Chapter 222 In other words, there is another deceased person? ...
At three o'clock in the morning, the whole city was quiet, but the office of the Second Squadron of the Criminal Investigation Brigade of the Pingjiang District Public Security Bureau was brightly lit.
After staying up all night for several nights, everyone had dark circles under their eyes and sallow complexion. Some were lying on their chairs, some were sprawled on their desks, and some were even sleeping on the conference table, snoring so loudly that it was deafening.
Xu Nian was also half leaning back in his chair, trying to take some time to sleep. Suddenly, hurried footsteps were heard, and a technician in police uniform floated into the office.
"Captain Xu," the technician excitedly rushed over to Xu Nian. "The test results are in. The two deceased are confirmed to be Pang Zhiye and Pang Wenze, the father and son who disappeared on May 2nd."
The excited voices woke the sleeping people. Xu Nian also opened his eyes and quickly took the information from the technician. After a quick glance, he stood up and asked, "Have you found the location where the two deceased were last seen before they disappeared?"
Qi Bai rubbed his eyes and replied, "We've found it. It's in a small river five kilometers from the second dumping site on Cuiping Mountain. I've asked the relatives of the two deceased, and I also found chat logs on the phone of the deceased's colleague, Pang Zhiye, from May 2nd. The chat logs contain photos and a location, confirming it's the last place the two deceased were seen before they disappeared."
"Let's go." Xu Nian said and walked out.
The others hurried to follow, and when Qi Bai passed by Wang Yu's desk, he took away the half bag of biscuits left on the table.
Wang Yu saw it out of the corner of his eye, so he got on the same car with Qi Bai. He reached out and took the biscuits out of Qi Bai's pocket, divided half of it and stuffed it into his mouth.
Qi Bai curled his lips and said, "You're still arguing with me over half a bag of biscuits. The buns I usually treat you to are now in vain."
Wang Yu ignored him and only gave half of the chocolate to Qi Bai while eating it.
Qi Bai was immediately delighted and shamelessly asked, "Any more? Give me some more. If I go to the mountains at this time, I might not be able to come back tomorrow afternoon."
"No more," Wang Yu said. "It's the last bit of stock. Otherwise, why would I chase you and grab half of it?"
Qi Bai sighed, "I should have eaten more tonight. Now I really regret not finishing the soup. The beef bone soup base is full of energy. Luckily, it's hot now. At least I won't be cold at night, except for being hungry."
Xu Nian had been sitting in the passenger seat, thinking with his eyes closed. Qi Bai's nagging made him rub his forehead. Unable to bear it any longer, he said, "Drive well. I've already sent a message to Director Ren. I'll make sure you don't go hungry tomorrow morning."
Qi Bai's expression immediately changed and he chuckled, "I knew Captain Xu was reliable. Captain Xu, you can sleep, I will definitely drive the car steadily."
Wang Yu, who was sitting in the back seat, turned his head away with an expression of being unable to bear looking.
Returning to the temporary parking lot they had been to before, Qi Bai got out of the car and consciously led the way. He soon came to a dirty, old-fashioned van that looked a bit old.
"It was this car," Qi Bai said. "The deceased Pang Zhiye drove this car to go fishing with the deceased Pang Wenzhe on the morning of May 2nd."
Because it had rained two nights ago, the window of the van was so dirty that one couldn't see inside at all. Wang Yu cleverly took out a wet wipe and wiped a clean gap.
Xu Nian put his face close to the clean gap and looked inside carefully. Qi Bai stood aside and mouthed the shape of a flatterer to Wang Yu.
Wang Yu tilted his head and smiled triumphantly.
Xu Nian watched for several minutes before looking away and saying, "Check the engine to see if there's something wrong that's preventing the car from starting."
Several people immediately gathered in the direction of the front of the car. After a while, one of them answered, "Captain Xu, the oil filter is clogged. We can't tell if it's human error. We need to pull the car back for a thorough inspection."
"Then pull the car back." Xu Nian said, walked to the side and called Jiang Yingyao.
"Brother Jiang, how are things going over there?" Xu Nian asked straight to the point.
Jiang Yingyao yawned loudly and said tiredly, "There are too many biological traces in that car. The entire technical team has been working almost 24 hours a day. The hair found on the driver's seat of the suspected murderer has been confirmed to be a synthetic fiber wig. We tried to trace the manufacturer through those wigs, but the material of the wigs is too ordinary. We can't find any way to investigate further. This clue is broken. However, the bloodstains in the trunk have been matched with several victims, including Case 1129, Case 725, and the two victims this time. But there is a problem. The technical team found bloodstains of a fifth person besides these four victims. We have already run the database, and it doesn't match. There is no criminal record."
