Chapter 76 Chapter 76 "We."

The next day.

"...Jia Guifang, female, 24 years old, from Tongyu County, Jingzhou. She is the lobby manager and cashier at Qingqing World Bathhouse."

Ji Yinhe placed the case report on Lu Zheng's desk and read it seriously:

"Look... half a year ago, her fiancé Zhu Weidong reported her missing to the Tongyu Police Station, claiming she had been missing for a full forty-eight hours. The police immediately launched a search. Three days later, they found her body at the foot of Dashu Mountain, on the border between Tongyu County and Dengzhou."

Lu Zheng retracted his gaze, raised his sharp eyes, and looked at the excited young policewoman.

"...staying up late again?"

"No way! I just went to bed a little late..." Ji Yinhe smiled and touched his nose.

After she discovered the case last night, she took advantage of her youth to study it all night and did not return to the dormitory until five in the morning.

I took an hour's sleep, ran for half an hour, took a refreshing shower, and hurried to work.

At this moment, she was wearing a round-necked sweater and sweatpants that were a little old but looked very good on her. She was leaning against the desk with a bright look, and she didn't look tired at all from having slept ten hours in three days.

Lu Zheng had long noticed that she liked to touch her nose whenever she lied, so of course he didn't believe her so-called "staying up late" now.

But he thought about it and said nothing. After a while, he knocked on the table and asked, "Have you had breakfast?"

"Eat it, eat it! Tofu pudding with soup dumplings!" Ji Yinhe's eyes widened. "Why don't you take a look at this Jia Guifang case?"

Lu Zheng flipped through the file helplessly, raising his eyebrows. "After the autopsy and on-site investigation, they found no evidence of homicide. So the police are closing the case as suicide?"

"Right! Don't you think it's hasty too?" Ji Yinhe pounded the table with a clenched fist. "The book says that according to statistics, when a woman in an intimate relationship is murdered, her partner is the most likely suspect. And yet they didn't even question Zhu Weidong about this case. They just speculated that the two had an argument that day, and Jia Guifang was emotionally hurt, so she ran to Dashu Mountain and jumped off a cliff to end her life... This is truly ridiculous!"

"We can indeed reopen the investigation... But Ji Yinhe, how does this relate to the dog farm corpse destruction case we're handling?"

Although it was a rhetorical question, Lu Zheng's voice was soft and calm. It didn't sound like a question at all, but rather like he was guiding her to think more deeply.

Comrade Xiao Ji lowered his eyes and thought for a while, then suddenly grabbed the materials of the Jia Guifang case and ran to the archives room.

Her echo still lingers in the air—

"Don't worry, I'll look for it again!"

Lu Zheng smiled faintly as he looked at her back. Sitting next to him, Zhao Zhuoqun, who had just sent the knife-wielding criminal to the detention center, stretched out his arm and waved it in front of his face.

"Teacher Lu, I see you and Xiao Ji have a good relationship! How about you take on the position of master?"

Lu Zheng silently withdrew his gaze and pulled out a document from the pile of documents on the table. "Old Zhao, the ballistic analysis of the shooting you requested yesterday is finished. Go get busy."

"Tsk!" Zhao Zhuoqun shook his head. "You just know how to fool me with work!"

Half an hour later, Officer Ji rushed back with a thick stack of documents.

"Teacher Lu, look at this—in November 1994, a 28-year-old female accountant in Longfan District went missing. Her body was later found in a canal. It's suspected she fell while drunk..."

She quickly laid out several documents in front of him. "And this one. In February 1995, a 21-year-old hairdresser fell to her death. Suspected suicide... In December 1993, an 18-year-old female college student disappeared and hasn't been heard from since! You see, the common thread in these cases is that the person involved had a huge argument with their fiancé or boyfriend before or after the incident!"

"...There's some connection, but their targets aren't the same person." Lu Zheng narrowed his eyes. "Are you saying there's a serial killer in Jingzhou who specializes in killing lone young women?"

Ji Yinhe narrowed his eyes. "No, I don't think the motive is that simple...but these coincidences are hard to ignore."

