Bronco got on the road to the north, and Marco, who was sitting in the passenger seat, pulled out a stack of documents from his briefcase and began to explain the case.

"Half a year ago, at around 12 p.m. on September 2, 1980, Luben disappeared."

"The police retrieved the surveillance video of the 'lover's bar' where Lu Ben was last seen on the night of the accident and the nearby casino, and questioned witnesses along the street, and found out that Lu Ben had drunk a lot of alcohol at the time and left the bar in a half-drunk state... Head north and return to the apartment where you live..."

"He disappeared in the roughly one-mile stretch between the bar and the apartment, which was not monitored because it was too late at night and the police had not found any witnesses."

"In addition, after searching, we couldn't find any clothes, hair, wallets belonging to Luben along the way... Or bloodstains. ”

"It sounds like the world has evaporated, but there is a good saying. Whoever walks through will leave a trace. Dean stared out the window at the straight road and asked in a deep voice, "Was there a similar case in the vicinity of that stretch of road before Luben's disappearance?" Someone else is missing or killed? ”

"No... Reno is a well-known tourist town, and the people are quite simple," Marco said with a hint of pride on the wrinkles on his face, "I remember that there has not been any criminal case in the last four or five years. ”

Dean rolled his gaze and nodded,

"I know the conclusion of the police investigation, what clues did the private investigator you hired find?"

"It's hard to find clues at the scene of the crime." The old man took out another document from his briefcase, "So the two detectives analyzed the results from a different angle." ”

"They thought it was possible that Luben had been kidnapped by force, and that Luben was in a drunken state at the time and could not effectively resist the attack." The old man paused for a moment, and stretched out his hand to tidy up the split head that was blown by the wind, "And who has the motive to commit the crime?" The biggest possibility is that there is an intersection with Lu Ben in life, and there is a relationship of interest. ”

"Ruben's circle of contacts was small, and the only places he frequented were a Wal-Mart, Krispy Kreme donut food, a lover's bar, and an apartment where he lived, the local publishing house in Reno."

"Employees and customers at all five locations are suspicious."

"Then those two guys investigated most of the suspects, questioning, investigating the trajectory of activities, and even sneaking into some of the target's residences to do a detailed search."

Marco sighed, his sparse and pale eyebrows tightened,

"But the results were disappointing and everyone was ruled out of suspicion."

"Luben's friend?" Dean spun the wheel and the car drove off into wider lanes.

"Rubben is only with his college classmate and best friend, Jairo Cayton," Marco paused, rubbing his bare chin and a gratefulness flashing in his eyes, "Jairo is a good fellow, and he spent a lot of his personal time helping with the search after Ruben's disappearance. He really cared about Luben as if he were a brother. After the detective investigated, he was also ruled out as suspicious

Marco sighed,

"I spent a lot of my savings, and the two detectives did their best for four months. But there was no result. ”

……

"The actions of the police and detectives have been called carpet searches, and if I remember correctly, you have also turned to newspapers and TV stations, but you still haven't found anyone." Dean was embarrassed and said, "Even if I take action and investigate according to normal methods and thinking logic, I can't do better." ”

Dean's voice landed.

A prompt suddenly flashed through the system.

Event description changes.

Luben van Hersin

Event difficulty: Unknown → medium

Progress (5/100)

Duration: one week

Reward: 130 XP + Special Reward.

Penalties: None

……

Medium difficulty, Dean was in high spirits and was interested.

"You mentioned that Luben disappeared after getting drunk, and he usually goes to that lover's bar to get drunk?"

"According to the testimonies of Jairo and the bar staff, it is." The old man nodded, the sorrow on his face turned to anger, and he blew his beard and glared and said, "This stinky boy is in his thirties, and he is not in shape, and he visits the bar three or four times a week, and he gets drunk again!" ”

"We Van Hersin family are either lawyers, doctors, or big businessmen, and we have never had such ridiculous offspring! I can't even find a fixed girlfriend, and I can't leave a descendant for the family! ”

The more the old man spoke, the more angry he became, and his bark-like old face swelled with blood,

"What a good-for-nothing piece of waste, when he comes back, I'm going to beat him hard with a belt!"

The old man's teeth clenched, sweat appeared on his forehead, and spittle spurted out uncontrollably from between his teeth.

Dean was taken aback, this old man wouldn't have had a sudden cerebral congestion and heart attack and die in his car, right?

