Chapter 92 (Chapter 92) Catching the Little Tail
This feeling of unease persisted all the way onto the green train.
Shen Zhenzhu and her companions boarded the train at Hongmei County Railway Station, and were to take a five-hour train ride to a certain mountain town.
Shen Zhenzhu examined their statements over and over, finding them virtually flawless: "A father-in-law who died young, a shrewish mother-in-law, an honest husband, and a wronged wife. Such a combination is not uncommon in the countryside, but something just doesn't feel right to me."
"I didn't notice anything wrong... otherwise driving would be faster than taking the train in the rain." Zhao Qiqi brought over instant noodles, and the three of them sat on the hard seats, slurping the noodles.
“We’ve asked several village officials in Tuanjie Village, and they all said in unison that those three hooligans fled. I think that’s possible. We can’t just take it seriously because the old man is making a fuss.” Lu Ye finished his instant noodles in three or four bites, drank the soup from the noodle box, wiped his mouth, and said, “The way he keeps repeating himself, he really does seem to have some dementia.”
There were only a few people in the hard-seat carriage; the three of them were the only ones in the six-person hard-seat carriage, which made it convenient to discuss the case.
“Criminal cases are always about greed or lust; you have to be extra careful when dealing with these kinds of people.” Shen Zhenzhu emphasized again, “I always feel like something’s off about Tuanjie Village; have you noticed anything?”
Zhao Qiqi was at a loss. After thinking for a moment, she said, "We've only been to a few places. Why don't we check out some other places?"
After throwing away the instant noodle box, Lu Ye returned and hesitated before speaking, "To be honest, I haven't found anything, but there's something strange. Although Zhao Tianshan's family is poor, Old Zhao's wife has a radio and a television, and her daughter-in-law even has red leather shoes. Did they all find these?"
“You don’t know this, but collecting garbage may seem like a dignified job, but it can actually be quite lucrative.” Zhao Qiqi said without hesitation, “My grandma has an old friend who does this, and last year she bought an apartment for her grandson in Liancheng. She even said that my monthly salary isn’t as much as what they make from collecting garbage.”
“I’ve heard that too, it’s possible.” Lu Ye thought for a moment and said, “Besides, it’s not long after the New Year, it’s reasonable to buy new clothes and leather shoes for my daughter-in-law.”
Speaking of her daughter-in-law, Zhao Qiqi sighed, "She's not exactly beautiful, but she has a captivating charm. I never imagined there was such a woman hidden in the countryside. How could she have married into the Zhao family?"
Based on the discussion of the case, Shen Zhenzhu did not interrupt him, but said, "She is shy and honest, and doesn't seem like the type to ask for things on her own initiative. It must have been bought for her by her husband."
Lu Ye said, "If I could marry such a virtuous wife who can take care of my paralyzed mother-in-law for several years, I would do the same."
Passengers were getting off the bus in the aisle, and their seats were near the door, so their discussion was forced to stop.
“In that case, let’s look at the next victim’s situation. I’ll have Xiaobai check the village chronicle of Tuanjie Village later.” Chen Zhenzhu took out a letter and laid out the information: “This victim disappeared at a car repair shop near Hongmei County. Some people say that hardware is often stolen from the repair shop, and they suspect that he was caught stealing and beaten to death by the people at the repair shop. The exact location of his body cannot be found. But others say that he had a bad relationship with his wife, and that he actually had a lover in Hongmei County. Every time he said he was going to find work, he was actually going to see that lover.”
“I remember him, his name is Wu Fugang, right? 41 years old, unemployed, with a son and a daughter.” Lu Ye glanced at the file and said, “He always says he’ll find work to meet his lover in Hongmei County, but what will he do if he doesn’t have any money to take home?”
“His lover gave him money.” According to the testimony of the crowd, “His lover was a widow who ran a pork stall at the Hongmei Market. She would give him thirty or fifty yuan every time they met. Later, the market was renovated and changed to once a month, so she set up a stall elsewhere.”
"So he's a gigolo. He has children and can still be a gigolo? Do we have any photos?" Lu Ye's curiosity was piqued.
“I’ve seen the photo. He’s an ordinary guy, but he has captivating eyes and looks quite handsome. He’s still quite charming among men,” Chen Zhenzhu described.
