She put the earpiece on the stand, and it hurt a little. "What the hell is going on here," she muttered to herself. I just fell in love with this man, did he eat the wrong vinegar? Can't he treat me like he did on Sunday night? Even this morning, when he called me, he was fine.

A colleague interrupted her thoughts. He looked troubled. "Marven is putting on my little shoes. "They did have some paper records, but when I said I had to look at them, he told me to get out of the way." ”

"Don't worry, Carl. Zhu Yuting said, "These things are God's test of our patience and forbearance. See if I don't rip off his eggs later. ”

The nearby agent heard her and smiled.

"Is that what patience and forbearance all it means?" Karl grinned and said, "I have to remember." ”

"Come with me and I'll show you. She said.

They walked out and got into her car. Fifteen minutes later, they came to the Federal Building on Golden Gate Avenue.

When taking the elevator upstairs, Zhu Yuting pondered how to deal with Ma Wencai. Should she rip his eggs off, or show a reassuring gesture? In order to cooperate, the other party must be willing. She and Marven may have missed that stage forever.

She hesitated for a moment outside the office door of the Gang Crime Task Force. Okay, I'll meet you!

She walked in, Carl following behind.

Marven was talking on the phone, and he was joking with the person on the other side of the phone, and his mouth was grinning: "So, Sabao contributed to the man and said that there was a woman in the back room who had the best place to stay." ”

Zhu Yuting stood across from his table. Leaning forward, he shouted, "What kind of garbage attitude do you have towards Carl?"

"Someone interrupted me, Joe. He said, I'll call you later, and he hung up, "What's the matter, Zhu Yuting?"

He leaned forward even further, straight in front of him: "Don't play tricks."

"What's wrong with you?" He looked aggrieved, "What do you mean you want to check my records? As if I made some mistake. ”

He doesn't necessarily make a mistake, and when the perpetrator pretends to be a bystander or an eyewitness to approach the investigators, he will certainly find a way to keep himself from arousing suspicion. It's not the investigators' fault, but if something like this happens, it's going to be a shame for them.

"I think you may have been in contact with the suspect. She said, "Where's the paper record?"

He pulled off his yellow tie: "We only have some notes from the press conference here, and we don't record them on the computer." ”

"Show me. ”

He pointed to the box on a small table by the wall, "See for yourself." ”

He may not be wrong, but she still has to try, and it would be unwise for him to put hurdles on her.

Smart people say, "Hey, if I'm missing something, I wish you could find out." Everyone makes mistakes, but Marven is too defensive to speak calmly. He just wanted to prove Zhu Yuting wrong.

It would be embarrassing if she was really wrong, and she flipped through the papers, and there was a fax from a newspaper asking for the details of the press conference, and there was a memo with how many chairs to prepare, a list of visitors, a list of which reporters had attended the press conference, and the names of the reporters and the publications or broadcasters they represented. Zhu Yuting browsed the list.

"What the hell is this?" she said suddenly.

She wanted to write a news story for her school newspaper to cover the conference. Marven said, "What are you going to do with us, tell her to fuck off?"

"Did you check her identity?"

"She's just a child!"

"She's coming alone?"

"Her dad brought her here. ”

A business card is attached to the form. "Have you verified his identity?"

Marven hesitated for a while and realized that he had made a mistake. "Nope. Eventually, he said, "Zhu Wu decided to let them in for a press conference, and I didn't follow up with them. "

Zhu Yuting handed the form to Carl along with the business card. "Call this person right away. She said.

Carl sat down at the nearest table and picked up the phone.

Ma Wencai said: "Anyway, why are you so sure that we have been in contact with the target of the arrest?"

"That's what my dad thought. As soon as she said that, she realized that she had made a mistake.

Marven sneered: "Oh, that's what your dad thinks, we've fallen to this point? You came to take my record, but because your dad made you like this!"

"Ma Wencai, when my dad caught the bad guys and went to prison, you were still washing the pacifier on the bed. "

"After all, what are you trying to do? Are you trying to provoke me? Or are you looking for a scapegoat because the case is not progressing?"

"What a great idea. She said, "Why didn't I think of that?"

Carl hung up the phone and shouted, "Zhu Yuting. ”

"What's wrong?"

"The man never came into the building, and he didn't have a daughter. But on Saturday morning, he was robbed two blocks from the building, and his wallet was robbed, which contained his business card. ”

There was a moment of silence before Marven said, "FK. ”

Zhu Yuting ignored his embarrassment. She was so excited to hear the news. It's going to be a whole new lead. "I guess he's not at all like the E-fit picture we got from the Texas police, right?"

"Not at all. Marven said, "No beard, no hat." He wears big eyes and a long ponytail. ”

"It's most likely also a disguise. How's his body shape, doesn't he look like an E-fit picture?"

"Tall, very thin. ”

"Are your hair and eyes dark, do you look like you're in your twenties?"

"Yes, yes, yes. ”

Zhu Yuting almost sympathized with Ma Wencai: "He is Liu Zhan, isn't he?"

