Chapter 101 We have a case that needs your help...
Before starting to watch the surveillance video, Jiang Yingyao continued to talk about some information he had investigated.
Jiang Yingyao said, "While investigating Luo Deye, we discovered something unusual about his son who was studying abroad."
Guan Xia was originally concentrating on watching Wang Yu's actions, but upon hearing the words, her attention was immediately drawn and she looked up.
Pang Le lost his appetite after hearing this and said in surprise, "Goodness! More and more people are being dragged into this. What's going on with Luo Deye's son? Could he be a villain just like him, taking advantage of the situation?"
Jiang Yingyao shook his head and said, "That's not the case. We found out that at the end of July 2023, Luo Deye's son returned to his study abroad city early from China, contrary to his usual practice. He usually stays in China for about two months during holidays, especially summer vacation, until the end of summer vacation. But last year, he only stayed for less than a month before returning in a hurry. We also found his hospitalization record in late July, and the reason for the hospitalization was trauma."
"Trauma?" Guan Xia understood what Jiang Yingyao meant and immediately began to connect it to Meng Lan's accident. After a few minutes, she tentatively asked, "Brother Jiang, are you saying that Luo Deye's son returned home early, contrary to his usual behavior, because his life was threatened. Perhaps he was kidnapped or intentionally harmed?"
Jiang Yingyao nodded. "We asked Luo Deye's son's attending physician at the time. He had three wounds when he was admitted to the hospital: one on the back of his head, one on his left wrist, and one on his right lower abdomen. They looked serious, but they were actually minor injuries. The attending physician wanted to call the police according to hospital regulations, but Luo Deye stopped him. According to Luo Deye, his son was suicidal over money, and he had to knock him unconscious to stop him. However, according to the information we found, Luo Deye loved his son very much and was very generous with money to buy things for him. It's unlikely that something like this would happen over money."
"That means Luo Deye was threatened." Pang Le followed the train of thought and subconsciously glanced at Guan Xia, his mouth slightly open, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he didn't say it.
But Guan Xia understood what she had not said from her hesitant expression. Meng Lan's accident happened on July 12, 2023, and Luo Deye's son was injured and hospitalized in late July 2023. It was difficult for them not to make associations. Guan Xia almost subconsciously connected several things together. Luo Deye threatened Meng Lan with the construction materials, trying to continue to blackmail and control her as before, and Meng Lan simply did the opposite and used Luo Deye's beloved son to threaten back.
It was easy for Guan Xia to connect several things together, but she could not connect them with the Meng Lan in her memory. She even couldn't help but start recalling the years when they grew up together. Did Meng Lan ever handle things like this?
Before Guan Xia could figure out what was going on, Pang Le suddenly asked, "Oh right, you've checked Meng Lan's parents and brother, as well as the partners of Meng Lan's father's company. Have you checked her sister? As the only lucky person who wasn't affected by the accident, is there anything special about her?"
Wang Yu remembered that Guan Xia was anxious to check the surveillance video, so after the computer was connected and turned on, he gave up his seat, walked to the side and sat down, saying, "We've checked. We've almost thoroughly investigated all of Meng Lan's relatives these past few days. According to our investigation, although her sister was not very close to her parents and brother because she was raised in a society that favored boys over girls, she had a good relationship with her family before she was 25. At least she had normal exchanges during the holidays. But after she turned 25, she suddenly lost contact with her family. We also found out that the year she lost contact with her family and didn't even go back for the Mid-Autumn Festival, Meng Lan's sister received a huge sum of money from her family. She used that money to start a business."
Guan Xia had just sat down in front of the computer when she subconsciously looked at Pang Le when she heard the words. A bad idea popped up in her mind. After seeing similar expressions on each other's faces, Guan Xia suddenly felt nauseous and wanted to vomit.
"That's outrageous," Pang Le's face wrinkled together, and he said with disgust, "What kind of rubbish are these three? Although the dead are the greatest, I still can't help but say that it's better for them to die. Living feels like a waste of air. And that Luo Deye, why didn't he die with them? If he had died then, it would have been much better. I think the air quality in Linshan City would have been much better."
Guan Xia also felt the same way. Although she didn't say anything, she nodded in agreement.
Suppressing his nausea and the desire to contact Meng Lan, Guan Xia clicked on the surveillance video a few minutes later and began to watch it carefully.