“Men with peach blossom eyes are said to be prone to romantic entanglements, and it seems to be true. Otherwise, why would they suddenly disappear?” Lu Ye said casually. “Men should act like men. Qiqi and I are very manly. Although our boss is too handsome, his abilities are undeniable and he is quite outstanding.”
Shen Zhenzhu looked down at the materials, and after the passengers got off the bus at the door, she took out the information of another victim and placed it on the small table, saying: "Zhou Kemei, 45 years old. He lived not far from Wufugang and was the purchasing director of the local liquor factory. He went to Hongmei County to purchase sorghum raw materials and disappeared two years ago. Because his parents are dead and his wife is divorced, we can only go to his workplace to find out about the situation."
“Wu Fugang’s home is not far from the train station. His wife now makes a living by setting up a street stall at the entrance of the train station,” Shen Zhenzhu said. “I have already asked Xiaobai to contact the people at the train station. She should still be setting up her stall today. Someone will take us to find her later.”
"Sister Pearl is brilliant." Lu Ye said with emotion, "Fortunately, we no longer need a letter of introduction to go out, we can just rely on our ID. Otherwise, we would have had to go back to the base camp to get a letter of introduction, which saved us a lot of trouble."
Shen Zhenzhu nodded and said, "Xiaobai was also a great help."
Outside the window, endless green fields stretched as far as the eye could see, with telephone poles flashing by every now and then. Occasionally, passing through small mountain villages, one could see several single-story houses with courtyards clustered together.
Rainfall is scarce here, so the roofs of houses don't need to be made into triangular pyramid shapes like in the south. Flat roofs are actually more convenient for drying crops.
“Things will get better and better, more and more convenient for us in the future.” Chen Zhenzhu smiled, leaned back in her chair, closed her eyes, and said, “I’m going to rest for a bit.”
Lu Ye laughed and said, "You should have rested a long time ago."
Chen Zhenzhu completely exhausted her "energy" and fell asleep with her head resting on her arm.
She could hear Lu Ye and Zhao Qiqi talking in hushed tones, discussing how to extract their statements later. Before they could finish listening, she had already fallen asleep.
Zhao Qiqi wrote down the basic questions in advance and showed them to Lu Ye. After reading them, Lu Ye circled the key words that needed to be mentioned: "Sister Pearl said that we shouldn't let the people answering the questions know which questions are important and which are not. It will give them the subjective idea to influence the case, and sometimes intensifying their thinking can distort their true memories. We can ask a few more questions and then check them. If there are any problems, we can find other people to verify them indirectly."
"Okay, see if this opening is okay for me later..." Zhao Qiqi lowered her voice again. Several people boarded the train at the stations it passed. There were also passengers opposite them. Zhao Qiqi chatted with Lu Ye for a while and then closed her eyes to rest.
"Sunflower seeds, drinks, mineral water~~ steamed buns, eggs, millet porridge~~" The train attendant pushed his cart back and forth, and as he sold train meals, the green train swayed into Shishan Station.
Shen Zhenzhu had already woken up. After arriving at the station, a young man named Qiu Xiaowei was standing below Shishan Station. He was sent by the leaders to cooperate with the public security work from the provincial capital.
“She sells food at the west gate of the train station. She used to run a street stall, but then she found that selling food was more profitable, so she started selling it too.” Qiu Xiaowei glanced at Chen Zhenzhu a few more times, and when he was noticed, he smiled shyly. He quickly took two steps ahead and led the way, saying, “I’ve also bought boxed lunches from Sister Juanzi before. They’re cheap, have big portions, and are quite hygienic.”
With him leading the way, after Shen Zhenzhu exited the station, she quickly spotted Liu Xiaojuan, who was selling boxed lunches from a cart on the street, as she squeezed through the crowd.
Not only does she sell boxed lunches herself, but there's also a three-year-old boy in a cardboard box next to her cart, and behind her is a seven or eight-year-old girl who isn't in school and is squatting by the roadside picking chives.
Behind me, there was trash carelessly thrown by a woman on the curb, and a man smoking and spitting.
Zhao Qiqi originally wanted to try the boxed lunch, but seeing this scene made her lose her appetite.
