Chapter 49

Chapter 49

Wen Xin explained that this message had not only been deleted from the phone itself but also from the cloud storage.

Initially, he had assumed Gu Zhishu didn’t have a habit of deleting messages.

This was because Gu Zhishu’s chat history with others could be traced back as far as a year and a half ago, showing no signs of any deletion records whatsoever. The only reason there were no messages earlier than that was because Gu Zhishu had switched to a new phone a year ago.

Wen Xin had only performed a recovery on the phone with the mindset of giving it a try, which led to the unexpected discovery of the chat logs between this unknown number and Gu Zhishu.

“Let me see what they talked about.”

Nan Mu took Wen Miao’s phone and looked at the data Wen Xin had sent over.

The conversation took place on the day Gu Zhishu went missing. This meant the person sending these messages from the unknown number was very likely the last person to see Gu Zhishu alive.

Wen Xin noted that he had already searched through Gu Zhishu’s phone and confirmed that this unknown number had never contacted Gu Zhishu before. He had also hacked into the telecommunications service provider’s internal system, but since the unknown number belonged to an unregistered SIM card, he couldn’t find any information regarding the user.

April 19th, 14:02. [Unknown Number] sent the first message to Gu Zhishu.

[Unknown Number]: Gu Zhishu.

Nearly ten minutes passed before Gu Zhishu sent his first reply.

[Gu Zhishu]: ? Who is this.

[Unknown Number]: The person you’ve been looking for.

[Gu Zhishu]: ?

[Gu Zhishu]: Who are you? What do you want?

[Unknown Number]: Haven’t you all been looking for me? I’ll be waiting for you at Guiziyuan Square today until 15:00.

[Gu Zhishu]: You know? Who exactly are you?

[Unknown Number]: You’ll find out when we meet.

At this point, Gu Zhishu tried to call the other party, but they seemed to have hung up.

[Gu Zhishu]: Why all the secrecy? Is there something you can’t just say?

[Unknown Number]: If you want the answer, then come. By the way, your phone has tracking software installed. Don’t bring it. Go to the first lamppost at the South Gate Intersection of Guiziyuan Square. There’s a phone there. I’ll contact you once you arrive. I don’t want to see anyone else besides you.

There was a gap of about five minutes here. Likely because Gu Zhishu hadn’t replied, the other party sent another message.

[Unknown Number]: You can choose not to come, but if you don’t, I will never contact you again.

[Gu Zhishu]: Fine, I’m coming now. Wait for me.

[Unknown Number]: I’m only waiting until 15:00.

[Gu Zhishu]: Fine.

The messages ended abruptly there. What followed was likely Gu Zhishu leaving his phone in the hospital ward and departing alone.

“Why did no one mention this after Gu Zhishu went missing?” Wen Miao asked, puzzled. “This person’s messages were so vague and suspicious. Didn’t Gu Zhishu have any sense of caution at all?”

“No one mentioned it perhaps because it happened so suddenly that Gu Zhishu didn’t have time to tell anyone else…” Nan Mu thought for a moment. “Ask Wen Xin to pull all the chat logs between Gu Zhishu and Su Yu. If Su Yu’s disappearance is indeed related to Gu Zhishu, then Gu Zhishu likely talked to Su Yu about this.”

“Okay.”

Wen Miao sent a message to Wen Xin and received a reply shortly after.

“Wen Xin is worried that Gu Zhishu might have deleted his chat logs with Su Yu as well, so he’s currently performing a recovery. He’ll send them all to us once he’s finished.”
Nan Mu was searching for the exact address of Guiziyuan Square on the map. Hearing Wen Miao’s words, he frowned. “Gu Zhishu probably didn’t delete the messages himself. It’s impossible for him to have deleted that text from the unknown number.”

Wen Miao looked at him. “Why are you so sure?”

“It doesn’t fit Gu Zhishu’s logic of action.” Nan Mu turned his phone around to show Wen Miao.

The map software showed that driving from the hospital to Guiziyuan Square would take nearly half an hour.

“Suppose Gu Zhishu chose to leave immediately after sending the last text; it would have already been 2:20 PM. Since he didn’t take his phone, he would have needed at least some time to prepare money and check his route. Taking a taxi could mean hitting traffic, and taking the subway would require figuring out transfers. For him, the entire process of rushing to Guiziyuan Square before 3:00 PM would have been extremely urgent. Under those circumstances, would anyone really think to delete a text message before leaving? Besides, he didn’t expect that he wouldn’t be coming back. Based on the information we’ve seen, this conversation doesn’t reveal anything of value anyway, so why would he feel the need to delete it immediately?”

That made sense. Wen Miao nodded. “Then who was the person who deleted the messages?”

“The phone never left the hospital, and this person only deleted the messages between Gu Zhishu and the unknown number… So, the person who deleted them must meet at least three conditions.” Nan Mu rubbed the space between his eyebrows. “First, they had to know this number was messaging Gu Zhishu to know to come and delete the texts. Second, they had to clear the message logs before Gu Zhishu’s father arrived at the hospital. Third, it had to be someone whose presence in Gu Zhishu’s ward was normal-or at least someone who didn’t arouse any suspicion.”

Following Nan Mu’s analysis, Wen Miao realized something. “Ah, could it be the person who was messaging Gu Zhishu? Who else would know with absolute certainty when Gu Zhishu was chatting and when he left?”

“No.” Nan Mu shook his head. “It couldn’t be the person sending the texts. If it were that person, they would have had to enter the room to delete the messages after Gu Zhishu left, and then rush from here to Guiziyuan Square. That would create two problems.”

“What problems?”

“First, how could they ensure that nothing unexpected would happen while they were trying to delete the messages? For example, if there was suddenly someone in the ward and they couldn’t enter immediately, they would have to wait, meaning they couldn’t guarantee they’d reach Guiziyuan Square by 3:00 PM.”

“Second, the text said they placed a contact phone under the first streetlamp at the South Gate Intersection of Guiziyuan Square. Guiziyuan Square is a newly developed park; although foot traffic is light, if they were the one who deleted the messages, then according to their plan, they would have had to go to Guiziyuan Square first to leave the phone in the designated spot, then come to the hospital, text Gu Zhishu, wait for him to leave, delete the messages, and then rush back to Guiziyuan Square. That phone would have been out of their sight for at least two hours. Can you guarantee a phone will still be there after leaving it out of your sight for two hours?”

“So, I don’t think the person who deleted the messages is the same person who sent them. The risk-control cost of the whole process is too high. I suspect… it’s likely they aren’t working alone. At the very least, they must have had an accomplice in the hospital at the time.”