Chapter 785: Major Case
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The city had a long history and featured many old but functional buildings. For instance, Hobart's police station was located in a dignified old building.
Li Du and the others got off the bus, and a group of journalists gathered outside the police station to take photos of them.
Godzilla covered his face with his hands as he usually did, and Brother Wolf covered his head with his clothes.
At the sight of this, the reporter said, "Ladies and gentlemen, what we now see are the main culprits of the child kidnapping case."
The reporter's misunderstanding made Li Du, Hans, and the others angry. They hurriedly turned to the police officer accompanying them and asked, "How could this happen?"
The police officer stopped the reporter and explained, "You are wrong. They are not the suspects. They are the ones who discovered the crime."
Li Du looked back at Godzilla and Brother Wolf and said, "What are you two doing?"
Godzilla put down his hand with a chuckle. "I'm just used to doing it."
Brother Wolf resolutely did not put down his clothes and said, "I cannot be on television."
The cause and effect of the incident were explained, as Li Du discovered from watching the news.
About three weeks ago, four-year-old Howard, who lived in Sydney, followed his mother to his grandmother's home in Kendall, New South Wales. This was the first time the child had gone there. No one knew that day would become a nightmare for the family.
Around 10:30 a.m., Howard was wearing his favorite Superman suit and playing in the front yard. Just when his mother returned to the house to pour some tea, the little guy went missing. They searched the whole house looking for Howard but did not find him.
The police and some local residents combed the area around the grandmother's home, even using dogs and helicopters, but failed to find any trace of Howard.
Howard's case caused a huge stir in Australia, and the whole country was following it. Several TV stations reported on the case, and this was how Li Du had originally heard about it.
In the last two or three months, there had been frequent cases of missing children in Australia. Howard was the eighth child who had been lost. The police had failed to find the children and had a great deal of pressure on them about the matter.
Now that Howard and the other four children had been spotted together, Hobart's police could breathe a sigh of relief. The huge child abduction case was wrapping up.
That was the reason why the police were so friendly to Li Du and the others. Li Du and his team were their saviors. If the police had not been able to solve the case, some of them would have had to resign.
The case for the missing children had almost been closed because such cases were not uncommon in Australia, and a significant number of people within a wide range of ages and lengths of time missing had been lost for more than a decade.
According to the National Missing Persons Coordination Centre (NMPCC), more than 38,000 people went missing in Australia each year, which was about 104 people per day.
However, while 95 percent of them could eventually be found, there were about 1,600 people who could not be found.
The NMPCC played an important role in Howard's case as well as the other missing children's cases. They were hardworking and persevering, and were very concerned about the case.
So when Howard and other children were recovered, the organization's backbone came to Hobart, as did the media from all over the country.
Li Du and the others were invited to the police station where they were served coffee, juice, snacks, and cakes. The three furry children were served dried fish and dried fruit.
Their statements were taken by the Chief of Hobart's police department, Inspector Quentin, whom Li Du had met. He had led his men to William's pier as soon as he was notified.
The session was friendly, with Inspector Quentin smiling and giving them a thumbs up. He was gentle and friendly as he questioned them.
Li Du explained the incident and put Lu Guan center stage, saying that Lu Guan's hearing was beyond that of most ordinary people's.
Thus, the focus of the session was on Lu Guan, which was exactly what Lu Guan wanted, since he liked to show off.
"When the driver drove back and turned repeatedly, the container shook, and then I heard a child's voice inside. If I remember correctly, the child said, 'I want to breathe. I want water.'
"At the time I was startled, man. I was scared. I'd never heard sound coming out of a container before, you know. It was easy to imagine something out of horror movies and ghost stories.
"But I trust my hearing. I have this special ability. I'm like those guys in the X-Men. As you know, we have to believe in our abilities. They're God's gift to us."
Li Du glared at him and said, "This is a police record, not a journalist's interview!"
"That's all right, Mr. Li. I'm quite interested in Mr. Conrad's special ability. This is an amazing ability," Inspector Quentin said, smiling broadly.
"Yes, I've been waiting for this day. You wouldn't know, but I have always believed that God has given me this power for a purpose, and now I know what that purpose is, thank God!" Lu Guan said excitedly.
There was a knock at the door. A policewoman came in and said, "The head of the Tasmanian division of the NMPCC has arrived. Chief, do you want to see them now?"
Inspector Quentin was about to speak and then changed his mind. He got up and went to the policewoman and whispered a few words. When he finished, he turned to Lu Guan and said, "Mr. Conrad, did you hear what I said just now?"
"'Ask them to drink coffee and wait. Don't these guys always accuse us of taking taxpayers' money for nothing? Show them who's doing the job!'"
Inspector Quentin gave a thumbs up and said with admiration, "Not a word missed!"
Relations between the police and the NMPCC were clearly not good, but that was understandable.
The NMPCC, formerly part of the Ministry of Justice, was set up in May of 1995 to deal effectively with the growing problem of missing persons, to raise awareness, and to strengthen cooperation between relevant international organizations.
The agency was placed under the jurisdiction of the Australian federal police in 2003 and was expanded in 2006 to become the national focal point for missing persons.
Their main role was to cooperate with the state police and media at the national level to build extensive information networks to promote the effective dissemination of information. In addition, they also played an important role in educating citizens about the prevention of missing people, as well as providing data support for academic research.
In fact, all of those jobs also belonged to the police.
Although the NMPCC in Australia now belonged to the police department, they had just arrived. The NMPCC had been part of the Justice Department and was at the same level as the police department.
This meant the NMPCC and the police department had overlapping functions, and were both responsible for finding missing people. This also meant sometimes one agency was skeptical about how well the other was doing their job.
Consequently, if the missing person could not be found, neither side wanted to be held accountable, so they passed the buck to the other party. Of course, once the missing person was found, both sides would fight to take credit for it.
This was the reason that their relationship was complicated.