Highway Burial Case (VI)
Xirong Road, outside a small store.
A cleaner was sweeping the road slowly. He gathered the leaves and cigarette butts on the road, swept them into a dustpan, and then dumped them into the garbage truck. The cleaner was about thirty years old, wearing a mask and a hat, with a pair of shrewd eyes glancing around.
A man selling candied haws would occasionally shout, "Candied haws for sale." He would look around as he shouted, occasionally exchanging glances with the cleaners.
In a car not far away, Gu Fang was staring at the convenience store in front of him, holding a walkie-talkie in his hand. Qi Jiabao, who was next to him, was leaning back in his chair and snoring.
Dusk fell, lights came on, cleaners and candied haws sellers were replaced by couples taking a walk, but Gu Fang was still in the car.
They had been watching for three consecutive days but had not seen any sign of Wu Yan. The residential area was blocked off in the name of demolition, just to wait and see.
But Wu Yan never showed up, and the team members started to complain.
Jiang Shengyu said, "This grandson must have known that we were waiting for him and deliberately didn't show up. He found out who killed his parents by himself and solved the problem without anyone noticing. He has a strong anti-reconnaissance awareness, which is scary."
Gu Fang's face was dark. He didn't want to play hide-and-seek with Wu Yan anymore. However, there was no direct evidence to show that Wu Yan was the murderer. On the contrary, he was still a victim. If the case was not handled properly, the police would be blamed.
The serialization of the novel in Xiangwan Evening News has never stopped. The latest issue describes the murder of Qiao Shengjie and the burial site.
Gu Fang assigned some people to search for the body, and the other part continued to wait in the store. With Wu Yan's severe obsessive-compulsive disorder, he would go to the store to buy stationery and envelopes.
The burial site was in a small woods on the outskirts of the city. This was once the location of Wu Tianbao's pig farm, and the body was buried under a sweet-scented osmanthus tree.
The osmanthus tree grew well and became luxuriant with the nourishment of the corpse.
The police first sawed down the osmanthus tree, then dug the soil bit by bit, and actually dug up the bones.
There was no identification information on the corpse's clothes. Based on the condition of the corpse, it was estimated that the time of death was between three and five years. The cause of death was unknown. The height and age of the deceased matched those of Qiao Shengjie. To further confirm the identity of the deceased, Shen Xingyan compared the bones with the DNA of Qiao Shengjie's mother and confirmed that the deceased was Qiao Shengjie.
Qiao Shengjie's blind mother just shed tears silently. She had already expected the result, but just didn't want to admit it. Now that her son is dead, she has nothing to worry about.
Gu Fang was worried that something might happen to Qiao's mother, so he asked his colleagues at the police station to visit Qiao's home more often. A few days later, his colleagues at the police station brought news that Qiao's mother had passed away. She had no motivation to live, so she took sleeping pills and committed suicide.
The detectives who were waiting in ambush still had no good news, and they didn't even see anyone with a similar build to Wu Yan. There was a little boy who bought stationery twice.
Jiang Shengyu reported the situation to Gu Fang, who said, "If that little boy goes there again, keep a close eye on him."
Jiang Shengyu suddenly understood and cursed Wu Yan for being cunning.
But the little boy never showed up again. Jiang Shengyu became discouraged. Another week was about to pass, and his comrades were about to lose confidence if they couldn't catch Wu Yan.
At this time, Gu Fang issued an order for everyone to evacuate and no longer have to wait.
Jiang Shengyu didn't understand. After watching for so long, why should he retreat? Wouldn't all his efforts be wasted?
Gu Fang didn't explain and just asked him to follow the order. Jiang Shengyu had no place to vent his complaints, so he ran to the forensic room and scolded Gu Fang with Shen Xingyan for wasting police resources and giving up halfway.
Shen Xingyan listened with a smile, and when he finished complaining, she pointed at the door and said, "The door is there."
Jiang Shengyu's anger suddenly evaporated, "I finally understand. You and Captain Gu are birds of a feather."
"Don't use idioms carelessly. It's a derogatory term. Captain Gu and I have a comradely friendship. We help each other."
"Then why do you think he evacuated us all?"
"It'll only take a few days. You'll know the result after you wait and see."
Jiang Shengyu had no choice but to control his temper. Suddenly one day, Gu Fang sent a message asking them to pick up the person at No. 236 Xirong Road.
Jiang Shengyu drove over immediately and saw Gu Fang, who was dressed up as a beggar, and Wu Yan, who was hanging his head, squatting on the curb, their hands handcuffed together.
Gu Fang had a sticky beard and wore a wig with clumps of hair. His clothes were tattered and gave off a foul odor. His face, neck, and hands were covered in dirt, especially his fingernails, which were filled with black mud.
If it weren't for those sharp eyes, I wouldn't have recognized him as Gu Fang.
Unable to catch Wu Yan, Gu Fang became anxious and had to take action himself. He disguised himself as a beggar and begged near Xirong Road. He even fought several times for the territory. The result was predictable. Those beggars could not beat him and had to give up their territory obediently.
Seeing that the police had withdrawn, Wu Yan first asked a little girl to help him buy some daily necessities at a convenience store. When he found that no one was following him and confirmed that the police were no longer waiting for him, he became bolder and not only bought stationery himself, but also went to the nearby vegetable market to buy vegetables.
