Animal Detective-Chapter 59: Lost Contact

His mind raced. Shen Xin immediately said, "It ended a while ago. I didn’t drink. Something came up at the station, so Captain Zhang went back to work overtime. It’s nothing."

Shen Xin fudged the truth.

Zhang Qian said, "Oh," and didn’t press the matter.

As a police officer’s family member, sudden overtime was all too common.

"Alright then. Good night." Zhang Qian hung up.

Shen Xin breathed a quiet sigh of relief and lay back down.

He couldn’t help but wonder where Zhang Jian had gone.

He had been drinking, so he definitely wouldn’t have gone back to the station to work.

As for getting a sudden impulse to go get a "foot massage"—that was absolutely impossible.

If his luck was bad and he got caught in a raid, it would be a huge embarrassment.

He probably had some personal business to attend to.

That was his own business, and it wasn’t Shen Xin’s place to meddle.

But after lying there for just ten seconds, Shen Xin abruptly sat up.

’Something’s not right!’

Shen Xin remembered Li Dongsheng saying that Zhang Jian was a devoted family man.

He knew that police work was demanding, with frequent overtime and little time for family, and he always felt guilty about it.

So whenever he got off work, he would almost always go straight home.

Especially since he had been drinking today.

’He left before nine, and now it’s almost midnight. Three hours. Where has he gone?’

Shen Xin picked up his phone and called Zhang Jian.

No answer.

He tried again. Still no answer.

Shen Xin then asked in the work group chat if anyone had contacted Zhang Jian after nine.

"Xiaoshen, just call him directly," Wukaishan popped up and said.

A colleague on duty replied that he hadn’t.

Just then, Yao Wensheng also appeared. He was on duty today and asked Shen Xin what was wrong, saying he should just call Zhang Jian directly if there was an issue.

Shen Xin’s feeling that something was wrong grew stronger. Just as he was about to ask more, a call came in from Zhang Qian again.

This time, it was a video call.

Shen Xin hesitated for a moment before answering.

On screen, Zhang Qian looked like she was about to go to sleep. She had changed into her pajamas, taken off her makeup, and was wearing a headband, which looked especially cute.

"Shen Xin, something’s not right!"

Right away, Zhang Qian frowned and said, "Your reaction is off. What’s really going on with my dad?"

Shen Xin’s heart skipped a beat. ’What was off about my reaction?’ he awkwardly asked himself.

"Hmph. Whenever we used to video chat, you’d always find an excuse to talk a little longer. But just now, you hung up right away. Shen Xin, you’re not acting right." Zhang Qian pointed at the camera and asked, "What’s really going on with my dad? He hasn’t gotten into some kind of trouble, has he?"

Her expression changed drastically. For a police officer’s family, the greatest fear was learning that a loved one had met with an accident.

"How could that be? What are you thinking? I’m at home. Look, Da Mei is right here. Come on, say hi to your Sister Qian." Shen Xin quickly denied it, even pointing the camera at Da Mei to prove he wasn’t at a hospital.

Da Mei stirred on the sofa but didn’t even glance at the phone.

"Is he really okay? Then why can’t I get through to my dad’s phone?" Zhang Qian retorted.

Shen Xin said that was perfectly normal.

When police officers get busy, they don’t have time to answer their phones.

"How about this? I’ll ask in the group chat for you," Shen Xin said, finding an excuse to end the video call.

He immediately sent a private message to Yao Wensheng, telling him that Zhang Jian hadn’t returned home and was now unreachable.

Just a few seconds later, Yao Wensheng’s call came through.

He asked about the situation and immediately said, "That’s not right. I’ve been colleagues with Zhang Jian for five years. That old boy never wanders around outside after drinking; he’s guaranteed to go home. How could he be unreachable?"

Shen Xin ventured, "Director Yao, I’m a little worried. Captain Zhang’s phone is still on. How about we ask the sub-bureau to run a location trace, just in case..."

Shen Xin didn’t finish his sentence.

’You can’t be too careful.’

On the other end, Yao Wensheng sounded troubled.

What if Zhang Jian was simply busy and couldn’t answer his phone?

To rashly trace a colleague’s phone location... it was a bit hard to justify.

After all, he had only been out of contact for just over three hours.

