Chapter 66

Hongqi Commune, riverside.

The early morning sun shines through the gaps between the branches and leaves that are beginning to turn yellow, and a breeze blows through, bringing a hint of coolness.

Mr. Chang carried a small bucket and his fishing gear and sat down under a tree.

He put the pony in place while humming a song, and arranged the small bucket, bait and other items neatly. Then he hooked the bait and expertly threw the fishing rod into the river.

Mr. Chang took out his teacup, which was already filled with tea leaves, then picked up the thermos he had brought with him and poured hot water into it.

Blowing the tea leaves on the face and taking a sip of tea, the fisherman's day officially begins.

Mr. Chang was very patient. After a while he noticed any movement on the fishing rod. He observed calmly for a while, then gently shook the end of the rod and reeled in the line at an unhurried and steady pace, keeping his eyes fixed on the movement below to prevent the hooked fish from struggling too hard and breaking free.

Mr. Chang was full of confidence, but when he saw the "fish", he was so angry that he started cursing.

It turned out that the so-called fish was actually a lady's leather shoe!

Mr. Chang loves fishing, but every time he catches only a few fish, he always catches a lot of random things.

So he really doesn't like to be with other fishermen, because not only will his luck be taken away from him, but he will also be laughed at by them.

Mr. Chang took off the little leather shoes. Although they had been soaked for a while, they still looked good. Who would be so wasteful as to throw away such good shoes?

"It's only been a few days since we had enough food to eat. Young people today are really getting worse with each generation."

Even though there was only one shoe, Mr. Chang couldn't bear to throw it back and put the shoe aside.

Although the first cast was unsuccessful, Mr. Chang did not lose heart. He put down the bait and cast the second cast.

As a result, I cast the bait too hard this time, and the bait flew very far, and I almost slipped the rod out of my hand.

Mr. Chang looked around and breathed a sigh of relief when he found that no one was around.

But when he looked at the river again, he found that an indescribable thing had floated on the river at some point.

Mr. Chang rubbed his eyes and squinted to see what the big thing floating on the river was. When he saw it clearly, he staggered a few steps and quickly covered his chest.

“Dead…dead…someone is dead!”

After receiving the alarm, Hong Weiyi, the criminal police captain of the Hongqi Commune Public Security Bureau, rushed to the crime scene with his men.

Before they even got close, the group smelled a nauseating odor of decay.

Intern Gao Pengyue felt nauseous when he smelled the food and couldn't help vomiting.

He slowed down for a while before catching up with the main force.

At this time, the body discovered by the crowd had been pulled up and placed on the ground.

The corpse was abnormally swollen, the eyeballs were bulging, the lips were enlarged and turned outward, and the tip of the tongue was sticking out, making the face look hideous.

Gao Pengyue was well prepared, but when he saw this scene, he couldn't hold it in any longer and ran to the side to vomit.

"Why does this corpse look like this?"

Another policeman couldn't help laughing when he saw him like this.

He patted him on the shoulder and said, "Comrade Gao, you haven't exercised enough. Can't you handle such a small scene?"

Gao Pengyue's expression twisted: "You call this a small scene?"

"This is what happens when a person dies. This is considered good. You have never seen a body covered in maggots and with its head and body separated."

Gao Pengyue felt dizzy. "How can a dead person become so big?"

"When a person dies, they begin to decay, producing a large amount of decaying gases, which will cause the entire body to swell and expand into a giant. This phenomenon is also called decaying gigantism."

Hong Weiyi ignored his team members and walked forward to check the body. Due to the gigantic size of the body, it was difficult to recognize its appearance when it was alive.

He asked the forensic doctor who was doing the preliminary examination, "What's the situation?"

"The body has already shown a gigantic appearance. Based on the weather in the past few days and the condition of the deceased, the initial estimate of the time of death is four days ago."

"Can the deceased be identified?"

"The deceased is a female, about 17 years old, 1.62 meters tall, and weighs 80 kilograms. There are marks of pinching on the neck, which is initially determined to be the cause of death. There are also multiple marks of beating on the body, indicating that the deceased was beaten before her death."

"When the body was retrieved, her trousers and underwear were pulled down to the knees, and her underwear was torn. Her hymen was ruptured and her vagina showed signs of being violated."

Hong Weiyi frowned: "Can you confirm her identity?"

"I didn't find anything on her that could prove her identity," said the forensic doctor.

