Chapter 141 As expected, the system interface was transformed into...

A bunch of people were crammed into the small standard room.

Xu Nian and his friends sat on the sofa or stools, devouring their instant noodles. Guan Xia and the others sat on the vacant bed. They waited until Xu Nian and his friends were almost done eating before asking, "What was the cause of Ning Xin's death? Was it from the car accident?"

Although the time of Ning Xin's death speculated by the Shangshuang City police was beyond Guan Xia's expectations, this was her first reaction.

Wang Yu wiped his mouth with a tissue and said, "No, we've discussed the case in detail with our colleagues in Shangshuang City and have seen photos of the accident scene. The photos show that the bloodstains left at the scene were very scattered and not abundant, not enough to cause a fatal injury. The forensic autopsy report infers that Ning Xin was murdered."

"Murder?" Guan Xia was surprised but not that surprised. These two words made Guan Xia confirm a guess, that is, the target of the two criminals had been Ning Ping'an from the very beginning. This could also explain why Ning Xin's body was found but Ning Ping'an's was not. However, new doubts arose.

What could there be about a four-year-old child that would be worth the criminals going to so much trouble? Judging from the clues we have now, this series of plans can be said to be very meticulous. To be able to take the two people away by pretending to be a passing car on their way home by such a coincidence must have taken a long time to stalk and track them. And Ning Xin's car was damaged by someone, which must have been part of the criminals' plan.

Pang Le and the others clearly had the same doubts. Their brows were furrowed as they asked in confusion, "Ning Xin was killed that day? That means those people weren't after Ning Xin, and they weren't after money. Otherwise, Ning Xin had a company and quite a bit of savings, and the criminals who had been following her for so long couldn't have been unaware of that. But what could they possibly get from a four-year-old child? How could it be more valuable than Ning Xin's property? Could it be that our previous speculation was wrong? Was it really revenge from the drug dealers?"

Pang Le was almost questioning his life after repeatedly overturning his previous guesses.

Zhong Xiaoyu said, "This case is getting stranger and stranger the more we investigate. If it's not about money or love, then it's just revenge. But the problem is that Ning Xin's social connections have been investigated, and she doesn't have any deep-seated enemies who wish her dead. The only person with a motive is her ex-husband, and he and his new wife have a clear alibi. Could it be a murder for hire?"

Zhong Xiaoyu said this and looked at Ji An inquiringly.

Ji An noticed it immediately and shook his head at Zhong Xiaoyu's gaze. "We considered this approach before. We retrieved the bank statements of the couple and their close friends and relatives from the year before and after the incident, and there was nothing unusual."

"That's strange," Zhong Xiaoyu crossed his arms and frowned, thinking. After a few seconds, he asked, "What about Ning Xin's relatives?"

Zhong Xiaoyu was halfway through her words when she immediately denied her idea, "No, according to the inheritance law, if you want to inherit Ning Xin's estate, unless Ning Xin's parents are also gone, other relatives will not be able to get a penny."

Guan Xia finally understood what Zhong Xiaoyu meant. Indeed, just seeing that Ning Xin's parents were still alive and well showed that this guess was unlikely.

Pang Le suddenly asked, "Did Ning Xin make any will before the accident? Her health has always been poor. With her high IQ, she must have made preparations long ago."

Ji An nodded, "We've also checked this out. She did indeed make a will. In her will, after her death, all her real estate will be left to Ning Ping'an, and half of her savings will go to her parents and half to Ning Ping'an."

Pang Le suddenly had an idea and said, "Could it be that she is a relative of Ning Ping'an? I don't know how she got to know about this will, so she just tried to snatch her away to raise her, and then let her come back to inherit the estate when she grows up?"

Pang Le laughed as he spoke, but Zhong Xiaoyu's expression changed and she turned to ask Ji An, "Sister Ji, does Ning Ping'an have any living relatives?"

Ji An nodded. "Yes, there are some, but they are all distant relatives, or my uncle who remarried after my aunt died, or my aunt who remarried after my uncle died. I couldn't find anyone suitable to adopt them at the beginning, so I thought about adopting them, but Ning Xin got there first."

Zhong Xiaoyu listened and nodded thoughtfully, "It sounds unlikely that the motive we suspected is true."

The discussion of the case stalled at this point. Guan Xia racked her brains but couldn't make sense of it for a moment. She simply looked up at Xu Nian and asked, "When you went to the police station today, did they find anything from Ning Xin's body? Besides the cause of death, are there any other clues?"

