Chapter 72: The Feng Family Massacre (1) Sullivan

As soon as Sang Luo arrived at work that day, she was called to the office by Captain Liao. Since Captain Liao rarely interacted with them and always had a gloomy face when they met, Sang Luo felt particularly nervous. However, today was different. As soon as Sang Luo walked in, Captain Liao took the initiative to greet her:

"You are here, please sit down."

Sang Luo sat down on the chair opposite. Captain Liao took out the tea bag he had hidden in the drawer and made a cup of tea for Sang Luo. Sang Luo was a little nervous and was ready to do it herself, but Captain Liao pressed her shoulders and asked her to sit down:

"Please sit down. I didn't make this cup of tea for you for nothing. I need your help with something."

Sang Luo nodded: "Captain Liao, you go ahead."

Captain Liao picked up a brown paper bag from his desk and handed it to Sang Luo who was sitting opposite him. Sang Luo took the bag and opened it carefully. Seeing that it contained information about an old case, Sang Luo asked:

"Captain Liao, what is this?"

Captain Liao slowly lit a cigarette, hesitated for a moment, and said, "You can solve this missing child case, which shows that you are capable. I also have a case from more than 20 years ago. I had given up hope, but after you came to the police force, I regained hope. Sang Luo, can you help me?"

Sang Luo said hurriedly: "Solving the case is my job, Captain Liao, you don't have to be so polite!"

Captain Liao shook his head: "This is both a public and private matter. This case involves a good brother of mine who passed away. For so many years, I have never reconciled myself to this and want to get to the truth. So I hand this case over to you. It is both a mission and a commission."

"By the way, this case also involves your master."

Sang Luo nodded solemnly, took out the documents from the paper bag and read them carefully.

The incident happened in Mopan Village, Baiyun County in 1970. Zheng Tianhao and his family lived here. Zheng Tianhao's wife Feng Meiyu was a famous beauty in the village. The couple made a living by farming. They also had a son named Zheng Qiankun. Later, Feng Meiyu became pregnant with her second child, and they lived a harmonious life.

Ever since Feng Meiyu got pregnant for the second time, there have been more rumors in the village. Some people said that they saw Feng Meiyu having an affair with the village widower Luo the blacksmith, and it was unclear whose child this was.

Zheng Tianhao has a good friend named Xiao Ziqiang, and they grew up together. Xiao Ziqiang has a disability in his legs and has never been married. Zheng Tianhao often eats and drinks with him. Xiao Ziqiang always whispers in Zheng Tianhao's ear, saying that his wife has an affair with Luo the blacksmith, and suspects that his wife is pregnant with Luo the blacksmith's child. He even says that their eldest son, Zheng Qiankun, is also Luo the blacksmith's child.

At first, Zheng Tianhao didn't believe it and asked Xiao Ziqiang to stop talking nonsense. But after hearing it many times and everyone in the village saying so, he gradually began to have doubts in his heart. He began to suspect that Zheng Qiankun was not his son at all.

There was no paternity test in that era, so Zheng Tianhao could only judge by appearance. He repeatedly compared the faces of Luo the blacksmith and his son, and the more he looked, the more he felt that the two were alike. He himself had a flat nose, but his son Zheng Qiankun had a tall and straight nose. Wasn't it obvious that this was inherited from Luo the blacksmith?

After confirming this, Zheng Tianhao's temperament changed drastically. He began to quarrel frequently with his wife Feng Meiyu. They had a small quarrel every three days and a big quarrel every five days. The quarrel was so loud that the whole village could hear it. Feng Meiyu was pregnant and could not bear it anymore, so she had to pack up and take the child back to her parents' home. Her parents' home was in Mopan Village, just across the street.

After Feng Meiyu moved out, Zheng Tianhao still did not stop. He went to the Feng family every few days to provoke and demanded that the Feng family hand over Feng Meiyu. Feng Meiyu was the only daughter in the Feng family, and he could not bear to see her being bullied like this, so he simply filed for a divorce, and they would go through the divorce process after the child was born.

Despite this, Zheng Tianhao was still unwilling to give in. He made a harsh statement, claiming that the Feng family would pay the price.

