Turbid Light
"I found out. Ji Xiangyang was once a trainee criminal police officer at the Qu'an City Bureau."
There were very few records of Ji Xiangyang in the archives, so Chen An decided to go directly to his then captain, the former captain of the serious crime squad, Liang Qiuchen.
Chen An found Liang Qiuchen's hometown, Mohe County. As soon as he got off the car, the cold wind blew sand and gravel into his wide sleeves. He gathered his clothes and walked into the narrow alley.
The alleys were interconnected and it was difficult to find the way. Chen An stopped a delivery guy and asked for directions several times before he found the inconspicuous house in the corner.
He thought Liang Qiuchen would find a better place to buy a house and live after retirement, but he returned to his hometown and still lived in an old house that had been in disrepair for many years.
The doorbell rang, and a child came running to open the door. Chen An looked at him, and then the child shouted, "Grandpa! There's a stranger!"
Liang Qiucheng, who was sitting in the living room, came out and saw him, and asked in confusion, "Who are you?"
"police."
Liang Qiuchen's pupils shrank slightly, and then he invited him in to sit down.
The former captain looked much older than he had imagined. They did not meet during the handover. Liang Qiuchen left in a hurry, so this was their first meeting.
Chen An briefly introduced himself to him. Liang Qiucheng showed little interest and poured him a cup of tea. "I don't understand these things anymore. It's been too long."
After Liang Qiuchen retired seven years ago, he no longer paid attention to these things. The things that happened during his time as a criminal police officer were already a distant memory for him.
"I came here this time to ask you something." As he pushed Ji Xiangyang's photo in front of him, Liang Qiucheng paused and took the initiative to start a conversation, "You want to ask Ji Xiangyang?"
Chen An nodded. "I heard that Ji Xiangyang is your student. Do you know where he is now?"
The file did not indicate Ji Xiangyang's whereabouts. There was nothing but some basic information. He had to confirm with Liang Qiuchen whether he knew about Ji Xiangyang's death.
Liang Qiucheng lowered his head and thought for a while, then sighed, "He's missing, and I don't know where he went."
"Ji Xiangyang reported in the summer of 2013. He was a very energetic young man. Although I was his nominal master, sometimes I was too busy to take care of him, so I let him learn from other team members first. To be honest, I didn't have much contact with him. I blame myself for his disappearance. I didn't pay too much attention to his situation." Liang Qiuchen was very upset. If he had cared more about Ji Xiangyang at that time, would he not have disappeared?
Chen An had been observing him. Liang Qiuchen's regret seemed a little complicated. He was upset about Ji Xiangyang's disappearance but he didn't dare to look directly at Ji Xiangyang's photo. His eyes were always on his knees.
While thinking, Chen An wanted to verify another thing, about Lin Ran.
"This person's name is Lin Ran, do you remember him?" Chen An found Lin Ran's photo on the Internet. Celebrities would edit their photos, so some of them looked distorted. Chen An slid his thumb across the photo while watching his reaction.
Lin Ran said that he had submitted an anonymous document, but it was returned. Judging from the time, the document was very likely to have reached Liang Qiuchen's hands.
After a brief moment of surprise, Liang Qiucheng said calmly, "No."
However, his denial did not dispel Chen An's doubts. On the contrary, it made him want to explore the relationship between Liang Qiucheng and Lin Ran even more.
Liang Qiucheng had been at the Qu'an City Bureau for so long, and the Xu family had been entrenched in Qu'an for over a decade. It was impossible that there hadn't been some mistakes. Could it be that Liang Qiucheng didn't know all this? Even if he didn't know then, why did Liang Qiucheng really just turn a blind eye to Ji Xiangyang's disappearance, as if he had evaporated from the face of the earth?
Now Ji Xiangyang is dead, killed by the Xu family. As the captain of the serious crime squad at the time, Liang Qiucheng didn't hear anything? Did he not hear anything? Or was he the one who blocked the news?
Chen An was silent for a moment, then mentioned the central figure in the incident, "Captain Liang, Xu Mingwei is dead."
Sure enough, Liang Qiucheng lost his composure and asked, "Who are you talking about?"
"Xu Mingwei." Chen An's eyes changed from observation to scrutiny.
Liang Qiuchen's gaffe conveyed a message that he knew Xu Mingwei.