"How about this? I’ll discuss it with Song Suo. For now, just tell Zhang Qian that he’s working overtime and to wait a little longer." Yao Wensheng hung up.

Shen Xin immediately messaged Zhang Qian back, telling her he’d asked the colleague on duty and that Zhang Jian was working overtime.

Zhang Qian sent a voice message, still insisting something was wrong. She said that if Zhang Jian were really at the station working overtime, since Shen Xin had already asked about him, he could have easily called her to say he was safe.

"Shen Xin, don’t lie to me. Is my dad really okay?" Zhang Qian sent another voice message, her voice tinged with panic.

Shen Xin felt a headache coming on.

’She’s a policeman’s daughter, alright. Her alertness is way too high.’

"What are you thinking? I didn’t explain clearly. Captain Zhang was dispatched on a call, so he probably didn’t have a chance to call back," Shen Xin replied, adjusting his tone.

Only then did Zhang Qian let it go, replying, "Shen Xin, you’d better not be lying to me. The consequences will be severe if you do."

Shen Xin cursed silently, thinking, ’Zhang Jian, you’d better be okay.’ He quickly replied that he wouldn’t lie.

Just as he finally managed to handle her, Song Liang suddenly pulled Shen Xin into a new group chat.

Everyone from dinner that night was in it.

He asked if anyone had been in contact with Zhang Jian.

Everyone chimed in, saying they hadn’t.

"Song Suo, what’s wrong with Old Zhang? Xiaoshen was just asking about him in the work group chat," Wukaishan asked.

Song Liang said, "Zhang Jian didn’t go home, and his phone is unreachable. Everyone think about where he might have gone, and make some calls to check."

Soon, someone voiced their concern.

"Old Zhang hasn’t gotten into trouble, has he?"

Normally, the station required everyone’s phone to be on 24/7.

Not to mention, as a police officer of many years, Zhang Jian rarely turned his phone off and would never miss calls for no reason.

Just then, Dong Yueming said, "Song Suo, to be safe, shouldn’t we run a check?"

He sent another message, asking if anyone remembered the license plate number of the taxi Zhang Jian had taken.

Everyone said they hadn’t noticed.

Shen Xin tapped his head, trying hard to recall the scene.

He had only caught a quick glimpse, but he had some recollection.

Besides, his memory had always been quite good.

A few seconds later, Shen Xin remembered and quickly sent a message: "It was a Teng Cheng taxi. The plate number is Nan BF438K."

"Nice one, Xiaoshen," Song Liang praised, adding that he would call the taxi company immediately. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Then, there was no follow-up.

A few people in the group chatted idly, speculating about where Zhang Jian might have gone.

But they had already contacted all of Zhang Jian’s friends, and none of them had seen him.

Shen Xin’s uneasy feeling grew stronger, and he debated whether he should remind Yao Wensheng to trace Zhang Jian’s phone location.

The sub-bureau had a technical investigation team; it would only take one phone call to check.

Just then, Song Liang suddenly sent a message, telling everyone to return to the station immediately.

Shen Xin shot to his feet.

’This is bad. Something really has happened.’

"You two, be good at home!"

Shen Xin hastily gave his two cats a word of warning, then rushed out the door and hailed a cab to the police station.

In the group chat, people kept asking Song Liang what was going on.

But Song Liang didn’t reply.

About ten minutes later, Shen Xin arrived at the station.

As he was walking in, an SUV screeched to a halt.

Shen Xin’s heart sank again.

’This time, it’s serious.’

Chen Chao got out of the car, spotted Shen Xin immediately, and waved him over.

"Captain Chen, what happened?" Shen Xin asked quickly.

Chen Chao explained as he walked, "We called the taxi driver. He said he hasn’t been driving at all for the past two days. He found a substitute driver online and leased the car out."

"Then we checked the taxi’s GPS history. It’s currently stopped over on Yongsheng Road. Zhang Jian’s phone is pinging at the same location and hasn’t moved. Captain Sun has already taken a team there."

As he spoke, he asked Shen Xin to recall if Zhang Jian had acted abnormally in any way during dinner.

’Abnormally?’

Shen Xin thought hard for a moment, then shook his head.

Other than getting a bit emotional and having a couple of extra drinks, there was nothing else out of the ordinary.