Chapter 108 108 I guess there are new deaths
After all the words on the system interface appeared, there was a pause of a few seconds, and then a video popped up as expected.
This time the video footage is quite long and not continuous, but is divided into segments as if it has been edited.
The first video was taken at 2:07 p.m. on July 9th. It shows a middle-aged man wearing a sanitation worker's uniform, a hat, and a mask. He can only be vaguely seen from the half of his face that is exposed. He is cleaning the sidewalk at the entrance of the community with a broom.
This time, in addition to the sanitation worker's head, the video time in the upper left corner was also marked with a clear red frame. Guan Xia had to multitask and glance at the time twice before he could continue to watch attentively.
It would not be easy for a pedestrian to notice him, but if you observe the sanitation worker from above through the perspective of a surveillance camera, you can easily find that although his hands are constantly moving, he will occasionally turn his head slightly and glance at the pedestrians coming out of the community with the corner of his eyes, as if he is waiting for someone, or as if he is selecting a target.
About ten seconds later, the fourth victim, Tian Junming, and three classmates walked out of the community arm in arm. While waiting for a taxi on the roadside, they kept playing and joking. The sanitation worker first raised his wrist to check the time, then changed his posture to face them and continued to glance at them out of the corner of his eye while sweeping the dust on the road. Until the four people took a taxi and left, the sanitation worker did not leave, but continued to sweep the floor. This time he did not look around secretly, but his movements were much faster, and he swept further and further away from the community entrance.
The second video was taken at 8:19 PM on July 9th. This time, the sanitation worker did not sweep the floor, but held a long clamp to pick up garbage on the road. Perhaps because his behavior this time was much more legitimate, the sanitation worker's movements were no longer covert, but he looked around very openly, as if he was looking for garbage, and did not attract attention.
About ten seconds later, a taxi drove to the gate of the community and stopped. Tian Junming jumped out of the passenger seat, tossing a basketball up and down with his right hand while walking into the community in a somewhat nonchalant manner. This time, the sanitation worker also raised his wrist to check the time, then straightened up and stared at Tian Junming's back for a few seconds before bending back slightly and continuing to look for garbage on the road and in the green belt.
Next are the third, fourth and fifth videos, which were taken at 1:35 pm on July 10, 8:38 pm on July 10, and 1:27 pm on July 11. They show the same entrance to the residential complex, the sanitation workers in the same clothes, and the same gesture of checking the time. All of this indicates that the murderer is using the inconspicuous profession of sanitation workers to blatantly follow or even observe people nearby.
I have to say that this murderer has some brains. Although he was following, his hands did not stop moving before or after the deceased appeared. Although he swept fast and slow, and looked around from time to time, because he stayed there for a long time, he looked like a worker who didn't want to work and was slacking off. No one would really associate him with a murderer.
Since the time of the video played by the system this time was a bit trivial, Guan Xia did not wait for the system interface to disappear completely. Instead, at the moment when the video was paused, he excitedly replied to Xu Nian with a "good" word, and then quickly created a document on the computer to record several time periods. He then reopened the surveillance video and pulled the progress bar back again and again until the video time was exactly the same as the first time Guan Xia recorded, and then he tapped the space bar.
"Look, this is the guy," Guan Xia said, tapping the computer screen with her finger, unable to conceal her excitement. "He's also the guy we saw on the slopes of Xiao Cui Peak this afternoon. My intuition is right, the two figures are the same person."
No one had any objection to what Guan Xia said, not even Captain Yang and the others. They just wanted to stick their faces to the computer screen and watch it very seriously.
After a few minutes, Zhong Xiaoyu suddenly said with certainty, "Although my eyesight isn't as good as Guan Xia's, and I only saw a silhouette and not a face in the afternoon, I can tell from their body shape and movements that it's very likely they are the same person."
The others remained silent, just staring at the computer screen.
Another two minutes passed before Captain Yang spoke up. "He looks familiar to me, no doubt. Guan Xia's judgment is correct. This guy is most likely the grandson we saw this afternoon. I just didn't expect such a brutal killer to be a sanitation worker. Or maybe he's just using his job as a sanitation worker to conveniently follow and observe the victim."
Everyone was skeptical, but no one could answer until the suspect's identity was confirmed. So after a few seconds of silence in the office, Xu Nian suddenly recalled the times Guan Xia had just noted down and asked, "I see you recorded five time points, and they all match the surveillance video. Are these the times when the suspect and the fourth victim, Tian Junming, appeared in the surveillance video at the same time?"
Guan Xia nodded and just said the word "yes". Before she could say anything else, Captain Yang's cell phone suddenly rang.
After a brief conversation, Captain Yang's expression suddenly turned extremely ugly.
Everyone present, including Guan Xia, felt a subconscious jolt in their hearts. Even though they didn't want to see it anymore, they realized that there was probably a new death.
Sure enough, after hanging up the phone, Captain Yang said with a sullen face and gritted teeth, "The police center just received a report that someone found a body at the foot of the Dacui Peak hiking trail on Dadong Mountain. The scene was very bloody and suspected to be related to the case we are investigating. Captain Geng has already taken people to the scene."
Captain Yang briefly explained the situation, then turned to Yan Ran and said, "We'll go too, but Xiao Yan, you twisted your ankle, and the scene is in the mountains, so you shouldn't go. Stay in the team, and I'll take you there tomorrow when your ankle is better."
After saying this, without waiting for Yan Ran to answer, he asked two more people to stay, and then led the rest of the people out one after another.
Guan Xia and Pang Le looked at each other in surprise, hesitated for only half a second, and then quickly followed.
As soon as he jumped into the car, Pang Le said, "We are really brave now. We didn't even dare to look at the photos last night, but now we dare to go directly to the scene. I even doubt whether we will vomit in a while."