Countless people come and go at the train station every day, so the surrounding environment is naturally quite poor. Perhaps compared to other shops, Liu Xiaojuan's hygiene is relatively good.
However, influenced by the hygienic conditions at Sixth Sister's restaurant, Zhao Qiqi managed to control herself from eating.
“He was shameless. He had a wife and children at home, yet he still cheated on his wife with other women. He deserved to die. But it's because of him that the three of us are constantly being talked about behind our backs and can't hold our heads up. When my child goes to school, her classmates scold her, saying that her father was beaten to death for stealing, and that she, being a scoundrel, also steals.” Speaking of Wu Fugang, Liu Xiaojuan gritted her teeth in hatred: “His death is the end of everything, leaving the three of us to struggle to make a living. It's tiring enough, but we don't even get a good reputation. I'm so unlucky.”
"Are you sure he was beaten to death by the people at the auto repair shop?" Zhao Qiqi asked, opening her laptop. "Did you see the body?"
“No, even if I saw him, what could I do? Our family's circumstances are what they are; we can't afford a grave or cremation. It's just what I wanted for him to die out there.” Liu Xiaojuan didn't care about talking about Wu Fugang in front of her children. Thinking of the past, she was still burning with anger: “He ruined my life! When I was young, I was naive and tricked him into marriage and having children with sweet words! In the end, he never came home, he had no money, and he caused me a lot of trouble!”
"Who are his enemies?" Zhao Qiqi asked.
“They’re all a bunch of scoundrels. They fight today and make up tomorrow. They can become sworn brothers after three cups of horse piss, and they’ll fight to the death. But when they see a pretty girl, they’re fighting again. I don’t even want to talk about them,” Liu Xiaojuan said. “Besides, I haven’t had any contact with them in the last two years. I don’t know their names or where they live.”
Zhao Qiqi then asked, "Which women did he date?"
Liu Xiaojuan glared at him and quickly said, "I don't know, and I don't care to know."
Shen Zhenzhu pressed further, "You really didn't know? You didn't know he went to his lover's house in Hongmei County either?"
Seeing that Shen Zhenzhu looked young, Liu Xiaojuan sneered, "You'll understand when you have a man. I find him disgusting and don't want to deal with him at all."
While she was talking, a man rode up on a tricycle. He looked to be about fifty years old. At first, Shen Zhenzhu thought he was Liu Xiaojuan's father, but when she heard the children call him "Dad," she realized that he was Liu Xiaojuan's boyfriend.
"Don't bother her anymore!" the man said impatiently. "Every time you come here, even more people on the street will point and whisper about her. If you ask me, it's better if you don't come. Let everyone forget about the past and let her start a new life!"
Zhao Qiqi wasn't intimidated by his gruff voice, so she simply asked him, "When did you and Liu Xiaojuan get together?"
The man, burning with rage, said, "Do you think we're like that deadbeat, engaging in illicit affairs? Huh? What do you mean? Who are you trying to disgust?"
Liu Xiaojuan pulled the man aside and said to Chen Zhenzhu and the others, "We only met two years ago. I wouldn't be able to survive without him. Please, have mercy and don't come here again."
......
After leaving Liu Xiaojuan's stall, Chen Zhenzhu didn't have time to review the testimony and rushed to the liquor factory.
"Director Zhou Kemei, right?" The deputy director of the liquor factory kept checking his watch; he had a drinking party coming up later. Facing the police from the provincial capital who had come to investigate, he suppressed his irritation and said, "I don't know much about him. It's just that people in his office saw that he hadn't returned to the factory for more than a week, and they couldn't find him in his dormitory, so they reported him missing."
"Does he usually make enemies?" Zhao Qiqi asked.
"Hold a grudge? He's a straightforward and easygoing person, nobody holds a grudge against him. Besides, he's the purchasing director, people are too busy trying to curry favor with him."
"Why do you say he's optimistic?" Zhao Qiqi asked. "What happened?"
"He was the first in the factory to get divorced; everyone calls him the 'divorce pioneer.'" The deputy factory director took out a key from his drawer, closed it, and said, "I don't know anything else. If there's nothing else, I'll be going now."
Shen Zhenzhu stepped forward and stopped him, saying, "Do you have his ex-wife's contact information?"
