Gou learns witchcraft in another world

Chapter 41, Second Search

"A team of ten will search along the southern border. If the port is inaccessible, we can leave it. Other areas..."

"Second team of ten, search westwards, and also search the mountains, focusing on those warehouses..."

"Three teams of ten men, borrowed boats, will search along the Darlington River..."

……

At his desk, Clyde was assigning tasks for the investigation, still targeting the three missing persons.

Upon leaving the meeting room, Mr. Radford quickly fulfilled his promise, increasing the number of patrol officers available for the case to fifty.

Fifty people are enough to more than double the search area.

But having more people doesn't mean having more confidence. Clyde himself didn't believe that he could find the missing person just by expanding the search area. So, after giving the order, he looked at Luo Qiu, who was standing to the side.

"Detective Luo Qiu, is there anything else to add regarding the search?"

"Hmm? Is it my turn? Where do I start searching?"

Luo Qiu was clearly out of sorts. She'd been like this ever since she left the meeting room.

Clyde did not say anything more about this:

"That's settled then, Detective Luo Qiu. Please search along Jemin Street."

……

Jemin Street, a street famous for its shopping.

There are countless private tailor shops, ready-to-wear stores, and tie shops and perfume shops that specialize in matching clothes.

The number of tourists from other places who come and go here every day is at least tens of thousands.

However, there's one thing: this place has no connection to the racetrack. The southernmost end of this street, which is also the closest point to the racetrack, is five kilometers away.

At 9:40 a.m., Luo Qiu and Smith walked out of the subway station near Jermyn Street.

Luo Qiu stood with his hands in his pockets, looking indifferent, while Smith, wearing sunglasses, held a pen and paper in his hand.

This duo immediately attracted the attention of many passersby upon their arrival. Many were curious about what these two very different detectives were investigating.

Unbeknownst to them, Agent Smith, wearing sunglasses, was also very curious about this.

Clyde and Roche remained tight-lipped about what happened in the meeting room. Looking at the increased manpower, Smith assumed that Mr. Radford had provided some guidance on the case, giving it a new direction, which led to this second large-scale investigation.

However, even now, his senior Luo Qiu has not explained to him the main direction of their investigation here.

He could only watch his seniors perform with anticipation.

Under his gaze, Luo Qiu did not turn around to look around, but instead walked straight towards a tailor shop.

"Excuse me, have you seen this person recently?"

Upon entering the store, you'll see the owner, an elderly man with gray hair and reading glasses, busy marking the dimensions of a piece of fabric.

Upon hearing this, the shop owner looked up, glanced at Luo Qiu first to confirm his identity, and then looked at the photo he was showing.

This is a photo of Mr. Winslow.

"I'm sorry, sir."

Have you seen this person before?

Seeing the shop owner shake his head, Luo Qiu did not show any discouragement and immediately took out another photo from his pocket.

"I still haven't seen it."

"What about this one?" Luo Qiu took out a third one.

"I've never seen this before, sir. Our customers all have appointments; you can't just walk in and order something."

Under Luo Qiu's three barrage of questions, the shop owner lost his temper, explaining while also retorting:

"If you have many photos like this that you want me to identify, I can provide you with my client list. However, it only includes a few dozen regular customers."

"Sorry to bother you, but I just want to know about these three people."

Luo Qiu apologized, but remained expressionless. After taking the photos back, he did not leave immediately.

This situation made the shop owner a little uneasy, and after a few seconds of stalemate, he quickly gave in.

"I've never seen these three people before. Detective, is there anything else you'd like to know?"

"You just said you have a list of clients, right?"

"..."

A few minutes later, in the shop's rest area, Luo Qiu and Smith sat facing each other, with a list of the tailor shop's customers and recent transaction records in front of them.

The transaction records were what Smith requested.

At this moment, beneath his sunglasses, his eyes, with their heavy dark circles, gleamed with a sharp light.

"Senior, I think I know where the breakthrough in the case lies."

"The senior suspects that the disappearance of those three out-of-towners was a deliberate scheme. And the reason they targeted these three is probably because they knew their spending habits."

"When out-of-towners come to Chongqing, the first thing they buy is clothes, so Jeming Street is the most suspicious."

"On Jermyn Street, although there are many shops, the real wealthy don't go to the ready-made clothing stores. Of the remaining tailors, there aren't many famous ones, but this one called Connor Sutton happens to be famous."

"Senior, is that right?"

"Huh? Ah."

Luo Qiu's gaze shifted from the customer list on the table. He hadn't quite heard what Smith said, but seeing Smith's energetic expression, he didn't say anything.

For him, all he wants right now is to rest here and calm down.

What happened in the meeting room was too sudden.

Although he remained calm throughout, a cold sweat immediately broke out on his back after he came out.

Reason told him that someone as powerful as Alicia wouldn't have time to play cat and mouse with him; his meeting her was purely coincidental. Besides, she probably hadn't noticed his situation…

But he couldn't quite stay rational.

Just now, he was already thinking about how to abandon his identity as an agent and secretly escape to live in the easternmost state of the Union.

Why not cultivate yourself for ten or twenty years first, and then come back to test the waters of Chongqing?

……

At 5 p.m., Luo Qiu and Smith returned to the Bureau of Investigation on time.

As the day progressed, Smith became increasingly focused, filling his notebook with over a dozen pages of notes.

Although he hasn't found anything yet, after inspecting each shop, he always says:

"It'll be soon, we'll have some results soon."

Finally, Luo Qiu had no choice but to use the excuse of "not wanting his teammates to worry" to forcibly pull him back.

At this moment, in the same office area, Clyde had returned.

But he didn't achieve anything that day, because he smoked and remained silent.

At that moment, Smith, with his fighting spirit, was like a firefly in the night in his eyes.

"Luo Qiu, did you find anything?"

"Not yet, Clyde-senpai. But I think it'll be soon, won't it?"

"Um?!"

Smith's answer caught Clyde's attention. After Smith recounted the process in detail, Clyde immediately applauded in admiration.

"Genius, Luo Qiu, your idea is genius."

"No...this is Smith's own idea."

Luo Qiu was in a real bind; he didn't want to get entangled in this case anymore. But then, Clyde got so excited that he stood up.

To prevent him from saying anything about "working overtime," Luo Qiu quickly said:

"I still have some things to do, so I'll leave work now..."

"Mr. Clyde, Mr. Roach, here is a telegram for you."

Before Luo Qiu could finish speaking, someone came looking for them in the hall.

……