Pang Le glanced at Zhong Xiaoyu who was driving and said, "You shouldn't be that bad. After all, you used to be an armed police officer. Your mental strength must be better than ours. But speaking of which, I'm really curious, have you ever killed anyone?"
Pang Le's words brought back memories of last night. Guan Xiazheng felt a little uneasy. When he heard this, he immediately shifted his attention and looked at Zhong Xiaoyu curiously.
It was already past midnight, and the roads were almost deserted, with few cars. Zhong Xiaoyu drove behind the Tong'an Branch's car, almost flying, and said casually, "Of course I have killed people. I've even been awarded a second-class merit and two third-class merits. The second-class merit was for successfully killing a criminal and protecting the people. If I hadn't been discharged due to injury, I might have been awarded a first-class merit in my lifetime."
Guan Xia heard something and asked carefully, "You were discharged due to injury. Was it the injury you received during that mission?"
Zhong Xiaoyu hummed nonchalantly, "It's just bad luck, but it's okay. I was injured, and that bastard might have been reincarnated. As for what kind of reincarnation it has become, it's hard to say. Anyway, based on my experience, he has so many lives on his hands, 80% of it is a pig's fetus."
Zhong Xiaoyu was also a talkative person, and Pang Le opened up his mouth. The two of them were joking along the way and didn't pay much attention to the passage of time. They felt that they had arrived at their destination in the blink of an eye.
As soon as they got off the car, Captain Yang was already calling out to everyone anxiously, "Everyone is here, let's go, hurry up, watch your step, and be careful not to fall."
After saying that, Captain Yang took the lead and walked inside. This time the team was even larger than the one in the afternoon. Guan Xia was sandwiched in the middle of the crowd, trying her best to speed up and not fall behind.
Fortunately, the crime scene was at the foot of the mountain. Guan Xia was feeling a little tired and was about to grit his teeth and persevere when he saw several flashlights lit up not far away.
As she approached, Guan Xia saw Captain Geng, whom she had met during the day, squatting on the ground wearing shoe covers. In front of her was a corpse, which was covered by her body, with only the part above the waist and below the knees exposed.
Guan Xia could vaguely see the hideous wounds on the corpse's neck and chest. The blood had soaked the nearby ground. It was difficult to see clearly in the pitch-black night, and only when he got closer could he make out a hint of red.
Perhaps it was because of insufficient lighting, and a small part of the corpse was blocked by Captain Geng, so Guan Xia, whose stomach was churning when she looked at the photos of the corpse last night, didn't feel much when she faced the corpse directly. She just stood a few meters away from the corpse and felt that the face looked a little familiar.
Guan Xia was just frowning as she recalled the past when Captain Geng stood up and said to Captain Yang, who had come up to her, "You're here. The bad news is that another body has been found. The good news is that the body is an acquaintance, the man you were chasing at Xiao Cui Peak this afternoon. I've compared it repeatedly with the sketch you sent me. Judging from his face alone, it's him. Biological samples have also been collected. If we can match him, then the case we're investigating will be almost solved. However, there's also some bad news."
Captain Yang's back was to Guan Xia, so his expression couldn't be seen. However, from his voice alone, one could tell he sounded more relaxed than before. Still, his tone was heavy as he spoke, "The bad news is the first killer, who's been silent for five years, has resurfaced. I don't know if he's only targeting the second killer who copied him, or if he has a new target and the second killer is just a by-product."
The two men did not look at the crime scene first, but stood beside the corpse and discussed the case.
Guan Xia, Pang Le and Zhong Xiaoyu, who were standing a few meters behind the two men, opened their mouths in shock.
It took Pang Le several minutes to react and he cursed. "What the hell, what a shocking reversal! We just found some clues about the murderer this afternoon and were planning to confirm his identity tonight and start surveillance tomorrow. How come he suddenly died just a few hours later? And he was killed by the first murderer? Could it be that the second murderer has been imitating the first murderer's crimes and wanted him to take the blame, and ended up angering him and killing him?"
After Guan Xia recovered from her shock, she suddenly remembered something Captain Yang had said earlier and hesitated, "Do you remember what Captain Yang said during the case analysis meeting tonight? He said that although the suspect left blood in the cracks of the chair at the scene, the autopsy report of the fourth victim, Tian Junming, showed no signs of resistance on his arms, and there were no biological samples like dandruff in the cracks between his fingernails. This suggests that the second murderer was injured before attacking Tian Junming. Could this injury have been caused by the first murderer? They failed to kill him then, so they followed his trail and finally killed him at the foot of Dacui Peak."
Guan Xia pondered for a moment and continued, "Da Cuifeng and Xiao Cuifeng, judging by their names, they should both be mountain ranges in Dadong Mountain. They might not be far away. Is it possible that the second murderer intended to escape from Da Cuifeng while escaping our pursuit this afternoon, and was then killed by the first murderer? But there is also a problem. The pursuit this afternoon was an accident, and Da Cuifeng is in the wilderness. Unless the first murderer was stalking the second murderer, it is impossible for him to foresee it, or to encounter it by chance and kill him."
Guan Xia couldn't continue her analysis at this point because the image she associated with it made her hair stand on end.
She could never have imagined that when they and Captain Yang were at the crime scene in the afternoon, in addition to the second murderer returning to the scene, there was actually another murderer near the scene in a place they didn't know about, silently watching everyone including the second murderer.
What she couldn't understand the most was that the system interface was not triggered, which meant that she was staying in a place where she could see the second murderer and them but without revealing any part of their identity.
Guan Xia's mind was working at high speed, and the more she thought about it, the more her hair stood on end.
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