Mysterious Hunting Ground

Chapter 125 125. The Virginia Street Bridge

Departs from eleven o'clock in the morning until evening.

Marco told a lot about his wife and son's past, talking bitterly, and the two finally arrived in the center of the small town of Reno.

It is located next to the Truckee River, not too big, but there are various art galleries, shopping, dining, casinos and other entertainment and leisure places on both sides of the street, and the river is dotted with green spaces and scenery full of natural atmosphere. Beautiful sights.

There are not so many high-rise buildings in Las Vegas, and there are no crowded crowds.

The clean street is exquisite, deserted and leisurely.

"Have you been to Reno before?" Marco looked leisurely at the scenery on both sides of the sweeping window, and temporarily changed the topic of a relaxed one.
Dean shook his head,

"I thought Nevada was all hot desert and loess, but I didn't expect there to be green mountains and green waters."

"That's right, let's put that annoying idiot aside. Let me introduce you to my hometown," Marco said affectionately, "There should be no small town in our country more famous than Reno."

"Is it because of the scenery and the sunshine?" Dean recalled the geographical knowledge in his mind, "I heard that Reno has more than 300 days of sunshine a year, and it's not as hot as Las Vegas. The Sierra Nevada, great for hiking and climbing, biking, boating, by the way, is there a Lake Tahoe? A huge ski area?"

"Well, 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, propped his chin with his palm, his eyes sighed,
Dean slowed down and listened,

"Before the 50s, couples in our country were not as free as they are now when they wanted to divorce. There were a lot of messy rules, which was very troublesome and disgraceful. But Reno created a kind of 'divorce without responsibility' in order to develop its own economy."

Marco said,

"There is no reason to divorce in Reno. As long as you live for a certain period of time and pay a certain fee, you can immediately get rid of your unbearable partner. Therefore, thousands of couples flocked to divorce in those days."

"This is really a genius idea," Dean praised. This kind of law will definitely be popular in later generations of China. Of course, this is impossible. Experts will not allow people to divorce easily.

"Yes, people who came to get divorced in those days lived in hotels, pastures, farms, and small villas. Some people couldn't find housing, and even lived in tents they built. Anyway, the time was not long, and they suffered a lot. A week of sin can buy a lifetime of marital freedom."

"It's that kind of tent?" Dean turned his head and looked out of the car window. A lonely tent suddenly protruded beside the green water on the river bank, and an old old log cabin stood behind the tent from time to time.

"Well, it's [-]% less now, but back then there were rows of divorce tents along the banks of the Truckee River, and behind the tents were divorce cabins, which was a great sight in Reno."

"The majority of those who come for divorce are young women. They live in these characteristic buildings. While waiting for the divorce judgment, they also want to entertain and enjoy. This is the so-called 'sorrowful romance'."

Dean couldn't agree more. In the following years, at the end of a marriage, most of the time it was women who filed for divorce. To put it mildly, they seemed to have the courage to change the status quo.

The car crossed the street and turned a corner, and Dean saw an arched bridge across a choppy river.

Marco, who was originally eloquent, stared at the bridge with a sudden flash of unnaturalness on his face, but he quickly returned to normal, and continued,
"That's the great Virginia Street Bridge . . . significant in the history of divorce in Reno."

"It used to be that a woman who had just been divorced would stand on a bridge, take off the wedding ring on her finger, throw it into the Truckee River under the bridge, end a marriage, say goodbye to the past, and embrace a wonderful new life."

"Women who are single again can meet handsome cowboys in nearby tents and Yinzhou huts, and perform classic romantic love."

Just throw away the wedding ring and immediately welcome a new love.

That's a little too fast, isn't it?
Dean shook his head, curious again,

"The wedding ring is worth a lot of money, so just throw it in? No one jumped into the river to salvage it."

Marko glared at him when he heard the words, and warned displeasedly, "Reno prohibits this shameful behavior. It is a desecration and trampling of fine traditions. It is an illegal act. And the Truckee River is by no means a gentle beauty. Don't be afraid of it." Drowning, you can go down and try."

