Chapter 86: The Parking Garage

2022-05-20

Pulling up online transaction records is no simple task—it takes time and patience. Mary focused her search around Dongxing City, combing through online listings from beef tapeworm dealers. By now, it was getting late, and after a long, exhausting day, it was about time for everyone to rest.

I sat on my bed for ages, unable to sleep. Of course, I was still worried about Liu Feier, but deep down, I was more concerned about whether I could keep going with this investigation. Paranoia is a tough illness to treat, only manageable with medication. My adoptive father had taken me to just about every hospital, but there was no cure, just treatments to keep it in check.

But during my year in the psychiatric hospital, my condition actually stabilized. I didn’t even need meds anymore. Looks like after this incident, I’ll have no choice but to start them up again.

With all this anxiety swirling in my head, another sleepless night ticked by.

Morning came.

Only after I woke up and heard their stories did I realize how many calls Liu Yinyan made last night—at least seven or eight, all about our progress. Not even a full day had passed, yet he was already losing his cool. Hard to imagine this old guy ever seemed calm.

“By the way, any news from Jesse?” I asked Xiao Liu, who looked like he hadn’t slept at all.

It seemed Xiao Liu had just come back from Liu Yinyan’s villa.

Shaking his head, Xiao Liu replied, “After you guys got back last night, Gu Chen and I stayed at Liu Yinyan’s place. The old man was so restless he had us making calls half the night. We barely slept.”

He yawned and added, “Jesse and his crew didn’t get much sleep either. I tried asking them if they’d found anything. Vivian wouldn’t spill a word, but Jesse did toss me a clue.”

“What kind of clue?” I pressed.

Scratching his head, Xiao Liu said, “He told me if you want to whisk someone away without being noticed, you need a vehicle. Dongxing City is crawling with cameras, so as long as we find the right car, more clues are bound to follow.”

I shrugged. Looks like Jesse couldn’t check the lipstick, so he followed a different lead. In the end, it’s all roads leading to Rome: we’re chasing the beef tapeworms, he’s hunting for a car. Just a matter of who gets there first.

But waiting was all we could do—all day long.

I killed time playing mobile games. Guan Zengbin lounged on the sofa, completely spaced out, while Xiao Liu darted hungrily around the place with no clear purpose.

Mary was still searching for records of beef tapeworm deals. She’d already found over a dozen shady sellers, but tracing which one Chen Lin bought from would take more time.

Meanwhile, Gu Chen was stationed alone at Liu Yinyan’s place, keeping in touch with us.

The information left behind was so scarce, we were basically stuck. Without more clues, there was nothing else we could do. Still, they hadn’t called all day, a show of patience that left us on the back foot.

These folks sure know how to keep their cool.

Just as I figured there was nothing new to find today, Mary suddenly called out, “I’ve got something!”

All of us perked up and rushed to her side. She went on, “Using a bit of tech, I tracked down the dealers selling adult beef tapeworms in Dongxing City. These guys target people desperate to lose weight without dieting, selling tapeworms and roundworms alike. One catch, though—the adult worms can’t be shipped, they have to be sold in person.”

“So,” Mary pointed to a photo on her screen, “buyers have to meet up face-to-face to get them. The shop that Chen Lin picked lets the buyer pick any meeting spot inside Dongxing City. I hacked into the system and found the chat logs between Chen Lin and the shop owner.”

As she spoke, Mary blew up the image for us to see.

We scrolled through it. At first, Chen Lin just asked about safety and if these things really work for weight loss. The seller, of course, spouted the usual ‘totally safe, lose weight fast’ routine. But that wasn’t the important part. What mattered was this next exchange between Chen Lin and the shop owner:

Chen Lin: Okay, so it has to be an in-person deal? No shipping?

Shop Owner: Nope, can’t ship or it’ll get flagged. Not allowed to sell these, you know. You pick a spot and we’ll bring it over.

A minute later.

Chen Lin: Then meet me at the No. 74 Dongfang Road underground parking garage. I’ll wait for you there.

Shop Owner: Alright, our guy should get there in about an hour. He’ll be on an e-scooter, wearing a red shirt.

Chen Lin: I’ll be waiting.

