Chapter 38
Zhou Wenwu's words made the village director blush.
"Brother Zhou, didn't we just talk on the phone earlier? The police officer has no ill intentions, he just wants to ask a few questions." The village director took two steps forward, trying to convince the man.
"..." Zhou Wenwu's face was drawn. He relit a cigarette and took a deep drag before speaking. "Ask me anything you want to know. My daughter and her mother are working in the fields and won't be back for a while."
"Excuse me, what is the relationship between Zhou Hong and Cui Da?"
The other party's non-cooperation was obvious, and Lin Jiafan was too lazy to beat around the bush and went straight to the point.
Zhou Wenwu paused as he was about to put a cigarette in his mouth. The wrinkles at the corners of his eyes deepened when he heard this question. "Didn't you go to Old Cui's house and ask yesterday? Whatever relationship they say, that's it."
This answer was indeed somewhat unexpected to the police. Lin Jiafan narrowed his eyes and did not speak immediately.
Pang Guang, who was standing nearby, seemed to have some tacit understanding with him. He asked, "Some villagers reported seeing Cui Da assault Zhou Hong, but we checked and the town police station didn't receive any relevant reports. What's going on?"
"Cui Da even beat his own parents, so what's so strange about him fighting with my Zhou Hong? After that, the Cui family came to apologize, and my daughter was kind-hearted and didn't pursue the matter." Zhou Wenwu said, smoke still coming out of his nose and mouth.
Shrouded in smoke, it was difficult to see his true expression at the moment.
"We found it at Cui Da's house..." Pang Guang spoke frankly, but before he could finish his words, he was glared back by Lin Jiafan.
"Has Zhou Hong behaved in any unusual way recently?" Lin Jiafan withdrew his gaze and continued to ask with a normal expression.
"People in the village are all like that. They work in the fields, eat, and sleep." Zhou Wenwu didn't even raise his eyelids. He threw the cigarette butt in his hand on the ground, stepped on it hard with his left foot, and responded vaguely.
Lin Jiafan nodded, and it seemed that he was not going to ask any more questions. He walked around in front of the bungalow with his hands behind his back and saw the Zhou family's kitchen through the glass.
The layout is similar to that of most houses in the village, with two stoves built opposite each other, and everything you need, such as cupboards, cutting boards, and sinks.
Everything in the kitchen was arranged in an orderly manner and the floor was very clean, so at first glance, there was nothing unusual to notice.
"Have you finished asking questions? If you don't have anything else, please go back." Zhou Wenbin had a fierce face. After ordering them to leave, he turned around and went into the house, closing the door forcefully.
Seeing this, the village director could only cautiously offer them a smile. "Zhou Wenwu is known in our Bo'an Village for his stubborn temper. How about we go back first? I'll have a good talk with him later. He's just stubborn and can't think straight."
Lin Jiafan agreed politely.
Soon, several people returned to the empty house provided by the village committee to the police.
After seeing off the village director, Pang Guang couldn't wait to close the door tightly, complaining, "Captain Lin, why did you stop me from speaking at Zhou's house just now? Zhou Wenwu might not know that Cui Da had secretly photographed Zhou Hong. Maybe he could even trick him into revealing some useful information?!"
"Zhou Wenwu already knew we were going there, and he's been on guard for a long time. If you provoke him like that, you might get nothing, and even be chased two miles away with a kitchen knife." Lin Jiafan felt a little disappointed.
"Haven't we learned enough lessons? The pig manure that the person involved in the case threw all over me two years ago, and the hair that they pulled out last year, hasn't grown back yet, right?"
After being exposed in front of Luo Jingyao, Pang Guang's 1.9-meter height suddenly shrank a lot. He hung his head and began to mutter, "Let's stick to the facts. Why are you making personal attacks?"
"The case has to be solved, right? If we don't go find Zhou Wenwu's family and ask them clearly, how can we continue the investigation?"
"Of course we have to check, but we can't do it through the village director." Lin Jiafan said as he walked to the window, lowered his head slightly, and tried to observe outside through the gap in the safety railing outside the window.
Luo Jingyao was a little surprised when she heard this: "Is there something wrong with the village director?"
"It's hard to explain, it's just an intuition, and he talks too much." The man lowered his eyebrows.
To be honest, there is something wrong with this Bo'an Village from top to bottom.
At this moment, a cheerful cell phone ringtone rang, breaking the brief silence in the room.
Lin Jiafan took out his phone, glanced at the caller ID, and answered it: "Brother Guo, what's the progress on your end?"
