Chapter 232: The Tortured Orange Cat, Tracing Ghost’s Whereabouts

Using her family’s safety as a threat.

Su Ming’s bold deduction made Chen Sheng pause in serious thought for several seconds before he asked with uncertainty, “Team Leader Su. It’s true that family could be one of Lan Cai’er’s weaknesses and used as leverage. From the intelligence and clues I have so far, her relationship with her family wasn’t strained—in fact, it was quite good. Besides her parents, she also lived with her grandparents and a younger brother who’s still in middle school.”

“But the issue is… six months ago, I already asked Lan Cai’er’s family whether they’d received any specific threats or warnings. Their answer at the time was no. Being an educated family, they hadn’t made any enemies and were always courteous and considerate.”

Su Ming shook his head slightly, then firmly countered, “No, Chief Lin. There doesn’t need to be an actual threat. Lan Cai’er’s family didn’t need to know anything. All that matters is that Lan Cai’er believed that even if she exposed the evidence, the criminal organization had the means to harm her family.”

Pausing for two seconds, Su Ming narrowed his eyes and continued meaningfully, “Chen Ju. Which do you think is more terrifying—issuing a verbal warning that if she spoke, not only she but her family would die too—or silently sneaking into her parents’ home while they were asleep and taking a photo of a gun held to their heads?”

“Of course, that’s just a metaphor. I’m not saying Ghost actually did this. But I’m sure of one thing—whatever Ghost used to silence Lan Cai’er wasn’t simple. And, Chen Ju, take a closer look at this investigation transcript on the projector, especially the second paragraph you marked in red at the end.”

“Lan Cai’er first received a message—or an unknown image—then immediately made a call. The call lasted less than ten seconds, but when she returned, her eyes were red and her emotions had spiraled out of control.”

“The emotional shift—starting from stunned confusion upon seeing the image, then panic and fear, followed by immediate verification with that call, and then emotional collapse—strongly suggests that something important was taken by Ghost and used to threaten her, then destroyed, causing her last shred of hope to crumble.”

“Amplifying the prey’s inner fear, using everything that can be used.”

“But if it wasn’t her family—since they were unharmed and hadn’t received threats—then what could be so important to Lan Cai’er that it would cause such intense emotional swings?”

“Moreover, it had to be something that hinted to Lan Cai’er that if she didn’t behave, her family would pay the price.”

At that moment, Su Ming’s mind was spinning quickly, trying to determine what could have been so crucial to Lan Cai’er, something Ghost destroyed and used to force her into silence.

Three seconds later, while still deep in thought, Su Ming suddenly recalled—

When reviewing the case file and Lan Cai’er’s personal résumé, he remembered a few photos in which Lan Cai’er was taking selfies with a young orange tabby cat. Judging by her posture and expressions, she was clearly very affectionate with the cat.

There was another key point.

To make commuting more convenient, Lan Cai’er wasn’t living at home. Instead, she had rented a single apartment near Jia He City Television Station.

If nothing went wrong, then that orange tabby cat was likely a pet Lan Cai’er had bought to keep her company. After months of living together, she must’ve grown emotionally attached to it.

Thinking of this, Su Ming tapped the table lightly and looked toward Chen Sheng in front of the projector, asking seriously, “Chen Ju. When your team searched the apartment Lan Cai’er had rented, did you find an orange tabby cat?”

“Orange tabby?” Chen Sheng repeated the words with curiosity, then immediately replied, “We didn’t find the cat, or any other small animal. But we did find a lot of pet supplies in the room—like a litter box and a cat tree. At the time, the windows and doors were open, so we suspected the cat probably ran off on its own. After all, it was a while before Lan Cai’er was found, and without anyone feeding it, the cat sneaking out seemed completely plau—”

Before he could finish, Su Ming waved his hand, cutting him off decisively.

“No, Chen Ju. Lan Cai’er wasn’t a new cat owner who didn’t know better—she’d had that orange tabby for months. The biggest trait of cat owners is that even if the room is stuffy and filled with cat hair, they’ll never leave the doors or windows open unless they’re sealed with screens. It’s a habit. I don’t believe Lan Cai’er would’ve made that mistake. And from those selfies, it’s clear—Lan Cai’er was very affectionate with that cat. There’s no way she’d intentionally leave the doors open, hoping it would run away.”

“So there’s only one possibility—during the days leading up to the incident, Lan Cai’er had already accepted that her orange cat wasn’t coming back. So there was no need to keep the doors and windows closed.”

Hearing this, Chen Sheng immediately understood what Su Ming was implying. His eyes widened as he picked up the thought, “Team Leader Su. You mean… nine days before the incident, the reason Lan Cai’er had such a strong emotional breakdown—was because she learned or was shown that something happened to her orange cat?”

“If we fill in the details, I think it’s very likely that Ghost somehow entered her rented apartment, took the orange tabby, tortured and killed it, and then sent the evidence to Lan Cai’er?”

“Being able to enter a locked apartment and take the cat away proves one thing—Ghost could just as easily enter the home where Lan Cai’er’s family lives and slit their throats with a sharp knife.”

“This time it was the cat. Next time, it’ll be people?”

Su Ming didn’t immediately respond to Chen Sheng’s words. Instead, he lowered his gaze and rubbed his fingers as he said, “Chen Ju, have the officers from the Criminal Investigation Technology Section check the surveillance footage from the apartment Lan Cai’er rented. I think, since it’s only been half a year since the case, we might still find some valuable clues…”