Chapter 107 107 You keenly sensed something was wrong and decided to sue...

"Given the urgency of this case," the middle-aged female police officer drew a line under the photos of the four victims killed by the second killer with a black marker. "These eight bodies are not being investigated together this time. We must hurry and solve these four cases first. We must apprehend the second killer before he kills again."

"Let me first discuss the clues we have," the middle-aged female police officer tapped the photo of the fourth victim with her pen. "This victim's name is Tian Junming, a 17-year-old boy. According to our investigation, his mother is the marketing director of a group company and is often away on business. His father, an archaeology professor, is also often away on business. Therefore, he was raised by his retired grandparents until they passed away at the age of 15. He then lived on his own, with a live-in nanny taking care of his daily life."

The middle-aged female police officer said, "We've checked with his teachers and classmates at the school he attended. According to his classmates and teachers, although Tian Junming's family is wealthy and he doesn't have parents to supervise him, he's not a bad person, aside from being a bit playful. His academic performance isn't stellar, but it consistently ranks above average. Furthermore, he's generous and can be considered charitable. At least two-thirds of the class has a good relationship with him."

The middle-aged female police officer said, "His classmates also listed many good deeds he had done. For example, on the way back from playing billiards with his classmates at night, he saw a gray-haired old man selling fruit late at night. He simply bought all the fruit without asking the price. Even when he later discovered that most of the fruit was not fresh, he did not get angry, but simply picked out the fresh ones and shared them with his classmates. He also knew that a classmate's family was not well off, so he would use the excuse that he had some toys he didn't want anymore and asked that classmate to help him set up the stall and give him a commission."

Guan Xia listened carefully, thinking that the deceased was not very old and his parents were not around all year round, but he was well educated by his grandparents. Even though he lived alone after the age of 15, his personality did not go astray.

The middle-aged female police officer continued, "He was found missing on the morning of the 12th. The person who called the police was his live-in nanny. According to the nanny's confession when she called the police, she took a day off to take her granddaughter to the hospital because her son and daughter-in-law were at work. She took a day off on the 11th and went to the deceased's house as usual to make breakfast on the morning of the 12th. But when she arrived at the deceased's house, she found that the deceased was not at home at 6 o'clock in the morning, and the quilt in the bedroom was still in the same state as she had tidied it before. At first, she thought the deceased was having a lot of fun during the summer vacation, so she only called twice and no one answered, and then she didn't care anymore. It wasn't until a little after 10 o'clock in the morning that the deceased's best friend called her to ask if the deceased had woken up. That's when she realized something was wrong and called the police."

The middle-aged female police officer posted a few more photos on the whiteboard. "Then we retrieved the residential surveillance footage from the time the deceased disappeared. We learned from the footage that he left the complex at 1:29 PM on July 11th. We can clearly see that he was accompanied by several of his classmates and close friends. However, there's no surveillance footage of him returning after he left. We've interviewed several of his classmates who were with him before he disappeared, and they recall arriving at his home around 10 AM on the 11th. He had just gotten up, and they brought some bread and instant noodles. After eating, they played games at his home for a while until they left together around 1 PM to play billiards."

The middle-aged female police officer quickly wrote down several times in a somewhat sloppy handwriting. "They went to the billiard hall that the deceased had a membership card and often went to. They played until around 7 or 8 pm. They didn't leave until their parents repeatedly urged them to go home. They also saw the deceased take a taxi and leave first. Because they had just started summer vacation and played a little too hard, they were scolded when they got home. Their phones were confiscated, so they couldn't follow their usual habit of asking in the group if the deceased had returned home safely. It wasn't until the next morning when the parents calmed down and got their phones back that they contacted the deceased. But since no one answered, they called the deceased's live-in nanny and learned that the deceased had not returned home last night and had disappeared since then."

The middle-aged female police officer said, "Based on the time provided by the deceased's friends, we retrieved the surveillance video from the billiard hall they went to and the taxi they took. We confirmed that they were not lying. According to the taxi driver's testimony, the destination the deceased had stated when he first got in the taxi was indeed his residential complex. However, when the taxi reached Ningping Road, about 2 kilometers from his residential complex, he suddenly shouted to stop, paid the fare, and left."

"We then retrieved the surveillance footage from Ningping Road during that time period," the middle-aged female police officer noted with a black marker the photo of a boy who looked to be about fifteen or sixteen. "We found this underage male, Xu Anjia, who was likely the last person to have contact with the deceased before his death."