"So, there's another deceased person?" Xu Nian felt his scalp tingling. "We at least found some body parts of these four, but this fifth one simply appeared out of thin air. There's no clue at all."
Jiang Yingyao was silent for a moment before speaking, "What I'm worried about is whether there will be a sixth or seventh case without us knowing anything."
Xu Nian fell silent, his mind racing. After a moment, he said, "Judging from the body parts in Case 1129 seven years ago, it certainly doesn't seem like this was the first time. Director Ren, who was in charge of solving that case at the time, told me that they suspected there might be other victims before this. They also tried to search for older victims in the hope of finding more traces of the murderer, but they found nothing."
Jiang Yingyao sighed, "This guy is really good at hiding. I can't believe it even now. The technical team wiped the car inside and out, especially the driver's seat where the murderer spent a lot of time, but they couldn't find a single fingerprint that could be effectively extracted. I now suspect that this guy was wearing gloves the entire time he was in the car. Otherwise, it doesn't explain why the car hadn't been cleaned for so many years, but there was no fingerprint found."
"Also, this guy must have more than one car," Jiang Yingyao said. "I led a field survey. The area around the parking spot is deserted. The nearest one is an abandoned factory that closed down. Transportation is quite convenient. Although the factory is no longer maintained after it was abandoned, the car can still be used. It can reach not only four villages but also two provincial highways. We have had people review the surveillance footage, but nothing was found."
Jiang Yingyao paused and continued, "But speaking of which, Captain Xu, although those four villages are remote, there's a well-maintained road that leads directly to the city. I also had someone run that road, which passes by your neighborhood. It's the first small commercial district that those four villages pass through on their way to the city. There are shopping malls, supermarkets, and hospitals within three kilometers. I'm thinking that since the murderer parked his car there, he must be very familiar with the area or even live nearby. Is it possible that the murderer has been active in that small commercial district for a long time? Should we check the surveillance?"
Xu Nian thought carefully for a moment and denied it. "We only know the murderer's approximate size. There are many young and middle-aged men like him. Even if he really appeared on the surveillance camera, we might not be able to recognize him. Unless we have reached a dead end, there is no need to do such a strenuous task. Have you visited those four villages?"
Jiang Yingyao said, "I've checked. The four villages combined have a population of about 3,000. More than half of them grow vegetables in greenhouses. It seems they have government support. The vegetables in the greenhouses are all shipped to the city, sold in the vegetable market and supermarkets, and some sell them on their own stalls. The rest basically work in the city. Since there is a direct road to the city nearby, transportation is quite convenient, so they all live in the village."
Xu Nian felt a headache when he heard this. "It seems that unless we hit a dead end, we can't easily conduct a dragnet investigation. But we are far from a dead end now."
Jiang Yingyao immediately perked up when he heard this. "Captain Xu, have you found anything?"
Xu Nian nodded. "We just confirmed the identities of the two latest victims tonight: Pang Zhiye, a 43-year-old male, and Pang Wenzhe, a 16-year-old male. They went missing on the morning of May 2nd while fishing. We've reached the location they were last seen in and found the car they were driving. We just checked and found the car wouldn't start due to a clogged oil filter. And, importantly, Pang Zhiye had a long history of domestic violence against his wife, and Pang Wenzhe had assaulted his mother before he disappeared."
Jiang Yingyao's voice rose several degrees. "So, Captain Xu, you suspect the killer selected his victims based on the commonality of domestic violence. If we investigate based on this and the years they've been missing, wouldn't it be possible to find the identities of the victims in Cases 1129 and 725?"
Xu Nian added, "Although Pang Zhiye had a long history of domestic violence against his wife, there was no record of him reporting the incident to the police or being hospitalized. I suspect the same was true for the two victims in Cases 1129 and 725."
"I understand, I understand," Jiang Yingyao said impatiently, "I'll take people to investigate right now. As long as we can confirm the identities of the two deceased, we can also determine the murderer's activity area. Then we'll be able to catch this bastard soon."
Jiang Yingyao hung up the phone after he finished speaking.
…
Because she was thinking about buying groceries, Guan Xia got up very early the next day. She first confirmed the arrival time with the agreed housekeeping service again, then she hurriedly ate some bread, changed her shoes and went out.
Guan Xia looked at the time when she went out. It was just seven o'clock. She thought she came early, but when she walked to the gate of the community, she saw that the tricycle was surrounded by old men and women who came to buy vegetables.
Guan Xia didn't dare to squeeze in, so she stood aside and waited for the right moment to squeeze in. She had written down all the vegetables she wanted to buy last night on the memo on her phone, and she looked at them while choosing, and her speed was not slow.