This continued until the afternoon of the next day, and just as Wang Yu had said, no one found anything. Even though the surveillance cameras installed in the park were very high-definition, and they watched carefully without blinking, they did not find anything related to the Angel of Judgment on anyone entering or leaving the park. Even Guan Xia's intuition was not triggered. Although a small number of people entering and leaving the park were not captured by the surveillance cameras, Guan Xia still felt relieved. There was at least a 50% chance that the middle-aged woman who was talking to Meng Lan was really just a kind person passing by.
Glancing at the time, it was almost dinner time. Pang Le yawned loudly, rubbing his eyes and said, "Ever since I started solving cases with you guys, I haven't felt anything else. I just feel that you criminal police officers really need a pair of good eyes. Otherwise, if you just look at the surveillance videos for every case, you'll go blind sooner or later."
Jiang Yingyao was putting eye drops in his eyes and couldn't help laughing when he heard this. "Actually, it's only been like this in recent years. When I was a police officer, there wasn't even a Sky Eye system. Back then, it was all about relying on my feet. I still remember a homicide case I solved when I was just starting out. The criminal investigation expert invited from the provincial department used a magnifying glass to compare fingerprints. That was really eye-straining. I watched with my own eyes as they compared fingerprints for half an hour, and when the expert looked up, his eyes were bloodshot."
While chatting, several people lined up to put eye drops in. Pang Le tilted his head back, closed his eyes, and tried hard to keep the eye drops in his eyes. He casually asked, "I just thought about it. I feel that the accident that Meng Lan had that year has been almost fully investigated. The cause and effect are basically understood. How should we investigate next? I can't think of how to find evidence to prove that it was not an accident. After all, although Meng Lan had a motive, the surveillance video shows that there is really no evidence that it was not an accident. Although there are doubts, as I said, there is no evidence."
Guan Xia was wiping the eye drops running down her cheek with a tissue. Upon hearing this, she subconsciously recalled all the information she had found so far and fell silent.
Pang Le was right. Although the truth of the matter was basically ascertained and Meng Lan's motive for wanting to kill was fully analyzed, there was indeed no evidence in the glaring surveillance video, which completely proved Meng Lan's innocence. However, through those surveillance videos, Guan Xia had other guesses.
Guan Xia still remembered Meng Lan's tone full of hostility and paranoia when she reconnected with her through her assistant in kindergarten. She didn't quite understand it before, but now that she knew so much information hidden by Meng Lan, she understood where her hostility came from. This was a collapse after her desire for family affection was completely destroyed. She did have a very sufficient motive to kill, but she finally gave her parents a choice.
Guan Xia didn't know how she did it. She completely hid all her negative emotions and only showed her inner desire for family affection.
Guan Xia guessed that if her parents had not been so impatient to force her to drink and sold her as a daughter without hesitation, she would have been able to prevent the accident and avoid the tragic consequences of three deaths and one serious injury.
Guan Xia couldn't help but recall her staggering steps as she walked out of the living room with difficulty and headed for the door. She didn't know what Meng Lan was thinking at that time, what kind of mood she was in when she made this plan, and how she did all this. She seemed to be killing people by taking advantage of the situation, but in fact she was gambling with her own life. In such a dangerous situation, no one could guarantee that she would survive.
Guan Xia's brain was spinning frantically. After coming to this conclusion, she felt extremely complicated. She couldn't tell whether she was regretful or relieved. After all, although her guess seemed very logical, it was just a guess. Pang Le was right. They really had no evidence at all. The surveillance video, which was usually the most likely to reveal suspicious points, proved Meng Lan's innocence.
No one answered Pang Le's question for a moment. There were clearly several people in Wang Yu's room, but it was unusually quiet. After a few minutes, Jiang Yingyao said, "We can continue the investigation, but based on the clues we have so far, it's really hard to find direct evidence of intentional homicide unless we can get a confession from Meng Lan."
After Jiang Yingyao finished speaking, everyone subconsciously looked at Guan Xia.
Guan Xia stared at the crumpled tissue in her hand in a daze. She didn't even need to think to confirm that even though she and Meng Lan were childhood friends, Meng Lan would not tell her the truth about such things, otherwise they would not have lost contact for several years.
However, before leaving Linshan City, Guan Xia still contacted Meng Lan once. It was not to ask questions or to interrogate her. She really wanted to talk to Meng Lan and ask her if she regretted finding her biological parents.
But unfortunately, Meng Lan answered the call, but she was on a business trip and couldn't come back in a short time. Even though she had countless things to say, Guan Xia didn't say anything on the phone. She just smiled and reminded her to take care of herself and make an appointment next time if there was a chance.
