Departs from 11am to evening.
Marco told a lot of past stories about his wife and son, and his words were full of bitterness. The two finally arrived in the center of the small city of Novo.
It is located next to the Truckee River. It is not too big, but there are various art galleries, shopping, dining, casinos and other entertainment and leisure venues everywhere on both sides of the street. The river is dotted with green spaces and scenery full of natural flavor. Beautiful attraction.
There are not as many high-rise buildings as in Las Vegas, and there are no crowds.
Clean streets, exquisite, deserted and leisurely.
"Have you been to Reno before?" Marco looked leisurely at the scenery on both sides of the car window and temporarily changed the topic to a more relaxed topic.
Dean shook his head,
"I thought Nevada was all hot desert and loess, but I didn't expect it also has green mountains and green waters."
"That's just right. Let's put that annoying idiot of Ruben aside for now. Let me introduce you to my hometown," Marco said with emotion. "There should be no other small town in our country more famous than Reno."
"Is it because of the scenery and sunshine?" Dean recalled the geographical knowledge in his mind, "I heard that Reno has sunshine more than 300 days a year, and it is not as unbearably hot as Las Vegas. Plus It’s close to the Sierra Nevada, great for hiking and climbing, biking, boating, and by the way, is there Lake Tahoe? A huge ski resort?”
"Yeah, but Reno is so famous not only because of the charming scenery, but also because of a special history..." Marco rested his right elbow on the car window frame, resting his chin on his palm, with a sad look in his eyes.
Dean slowed down the car and listened.
"Before the 1950s, couples in our country were not as free to divorce as they are now. There were a lot of messy rules, which was very troublesome and disgraceful. But in order to develop his own economy, Reno created a 'no-responsibility divorce'."
Marco introduced,
"There is no reason for divorce in Reno. As long as you live for a certain period of time and pay a certain amount of fees, you can immediately get rid of your intolerable partner. Therefore, thousands of couples flocked to get divorced in that era."
"This is really a genius idea," Dean praised. This kind of law will definitely be very popular in the future of China. Of course, this is impossible to achieve. Experts will not allow people to divorce easily.
"Yes, in those days, people who came for divorce filled hotels, pastures, farms, and small villas. Some people couldn't find housing and even lived in tents they built. Anyway, they didn't last long, and they suffered a lot. A few weeks of sin can buy a lifetime of marital freedom."
"Is it that kind of tent?" Dean turned to look out the car window. There was a lonely tent standing out by the green water on the river bank, and behind the tent was an old wooden house.
"Well, it's 90% less now, but back then there were rows of divorce tents along both sides of the Truckee River, and behind the tents were divorce cabins. It was a great sight in Reno."
"Most of the people who come for divorce are young women. They live in these characteristic buildings and enjoy entertainment while waiting for the divorce verdict. This is the so-called 'sad romance'."
Dean couldn't agree more. In the following years, at the end of a marriage, it was mostly women who filed for divorce. To put it mildly, they seemed to have more courage to change the status quo.
The car crossed the street and turned a corner, and Dean saw an arched bridge spanning a turbulent river.
Marco, who was originally talking endlessly, suddenly felt unnatural on his face as he stared at the bridge, but he quickly returned to normal and continued,
"That's the great Virginia Street Bridge...very significant in the history of divorce in Reno."
"In the past, a woman who had just been divorced would stand on the bridge, take off her wedding ring from her finger, and throw it into the Truckee River under the bridge, ending the marriage, saying goodbye to the past, and embracing a beautiful new life."
"Women who are single again can meet handsome cowboys in nearby tents and Yinzhou cabins, and perform a classic romantic love."
I just threw away my wedding ring and immediately welcomed a new love.
Isn't that a little too fast?
Dean shook his head, curious again,
"The wedding ring is worth a lot of money, so just throw it in there? No one jumped into the river to salvage it."
Marco glared at him and warned displeasedly, "Reno prohibits this shameful behavior. It is a blasphemy and trampling on fine traditions and is illegal. And the Truckee River is by no means a docile beauty and is not afraid of anything." If you are drowned, you can go down and give it a try.”
Dean shrugged and slowed down further.
The car drove onto the bridge.
Dean looked through the car window.