The deputy factory director glanced at her, reluctantly returned to his office, took out his address book, and flipped through it for a long time before handing it to her: "His ex-wife is also annoyed by you all. You keep investigating the case over and over but don't solve it. You've searched high and low and still can't find it."
Shen Zhenzhu met his gaze, her face serious and she said, "It will be solved soon. This time, the case will definitely be solved."
The deputy factory director thought Shen Zhenzhu was just an ordinary clerk and said to Lu Ye with a smile, "A newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger."
Lu Ye said seriously, "This is our Section Chief Shen, the deputy captain of the Major Crimes Unit."
He omitted the word "deputy," effectively eliciting a look of astonishment from the deputy factory director.
He let out a loud "Ah!" and took two steps back to see if Shen Zhenzhu had three heads and six arms. She was not only a section chief but also the leader of the serious crime unit. After a long while, he finally said, "Then, if you really solve the case and Zhou Kemei is not dead and has been rescued by you, tell him that he has lost his position as the purchasing director. If he still wants to work in the factory, I will arrange another position for him."
"Hey, that's pretty humane," Lu Ye muttered as he left.
After leaving the distillery, they went to a restaurant for a meal.
Chen Zhenzhu, not bothering to enjoy the food, spoke to them in a low voice: "Zhou Kemei has simple interpersonal relationships. He lives and works in the factory area and has no enemies. It seems that the main reason for his disappearance is still in Hongmei County."
“I just called his ex-wife, and she hung up as soon as she heard I was asking about him. I can’t get through to her now.” Zhao Qiqi sat down in a chair, dejected, his shoulders slumped. “There’s no progress at all. And that old flame of his in Hongmei County is ignoring me.”
"Let's eat first, and then we can take the train to ask around elsewhere." Shen Zhenzhu ordered some vegetarian dishes, as all three of them had been feeling a bit feverish lately.
"This is the third day already, and we still haven't finished our visits." Zhao Qiqi scratched his head and said irritably, "By the time we finish our visits, they will have already solved their cases and gone home."
"There's nothing we can do about it." Shen Zhenzhu remained relatively calm; she had been mentally prepared for this when she received the "four no's" case.
“Let’s still make phone calls to those we can reach, and for the families of the victims we can’t contact, we’ll visit them one by one in the order listed above,” Shen Zhenzhu comforted him. “Solving serial disappearance cases is a long, tortuous, and uncertain battle. As investigators, we must have extraordinary patience. The long time span of the cases, the weak connection between the victims, the strong counter-investigation ability of the murderers, and the vague memories of the relevant people are all obstacles to our solving of the cases. Although the visits are tedious and tiring, most of these serial disappearance cases rely on the accumulation of seemingly insignificant pieces of evidence over a long period of time to find the murderer.”
Shen Zhenzhu poured him some tea, her calm and unhurried words carrying a soothing power: "There's a saying, 'Justice may be delayed, but it will never be absent.' I believe there are people willing to wait for us. Truly solving a case isn't a flash of inspiration, but rather the result of ten years of persistent effort. In various places, there are many cases that have been solved after more than a decade of hard work, thanks to the unwavering persistence of investigators. We've only been here for three days, so don't get discouraged. I've already decided that even if the case isn't solved within a month, I will continue to follow up on it and personally bring the murderer to justice."
"I understand what you mean, Sister Pearl. I'm just so angry when I think about how we've been running around all this time, how the lives of the victims and their families have changed, and how the murderer who caused all this is probably still hiding somewhere enjoying himself." As a veteran, Zhao Qiqi couldn't help but feel an urge to find the murderer and teach him a lesson when she saw this dark side of things.
“Sister Pearl is right. Facing an increasingly cunning murderer, we must remain patient and not lose our composure. Come on, eat your food, everyone eat and drink your fill before heading to the next stop.” Lu Ye served them each some stir-fried potatoes, eggplant, and green peppers: “None of you eat train meals, so eat more here.”
Zhao Qiqi shoveled a mouthful of rice into his mouth, then suddenly looked up at Chen Zhenzhu across from him with bright eyes: "If you're following up on a case, count me in!"
Lu Ye laughed and said, "None of us are going to escape! We have to catch the murderer ourselves, or I won't be satisfied!"