"Relax, Marko, don't be angry with yourself." He hurriedly slowed down to the side of the road, stretched out his right hand and patted his back soothingly, opened the window and let in the cool breeze.

Ten minutes later, the old man's face returned to normal, and his rapid breathing calmed down.

"Sorry man, I have a bit of high blood pressure and my liver is not very good, so I can't control my temper."

"I understand, but you should want to open up a little, some people are born with such a personality and can't be changed."

Dean put himself in his shoes and imagined that a man in his thirties, who does not work or get married, lives on his 60-year-old father, and likes to drink too much to hurt his body.

"You can't change Luben, you might as well change yourself." Dean handed the old man a bottle of water and earnestly advised, "For example, if you had cut off his monthly allowance earlier, he would have had to go out to find a job and support himself." After being beaten by life, he knew your good intentions. ”

"You haven't seen it, this kid is a combination of a crab and a turkey." The old man said angrily, sighed again, every wrinkle on his face was full of helplessness, and he looked like he had been eaten, "If I really do this, within half a month, I will find his stinky corpse in the apartment." ”

"But he's my only son, and I'm ruthless, you know?"

Dean wiped the cold sweat that didn't exist on his forehead.

The missing Luben van Hersin is truly superb.

……

After a short rest, the car got back on the road and quickly left the crowded Las Vegas with its high-rise buildings and entered the vast wilderness.

The sun is shining.

The vision was vainly wide, and the hearts of the two passengers couldn't help but be clear.

"Marco, I still want to know everything about Luben's past," Dean said cautiously, turning the steering wheel, "what major blow has he suffered when he became so 'depraved' and drank all day long?" ”

"Does this have anything to do with the case?" Talking about his son's past, Marko's face suddenly tightened, and he looked reluctant to stalk his neck.

"It has a lot to do with it," Dean looked directly into the old man's twinkling eyes, "everyone's future is determined by the past and the present. ”

"Luben's disappearance, or his own departure, is the result of the superposition of countless past events."

"Analyze the past well, and maybe we can find out where he went."

Marco scratched his bare chin, was silent for a long time, and spoke,

"Tribeca is right, you're not like the other detectives. Where do you want to start, Luben's University? ”

"There are still more than five hours before arriving in Reno, there is plenty of time, it doesn't matter if you start talking about his birth, I have patience."

……

The old man spoke slowly.

On the first day of his life, his mother died of blood loss.

At the mention of his long-dead wife, his eyes were slightly red.

After that, he ran a pet clinic while taking care of his son, and became a father and a mother, taking the child to the clinic every day and leaving it alone, and he was busy treating small animals.

More than 30 years have passed, and no woman has been found to remarry.

"To be honest, I spend more time taking care of those cats and dogs than I do taking care of Luben."

Marco recalled,

"He was born with a more introverted personality, unlike other little bastards who like to mess around and cause trouble, he prefers to record his daily experiences and imagination in his mind alone, and he became obsessed with writing when he was older."

Dean shook his head, Lu Ben is also a poor child, at the age when he needs someone to accompany him the most, his mother is gone, his father is too busy with work to take care of him, no one talks to him, and his ability to speak will be slowly closed.

Personality is naturally forced to become quiet and introverted.

It's not inherently quiet.

"When I was a child, Lu Ben was obedient and likeable, without any bad habits, including alcoholism, and never affected my work, he did whatever I said, very sensible and obedient." Marko's eyes shot a look of nostalgia, and a warm smile appeared on the corner of his mouth,

"The only regret is that he didn't make any friends, and he didn't have a woman, and the prom was all by himself."

"Judging from the photos, Lu Ben doesn't look bad." Dean was puzzled,

"But he has a bad temper and is not good at communicating." Marco frowned, disgusted, "He doesn't have the masculinity of our Van Hersin family at all!" ”

Dean frowned in displeasure.

How much this guy likes to belittle his own son.

Can't you be gentle and tactful?

After graduating from high school, Luben studied literature and writing at the local university in Reno. Marco looked sideways out the window and gradually left Las Vegas, the green vegetation on the side of the road began to increase, exuding a good smell of plants and earthiness, "I would also be very happy if he could succeed in his studies and let the Van Hersin family give birth to a famous writer and even a future great writer." Not to mention that he himself is obsessed with writing. ”

"It's a pity... It turns out that he is not a writer material, he has studied for four years, but he has not broken into the slightest fame, and he has not won any honorary awards. The old man grinned with a hint of caustic mockery, and a trace of anger flashed in his cloudy eyes,

"I didn't exercise my ability, but my temper has grown a lot, I think about him, let him join my pet clinic after graduation, learn some skills, earn money to support himself, and inherit my career in the future." He actually refused. ”

"He rented an apartment, moved in and began to devote himself to writing, dreaming of becoming famous and a best-selling author."

