Free Web NovelChapter 478: Chapter 449 Are you sure this is a person?_1
Although he was perplexed, Zhou Ning didn’t ask any more questions, after all, Zhang Ping was with him, and that was enough for negotiation matters.
Zhang Ping said enthusiastically:
"I just heard from my colleague, we appreciate your active cooperation. However, we have another favor to ask of you, we hope you can recall the appearance of Zhang Bo’s girlfriend, so that we can make a sketch of her."
The older sister waved her hand, indicating that everyone should follow her to the living room. She then stood up to close the door of the secondary bedroom before hurrying back to pour water for everyone. She then sighed and said:
"What’s there to thank, at our age we all have children, we just can’t bear to see such things happening, especially when it’s right around us. I naturally wanted to help, but I’ve only seen that Da Man’er a few times. Once was before New Year’s Day, she came with Zhang Bo in the elevator, and afterward, they were arguing fiercely in Zhang Bo’s place.
The next time was after New Year’s when Zhang Bo came back to get some stuff, he parked his car in front of the building. The security came over to make him leave since parking wasn’t allowed here, and that Da Man’er argued with the security for a bit. Zhang Bo came down and argued too, and only then did the two of them drive away. The last time was in front of the supermarket, right at the entrance to our community."
Zhou Ning nodded. The last sighting was a bit distant. He assumed it was unavoidable to take a few extra glances at a neighbour’s woman, especially in the elevator.
"This is Mr. Xia, our special consultant from the city bureau. Can you describe Da Man’er’s appearance to her? Take your time, just use the descriptive words you’re comfortable with, let’s give it a try?"
The woman nodded, pulled a chair over, and sat down next to Xia Momo.
Xia Momo took out two tablets, one in the woman’s hand and one in her own, holding a stylus in one hand, she gave the woman a faint smile.
"Sister, don’t be nervous, let’s give it a try. You start by telling me about the person’s height and build, and any important features like weight, moles, scars, hair color. Then we will compare the facial features one by one. How does that sound?"
The sister laughed.
"It’s fine, Mr. Xia is good-looking and speaks with a pleasant voice. She matches well with this handsome policeman."
Zhou Ning was taken aback. Then, with a hint of hope, he realized that the sister had a keen eye; she could actually discern that his relationship with Xia Momo was special. Her observational skills were more impressive than those of the average detective.
"Sister has good eyes indeed; Mr. Xia is actually my fiancée."
The woman, pleased with the compliment, grinned, then thought seriously before saying:
"You know the big star who played Little Dragon Girl, right? Zhang Bo’s girlfriend looks just like her. She has a mole at the corner of her left eye, and a row of piercings all the way up to the tip of her ear. I don’t know how many there are, and her hair color, how should I put it, it’s a mix of brown and gold, it looks like it’s been highlighted. She has a round face, but her body is very skinny, like a pole."
The woman’s description nailed the key points, from the overall temperament, to the moles, ear piercings, and hair color; she indeed described them very distinctly.
Xia Momo quickly got to work, and in no time, a stylish woman’s general silhouette appeared on her tablet, her curly long hair draping over her shoulders, a row of piercings on her ears, and a teardrop mole on her face. The woman looked at it and nodded continuously.
"You know, at a quick glance, it really does look like her. But this person looks older; that Da Man’er looked to be just over twenty, dressed very maturely, but you can tell by her face that she’s not that old."
"Do you remember what clothes she was wearing?"
"During the three times I saw her, she wore different outfits, but all involved bare legs or wearing stockings with high heels and short boots. The time in the elevator, she wore a white coat, an expensive-looking one, with a snug wool mini dress underneath. That girl, with her high heels and the volume of her hair, was only slightly shorter than Zhang Bo."
"How tall is Zhang Bo?"
Zhou Ning thought for a moment, recalling how Zhang Bo had passed by him when he was dragged into a car; he seemed to be a bit taller than Zhou Ning. If she was about the same height as Zhang Bo in heels, then her natural height must not be short.
"Zhang Bo is taller than me, around 188 centimeters."
"Sister, were the girl’s heels very high?"
The woman nodded and gestured.
"They were both thin and high, looking to be around ten centimeters at least."
Xia Momo nodded and elongated and heightened the woman in the sketch. Then she brought up several images of eyes on the tablet in front of the woman.
"Sister, this is just the overall appearance. Let’s try to fine-tune the features, could you look at these images of eyes and tell me which one looks more like the girl’s?"
"This one, but make the double eyelids a bit bigger, her eye corners are very short, they don’t droop so much... The lower lip here needs to be thicker... The nose seems too big... Yes, yes, that’s right."
After about two hours of tweaking, the woman looked at the final image and gave Xia Momo a thumbs up.
"Mr. Xia, you’re amazing! That’s exactly Zhang Bo’s girlfriend, not a bit off."
Xia Momo sighed with relief and shook her wrist slightly. Zhou Ning glanced at the portrait. Indeed, as the woman said, the girl was heavily made-up, but clearly of a young age.
The girl in the previous wallpaper, similar to this one with long hair, long legs, round eyes, and a slender figure, made Zhou Ning realize, could this height mean she was also a model?