The middle-aged policewoman spoke quickly and urgently, and the amount of information she provided was enormous. Guan Xia had to concentrate fully to barely keep up with her train of thought.

"We learned from subsequent investigations," the middle-aged female police officer continued, "that this underage male, Xu Anjia, was actually a fraudster. He begged on the streets, using excuses like his disabled father and his mother abandoning him, and that he couldn't afford school, to elicit sympathy. Perhaps the deceased, moved by pity for him, got off the bus midway, giving the killer the opportunity to abduct and murder him."

The middle-aged female police officer said, "According to Xu Anjia's confession, the deceased gave him 500 yuan in cash and left his contact information around 9 p.m. on July 11th, then left on foot. He didn't take the main road with heavy traffic, but a small path a few dozen meters away. I walked there twice today, and that path is indeed a shortcut. At the normal walking speed of someone of the deceased's height, it would take 15 minutes to reach the deceased's residential complex."

The middle-aged female police officer said, "I've observed carefully. That path was originally an internal road of a residential complex. It was not open to the public before and was surrounded by a wall. However, because it was expropriated in 20 years, the entire community was vacated in 22 years. So, for convenience, nearby residents opened a hole in the wall to pass through the community. I have asked colleagues at the local police station. Although the surveillance cameras in that community have never been removed, most of them are no longer usable due to long-term lack of maintenance. I copied all the remaining ones that are still working, hoping to use them to discover the whereabouts of the suspect."

Finally, she finished. Although the middle-aged policewoman's movements were very slight, Guan Xia still noticed that she breathed a sigh of relief. Just as she was about to sit down, she suddenly remembered something and added, "Oh, yes, there's also that sketch."

The middle-aged female police officer looked at Captain Yang and said, "Captain Yang, I sent the sketch of the suspected criminal suspect to Xiao Chen after you sent it to me. I asked him about it as soon as I got back. He has already asked the technical team to run the database. I think we'll have results tonight."

Captain Yang nodded, and after the middle-aged female police officer sat down, a young male police officer stood up, walked to where the middle-aged female police officer had just stood, and continued speaking.

The young male police officer said, "According to the forensic autopsy report, the deceased died between 4:00 and 6:00 a.m. on July 12th. There were three wounds on the deceased's body: a blow to the back of the head, a fatal cut to the throat that opened the throat, and repeated cuts to the abdomen to remove internal organs. It is worth noting that the wounds to the back of the head and throat were both inflicted before death. The murderer first struck the deceased on the back of the head, causing him to lose consciousness, and then proceeded to the next step. The repeated cuts to the abdomen occurred after death. The murderer removed the deceased's heart, liver, lungs, and kidneys. As of now, these organs have not been found."

The young male police officer pushed the stack of documents in front of him to Captain Yang and continued, "The technical team has extracted blood from the cracks of the chair the murderer had sat on. We've compared it with the deceased's biological sample and it's not consistent. We currently suspect it was left by the suspect. We're also running the database and should have results tonight."

The young male police officer said, "As for the other physical evidence, the clothing fibers recovered from the search have been examined and are found to be composed of ordinary chemical fibers. Apart from being used to infer that the murderer's financial situation is not very good, there is no need for further investigation. The shoe prints were so badly damaged that the provincial department's experts only gave the possibility that the murderer is male, heavy, but not obese, and may have a fitness habit. There is no specific information. We have also collected several fingerprints, which have also been examined. They are all from young people who came here for adventure and excitement. They have no motive or time to commit the crime."

The young male police officer sat down after he finished speaking. Captain Yang then continued, "Xiao Yan and I went to the scene today and made some discoveries. Xiao Yan will tell you the details later. Let me tell you another thing first. When we were about to leave the scene today, we found a middle-aged man with suspicious behavior. He's the same sketch I sent to Captain Geng earlier. We highly suspect he's the suspect. During the pursuit, we also found a cigarette butt left by the suspect. Xiao Chen has already sent it to the technical team. If it matches the blood extracted from the chair, we can set up surveillance tomorrow."

Before, apart from some profiles provided by experts, they knew nothing else about the suspect. However, in just one day, they were able to start monitoring him. Everyone was stunned at first, and then looked overjoyed.

"You've reaped such a big harvest today," the young policeman said happily, "I knew our Xiao Yan would never return empty-handed once he took action."

As he said this, the young policeman happily patted Yan Ran on the shoulder with an excited look on his face.