One night, the neighbors on both sides of the Feng family were awakened by screams. They ran out to check the situation and saw that the ground of the Feng family had been stained with blood. Feng Meiyu and her parents had all been beheaded, and blood was gushing out. Zheng Tianhao's eyes were bloodshot, and he was waving a machete in his hand, shouting loudly, and kept looking for Zheng Qiankun in the yard, wanting to silence the child as well.

The enthusiastic neighbors rushed forward and together they held down Zheng Tianhao and tied him up with a rope. Someone drove a donkey cart to the county to report to the police. The county sent criminal police to investigate. The people sent were Ma Shi Tu and Sullivan, who were only 25 years old at the time.

Seeing this, Sang Luo raised his head and asked, "Who is this Sullivan?"

Captain Liao sighed, looked out the window, and said leisurely, "He is a genius, a genius at solving crimes. He has an extraordinary intuition and can tell if a person is a criminal just by looking at them. There are some difficult cases that no one else can handle, only he can solve them. At that time, he was a rising star in our police force, a bit like you now."

"Me, Ma Shi Tu and Sullivan, the three of us are the same age and joined the police force in the same year. We have very similar personalities and can talk to each other. We often help each other in life. Later, we simply swore brotherhood and became three brothers. Sometimes when others see us, they think we are brothers."

"The three of us were full of ideals and enthusiasm. At that time, the police force had just been established, and the three of us were all capable officers in the police force. Ma Shi Tu understood human nature and was good at interrogation and trickery. Awen had a keen intuition and could identify the real culprit at a glance. I was strong and good at going out to arrest people. We all had our own strengths and were favored by the leaders at that time."

"Later, the captain of the police force was about to retire, and the position of captain was about to be vacant. I happened to break my leg during that time, and took a long period of sick leave. Even after I recovered, my health was not as good as before, so I naturally withdrew from the competition. Ma Shi Tu and A Wen are both excellent, and the future captain will undoubtedly be one of them."

"I was very happy at that time. They are both my brothers. No matter who becomes the captain, I will sincerely wish him the best. I didn't expect that later..."

Sang Luo understood, flipped through the documents in his hand and continued reading.

After Ma Shi Tu and Sullivan arrived at the scene, they conducted a detailed investigation. Zheng Tianhao was temporarily locked up in an empty house and some villagers were responsible for guarding him. Zheng Tianhao confessed to the crimes he had committed. According to him, his motive for committing the crime was to take revenge on the Feng family. Feng Meiyu had cheated on him, and he wanted to make the entire Feng family pay the price.

When facing the police, he explained his crime in detail. He acted in the middle of the night, around two o'clock in the morning, when the roosters had not yet crowed. He climbed over the wall into Feng Meiyu's home and killed Feng Meiyu's parents with two knives. Feng Meiyu's family was sleeping and had no ability to resist at all.

After her parents died, Feng Meiyu was awakened. The first thing she did was to push her son, who was sleeping next to her, out of the window and tell him to run quickly. At that time, Zheng Qiankun was two years old and could already run.

Zheng Tianhao's target was Feng Meiyu, so he did not catch up with Zheng Qiankun in time, but cut off her parents' heads in front of Feng Meiyu. Feng Meiyu was so scared that she screamed loudly and her spirit completely collapsed. The neighbors were also awakened at this time.

Seeing someone coming, Zheng Tianhao quickened his actions and chopped off Feng Meiyu's head with a knife. This was the entire process of his crime.

In fact, Zheng Qiankun did not run far. He hid in the firewood pile in the corner of the yard. He was later found by villagers and temporarily taken home to be raised.

Ma Shi Tu and Sullivan went to investigate Zheng Tianhao's good brother Xiao Ziqiang. Facing the police, Xiao Ziqiang honestly confessed everything. In fact, he had always had a crush on Feng Meiyu. He was an old bachelor and could not attract Feng Meiyu's attention at all, so he had evil thoughts.

He deliberately asked Zheng Tianhao to have dinner and drinks with him, and constantly tried to sow discord between them, with the aim of getting them to divorce, and then taking the opportunity to marry Feng Meiyu.

As for the rumors in the village, they were also spread by him. Feng Meiyu and Luo the blacksmith actually had no special relationship. They just knew each other. Feng Meiyu did not cheat on her husband. The son she gave birth to and the child in her belly were both Zheng Tianhao's.