That was the transaction conversation, and just from it, we could figure out quite a bit.

Then Mary pulled up a video—a parking garage security feed.

She pointed out the timestamp. “I found security footage from a month ago at that exact garage. Luckily, the recordings only get wiped every two months, so I was able to dig this up.”

All eyes were on the screen. A minute in, two people appeared at the entrance to the underground lot. One stood by the door but didn’t enter; the camera only caught his build, not his face.

The other walked in. Even with a face mask on, it was clear from his frame and outfit that it was Chen Lin. Chen Lin hadn’t been inside for long when an e-scooter zipped in—driven by a guy in a red T-shirt.

Chen Lin called out to him. The guy rode over and pulled out an opaque bottle from the scooter’s basket.

He opened the bottle for Chen Lin to see. Chen Lin peered inside and instinctively stepped back, clearly startled. The delivery guy just grinned and pushed the bottle closer, explaining how to swallow the worm.

Afterward, the courier took the 400 yuan Chen Lin handed over, hopped on his scooter, and rode out.

Chen Lin also left the lot quickly, together with the other man.

It wasn’t a long video, but it gave us a ton of information.

For one, Chen Lin and the other guy had walked there. The courier showed up only an hour after Chen Lin placed his order, meaning Chen Lin wasn’t far—he could make it there on foot in little time.

Chen Lin hesitated for about a minute before suggesting the spot to the seller. He wouldn’t give away his home address for something like this, but he also wouldn’t pick just any random spot. The short pause made it likely he chose somewhere he already knew well.

So, his previous location must have been near this parking garage. Aside from that abandoned building, there’s a good chance they’d been around this area a month ago.

With that thought, I didn’t waste words. “Let’s hit the parking garage now.”

It was already past 10 at night when we drove to Garage 74.

This lot uses automatic gate cards to raise the barrier, charging fees to your card when you leave. No card, no parking. The office to get a card is next to the lot, but right now it was empty.

So, we just parked outside and walked straight into the underground garage. It was a single level but pretty spacious—easily fitting over a hundred cars, with both high-end rides and regular ones packed inside.

I stood in the middle of the lot, surrounded by cars in every direction.

Everyone else looked around as well, hoping to spot a clue.

“What’s a parking garage for?” I asked slowly.

Xiao Liu gave me a blank look. “What do you think? Parking cars—unless you plan on selling veggies here.”

“Then Jesse’s target car could be parked right here tonight.” I tugged at my hair, eyeing Xiao Liu. “From a psychological angle, people tend to pick places they’re familiar with for quick decisions.”

“Say I asked you where to eat tomorrow. You’d never suggest a place you’d never even heard of. So, if Chen Lin blurted out this garage, it’s probably because he’s been here before—or at the very least, heard about it. But I’ll bet it’s the former!”

“The car is still here!” I declared, full of certainty. “A month ago, they parked it here and after taking Liu Feier, maybe they switched vehicles.”

No sooner had I finished than a familiar voice called from outside: “Jesse, do you think the car is here?”

It was Moriko.

We looked up to see Jesse and his team entering the garage, facing us in surprise. Didn’t expect us both to arrive at the same spot at the same time.

Jesse looked startled, but then burst into laughter. “Well, look who beat me here. Guess you’re not just a bunch of freeloaders after all—now the real fun begins.”

I shrugged. “Just luck, really.”

Jesse pursed his lips. “How about a little competition?”

“What?” His taunt actually got under my skin.

“Let’s make it a race to see who finds Liu Feier first,” Jesse challenged. “If I win, this lovely lady has to join me for dinner.”

Seemed like Jesse had his eye on Guan Zengbin. I asked, “And if I win?”

Jesse grinned. “Then you get to enjoy a candlelit dinner with my two assistants. How’s that for a deal?”

I waved it off. “You should be betting that with Guan Zengbin, not me. She’s not some prize to be won.”

“Oh?” Jesse’s eyes lit up. “I thought she was your girlfriend—guess not. So, how about it, gorgeous? Up for a little wager?”

“Absolutely,” Guan Zengbin replied with a laugh. “If you win, I’ll dine with you. But if you lose, you go home—we don’t need out-of-town detectives hanging around.”

Jesse nodded. “Deal.”