"He was electrocuted, and his body was sealed in an ice sculpture and put on display for people to admire." He remained silent for a while, and Chen An prodded him further. "He did something wrong, committed a crime, and killed someone. Someone wanted to uncover his true identity and placed him in a place with the most traffic. The murderer is saying that crime will be punished, and no one can escape judgment."
These words made Liang Qiuchen break out in a cold sweat. He was in his fifties, and perhaps because he was old, he always thought of his youth when he couldn't sleep. Looking back on the first half of his life, he had a clear conscience. He had taken every step firmly since graduating from the police academy, but the more time went by, the more he dared not touch it. He knew that he felt guilty, guilty towards many people, especially Ji Xiangyang.
"Captain Liang, few people know what happened back then. Ji Xiangyang's file is incomplete. If you know anything, you must speak up. The police believe Ji Xiangyang was most likely killed by Xu Mingwei, but we don't know why he died, or even where his remains are. Don't you want to find him? Even if it's just a corpse?"
The little grandson knocked over a vase, and a loud noise interrupted their confrontation. Liang Qiucheng quickly put away his emotions and ran over to pick him up, scolding him in a low voice: "Why are you so careless?"
Since he couldn't get any information, Chen An had to leave first. He wrote down the route here and sent someone to keep an eye on Liang Qiuchen.
A few hours after leaving, Xiao Xiang and his team discovered a new clue: a complete set of electric shock equipment was hidden under the base of the "Ren Ai" Children's Park. After inspection by the Trace Inspection Department, it was very likely the first crime scene of Xu Mingwei's death.
Chen An rushed back and forth between the two places, arriving at the children's park after dark. He pushed the door open and found no one had left. Cheng Xiaoxiang reported the latest situation to him, "We detected many fingerprints on this electric shock device, but only one person's bloodstain. After comparison, it was confirmed to be Xu Mingwei's bloodstain."
"In addition, we also found a cufflink with Xu Mingwei's skin dandruff on it. It must have belonged to Xu Mingwei himself."
"Can the fingerprints superimposed on it be analyzed one by one?" Chen An asked.
"The Trace Department is still working on it."
There were many marks left on the electric chair, enough to disturb their vision, but there were no marks left anywhere else. The murderer was very careful.
"The person who committed the crime here must be someone who knows this place very well. The murderer should be an acquaintance of Xu Mingwei and familiar with his activities. Then what does Ji Xiangyang have to do with his death?" Cheng Xiaoxiang couldn't help but speculate.
At first they thought Xu Mingwei's death was a ritual, then they thought Xu Mingwei was killed out of revenge, but now it seems like Xu Mingwei was targeted by people around him.
"Boss, do you think his three sons accidentally killed him because they saw he was dying and wanted to fight for the family property?"
Chen An was puzzled. "Accidentally?"
"Yeah, look at that electric shock chair, it's perfect for interrogation. Maybe Xu Mingwei still has some heirloom treasures he hasn't revealed, and he might die accidentally if he's interrogated."
Cheng Xiaoxiang's wild imagination is beyond the reach of the three of them, and Chen An is often impressed by the bizarre ideas put forward by Cheng Xiaoxiang.
"Cheng Xiaoxiang!"
"Why!"
Lu Yuyao called for his help. Chen An watched Cheng Xiaoxiang run over, his gaze slowly returning to the chair, thinking of what Cheng Xiaoxiang had just said. If electric shock was a tool for interrogation, then what did the murderer want from Xu Mingwei?
Money, power or... life?
Liang Qiucheng clearly knew something. Xu Mingwei's death had brought him fear. Why was he afraid? What had he done? Could it be related to Ji Xiangyang?
His attention turned to Ji Xiangyang again. He always felt that this person was very important.
While he was lost in thought, Lu Yuyao passed by him carrying evidence. A pure white cufflink with a gold rim caught his eye, and he quickly stopped the man. "Wait, this cufflink?"
"Oh, these are Xu Mingwei's cufflinks."
Chen An frowned. He seemed to have seen the style of this cufflink somewhere before, but he couldn't remember where it was for a moment.
Lu Yuyao remembered that he still had work to report and said, "Boss, the thing you asked Bai Shuo to investigate before you left has been found. Ji Xiangyang turned out to be the orphan of a martyr!"
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