"There was a thin thread on the front of the deceased's right hand finger, which should be left by holding a pen. She was wearing small leather shoes that cost more than 20 yuan a pair, and it seemed that she came from a well-off family. The supply and marketing cooperative would only sell a few pairs of such small leather shoes a day, so the salesperson should have some impression of them."

A police officer heard this and let out a hiss.

"A pair of shoes can cost me one month's salary."

Gao Pengyue had recovered from his shock by now. After hearing this information, he immediately determined the nature of the case: "This is a rape-murder case."

When Tang Qingqing received the news, it was already the third day after the body was found.

Not only Tang Qingqing, but everyone in the commune's No. 1 Middle School was shocked. They never thought that such a vicious case would happen so close to them.

No one in Tang Qingqing's class could concentrate on the class that day. It was hard to imagine that Zhou Xiaoling was gone.

Many girls burst into tears, unable to accept this reality.

Ning Pingying, who was the first to receive the news, was so frightened that he was trembling with fear and could not calm down.

"Qingqing, do you think there must be a mistake? I saw Zhou Xiaoling a while ago and she was fine. She was even showing off her newly bought leather shoes to me. How come she is gone now?"

When Ning Pingying heard the news from her mother, she stood there in a daze for a long time, unable to recover.

The Zhou family is now in tears, and the police have even called them over to identify the body and assist in the investigation.

Tang Qingqing herself was confused. She still remembered Zhou Xiaoling's bright smile that day.

Although this Zhou Xiaoling is completely different from the one she knew, compared to the previous wolf, this Zhou Xiaoling can be said to have changed her fate.

Although Tang Qingqing did not agree with Zhou Xiaoling's path, if she felt it was good, Tang Qingqing still wished her the best. She just felt regretful and sad that the two of them were drifting apart.

But she never expected that Zhou Xiaoling would die like this, and die in such a miserable way.

Her body floated down the river to the neighboring Hongqi Commune. After the Hongqi Commune Public Security Bureau discovered the body, they investigated the commune for two days but found no clues.

It was not until someone from the Red Star Commune reported a missing person that the Red Flag Commune realized that the deceased might not be from their commune. They started searching upstream along the river and finally found the person.

"I'll go to the police station after school to check on the situation."

Ning Pingying nodded repeatedly: "I hope it's not her, I hope it's not her!"

Tang Qingqing is not as optimistic as Ning Pingying. The Public Security Bureau will not make the case public unless the identity of the deceased is confirmed.

Now that it has been confirmed, it should not be possible to fake it.

Besides, Zhou Xiaoling’s family members have already gone to identify the bodies. They can’t possibly have mistaken their own daughter and sister.

Tang Qingqing wanted to know who killed Zhou Xiaoling and what stage the case had reached.

Ning Pingying knew in his heart that it was unlikely that he had made a mistake, and he could not help but say:

"I used to be a little jealous of her. She didn't have to go to school as hard as I did, but she was able to live such a good life. I didn't expect that she would lose her life in just a few days."

"I heard before that Zhou Xiaoling's fiancé rarely gets sick now, but I didn't expect that his sudden illness would be so terrible!"

At this point, everyone had almost confirmed that the murderer was Zhou Xiaoling's fiancé, because the last person to see Zhou Xiaoling was her husband Shen Hewei.

It is well known that Shen Hewei has a problem with his brain.

Although he had never done anything to hurt anyone before, whenever he got sick, he would start smashing things around the house and become extremely violent, making him a dangerous person.

Sometimes he has to be tied up, otherwise he might accidentally hurt someone.

Tang Qingqing had always felt that such happiness was unstable, but like everyone else she was taking chances.

Unexpectedly, something really happened now.

Tang Qingqing, who was usually not disturbed by the outside world during class, was distracted during class this day.

She simply asked her class teacher for half a day off and went to the Public Security Bureau in person to inquire about the situation.

The person in charge of this case is Qin Sa, and she is not surprised to see Tang Qingqing.

"She is the classmate you mentioned before?"

Tang Qingqing nodded, with mixed feelings in her heart.

Qin Sa just patted her shoulder and didn't say anything to comfort her.

"What's going on now?"

Qin Sa shook his head: "The biggest suspect at the moment is the deceased's fiancé Shen Hewei. He was the first person to report the deceased's disappearance to the public security bureau six days after she went missing. But we have been interrogating him for an entire night, and he insisted that he did not kill his wife."

Tang Qingqing's face was not looking good: "She has been missing for so many days, her family hasn't made any movement at all?"