Ma Shi Tu and Sullivan told Zheng Tianhao the truth, but Zheng Tianhao refused to believe it. He had been deeply trapped in his own thoughts and was completely insane. He clamored to kill Zheng Qiankun and eradicate this bastard.

After a brief review of the case, it can be confirmed that the murderer in this case is Zheng Tianhao. There are both witnesses and evidence, and he was caught at the scene. There is nothing suspicious, so the two criminal police officers prepare to take him back to the bureau.

The two men handcuffed him, grabbed his arms, one on the left and one on the right, and led him out of the village.

Due to insufficient conditions at the time, the county police were not equipped with official vehicles, and after arresting the suspects they usually took them back on foot. Mopan Village is a bit far from Baiyun County and requires crossing a mountain, and the incident happened on this mountain.

In the end, the two men failed to bring Zheng Tianhao back to the police station. Only Ma Shi Tu returned to the station alone. He was in a dishevel. According to him, Zheng Tianhao attacked the police while climbing the mountain, causing Sullivan to fall off the cliff. He tried to rescue him, but failed.

The bureau immediately dispatched additional personnel to search at the foot of the mountain, and indeed found the body of police officer Sullivan. He was confirmed dead on the spot. In his hand was tightly grasping a watch strap, which was later confirmed to be the strap of Ma Shi Tu's watch.

The police later launched several searches in the mountains, but because the mountain was too large and the police were short of manpower, they could not cover every inch of land. Ultimately, no trace of Zheng Tianhao was found. Zheng Tianhao ran away. The police issued a wanted warrant, but Zheng Tianhao was not found, and the case became an unsolved case.

After reading the case files, Sang Luo breathed a sigh of relief. So this was the situation of the case. No wonder Captain Liao felt a rift with his master.

"This watch..." Captain Liao stretched out his arm and rolled up his sleeves, revealing a watch on his arm. It was a very old watch, and you could vaguely see that the strap was reddish-brown. "I've been wearing it for 25 years. In fact, it broke a long time ago. I asked someone to repair it, but the watch never worked. But I still wear it."

"This is what Awen bought for us the year he first joined the company. He bought two identical watches, one for me and one for Ma Shi Tu. He bought them for us with his first month's salary. Awen is a very loyal person to his friends."

"My family was poor back then, and my mother had an emergency illness. It was Awen who paid for my mother's medical treatment. Later, when I broke my leg, it was Awen who stayed by my bedside to take care of me and encourage me. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't be where I am today."

"I wear it all the time to remind myself not to forget Awen's case. In my lifetime, I must catch the murderer Zheng Tianhao and ask him clearly what happened in the mountains that year!"

Sang Luo recognized the watch. She had also seen it on Ma Shi Tu's hand. She took the initiative to say:

"I see Master has been wearing it all the time."

Captain Liao shook his head disdainfully: "Him? He is just pretending because he is guilty!"

Sang Luo speculated: "Captain Liao, you are suspicious..."

Captain Liao snorted coldly, "I'm not the only one who thinks so. Anyone else would be suspicious. The suspect attacked the police, but only Awen fell off the cliff, while Ma Shi Tu was fine. Awen happened to be his competitor. If Awen died, he could be promoted. Tell me, is there such a coincidence in the world?"

Sang Luo's heart sank. She didn't understand the situation back then, and couldn't speculate, so she could only say:

"After spending some time with Master, I think he is not that kind of person."

Captain Liao sneered again: "If this matter has nothing to do with him, then why did Ah Wen hold his watch strap in his hand when he died? Isn't this a clue Ah Wen left for us?"

Sang Luo thought for a moment and said, "From the results, Master did not benefit from it."

Ma Shi Tu is nearly 50 years old and is still a grassroots police officer. It is obvious that he has never been promoted.

Captain Liao shook his head. "You think too simply. After the incident, the police also suspected him. We focused on investigating Ah Wen's body and found no signs of a fight between him and Ma Shi Tu, so we didn't convict Ma Shi Tu. But this incident was closely related to him after all, and it was a stain on him, so his path to success ended here."

Sang Luo nodded. She already understood the general situation. She once again promised Captain Liao that she would seriously solve the case, and then walked out of Captain Liao's office.

