After more than twenty minutes of rambling small talk, they had grown familiar with one another. Wang Yan took a sip of tea and got down to business.
"Sir, brother, you both know that I came today to learn more about Zhao Zhendong's case."
Wang Yan smiled as he looked over every member of the Zhao family, trying to spot something different in their expressions. After scanning the room, though, he found nothing unusual. To varying degrees, they all seemed regretful and disgusted. Without asking the crucial questions, he would not be able to see much.
Zhao Zhenye sighed and nodded. "Yes. I heard from the villagers that Officer Wang has been looking into Zhendong's case again lately. Ask whatever you need. We'll definitely cooperate."
"Yes, Officer Wang. I was twenty back then. I was the one who rode my motorcycle and took my dad to the police station." Zhao Weiguang nodded from the side.
"Alright. Then tell me: on June 14, 2008, how did you discover that Zhao Zhendong had gone missing?"
"It was rare for him to go an entire day without showing his face. He had plenty of shady friends, but they all had families and businesses of their own. Even if he drank himself to death, no one would take him in. Even when he went out looking for prostitutes, they wouldn't let him stay the night. And like I told the officers who came before, there was a typhoon those days, and it rained whenever it could. In weather like that, do you think he could disappear for two days without anyone seeing him?
"The next day, I went to check his house. The roof was leaking, so Weiguang and I fixed it. By noon, he still hadn't come back, and I felt something was