Chapter 34: The Clue Ends Here

In this video, from when Zhang Yan appears until she exits the surveillance frame, only fifteen seconds pass.

This is even though she was walking while talking on the phone.

If she had maintained a normal walking pace, she could have covered this distance in under ten seconds.

After all, the surveillance range in front of a shop is relatively small—about ten meters.

Yu Dazhang watched the video over and over, his eyes fixed on Zhang Yan’s lips on the screen.

He had already viewed it four times, yet still found it extremely difficult.

It’s straining his eyes.

Compared to the first video’s facial expressions, the difficulty here doubled.

He needed to interpret what Zhang Yan was saying by carefully observing her lip movements.

In a real-life setting, Yu Dazhang could rely on his extraordinary vision to easily catch her lip changes.

But with surveillance footage, that wasn’t possible.

Pixel resolution determines clarity—no matter how sharp your eyesight, it makes no difference.

Fortunately, the surveillance video could be replayed, and in this clip, Zhang Yan spoke only two sentences.

Yet even those two sentences took Yu Dazhang four viewings to confirm.

First sentence: “I won’t listen, I won’t listen, I don’t want to hear this. If you keep this up, I’ll never speak to you again.”

After saying this, the video shows Zhang Yan pausing for about seven seconds.

That means the person on the other end of the call was speaking.

Second sentence: “I’ve said it before—I never thought that. You’ve misunderstood.”

Something’s off~

Yu Dazhang had a hunch that the person Zhang Yan was talking to was likely the same one who sent the earlier messages.

But the content of this conversation…

What kind of situation would make Zhang Yan say these things?

Romantic relationship?

Unlikely—couples arguing never talk like this.

The first sentence clearly indicates the other person said something Zhang Yan didn’t want to hear, forcing her to threaten a breakup to stop them.

The second sentence refutes the other person’s misunderstanding of her.

These two have an unusual relationship.

If they weren’t close, the idea of breaking up wouldn’t even come up.

Among acquaintances, misunderstandings are countless.

The video’s too short—if only she’d said a few more words… Yu Dazhang had no further leads for now.

“Play the next segment.”

“Dazhang, wait a moment,” Lu Zhongxin couldn’t help asking:

“Did you notice something in that last video?”

“No.” Yu Dazhang shook his head.

He was too lazy to explain.

He was here to find new clues, not to run a remedial class.

What if Master and Qian Cheng made him teach them lip reading?

That’d just be inviting trouble.

Besides, can anyone learn lip reading? It requires talent.

First, you need a nosy heart.

“If you didn’t notice anything, why watch it so many times?” Lu Zhongxin’s tone carried irritation.

He’d clearly seen Yu Dazhang leaning forward, eyes wide, staring at the computer screen, his head almost touching it.

He looked like he was trying to see right through Zhang Yan in the footage.

If nothing deeply intrigued him, why would he act like that?

“Precisely because I didn’t notice anything.”

Yu Dazhang wore an expression of obvious logic:

“If I had noticed something, would I need to watch it so many times?”

This retort left Lu Zhongxin speechless.

Hmm… it didn’t seem wrong.

Seeing the two fall silent, the police officer opened the next surveillance video. Yu Dazhang had planned to continue his lip-reading work.

But in this next clip, Zhang Yan wasn’t on the phone.

She walked at a normal pace and quickly vanished from the frame.

The entire sequence lasted only eight seconds.

Yu Dazhang glanced at the timestamp in the upper-right corner of the screen—the two videos were about three minutes apart.

“Were there no other surveillance cameras capturing the victim between these two sections?” Yu Dazhang asked, unwilling to give up.

“No,” the officer replied firmly:

“The road near the shop is isolated; all nearby storefronts are vacant.”

“Only two shops on the street have cameras—the other one’s across the road and can’t capture Zhang Yan.”

“I traced her route home step by step; this is the closest camera to the previous segment.”

“There’s no chance we missed anything.”

Clearly, this officer had investigated thoroughly—otherwise he wouldn’t have rattled off these details so easily.

Please… collect… 6…9…books…!

It seemed his lip-reading work could only pause… In this video, Yu Dazhang noticed only Zhang Yan’s clearly unhappy expression.

It must be directly tied to the previous phone call.

He found no other anomalies.

“Keep going.”

There were three more videos of Zhang Yan’s journey home; Yu Dazhang examined each carefully but found nothing unusual.

The final surveillance video was at the entrance of Zhang Yan’s residential compound.

Through this footage, it was clear Zhang Yan entered the compound and disappeared around the corner of a residential building.

Before Yu Dazhang could ask, the officer beside him volunteered:

“I visited the scene. The building she turned into is next to the one where she lives.”

Yu Dazhang nodded slightly:

“So she probably went straight home.”

The surveillance videos ended here.

These clips fully recorded Zhang Yan’s entire journey from leaving school to returning home.

Although the first two clips showed unusual behavior,

overall, her journey home revealed no suspicious individuals or events.

Additionally, Yu Dazhang noted that Zhang Yan’s residential compound was an open one.

Typically, such old compounds lack effective management and maintenance, making the absence of surveillance common.

Only the compound’s supermarket installs cameras at its entrance for security.

Also, such compounds have no access control.

Both residents and outsiders can enter or leave freely, without restriction.

“That’s it?”

Yu Dazhang frowned:

“No footage of her leaving?”

That’s the key point!

Zhang Yan’s final footage showed her heading home.

Though she vanished around the corner, Yu Dazhang was certain she entered her home safely.

It was afternoon, daylight—any sudden incident would have drawn attention.

Even if no one dared intervene, someone would’ve called 110.

“The trail ends here,” the officer said, sounding defeated:

“I checked all exits, even the supermarket’s camera—no sign of her after that.”

Then Zhang Yan’s body turned up five days later in Kong Lingjie’s rented apartment… Yu Dazhang added silently.

If the task force had been focused on the ending,

today’s visit to the police station meant they now knew the beginning.

What happened in between?

(End of Chapter)