Chapter 102 This method of committing murder has a certain degree of...

When Guan Xia and her friends set off, they just missed the evening rush hour, so even though they left in a hurry, they still had plenty of time left when they arrived at the airport.

After calmly going through security and checking in his luggage, he successfully reunited with Pang Le and the other members of the Second Squadron. After sitting down and chatting for a few minutes, Guan Xia belatedly realized that the city he was going to handle the case this time was Jianyang City.

Although several months have passed, Guan Xia still remembers it clearly because what happened at that time was so horrific. Jianyang City is suspected to be the area where the organization is active.

Guan Xia, already a little nervous, suddenly became even more so. Subconsciously, she sat up straight, turned closer to Xu Nian, and whispered, "I suddenly realized we're going to Jianyang City this time. By the way, is there any new progress on the previous case?"

Because it was a public place, Guan Xia tried to be as vague as possible, but she believed that Xu Nian would be able to follow her train of thought.

As expected, Xu Nian only reacted briefly for two seconds before naturally answering in a low voice, "The case is highly confidential. Even though I was once a police officer involved, I'm not allowed to reveal any information. However, judging by our Chief Ren's recent temper, I guess even though we have a lead, it won't be very smooth sailing."

Guan Xia breathed a sigh of relief, not feeling surprised. After all, it was a criminal organization with an unknown number of members, a large scale, and how long it had been hiding. Even in the world of criminal investigation novels, it obviously would not be so easily eradicated. In fact, as long as the clues were not interrupted and the investigation could continue, it would be good enough.

The flight was at 22:45, and when it landed, it was almost 1 a.m. Ji An and a tall young girl who was about the same height as her came to pick her up at the airport.

After Guan Xia greeted them, she looked around but didn't see Lu Tingfeng.

Ji An noticed Guan Xia's searching gaze and took the suitcase from her hand before explaining, "Lu Tingfeng was originally going to come, but his injuries were much more serious than mine. Xu Nian scolded him before he left. He tried to sneak out of the hospital but was also scolded by the doctor and the nurse on duty. Plus, his wound was a little open, so he had no choice but to lie down again."

Guan Xia then remembered that because the location of Lu Tingfeng's injury was rather secretive, she asked once but Lu Tingfeng deliberately changed the subject and did not answer, so she did not ask again. Until now, she still did not know where he was injured.

Now that Ji An mentioned it, he couldn't help but feel curious, but after thinking about it, he didn't ask. He just said "oh" to indicate that he understood.

On the contrary, the young girl who came with Ji An twirled the car keys in her hand and said casually, "Brother Lu isn't very good at fighting, but he has a really tough temper. If I hadn't been quick to help him last time, he wouldn't have just been stabbed by Qian Qian, but would have lost one of his kidneys."

The young girl's name was Zhong Xiaoyu. Her name sounded cute and she looked quiet, but as soon as you met her, you could tell she was a girl with a sharp tongue and a bad temper. Pang Le didn't feel that way when she greeted him before, but when she spoke, Pang Le's eyes lit up with admiration.

Hearing the word "kidney", Guan Xia showed an understanding expression, and the others naturally changed the subject.

They walked to the parking lot while chatting. After putting the suitcase away and getting in the car, Guan Xia hadn't even sat down when Pang Le asked impatiently, "Lu Tingfeng told us a story before. He said that he and two friends went hiking and camping at night. They happened to see a murderer burying a body. The two men had guns in their hands. The three of them got separated, and he and a retired female armed police officer fell into a crevice in the mountains. Are you that person?"

Guan Xia was fiddling with her phone when she heard that. She subconsciously looked up at Zhong Xiaoyu, who was sitting in the driver's seat and fastening her seat belt.

After fastening his seatbelt with a click, Zhong Xiaoyu looked at Pang Le through the rearview mirror, smiled broadly, and said, "It's me. What did Brother Lu tell you about me? Didn't he describe me as heroic? I actually carried him out of the mountains. He looks skinny, but he's actually really heavy. He nearly killed me with exhaustion."

Now not only Pang Le, but Guan Xia's eyes also lit up. Although Lu Tingfeng's tentative behavior made her a little distracted for the next few days, she still remembered the experience he shared at that time.

Pang Le nodded happily, almost leaning on the front seat, and smiled as he imitated Lu Tingfeng's words and tone at that time.

Zhong Xiaoyu listened very carefully. After a few minutes, he smiled complacently and said, "Brother Lu, you've spoken the truth and haven't damaged my image as a wise and brave man."

As she spoke, Zhong Xiaoyu turned her head and glanced at Pang Le, then asked, "Looking at the muscle lines on your arms, have you trained before?"

Pang Le nodded again and said, "I've practiced, I've practiced. Not long after I learned to walk, I started practicing the basics. It's a family martial art. How about it? Let's have a few moves together when we have time?"