"Finally! We finally separated the victim's body parts from the pile of chicken, duck and pork! But because the bones were chopped too finely, it will be difficult to restore it into a whole corpse in a short period of time." Guo Zhen's voice came from the receiver, with deep fatigue.
"However, we did not find the deceased's head."
"Hmm?" Lin Jiafan's voice rose slightly at the end.
"We've found bones from all over the body, but no skull fragments," Guo Zhen repeated. "And the deceased's internal organs are missing. The body parts were deep-fried at high temperatures, so it's impossible to confirm the time of death. I need his head and internal organs to complete the case timeline."
Lin Jiafan didn't respond, but instead asked something else: "Can you identify the tools the murderer used to dismember the body?"
"Judging from the cut marks, there are two types of tools: a chainsaw and a kitchen knife or machete." Guo Zhen understood what he meant and explained considerately, "If they used a chainsaw, it wouldn't require much strength. A woman who works all year round could do it."
"Got it. I've contacted the bureau. Someone will come and transfer you and the victim's body to the police station in town. The conditions there are better and more suitable for your next work. You and the forensic doctors will work in shifts. Make sure you get enough rest." After giving his instructions, Lin Jiafan was about to hang up the phone.
Guo Zhen may have predicted his action and shouted a warning: "Head and internal organs!!!"
Beep, beep, beep...
After putting away his phone, Lin Jiafan turned his head to look out the window again. The fingers of his right hand hanging by his side rubbed each other unconsciously for a few times, and the eyes behind the lenses looked straight at Luo Jingyao who was a few steps away.
"Looks like we have to find a way to make Zhou Hong show up."
Luo Jingyao was puzzled when she heard this. "Didn't Zhou Wenwu say that Zhou Hong and her mother went to work in the fields? How about we try our luck in the Zhou family's contracted fields?"
Unexpectedly, Lin Jiafan shook his head: "It can't be found, haven't you noticed? Someone must not want the police to meet Zhou Hong."
If you think about it carefully, it seems to be true.
Although the police only stayed in Bo'an Village for one day, the investigation of the case was not smooth from the beginning.
It is not only reflected in the fact that the search for Zhou Hong and questioning were obstructed, but every step forward for the police was like being stuck in a quagmire, requiring all their strength.
"What should we do then?" Luo Jingyao asked subconsciously.
what to do?
The next second, she felt the eyes of the remaining two people were focused on her.
Looking at the corners of Lin Jiafan's lips slowly rising, she suddenly had a bad premonition in her heart.
At noon that day, police cars roared into Bo'an Village. However, to everyone's surprise, the police cars not only took away the group of forensic doctors headed by Guo Zhen, but also took back all the police officers who had stayed in the village the night before.
It seemed like in the blink of an eye, Bo'an Village returned to its original tranquility.
The villagers were naturally confused by this and went out to inquire, but in the end they couldn't find out anything.
I only vaguely heard from people in the village committee that the evidence obtained by the police in this case was insufficient. If they still couldn't find other useful clues after returning, the relevant investigation would probably have to be temporarily shelved.
After all, a person died, and such an ending is really sad.
But apart from sighing, the villagers didn't seem to have any other reaction. Except that the Cui family's door remained closed, everyone else quickly went about their business.
Two days later, in the early morning, a notice suddenly came out over the village committee's loudspeaker, saying that in accordance with national policy, the street and the town's community hospital would work together to bring warmth to the countryside. Every villager could come to the village committee's compound to receive a gift pack of commonly used medicines and receive a free health check.
This is a great thing under the people-friendly policy. Usually, the elderly people in the village who are unwell always try to endure it, and this is a good opportunity to ask the doctor for help. Therefore, with the active mobilization of the village staff going door to door, the village committee compound was soon crowded with people.
Luo Jingyao, with a blue staff ID hanging around her neck, was carrying a large cardboard box and struggling to move through the crowd. After carefully placing the things in her hands on a long table, she was called away to help register the people being inspected before she had time to catch her breath.
Thanks to her previous vague response when the villagers asked about her identity, her reappearance as a street worker was not awkward and seemed natural.
"What's your name?" Luo Jingyao asked without raising her head.
"Wu Guiqiu." A soft female voice responded.
Huh? Her pen paused just as it was about to touch the paper. According to the information provided to her by the police before she came here, this was Zhou Wenwu's wife's name.
Luo Jingyao took a deep breath without leaving any trace, quickly wrote her name, and then raised her head as usual. What she saw was a young and beautiful face.
Zhou Hong.
We finally met.
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