night, someone would be guarding the site.
"Could he be a worker? Does your school have any projects that require people to come in for repairs at night, and he just sneaked in, accidentally meeting your classmate and taking her away? Or is he a staff member of your school?"
Qian thought for a moment. The school was too big; she really didn’t know, but it was indeed possible.
"Assuming you were all in the theatre and he sneaked in, if your classmate was sitting below watching the show, her first reaction wouldn’t be to scream, but the most likely is she’d follow him out."
Yu Minglang reconstructed the case, and Qian broke out in a cold sweat.
With her first-year personality, it is indeed possible she followed silently instead of screaming because she knew it was Shi Yu’s play where Qian played the lead. She certainly didn’t want to make a fuss. Now, two hours have passed, what might have happened...
"What should we do, should we call the police?" Qian’s voice trembled.
That man was obviously no good. Last time he was drunk and made a scene. Qian never imagined he’d have the guts to sneak into the campus and take Dong Yi away!
"Calling the police won’t help, it’s just speculation without evidence. She’s only been missing for less than two hours; they won’t file a case. Don’t panic, take me to the theatre, let me observe the layout."
Yu Minglang and Qian returned to the small theatre, coincidentally meeting Second Brother and Qiao Zhen there.
Shi Yu shared the information she had, and Qiao Zhen quickly drew the same conclusions as Yu Minglang. Shi Yu led a search elsewhere, while Qiao Zhen and Second Brother stayed to look for clues, coincidentally running into Yu Minglang.
"Boss, are you thinking the same as me?" Qiao Zhen asked.
Yu Minglang nodded. Having been together for so long, their thoughts had synchronized.
"Based on Mei’s description of that man, I analyze that the probability of him committing a premeditated crime is low. It’s more likely a crime of passion under the influence of alcohol. Initially, he might not have meant any harm to Dong Yi, but upon seeing her, he might have suddenly decided to reason with her, but what happened after..."
Yu Minglang didn’t continue, but everyone understood.
Crimes of passion are frequent, especially when fueled by alcohol, talk can spiral into potential passion...assault, passionate violence, or even murder!
People who are volatile might do anything when provoked.
Qian turned pale. She thought curing Dong Yi’s sleepwalking would prevent the tragedy of a past life, but she hadn’t considered such a situation. She now desperately hoped Dong Yi was just bored with the play and went for a walk, that she’d return soon, and that Yu Minglang’s conjecture would not come true.
The Second Brother’s face was grim, "I’ll deploy people over right away to search together!"
"It might be too late, but it’s better to have someone than no one. Meanwhile, let’s dispatch a group of search dogs from the kennel." Once Yu Minglang made all the preparations, he began surveying the surroundings of the theatre.
"I suspect Dong Yi didn’t go too far with him, wouldn’t have left the campus, maybe not even far from the small theatre."
Yu Minglang started scrutinizing around.
"Could he have pushed Dong Yi into the lake?" Qian’s mind was filled with terrifying ideas.
Yu Minglang shook his head, "Impossible, the lake is too far from here, and there were a fair number of people in the campus at that time. If he forcibly took someone away, it would definitely attract other students’ attention, he wouldn’t have the guts. However, it’s possible he went in this direction."
Yu Minglang pointed to a small path beside the theatre where there seemed to be few people.
"He’s unfamiliar with your school’s environment but would surely look for a place with fewer people. There aren’t many lights on that side, few people go there, and even if there was a dispute, it would be perceived as a lovers’ quarrel, and no one would interfere."
"That leads to our school’s boiler room."
Qian followed Yu Minglang’s line of sight. At the end of the small path was the school’s boiler room, behind it stood a 20-meter chimney.
Yu Minglang’s analysis made sense, Dong Yi definitely wouldn’t have gone far with him. Once she came out, this road was quite deserted, leading to a two-story boiler room. The entire school’s heating and hot water relied on it, and they had started providing heat. The coal pile was so high it reached the teaching area in front. It would all be consumed in one winter.
Usually, very few people would come over, but after Yu Minglang’s suggestion, everyone hurried there. As they approached the boiler room, the light was dim, and Mr. Yu’s second son drew his powerful flashlight, shining it on the ground, which suddenly revealed a mark that caught Yu Mingyi’s attention.
"Look here!"
"It’s a drag mark, seems quite recent!" Yu Minglang immediately confirmed, invigorating the group upon discovering the clue.
But it was just this one spot; there were no more traces forward.
"It’s possible a struggle occurred there, and he knocked her out." Yu Minglang’s assessment made everyone uneasy because if Dong Yi was unconscious, whatever might happen afterward was unpredictable.
"A campus is a populated place; he couldn’t have waltzed around with someone on his shoulder; she must be nearby!" Yu Mingyi asserted.
Yu Minglang nodded, surveying the surrounding environment, and suddenly, he and Yu Mingyi simultaneously pointed towards the boiler room. The brothers exchanged a glance and swiftly ran there.
Qian followed them, but she wasn’t as fast as the Yu family brothers. Qiao Zhen also ran over, and Qian sprinted with all her might.
She prayed repeatedly in her heart.
Hopefully, everything would be in time, and the tragic incident would not occur.