Chapter 194 194 It is very likely that he really knows something
Feng Xingping and Yao Qingyan were both involved in a murder case, as was Lu Manqing. The difference was that Feng Xingping's stepfather, Yao Qingyan's biological father, stepmother, and half-sister died when they were just adults and had not yet entered adolescence, while Lu Manqing's uncle died when he was in adolescence.
According to the investigation by the task force, when Lu Manqing was 14 years old, an uncle who had close ties with his family was murdered at home. The crime happened late at night. The uncle was stabbed in the heart by someone who broke into the house and died on the spot.
The task force conducted an in-depth investigation and found out that one of Lu Manqing's parents died and the other became paraplegic in a car accident when he was 6 years old. Although the perpetrator paid a large sum of compensation in order to avoid going to jail, this ordinary family fell into the abyss overnight. Because of paraplegia, Lu Manqing's father went from being an ordinary person who didn't like to laugh or talk much but was still emotionally stable to a hysterical and moody person. He would curse and complain about every living thing he saw every minute and every second when he was awake.
Lu Manqing and his sister, who was two years older than him, soon became silent and taciturn due to family changes. They were often pinched, hit, and stabbed. The most serious incident was when Lu Manqing's sister was stabbed in the arm by a pair of scissors thrown by their father. Blood flowed to the ground, but their father refused to pay for her treatment. In the end, one of their uncles heard the news and rushed over and took her to the hospital.
This uncle is their father's blood uncle. He was married once, but because he was lazy and gluttonous, he divorced within two years of the marriage. Perhaps it was really hard to change one's nature. After the divorce, this uncle did not remarry, but instead made a living by doing odd jobs all over the country. Relying on his youth, after working for a while to earn enough money to eat and pay rent, he would immediately lie down at home and stay there until the money was gone.
I don't know if he was planning to take the compensation money, but he never left after he came, and he didn't go out to work. He just stayed at home every day to coax Lu Manqing and their high-level paraplegic father, and eat and drink for free.
Although this uncle has many shortcomings, he can barely be considered a good person to Lu Manqing and his friends. After all, although he is lazy and likes to eat, he still can't bear to let his children do heavy work. He always scolds, but every ten days or half a month, he can't bear to wipe Lu Manqing's father's bath and turn him over. After a long time, he will spontaneously repair some broken things because it is inconvenient.
Since the uncle came, Lu Manqing and her friends suffered fewer injuries and their grades even improved a little. But the good times didn't last long. When Lu Manqing was 13 years old, her sister committed suicide.
When Guan Xia heard this, her heart skipped a beat and she subconsciously had a bad premonition.
Sure enough, Xu Nian then told a cruel truth.
Through the investigation of the task force, it was found that the reason why the uncle stayed in Lu Manqing's home for so long and kindly helped Lu Manqing's father turn over and clean the bed was partly because of money, and partly because Lu Manqing's sister was sold.
Lu Manqing's father was reluctant to spend money on a nanny, fearing that he would be left with nothing after the money ran out, but he was willing to use his daughter's body in exchange for someone else's reluctant care, even though his daughter was so young and not fully developed.
Lu Manqing's sister was sold from the age of 10 to 15, and had two abortions during that period. His uncle took her to an illegal clinic under the pretext of taking her out to play.
Children may only be ignorant for a while, but they will not be ignorant forever. So after entering junior high school, Lu Manqing's sister collapsed. She also knew that it would be difficult for her to escape her father's control before going to college. She had been controlled for 5 years without knowing it. She tried, but could not bear being controlled like this, so she finally chose to commit suicide.
When Xu Nian said this, Guan Xia couldn't help but sigh in her heart. She now understood why Lu Manqing took this path, because of hatred.
Just like Feng Xingping, Zhang Weiyan, and Yao Qingyan, their hearts were filled with hatred that could not be removed and would only grow deeper and deeper into their bones, so they voluntarily embarked on this path, and fell deeper and deeper, and were unwilling to turn back.
"What happened next?" Guan Xia pressed. "Did the task force uncover any other cases following Lu Manqing's lead?"
Xu Nian nodded. It was just as Guan Xia guessed. Lu Manqing was a result. The task force traced back to the source and solved eleven unsolved cases in one fell swoop. It also indirectly confirmed that Lu Manqing started killing people just four years after his uncle's death when he turned 18. Because someone cleaned up the mess, he was not discovered until his skills became more and more mature and he started to act alone.
Xu Nian said: "When the task force solved those backlog cases, they also tried to follow the clues to find the person who cleaned up Lu Manqing's mess, but unfortunately, they still haven't found any clues until now."