A patch of orange fire clouds opened up in the evening sky, and the turbulent river under the bridge was coated with a wonderful golden-red color. The scenery was superb, but unfortunately it was empty without a single tourist.
Puff——
A black cloud suddenly flew from under the bridge, passed over the beam above the bridge, and flew under the bridge at the other end.
"bat?"
"This bridge is often infested with bats, which is a major feature, but no matter how unique it is, it can't attract people." Marco's face darkened and he sighed, "After the 1960s, the divorce policy across the United States was relaxed, and people don't need to Then come all the way to Reno to get divorced. The divorce capital of the world is no longer what it used to be."
"There will no longer be the spectacle of hundreds of women throwing rings together on the Virginia Street Bridge."
Dean suddenly felt his system shake. After Marco's introduction about "Divorce City" and "Virginia Street Bridge", the investigation progress jumped from 10% to 15%.
This is definitely a system prompt.
Could it be that Luben's disappearance is related to the historical background of this divorce capital?
Dean was lost in thought.
…
Soon it got dark.
The low night curtain casts a hazy black gauze over the quiet and beautiful town. It also wakes up from its slumber during the day and becomes rejuvenated.
The streets are no longer deserted and filled with pedestrians.
There are also many casinos in this small town, with a bunch of neon signs hanging, tempting tourists from all directions, as passionate and charming as the red lips of a mysterious banshee.
Marco walked through it, found a luxury hotel for Dean to settle the car and luggage, and took him to enjoy a meal of local specialty caviar bread and smoked trout, which tasted pretty good...
After eating and drinking, the two rushed along the center of Virginia Street to the lover's bar where Luben had stayed before his disappearance.
Dean stayed at the door of the bar for just a quarter of an hour, and found several pairs of wild mandarin ducks leaning against the wall, gate, or guardrail, making close movements.
From God's perspective, the fun inside the bar was even more extreme, with young men and women holding each other's heads and biting each other everywhere.
"So, this place is specifically for young people to vent their passion?" Dean glanced at Marco next to him. The old man's face was very complicated.
"Well, most of the customers are energetic young men and women."
"Then I don't understand. I remember you mentioned before that Luben never held a girl's hand." Dean frowned and looked at the old man questioningly, "But he often drinks in this bar. Is it difficult to pick up girls?”
"As long as he is willing to find a wife, even one of these women who hangs out in bars, and leave an offspring to the family." Marco explained with a sigh, "I will willingly support them as a couple."
"But Luben was in the bar, drinking, getting inspiration for writing, and didn't even try to strike up a conversation."
"Ahem, I don't mean to offend. I just want to ask Lu Ben if he has any hidden secrets, such as not liking women?"
"He is in good health and his sexual orientation is normal. But he is a perfectionist and he is extremely picky about his requirements for his partner."
The old man sighed,
"It's my fault. When Luben was very young, I repeatedly instilled in him that his mother Mary was the most perfect and greatest woman in the world. She gave him life but sacrificed herself."
"Luben took this into his heart. When he entered adolescence, he told me that he wanted to find a girlfriend like Mary, but he never did."
"I didn't expect him to be so stubborn. For this reason, he never had a girlfriend and was determined to wait for his rightful daughter."
After hearing this, Dean looked at the system in silence. The investigation progress inexplicably jumped from 15% to 20%.
what's the situation?
Is Lu Ben determined to find a perfect girlfriend like a mother an important clue?
"Marco, to put it bluntly, I think you must bear some responsibility for the reason why Luben's life has become so down and out."
breathe…
Marco's face looked sad, and wrinkles bulged on his forehead.
"I do not deny."
"Forget it, let's go. After the lovers' bar, where did he pass by?"
"Aren't you afraid of missing clues if you don't go in and take a look?" The old man frowned.
"I don't like repetitions, and the police and private investigators have repeatedly searched the bar. It's been half a year. Why should I go in and waste time?"
"Dean, the way you investigated really opened my eyes."
…
The two of them walked along the street and passed small casinos next to the bar. The scale and decoration were not comparable to those in the casino, and there were fewer customers.
"Has Luben gone in to play before?" Dean asked,
"The rules of the Van Helsing family strictly prohibit spinach and smoking grass." The old man said in a stern voice, "If he dared to touch it, I would have broken his legs long ago, so even though he has no talent and likes to get drunk, he still sticks to the bottom line. "
The old man paused and emphasized,
"In the future, if there is another generation in the family, I will add a family rule to prohibit alcohol..."