"Okay, it's a deal!" Chen Zhenzhu perked up and said while eating quickly, "Let's get three more braised chicken legs to nourish our legs!"
Zhao Qiqi got up to find a waiter, and Lu Ye called out from behind, "Remember to get an invoice!"
......
......
"Did you see the midterm scores?" In the meeting room, the female police officer in charge of Case No. 9 came to the seat of Case No. 1. She took over the Liancheng case and formed a 12-person team to check fingerprints, but they hadn't found anything yet.
She said to Xiaobai, "It's been more than ten days, why haven't they come back yet?"
Xiao Bai has lost weight these days, and her chubby face has visibly shrunk. She knows that the seniors in Case No. 9 are different from Song Xinchen; they won't make sarcastic remarks about the fact that this case still has a "0" score. She whispers to the female police officer Yang Mei, "Sister Mei, Sister Zhenzhu said she's coming back to take a break today. She's been to every address she can think of these past few days and has decided to come back to review the data again."
Yang Mei sighed and said, "It's a pity that such an outstanding person as Comrade Shen has encountered such a perplexing case."
"She's like a headless fly, bumping around aimlessly, hoping to stumble upon something by sheer luck," Song Xinchen's sarcastic voice came from the side again. He came over with a teacup and said, "Hey, is there any coffee?"
Xiao Bai clutched his pocket, turned his head and said, "There's a convenience store downstairs, go buy your own drink if you want."
Song Xinchen sneered, "Don't you want to stay in the provincial capital's public security bureau after graduation?"
Xiao Bai forced a smile and said, "You don't need to worry about it, and it's not your place to worry about it."
"Why can't I trouble myself?" Song Xinchen wanted to tease her, but he didn't expect her to be so stubborn, just like Shen Zhenzhu. He was about to say something more when an unexpected voice suddenly came from behind him—
"Graduates from provincial police academies are assigned by the Provincial Public Security Department based on local staffing and job requirements. The Municipal Bureau, regardless of whether they are from the provincial capital or elsewhere, is only responsible for receiving them." Shen Zhenzhu's voice came from behind Song Xinchen. Although her voice was a little hoarse, it didn't stop her from putting Song Xinchen down: "At most, the local personnel bureau will cooperate with the public security system to handle cadre recruitment. It has nothing to do with someone like you who has been in the Municipal Bureau for more than ten years and is still just an ordinary officer. Don't bother with it!"
Song Xinchen turned his head sharply and saw Shen Zhenzhu standing in front of him, looking travel-worn. Seeing that she was being so disrespectful to him, he stubbornly said, "Do you know anything about her situation? She will definitely stay in the Municipal Bureau in the future. Once she's there, won't she need someone to teach and mentor her?"
"That's none of your business! Mentoring newbies requires mutual respect; there's no such thing as forcing someone." Chen Zhenzhu threw her bag on the table and said with a forced smile, "You really have the nerve to coerce and bribe my helper for a bag of instant coffee."
This was no different from calling him "shameless" to his face. Song Xinchen rolled up his sleeves and angrily charged towards Chen Zhenzhu, but suddenly realized that he was no match for her and abruptly stopped.
"A good man doesn't argue with a woman. We're currently in first place with 6 points, and I don't care to fight with the last place." Song Xinchen said excitedly as Liu Yiyang returned from his investigation, "Captain Liu is back! Wait until we solve the case, then I'll see just how capable you are!"
"What are you doing, you surnamed Song!" Lu Ye roared, his voice echoing throughout the hall. He strode towards them, his aggressive demeanor causing Song Xinchen to shrink back, hurriedly running towards Liu Yiyang: "I won't argue with you, I won't fight you, let's see who can solve the case!"
Seeing his face, Shen Zhenzhu laughed in anger. She pulled Lu Ye, who had rushed over, to sit down and pressed his shoulder, saying, "Stop yelling. You scared Xiaobai half to death."
Seeing Xiaobai looking at him with a pitiful expression, Lu Ye withdrew his bandit-like demeanor, coughed, and said, "It's his behavior that's unruly, but I still listen to my superiors."
Xiao Bai looked at Chen Zhenzhu, then at Lu Ye sitting obediently in the chair, and at Zhao Qiqi who ran over from the door. He sincerely felt that Sister Zhenzhu had some skill in taming animals.
