Chapter 75 Chapter 75 Let’s go back together next week.

The sound of cicadas could be heard faintly in the bushes, and the slightly warm night breeze gently blew into the car, blowing up the slightly long hair on Ji Yinhe's temples.

She reached out and tucked her hair behind her ear, and whispered, "Yes...she is someone I knew a long time ago."

Lu Zheng drove out slowly and said gently, "Yesterday at Wu Tianfeng's house, I noticed something was wrong with you... Was it because I saw the photo?"

Ji Yinhe's eyes were immersed in the shadows of the moonlight, and he smiled bitterly, "Sure enough, nothing can be hidden from Teacher Lu."

She paused and told her everything about how she and Wu Sijia raised cats together when they were little, how Xiao Taiyang had an accident, how Wu Sijia disappeared, and how Wu's parents moved away from Jiangtan in extreme grief.

"...I've always wanted to find her whereabouts, which is why I chose to apply to the police academy." Ji Yinhe leaned his arm against the car door, supporting his tired head. "I didn't expect to find her now, but she..."

Lu Zheng turned his head, looking at her deep-set profile, and softly comforted her, "There's no direct evidence yet to prove that the deceased is Wu Sijia. Everything we saw was just speculation based on that dress, right?"

"Yes, that's right, but the DV footage that Ah Hua handed over also shows that she..."

"What you see isn't always what you think." Lu Zheng recalled the blood-stained figure in a light blue dress on the screen and took a deep breath. "Do you really want to go back to Jiangtan?"

"yes."

Lu Zheng gripped the steering wheel, the brightly lit provincial government building looming in the distance. "Let's go back together next week."

"……us?"

Ji Yinhe turned her head and looked at Lu Zheng, who still had that lazy expression on his face. Her heart moved slightly, and a hazy and beautiful emotion slid up.

But the driver quickly turned serious. "But then again, why do you think the murderer dumped the body near the dog farm and poured gravy with flavoring over it, in order to destroy the evidence?"

Ji Yinhe sat up straight. "At first I thought the murderer wanted to hide the victim's true identity... but the clothes she was wearing directly led to the clue of the stewardess uniform... Could it be that the murderer thought that we police officers wouldn't be able to recognize the pattern, so he didn't hide this fact?"

Lu Zheng hummed, "That's a bit far-fetched."

"Yeah, I think so too." Ji Yinhe slowly stroked his chin. "But after watching the footage that Ahua took tonight, I have a new guess. If the deceased is confirmed to be Wu Sijia, could the murderer be someone who particularly loves small animals? After discovering that she abused cats, he chose to retaliate in kind, allowing parts of her body to be eaten by stray animals as food, leaving her in such a horrific state?"

Lu Zheng paused and asked, "Then why were the faces and hands destroyed? These are the parts police officers usually use to check identities."

Ji Yinhe tilted his head and twirled his fingers on his solar plexus. "Neither of these two possibilities can be missed."

"Of course." Lu Zheng said nothing more. "It's late. I'll take you back to the dormitory and have a good sleep."

Comrade Xiao Ji nodded seriously.

Despite Teacher Lu's advice, she still couldn't sleep that night.

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw either the bloody but still warm body of the little sun, or the white and cold head lying on the cold dissection table.

She sat up from the bed, turned on the desk lamp, took out the photo she had asked for from Wu Tianfeng's house, and murmured to herself at the quiet and beautiful girl in the photo.

"Sister Sijia, is she... really you?"

*

The next day.

When Ji Yinhe entered the office, Lu Zheng had already arrived.

He stood behind the table, holding the telephone receiver in one hand and gesturing with the other for her to come over and look at the notebook open on the table.

Ji Yinhe walked over curiously and saw a long list of stray animal sponsors.

At this time, many wealthy people in Jingzhou have bought expensive imported animals for companionship and entertainment, but most people who keep cats and dogs do so to guard their homes and catch mice.

Cats and dogs that have been raised and raised in various houses will always sneak out on the tormenting spring nights and hide in secluded places to fulfill one primitive impulse after another.

When the hot summer comes, countless kittens and dogs appear like mushrooms after a rain, causing great annoyance to the surrounding residents.

It would be fine if they were adopted by someone... The worst case scenario is that they are sold to a restaurant and become a meal on the diners' plates before they even gain any weight.

Therefore, there is a group of kind-hearted people in Jingzhou who are looking for a place to stay for these stray animals.

Although we seek help from these people, as non-governmental organizations, they have very little information.

Sure enough, Lu Zheng hung up the phone and just shook his head at her.

"I've already told them the relevant clues, but no one can provide a suspect that meets the requirements... Didn't you sleep well last night?"

His frank and concerned look made Comrade Xiao Ji touch the dark circles under his eyes awkwardly.

"Hmm, I'm having a bit of insomnia... Then I'll call the city police station later. Maybe the police station can find some clues about how Wu Sijia disappeared from Jiangtan and was brought all the way to Jingzhou to become the adopted daughter of Wu Tianfeng and his wife."

"Okay." Lu Zheng considerately handed her breakfast. "Eat first and then you can get busy. Leave the rest to me."