It took more than ten minutes to buy almost everything. Guan Xia then carried the heavy bag to weigh it. Then she looked up and found that in addition to the middle-aged man she had met yesterday, there was also a very cute little girl.
She looked to be about ten years old, with beautiful pigtails, each with a red bow tied on it, and a red skirt. She was very busy around the man, helping to weigh things, passing bags, and even helping to find change for those who needed cash.
Noticing Guan Xia's gaze, the little girl turned around, smiled broadly, and asked Guan Xia, "Sister, have you chosen yet? I'll help you weigh it now."
Guan Xia glanced at the bag in her hand and said, "I bought a lot, and the bag is a bit heavy. Let your dad do it."
The little girl glanced at the man who was busy like a spinning top and said with a smile, "It's okay, sister. I'm very strong. I'll do it, sister, give it to me."
Guan Xia saw that the man was too busy to spare any time, so she hesitated for a moment and then handed it over.
Fortunately, the little girl was very strong. Although it was a bit difficult for her to catch the items, she successfully caught them and began to put them on the scale one by one to weigh them.
Guan Xia waited quietly. The old lady waiting in line to be weighed next to her smiled and asked, "Qianqian, I heard from your dad yesterday that you've been sick these past two days. Why don't you stay home? It's cool now, but it's going to get hot soon. Be careful of heatstroke. Did your dad bring you enough water? It's best to drink warm water. Cold water can cause stomach upset."
Before the little girl could speak, the middle-aged man beside her smiled and said, "This child is just like her mother. She can't stay at home. As soon as her fever subsided the night before yesterday, she pestered her mother to come out to help. When her mother refused, she started crying. We had no choice but to bring her out."
"Daughters are indeed thoughtful," the old lady said with emotion, "You have raised your daughter well. She is beautiful and generous, and can endure hardships. She will definitely have a bright future when she grows up."
The man's mouth was almost grinning from ear to ear with joy, and the little girl's smile became even brighter. While weighing Guan Xia, she took a moment to say to the old lady, "Thank you for the compliment, grandma. My dad is also great and he can endure hardships."
"Yes, yes, yes," the old lady said with a smile, "You and your daughter are both capable, and your mother is also capable. This whole family is capable, and that's why you live so prosperously."
It was the first time for Guan Xia to see such a happy scene. Although the surroundings were very noisy, she was not bored at all and waited patiently for the little girl to be weighed.
It took a while to weigh everything. The little girl counted for a while, looked at Guan Xia and said, "Sister, the total is 70 yuan and 30 cents. Just give me 70. Are you going to have guests at home today? Then give me some cilantro. It tastes good when you add it to cold dishes. My mom always adds it."
Guan Xia was a little surprised by the little girl's kindness. She was stunned for a moment before she quickly thanked her.
The little girl smiled and said you're welcome, then went on to weigh the next person.
Guan Xia quickly paid the money and took the bag back.
After squeezing out of the crowd, Guan Xia almost bumped into someone when she turned her head. She looked up and found that it was the woman she had seen yesterday morning who was slapped by her second husband. The woman was holding a cloth bag in one hand and holding her daughter in the other.
The girl was still wearing the same clothes as yesterday, with her head lowered, being pulled away silently by the woman.
Guan Xia quickly apologized and made way. The woman didn't say anything, just smiled and shook her head.
Guan Xia noticed the redness and swelling on her face. Not only the half that was beaten yesterday, but the other half was also slightly swollen, and finger marks could be vaguely seen.
It seemed that they had a quarrel last night. Maybe because he didn't want his daughter to see her being beaten, he deliberately let her go out to play. That's why the girl was alone digging in the lawn so late at night.
Guan Xia thought about the scene he saw last night. He couldn't describe his mood and just watched the woman go shopping in silence.
With the woman's appearance, the crowd was quiet for a few seconds, but soon became lively again.
Guan Xia heard the vegetable vendor's voice, "Sister, what's wrong with your face? Did you get beaten? What kind of man did you find? Why does he beat a woman?"
Guan Xia didn't hear the woman's voice, so she probably didn't answer. An old lady said, "Isn't it? I don't know what she was thinking. She married for the second time and found such a man. It's only been a short time since they got married, and she's already started fighting. How can she live like this? My daughter, you should get a divorce sooner, otherwise you'll have a hard time in the rest of your life."
Guan Xia still didn't hear the woman's voice, but even the vegetable seller was trying to persuade her intermittently.
Guan Xia waited for a few more seconds, but still didn't hear the woman's voice, so he went home carrying two heavy bags of vegetables.
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