When we returned to Yongquan City, it was already July 9th, and the real midsummer had arrived. Even though Yongquan City is next to the Cuiping Mountains, the temperature was close to 40 degrees.
Perhaps it was because he had been busy for many days, coupled with the hot weather, Guan Xia had been lazy since he came back. He had no interest in anything and slept and ate every day. He even canceled his morning run and instead ran on the treadmill indoors with the air conditioner on, which was not so difficult to endure.
As time approached mid-July, a heavy rain fell and the temperature finally dropped a bit. Guan Xia calculated the time and felt that it was time for him to get down to business. After all, so many days had passed and he didn't know how much of his previous glory had been consumed.
Before she could contact Ji An, Ji An called first. Before Guan Xia could even open her mouth, he asked in a serious tone, "Guan Xia, are you free recently? We have a case here that needs your help."
Guan Xia's heart skipped a beat when he heard this. He nervously changed from lying down to sitting up and quickly replied, "Yes, yes, yes. What case? Is it also a backlog case?"
Guan Xia's first reaction was a case similar to the one that Ji An and Lu Tingfeng had been investigating even at the cost of resigning from the police force.
As expected, Ji An said, "It's a case of a friend, a backlog case, but just in the past two days, a new clue has emerged. Another victim has been killed five years after the last one. We suspect the murderer has been silent for five years and suddenly reappeared to kill again. It is very likely that he has experienced some kind of change. We speculate that there will be new victims next time. Now should be the best time to catch him."
Guan Xia was originally just nervous, but after hearing Ji An's words, she suddenly felt as if a mountain had been placed on her shoulders. Even though she felt a little unsure, Guan Xia still asked, "Which city is the case in? When do we leave? Now?"
Ji An said, "The case is in Jianyang City. I checked the flights, and the nearest flight is at 10:45 PM. You have four hours to pack your luggage and get to the airport. Do you think this time is okay? If not, I can book you a flight tomorrow morning."
Guan Xia calculated the time and answered affirmatively, "Four hours, that's enough."
Ji An said, "Okay, then I'll book tickets for you and Pang Le now. After you pack your luggage, call Xu Nian and he will drive you to the airport."
Guan Xia was a little surprised that Xu Nian was also going, but then she realized that although Ji An and Lu Tingfeng were once criminal police, they have now left the public security team. Without Xu Nian and others to mediate, they would not be able to share or even participate in the backlog cases with new clues.
After hanging up the phone, I hurriedly packed my luggage. Thanks to my previous experience, it only took me more than half an hour to pack, and I still had plenty of time to have dinner.
Thanks to the fact that Xu Nian had sent over some dumplings made by his mother before, Guan Xia quickly cooked some to fill her stomach and called Xu Nian.
The phone call was made, but Xu Nian didn't answer it. Instead, he knocked on Guan Xia's door. When Guan Xia opened the door, she saw Xu Nian waiting for her with a suitcase.
Before Guan Xia could speak, Xu Nian asked, "Have you had dinner?"
Guan Xia replied while changing her shoes, "Yes, freshly cooked dumplings, have you eaten?"
Xu Nian paused and said, "I ate it. It was also boiled dumplings."
"That's quite a tacit understanding." Guan Xia said casually, dodged Xu Nian's hand and wanted to carry the suitcase out by herself, but was eventually snatched away by Xu Nian.
Xu Nian dragged his two suitcases to the elevator and took the time to ask Guan Xia, "I wonder how many days I'll be away this time. Is there a power outage, water, or gas?"
Guan Xia then realized that she had turned off the natural gas after cooking dumplings, but forgot to turn off the water valve in order to wash the dishes. She hurriedly replied and went back to cut off the water. She checked again and even took out the garbage before she locked the door and entered the elevator.
Staring at the floor number on the elevator panel that kept dropping, Guan Xia suddenly thought of Qi Bai, who used to howl in the group every time he went out to investigate a case. She couldn't help but ask, "Is Qi Bai's leg healed? Is he going this time?"
Xu Nian shook his head, looking somewhat helpless as he said, "It takes a hundred days to heal a broken bone, and he hasn't even taken the cast off yet. He can't go this time either. I can imagine how he'll make a scene in the group when he finds out."
Guan Xia wanted to laugh when she recalled the messages Qi Bai sent in the group, which were like a child throwing a tantrum. However, she had to admit that if she had a friend with such a lively personality, even if she was too lazy to reply to the message every time she was busy and exhausted, she would feel a little relaxed when she saw his jokes.
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