Incineration
"A vicious assault occurred in Yuyin Alley in our city early this morning. Taking advantage of the heavy rain, the suspect stabbed the victim, Ms. Fu, three times. Fortunately, a passing taxi driver spotted her and called the police and emergency services in time. The victim was subsequently taken to the hospital. Please continue to follow our station for more details."
Time goes back six hours.
Fu Chunzi waited for the intern to arrive, gave her the task for the second half of the night, packed up and left work.
It didn't rain when she went out in the morning, and she didn't pay attention to the weather forecast. She didn't bring an umbrella with her, but fortunately the old man in the guard room was kind enough to lend her one.
Holding a black umbrella, Fu Chunzi waded through puddles in her high heels. Her cell phone vibrated in her pocket, so she had to stop and free up one hand to answer the call.
The caller was her boss, the deputy director of Fanxing Station.
There was a convenience store not far away that was still open, and Fu Chunzi walked straight there without hesitation.
A smile returned to his tired face, and even his tone was just the right amount of laughter when he spoke.
He kept going back and forth just to explain the work, but he always wanted to show off and satisfy his official desire. She was used to dealing with such people. No matter what the other party said, the fastest way to end the topic was to agree repeatedly.
Half an hour after the phone call ended, Fu Chunzi left the convenience store and took a detour home. When passing Yuyin Alley, a man in black suddenly rushed out and stabbed her. Her black umbrella fell, and she covered her abdomen in pain and fell in a pool of blood diluted by rainwater.
"This is what happened last night." Fu Chunzi, with pale lips, lay on the hospital bed and recalled what happened last night.
Chen An said, "Are you sure you didn't see that person's face clearly?"
Fu Chunzi pursed her lips and was silent for a moment. Then she looked up again and said with certainty, "No, I didn't see anything. It was raining heavily at the time. I held an umbrella and just wanted to go home quickly."
Chen An's eyes were filled with scrutiny. "Isn't it a detour to go through Yuyin Lane to get to your residence?"
"Yes." Fu Chunzi said, "I've been going through Yuyin Alley these past few days. Yuyin Alley is on higher ground, so it's less likely to get flooded when it rains. I only went through Yuyin Alley last night because it rained. As for the past few days..."
She paused for a moment, "Officer Chen isn't from the north, is he?"
Chen An didn't answer. She continued, "There's a Luoji Steamed Bun shop at the exit of Yuyin Lane. The steamed buns they sell there taste especially like home. So these days I basically go home through Yuyin Lane after get off work. Who would have thought..."
There was nothing wrong with Fu Chunzi's answer. At the moment, she was just an innocent passerby who was attacked while passing by Yuyin Lane. Fortunately, the wound was not deep and did not hurt any vital parts.
Jiang Li went with him last night. When they got out of the car, the bloodstains had been almost diluted by the rain, leaving no trace at all.
He and Jiang Li shared an umbrella. There was an iron gate a few steps ahead of where Fu Chunzi was attacked. This was a rental area. They called the property management to check the surveillance, but found that the electric meter box broke down around 11 o'clock last night, and the entire building had no electricity. There was only surveillance at the exit far away in the alley, and it only captured a blurry shadow.
All night long, people in the building leaned against the windows to watch the fun. Chen An put away his umbrella and walked into the narrow passage. The considerate landlord immediately came out to greet him.
The landlord's surname is Fang, and all the buildings belong to him. He was holding a flashlight and answered whatever was asked of him. He said that the thunder was so loud that he was sleeping and didn't notice the power outage.
The electricity meter box in the community was not locked. They tried it and found that people with longer arm spans could open the meter box by reaching out.
Given this situation, there must be more victims upstairs.
The light from his cell phone illuminated the winding staircase. On a rainy day, a musty smell filled the stairwell. As he ascended, an odor that didn't belong in a normal residence wafted out. Jiang Li followed him with a flashlight and suddenly tugged at the arm of the man in front of him. "Is that blood?"
The white light hit the concrete steps, making the blood spots unclear.
After looking at it, Chen An asked Cheng Xiaoxiang and others to come up and collect samples. The two of them bypassed these blood spots and continued to move upwards.
When they reached the fifth floor, a strong smell of blood came from the innermost room. A brave person quietly opened the door a crack to watch the police open it.