She was afraid that Shen Zhenzhu would discover the scores above each seat, so she tried her best to block Shen Zhenzhu's view with her body. However, she forgot that Song Xinchen had just said "last place" and thought that her actions were unnoticed.
Shen Zhenzhu didn't expose the cute girl's little thoughts. She looked around and, not seeing Xiao Hongjun, asked her, "Why isn't Xiaojun here again?"
These days, Xiao Bai has been handling all the communication between Chen Zhenzhu and the "headquarters." Xiao Hongjun took three days off and has received very few calls since then.
Xiao Bai lowered his head, fiddling with the seam of his pants, and said, "There's been a breakthrough in Case Number Five, we need manpower, she..."
"She felt she couldn't learn anything from Case 1, so she went to Case 5, right?" Shen Zhenzhu said unsurprisedly, "People strive for higher positions, water flows downhill, I understand. I'll contact the organizers later and have her take charge of assisting with Case 5."
These words brought tears to Xiaobai's eyes. She clutched her trouser seam and said, "Sister Pearl, I will absolutely stay at my post. No matter what the outcome, I have learned a lot from you. I won't leave, so please don't transfer me away too."
"I like you so much that I don't even have time to think about it. Having you here is enough for me. I won't transfer you away." Shen Zhenzhu smiled wearily and comforted her, "Persistence is also a great skill for solving cases, and you've already learned it."
Xiao Bai nodded firmly, his eyes resolute: "My teacher once said that perseverance is a great weapon for solving cases. So, Sister Pearl, we still have half a month left, and we must persevere."
"Hmm!" Chen Zhenzhu felt a warmth in her heart at being suddenly shown concern by Xiaobai. Seeing that Zhao Qiqi had also arrived, she asked him, "Did you find out?"
Zhao Qiqi said excitedly, "We found it! The fraudulent claim incident in Anlu County happened at the end of last year. It was also reportedly committed by someone named 'Zhao Tianshan,' and we even have 'Zhao Tianshan's' identity information!"
Xiao Bai exclaimed with delight, "You have a clue?! But he died two years ago." She quickly pursed her lips and looked at Chen Zhenzhu with worry.
Shen Zhenzhu gestured for her to sit down and said, "You've been following this for half a month and have some understanding of it. Let's discuss it together."
Xiao Bai was overjoyed. She found a stool and glanced at Case No. 5 not far behind her. Xiao Hongjun had been instructed to wipe the table and fetch water, and she wasn't allowed to touch any of the case materials.
Xiao Bai suddenly felt so glad that she could continue to be with Sister Pearl.
“Our investigation into the social relationships of the 25th victim revealed that Zhao Tianshan was already dead, but someone had fraudulently claimed the purchase funds from a grain and oil store in Anlu County. When discovered, the person knelt down and begged for mercy, even pulling out his identity information and saying that his name was ‘Zhao Tianshan.’ Because the identity information system was outdated and not connected to the network, the people at the local grain and oil store saw the identity certificate, took back the purchase funds, and then took a ‘compensation’ from him before releasing him.”
Zhao Qiqi said, "I just asked the comrade from the county police station who handled this matter last year, and he also confirmed that this person, 'Zhao Tianshan,' had appeared. He said that the two parties involved in the conflict chose to settle it privately. He had other cases to investigate, and seeing that the problem was resolved, he left at that time."
"Are they cooperating with the portrait drawing over there?" Chen Zhenzhu asked. "Do we need to go over there?"
Zhao Qiqi waved her hand and said, "The police station over there is very willing to cooperate and ask us to wait a while. It will take four or five hours for the portrait artist to go over and finish the portrait before sending it over."
“The person who could impersonate ‘Zhao Tianshan’ must have known he was dead and could obtain his identification. It must have been someone he knew who committed the crime. Let’s assume that for now.” Shen Zhenzhu thought for a moment, then turned to Xiaobai and said, “Please get Zhao Tianshan’s personal information for me. I need to investigate him thoroughly.”
Xiao Bai suddenly stood up, ran a few steps, turned around and asked, "Report, is this considered a valid clue? Can we get points now?"
Lu Ye's long, gloomy face vanished, and he said in a good mood, "This is a major breakthrough, but let's wait for the points. There's no rush."
