While Yibo was tiredly sorting through the many emails that Zhan had received over the past two years, he came to the spam folder, which was full. Many emails were indeed just spam. But there were also emails from potential clients who wanted to hire Zhan as a graphic designer. But the email that immediately caught Yibo's eye and made him growl softly was from someone who wrote in the subject line: "It's me, Isko."

Without asking Zhan if he could open the email, he opened it and read it. Yibo cursed out loud at the very first words. "You damn..." When Zhan looked at him, Yibo apologized and continued reading.

"Hello beautiful man, unfortunately I haven't found another way to contact you. There is news. My boss went with those men who crashed the party on Saturday night. She looked cheerful and hasn't returned yet. I'm not allowed to leave the house. Two of her bodyguards are watching me the whole time. Last night I managed to distract them for a short time when they were eating. I wanted to go down to the basement and see for myself what was there after you seemed to have taken such an interest in what might be there. Even though you tried to hide it. I knew what you were really up to. I have to tell you, from the moment I entered the house for the first time, I was forbidden to even touch the door. So I was very interested in seeing for myself what was there. Unfortunately, the door is locked and none of the house staff have a key to the lock. I also have to tell you that she seems to have lost her trust in me and I'm sure she'll make me disappear too. Please be careful and take good care of yourself. Isko"

Yibo read through the text two or three times, then showed it to Zhan and then they sent a copy to Agent Nax. Shortly after sending the email, Yibo received a call: "Xiao Zhan should write to him that he needs to give us more information about Isla Isari so that he is worth getting out of there." That was all she said before ending the call without Yibo being able to say anything back.

Zhan, who had also overheard the very short call, looked at Yibo, shaking his head, and said, "I'm not going along with this! Who decides what information is important enough for them to free him? He's a person who was innocently involved in whatever and that alone should be enough, shouldn't it?"

Yibo looked at his cell phone, nodded thoughtfully and replied: "You're absolutely right. But she's the team leader and we have to follow her orders."

"But that's not how it works!" Zhan insisted angrily.

"I know Zhan. Please calm down. I'm already thinking about what we can do to get around her order."

"It's simple! We'll talk to your director or someone else above her in rank! We tell him she's acting strangely and giving orders that could potentially cost an innocent person his life!"

"It's not that simple Zhan. I can't just walk into the agency, knock on the director's door and demand to speak to him. And neither can I talk to any other higher-ranking agent."

"Why not?"

"Because I have to complain in writing about my team leader before they'll even consider an investigation."

"What kind of nonsense is that?"

"I didn't make the rules Zhan. I can also understand that it makes you angry. I don't like it either. But there's nothing I can do about it. This is a government agency, I have to follow the rules."

"Then write a complaint."

"Wait a minute. I'll try something else first." Yibo said and dialed the number of Agent Lee, who is the deputy team leader. After Agent Lee answered the call after the second ring, Yibo explained to him what was in the email and how Agent Nax responded, or rather, what she ordered.

"Mhhh, she's not herself at this time." Agent Lee said after listening to everything.

"So what should we do now? Do what she said? Or do you have any other ideas?" Yibo asked, scribbling on a white sheet of paper with a ballpoint pen.

"No, I think we have to find another solution. Of course, we can't storm into the villa, overpower the bodyguards and get Isko out of there. But I will send an agent there who will secretly go into the villa on our orders and just as secretly get Isko out of there. I'll discuss it with the director beforehand. I have an appointment with him anyway. Agent Nax shouldn't find out about our conversation and plan for the time being. I've filed an official complaint against her and I hope she'll be removed from the investigation."

"You filed an official complaint?" Yibo was astonished and Zhan was almost glued to Yibo's cell phone with excitement and curiosity.

"Yes, I did. After our meeting, I called the lab and asked if they knew where Agent Nax got the DNA sample from Xiao Zhan and whether he had given consent for the maternity test, and learned that she arrived with a blood sample from another hospital lab. She also presented a statement saying that there was an urgent suspicion that Isla Isari was Xiao Zhan's biological mother and that she urgently needed the results and could not talk to Xiao Zhan about it for the time being because of the possible relationship, which is why his consent was not necessary. This seemed suspicious to me, so I spoke to her about it and she explained that I shouldn't have spied on her and that it was none of my business, as she was still the team leader and decided what should and shouldn't be done. She also told me that, as a high-ranking government agent, she didn't need Xiao Zhan's permission to have his DNA tested. And I think she is simply going too far. Especially when you consider that Xiao Zhan is working with us voluntarily and helping us. Well, after the conversation I submitted a written complaint and 15 minutes ago the director called me about it and I have an appointment right away."

