Tracking

After eating his fill, Wen Yiqian walked out of the breakfast stall.

He had spent the meal roughly sorting out his thoughts.

At the very start, he had genuinely considered going it alone: heading to the scene, poking around, piecing together exactly how An Zhi had disappeared.

It had taken a firm mental slap to bring himself back down.

Dealing with two psychopathic criminals the day before had left him feeling slightly too pleased with himself.

Once the feeling passed, the reality was plain: he was a struggling writer. His readers had always complained he was slow on the uptake. High intelligence had nothing to do with him.

Working a crime scene the way a seasoned detective would was cool in theory, but it was not his territory. Any officer on the force would run circles around him. He had no feel for it whatsoever, and there was no reason to think he had some hidden gift for it.

What Wen Yiqian was genuinely good at was understanding characters: getting inside their heads, mapping their psychology, and working from there.

Looking back at An Zhi’s behavior the night before, a picture emerged quickly enough. Beyond the princess complex and the entitled streak, this woman was reckless to her core.

She had little sense of her own mortality. Fear barely registered with her.

After convincing herself Wen Yiqian was a high-IQ criminal, she hadn’t backed away: she had put herself up as bait and tried to draw him out.

Most veteran officers wouldn’t go that far.

Because in the back of their minds, they all knew the truth: a police badge meant you stood for something, but it didn’t make you bulletproof. In front of a ruthless, unhinged psychopath, you were still just a person.

You could bleed. You could be afraid. You could die.

What Wen Yiqian had said and done at the car window the night before had cut straight through that bravado. It had snapped An Zhi out of her fantasy and put her face to face with something she hadn’t been prepared for.

This reckless woman had finally understood: she wasn’t the hero of a movie.

Up against a criminal like that, she had been completely led by the nose. Fear had taken over entirely. She hadn’t even had the presence of mind to resist.

So what would she have been left with after he walked away?

Fear. Dread. A creeping sense of helplessness.

After all, Wen Yiqian had just helped the police bring in two psychopathic criminals and had wrapped himself in a perfectly convincing cover as a private detective. Even if An Zhi went to Li Weiguo and told him Wen Yiqian was dangerous, Li Weiguo probably wouldn’t believe her.

Being hunted by someone that careful, that capable, and that impossible to read: she couldn’t even begin to anticipate what he might do next.

The road ahead must have looked like nothing but darkness.

But quietly waiting to become a victim was not in An Zhi’s nature.

That kind of pressure would push her toward doing something drastic.

To guarantee her own safety and to force Wen Yiqian into the open, she would go as far as she had to.

With his thoughts in order, the answer was already taking shape in his mind.

All that remained was to confirm it.

…

The Crescent Moon Hotel was one street over from Happiness Residential Complex.

It was a modest place, unremarkable in every way.

In the lobby, the front desk clerk was hunched over her nails, carefully applying polish.

She was in her twenties, average looks, heavy makeup.

“Excuse me, I’d like to ask about something.”

The voice made her pause. She frowned without looking up, and went back to her nails. “We only do accommodation here.”

Guest coming in to ask questions instead of booking a room: almost certainly some jealous boyfriend sniffing around for proof his girlfriend was cheating. She had seen the type more times than she could count, and she had no patience for it.

“Actually, I’m a police officer. I’m investigating a murder case.”

“Police officer?” The frown deepened. Then she looked up, and her expression changed entirely. Her eyes went wide and slightly unfocused. “He’s so handsome…”

Wen Yiqian scratched his head. He was well aware of his own appearance at this point.

But this was genuinely the first time he had seen a girl react quite like that in person.

He used to roll his eyes at that kind of scene in dramas, writing it off as exaggeration. He had never encountered it in real life and hadn’t believed it actually happened.

Now he understood: it probably just hadn’t happened because he hadn’t been handsome enough before.

“What did you need, Officer?” The girl’s previously flat tone had gone soft and slightly warm.

Faced with someone considerably more appealing than her usual ideal, she found it difficult to look anywhere else.

Since he had no badge, Wen Yiqian had come prepared with a cover story to smooth things over.

It turned out to be completely unnecessary.

His face had done the work for him.

“Were you on duty early this morning?” he asked.

“Early morning? No, I’m on the morning shift, starting at eight.” She propped her chin in her hand. “Miaomiao does nights. She just finished at eight, so she’s probably still asleep.”

“Could you check who checked in during the early morning hours yesterday?” Wen Yiqian asked, after a moment’s thought.

“That’s against the rules. My boss finds out, I’m fired.” She shook her head.

“Let me be straight with you.” Wen Yiqian glanced around and lowered his voice as if sharing something sensitive. “We’re currently tracking a fugitive.”

“Outwardly presents as a woman, but is actually a man who targets and assaults women. Three victims in this city already. What was done to them before they died…”

“Okay, okay, stop.”

The girl had gone visibly pale and cut him off before he could finish.

“You’re helping us close a case. Your boss won’t hold it against you.” Wen Yiqian pressed the advantage.

“Fine… alright.” She hesitated, then nodded and turned to her computer.

She pulled up the check-in log from the previous night.

There were plenty of arrivals earlier in the evening, but only three during the early morning hours.

None of the names meant anything to Wen Yiqian.

That was expected. The hotel’s ID registration system was linked to the police database. Use your real ID and the station gets a notification automatically. No one trying to stay hidden would risk that.

He scanned the check-in times: 12:46 a.m., 1:22 a.m., and 4:08 a.m.

He had come back to the complex at around two.

The first two could be ruled out immediately based on timing alone.

The picture was getting clearer.

“Which room is this guest in?” Wen Yiqian pointed to the 4:08 a.m. entry.

The clerk checked and looked up with a hint of surprise. “That guest has already checked out.”

“When?”

“Half an hour ago.”

(End of Chapter)