Chapter 94
Luo Jingyao's breathing paused, and when she came to her senses, she took two steps forward.
The boy seemed unaware of anything and continued to paint large patches of blood on the paper with a red paintbrush.
"Hello, what's your name?" To be on the safe side, she kept a safe distance from him and asked after sitting on the single sofa on the other side.
Unexpectedly, the boy just looked up at him coldly, then lowered his head and continued with the mechanical movements of his hands.
At this moment, Zhu Xiulan came out of the kitchen carrying a glass of water. After handing it to her, she turned around, frowned, and whispered, "Xiaotian, why don't you greet the guests?"
This time, the boy didn't even raise his eyelids.
Zhu Xiulan smiled awkwardly at Luo Jingyao, then walked over to her child and reached out to push him: "Xiaotian, Mommy is talking to you, you..."
Unexpectedly, the boy suddenly threw the painting in his hand away, swept the paintbrush on the coffee table to the ground, and kept making meaningless roars from his mouth.
Then he stretched out his hand and pushed Zhu Xiulan hard, and in the blink of an eye he ran out of the door and disappeared.
Caught off guard, Zhu Xiulan was pushed backward, and her head hit the solid wood armrest of the sofa hard, leaving a large red spot on her head.
Luo Jingyao hurried forward and helped the person up: "Sister Lan, are you okay?"
"No...it's okay." Zhu Xiulan gasped as she tried to explain to her son, "You might have noticed, but my Xiaotian isn't like a normal child. But he's not a bad kid by nature, he just does what he wants."
"To be honest, the reason I brought him to the city was for treatment. He's now in a rehabilitation center for special children, and his condition has improved a lot compared to before."
After going over Tan Tian's behavior in her mind, Luo Jingyao asked cautiously, "Is Xiaotian... autistic?"
Zhu Xiulan nodded painfully, but soon forced a smile out of embarrassment: "I wanted to ask you to come over for a drink of water, but this incident..."
"I can still drink the water, but Sister Lan, aren't you going to go see Xiaotian?" Luo Jingyao looked into the yard worriedly, but didn't see the boy.
"He can't be lost. He won't go to crowded places. He must be hiding behind some firewood pile again." Zhu Xiulan bent down and began to clean up the mess on the ground.
Luo Jingyao finally finished the glass of water. As soon as she walked out of the gate of Tan Hailong's house, her eyes uncontrollably fell on the trash cans opposite the gate.
After turning around to confirm that Zhu Xiulan did not follow her out, she quickly went to the trash can, took out the wrinkled painting that Tan Tian had just drawn, and stuffed it into her coat pocket.
Afterwards, she went to the supermarket at the entrance of the village and when she returned to the factory, the police's work was almost finished.
At that time, Lin Jiafan was talking to several colleagues outside the courtyard gate. Within two minutes, everyone dispersed.
"Coach Luo." He had already noticed the figure not far away with the corner of his eye. After giving instructions to his colleagues, he turned around and looked straight over.
Luo Jingyao pulled out a bottle of coffee from the shopping bag in her hand and said, "I can't help much here, so I'll just go to the supermarket and buy you some coffee."
"Thank you." Lin Jiafan said in a light tone and immediately unscrewed the bottle and drank it.
He had rest time for several consecutive days, which totaled less than a few hours, and he really needed to refresh himself.
"Oh, by the way, the bottle you're drinking is the only one in the supermarket and the most expensive, nearly twenty yuan." Luo Jingyao tilted her head and said, "Consider it a thank you gift for wearing Officer Lin's coat for a day."
“Ahem!”
Lin Jiafan choked suddenly and turned his head to the side and started coughing violently, as if he had not expected that she would recognize the coat.
Luo Jingyao felt that this person was a bit weird. He even choked while drinking coffee because of distraction. It seemed that he was really tired.
She didn't even think about the coat. That's what the man was wearing at Eric's club, and she naturally remembered it.
I should say that I remembered it the first time I saw it in the lounge last night.
Seeing that Lin Jiafan's cough showed no sign of stopping, Luo Jingyao kindly stepped forward and patted him on the back.
Boom boom boom!
A muffled sound was heard, and Lin Jiafan felt a sweetness in his throat. He didn't know whether it was due to the coffee liquid or internal injuries caused by the beating.
Trying hard to maintain his superficial calm, he dodged Luo Jingyao's hand without leaving a trace, and after saying "Brother Guo seems to be calling me", he quickly left with the bottle of coffee.
I don’t know if it’s an illusion, but the tall figure looks a bit hunched, as if he is fleeing in panic.
Luo Jingyao withdrew her gaze and blinked.
Officer Lin is so pitiful. Just because he choked, his ears turned red from coughing.
Shrugging her shoulders, she turned around and distributed all the coffee in the bag, then obediently returned to the jeep so as not to stay at the scene and get in the way.
Bored waiting in the car, Luo Jingyao took out the painting from her pocket again, looked at it for a long time, and then drooped her shoulders in frustration.
Or maybe professional matters should be left to professionals. She had a hunch that something was wrong with this painting, but she couldn't tell exactly what was wrong. She decided to hand it over to Lin Jiafan later.
