please don't believe me

Officer Clark is a black female police officer with a plump figure and a serious expression.When Dai Bowen and Shen Xiuyuan arrived at their destination, the sun was setting and she and her police car were already waiting by the side of the road.

Two men came over to greet her, introduce themselves, and shake hands.

"Matthew's surveillance video was cut off near the old block, where the Skynet system is not complete. Since the last time he appeared on the camera near a station, we suspect that he took public transportation." Officer Clark introduced, "All public vehicle videos during this period are still being checked, and we have issued an investigation assistance notice to nearby communities. If you plan to publicly ask for help through TV broadcasts, the police will do their best to cooperate and release some information."

Because of the "self-kidnapping" incident last time, the police knew more or less about Matthew's family background, and understood that these "rich people" may have different considerations about the disappearance case than ordinary people.Disclosure of information may not necessarily benefit the missing.

Especially when Matthew has been missing for more than 24 hours, Meera has not received a blackmail call yet.

Shen Xiuyuan replied: "Please pass these details to me or my office. We hope to follow up at any time. Of course, we promise not to hinder the police's handling of the case."

With Dai Bowen's system running the time normally, Shen Xiuyuan is not worried about Matthew's safety for the time being.

Clark nodded.She looked at Dai Bowen's work card and returned it to him: "I thought there would be another person from Russell's studio?"

Because the studio borrowed an assistant to Dai Bowen, the assistant's information was also reported to the police station, and Officer Clark naturally got the relevant information.

"I believe you will see him soon, officer." Dai Bowen put on his work ID, "but we can't wait for him now. Time is running out, can we start?"

"Of course, we shouldn't relax until we find Matthew." The female police officer raised her hand and pointed towards the end of the lawn walk, and said as she walked towards the house, "This is Mike's house. In fact, he has Club activities, I came back half an hour ago. According to your time estimate, we can go to two places today, and we have communicated all of them."

Dai Bowen followed her to the trail, raised his hand and glanced at his watch: "I thought I could go to at least three places?"

"Of course we are fine, but not all guardians agree with our late interruption." Clark replied, "After all, the boys have to go to school tomorrow."

Oh... go to school.Dai Bowen and Shen Xiuyuan looked at each other, and said in their hearts: Although these boys are freed by their parents, they still have to go to school.This means that no matter how anxious I am, the rest of the boys will not be able to see them until after school tomorrow.

"So can we finish visiting the boys tomorrow?"

Officer Clark was ringing the doorbell, and turned to look at him when he heard the words: "I'm trying to find a way to coordinate the time of the other three, but I don't think it's a big problem."

Dai Bowen smiled: "Thank you."

"I just hope you can get real and effective information." Officer Clark looked back, and the door in front of her finally opened.A woman stood at the door, and from the tone of her conversation with Officer Clark, they were familiar.

Of course, because of the absurd things her son was involved in last time, she hadn't seen much of Officer Clark.This time, though, she repeatedly said her son had absolutely no involvement in the matter.

"Didn't the police officer call him yesterday? Why are you asking today?" The woman stood at the door, clearly unwilling to let anyone in.

"It was just a phone call yesterday. We think it's necessary to inquire in person." Officer Clark introduced Dai Bowen and Shen Xiuyuan to the woman. "...Maybe we can get some useful details from other angles."

The woman looked at the two men behind the female police officer: "'Another angle'?"

"Your son and Matthew are good friends, and you may know some seemingly insignificant details, which are actually very important to deduce Matthew's whereabouts." Dai Bowen said, "I guarantee that all questions and answers are reasonable and legal. "

The woman looked at him suspiciously, her gaze gradually lowered to his work card.

"lady?"

The woman finally let the door open: "Please come in."

Although he has been in Country A for two days, Dai Bowen's work has only really started now.

Because it is just a general inquiry, if the guardian disagrees, the recording pen and video camera are not convenient to use.Dai Bowen had no choice but to set out a pen and paper, on the one hand to advance step by step according to the ideas he had written down, and on the other hand to remember any point worthy of attention.

Teenage Mike and his mother sat across from Dai Bowen and answered all the questions.The conclusion is the same as the reply of Officer Clark relayed by Meera - "basically there is no valid information".

This is normal, because the police's routine questioning usually already includes all the questions that can obtain information, which is a means of summarizing countless experiences and lessons.Therefore, even though Dai Bowen's self-arranged questions did not perform better than the police questions for the time being, he did not show much disappointment.