"I have the impression that she is following a completely different track. In addition to the blood sample from Zhan, she had seven other blood samples handed over from former students who all have birthdays between October 1 and October 10. Because Zhan called the lab where his blood sample was kept and the doctor told him about the other blood samples."

"I understand. But what track is she following? Why doesn't she tell us what she's up to?"

"I don't know and I'd like to know. She's behaving very differently from how I know her. So completely against her norm."

"I've noticed that too. I'm going to see the director now. And thanks for the information about the blood samples. I'll mention that too."

"All right. Get back to me as soon as you've spoken to him."

"I will. See you then." Agent Lee said and ended the call.

"Well, Agent Lee beat you to it." Said Zhan, after Yibo had put his cell phone on the table.

"That's right. I told you that my colleagues also find her behavior strange."

"Mhm. But do you really think that a complaint and a conversation with the director will be enough to have her removed from the investigation?"

"To be honest, no, Zhan. But I also don't think it would do any good if the whole team complained about her. She's a very respected agent who has already achieved a lot. I think it will depend on how she explains herself. And knowing her, she'll have already thought of something to make her look good."

"Mhhh, really stupid thing."

"Unfortunately."

"You know Yibo? I think we'll call it a day here. It's 5 PM and I'd close in an hour anyway. Let's use the extra hour of daylight to follow the course of the river."

"Good idea." Replied Yibo. While he went to the toilet again, Zhan sent Sia home and packed two bottles of water and a pre-packaged sandwich. Just in case it took longer and they got hungry and thirsty. After Zhan also went to the toilet as a precaution, the two of them set off.

First they drove to the house where Zhan lives. They drove two cars and wanted to leave one there. Then they took Yibo's car to the river and went to the place where the arm had been found. The fisherman had even just been there and left a small bouquet of flowers.

The fisherman willingly told them about the day he was on the river and saw something floating among the leaves. When he got closer, he realized that it was an arm. In his panic, he called the coastguard, who then sent a coroner and two police officers to collect the arm. The fisherman also explained that he and a few of his colleagues had found body parts in the river several times in the past six years.

Yibo wanted to know from him whether it would be possible to make a whole body disappear into the river? After all, the river is not very wide and from what he could see, the current was not very strong. The fisherman thought for a moment and then nodded. "Yes, it's possible. Whenever it has rained heavily or in spring, when the snow melts, the water in the river rises and the currents become much stronger. I don't think it's a problem to make a whole body disappear."

"Do you know if it rained in the days before the arm was found? Because it's summer and I can see that the current is only light at the moment." Yibo replied.

"Well, don't let that fool you. It only looks weak on the surface. Further down, the current is quite strong. Last month, my buddy and I saw a huge deer get swept away by the current. The next day we had to pull the dead animal out of the water at the end of the river. And that's right. The river is not very wide. But it is deep. Oh yes, and it had rained the evening before. Not very heavily. But it was raining." Explained the fisherman.

"Have divers ever searched here for other body parts or a whole corpse?" Zhan asked.

"No, not that I know of. As I said, the current is quite strong and I don't think the divers would have had a chance. Not even with lead weights. Because if even a whole deer doesn't stand a chance, then a diver certainly doesn't. And if there was something floating in the water, it would certainly have drifted into the sea. I can't imagine that anything would get stuck here."

Yibo and Zhan looked around the shore and had to agree with the fisherman. As far as they could see, there was nothing on the shore where a body part or even a whole body could get stuck. "How come the arm didn't drift on then?" Yibo wanted to know.

"Well, I don't know. I just spotted the arm in the water, put my boat in front of it so it wouldn't drift away and then waited for someone to come and get the arm out."

"Okay. I'd just like to know how long the arm had been floating in the water before you found it." Zhan replied thoughtfully.

"Depends on where it was thrown into the water. But it certainly wasn't more than a few hours. I found the arm early in the morning. So it must have been thrown into the river during the night." The fisherman guessed.

"Yes, probably." Yibo replied and explained that he and Zhan were moving on. He had heard enough and the fisherman wouldn't be able to tell them any more anyway. They thanked him and said goodbye, then continued along the riverbed.

They had followed the river for about two miles when Yibo said, "I'm not sure we'll really find anything else."

Zhan stopped, looked Yibo straight in the eye and replied with a smile, "Well, we're not looking for anything. We just want to find out if it's theoretically possible that this woman could have dumped a body or body parts in the river. In other words, whether her villa is close enough to the river."