She walked to the big blackboard, pasted the photos of the girls one by one, connected them together, and drew a big question mark in the middle.

This question was then directed to Xu Yanhong and Wu Sijia respectively.

High on the blackboard, she wrote down her known guesses about the murderer.

First, there must be access to food flavorings.

Second, perhaps they have a special affection for stray animals.

Third, he is likely to drive a luxury car with a windshield decorated with fake flowers.

Fourth, there was no sexual assault on the deceased… In such a situation, either there was no emotional entanglement between the two people, or it was inhumane.

She put down her chalk, stared at the blackboard and took a deep breath.

Instead, Lu Zheng next to him comforted him, "Don't worry, this is how investigations are sometimes. Without that clue, many cases remain unsolved."

"Well, I'm not in a hurry." Ji Yinhe stretched his sore shoulders and yawned uncontrollably. "I need to catch up on some sleep this weekend. If it's convenient for you, let's go back to Jiangtan next Monday!"

Lu Zheng's eyes suddenly moved, and he nodded happily: "Okay."

*

The expressway between Jingzhou and Jiangtan was completed last month. In order to allow Comrade Xiao Ji to practice his driving skills and deal with various emergencies, Lu Zheng suggested that they do not take the train this time, but instead take turns driving back.

Ji Yinhe was eager to try and didn't give the car owner any chance to touch the steering wheel along the way.

Her driving style was as fast and aggressive as ever, so at 10:30 in the morning, the Grand Cherokee slowly drove into the Jiangtan Municipal Bureau on Saturday, a full half hour earlier than expected.

Ji Yinhe jumped out of the driver's seat, looked at the familiar building and took a deep breath, "It's great, it's the same as last year, except that the tree at the door has grown taller!"

Lu Zheng smiled and went to the trunk to get the gifts he brought for everyone. The two walked side by side towards the Serious Crime Team.

Unexpectedly, as soon as I entered the door, I saw a person standing next to the potted plant, with his hands behind his back and his waist bent, watering the peace lily.

"Please spare the director!" Ji Yinhe shouted in surprise.

Rao Zhenghao turned around calmly and said with a smile, "Are you here? I heard Tang Ci say you were back today, so I waited to see if you've changed... Xiao Lu is here too!"

"Director Rao, long time no see." Lu Zheng greeted him with a smile and handed over the gift box in his hand.

Rao just stared at the contents and seemed a little hesitant. Ji Yinhe immediately rubbed his hands and explained, "It's just fruits and some local specialties. Please try them. I won't cause any trouble for you!"

Director Rao laughed heartily and pointed his index finger at Comrade Xiao Ji. "You clever little rascal! You're still the same as before! Last month, I went to a meeting at the provincial department, and Director Zu kept praising you for your outstanding performance in the serial dismemberment case."

"Wow! That's all thanks to your good teaching!" Ji Yinhe covered her face with her hands, pretending to whisper, "The food in the provincial department cafeteria isn't as good as the food in our municipal bureau. Next time you come to Jingzhou, tell me in advance and we'll treat you to a restaurant that's as good as my mom's cooking!"

"Okay, okay!" Rao just happened to hear the word "we". He glanced at Lu Zheng meaningfully and patted Comrade Xiao Ji on the shoulder. "Hurry up and go up. Tang Ci and the others are waiting for you!"

Sure enough, when Ji Yinhe brought Lu Zheng into the team's office after being away for half a year, they found that everyone had given up the good weekend to rest at home and sat in the office chatting and laughing.

"Ye Qing, Xiao Wu, Cheng Mo..." Comrade Xiao Ji rushed in with tears in his eyes, "I missed you guys so much!"

"We miss you so much too!" Several people except Tang Ci came up and hugged her tightly.

Lu Zheng leaned against the door frame, looking at the scene in front of him with a smile on his face.

Tang Ci walked over, shook hands with him, and took the gift.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Xiao Wu yelled, "Sister Ji, since you left Jiangtan, our team has had more than one happy event!"

"……oh?"

Ji Yinhe knew that one of them was that Tang Ci and Tan Yaxin were engaged, but what other good news could there be in the team... She glanced at the hem of Ye Qing's skirt, and sure enough, Forensic Doctor Xiao Ye and Brother Cheng were secretly holding hands.