Officer Clark was watching all this. Although she may not have a strong sense of identity with these "lie detector officers", she will not add insult to injury.She is the police officer in charge of cases of missing women and children in this area. As long as it helps to solve the case, she can and should cooperate rationally.

Coming out of Mike's house, she took Dai Bowen and Shen Xiuyuan directly to the second boy's house without saying a word.

The afterglow of the setting sun fades from the steps of this house, and the color of the horizon is sinking.Everyone followed the hostess into the living room, and the second questioning soon began.

"Well done, Patrick."

Dai Bowen clicked on the first question in the notebook, "Carefully recall the last time I saw Matthew", and then moved the tip of the pen to the next line: "Now, please tell me about Matthew's recent performance."

He and Shen Xiuyuan sat side by side, opposite the hostess and her son who opened the door.The boy was two years older than Matthew, wearing a hoodie, a sports coat and skate shoes, with his legs crossed and his back leaning back with a hint of impatience.

Hearing Dai Bowen's proposal, the boy frowned and said, "'Recent performance'?"

"Yes." Dai Bowen gave an example, "For example, did he appear unhappy, abnormal, or even mentioned any topics that you have never talked about before?"

"No."

"Don't answer me in a hurry, my dear." Dai Bowen looked at him, "Think about it carefully, did Matthew mention any dissatisfaction?"

Patrick sneered: "He will always be dissatisfied, otherwise he wouldn't use kidnapping as a joke."

Dai Bowen could hear the dissatisfaction with Matthew implied in his words, and smiled: "It sounds like he has a lot of complaints? How did he tell you?"

Patrick probably didn't expect that the other party would ask this question, raised his eyebrows, and then looked at Shen Xiuyuan.

Just now Officer Clark introduced him as a relative of Matthew, the boy would not be so stupid as to answer Dai Bowen immediately in front of such a person.

Dai Bowen's reaction was much more straightforward. He didn't defend Shen Xiuyuan, but directly patted Shen Xiuyuan sideways: "I think you should avoid it."

Shen Xiuyuan didn't talk nonsense, he stood up: "I'll wait for you outside."

After speaking, the man walked out of the living room, and even out of this room.

Dai Bowen watched the man's back, then turned back to look at the boy: "Can we talk now?"

"He said the family is boring, life is boring, Mela is a stupid woman, and her boyfriend is a scum." Patrick's words were direct, even very inappropriate, but his mother had nothing to do except helplessness.

Dai Bowen and Officer Clark had seen a lot of rebellious little boys, and their expressions did not fluctuate.

Dai Bowen listened quietly to these "common phrases used by rebellious teenagers". When the boy stopped, he asked, "Has Matthew mentioned anything related to violence?"

"Yes, but it's all a joke between us, what's the problem?"

"I mean, did he mention any possible violence?"

Officer Clark looked at Dai Bowen. She didn't expect Dai Bowen to ask questions that were obviously not good for her employer.

"You mean domestic violence?" Patrick frowned, then looked down to the left and looked back, "No."

Dai Bowen nodded: "What about foreign violence?"

"No." Patrick pouted, "We do like to have fun, but we won't be so stupid as to get involved with gangs."

Officer Clark also said: "Of all the gangs we monitor, there is no gang that has contact with such young children."

The younger you are, the more uncontrollable you are. The gang is not a kindergarten, and you can take care of the children when you are free.However, if there is any short-sighted kid looking for trouble, it will definitely be beaten a few times.

Dai Bowen estimated Patrick's role in the small group, and suddenly asked: "Has he mentioned anything new to you recently, or showed off any new friends?"

Patrick was on the older side and seemed more confident.Judging from the videos I’ve seen before and the current enquiry, if Matthew is in his small team and wants to find someone to share and discuss his “news”, Patrick, who is also very decisive, is the best candidate .It is likely that in Matthew's eyes, only Patrick's advice in the group is worth listening to.

If Dai Bowen wants to hear something special, Patrick is the most likely "explosive" candidate.

After Patrick was repeatedly reminded several times, he finally thought of a new message: "I remembered, he told me that he recently discovered a cool website."

"Website?" Dai Bowen wrote down the word in his notebook, "What website is it, do you know?"

Patrick didn't understand how a website was related to Matthew's disappearance. He frowned and thought for a while: "No, I'm not very interested in these, so I didn't ask in detail. But I asked if it was a pornographic website, He said no."

"Has he talked to anyone else about it?"

"I don't know."

Dai Bowen marked the notebook: "Very useful information, thank you, Patrick."