Chapter 1

I froze all over.

The officer stood up, looking serious.

He walked around the desk, went to the door to shut it, and then pulled the blinds closed.

“I know what’s going on.”

When he said that, his voice was so low it sounded like he was afraid something might hear him.

“What is it?”

I sat in the chair, my hands gripping the bag tightly on my knees.

He sat back down and stared at me for a long time, like he was deciding whether to tell me.

“First, don’t panic.”

He finally spoke.

“We can’t be sure yet. But we’ve taken in an identical case before.”

My heart clenched hard.

“Around two years ago.”

He lit a cigarette and took a deep drag.

“There was an old man who came in to report it. His last name was Miller, and he lived in one of those old apartment complexes in the east side of town. He said his daughter had run up a huge gambling debt before, then vanished to hide from her creditors for years, and suddenly came back.”

He paused and blew out a mouthful of smoke.

“At first, the old man was overjoyed. His daughter was back, after all, and he thought she’d finally turned over a new leaf. But it didn’t take long before he started feeling like something was wrong.”

“She told me his daughter used to be a total screwup, never held a real job, and spent all day drinking and gambling with a bad crowd.”

“But the one who came back stopped gambling, stopped drinking, and acted like a totally different person.”

“The old man said his daughter hadn’t even finished middle school, but the one who came back could actually chat with her about classic literature and history.”

My fingers started shaking.

“The most important part,”

The officer stubbed out the cigarette in the ashtray.

“His daughter used to be in terrible health, with severe asthma. She couldn’t even walk fast without gasping for air. But the one who came back could carry a hundred-pound bag of rice without breathing hard once.”

I felt like my blood was running backward.

“And then?” My voice was trembling.

“Then we went to check it out.”

He sighed.

“We went to her place. The daughter was home, acting completely normal, very polite to us, even poured us tea. We walked around the house, and found nothing.”

“The old man still couldn’t say exactly what felt wrong. He just said it gave him the creeps. We thought it was just because father and daughter hadn’t seen each other in too long and were out of sync, so we said a few reassuring things and left.”

He stood up and walked to the window, opened the blinds a crack to look outside, then closed them again.

“Then, not even a week later,”

He turned around and looked at me.

“The old man and his daughter disappeared together.”

“Disappeared?”

“Yes, disappeared. Everything was still in the house. Clothes, savings passbook, ID card, they didn’t take a single thing.”

“Neighbors said they still saw the old man taking a walk downstairs the night before, and the next day he was gone. His phone couldn’t be reached either. It’s been two years, and there’s still no news at all.”

I shot to my feet, and the chair slid back with a harsh scraping sound.

“My wife, could she also…”

“Don’t rush.”

He raised a hand to signal me to sit.

“I said it’s not certain yet. It’s just that this case is too similar, and I had to tell you.”

“Then what exactly is it? What is my wife?” My voice had already changed.

“I don’t know.”

He shook his head.

“We checked the old man’s daughter’s records. Just like your wife, her household registration was normal, she was alive, and there was nothing unusual. But we just couldn’t find them.”