Zhong Xiaoyu's eyes widened when she heard this, and she became visibly excited. "Okay, okay, after we finish this case, you can practice a bit and then we can have a fight."

Pang Le looked at the bulging muscles on Zhong Xiaoyu's arms, then looked down at his own and nodded solemnly, "Okay, let me go back and train, and then we'll fight again."

After driving to the hotel and putting away their luggage, Guan Xia finally asked the question she had been wanting to ask, "Sister Ji, what is the case we are investigating this time?"

Ji An raised his wrist to check the time and said, "Wait a little longer. Let's talk about it when Xu Nian and the others come."

A few minutes later, when the entire Second Squadron gathered in the room, Zhong Xiaoyu briefly explained the circumstances of the case.

Zhong Xiaoyu said with a stern face, "Before the new death, the last deceased was Zhong Chenghong, a 37-year-old male who died on December 27, 2019, from excessive blood loss."

Guan Xia was a little surprised when she heard the deceased's surname. She looked at Pang Le calmly, then turned back and continued to look at Zhong Xiaoyu seriously.

Zhong Xiaoyu rummaged through her backpack on the ground, pulled out a few photos, and passed them around, saying, "Because this was a case from five years ago, and the victim's death was a bit gory, I can't describe it, so you should just look at it for yourselves."

Guan Xia took the photo. Although he had been mentally prepared for what Zhong Xiaoyu had said, the bloody scene still made his throat sore when he saw the photo. Pang Le was a little more accepting, but he couldn't help but stare in shock, blurting out, "Oh my god, Jack the Ripper."

Guan Xia also knew about this case and had seen movies about it. Although the modus operandi was different, at first glance, they were extremely similar. The corpse in the photo had a deep cut on the throat and the entire chest and abdomen were also cut open, appearing to be completely disemboweled. Looking through the open wound, most of the internal organs had been hollowed out.

Guan Xia has been involved in several cases, but this is the first time he has seen such a bloody scene. Even if it was just through a photo, after taking a few quick glances, he subconsciously looked away, trying hard to calm his pounding heart and the churning in his stomach.

The people in the second squadron were much calmer and started discussing the case without much reaction.

"This method of attack carries a certain sense of venting anger and judgment," Xu Nian said. "And the smoothness of the wound suggests there must have been more victims before this."

Zhong Xiaoyu nodded. "As far as I know, there were at least three more deaths before this, but I don't know the exact number."

Wang Yu seemed to suddenly realize something and said, "Oh, right, you retired from the armed police, not the criminal police. Then where did you get the photos of the scene? This..."

Wang Yu's expression became hesitant as he spoke, and even his hand holding the photo shrank as if it were burned, obviously thinking of some bad possibility.

Zhong Xiaoyu quickly explained, "These photos were given to me by my aunt. I'm sure you've guessed it. The deceased's surname was Zhong, the same as mine. He was my uncle. When he was murdered, I was still in the armed police force. It wasn't until three years ago when I was discharged due to an injury that my aunt contacted me and asked me to find a way to investigate my uncle's case."

Pang Le asked, somewhat baffled, "She asked you to investigate, and you agreed?"

Guan Xia also looked at her in surprise. Judging from Zhong Xiaoyu's calm attitude before, it was hard to tell how deep her relationship with her uncle was. After all, this was not a casual investigation. Not only would it take a lot of time, it would also involve great risks to one's life.

Zhong Xiaoyu shrugged and said with a smile, "How is that possible? My uncle is the oldest son in the family, and his relationship with my mother is not very good. Moreover, my mother has been dead for several years. I only work so hard for the sake of money."

Zhong Xiaoyu added, "My uncle doesn't have a very good personality, but he's really handsome, so he married a wealthy woman with a family business. My wealthy aunt gives me 100,000 yuan a month. Isn't that much better than my job? Anyway, I agreed without much thought. Maybe I was used to being in the army, and I couldn't change my bad habit of disliking people. I worked for the first six months after I got out of the army. It was my father who asked my aunt to find me a job. I ended up working for three companies in that six months. Every time I was fired, it was because I hit the male boss of the company. Thanks to my aunt's wide network of contacts, I didn't go to jail right after I got out of the army."

Guan Xia subconsciously looked at Pang Le again, their expressions were almost identical, they were amazed and their eyes of admiration became brighter. They liked this kind of girl who was strong and straightforward, they were a perfect match.

Guan Xia felt that if the occasion was not wrong, Pang Le would have wanted to approach him immediately and get close to him so that they could become friends and have fun together.

After resolving their doubts, they learned that Zhong Xiaoyu had been investigating the case and was a relative of one of the deceased. So everyone asked more direct questions.