Before Guan Xia could say anything, Pang Le said, "There's also a one-to-one approach here, with the advanced leading the backward. However, since Lu Manqing is so hard to catch, the accomplices who helped him clean up the mess must be even harder to catch. After all, it was just a coincidence that we found Lu Manqing in the first place. If Lu Manqing hadn't let down his guard a bit on his way out after killing someone, allowing Guan Xia to discover his suspicious nature through his tattoo, we might not have been able to solve the case. After all, that organization is too cautious, and they are completely different from Wu Xingxian's group."
Zhong Xiaoyu nodded in agreement. "This is the difference between the original and a low-quality imitation. However, no matter how low-quality the imitation is, there is always a prototype. We can now say that we have touched the edge."
Xu Nian looked at Guan Xia and said, "When I met with Director Ren a few days ago, Director Ren mentioned to me that, because of the Kangjian Physical Examination Center case, many experts on the task force believe that although you lack experience, you are very talented. Perhaps after the experts return from Shangshuang City, they might try their best to involve you in the operation to capture the accomplices who were cleaning up Lu Manqing's mess. After all, you have been very successful in discovering clues through surveillance footage in recent months. Director Ren said that they have been coveting your abilities in this area for a long time."
Xu Nian's words were encouraging, but Guan Xia didn't seem very interested. She turned the paper cup that had just been filled with water in her hand thoughtfully, obviously thinking about something.
Everyone else noticed it, and after a few minutes, Xu Nian asked tentatively, "Do you have any ideas?"
Guan Xia was pulled back to her thoughts. She subconsciously glanced at Xu Nian, then at Pang Le, who had suddenly become serious and expectant. She organized her words before nodding and saying, "I do have some ideas. I've been staying in my study these days, speculating for a long time based on the existing clues. But after all the speculation, I still feel that this won't work. It's too inefficient. We're now racing against time. In order to find a breakthrough before being targeted by that criminal organization, we have to find another way."
Everyone was too familiar with Guan Xia's tone. Every time she said this, it meant that she had a certain plan. Suddenly, everyone sat up straight and subconsciously leaned a little towards Guan Xia, afraid of missing any information.
Guan Xia didn't speak immediately. She looked around and took out a few sheets of white paper from Xu Nian's study as if she was familiar with the place. She also took a pen and then returned to the living room and sat down at her seat, writing as she spoke.
"Here's what I think," Guan Xia wrote two words on a piece of white paper, which were surprisingly Wu Yang. Then he filled in the existing clues one by one from bottom to top. "As for the several important clues we have now, such as the orphanage, Yao Qingyan, Wang Huiqin, and Wu Xingxian, they seem to be inextricably linked to Wu Yang, but after a real in-depth analysis, we will find that these clues are actually very disconnected from Wu Yang himself. Even Wu Xingxian seems to have a close relationship with Wu Yang, but we have no evidence or clues to show that this criminal organization is related to Wu Yang. There are too many gaps between these clues and Wu Yang. There are too many clues that we need to find out and fill in. Moreover, there are already special task forces working on these. Instead of joining them, we might as well go straight to the source and start investigating Wu Yang directly."
Jiang Yingyao listened with some hesitation. "Since Wu Yang is suspected to be the leader of that criminal organization, he will obviously be more cautious than other members. Moreover, from what we have found out now, that criminal organization has obviously been established and entrenched for a long time. We don't know how many members there are, but I think it will be more, not less. As the leader, Wu Yang will definitely not do it himself. In addition, his current identity is a well-known entrepreneur, and he often does charity. I think he is no different from a turtle with its head and tail completely retracted into its shell. It is not easy to find a breakthrough. Another point is that so many years have passed. Even if he took action at the beginning, such a long time is enough for him to clean up everything. It is difficult for us to find substantial evidence."
Wang Yu and Qi Bai obviously thought the same thing. After Jiang Yingyao finished speaking, their expressions showed some approval.
Pang Le naturally stood on Guan Xia's side. Upon hearing this, he immediately said, "I think what Guan Xia said makes sense. We haven't been exposed to that criminal organization yet, but they are very ruthless and may discover us at any time. Instead of investigating from the periphery, we might as well start from the center of everything, Wu Yang."
Zhong Xiaoyu also nodded and said, "It's like taking apart building blocks. If you want to save time and effort, you should naturally start from the very beginning, that is, the most important piece at the bottom. As soon as you pull it out, the entire building block will collapse immediately."
This was the first time that there had been disagreements within the team before investigating a case, but it was unavoidable. This case was different from the previous ones, and every choice had to be made carefully. Previously, at most, they would take some detours, but this time, if something went wrong, taking the wrong path was secondary. The most feared thing was that they would accidentally lose their lives again. Regardless of how efficient the task force was, it was indeed safe to work with them and there was no need to worry.