Xu Nian said: "When the body was discovered, only a skeleton was left, some fragments of clothing that had not been completely decomposed, and a bracelet made of very ordinary material. The police in Shangshuang City confirmed the identity of the deceased based on the bracelet. However, because the material is too ordinary and can be seen everywhere, and the style is nothing special, it is not a product of a well-known store, so it took some time to confirm. According to Ning Xin's mother, the bracelet seemed to be picked out for Ning Xin by Ning Ping'an when they were traveling in an ancient town at the end of the year before she disappeared. Ning Ping'an bought several bracelets at the time, and Ning Xin took turns wearing them. Ning Xin's mother searched for a long time for photos before finally finding a photo of Ning Xin wearing the bracelet and Ning Ping'an in her daily life."

As he spoke, Xu Nian opened his phone, found the photo, and handed it to Guan Xia.

Guan Xia took the phone and took a look at it. She was surprised to find that in addition to Ning Xin and Ning Ping'an, most of Ji An's face was also captured in the corner of the photo.

Pang Le also noticed it and couldn't help asking Ji An, "Sister Ji, you used to visit Ning Ping'an often. Was this photo taken at Ning Xin's house?"

Ji An was also looking at the photo, a nostalgic expression on his face. He slowly said, "Ning Ping'an is the daughter of my police academy classmate and roommate. If Ning Xin wasn't more suitable than me, I would have been her mother. Although we are not destined to be mother and daughter, this child is still the daughter of my good friend. Plus, she lives in the same city as me, so whenever I have time, I will go see her."

Guan Xia heard this and thought to herself, no wonder Ning Xin and Ning Ping'an disappeared, Ji An was willing to resign and travel all over the country to investigate the case. She originally thought it was out of friendship between classmates and respect for drug enforcement officers, but now it seems that Ji An also has deeper feelings for Ning Ping'an than they imagined.

After watching for a long time, Ji An finally looked away. Guan Xia handed the phone back to Xu Nian and asked, "What was Ning Xin's fatal injury? Are there any clues in her body or the remaining clothes?"

Xu Nian said: "Based on the slash marks on her ribs from a sharp knife, the forensic autopsy report speculated that Ning Xin's cause of death was a stab wound to the heart with a knife such as a dagger. The forensic doctor also found similar stab marks on her forearm, ulna, radius, and wrist bones. The assailant was very strong at the time, and the wounds were deep enough to reveal the bone, leaving such obvious resistance injuries. The police in Shangshuang City therefore inferred that Ning Xin must have fought with the assailant before her death, and the assailant may also have the scars left by Ning Xin."

Guan Xia couldn't help but take a deep breath when she heard this. She couldn't imagine how much courage Ning Xin must have mustered to fight against the criminals with her congenitally defective body. It was very likely that she had caused some injuries to the criminals. She hoped that these scars could guide them in the next investigation.

The discussion lasted until after one in the morning, when everyone dispersed and went back to their rooms to sleep.

It was another night of tossing and turning, and even when I fell asleep, I would have messy nightmares.

Guan Xia woke up in a daze just as the sky was getting light. When she opened her eyes, she saw Pang Le looking at her with a pair of obvious dark circles under his eyes and looking a little haggard.

Guan Xia asked tentatively, "Did you have a nightmare too?"

Pang Le yawned loudly and said with lingering fear, "I don't know if it's because I'm so eager to solve this case, but I kept dreaming last night that we ran around everywhere but found nothing. When we finally decided to leave Shangshuang City, we saw Ning Xin and Ning Ping'an on the roadside, crying blood. I felt so guilty at the time that I forced myself to wake up."

Pang Le observed Guan Xia's expression and asked, "You too?"

Guan Xia nodded. "I spent the whole night thinking about what on Ning Ping'an could possibly be coveted by these criminals. I just remember having a lot of messed up dreams, but I can't remember the specific content. Anyway, it was all blood, wounds, broken limbs and so on."

Pang Le sighed, staring at the ceiling for a while with lifeless eyes, then suddenly sat up, "You're awake now, get up, don't you really want to listen to that recording? The sooner we go there, the sooner you can find the clues."

Guan Xia sensed Pang Le's trust and expectation in her words and couldn't help but ask, "Are you so sure I can find clues?"

Pang Le got up and put on his slippers, then walked to the bathroom while saying, "We've investigated so many cases together, how could I not understand you? Whenever something particularly concerns you, you always notice something is wrong and find a way to solve the case. I guess it's not just me, Sister Ji and Xu Nian are also looking forward to it."