Sang Luo returned to the office of Team 3. Ma Shi Tu was in the room. Yuan Xiaohu and Xie Ling'er had gone to the city to deliver samples for testing. There were only two of them in the office. Sang Luo closed the door and said to Ma Shi Tu seriously:

"Master, I want to talk to you."

Seeing her like this, Ma Shi Tu also realized that something serious was going on. He stood up and said seriously, "What's wrong?"

Sang Luo put the brown paper bag containing the case materials on the table: "Master, I want to know about the Feng family murder case in 1970. You and Sullivan were responsible for escorting the suspect at that time. What happened on that mountain?"

Ma Shi Tu's eyes stopped at the brown paper bag: "Did Captain Liao ask you to investigate this case?"

Sang Luo did not evade: "Yes."

Ma Shi Tu sighed: "It's been 23 years, and I have explained this countless times, but he still refuses to believe me. Well, I will say it again today."

"When Ah Wen and I escorted the suspect Zheng Tianhao, we only handcuffed him, not put on anklets, because we had to cross a mountain during the escort, and the journey was a bit long. If he was put on anklets, it would make him move more slowly. That was our consideration at the time."

"When we climbed to the mountainside, Zheng Tianhao suddenly collapsed. His hands and feet twitched and he foamed at the mouth, as if he was having an epileptic seizure. Then he passed out. We were already halfway there. It was not realistic for us to run to the village or back to the bureau for help. We had no communication or transportation tools at the time, so the situation was very difficult to handle."

"Awen and I discussed it and finally decided to carry him the rest of the way. We had already walked half of the way, so we could just take turns carrying him for the remaining half."

"We carried him on our backs for a while, and when we reached the top of the mountain, Zheng Tianhao suddenly opened his eyes. It turned out that he was pretending just now. It was Awen who was carrying him at the time. He jumped off Awen's back and bumped into Awen, knocking him to the edge of the cliff. Then he ran away."

"Awen swayed a few times on the edge of the cliff, but still couldn't stand firmly and fell backwards. Faced with this situation, I chose to save Awen first. I thought at the time that I would catch Zheng Tianhao after saving Awen. I rushed to the edge of the cliff as fast as I could and reached out to hold Awen's hand."

"But the cliff was too steep. It was impossible for me to pull Awen up by myself. If I didn't let go, I would fall down myself. So I had no choice but to let go. I... I tried my best..."

Beads of sweat appeared on Ma Shi Tu's forehead, as if he had returned to that moment again.

Sang Luo asked: "So that's when Sullivan grabbed the watch strap in his hand?"

Ma Shi Tu nodded guiltily: "Awen grabbed my wrist very hard and grabbed my watch by the way. He wanted to live so badly. Later, the watch strap loosened and he fell down. I feel sorry for him."

Sang Luo: "Then why did this watch return to you?"

Ma Shi Tu showed the watch on his wrist: "After the incident, the watch strap that Awen was holding was sealed up as evidence. I went to the market and bought an identical one. I wear it every day to remember Awen and to remind myself that I must never make such a mistake again."

Sang Luo: "You returned to the bureau after Sullivan fell off the cliff?"

Ma Shi Tu shook his head: "No, I tried to look for Zheng Tianhao in the mountains, but it was summer and the grass and trees were very tall. Zheng Tianhao was a local and knew the terrain of the mountains. I searched for a while but couldn't find any trace of him, so I returned to the bureau to report the situation."

Sang Luo nodded and wrote down all the information he had obtained in a notebook.

Ma Shi Tu gently stroked the cover of the brown paper bag: "Awen has been dead for 23 years, and I have also endured 23 years of misunderstanding and suspicion. This time, I am re-investigating the old case. I really hope to catch Zheng Tianhao and make him tell the truth about what happened back then, so that I can be cleared of all charges!"

"As for Lao Liao, he has never believed me. When the truth comes out from Zheng Tianhao's mouth, maybe he will believe it..."

Ma Shi Tu sighed deeply and closed his eyes gently.

When she got home in the evening, Sang Luo sat at her desk, looking at the dictionary on the table. She clasped her hands together and silently said in her heart;

"Senior Su, if you are still alive, please give me some clues. Where is Zheng Tianhao, who has been wandering for twenty-three years? How can I find him?"