Guan Xia also knew what Jiang Yingyao and the others were worried about, but after hesitating for only a few seconds, she said firmly, "I still think we should start with Wu Yang."
Jiang Yingyao didn't say anything against it this time. Seeing Guan Xia's insistence, he fell into deep thought.
Xu Nian had been silent until this moment, when he looked at Guan Xia and asked, as if he had thought of something, "Do you want to start from the very beginning? Do you want to find the first crime Wu Yang committed when that criminal organization was just established, or even before it was established?"
Guan Xia nodded, feeling relieved and a little emotional. Xu Nian has always been a man of few words, but every time he speaks, he is very to the point. He is also always so sharp and can always quickly keep up with Guan Xia's thoughts and understand her ideas and practices. After weighing the pros and cons, he always supports her decisions.
Sure enough, after receiving Guan Xia's nod, Xu Nian continued, "In addition to reading the case files these past few days, I've also been thinking about how to investigate this case. Initially, I was inclined to follow the task force, but recently I've found some information and have some guesses. I'm leaning towards what Guan Xia suggested, going straight to the source and starting with Wu Yang."
Everyone's spirits perked up after hearing this, and Guan Xia couldn't wait to ask, "What did you find out?"
Xu Nian didn't answer immediately. Instead, he went to the study and took out an envelope. After opening it, he pulled out a stack of photos and handed out a few to each person before saying, "I found someone who I thought was a little suspicious, but after a thorough investigation, I found nothing. However, just because I didn't find anything doesn't mean Guan Xia can't find anything either."
As Xu Nian spoke, he looked at Guan Xia with some expectation and trust, as if Guan Xia could do anything.
Guan Xia felt a little embarrassed being stared at, but pretended not to notice. She pursed her lips and looked down at the photos. There were eight photos in total, six men and two women, six middle-aged people, and two young women. Two of the middle-aged men were familiar faces, Wu Yang and Wu Xingxian. However, one of the photos of the two young women was obviously different from the others. It was not high-definition enough, a little blurry, and the filter was also dim, like an old photo.
Xu Nian seemed to have been paying attention to Guan Xia, noticing that her gaze rested on one photo longer than on the others. He explained, "This photo was taken in 2001. The woman in the photo disappeared in 2003 and her whereabouts are still unknown. According to the law, a person can be presumed dead after being missing for four years, but her husband and daughter never applied to the relevant department. I contacted the police station that received the call at the time. According to them, it was the woman's husband who called the police. He said that she suddenly disappeared without saying goodbye one morning. He asked the neighbors and searched for a long time. He said that there were eyewitnesses who saw her leave with a man. The police suspected that the woman had abandoned her husband and daughter and eloped with someone, but they never found the key evidence. The daughter said that her mother loved her and her father very much, and it was impossible for her to elope with someone. The police suspected that she knew something, but after repeated questioning, she still did not reveal any more information."
Guan Xia looked at the old photo again, then found another photo of a young woman and asked Xu Nian, "Is this the missing woman's daughter?"
Xu Nian nodded. "The woman disappeared in 2003, when she was 28 years old. Her daughter was five years old at the time. This photo was taken in 2019, when she was 21. She's 29 now. I checked her household registration information. She's unmarried and works as a Chinese teacher at a primary school in her registered place. I contacted the local police station, and they found out she's still single and doesn't have a boyfriend. She doesn't have many friends. She works in town, but she doesn't rent a house. Instead, she commutes every day between her work town and her home village, where she lives with her father. She pretty much goes nowhere else."
Guan Xia was quick to realize something and asked Xu Nian, "When did this man return to the village where he lives now?"
Xu Nian replied, "I checked in 2007. He brought his daughter back to live in the village. He was very high-profile and caused quite a stir. It was said that he drove back with a lot of cash and built six houses for himself and others in the village. However, he was the only one who returned home. He raised his daughter alone and never remarried. He still helps look after the other five houses. He doesn't have a job, but he's not short of money. He'll occasionally bring tools to clean other houses."
Guan Xia understood what was going on and said, "That is to say, of the six people who entered the orphanage due to the fire, except for this one, the others are all staying with Wu Yang. It seems normal, like they are helping others renovate and look after the ancestral home. But if you think about it carefully, it is quite inconsistent. After all, Wu Yang later became rich and made a lot of money. According to human nature, unless there are special circumstances, it is impossible for him to give up the huge amount of wealth that is within his reach and willingly live this kind of retirement life. Obviously, there must be a secret behind his trip back to the village this time."
"I think so too," Xu Nian said. "And the missing person's daughter, I find it strange too. I always feel that her behavior is a little unusual. It's very likely that she really knows something."
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