"According to the deceased's family, she had been away from home since her engagement and had moved into the new house prepared for them by her fiancée's family. So they didn't know she was missing, and the Shen family thought she had gone back to her parents' home, so they hadn't noticed she was missing."

Tang Qingqing was surprised: "Doesn't Zhou Xiaoling live with her husband?"

Although the two are only engaged, according to local customs, they are husband and wife after the wedding wine, and can live like ordinary couples. They just need to get the marriage certificate when they reach the marriageable age.

Some people get their marriage certificate late, and by the time they get it, their children have already been born.

Although this situation may not sound good, it is not a big deal.

Especially since Shen and Wei's situations are different, it is only natural for them to have a child together as soon as possible.

"No, even if she stayed overnight, she lived alone in the newly renovated house. The house is not far from the Shen family, both are in the machinery factory."

Shen Hewei is just like an ordinary person in normal times, so he also participates in the work.

When he was about to get married, he was allocated a two-bedroom apartment to use as his wedding house.

According to his qualifications, he actually couldn't get such a big house. It was already good enough that he got a house at all. Many people were still queuing up.

But his father is the factory director and his mother is the union chairman, so they were able to get it.

The two-bedroom apartment is a newly built dormitory building. It is not in the same building as the staff building where the Shen family lives, but the distance between them is very close and they can see each other through the window.

"According to Shen Hewei, he thought the victim was too young, just like a child, so he wanted to wait until she was older. The elders of the Shen family also wanted to save face, so they thought this made sense and did not object. After the autopsy, it was found that Zhou Xiaoling was indeed a virgin before she was raped and murdered."

Tang Qingqing was a little surprised: "He really cares about Zhou Xiaoling."

"He said that he felt that getting married in his current situation would harm others, so he had not planned to get married until now. But he felt sorry for Zhou Xiaoling, and Zhou Xiaoling begged him, so he agreed. But he wanted to give each other two years, so he never touched him."

"So he sounds like a pretty good guy?"

Shen Hewei was the first to discover Zhou Xiaoling's disappearance, and he did not touch Zhou Xiaoling before they were officially married.

Combined with the bright smile on Zhou Xiaoling's face that she had seen before, Tang Qingqing almost believed that Shen Hewei was a good person, and that he just had a seizure that caused him to lose control and kill people.

"Which criminal would say that he is poor, cruel and evil? During the trial, each one of them was innocent, honest and good."

Qin Sa smiled and said that every criminal had excellent acting skills.

Some people even firmly believe that they are the person they claim to be, which is why they can fool others.

"Based on our observations over the years, in serious crimes, the probability that the reporter is the murderer is always high."

Tang Qingqing was puzzled: "Why?"

"In order to get rid of suspicion, some criminals think they are very clever and are particularly keen on performing after committing crimes. Sometimes you see the one crying the hardest, with an attitude of not wanting to live until you leave. But in the end, it turns out that it was this guy who did it."

Qin Sa thought about how he had been fooled before and wanted to slap himself in the face.

"So, during the interrogation process, we must not follow the criminals, otherwise we will be fooled."

Tang Qingqing raised her thumbs. She was good at tracking, but not at anything else.

Especially during the interrogation, she must be the one who is easily fooled.

"However, according to current investigations, Shen Hewei and the Shen family treated Zhou Xiaoling quite well. Zhou Xiaoling also got along very well with the Shen family and often praised each other in front of others. However, some people also said that Zhou Xiaoling was like the Shen family's babysitter."

After Zhou Xiaoling got engaged to Shen Hewei, she often went in and out of Shen's house, buying groceries, cooking, cleaning, etc. were all done by her.

It is true that Zhou Xiaoling is a bit like their nanny, but the Shen family knows how to behave and often praises Zhou Xiaoling in public as a capable, obedient and sensible person.

If it were someone else, they might feel wronged, at least Tang Qingqing would not be happy about it.

But for Zhou Xiaoling, she is much happier than before.

She still has to do laundry and cooking, but at the Shen family she doesn't have to take care of the children. Moreover, the Shen family lets her manage the family's money and she can arrange the household expenses freely.

Everything Zhou Xiaoling was wearing was bought by the Shen family. They were all fresh goods from the supply and marketing cooperative, and the prices were not cheap.

She ate the same food as the Shen family every day, unlike at her mother's house, where she was not entitled to sit at the table after a busy day.

But what’s the point of being happy in the Shen family? You still have to live to enjoy it.

"After Shen Hewei had an attack, would he have any memory of what happened during the attack?"

Qin Sa: "Sometimes I remember and sometimes I don't, it depends on the severity of the attack."