Wang Yu asked, "You said before that your uncle has a bad personality. What are his social connections like? Does he have a complicated circle of friends? Has he ever offended anyone?"

Zhong Xiaoyu replied eloquently, "My uncle dropped out of school after graduating from high school. He relied on his good looks to live off others all day long. Before my aunt, he had many girlfriends and was even kept by someone. He's offended at least eighty, if not a hundred, men and women, young and old, from all walks of life. There are so many people I couldn't finish talking about them in three days and three nights. But I wouldn't say I hate him so much that I want to kill him. Anyway, I asked the police who handled the case at the time, and they said that they had checked everything they needed to, and they were exhausted from running around. They all had sufficient alibis."

"What about his relationship with your aunt?" Jiang Yingyao asked, "Is their relationship good?"

Hearing this question, everyone's already serious expressions became even more serious, and at the same time they were a little puzzled. After all, according to Zhong Xiaoyu, her uncle was useless except for his good looks. She didn't know what her aunt liked about her uncle. They got married, and after his death, she didn't hesitate to spend a lot of money to continue to track down the murderer for him.

Zhong Xiaoyu touched her chin and recalled for a long time before saying, "I really can't say whether their relationship was good or not. After all, I was still in the army when they got married, and I didn't even attend the wedding. By the time I was discharged, my uncle was gone. But I have seen their photos and the video of their wedding. I have to say that my uncle has some assets to be able to live off his wife at his age. He has a good face, knows how to take care of himself, is tall enough, and exercises regularly. Excluding his personality, he is quite a gentleman. Anyway, when I watched the video, my aunt looked at my uncle with eyes that were almost silky."

As Zhong Xiaoyu was talking, she suddenly remembered something. "Oh, by the way, I still have photos and videos of them on my phone. It's the video of their wedding. Do you want to see it?"

Guan Xia and Pang Le changed their positions in tacit understanding and moved their stools to the opposite side of the TV.

Sure enough, when the two were busy, they heard Wang Yu say: "Look, in fact, compared to the video, we want to see the real person more. After all, in many homicide cases, the murderer is found to be the victim's significant other."

Zhong Xiaoyu very skillfully projected the screen of her mobile phone onto the TV, and everyone watched intently.

The video was very long. Even at double speed, it took everyone more than an hour to watch it. The conclusion they finally came to was exactly the same as Zhong Xiaoyu's. It was obvious that her aunt really loved her uncle, and her eyes were full of love. Even when the two were not together, her eyes would follow her uncle wherever he went.

"What about after marriage?" After the video finished playing, Wang Yu turned off the TV and asked, "Your uncle seems so philandering from what you described. Did he have any unfaithful behavior after marriage?"

Zhong Xiaoyu shook her head decisively this time. "Although my uncle may be a bit eccentric, it's true that he loves money and is vain. Every girlfriend he dated before was very well-behaved before they broke up. It wasn't until he had spent almost all of that girlfriend's money and it couldn't meet his daily needs that he broke up and looked for the next one. As far as I know, my aunt is really rich. She even gave my dad a new car out of love for him. Even after I retired from the army, although my uncle is no longer with us, she still gave me a new car. When I help her investigate cases, in addition to the fixed 100,000 yuan every month, she also gives me big red envelopes from time to time. During the holidays, it's like red envelopes raining down. With my uncle's love for money, he would never cheat on my aunt even if he was drugged before she went bankrupt."

Guan Xia and Pang Le were stunned after hearing this. They recalled the appearance of Zhong Xiaoyu's uncle in the video just now. For a moment they thought it was outrageous, but at the same time they felt it was not that outrageous.

After all, according to Guan Xia's aesthetic point of view, he is indeed very handsome, the kind of handsome with very regular and heroic facial features. In addition, he is nearly 1.9 meters tall, has a well-managed figure and outstanding temperament. Judging from his appearance alone, he is indeed likable.

The room was quiet for a while before Jiang Yingyao asked, "Did anything special happen before your uncle was killed?"

Zhong Xiaoyu shook her head again. "My uncle's phone has a GPS system installed by my aunt. After I promised my aunt to investigate my uncle's case, she showed me all of his itineraries from the days leading up to the incident. There was nothing special about his schedule. Apart from his daily beauty routine and fitness routine, he just ate, drank, and went shopping. He went to his usual beauty salons or large shopping malls."

Wang Yu frowned as he heard this. "Your aunt installed a location tracking system on your uncle's phone? And on the day he was murdered? Didn't your aunt notice anything unusual?"

Zhong Xiaoyu said: "On the day my uncle was murdered, his cell phone was not with him. Instead, it was in his car in the basement garage of a shopping mall he often visited. He might have been drugged or held hostage. In any case, he disappeared in the mall and was found a day later, already dead."