Ji Yinhe carried soy milk and buns and leaned against the table to fill his stomach.

Then he picked up the phone and dialed the number of Jingzhou City Bureau.

The liaison officer there was very polite and immediately agreed to all the instructions from the provincial department, saying that he would do his best to find the person.

Ji Yinhe listened to the "beep" sound after the call ended, and a name suddenly popped up in his mind.

——Xu Yanhong!

The last time the Jiangtan City Bureau's Serious Crime Squad came to Jingzhou, they seemed to be looking for a missing girl named Xu Yanhong!

She lowered her head and searched on the table for a while, found the case file briefing left by Tang Ci, and took out Wu Sijia's information at the flight attendant company for comparison.

——Don’t mention it, apart from their different places of origin, names and resumes, the two of them really look and have similar temperaments!

Even the same age!

Ji Yinhe took a deep breath and dialed Jiang Tan's number smoothly.

A few seconds later, Tang Ci's cheerful voice sounded in the receiver.

"Hey, Xiaoji, what are you doing——"

"Have you found Xu Yanhong?" Ji Yinhe interrupted his greetings and asked bluntly.

Tang Ci was stunned for a moment. "Not yet. It's mainly because a long time has passed. We are worried that she has..."

"..." Ji Yinhe paced a few steps, holding the microphone. "By the way, among Xu Yanhong's social circle that you investigated, is there a flight attendant named Wu Sijia?"

"...Stewardess?" Tang Ci was a little confused. "No, what's wrong?"

"A young woman has also gone missing in Jingzhou... I don't have much evidence, but I just have a hunch that they have a lot in common. Maybe they met the same suspect..."

Tang Ci murmured, "But based on Xu Yanhong's state before she ran away from home, we suspect she was heartbroken at the time - that boyfriend in Jingzhou seemed to have an affair, so she followed him to another place."

Ji Yinhe blinked slowly, "Xu Yanhong's boyfriend, there is still no news?"

"yes."

"Okay..." Comrade Xiao Ji was a little disappointed. "Okay, I'll tell you as soon as I have any new news—"

She was about to hang up the phone when she suddenly heard a clear "Xiao Ji" from the other end of the receiver.

Ji Yinhe quickly raised the microphone to his ear, "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Um..." Tang Ci stammered, "I'm planning to get engaged to Tan Yaxin this Sunday."

"Wow! Congratulations!" Ji Yinhe glanced at the calendar, "Isn't that the day after tomorrow?"

"Yes." Tang Ci listened to her cheerful tone, and felt a little disappointed, but he still said frankly, "We don't plan to hold a big engagement party. Although I really want all the members of the Serious Crime Squad to be there, it's inconvenient for you to come from so far away, so I won't invite you-"

"Okay." Ji Yinhe also thought of Tan Yaxin, so he nodded and said, "But Teacher Lu and I may have to go back to Jiangtan next week. I'll bring you a wedding gift then!"

Tang Ci said with a smile, "Okay, I'll welcome the two provincial leaders!"

*

This corpse mutilation case was more complicated than Tan Li had imagined. That afternoon, she and Zhao Zhuoqun captured several knife-wielding murder suspects and brought them to the interrogation room for questioning, which lasted until eight o'clock.

When I returned to the office to get my bag, I saw Ji Yinhe and Lu Zheng still standing in front of the blackboard to organize their thoughts, each holding a lunch box of steaming hot wontons for a midnight snack.

"How is it?" Captain Tan walked over and asked.

Ji Yinhe and Lu Zheng explained the situation. Tan Li frowned. "Why is there no clue in this case? Could it be that Xiao Xie's autopsy was not done well? I'll ask Lu Xiaoyan to do another round, or ask Jiang Nian to check the surveillance footage himself!"

"Captain Tan, everyone's been busy with two cases at once lately, and it's all very tiring. There's no need to go to all this trouble." Ji Yinhe stood up. "Teacher Lu and I will think of a solution. I feel like we've overlooked something... I just don't know if my intuition is accurate..."

She thought Tan Li would be disgusted by her "intuition", but unexpectedly she raised her eyebrows and tapped the table slowly with her fingers.

"Sometimes solving a case requires a little bit of ingenuity. You're the person closest to the case, and perhaps you've already subconsciously noticed the fragments, but they just lack the necessary connection to form a whole new line."

Ji Yinhe slowly opened his eyes.

"Since you don't want help from others, I'll leave the case to you." Tan Li smiled and patted Comrade Xiao Ji on the shoulder. "Good luck."

"yes!"

It feels so good to be trusted! The young policewoman's eyes were filled with tears of excitement.

That night, she carried her camp bed into the archive room, ready to stay up all night looking at the documents.

A booklet suddenly fell from the dusty shelf.

Ji Yinhe looked down and saw, hey! Isn't that the file she sorted out when she had nothing to do some time ago?

She picked up the book and flipped through two pages, when a note suddenly caught her attention.

Half a year ago, a 25-year-old young lesbian also disappeared in Jingzhou.

The difference is that the person who reported this case was actually her fiancé.