…
Walking from the bustling center of Virginia Street to the Riverwalk, the noise and hustle and bustle fade away, the surrounding lights dim, pedestrians gradually disappear, and the buildings on both sides turn into green lawns and short trees.
The cool night breeze blew through the empty long street, and both of them closed their collars.
"We have entered the one-mile area where Luben disappeared. There are very few people and no surveillance."
"Accidents are most likely to happen in such a dark place. The police and detectives didn't find any clues at that time?"
Dean slowed down and turned around to look.
"No."
Continuing forward, a magnificent arch bridge suddenly appeared at the end of the street.
"Wait, didn't we drive by this Virginia Street Bridge when we came here?"
Marco nodded hard,
"You have to cross this bridge to get back to your apartment from the Lover's Bar, and it's the center of the missing mile."
Dean was surprised and said, "Why didn't you tell me when I passed by before? Are you deliberately hiding this important information from me?"
"What are you hiding?" The old man pretended not to know, "I don't understand what you mean?"
“This Virginia Street Bridge represents a possibility.”
Dean walked onto the arch bridge and touched the guardrail that reached between his waist and abdomen.
The road itself is more than 1.9 meters high. The height of the guardrail is too low for the road itself. If the center of gravity is unstable, it will fall over.
Moreover, the bridge is a full twenty meters above the water. If you are not a professional diver, you may suffer fractures, dislocations, or even coma or death if you fall.
"At twelve o'clock at midnight, Luben left the bar and walked across the street to the Virginia Street Bridge. He lay on the side of the bridge to breathe. Unfortunately, he fell into a trance at a certain moment. His body was unbalanced and he could not stand firm. He walked from the guardrail. He fell in and his body was washed away by the fast-flowing Truckee River, so naturally no evidence could be found!”
"And he was drunk and delirious at the time, making an accident more likely."
"This is impossible!" Marco shook his head violently, and the wrinkles on his face exploded with tension. "The Reno Police Department sent a large number of police officers down to the river. I even paid to hire a professional water search and rescue team... along the river I’ve been looking for it for half a month in the lower reaches of the Ji River.”
"No remnants of Luben were found."
"I am 100% sure that Luben's disappearance has nothing to do with the river!"
The old man's wide eyes were bloodshot, his facial features and wrinkles were twisted like knotted hemp ropes, and his fists were clenched tightly, as if he would throw a punch when he heard "NO".
But Dean clearly saw a hint of pleading in this anger.
The sixty-year-old father did not dare to accept this terrible speculation.
Dean moved his lips silently, turned his head, rested his elbows on the guardrail, and looked down at the surging Truckee River like a silver carpet.
The police and the search and rescue team had been searching along the river for half a month. If he searched along this road again, there was a high probability that it would be ineffective. The seven days of investigation time given by the system were not enough.
He could only believe otherwise.
"Okay, just pretend that there is another reason for Luben's disappearance."
The old man took a deep breath, his thin chest rising and falling under his big coat, and his scowl calmed down.
"But Luben must have had an accident near the Virginia Street Bridge." Dean continued, squinting his eyes, and at the same time turned on the God's Eye View to check the top and bottom of the bridge, "This bridge is the most eye-catching building within a mile...well...although... I can’t see exactly what’s wrong at the moment, but it’s worth focusing on.”
"Forget about this damn bridge, shall I take you back to the apartment where Luben lived before?" Marco obviously didn't want to dwell on it anymore, "There's no point in staying here all the time."
The two moved forward and left the bridge.
Dean turned on the recording function from God's perspective and looked back on his experiences and gains from communicating with Marco and visiting Reno today.
There are only a few clues that can significantly change the progress of the investigation——
1. Ruben van Helsing is a poor writer who lives on the charity of his father Marco.
2. Reno, the "Divorce Capital of the World," has a long history of heartbreaking romance, and the Virginia Street Bridge is of great significance in that history.
3. Reuben had always determined to find a girlfriend as perfect as his mother, the dead Mary Van Helsing.
…
There is still very little information, and Dean can't see the connection between these clues yet.
"Tonight, it looks like it will be a sleepless night."
(End of chapter)