Ye Qing felt embarrassed by her gaze and simply showed her gold ring, "Um... Lao Cheng and I are engaged too!"

"Ahem..." Cheng Mo's face instantly turned red like a fat rose that bloomed on the wrong branch. "I'll send wedding candy to you and Teacher Lu later..."

"Of course I will. With my relationship with Sister Ye Qing, even if I can't come, I will definitely pay the money!"

Ji Yinhe patted his chest righteously, and then his gaze shifted to the cabinet next to him.

A bulging evidence bag lay open, with pale pink peony buds sticking out of the bag.

"...What is this?" Ji Yinhe walked over. "Can flowers be used as evidence?"

"Fake flowers." Tang Ci stood up and explained, "This is the evidence from Xu Yanhong's case. We found it in her house... According to her mother, Xu Yanhong is very handy and would make fake flowers on holidays and weekends and sell them to wedding companies to earn some pocket money."

Ji Yinhe's body shook, and his eyes met Lu Zheng's in the air.

Fake flowers... Wasn't there a fake flower stuck on the luxury car that took Wu Sijia away?

"Can I see this bag of evidence?" she asked Tang Ci politely.

Captain Tang made a gesture to please help yourself.

Ji Yinhe poured out the contents of the bag - facial oil, hairpins and hair ties, diary, pen and ink, and bedside books were scattered all over the floor.

But apart from the fake flower, no other clues related to Wu Sijia could be found.

Moreover, Xu Yanhong's daily necessities also look very simple. Combined with what Tang Ci said, she also does handicrafts in her spare time to supplement the family income - this girl doesn't look like a rich person at all, let alone someone who can afford a luxury car.

An idea emerged in Ji Yinhe's mind - could Xu Yanhong's mysterious boyfriend in Jingzhou be the owner of the luxury car that took Wu Sijia away from the flight attendant dormitory?

"Captain Tang, is there anyone around Xu Yanhong who works in the food industry, or who particularly likes stray animals?"

Ji Yinhe looked up the characteristics of the murderer that he had summarized a few days ago, trying to find some common points.

But Tang Ci just shook his head regretfully, "We haven't found anything yet... Honestly, Xu Yanhong's parents are devastated. We can't get anything out of them."

"Okay..." Ji Yinhe sighed.

It was too troublesome for the two sides to exchange information. She was still thinking about how to get the Serious Crime Squad to transfer the case to the Provincial Department, but Lu Zheng had already spoken before her.

"Captain Tang, Xu Yanhong's case closely resembles a corpse destruction case we discovered. I'd like to call Team Leader Tan and request a joint investigation by the crackdown team. Is that okay?"

"Of course." Tang Ci answered firmly.

However, Xiao Wu raised a question: "But Captain Tang, if Xu's parents knew that the case hadn't been solved for so long and had been transferred to the provincial department, they would definitely come to the bureau to make trouble again..."

Although Tang Ci was troubled by this unreasonable couple, he was well aware of Ji Yinhe and Lu Zheng's abilities, so he immediately said, "I'll handle the family members' work... If it's handed over to you, we'll definitely solve the case as soon as possible, and it will be a good thing for them too. I'm sure they'll understand."

Lu Zheng nodded in thanks and immediately turned around to make a phone call.

Tan Li gave face to the expert and agreed immediately even though the chain of evidence was weak.

Finally, he asked Lu Zheng to tell Ji Yinhe that it was okay to stay in Jiangtan for one more night and return to Jingzhou tomorrow. While handing over work to Tang Ci and others, he could also go back to see his parents.

"Wow! That's great! Come on, let's quickly sort out the clues!" Comrade Xiao Ji was so moved by Team Leader Tan's gentleness and thoughtfulness that tears welled up in his eyes. He took out his pager and said, "I'll tell my mom first that I've returned the Tianhong 90 to the bureau. It'll take over an hour to get the bus back, so I have to ask her to save dinner for me..."

"Don't worry." Lu Zheng unfolded the case files that Tang Ci handed over one by one and said briefly, "I'll take you home."