"Okay." Xiaobai thought for a moment, then stopped and said, "Should we send the information about Li Family Village along with it?"
Shen Zhenzhu asked in confusion, "Where is Li Family Village?"
Xiao Bai hurriedly explained, "It's Tuanjie Village, they changed the name later, but the locals call it Lijia Village over there. They're having a peach blossom festival there recently, and everyone wants to go see it."
"Li Family Village?" Shen Zhenzhu nodded and said, "Okay, then bring them over together."
"...Zhao Tianshan married into the Li family village?" Chen Zhenzhu flipped through Zhao Tianshan's personal information and asked Lu Ye, "Why isn't this mentioned?"
Lu Ye was also puzzled: "I don't know either. Maybe he's afraid of losing face? If it weren't for the record in the Li Family Village household register, I would have thought Zhao Tianshan was a native of the village."
“How could they be born and raised here? As the name suggests, everyone in Lijia Village has the surname Li.” Zhao Qiqi pointed to the information about Lijia Village, which is also known as Tuanjie Village, and said, “See? Everyone has the surname Li, except for Zhao Tianshan and his wife who married into the village, because they married into the family. Even his son has the surname Li. Because of this, many people are related.”
Lu Ye said, "Sister Pearl, could it be that one of Zhao Tianshan's relatives from Tuanjie Village is impersonating him?"
Shen Zhenzhu nodded and said, "That's possible. Let's wait for the portrait. Once we find the person impersonating 'Zhao Tianshan,' this case will be solved."
Lu Ye stood up and paced back and forth in front of the window: "Why aren't they here yet?"
......
The following morning, the Anlu County Public Security Bureau, which had driven overnight, delivered the crucial sketch.
“Because it’s been a while, everyone has forgotten most of it, and there were many uncertainties when drawing it, so we could only draw the general outline of the facial features. However, you can see that the person was thin and not that old.” Anlu County Public Security Bureau pointed to the portrait and said, “This is already the clearest version.”
Shen Zhenzhu shook hands with him firmly: "Thank you so much. It's like sending charcoal in snowy weather, a real lifesaver. The guesthouse has prepared a room for you. Get a good night's sleep, and we'll have dinner together later."
"No need, I know you're in a hurry, why waste your time?" Liu Feixiang, a police officer from Anlu, looked tired but smiled and said, "I'll just stay at the guesthouse for one night and go back to Anlu early tomorrow morning. If you have any questions, you can come to my room anytime."
Liu Feixiang's partner nodded and said, "Yes, there's no time to lose, you guys get on with your work."
"Thank you so much. Let's have breakfast together tomorrow morning and then I'll see you off." Lu Ye called Xiao Bai over and said, "Go and order some dishes with both meat and vegetables, and a couple of cans of beer to help the seniors relax." As he spoke, he took out thirty yuan from his pocket: "And buy two packs of good cigarettes too."
Xiao Bai replied, "Okay, leave it to me."
The two police officers from Anlu were visiting the provincial department's "grand skills competition" venue for the first time—a legendary place that police officers from their small county dreamed of attending. They were initially a little apprehensive, worried that the provincial department would reprimand them for arriving late; they were practically running on gas!
Seeing such warm hospitality, their tense and awkward faces gradually relaxed. The two secretly glanced around at the scene of the investigation, which was proceeding in a hurried but orderly manner. They planned to go back and learn from their other colleagues.
Back at the meeting, Lu Yezai carefully examined the people in the portraits and then compared them with the household registration information from Tuanjie Village: "Why do they all look so similar?"
Zhao Qiqi also came over to look and said, "The people in Lijia Village are all related by blood, and their general outlines are similar. Look at this portrait, and I think Zhao Tianshan's son, Li Mancang, whom we've met, looks quite like him."
Lu Ye compared the portrait with the household registration book and said, "Li Mancang, Li Xiaomin, Li Dao, Li Jian, Li Feng... if these people were together, they would all think they were born of the same mother. Their builds are similar, and although their appearances are slightly different from the portraits, they are not that different."
-----------------------
Author's note: Little Pearl rubs her hands together: Hurry up, hurry up, the show is about to begin.
***
See you tomorrow, there's a red envelope!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com