Chapter 89 89 Do you think this criminal suspect is a bit too much...

Guan Xia was staring so intently for so long that Pang Le quickly noticed. He followed her gaze, but couldn't see anything. He leaned in closer and whispered, "Did you spot something else? Someone suspicious?"

Guan Xia nodded implicitly, and Pang Le suddenly became excited and gave Guan Xia a thumbs-up. "As expected of you."

At this time, the two criminal police officers from Daqu County and Xu Nian were still in the sewer. Guan Xia had observed everything he could, so he walked two steps to the side and listened to the conversation between Wang Yu and the reporter with his ear tilted.

The ambulance had arrived. The person who reported the case was sitting on the side of the road. The emergency doctor was checking his injuries. The young man hissed from time to time and continued to speak.

The young man said, "I live in the nearby Meilin residential complex, Building 11, which is closest to this side door. Ever since someone removed a section of the railing to get through, I've been too lazy to use the main entrance. I always take taxis on this road. I've stepped on that manhole cover before, but nothing happened. I don't know who is so wicked."

The young man hissed again and cursed angrily.

Wang Yu asked, "Does this road usually have many people walking on it?"

When Wang Yu asked, Guan Xia noticed that Jiang Yingyao kept looking up to observe something. She followed his line of sight and found that his gaze was fixed on some street lights and high places at the entrance of the community. She immediately understood that he was looking for cameras.

The young man cursed angrily for a few more times before answering, "There aren't many people here. Our complex is large, and except for the two buildings closest to us, people from other buildings prefer to use the South and West Gates. I've been using them more often lately because my car broke down and is being repaired, and I'm too lazy to walk so far to those two gates. Anyway, I just use my phone to call a taxi, so it doesn't matter which road I take."

Wang Yu asked again, "When was the last time you took a taxi on this road? Did you notice this manhole cover? Was it loose or tight?"

The young man recalled for a long time before hesitantly saying, "The last time was this morning. I was in a hurry to get to work and didn't really notice it. But I overslept yesterday morning and was running all the way across the street. I think I stepped on it, but I was fine at the time."

Guan Xia was cheered up after hearing this. The body was fine yesterday morning, but fell into the sewer tonight. This means that the suspect most likely dumped the body last night.

Pang Le also reacted quickly. He relaxed completely, standing with his arms folded and a serious expression, but he said lazily, "Well, it looks like this case is close to being solved. Don't you think this criminal suspect is a bit too stupid? Who would dump a body into the sewer right in front of their house?"

Guan Xia pondered, "Maybe it was just temporarily stored, waiting for a suitable time to throw it farther away. But it was really stupid. I guess it was his first crime. His mental state was too poor. He didn't even close the manhole cover properly. The body was discovered so quickly."

Guan Xia thought about the criminal suspect whom she had just observed for a few brief moments. He left in a panic and was clumsy, which did not seem very smart.

Another five or six minutes later, Captain Tan finally arrived with his men. Following behind them was a tall, middle-aged woman carrying a toolbox. She looked a little tired, with dark circles under her eyes. Guan Xia took a glance and easily guessed her identity. She must be the forensic doctor of the Daqu County Police Station.

Sure enough, Captain Tan shouted from the edge of the well. After the two criminal police officers from Daqu County and Xu Nian came up, the middle-aged woman carefully climbed down with the toolbox and the other two criminal police officers.

Captain Tan asked, "How is it? What's the situation at the scene?"

Xu Nian brushed off the dust on his body and said, "The deceased is a child, about five years old, judging by his height. There are obvious strangulation marks on his neck. I conducted a preliminary examination and found no other obvious external injuries. There were no murder weapons found at the scene, nor any other signs of a struggle. It is very likely that this is not the primary crime scene. The deceased must have been dumped here."

Captain Tan clearly had the same idea as Guan Xia and Pang Le. He frowned with a slightly odd expression, "Throwing the body in the sewer... the deceased most likely lived nearby and had no means of transportation."

Captain Tan turned around and looked at the surrounding environment as he spoke. After a few minutes, he turned his attention to the nearby residential area.

Xu Nian looked at Guan Xia, who was standing quietly at the side, and walked over to ask in a low voice, "What did you find?"

As Guan Xia expected, the system interface popped up as soon as Xu Nian finished speaking.

You were questioned by the police, and you suddenly remembered that at 00:37 on the morning of June 28, you and your friend received a call from the police and arrived at the crime scene. When you were observing the surroundings, you noticed a nervous young man with a panicked expression. When he looked at you, he showed a guilty and fearful reaction, and he ran away subconsciously. Your intuition made you keenly aware that something was wrong with him, and you decided to tell the police.

Watching the words pop up one by one, Guan Xia read them over and over again word by word for the first time. She finally felt the difference. Compared with many previous system prompts, the style this time was indeed the same as before, but there was also an obvious difference. There was no specific subtle evidence or clues, but the emphasis was on the word "intuition".

It seems that her guess was correct. Without her noticing, the system had indeed quietly upgraded her.

Guan Xia was a little excited, but she managed to control her facial expression very well. She was very calm and even a little serious. She leaned close to Xu Nian and whispered, "I just saw someone in the crowd. My intuition tells me that he is very likely related to this case."

Guan Xia's words were rather tactful, but Xu Nian knew her very well, and to Xu Nian, these few words sounded like she was telling him that another criminal suspect had been found.

Xu Nian's expression was still serious, but a smile couldn't help welling up in his eyes. He glanced at Guan Xia and nodded seriously, "I have a pen and paper in my car." Then he took out the car keys from his pocket and placed them in Guan Xia's hand.