"You sound like a real investigator." Yibo said and meant that in a positive way.

"Thank you. But I'm just trying to make sense of it all. Nobody wants to drive around for miles with a dead body in the trunk just to get rid of it. Not if there's a river nearby with a strong enough current to carry a body away."

"Yeah, except in this case we didn't have a body, but just an arm."

"Yeah, sure. But do you think she would dispose of the arm and keep the body or dispose of it somewhere else if it was so easy to get rid of it in the river?"

"No, I think like you on that one. If the river is close enough to her villa."

"This villa is very old, isn't it?" Zhan asked thoughtfully.

"Yes, as far as I know. Why?"

"Well, if the villa is old enough to have been built at a time when there was no running water in the house or a drainage pipe, there could be some kind of tunnel. An inlet to the river, where the excrement and garbage was disposed of back then."

Suddenly it was Yibo who stopped. "The villa could well be old enough. What's more, there could be this inlet from the villa to the river. Nobody would see an underground inlet. And it could come from the basement." Excitedly, Yibo took his tablet out of a small bag he was carrying and called up the construction plans of the villa stored on it.

"What are you doing?" Asked Zhan, who couldn't see what Yibo was doing on the tablet because the sun was blinding him and shining on it.

After Yibo had found what he was looking for, he showed Zhan his tablet. "Do you see this? This could be an inlet from the basement of the villa to the river, right?"

Zhan looked at the blueprint and nodded. "Yes, but only if the villa and the river are close together."

"Then we'll check it out. Your idea about coming here was fantastic and put us on a new track. If, as you said, the villa and the river are close together."

"Let's go then." Zhan said and walked on with long strides. Suddenly they were in a hurry to follow the riverbed and follow their track.

After another hour, they reached a branch of the river that went in the direction of the villa. Excitedly, they followed the branch of the river until it ended abruptly. They looked down and saw a tunnel running underground. Just as they had suspected. But because the ground above the tunnel was flat and there were two other villas there, it was impossible to tell if this tunnel went all the way to Mrs. Isari's villa.

"I think someone would have to go into the tunnel and see for themselves." Said Yibo.

"Well, tunnel isn't the right word. If, then it's called a canal. I just remembered that. But it doesn't really matter. And yes, someone has to go down there. But who?"

"Not us, anyway, Zhan."

"Why not?"

"Because we're not equipped for it. And we could destroy any possible evidence."

"Oh yes, that's right. You could be right about that. That wouldn't be good."

"No. But now we've found an opportunity that the relevant specialists can follow up."

"You're also a specialist."

"Not when it comes to securing evidence. Forensics is responsible for that."

"Okay. And now what?"

"Now we take a picture of the entrance to the "canal", then we send everything to Agent Lee, including our theory, and then we make our way back to the car."

"Okay." Zhan said. He was a little disappointed that they had to cut short their exciting search for new leads like this. But he could understand it. Because all his knowledge about forensic clues was limited to the crime movies and series he watched. From time to time he also watched documentaries about murders. But of course, none of that was enough for him to know what forensic tracers need to look out for and be aware of.

By the time they reached the car, the sun had already set. Agent Lee called just as Yibo was about to start the engine. "We'll definitely have a look at the canal inlet. I wonder why none of us thought of it before? Well, never mind. You thought of it." He said.

"It was Zhan who thought of it. And there's something on the blueprints that could well be a canal." Yibo replied and looked at Zhan admiringly.

"I see."

"Tell me, didn't you want to call me after the appointment with the director?"

"Yes, I was going to. But there's not much to report. I told him everything I had already put in the written complaint, including the new information from you about the blood samples, and he said he would speak to her and confront her. But he told me straight away that it would probably take a few days. Until then, we should write down everything that seems conspicuous and behave towards her as usual."

"Great."

"Don't worry about it. We'll manage for a few more days. Besides, you're not here anyway. And as far as I know, there's no other meeting planned for the next few days."

"All right then. Then we know for now. We're going to Zhan's house now. Let me know if there's any news."

"I will." Agent Lee said and said goodbye. Yibo put the cell phone aside, started the engine and they drove off.

When they arrived at Zhan's apartment, they cooked something for dinner and then sat down in front of the TV. By chance, a crime thriller was on in which a private detective was looking for the murderer of a woman who came to hire him and was murdered after meeting him. He was framed for the murder of this woman. And he would do anything to prove that he was innocent.