Following the address on Zhou Yan’s student profile, Jiangli and the others arrived at Zhou Yan’s doorstep.
Song Taishan knocked on the door.
It wasn’t long before the door was opened.
A woman with an anxious and gaunt expression appeared at the door.
Seeing them, a flicker of confusion appeared in the woman’s bloodshot eyes, "Who are you, who are you looking for?"
Song Taishan took out his prepared police ID and showed it to the woman, "Are you Zhou Yan’s mother, Ding Qiuyu?"
Upon seeing that he was a police officer, Ding Qiuyu immediately became overjoyed and asked at once, "Have you found my son?"
Everyone was taken aback.
Song Taishan was also stunned, "Your son, Zhou Yan, isn’t he at home?"
Upon hearing this, Ding Qiuyu’s smile froze, "Aren’t you here to tell me that you’ve found my son?"
Song Taishan and Jiangli exchanged a look, uncertainty in their eyes.
After a while, Song Taishan finally said, "I am a police officer, but not the one in charge of your son’s disappearance case. I am here to investigate a homicide, and your son might be involved. We need Zhou Yan and your cooperation for the investigation."
Ding Qiuyu’s face turned pale and she immediately said, "Impossible! Our Zhou Yan is very sensible and polite. How could he be involved in a homicide? You must have made a mistake! If you haven’t found my son, then please leave. I don’t have time to chat with you!"
Saying this, Ding Qiuyu attempted to close the door.
Song Taishan put his foot in the doorway, his expression darkening, "Cooperating with an investigation is the duty of every citizen. If you do not cooperate, I’ll have to ask you to come to the police station."
Stopped by his action, Ding Qiuyu’s face showed her displeasure, but she still mustered her patience and asked, "What do you want to ask?"
Song Taishan said, "There have been consecutive homicide cases in F City University recently, you must have heard about that, haven’t you?"
Ding Qiuyu nodded impatiently, "I heard about it, but what does that have to do with our Zhou Yan? You can’t possibly be suggesting that those people were killed by our Zhou Yan, can you?"
Song Taishan: "We have not made such a claim. In fact, we do not suspect Zhou Yan to be the murderer but instead fear he might become the next victim."
Ding Qiuyu’s complexion turned ashen, and she gripped the doorknob tightly, "What do you mean by that?"
"The case involving Zhou Yan may be related to a female student’s suicide years ago. We cannot rule out the possibility of retaliation from the student’s relatives," Song Taishan explained methodically. "So, if you don’t want any harm to come to Zhou Yan, it would be best if you cooperated with the investigation."
Upon hearing this, Ding Qiuyu felt a wave of darkness before her eyes, and she immediately said, "I—I’ll cooperate. Whatever you want to know, I’ll tell you!"
Only then did Song Taishan ask, "You just mentioned Zhou Yan is missing, what happened?"
Ding Qiuyu licked the corner of her lips and said, "Our Zhou Yan went on a trip a few days ago, supposedly with some friends. But three days ago, we suddenly lost contact with him."
After leaving, Zhou Yan would call home every day to check in.
But three days ago, contact abruptly stopped.
Zhou Yan’s parents reached out to the friends who had traveled with him.
But the friends all claimed they had no idea where Zhou Yan had gone.
Zhou Yan had suddenly vanished; they had even thought that Zhou Yan had returned home.
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yan’s parents immediately reported it to the police. Zhou Yan’s father even set out for the city where Zhou Yan disappeared the day before yesterday, in search of his son.
Ding Qiuyu stayed at home, waiting for news from the police.
These past few days, she could neither eat nor sleep well, her only hope being to hear good news about her son.
Hearing this, Song Taishan frowned and said, "Zhou Yan has been missing for three days?"
Ding Qiuyu nodded, choking up a little, "Yes, it’s been three days without any news. He won’t answer calls, doesn’t reply to messages. I have no idea where he went..."