"Sister, have you ever heard this girl say anything to Zhang Bo?" freēwebnovel.com
The woman thought for a moment then slapped her thigh.
"I remember now why that Da Man’er made a strong impression on me. It’s because she seemed to always be angry with Zhang Bo. Whether she was truly angry or just pretending, I don’t know. Inside the elevator, she kept shaking off Zhang Bo’s hand, it seemed like she was also hurrying him. What was it she said?"
Zhang Ping perked up, quickly picking up his pen, staring at the woman with hopeful eyes.
"What were you urging him about?"
The woman shook her head.
"It’s been two or three months; how could I remember? Can’t you check the surveillance? I’ve seen on TV, there are experts who can read lips, and they know what people are saying just by watching the footage."
Zhang Ping felt a bit of regret and shook his head slightly.
"This type of surveillance usually automatically saves footage for one month before it’s overwritten. Anything older can’t be retrieved. Only special area surveillance is saved for longer, so the time periods you mentioned, there’s no footage available to check against."
The woman looked disappointed, and Zhou Ning quickly added:
"Big Sister, we truly appreciate your help today. If you remember anything or if there’s any unusual activity at the Zhang family in the next few days, please give us a call. Of course, if Zhang Bo comes around to trouble you, you can tell us anytime. We will definitely protect your safety."
The woman waved her hand dismissively.
"I’m not afraid of anything; it’s just that I feel sorry for the children. When this couple was living here, Zhang Bo’s ex-wife was really a nice person who got along with the neighbors. She even brought gifts to our homes because she was worried the kids might cause a disturbance. But this Zhang Bo, he’s really something else."
Ma Liang, ever quick to speak, asked hastily:
"How is he something else?"
The woman paused, and Zhang Ping shot Ma Liang a disapproving look, but the woman, unfazed, said candidly:
"Normally, I shouldn’t gossip, but this son of a gun, Zhang Bo, would come home just to bellow complaints. The food was either too salty or too bland; he was hardly ever home, and when he was, he brought a pile of problems. Only his ex-wife could put up with him. With my temper, I would have hit him a long time ago.
And he had the nerve to boast about his ’bright history’ to his ex-wife and the kids, talking about which girl he’d met, how her family had helped him, what kind of company his friend’s father-in-law had started, and what kind of cars they drove. Anyway, he had no shame.
Later, when his ex-wife had a son, she hardly lived here anymore, and once she was set on divorce, he often brought women back home. The old lady would curse him for his ways, but to no avail. From what I heard, the girls he brought back changed frequently. But the one he’s seen with three times seems like the real deal, he even fought with his parents over her."
Seeing Xia Momo packing up, Zhou Ning stood up along with her and shook hands with the woman. After all, the information they could get at this point was limited, so they needed to hurry back and look up this woman mentioned in the portrait.
"Big Sister, I won’t repeat my thanks. Just call us if there’s anything."
Once they left apartment 1402, Ma Liang stayed behind to guard the scene while Zhang Ping drove Zhou Ning and the others back to the city police station. The two men made a beeline for the office. As Zhou Ning got out of the car, he felt a bit queasy, and Xia Momo quickly supported him, asking with concern:
"You haven’t been too busy to eat lunch, have you?"
Zhou Ning shook his head.
"I got up early and went straight to Doctor Shi’s place, didn’t even have breakfast."
Xia Momo gave him a reproachful look and handed him a tablet.
"You go ahead and look up this person’s information. I’ll get you something to eat. But I feel like we might not find anything – she looks to me like she’s had plastic surgery."
This comment took Zhou Ning by surprise.
"Cosmetic surgery?"
"Yeah, if we can’t find anything, just wait for me to come back. I’ll try to recreate what she might have looked like before any surgery."
Zhou Ning nodded obediently and handed the car keys to Xia Momo.
Upon entering the building, they found Liu Yongxin sitting in the office with no sign of Mr. Zhao or anyone else. Liu Yongxin hurried over, offering Zhou Ning a glass of water.
"I heard from Mr. Zhao and the others what happened. You haven’t had lunch, right? There’s some bread here."
Zhou Ning quickly smiled, his mentor always the one most concerned about him.
"Don’t worry about me, Master. I’m an adult now and have received psychological counseling. I’m not so fragile as to lose control of my emotions over this and be reminded of my parents. I just think those two kids are too young, and I feel bad for them. I want to catch the killer soon."
Liu Yongxin sighed.
"Do your best. Deaths from falling from height are the hardest to find evidence for, but the fact that you found milk stains on the glass is already lucky. Let’s wait for the lab results. Mr. Zhao and the others went down to help in the lab."
Zhou Ning sipped his water and recounted their visit to the neighbors of the crime scene to Liu Yongxin. Xia Momo returned, placing a takeaway meal on the table.
"Hurry up and eat. Everything else can wait until after you’ve eaten."
Zhou Ning didn’t resist; he was truly hungry, gulping down all the food. After brushing his teeth and returning, Xia Momo had already been working on the computer for a while. Zhou Ning rushed over and, seeing the image on the screen, he was momentarily stunned.
"Are you sure this is the same person?"