By the time the police finished their work, it was already getting dark outside and the crowd watching outside the factory had almost dispersed.
When Luo Jingyao woke up again, she saw the focused face in the driver's seat.
The small light in front of the car was on. Lin Jiafan's eyes drooped slightly, and his thick eyelashes formed an irregular shadow under his eyes.
It was the first time she discovered that a grown man could have such long eyelashes. She couldn't help but stare at him for a while out of curiosity.
Until Lin Jiafan frowned as if realizing something, and raised the wrinkled painting he was looking at: "Coach Luo, where did this come from?"
"This was painted by Tan Hailong's son, Tan Tian. Earlier, on my way to the supermarket, I ran into Tan Hailong's wife and had a casual chat with her." Luo Jingyao mentioned only a few words: "Tan Tian is a child with special needs. Previously, Tan Hailong's wife had been taking him to a rehabilitation center in the city for treatment."
"Just chatting casually." It was obvious that Lin Jiafan didn't believe what she said at all, but he didn't continue to ask questions. Instead, he continued to look at the painting in his hand.
"So, is Tan Tian torturing cats? I've seen it played out like this in TV dramas. Serial killers have several major characteristics in their early stages: personality flaws, bedwetting, an abusive childhood, and the ability to torture and kill small animals." Luo Jingyao analyzed, shaking her head.
"It's difficult to draw a conclusion now. We have to see the child in person to make a comprehensive analysis. But I'm afraid there won't be any chance today. I have something to do when I return to the bureau later." Lin Jiafan said very naturally, folded the paper in his hand in half and put it in his pocket, then started the jeep.
Moreover, the police cannot contact other people's children without reason or without the consent of the family members. Lu Deshu and others who were protected by Tan Hailong can only find his wife Zhu Xiulan for questioning.
A minor, especially a special child, even the police have to think twice and treat it seriously.
Luo Jingyao shrugged and didn't say much.
An hour later, several police cars returned to the Jinshi Public Security Bureau. Arriving on the familiar sixth floor, Luo Jingyao figured out that the "something" Lin Jiafan had mentioned was the interrogation of He Jinzhe.
It seems that the victim who was autopsied in the afternoon provided them with new ideas. They were of similar age and gender, and He Jinzhe might have experienced the same thing as the deceased.
Perhaps the only difference between the two is that He Jinzhe survived, but the victim did not.
Late at night, Lin Jiafan brought Pan Chang into the interrogation room with the reconstruction of the deceased's appearance that Guo Zhen had just made.
In fact, each interrogation may seem simple on the surface, but there are many details involved. For example, when facing minors, he would bring Pan Chang with him because in terms of gender, Pan Chang would make He Jinzhe subconsciously feel relaxed.
"Do you know this person?"
As the saying goes, the first time is strange, the second time is familiar. After sitting down, Lin Jiafan skipped some basic questions, pushed the victim's appearance reconstruction picture under the boy's nose, and asked directly.
"I don't know him." He Jinzhe responded without hesitation.
But it was precisely this attitude that Lin Jiafan noticed something was wrong. He forced a chuckle through his nose: "You don't even raise your head or look at me, and you say you don't know me?"
"It's okay. I can tell you about this. After DNA testing, we confirmed that the victim had disappeared over a year ago and had been living in a welfare home."
"By the way, his name is Anping, An as in peace, Ping as in peace."
He Jinzhe still kept his head down and said nothing, but the action of scratching his palms with his nails finally revealed his restlessness at the moment.
"This is Anping's autopsy report." Lin Jiafan pushed two more pieces of paper over.
But before He Jinzhe could react, the representative of the juvenile protection organization sitting behind him spoke up first: "Autopsy report? Officer Lin, isn't this a bit inappropriate?"
"Don't worry, there are no photos in it, only some text. It won't have any impact on his physical or mental health."
The representative looked hesitantly at the small figure on the interrogation chair. Seeing that the other party had no special reaction, he finally nodded and sat back.
Seeing this, Lin Jiafan continued, "Do you know how Anping died? He had multiple injuries from previous abuse, and the cause of death was a shattered larynx. This means someone tortured him and then strangled him to death."
"Have you ever experienced that feeling of suffocation? Your brain becomes dizzy and your vision becomes blurry..."
"Officer Lin! You are trying to induce a confession!" The representative of the juvenile protection organization stood up again and warned with great dissatisfaction.
Lin Jiafan spread his hands and chose not to argue with the representative. Instead, he made a request: "Okay, then I won't ask."
"However, based on the evidence we have so far, we reasonably suspect He Jinzhe has been abused and assaulted. We are requesting a comprehensive physical examination for him." He raised his lips slightly, "This is to protect him."
With such a good reason, the representative obviously had no room for refusal. He was about to agree when something unexpected happened!
"I don't want it! I don't want to be checked!" The boy, who had been unresponsive until now, suddenly became extremely excited after hearing these words.
He twisted his body restlessly on the interrogation chair and roared at the top of his lungs.
"I don't want it!"
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