Dean shrugged and slowed the car further.

The car drove onto the bridge.

Dean peered through the car window.

In the evening sky, a piece of orange-red burning clouds opened up, and the turbulent river under the bridge was coated with a wonderful golden-red layer. The scenery was superb, but it was a pity that it was empty and there were no tourists.

puff-

A black cloud suddenly flew from under the bridge, swept over the beams 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 special it is, it can't attract people." Marko's face darkened, and he sighed, "After the 60s, the divorce policy in the United States was relaxed. Then I made a special trip to Reno to get divorced. The divorce capital of the world is not what it used to be."

"There will be no more spectacular scenes of hundreds of women throwing rings together on the Virginia Street Bridge."

Dean suddenly felt the system startled. After Marco's introduction about "Divorce Capital" and "Virginia Street Bridge", the investigation progress jumped from 15.00% to [-]%.

This is definitely a hint from the system.

Could it be that Roadben's disappearance has something to do with the historical background of this capital of divorce?
Dean was lost in thought.

……

Soon it was dark.

The low-hanging night covered the quiet and beautiful town with a layer of hazy black veil, and it also woke up from the daytime sleep, rejuvenated.

The streets are no longer deserted, and there are many pedestrians.

There are also many casinos in this small town, with a bunch of neon signs hanging on them, tempting tourists from all directions, as enthusiastic and charming as the red lips of a mysterious banshee.

Marco walked through it, found a luxury hotel for Dean, settled the car and luggage, and took him to enjoy a meal of local caviar bread and smoked trout, which tasted good...

After eating and drinking enough, the two rushed along the center of Virginia Street to the lover's bar where Luben stayed before his disappearance.

Dean stayed at the entrance of the bar for just a quarter of an hour, and found several pairs of wild mandarin ducks leaning against the wall or the gate, or the guardrail, moving very hard.

From God's perspective, the inside of the bar is even more over the top, with young men and women hugging each other everywhere.

"So, this place is just for young people to vent their passion?" Dean glanced at Marco beside him. The old man's expression was very complicated.
"Well, the customers are mostly energetic young men and women."

"Then I don't understand. I remember you mentioned before that Lu Ben didn't hold girls' hands very often." Dean frowned and looked at the old man questioningly, "but he often drinks in this bar. Is it hard to pick up girls?"

"As long as he is willing to find a wife, even these women who hang out in bars, and leave a descendant for the family." Marco explained with a sigh, "I will also willingly support their husband and wife life."

"But Luben patronizes drinking in the bar, getting inspiration for writing, and doesn't strike up a conversation at all."

"Ahem, I don't mean to offend, I just want to ask Lu Ben if there is something unspeakable, such as not liking women?"

"He is healthy and sexually oriented. But he is a perfectionist and he is extremely critical of his partner."

The old man sighed,

"It's my fault. When Lu Ben was very young, I repeatedly instilled in him that his mother Mary is the most perfect and greatest woman in the world. She gave him life but sacrificed herself."

"Lu Ben took this into his heart. When he entered puberty, he told me that he wanted to find a girlfriend like Mary, but he never got it."

"I didn't expect him to be so stubborn. Because of this, he never had a girlfriend, and he was determined to wait for his true destiny."

Dean looked at the system silently after listening, and the progress of the investigation jumped from 15.00% to 20.00% inexplicably.

what's the situation?
Lu Ben's determination to find a perfect girlfriend like his mother is an important clue?

"Marco, to put it bluntly, I think you have to bear some responsibility for the reason why Lu Ben's life has become so down and out."

breathe…

Marco's face was sad, and his forehead was wrinkled.

"I do not deny."

"Forget it, let's go, where did he pass after the lover's bar?"

"Aren't you afraid of missing clues if you don't go in and have a look?" The old man frowned,

"I don't like repetition, and the police and private detectives have searched the bar repeatedly, and half a year has passed, so why should I go in and waste time."

"Dean, the way you investigate has really 'opened my eyes'."

