Conan: About the fact that I have a black brother

Back at the police station, Zhu Fu, Gao Ming and the other two were discussing the case together.

Lin Xiaochen walked in with a cold air, took out the USB flash drive from his pocket, inserted it into the computer, and began to search for the first victim piece by piece.

Time passed minute by minute, and finally, when the video progress bar was nearing the end, a camel-colored figure flashed by in the corner of the video.

Lin Xiaochen was troubled by the extremely low pixels, but at this moment his eyes suddenly became sharp.

He rewound the video and watched it again.

——I am not mistaken. At this height, it is impossible for it to be a cat or dog or other animal. It looks like it is the missing girl. Moreover, this road is sparsely populated and it is snowing, so there will not be other people around.

But why did she appear at this time?

林霄臣下意识地看向视频左上方的时间“11月4日，11：30：29”

The person who reported the case said that the girl went missing on November 3rd. So where did she go for the entire day?

Lin Xiaochen noted the direction the girl was walking, and after guessing her approximate location, he secretly said something was wrong.

——This road leads to residential areas and forests, and it is almost impossible to find surveillance evidence.

But there was nothing else to do now, so he pointed at the shadow on the screen and said, "Moruobushi-senpai, Yamato-senpai, Uehara-nee, I think I found a girl, but I'm not sure if it's Ueno."

Yamato Gansuke and the others immediately came over to take a look: "It should be her. I saw their family photo at the Yamano family yesterday. Ueno Kumi did have a camel-colored down jacket... But why is she here?"

Zhu Fugaoming frowned, as if thinking about something.

Yui Uehara said solemnly, "But she must have been called away by someone she knows. According to Ueno Kumi's teachers and classmates, Ueno Kumi is a girl with a somewhat withdrawn personality. She doesn't like to go out to play, unless..."

She paused, then continued, "It was an acquaintance who asked me out."

"The orphanage does not allow children to go out without permission." Lin Xiaochen added thoughtfully, "Then it is very likely that it was the three employees of the orphanage - the director, Mrs. Kuzuki, and Kamimori Kenichi."

"Actually, there's more than that." Zhu Fu Gao Ming said, "Volunteers come to the orphanage from time to time to help, and most of them get along well with the children, and -"

He sighed: "Because the welfare home's salary is quite low, even the volunteers are only a fixed number who will take the initiative to help."

"You can ask the director about the volunteers," Lin Xiaochen said, "but... the orphanage's security measures are not complete. It only relies on a dilapidated low wall and a security guard. I think if the child really wants to leave, he can still sneak out."

"If that's the case, it'll be difficult to handle." Uehara Yui sighed. "If it was done by a few of those three people, then we can continue investigating. But if they really were human traffickers, then that would be troublesome. The surveillance is incomplete, and there's a shortage of witnesses... Oh, poor child."

"I'll go to the Ministry of Transport again and take a look at this road." Lin Xiaochen stood up from his seat.

Yamato Gansuke called him and said, "Leave the USB drive here for me to take a look."

Lin Xiaochen nodded and did as he was told.

The snow outside had stopped, but the wind was still strong.

Yamato Ganzhu kindly lent his car to Lin Xiaochen: "Driving a police car is too ostentatious, so just drive it."

Lin Xiaochen naturally would not refuse.

The wind howled as it blew across the winding mountain road. Lin Xiaochen gripped the steering wheel tightly and drove forward. The wind was so strong that the trees on both sides of the mountain road were shaking.

He made his way to the place where Ueno Kumi was last seen.

It was a cement road with a mountain on one side and a few unfrequented farmlands on the other.

The shadows of the treetops blocked out most of the sunlight, making the path look a bit eerie.

There is no village in front and no shop behind, it is indeed a good place to get lost.

Lin Xiaochen thought rather inappropriately.

There are surveillance cameras in a place like this. I don’t know if I’m lucky or not.

The cliffs of the mountain are very steep. Even an adult like Lin Xiaochen finds it difficult to step onto the boulders and climb up, let alone a child.

Lin Xiaochen quickly ruled out the possibility that Ueno Kumi went hiking.

The farmlands were covered with snow, and even if Ueno Kumi passed by, her traces were wiped out after the heavy snow.

Lin Xiaochen sighed, walked back to the car, and continued walking towards the path.

Further ahead is the residential area. It is afternoon now and the residential area is quiet, as if it has fallen asleep.

The sound of a car engine seemed to break the tranquility of the village. An old man came out of the courtyard and saw that Lin Xiaochen looked unfamiliar. He asked, "Young man, why are you here in the middle of the day? Are you lost?"

Lin Xiaochen stepped forward and said, "Uncle, my sister is missing. Have you seen her? She is about this tall and wearing camel-colored clothes."

Lin Xiaochen gestured his approximate height next to his legs.

The old man thought about it for a while, then shook his head and said, "I don't remember, but there were a few children this tall who came here to play from time to time."

"Can you see if my sister is there?" Lin Xiaochen took out a photo of Ueno Kumi from his pocket and handed it to the old man.

The old man took it, squinted his eyes and looked at it carefully. Finally, he shook his head and sighed: "I'm sorry, young man, my eyesight is not good and I can't recognize faces. I'm really not sure if there is your sister. But I heard them calling each other's names. If you tell me one, maybe I can remember it."

Just as Lin Xiaochen was about to speak, he heard someone calling him, "Officer Lin? Is that you?"

It’s Mrs. Ge Mu.

At this moment, she took off her apron, put on a loose long down coat, and walked out of the alley: "Why are you here? Grandpa Sasaki, your rheumatism is not healed yet. Aren't you afraid of freezing in such a cold day?"

Their conversation was interrupted, and old man Sasaki said with a smile: "Oh, it's okay, my old arms and legs won't hurt for a while. Since you two know each other, I won't accompany you." Then he staggered into the house.

Lin Xiaochen looked at Mrs. Ge Mu and said, "Hello, Madam. Are you back from the orphanage?"

"Yes, today is the day for my prenatal checkup. After taking care of the baby, I went to the hospital. Why am I back now?" She raised the canvas bag in her hand and took out two boxes of medicine from it. "Look, the doctor said I need to rest well and prescribed some tonic medicine."

"You are a twin, so it's important." Lin Xiaochen said with a smile, "Do you live here? The orphanage is a bit far from here, and it's really tiring to go back and forth."

"Haha." Mrs. Ge Mu smiled, "Just think of it as exercise. Besides, being with the children will make you feel better. Oh, how could I forget? Come to my house and have a seat. It's not far away."

Lin Xiaochen nodded and agreed: "That would trouble my wife."

Mrs. Ge Mu: "What's the matter? Please come this way. The house is a bit messy, so please bear with me."