Chapter 43 - A breakthrough.

At around 5:15 PM Li Enlai received a call from Mr. Muller who said, "I have important news to update you about. We found three bodies from a car accident, that had occurred on the twenty-third of December. Two of them were in their early fifties and were of Chinese descent, and another elderly man was from Cervinia. The coats they were wearing had bloodstains, which matched the blood sample of Ms. Xiao Ann. The witness who had earlier reported the incident of planning of an assault, identified the two of the Chinese holding Chinese passports, however, he claims, that the elderly person who died in the car accident was not the one who was earlier seen with these two guys. We inquired about the elderly person, and found out, that the coat was handed over to him by an individual of Chinese descent as his existing one, had coffee spilled over it in a café on the twenty-third of December. The other two guys had offered a lift to him in their vehicle as he was planning to walk home."

"Did the eyewitness describe the other Chinese man?"

"That's the sad part of it. They all said he had a face mask. But said that he had a huge scar on the right side of his forehead that ran across his face. However, there is a contradiction in the description of the senior citizen who had met up with the people who had trailed Bao earlier as narrated by Mr. Weber the driver of the electric cab."

"What is the contradiction, Mr. Muller?"

"Mr. Weber described the senior citizen, however, he never mentioned that there was any scar on his face. I even confirmed this piece of information with him after discovering the details of this accident. This proves that they were two different persons."

"What about the samples taken from the nails of Esther."

"It has been confirmed that there were bloodstains in her nails, and we have collected the DNA samples and stored them but they don't match with those two guys, however, it does match with the DNA found on the coat, that was let out to the local elderly resident who died in the accident."

"What was the reason for the car accident?"

"The accident occurred due to a brake failure."

"Could the vehicle have been tampered with?"

"We have not ruled it out yet."

"Could you share the details of the guys involved so that we can conduct a private investigation back home since they are Chinese?"

"It could be done since you are the victims of the perpetrators involved. However, I will need to get some approvals before I do that. It may take a day or two or probably more than that since it is a holiday season here. The bodies must be handed over to their families as well. We are in touch with the Chinese Embassy as well."

"There is a guy whom we suspect, though we are not sure if it is a mere coincidence. I will ask Liqin to pass on the information via email to you. Would that be fine?"

"Of course, as long as it helps in the investigation, it would do."

"I'll ask him to do so immediately. Were there any cars parked close by that can give us any form of evidence."

"We are tracking that angle as well. If we have any leads, we will keep you updated."

"Fine. Good day to you Mr. Muller."

As Mr. Muller disconnected the call, Li Enlai called up Liqin instructed him to send the details to him.

As he disconnected the call, Ms. Xu walked in and informed him, "Sir, Ms. Brown would like to connect to you."

Liqin thought for a second, and said, "Arrange for a conference call, that is recorded."

Liqin then called up Li Enlai, and the security team to join them as he connected to the call. As he waited for them to join in, he sent the mail to Mr. Muller as instructed.

As they joined together in the conference room Li Enlai passed on a piece of paper with something written on it.

Liqin read the paper and looked at him in surprise, and then nodded in agreement

As the call connected Ms. Brown answered, "Good evening, Mr. Chang."

"Good evening Ms. Brown, Had you requested a call?"

"I had just called to inform you, that our tickets are booked for Guangzhou, and we will reach on the fourteenth of January. As dad is still recovering, we are not sure of his trip, however, I and mom would surely be visiting."

"Did Mr. Sam call you up?"

"Yes, he did Mr. Chang, and as per our discussion I would be calling him up in a day or two to book the resort as per our plans."

"Ms. Brown, we would surely look forward to your visit. I was just reading the details, that your employees had gathered, I am impressed with their investigative skills.

Hope they all have enjoyed their trip. Are they all doing fine after exposure to the blizzard in Cervinia? Have they all joined their respective duties?"

"Yes, they have all joined back."

Li Enlai wrote on a paper and passed it onto Liqin, "ask whether any of their employees or acquaintances has a scar on their face."

Liqin glanced at Li Enlai wide-eyed, who in turn gestured to continue. Liqin sighed and asked, Ms. Brown, by any chance, do any of your employees have a huge scar that runs from the right side of the forehead across the face of that person?"

"No, we have none that match your description. Why do you ask so?"

"Bao had met someone with such a description, who had introduced himself on behalf of Mandarin Delight."

"Really. I need to check this information. As far as I know, we do not have anyone with us with a scar. I'll counter-check with my dad if you need."

"Fine, Ms. Brown. Meet you guys two weeks down the lane."

"Same here, Mr. Chang."

As the call got discontinued Li Enlai briefed them about the new developments, that were earlier during the day relayed by Mr. Muller.

Liqin turned to them and said, "As per Ms. Brown, all the employees have joined back."

Li Enlai pointed with his finger and said, "Check with Mr. Muller about their detailed information, their residency status, and planned return trip. Have you emailed the details to Mr. Muller on our suspicion?"

"No, not yet. I'll do it after the meeting right away."

"Has Mr. Chen and the team departed."

Mr. Yang turned to Enlai and replied, "Yes, they have."

"They must have been exhausted. We have a weekend approaching. We will meet on Monday morning. By then Mr. Chen and the team will join us too."

Li Enlai then looked at Liqin, and said, "Let us pay a visit to the Wu residence tomorrow morning before they leave the day after tomorrow.

"I checked the clothes of Bao yesterday, he indeed has a T-shirt, that has a print of a couple holding hands with the text of 'Together' on it."

"Then the information, that they collected must be accurate and could help us. For us to further investigate we will need the information of the accomplices who died in the accident in Cervinia. We might not receive, that before the first of January. We have a weekend and year-end approaching. The best we will receive would be by the second of January. Let us stop for the day. Have a great weekend with your families. I just realized that time and tide wait for none."

As the team left, Li Enlai added, "Diu and I will stay back in the hospital over the weekend. You both have spent a lot of time without each other just after marriage. Take a break, and spend some quality time over the weekend. I think I should spend some time with my son. We have the rooms already prepared for us to stay in the hospital anyway."

As their vehicles drove out through the winding lanes of Shanghai the evening sky seemed starlit, as the lights of the skyscrapers lit the evening along with the twinkling stars in the sky.