Criminal Investigation Notes

161.

After the incident last night, He Jiaojiao’s mother waited for her daughter to return but couldn’t get in touch with her. At first, they suspected that their daughter was just being stubborn and wanted to make them worry.

Later, as they still couldn’t contact her, Mr. He began to feel that something was wrong. They suspected their daughter might have run away from home. However, despite contacting her classmates and teachers, they still couldn’t find any information about He Jiaojiao’s whereabouts.

After 10 pm, with no response to their calls, they decided to report to the police.

Around 11 pm, a kind-hearted person who found He Jiaojiao’s phone also reported to the police.

The next morning, a middle-aged woman who had passed by the area started to feel that something was amiss with the events of the previous night and also reported to the police.

When the police received three different reports pointing to the same case, the sub-precinct took the matter very seriously.

They reviewed the surveillance footage from last night and discovered a blurry image from one of the cameras. Though the license plate wasn’t clear, they could see that He Jiaojiao was pulled into a black car by a man.

Coincidentally, at this point, the Major Crimes Unit contacted them, and the sub-precinct quickly requested support.

Unlike previous cases, the police had sufficient evidence to prove that He Jiaojiao had been abducted.

The case transitioned from a regular missing person case to a case of teenage girl abduction.

The police swiftly began their work, collecting information.

They knew the time and location of the incident, found He Jiaojiao’s phone, had an eyewitness account, and had obtained a blurry image.

They found previous cases and applied for merging the investigations.

However, even with all this information, it wasn’t enough.

The surveillance images couldn’t confirm the identity of the man; they could only ascertain that the car was headed towards the southern outskirts. That area had limited surveillance, and it was sparsely populated. The black car soon vanished.

The middle-aged woman could only remember that the man who took He Jiaojiao was wearing a black jacket and was taller than the girl. But due to the dark, she couldn’t describe his appearance.

He Jiaojiao’s parents came to the headquarters, where Xia Mingxi received them. Later, Qu Ming guided them through recording their statements.

He Jiaojiao’s mother was overwhelmed with regret, constantly crying and saying she shouldn’t have let her daughter go home alone last night.

The girl’s father expressed his willingness to pay a ransom to the kidnapper, even offering to sell their house for their daughter’s safety.

Seeing the parents in such distress, the officers felt somewhat helpless.

This wasn’t a typical kidnapping case, and the perpetrator hadn’t made any demands.

And knowing what they knew now, wouldn’t they wish things were different?

If they hadn’t let He Jiaojiao go home alone, perhaps this tragedy wouldn’t have happened.

The immediate priority was to find the man who took He Jiaojiao.

By the afternoon, all the data and information were compiled, and a meeting was held within the headquarters.

Following standard procedure, Lu Junchi arranged for the police to swiftly expand their operations, cordoning off areas, and conducting door-to-door inquiries.

Later in the day, Lu Junchi called Yao Fei and updated him on the situation. When he returned to the office after finishing the call, he saw Su Hui leaning over the table, examining several files.

Su Hui seemed to be in better shape now, his thoughts clearer. He said to Lu Junchi, “I suspect this is a ‘Hell House’ case.”

“Hell House?” Lu Junchi repeated.

Su Hui explained, “The term was originally used by the media to describe a related case in Japan. However, throughout history, these types of cases have occurred both domestically and internationally. They can last from several days to several years. A few years ago, similar cases happened in Luo City and Nan City.”

Bestial tendencies in men don’t recognize national borders.

Lu Junchi had heard of a couple of these cases. He remembered a case where a girl was rescued by the police 24 days after her abduction and another case that went on for several years. The rooms where these girls were hidden were generally buried meters underground, with terrible conditions. The girls suffered inhuman tortures inside.

The name “Hell House” was fitting indeed.

If the perpetrator’s intention wasn’t to kill, they might have more time and opportunity to rescue the victims.

Separated by ten years, seven years, three years, and this year, even the more recent information wasn’t complete and easy to access.

After looking at those files again, Su Hui added, “It feels like there’s a missing case or two in between. Either the suspect changed their method, or there are victims we haven’t discovered yet.”

Prompted by his words, Lu Junchi remembered something and reopened the system, “While searching this morning, I think I came across a case that was closed, dated from five years ago.”

A “closed” missing persons case referred to a situation where the reported individual was found later, and their family requested the case to be closed by the bureau.

Lu Junchi searched for a while and indeed found it – a record that had turned gray: “It’s in the same area, the disappearance was five years ago. Two years ago, the victim returned home on their own. The parents didn’t choose to report it; they said they found their daughter and requested to close the case.”

He clicked on it again to confirm he wasn’t mistaken: “The victim’s name is Yan Xiaorui. She went missing five years ago, just before Christmas.”

Su Hui asked, “Did the girl talk about where she went after her disappearance?”

Lu Junchi shook his head, “According to the records, after she initially returned home, she couldn’t speak for a while. Then her parents refused further visits, citing the girl’s psychological issues requiring treatment.”

Su Hui looked at the picture of the girl in the file, matching the characteristics of the other victims, “I think we should meet this Yan Xiaorui.”

The room was only about ten square meters in size, surrounded by dirt, and a not-so-bright light illuminated the ceiling.

Upon arrival, He Jiaojiao realized what it meant for help to fall on deaf ears.

Her phone was lost somewhere, and she only had a backpack with her.

Locked in this room, there were only two strange women beside her.