Guan Xia understood what he meant, looked at Xu Nian, and then pulled Pang Le back to the car.

After closing all the windows and turning on the air conditioner, Pang Le leaned back in his chair, rubbed his face, and said, "Did you hear what Captain Tan and Xu Nian said just now? The deceased was a child, only five years old. I can't imagine why the suspect would kill a child, and strangle him to death. This shouldn't be a case of passion killing, right? The suspect shouldn't be the deceased's parents, right?"

Pang Le analyzed it for a few seconds before he remembered to ask Guan Xia, "By the way, you haven't told me what the physical features of the suspect you just saw are."

Guan Xia first closed her eyes, then practiced recalling the video on the system interface, pausing it automatically when the suspect's face was clearest. Then she opened her eyes and sketched, describing the scene. "He's a young man, very tall, at least 1.8 meters tall, very thin, almost skin and bones, with sunken cheeks. His eyes are large but protruding, a bit like a frog. His nose is flat, and his lips are slightly thicker than normal."

Pang Le listened attentively, and after a moment he remembered something and said, "I seem to have some impression that he had a rather large head and a bit of a hunchback."

Guan Xia paused writing, replayed the video, and nodded affirmatively, "Yes, he does have a slight hunchback."

Pang Le pondered for a moment and said, "If the suspect is a relative of the deceased, it is unlikely that he would have that attitude. Does he have a grudge against the deceased's parents? Could he be another psychopath..."

Pang Le's face wrinkled as if he was thinking of something.

Guan Xia paused again, thought for a few seconds, and then said, "I just made eye contact with him for a few seconds. Judging from his eyes and reaction, he doesn't seem mentally ill. According to normal logic, I guess there's a grudge between us."

For the next ten minutes or so, Pang Le alternated between deep thought and earnestly watching Guan Xia sketch. He didn't speak again until Guan Xia finished. "Although we still don't know the suspect's motive for murder, I feel like we're close to solving the case. I just don't know what Captain Tan's case is. I remember Xu Nian saying earlier that Captain Tan found a female corpse at the scene."

Guan Xia then remembered that there was still a murder case on Captain Tan's side, and that Captain Yu would be bringing back Zhou Yiyang, the suspect in the 814 case 11 years ago, tomorrow evening. It was a little hard to imagine how busy he would be by then. He felt like he was being slapped in the back of his head.

After getting out of the car and locking it, Guan Xia didn't bring her sketchbook with her. Instead, she took a photo in the car and posted it in the group chat. Several members of the Second Squadron were already at the scene, but they didn't respond. Qi Bai, however, jumped in the next second, first sending out a series of question marks, then asking, "Didn't you go to Daqu County to investigate? Did you uncover another case before you finished investigating it?"

Guan Xia replied casually with a "hmm", turned off the phone and went to find Xu Nian.

At this time, Captain Tan disappeared. Guan Xia guessed that he must have gone down to the sewer to check the scene. Wang Yu and Jiang Yingyao had finished questioning and observing, and were standing beside Xu Nian, discussing something in a low voice.

As Guan Xia and Pang Le walked over, they heard Jiang Yingyao say, "I just asked the property management of Meilin Community. This side gate was only open for a few months when the community was first built. Later, when they saw that not many people were passing through, they locked it. To save money, they simply installed a surveillance camera, but it fell into disrepair and broke down a few years ago and can't be used. Since no one uses this door, they simply didn't repair it."

"What about the interior of the community?" Xu Nian asked.

Jiang Yingyao said, "I asked about this, too. The community has installed surveillance cameras on all main roads and at the entrances to each unit, as required by the local police station. But they're not very usable. Aside from the parking lot and the battery-powered bicycle parking shed, the resolution in other areas isn't very high."

Upon hearing this, several people were not surprised. After all, it was a county town, and the conditions in all aspects were definitely not as good as those in the more densely populated urban areas.

"Let's handcuff him first," Xu Nian said. "Captain Tan and I just deduced that the suspect most likely lives in a nearby neighborhood. Guan Xia also said she saw a suspicious person in the crowd, so there's a good chance the surveillance footage will reveal something."

Xu Nian said as he turned to look at the residential complex that was only a dozen meters away, "We must hurry and find the first crime scene."

After Jiang Yingyao and Xu Nian finished speaking, Guan Xia whispered, "I've finished drawing the suspect's portrait and have already sent it to the group."

Several people were cheered up when they heard this, and opened their phones to find the photos Guan Xia had just sent.

Guan Xia was standing next to Xu Nian. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a series of messages from Qi Bai pop up in the group. Without even looking at the text, just by looking at the frequency, she could tell that he was so anxious that he wanted to crawl over along the Internet cable.

Several people clicked on the photo and took a closer look. Guan Xia thought of Captain Tan who had hurriedly arrived after them and asked Xu Nian, "What's the situation at the scene over there, Captain Tan?"

Xu Nian forwarded the photo to Captain Tan and said, "It's a female corpse. The forensic doctor initially determined that the deceased died from excessive blood loss. There were resistance wounds on her body, and all the valuables she had with her were missing. Captain Tan inferred that this was a robbery and murder."

After hearing this, everyone fell silent. After a few seconds, Wang Yu said quietly, "We came here by chance, but luckily, Captain Yu will be back tomorrow with the suspect in Case 814. The evidence is solid, and all we need is the suspect's confession."

After Wang Yu finished speaking, Guan Xia and the others nodded subconsciously at first, then they thought of something and looked at Wang Yu in condemnation.

Pang Le said directly: "It was you who set the flag."

Wang Yu immediately made a zippering motion and said, "Okay, okay, from now on, I will never speak unless it's related to the case."