Room 502 wouldn't open, and no one responded when he called out. The landlord opened the door with his key, and upon opening it, he witnessed the most unforgettable scene of his life. A woman lay facedown on the sofa, which was upright and facing the door. Her head tilted back, her eyes bulging, the whites of her eyes and her pupils shrunken, as she stared at the person who entered like a demon.
The landlord's legs went limp and he fell to the ground, his lips trembling so much that he couldn't even speak.
The two men walked past the landlord and into the rental house. On the sofa, the woman's abdomen was stabbed and eroded. The blood soaked the black sofa deeper, and the body was still warm.
It was initially speculated that the murderer went downstairs after successfully committing the crime and ran into Fu Chunzi who was passing by Yuyin Lane. In a panic, he stabbed her in the same way.
The entire community was cordoned off and only police officers were allowed in and out.
At eight o'clock in the morning, Chen An returned to the room. The body had already been removed. The room was small, with a sofa taking up most of the living room. Further inside was the balcony, equipped with a basic washing machine and clothesline. To the right was the bedroom, barely big enough for a bed, with no extra space.
The deceased, Xu Lanxin, was a recent medical graduate who had been unemployed for the past two months. Her parents were both from rural areas, and their family had no established business. With the current employment crisis, she had been unable to find a job and was currently relying on Huabei and credit cards to survive.
There were many signs of struggle on the sofa, and it was speculated that the murderer killed Xu Lanxin on the sofa. In addition, the murderer seemed to be proficient in picking locks. There were signs of the iron door being pried open. Everything was normal in the bedroom, and the living room was the first crime scene.
Only after Xu Lanxin's photo was restored did Jiang Li remember that he seemed to have seen her before.
"Where?"
"Weiyun Villa."
When Fu Cun invited them to Weiyun Villa, the woman named Xu Lanxin was also there. If he remembered correctly, she had been sitting next to Fu Cun. Judging from her appearance, Xu Lanxin was about the same age as them, and he thought she was also a freshman, but he didn't expect that she was a senior who had already graduated.
"Don't you know her?"
Jiang Li thought about it carefully for a while and shook his head. "I don't know most of them. I don't think they have ever spoken to her, and Fu Cun didn't introduce her."
"But I only stayed until ten o'clock and left. They were still at Weiyun Villa. I don't know what happened after that."
The phone vibrated, it was Lu Yuyao calling.
"Boss, Xu Lanxin and Fu Chunzi are not completely unrelated!" She changed her hand to hold the phone and clicked on an episode of the night radio program. "Around 4:00 a.m. on September 17th, a listener came into Fu Chunzi's program. This person was Xu Lanxin."
A phone call on September 17th linked the two victims together.
As a victim, Fu Chunzi sought protection from the police.
Cheng Xiaoxiang pushed open the door, his face serious. "Ms. Fu, I wonder if you still remember the call you received from a listener named Lan Xin in the early morning of September 17th."
"...Lan Xin?" Fu Chunzi thought for a long time, "Sorry, I don't have a strong impression of her. After all, there are several listeners coming in every day, and it's impossible for me to remember every one of them."
"It's okay, we found a slice of the access line, you can listen to it."
Cheng Xiaoxiang played the recording Lu Yuyao had sent her. Fu Chunzi's expression remained normal throughout the entire recording. After listening, she said, "I have some impression, Officer. Was her murder related to this incident?"
Cheng Xiaoxiang put away his phone and said, "I'm not sure yet."
Municipal Bureau
"The forensic report shows that Xu Lanxin died from excessive blood loss after being stabbed multiple times in the abdomen with a fruit knife. Furthermore, there were bruises on Xu Lanxin's neck. The killer must have strangled her, pushed her onto the sofa, and then killed her," Lu Yuyao said. "Forensic doctor Qin also said that after Xu Lanxin's death, the killer didn't stop stabbing her, but continued to slash her until her internal organs were completely destroyed, as if to vent his anger."
Bai Shuo said, "When he left, the murderer deliberately avoided the nearby surveillance cameras. Nothing else was left except the blurry figure at the alley entrance."
Cheng Xiaoxiang spun his chair. "So, it seems like this was a premeditated murder. Then... who could Xu Lanxin have a grudge against?"
Lu Yuyao said, "As of now, do those graduate students she harmed count?"
"Yes." Chen An said seriously, "In the recording, she seemed to be afraid of something. And the matter is very likely not as simple as Xu Lanxin said."
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