He Jiaojiao was anxious and afraid. She kept shouting for help until her voice grew hoarse.

Tan Li stood to the side, watching her with a smile, while Tang Yinyin lazily observed, “Yelling like that won’t help. We’re underground; no one outside can hear.”

He Jiaojiao turned her head and asked, “Haven’t you tried asking for help? Don’t you want to escape?”

Tan Li burst into laughter, then her smile turned sinister, “Do you think we haven’t tried? How naive.”

There was a hint of pity in her gaze as she looked at He Jiaojiao.

But He Jiaojiao persisted, “How long have you been here?”

Tan Li thought for a moment, “It should be several years.” Then she looked at Qi Kexin, who looked like a skeleton, “Right?”

Qi Kexin murmured her agreement. She rolled up a blanket, revealing a wall with marks made by something scratching against it. Her voice was faint, almost like a hiss.

“Every time someone throws down food, I’ll mark the wall. If my memory is correct, I’ve been here for seven years, and Tan Li has been here for three years.”

Even though there was no day or night here, the temperature differences still gave them some sense of time passing.

Hearing this, He Jiaojiao felt like she was going crazy.

Seven years?!

She was still young. How many sets of seven years did she have in her life?

To be confined in a place like this for seven years, losing her freedom and being unable to see her family.

Life would be worse than death.

Even if someone was originally good, they would eventually be driven insane by such torture.

He Jiaojiao’s eyes were full of fear. She continued to tremble as she asked, her voice shaky, “Haven’t you thought about resisting? These days are worse than death, right?! Although there’s a man here, now there are three of us. If someone comes down, we can use sharpened chopsticks and defend ourselves. We can stab him, it would be self-defense, right?! We can also cover him with the blanket, then quickly escape while he’s not paying attention. There’s no reason why the three of us can’t overpower one person!”

Tan Li and Qi Kexin stared at her, as if she was a lunatic.

He Jiaojiao was overwhelmed by their gazes.

Just then, with a creak, a lid on the ceiling opened, and some things dropped down.

Three bottles of water, a pack of instant noodles, and a steamed bun.

After that, the lid closed again.

Tan Li’s eyes lit up; she rushed over and picked up the pack of instant noodles, tearing it open and eating with her teeth, almost devouring it.

She looked like a famished ghost who had finally been fed.

Qi Kexin also approached, picking up the steamed bun. She tore off a piece and handed it to He Jiaojiao, “Are you hungry?”

He Jiaojiao shook her head, “I’m not hungry, I don’t want to eat, it’s nauseating.”

Qi Kexin said, “With your physical strength, let alone killing, it’s uncertain if you can even survive a week.”

He Jiaojiao looked at her. Her thighs were as thin as her own arms, but she was still struggling to eat the bun, not letting herself starve.

He Jiaojiao finally walked over, took a small piece of the bun from Qi Kexin’s hand. She was hungry; the bun was dry and hard. She forced herself to swallow it down. The dry and hard bun scratched her throat, and the smell in the room made her want to vomit.

He Jiaojiao suddenly thought of her parents.

Yesterday, she was eating KFC and Pizza Hut, sleeping in her air-conditioned room at home. Today, she had to eat this cold, hard steamed bun.

It all felt like a dream, but it was a nightmare.

Holding a small piece of the bun, He Jiaojiao curled up under the blanket, covering her face and cried. Amid her tears, she fell asleep.

In a drowsy state, she was awakened by a touch.

He Jiaojiao saw the skeletal woman beside her. At some point, she had come to her side and was tapping her shoulder.

Startled, He Jiaojiao was about to scream, but Qi Kexin covered her mouth.

“Hush…” she made a motion to be quiet, her finger by her lips like a wooden stick.

He Jiaojiao turned her head and saw that Tan Li was already asleep, breathing steadily and deeply.

“Tan Li is one of his people,” Qi Kexin explained, “If you call out, it will alarm her. If you understand, nod.”

He Jiaojiao nodded.

She had a somewhat favorable impression of this skeletal girl who shared her steamed bun.

Qi Kexin’s eyes flickered. She leaned towards He Jiaojiao’s ear and continued, “I know a way out, but I can’t do it alone. I’ve been waiting for new people. Now let’s try, see if we can escape together.”

Could that be true?

Was escaping really that easy?

Should she believe this girl she had only known for a day?

He Jiaojiao hesitated for a moment, looking at Qi Kexin in front of her. Eventually, she nodded, a faint glimmer of hope igniting in her heart.

There must be a way out of this place. Perhaps she could give it a try.

Trigger warning: mentions of violence, SA.

TN Hell House also known as the Junko Furuta case. An extremely disturbing crime that occurred in Japan. A young girl, Junko(15-17 years old), was abducted by a group of 4 teenagers and held captive for about 40+ days in the basement of one of them. In this timeframe, she experienced unimaginable violations, include rape(almost 500+ cases of sex*al assault) and torture(being beaten, hanged and starved) before she was eventually murdered(burned alive) and found in an oil drum filled with concrete. Apparently, one of the assaulters, Hiroshi Miyano, was a classmate who liked her and repeatedly asked her out but was rejected. Unfortunately, he also happened to be a low-level Yakuza member and so he decided to get revenge for the rejection and humiliation thus orchestrating this plan. And yet they got off with light sentences because they were “minors”. This is just scratching the surface of what these depraved bastards did. Read more here.