Marven looked at the floor, as if he wanted to find a crack in the ground to get into: "I guess you're right." ”

"Please help me make a new E-ft image. ”

He nodded, still not looking at her: "Of course.

"What about the little girl?"

"Well, she's let our guard down, I mean, what terrorist would take a little girl around?"

"Terrorists without humanity. What does that kid look like?"

"A little Asian girl, twelve or thirteen years old, with dark hair, dark eyes, very thin build, very beautiful. ”

"It's better to make an E-fit image for her as well. Do you think she's really his daughter?"

"Oh, of course, they look like father and daughter. She shows no signs of being forced, if that's what worries you. ”

"yes, well, let's just assume they're father and daughter. She turned to Carl, "Let's go. ”

They walked out. Getting down the hallway, Carl said, "Wow, you really ripped his eggs off. ”

Zhu Yuting was immersed in great joy: "But we have another suspect, that child." "

"yes. I just hope I made a mistake and didn't get caught by you. ”

She stopped and looked at him, "It doesn't matter if you make a mistake, Carl. Everyone has their mistakes. But in order to cover up his mistakes, Marven did not hesitate to obstruct the investigation. This is where he really made mistakes and where he is hateful now. If you make a mistake, just admit it. ”

"But I think I should also be careful to clamp my legs tightly. ”

After the night came, Zhu Yuting got the front page of the current issue of the San Francisco Chronicle and posted two new pictures, the E-fit portrait of the little girl Yuan Xiaohua and the E-fit portrait of Liu Zhan in disguise.

Now, looking closely under the lamp on the desk, she was surprised to find that Liu Zhan and Yuan Xiaohua were both Asians, even if they were not father and daughter, they were related, definitely. I don't know, what would happen to her life if I sent her dad to prison?

She yawned, rubbed her eyes, and remembered her father's advice. "Take a moderate break, have lunch, and replenish the sleep you need. It's time to go home. The night shift changers have arrived.

On the drive home, she reflected on today's progress. At the red light, she stopped, watching the streetlights on Beale Avenue stretch out into the distance. At this time, she realized that Shang Zhigen had not faxed her a list of possible earthquakes.

She called his number from her car phone, but there was no answer. Somehow, she was bothered by this. While waiting for the next red light, she dialed again, and the line was busy.

She contacted the bus of the precinct and asked them to help confirm with Pacific Bell Telephone to see if Shang Zhigen's phone was on the phone.

The operator called back and said no, and the phone line at Shang Zhigen's house was disconnected.

This means that he was at home, but he didn't answer the phone, and when he called her to cancel his appointment today, he had a weird voice. He's such a person: sometimes charismatic, kind, but at some point, he suddenly becomes a different person, arrogant and difficult to get along with. But why does the phone line disconnect when he is there? Zhu Yuting felt uneasy.

She looked at the clock on the dashboard, and it was almost eleven o'clock, and it was only two days.

I don't have any time to waste.

She turned around and drove toward the university town.

At eleven fifteen she came to Euclid Boulevard. The lights are on in Shang Ji-geun's apartment. An old orange Subaru was parked outside. She'd seen the car old, but she just didn't know whose it was. She parked the car in the back of the Subaru and rang the doorbell of Shang Zhigen's house, but no one answered.

Zhu Yuting felt uneasy. Shang Zhigen has the key information in his hands. Today, she asked him an important question, and at this critical moment, he suddenly canceled his date and then couldn't be reached again.

The situation was suspicious, and she didn't know what to do, so maybe she should have called for police reinforcements and rushed in. Maybe he's been tied up, or he's dead inside.

She went back to the car and picked up the two-way radio, but she hesitated. When a man unplugs the phone line at 11 p.m., there are a lot of possibilities. He probably wanted to sleep quietly. He may be exercising with people, but Shang Zhigen seems to be obsessed with Zhu Yuting, not like he can mess with flowers, she thinks, he is not the kind of man who will sleep with different women every day.

As she hesitated, a young woman with a briefcase, looking like an assistant professor, had just returned from overtime in the lab. She walked to the door and stopped, fumbling for the key from the briefcase.

Zhu Yuting was impulsive and jumped out of the car. Walk briskly across the lawn to the door.

She said, showing off her badge. "I'm FBI agent Zhu Yuting, and I need to get into this building. ”

"Is something wrong?" The woman asked worriedly.

"Hope it's okay. All you have to do is go inside the house, close the door, and you're good to go. ”

They walked in together. The woman entered the apartment on the first floor. Zhu Yuting went upstairs. She knocked on Shang Ji-geun's door with her knuckles.

No one answered.

What's going on? He's in it. He must have heard the doorbell and the knock. He knew that there were still people knocking on the door so persistently at night, and it was certainly not the average visitor. She thought something must be wrong inside.

She knocked on the door again, and three times, each time hard. Then, she put her ear to the door and listened carefully to what was going on inside. Suddenly, she heard a scream.

That's telling. She took a step back and kicked the door with all her strength. She was wearing slip-on shoes, and the kicking of the door made the sole of her right foot hurt, but the wood around the lock was shattered, and thankfully, he didn't have a steel door. She kicked again, and the lock seemed to be about to loosen.