Chapter 230 - 155: I Know! Baihan Clubhouse (Part 2)

All three pieces of information were important, especially the second one. It could be used to directly lock onto the suspect!

The air inside the house had been stagnant, so after settling for about two days, the scent was faint but still detectable.

A police dog would know, but it couldn’t speak. However...

Xu Huo was much more useful than a police dog.

Wang Die’s Scent would allow him to immediately make an arrest the moment the target appeared nearby!

"Second, we still don’t know why the killer needs human skin."

"But," Xu Huo said, a glint in his eyes, "the first point gives us a lot to think about."

"First off, if you remove the internet from the equation, it’s usually easy to find a person’s murderer."

’In the modern era of his past life, why were cases so easy to solve? Because digital information laid everything bare!’

Once you confirmed a case had no connection to the internet and was a Murder, the investigation became straightforward.

After all, a person only interacts with a handful of people. The police just had to use their authority to check times and locations or investigate phone GPS data, and the culprit would be exposed!

In other words, the killer is usually hidden within the victim’s social circle!

And what typically defines a social circle?

Money? Eloquence?

Wrong. It’s status!

A street sweeper can’t mix with a circle of socialites.

A construction worker has nothing to do with a programmer’s hair transplant support group.

In this case, the killer and Lin Miao at least knew of each other’s existence. And judging by Lin Miao’s status... who were the people she would encounter?

A student meets students, a janitor meets janitors, and a prostitute... meets clients.

"The killer’s target was Lin Miao, which means their identity is likely connected to hers. However, the information we have now suggests that Lin Miao knew more than we first thought."

"And in Lin Miao’s social circle, she would have only encountered three types of people."

"Colleagues, clients, and passersby."

"Since both parties knew a little about each other, we can rule out passersby. That means the killer is hidden in one of the two remaining groups," Xu Huo said slowly.

This was also the reason he had sought out that old man.

Of course, cases sometimes involved psychopaths—lunatics who killed for no reason at all.

But the probability was very, very low, so for now, they wouldn’t consider that as a line of investigation.

"So now..." Li Jianye paused, thinking for a moment before raising an eyebrow.

"We’re going to the Baihan Clubhouse!" Xu Huo announced.

"To see..."

"the prostitute’s colleagues."

...

...

Prostitute. The word was familiar, but few people could clearly explain its origins.

It originated from an ancient term for "singing and dancing girls," which initially referred to beautiful performers, specifically dancers.

But beauty often goes hand-in-hand with sex, and their customers held the power to dominate them.

Thus, the term gradually took on its current meaning, eventually evolving into the modern word "prostitute."

Of course, more elegant-sounding terms like "courtesan" also appeared over time.

But that didn’t change the fact that these people all sold their bodies.

"And then there’s the ’green hat’—cuckoldry. It originated from an old law where if someone in a household was a prostitute, the government required a man in that family to wear a green kerchief on his head."

"The moment someone saw the green kerchief, everyone would know his family had a ’seller’ in the house."

"Over time, this evolved into the so-called ’green hat’ we know today."

「Eleven o’clock at night.」

The sky was dark and the roads were covered in white snow. The biting wind, mixed with snowflakes, felt like blades scraping against one’s face.

The world was plunged into darkness.

A few beams of golden light shone out from a window, appearing exceptionally clear against the gloom.

In front of the Baihan Clubhouse, Xu Huo stood at the entrance, gazing at the magnificent, splendidly decorated building and muttering something to himself.

This was the Baihan Clubhouse, a high-end but not particularly famous club in the Capital City.

Even at night, it was brightly lit, radiating a dazzling glow.

"Officer, has there been some kind of misunderstanding?"

The clubhouse manager, having been alerted, hurried out and questioned Xu Huo as he entered the lobby.

"Cut the crap. Does Lin Miao work here?"

Zhao Gang’s expression turned cold as he shoved his badge right in the man’s face.

The badge flashed by too quickly for him to get a clear look, but the manager didn’t dare show any disrespect.

The manager glanced at the blue-uniformed police officers fanning out across the clubhouse and swallowed hard.

’You’ve got to be kidding me... A Level 1 Police Chief is just running errands for this guy...’

’It doesn’t even matter if I couldn’t see the badge clearly. Either way, these are people I can’t afford to offend.’

"She does work here, but she hasn’t come in for the past two days. She hasn’t been answering her phone either," the manager said.

"Why didn’t you file a police report?" Li Jianye suddenly asked.

The manager just gave an awkward smile and didn’t answer.

’He was perfectly aware of the shady dealings they ran at this clubhouse... What kind of criminal reports themselves to the authorities!?’

"Get all of your girls over here. I don’t care if they’re with clients right now."

Zhang Liang had no intention of wasting time with him. He waved his hand dismissively and sat down on a sofa in the lobby.

The manager cursed inwardly while trying to figure out who these people were.

"Yes, yes, of course."

He agreed and headed toward the back.

A short while later, the manager led a group of tall, slender girls with heavy, glamorous makeup to Xu Huo and the others.

They wore high heels or black stockings, were doused in perfume, and their clothes were rather revealing.

"You can go."

Xu Huo waved his hand, dismissing the manager.

The manager wanted to say something, but seeing the countless figures around him and the flashing red and blue police lights outside, he walked out awkwardly.

Now, only the escort girls and the police were left in the lobby.

"Who’s the Madam?"

Xu Huo’s eyes swept over them as he asked bluntly.

The women tensed up, all of them internally cursing, ’Why does a prostitution raid need to be such a huge spectacle?’