"Luben is a writer?" Dean interrupted righteously, saying that everyone with a dream of being a writer deserves respect, "You didn't say he was a vagrant in the first place. ”

"What writer? He doesn't deserve it! The old man shook his head in disappointment, "He didn't earn a dollar from writing for twelve years, from the time he graduated at the age of 24 to the age of 36." ”

"Actually, it's normal." Dean pressed the steering wheel tightly and couldn't help but retort, "Many well-known writers have been poor for half their lives, not because they are without talent, but because they lack an opportunity, a Bole." ”

"But they at least know how to find a job to earn money to support themselves, what about Luben?" The old man turned around and glared at Dean, his withered right hand drew a circle in the air, and then took it back, as if he was about to hammer his head just now, "I'm too lazy to work, I'm afraid of being distracted, so I meditate the paper and pen all day long, indulging in the spring and autumn dreams woven by myself." ”

"But if you want me to say, what he writes is all old routines that have been outdated for hundreds of years, they are all boring garbage and full of nonsense, and the editor doesn't look down on it at all, and no one wants to publish it for him."

Marco spoke too quickly, stroked his chest and took a deep breath, slowing down for a while before continuing,

"When he was 30 years old, I really couldn't bear to see him continue to waste his good life, so I spent tens of thousands of dollars out of my own pocket to help him realize his publishing dream and let him recognize the reality." The old man sighed, and said angrily, "As expected, only ten copies of his masterpiece were sold, and all of them were hired by his only friend, Jairo. ”

"He took the remaining hundreds of copies and delivered them to passers-by for free on the street, but no one asked for them!"

"Unable to accept reality, he collapsed, and a fire burned the printed manuscripts to ashes."

Dean rubbed his nose,

"What is the story of the book that was published, and the books he wrote before?"

"It's all about the history of Reno, because Reno is the 'divorce capital of the world', so the book is mixed with a lot of love between men and women, plus some boundless, ridiculous fantasies." The old man shook his head disdainfully, "It's neither interesting nor deep. ”

"The most important point, as far as I know, this guy Luben has never even held a woman's hand a few times since he was a child, and he has never experienced love himself, but he has made up several love stories in the book," Marco Ridiculous Di laughed, "He actually has the courage to write about this, you say it's ridiculous." ”

Dean couldn't get used to this old man's attitude of blindly belittling his son, so he retorted,

"Do customers have to learn how to cook like chefs?"

"Your analogy is not very apt! He's clearly a chef, and I'm the customer of the review. Marco glanced at Dean with critical eyes, and continued, "Six years after burning the book, Lu Ben was willing to degenerate, often going to bars to get drunk, and fooling me, and talking nonsense with me in search of inspiration. ”

"Why didn't he go to the grass for inspiration?" Marco blew his beard and glared and complained, "He followed the devil, drinking heavily and burying his head in creation, until he disappeared half a year ago." ”

"So what kind of works has he written in the past six years?" Dean wondered, "Or Reno's love story?" ”

Marco hesitated for a moment, annoyance flashed in his eyes, and shook his head,

"I don't know, in the past few years, except for giving him living expenses on time every month, I haven't talked to this head... The stubborn stupid ass has done any communication. ”

"Later, both the police and the private investigator I hired searched his apartment and found no valuable evidence."

"Half a year has passed, is the apartment still there?" Dean asked,

The old man seemed to have been stabbed in the chest, his face turned pale, his head hung down, his thin back under the big coat was rickety, and the whole person seemed to have suddenly aged a few years.

"I've been renting...", there was a hint of softness and warmth in his stiff tone, "Otherwise, Luben won't have a place to live when he comes back." ”

The sun quietly rose overhead.

The car approached the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada, which is steep and full of shrubs and grasses.

The golden sunlight shone through the car window on the old man's short flaxen hair, and some silver hair shone brightly, making Dean squint.

What a knife-mouthed tofu-hearted old man.

Dean glanced at the system.

After listening to Marco's lengthy narration, the progress of the investigation jumped from 5 percent to 10 percent.

"Can you tell me more about Luben's mother, you didn't talk much about her just now."

"She's the best woman in the world, my love ever."

(End of chapter)