Guan Xia felt uncertain for a moment, but when he thought about the system, he became full of confidence and anticipation.

After quickly washing up and having breakfast, the group went to the Nanping District Police Station where the case was handled.

Although the criminal police team in charge of the case were not familiar with Ji An, they obviously knew her. After shaking hands with everyone one by one, they exchanged pleasantries with Ji An for a while before getting down to business.

The captain of the criminal police team investigating this case was a middle-aged male police officer of average height and appearance, but with slightly balding hair. After hearing their thoughts, he took them to listen to the recording without saying a word.

In the first few minutes of the recording, there was only Ning Xin's voice, constantly asking some questions indirectly. Perhaps it was because she discovered that the vehicle was driving on the wrong road that Ning Xin started recording.

The questions all revolved around roads, such as "This road looks a bit unfamiliar. Which roads do you plan to take to get back to the city?"

Or maybe I've lived in Shangshuangshi for so many years, but I've rarely driven on this road. What is the name of this road, sister?

Perhaps because he asked too many questions, the criminal finally got annoyed. About halfway through the four-minute recording, a somewhat perfunctory female voice finally came.

The woman's voice didn't sound young, but she wasn't too old either. She looked to be in her thirties or forties. She said with a fake smile, "Don't worry, sister. This road may not look good, but it's actually a shortcut. There aren't any traffic lights. My husband and I always take this road when we go out of town and back. It saves us half the time compared to taking the main road."

Ning Xin also smiled and said, "Sister, I know you two are good people, but the child and I are afraid of the dark. It's getting dark soon, and I see there are few street lights on this road. The child is fine in the dark, but I'm a little bit unwell. I feel dizzy and have difficulty breathing. The doctor said it's claustrophobia. Sister, I see that the place with street lights ahead looks like a big intersection. Why don't we go straight and not take the small road? Turn onto the main road. I'm not in a hurry."

As if echoing her mother's words, Ning Xin's voice fell and then a childish voice came, "Auntie, I'm afraid of the dark. I want to see the street lights."

After a few seconds of silence, the female voice disappeared. Instead, a somewhat vicious male voice was heard, "Why is hitchhiking so troublesome? You're not in a hurry, but I am. If I tell you to take the side road, then I'll take it. Cut the fuck out."

After hearing this part of the recording, Guan Xia suddenly couldn't concentrate on listening to the rest of the recording. The reason was simple: from the moment the male voice sounded, Guan Xia had a strong intuition that it was very familiar, extremely familiar. She had definitely heard it somewhere before, and the time was very short, most likely recently.

Guan Xia knew that it was her intuition after the system upgrade that was giving her another crazy reminder, so she began to ponder and recall.

Guan Xia just recalled the itinerary of the past two days but couldn't remember where he had heard it before. He had to try to trigger the system and looked at Ji An beside him.

But before Ji An noticed, Xu Nian noticed Guan Xia's unusual expression and behavior first, and couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong, Guan Xia? Did you find anything?"

Following Xu Nian's reminder, Guan Xia immediately breathed a sigh of relief. As she expected, the system interface was successfully triggered.

You were questioned by the police, and you suddenly remembered that at 12:02 noon on August 9, you and your friend were on the way to the hotel in an online car-hailing vehicle, and you overheard a quarrel while stuck in traffic. Now you recall that the voice of one of the people in the quarrel was extremely similar to the male voice in the recording. You keenly realized that this was most likely the same person, and you decided to tell the police.

After the system interface disappeared, a video appeared as usual. In the video, Guan Xia and Pang Le were sitting in the back seat, looking out bored. A few seconds later, a quarrel coming from the back attracted their attention. Guan Xia and Pang Le both turned around to look. In order to hear more clearly, Pang Le even opened the car window a crack.

The argument was between the driver of the car behind and another driver who tried to cut in line by changing lanes. It seemed that a collision almost occurred. The driver of the car behind was furious and cursed, "Do you know how to drive, you idiot? The traffic is so congested and you still cut in line? It's because of idiots like you who can't drive that there are traffic jams in Shuangshi every day. I won't let you cut in line, so hit me if you dare."

Guan Xia's eyes lit up as she looked at the man in the video. No wonder she felt he sounded so familiar. The voice and tone were exactly the same as in the recording.

Guan Xia never expected that their luck would be so good. Just yesterday, the day they arrived in Shangshuang City, they accidentally ran into one of the suspects in this case at such a close distance.