"Is he ill and has forgotten that he has done such a crazy thing?"

"He had a clear memory of that period. On the day the deceased was killed, the two of them agreed to go fishing by the river, but he did not see the deceased until he returned home."

Shen Hewei likes fishing very much. He feels that fishing allows him to calm down and gives him a great sense of accomplishment.

The Shen family has never lacked fish to eat, all of which were caught by Shen Hewei.

He likes to fish alone, but after getting to know Zhou Xiaoling, he would take her with him from time to time.

This is what Mother Shen requested, hoping that her son and daughter-in-law can spend more time with each other.

Zhou Xiaoling would not feel bored when accompanying Shen Hewei fishing, nor would she disturb Shen Hewei, so he was willing to take her along.

Tang Qingqing couldn't help but ask, "Zhou Xiaoling didn't come and disappeared for several days. Didn't he worry about it?"

"Because this kind of thing happened before, the deceased was often called back home by her natal family to help take care of the children. Especially when her second sister-in-law gave birth to another child, she went back to help more often. So Shen Hewei tacitly assumed that Zhou Xiaoling went home to help, and didn't pay much attention to it."

"The deceased had not been seen for several days, which Shen Hewei found strange, so he went to Zhou's house to ask if Zhou Xiaoling had returned to her parents' home. The answer was no, and they realized that Zhou Xiaoling was missing, so Shen Hewei immediately went to call the police."

Tang Qingqing looked unhappy. She found it hard to have a good impression of Zhou Xiaoling's family.

Zhou Xiaoling has already given so much to the family, and even after getting married she still remembers her labor force.

"So Shen Hewei has no alibi?"

"Well, the place where Shen and Wei fish is quite remote, and few people are there, so he can't prove himself."

This made Shen Hewei more suspicious, and almost everyone believed that Shen Hewei did such a cruel thing while he was unconscious.

"I want to go there and take a look."

Qin Sa reminded: "No suspicious traces were found there. The preliminary judgment is that it is not the scene of the first crime."

"Nothing found?"

"No, we found Shen Hewei's footprints and traces of him fishing there, but nothing else was found, and we didn't see any traces of Zhou Xiaoling. We are now investigating along the river to find the place where the body was dumped."

Tang Qingqing immediately felt something was wrong: "If Shen Hewei had a seizure and hurt Zhou Xiaoling, then he should have committed the crime at the fishing place, which would have made it easier to dispose of the body. Now the fishing place has been confirmed not to be the first crime scene, isn't this a contradiction?"

If Shen Hewei didn't kill people because he was sick, he would have no motive to kill.

The two are husband and wife. Although they have not registered their marriage, in the eyes of the world they are already a real couple.

If it gets out that the two of them have been innocent until now, I'm afraid few people will believe it.

If Shen Hewei wanted to, he could have done it openly and there was no need to force it.

Tang Qingqing had seen Zhou Xiaoling and was sure that she sincerely wanted to marry Shen Hewei. She had no aversion to this man and even explained that she had actively fought for him.

Even more, because she is living a happy life now, she hopes that Tang Qingqing can find a man who is good to her, so that she doesn't have to work so hard.

No matter what Shen Hewei wants to do, she will just cooperate.

As long as Shen Hewei was conscious, he should have known that if he did such a thing, he would be the biggest suspect.

Under normal circumstances, he would not do such a thing.

"That's true. So even though we think Shen Hewei is a major suspect, we haven't ruled out other possibilities. The most urgent task is to find the first crime scene and the place where the body was dumped, so that we can reconstruct what happened at the time."

The identity of the deceased had just been confirmed, and the case had just been transferred from the Red Flag Commune to the Red Star Commune. The investigation had been short and there were no clues at hand.

The only suspect currently identified is Shen Hewei, who may have had an attack and injured someone. Apart from the fact that he has no alibi, there is no other evidence.

If Shen Hewei didn't give up voluntarily, he would have to search for evidence himself and investigate step by step.

Hearing this, Tang Qingqing took the initiative to apply: "Comrade Qin, can I be included?"

Qin Sa looked at her and said, "You are already in the third year of junior high school, and you are preparing to enter the senior high school. If you participate, will it affect your studies? It is hard to say how long our investigation will take. If it is slow, it is normal to take more than ten days."

Sometimes we can’t find anything even after more than ten days, and there are still many unsolved cases in the police station.

Tang Qingqing affirmed: "I will arrange my studies well, and I promise not to let personal feelings affect my judgment!"