……

The two walked along the street and passed a small casino next to the bar. The scale and decoration were not comparable to those in the casino, and there were fewer customers.

"Did Luben go in and play before?" Dean asked.

"The house rules of the Van Helsing family strictly forbid spinach and smoking weed." The old man's voice was stern, "If he dared to touch it, I would break his leg long ago, so although 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, prohibiting alcohol..."

……

Walking from the bustling center of Virginia Street to the riverside promenade, the noise and hustle and bustle are far away, the surrounding lights are dimming, pedestrians are gradually disappearing, and the buildings on both sides have turned into green lawns and bushes.

The cool night wind blew across the empty long street, and both of them pulled their necklines together.

"We have entered the one mile area where Luben disappeared, and there are very few people and no surveillance."

"This kind of dark place is the most prone to accidents. The police and detectives didn't find any clues?"

Dean slowed down and turned his head to look around,

"No."

Going forward, a magnificent arch bridge suddenly appeared at the end of the street.

"Wait, didn't we drive over this Virginia Street Bridge when we came?"

Marco nodded hard,
"It's the bridge that's the center of the missing mile when you're going back to the apartment from the Lover's Bar."

Dean asked in surprise, "Why didn't you tell me that you were deliberately hiding this important information from me when you passed by before?"

"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 up the arch bridge and touched the guardrail 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, and the center of gravity will be overturned if the center of gravity is unstable.

Moreover, the bridge is a full 20 meters away from the water surface. If you are not a professional diver, you may fracture, dislocate, or even go into a coma or die if you fall.

"At midnight, Luben left the bar and crossed the street all the way to the Virginia Street Bridge. He was lying on the side of the bridge to breathe, but at a certain moment he was in a trance, his body lost his balance, and he couldn't stand firmly. It fell, and the body was swept away by the turbulent Truckee River, with no evidence of course!"

"And he was drunk and delirious at the time, and the possibility of an accident is more likely."

"It's impossible!" Marco shook his head violently, the tension on his face exploded, "The Reno Police Department sent a large number of policemen to go down to the river, and I even paid for a professional water search and rescue team... I searched the lower reaches of the Ji River for half a month."

"Neither have any remnants of Luben been found."

"I'm 100% sure that Luben's disappearance has nothing to do with this river!"

The old man's wide-eyed 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 a "NO".

But Dean clearly saw a faint pleading from this anger.

The 60-year-old father dared not accept such dire speculation.

Dean moved his lips silently, turned his head, put his elbows on the railing, and looked down at the surging Truckee River like a silver carpet.

The police and the search and rescue team searched along the river for half a month, and he searched along this road again, which was probably ineffective, and the seven days given by the system were not enough time for investigation.

He could only believe in another scenario.

"Well, let's pretend that Luben disappeared for another reason."

The old man took a deep breath, his thin chest heaved and heaved under the coat, and his anger subsided.

"But Luben must have had an accident near the Virginia Street Bridge." Dean continued, squinting his eyes, and at the same time opened the God's perspective to check the bridge, "This bridge is the most eye-catching building within a mile...well...although I can't see what's wrong with it at the moment, but it's worth focusing on."

"Don't mention the damn bridge, I'll take you back to the apartment where Ben used to live first?" Marco obviously didn't want to continue entangled, "It's pointless to keep guarding here."

The two moved forward off the bridge.

Dean turned on the record function of God's perspective, looking back on the experience and gains of communicating with Marco and visiting Reno today.

There are only a few clues that lead to a significant change in the progress of the investigation——

1. Luben van Helsing is a poor writer who lives on the relief of his father Marco.

2. Reno, the "Divorce Capital of the World," has a long history of poignant romances, and the Virginia Street Bridge has a lot to offer in that history.

3. Luben has always been determined to find a perfect girlfriend like his mother, the dead Mary Van Helsing.

……

There is still very little information, and Dean can't see the connection between these clues for the time being.

"Tonight, it seems, is a sleepless night."

(End of this chapter)