Gu Fang followed him quietly, not daring to alarm him, and only arrested him after confirming his address.
Gu Fang took a shower, changed into clean clothes, and regained his former handsomeness. He pulled a chair and sat down with his arms and legs spread out. "Tell me, how did you kill them?"
Wu Yan is a fair-skinned man wearing glasses and is very gentle. The fingers are slender with distinct joints. One wonders how brutal these hands holding a pen would be when killing people.
Wu Yan raised the corner of his lips in mockery, tilted his head, and only his eyelids moved up and down. He looked at Gu Fang, "Officer, do you have any evidence to prove that I was the one who killed him?"
"It seems that you don't have a good memory. You clearly described the process of killing and disposing of the body in your novel. We also found the body according to the burial location you provided."
"Really?" Wu Yan looked surprised, then suddenly realized, "So the novel I wrote is so useful, officer, you should reward me instead of arresting me."
"Stop pretending to be confused! Wu Yan, I sympathize with your situation, but this is not a reason for you to kill someone. You are ruining yourself!" Gu Fang felt very sad. He could have had a better future in life.
Wu Yan laughed, "You sympathize? If it was you who came home and saw your parents dead, blood everywhere, a good family, but after just one night, everything was gone. What would you do? Would you want to kill those scumbags and avenge your parents? It's not me who destroyed me, it's those scumbags, they deserve to die!"
"Now that you have found the real culprit, you should call the police and let them handle it instead of resolving it privately."
"Is it useful? Have the police found any clues in all these years? Every time I asked, they told me they were investigating. But after 20 years, I still haven't found any clues."
Gu Fang knew that what he said was true and he had no way to refute it. Sometimes, as a policeman, he also felt powerless. He also wanted the murder case to be solved, but the reality was not like that. For some murder cases, it would take several years or even longer to catch the murderer.
"What? You have nothing to say? Everyone can talk about the big principles, but when it comes to taking action, you shrink back." Wu Yan snorted and wiped the saliva that sprayed out from the corner of his mouth because he was too excited.
"We have never flinched, and we will never just talk about big principles. They really deserved to die, but you killed someone, and you have to pay the price!"
Wu Yan shrugged, "It doesn't matter. I've lived enough anyway."
"Where is Shen Baokun's body?"
"I don't know." Wu Yan turned his head and refused to answer.
Gu Fang stopped interrogating and turned around and walked out.
Jiang Shengyu came over in a hurry. "Captain Gu, we found the IDs of Bai Wei and others at Wu Yan's residence. We also used luminol to find bloodstains in the bathroom, but we're not sure whose it was. Forensic Doctor Shen is doing the tests." He gave the photos he took at the scene to Gu Fang.
The photo showed a wall with photos of Bai Wei and four other people pasted on it. Each photo was slashed over and over again with a pen, and the faces in each photo were stabbed beyond recognition with a knife. This wall accumulates Wu Yan's anger and is where he vents it.
There is a bunch of wires on the balcony, some of which have electrodes installed and sockets placed on them.
A notebook was found in the drawer, which recorded how Wu Yan found the murderer and how he carefully planned the murder. In the interlayer of the notebook, the confessions of Bai Wei and four others were found, with their signatures and fingerprints.
Gu Fang took out a card, which was Shen Baokun’s. Shen Baokun was the main culprit in the Wu family massacre. It was he who found Bai Wei and the other two and organized the crime.
He had checked out the place beforehand and knew that Wu Tian had made money from raising pigs and had even bought a car. In that era, very few people bought cars. Wu Tian's move was undoubtedly to tell Shen Baokun that his family had a lot of money.
Shen Baokun found out the life trajectory of Wu Tian and his wife, prepared poison to kill the dog, and on the night of the 24th, he called Bai Wei and others to carry out the crime.
He originally just wanted to rob money, but when he saw Wu Tian's wife wearing pajamas with her white breasts exposed, he had evil thoughts. Not only did he rape Wu Tian's wife, he also forced Bai Wei and others, in order to "treat everyone equally." If caught, everyone would be punished the same way.
Only Mai Jiang was determined not to do so. He only took the money. During the process of killing Wu Tian and his wife, he also tried to stop them, but ultimately he was too weak and failed.
The four men robbed the money, killed someone, and divided the money after escaping. They swore not to mention the incident and keep it to themselves.
They survived the most tense period, and only dared to come back when the case was gradually forgotten by people. They spent the money and never thought that the money was obtained through dirty means.
They thought the matter was over, and even they themselves had forgotten about it until Wu Yan appeared.
The first person Wu Yan found was Shen Baokun. At first, Shen Baokun denied it until Wu Yan tortured him. Wu Yan studied electricity, and he made a simple tool for electric shock, which was the pile of wires he found on the balcony. Shen Baokun couldn't bear it anymore and confessed the process of the crime, and also gave out the information of the other three people.
Wu Yan then killed Shen Baokun. He originally wanted to dispose of the body, but he didn't want Shen Baokun to get away with it so easily, so he dismembered Shen Baokun with an electric saw in the bathroom. Late at night, he carried the body parts and distributed them to stray dogs throughout the city.
He wants Shen Baokun to be torn to pieces!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
