Before entering the room, Lu Chuan put on the full set of crime scene investigation equipment.

Since Wang Feng was expelled last year for undercover work, his relationship with his parents was not particularly good, so even though he had been missing for three days, his parents did not know he was missing. If Yang Lin hadn’t called them to report the case, they might still be unaware of Wang Feng’s current situation.

Therefore, his parents hadn’t been in the room, and the current state of the room should be the first scene after Wang Feng’s disappearance.

"Brother Hui, hold on a second, I’ll scan for fingerprints first."

Putting on gloves, Lu Chuan took out a portable ultraviolet flashlight.

Although using an ultraviolet flashlight to check for fingerprints during the day is not particularly precise, Lu Chuan only needed to find the fingerprints for now, not collect them immediately.

While Lu Chuan was conducting the crime scene investigation, Zhang Hui and Yang Lin did not enter the room.

"Yang Lin, stay here with Lu Chuan for the investigation, I’ll check upstairs and downstairs."

The Huijia Garden District was built quite some time ago and was a welfare housing unit, so most of the neighbors were colleagues of Wang Feng’s father from back in the day.

Zhang Hui decided to conduct a preliminary inquiry to get a general idea of Wang Feng’s life over the past year or so from the neighbors upstairs and downstairs.

Knock knock knock.

The building where Wang Feng lived housed two units per floor, with a neighbor right across.

The door soon opened, revealing a middle-aged woman in her fifties.

"Who are you?"

The woman was not tall, around 1.6 meters, slightly plump, wearing loungewear, and appeared quite security-conscious, as she kept the door locked with a security chain without fully opening it.

"Hello, I am Officer Zhang Hui from the Huaguang Street Police Station. Here’s my badge, I’d like to ask you a few questions."

The woman glanced at the door across, noting that Zhang Hui and Lu Chuan were not in uniform, but Yang Lin was, and with the badge in Zhang Hui’s hand, she quickly unlocked the door.

"Oh, Officer Zhang, nice to meet you, please come in, please come in."

Zhang Hui nodded in thanks, "Should I change my shoes?"

"No, no need, please sit, I’ll pour you some tea."

The woman was very hospitable, relaxing visibly upon confirming Zhang Hui’s identity as a police officer.

"No need to trouble yourself, ma’am, I’ll just ask a few questions and be on my way."

A moment later, the woman sat on the sofa, "Are you asking about Little Wang across the hall?"

Hearing the nickname "Little Wang," Zhang Hui felt a tug in his mind, "Ma’am, are you quite familiar with him?"

"Well, not exactly familiar. I worked with his dad, but I’m a worker, so I retired at fifty."

Zhang Hui nodded, knowing there are some women retiring at fifty in the Criminal Investigation Team, though it’s quite rare. Those working in the field retire at fifty, while those in internal and management positions retire at fifty-five, and men uniformly retire at sixty.

"Oh, by the way, do you know why he’s disappeared? I haven’t seen him for several days."

"Wang Feng’s parents reported him missing; he hasn’t contacted home for three days."

"Missing?"

The woman’s face showed mild shock, followed by a sigh, "Oh, they say Wang Feng used to be a good kid. I remember he was very good in his studies back in school, even got into the Public Security University."

"But for some reason, he seemed to have been expelled later?"

"Recently, there were always some shady people visiting his place, and we were wondering how he’d gone astray."

"How could he just disappear?"

Zhang Hui didn’t elaborate, proceeding to inquire about Wang Feng’s disappearance: "Ma’am, did you hear any unusual noises or notice anything unusual around 11 p.m. three days ago from across the hall?"

"Three days ago? Didn’t seem to be anything unusual..."

While Zhang Hui was conducting the inquiry, Lu Chuan’s crime scene investigation was yielding some progress.

Wang Feng’s home was quite tidy, unlike the typical messy bachelor pad.

This apartment was about a hundred square meters, a typical three-leaf clover layout. Entering, the living room was on the left, the dining room adjoining the kitchen on the right, with a bathroom in the middle and bedrooms on either side.

Lu Chuan first scanned the front door and found quite a few fingerprints, but the preliminary analysis indicated they were likely all Wang Feng’s.

The floor was clean and tidy, with a mat at the entrance.

This was the area Lu Chuan intended to examine thoroughly.

"Chuan, what are you checking on the mat?"

This was Yang Lin’s first time watching Lu Chuan conduct a crime scene investigation, and he wasn’t quite sure about some things.

In the style of the local police handling cases, they’d enter directly and discover whatever there was; if nothing was found, then so be it.

Lu Chuan shook his head, pointing to some dirt and dust on the mat.

"Wang Feng ordered a mango ice cream that evening, and he’s allergic to mango, which indicates there might have been someone else in the house."

Yang Lin nodded, as he had discovered this while checking Wang Feng’s call records.

"If we assume that the person in Wang Feng’s house at the time is related to his disappearance, where did they come from?"

"The first step when the person entered Wang Feng’s place would be to leave traces on the mat. I’m collecting some dirt and dust here to see if trace evidence analysis can tell us anything. If they are really related to Wang Feng’s case, then the place where Wang Feng is being held might be where that person came from, which could help us solve the case later on."

Yang Lin let out an "oh," seemingly realizing something.

Of course, Lu Chuan and the others had discussed that mango ice cream cup while on their way here.

Wang Feng ordering a mango ice cream late at night through delivery could mean the person in his room wanted it, so he ordered it.

There’s also the possibility that Wang Feng deliberately ordered the mango ice cream?

Lu Chuan, Yang Lin, and the others knew of his mango allergy; could it be a clue Wang Feng deliberately left behind?

But the exact situation was unknown to Lu Chuan and the others at the moment, though it seemed like an important lead.

After about half an hour, Lu Chuan finished collecting the dirt and dust from the mat.

He then closely examined the floor tiles for residual footprints.

"Old Lu, there are two pairs of slippers placed next to each other. I think the person must have changed shoes when they came in."

Yang Lin pointed to two pairs of slippers improperly placed at the edge of the mat.

Of course, Lu Chuan had noticed this: "The tips of both pairs of slippers are facing the door, indicating the person probably changed into slippers before leaving."

Under normal circumstances, people rarely bother to rearrange slippers with tips pointing into the room after changing them.

Lu Chuan had just been observing whether the person might have left marks on the tiles with their own shoes.

Compared to slippers, prints left by regular outdoor shoes provide more accurate data results in footprint identification and analysis.

Unfortunately, the person had changed shoes.

However, the act of changing shoes also indicated that the person wasn’t suddenly barging into Wang Feng’s house to take him away; they should have known Wang Feng.

After all, nobody had heard of a criminal suspect specially changing into slippers during a violent crime.

Since it wasn’t a sudden intrusion, directly taking Wang Feng away, it indirectly suggested Wang Feng might still be safe.

Next, Lu Chuan focused his efforts on the two pairs of slippers.