Yan Ran, however, shook his head anxiously and said, "It wasn't me, it was Expert Guan from Yongquan City."

Yan Ran looked at Guan Xia. "She and Miss Zhong discovered it. Expert Guan saw and memorized the suspect's facial features from such a distance, which led to the sketch and the cigarette butt."

Now everyone in the conference room looked at Guan Xia. Guan Xia was trying hard to digest the series of information she had just received. She was shocked by the sudden nomination, just like being called in class. Then her cheeks became hot uncontrollably and she lowered her head in a hurry. No matter how many times it happened, as long as she heard the three words "Expert Guan", she couldn't help but feel embarrassed and wanted to hide under the table.

Sure enough, after hearing Guan Xia’s important discovery, the entire Tong’an Branch praised him enthusiastically and discussed it for a few sentences before returning to the main topic.

Captain Yang said, "I just noticed a clue Xiao Chen mentioned. The technical team extracted blood from the cracks in the chair they brought back from the scene. However, the forensic autopsy report didn't mention any resistance wounds on the deceased, and there were no skin scrapings or other biological samples found between the fingernails. Does this mean that the murderer was injured before attacking the deceased? And have the deceased's clothes been examined? Since the murderer inadvertently left blood in the cracks of the chair, doesn't that mean there's a high probability that it was also left on the deceased's clothes?"

Captain Yang glanced at Yan Ran and said, "If I remember correctly, Xiao Yan did a scene reconstruction at the crime scene today. He said that the murderer carried the deceased head forward and feet backward on his shoulders and moved him to the second floor of the unfinished villa. So, is it possible that the murderer subconsciously pressed the deceased to stabilize his body? I imagine that the murderer's hand may have touched the back of the deceased's clothes."

The young male police officer, known as Xiao Chen, said, "The deceased's clothes have been sent to the technical team. They are still working overtime to inspect them. If they find anything, we will notify you."

Captain Yang finally nodded. "Although the case is difficult, fortunately, there are many clues that can be investigated. Even if the murder weapon cannot be found for a while, based on the hard evidence we have found so far, as long as it matches, we can safely pin down the suspect."

After a brief but very efficient case meeting, the middle-aged female police officer known as Captain Geng said hello to Guan Xia and Xu Nian, then walked away briskly with the two of them.

Captain Yang arranged their seats with a smile and enthusiasm. As Guan Xia expected, it was the familiar conference table again, but the snacks and tea prepared were very rich, not only coffee, but also milk tea.

Before sitting down, Guan Xia glanced at the caffeine content in the milk tea. It was four or five times higher than coffee. She couldn't help but smile. Very good. It seems that drinking half a cup will prevent her from feeling sleepy tonight.

Pang Le was also a little surprised, but after thinking for a few seconds, he drank one-third of the cup in one go, and then he opened the laptop computer that Tong'an Branch gave them with full energy.

It was time to watch the surveillance video skillfully again. Except for Zhong Xiaoyu who had a look of surprise in his eyes, everyone else had a calm expression mixed with a bit of numbness.

Before starting to work, Guan Xia sorted out all the currently known information in his mind, and then chose a surveillance video of the community where the deceased lived before he disappeared.

Guan Xia suspected that the murderer was able to find such a good opportunity to knock the deceased unconscious and abduct him. He must have tracked the deceased for a long time before committing the crime. Some places where the deceased often appeared had a relatively high coverage rate of surveillance cameras only in the residential area where he lived, so it was very likely that the murderer could be found there.

As Guan Xia expected, just after midnight, Guan Xia found the suspect in the surveillance video at the south gate of the community where the deceased lived.

This is also thanks to Xu Nian who has developed the good habit of asking Guan Xia anytime and anywhere.

Guan Xia hadn't discovered anything at first, and her intuition hadn't been triggered until Xu Nian came back with the water and asked casually, "Guan Xia, did you find anything?"

Before Guan Xia could react, the system interface suddenly popped up.

You were questioned by the police, and you suddenly remembered that at 00:17 on the morning of July 16, while watching the surveillance video, you inadvertently found that a sanitation worker who often appeared at the entrance of the deceased's community to clean the sidewalk looked somewhat familiar. Even though he was wearing a hat and kept his head down the whole time, you also noticed that his figure was extremely similar to the figure you saw on the hillside of Xiaocuifeng in the afternoon. You keenly realized that something was wrong, and you decided to tell the police.