Chapter 47 47 Based on my investigation, the two of them really do not recognize each other...
Ji An was a very efficient person. After packing up the sketches, he said something to Guan Xia and the other two, and quickly left the cafe.
After watching her push the door open and walk out, Pang Le turned his head back, relaxed his body and leaned back in his chair, and said with a smile, "This Ji An is really much cuter than Lu Tingfeng. So, it seems that she will be a member of our gang from now on?"
The word "gang" successfully choked Guan Xia once again. Fortunately, she hadn't drunk her coffee at the moment. She glared at Pang Le and said, "Talk properly. What gang?"
Pang Le smiled and said, "Team, team, I was wrong."
Guan Xia breathed a sigh of relief, lowered her head and played with the cup in her hand, and began to think about how to explain to Pang Le. The system must not be disclosed, so she had to think of a good excuse to comfort Pang Le.
Before she could think it through, Pang Le suddenly said, "What's with that expression on your face? Are you thinking about how to tell me?"
Guan Xia subconsciously looked up at her. Pang Le said lazily, "I haven't been with you all day and night lately, but we've been in frequent contact. Besides, you just recently discussed your thoughts with me. I'm not entirely sure what you went through to make such a quick decision, but since you've already made the decision, it means you've thought it through carefully. That's all right, then. I'm just tired of following the rules lately, and I finally have time to do something exciting."
Pang Le moved closer to Guan Xia and asked in a low, slightly excited voice, "What's with those two sketches you gave Ji An just now? Did you find another murderer? Or two?"
Guan Xia shook her head and replied, "I don't know now. I just looked up some photos of the case online based on my life trajectory over the years, and then I remembered something. But the strange thing is that the person I think is suspicious is not someone who was at the crime scene, but a passerby."
"Pedestrian?" Pang Le frowned.
Guan Xia looked around carefully and saw that there were fewer people in the restaurant than before. The only table was also far away from them. Then she whispered a brief description of the scenes played in the video.
Pang Le hissed, "It's really a bit outrageous. Maybe that person wasn't just a passerby? Are they friends? Or maybe they exchanged murders?"
Pang Le's imagination was sparked. "I remember reading about this in a crime novel. In order to prove their alibi and escape police investigation, they simply exchanged murders. If the murderer has no criminal record, even if they leave clues like fingerprints or DNA at the scene, it will be difficult to detect them."
Guan Xia said, "I thought so too, so I asked Ji An to investigate these two people. At least there must be something substantial before I can tell the police."
Pang Le nodded in agreement. "That's right. After all, it's an old case, and it's in the west district. Xu Nian believes that you can't do anything about it."
The two chatted for a while, and Pang Le specifically told Ji An to call her when he got the results, and then they went their separate ways.
Guan Xia went straight home. As soon as she entered the door, Xu Nian finally called.
"I've read the confession," Xu Nian said. "Do you have time now? I'll tell you the murderer's motive."
Guan Xia said as she changed her shoes, "Yes, yes, yes, go ahead."
Xu Nian said: "The murderer's motive can be summed up in two words: perfect."
Guan Xia looked confused, "Perfect? What do you mean?"
Xu Nian said, "This has to do with the murderer's upbringing. Do you remember what I told you before? Xia Wenguang's mother had esophageal cancer in 1994 and died in 2000?"
Guan Xia recalled the case Xu Nian had introduced to her and nodded affirmatively, "I remember."
Xu Niandao said, "According to Xia Wenguang, in his childhood memories, his mother had always been a beautiful, gentle, outstanding, and strong woman. He was always proud to have such a mother. He felt that his mother was the most perfect person in the world, more perfect than anyone he knew, including his father. But his mother began to change after he became ill when he was 9 years old. Besides the changes in her appearance, what he couldn't accept the most was her changed personality. She was no longer gentle, she became hysterical, and every day she cursed everyone who appeared in front of her, including him. The changes in his mother over the past 6 years have completely overturned the image of his perfect mother in his memory, which makes him feel pain and resentment every time he thinks of her."
Guan Xia's mind went blank as she listened. She asked in disbelief, "Just because of this, just because of this reason, he wants to kill people? What do those girls have to do with him, and what do they have to do with his mother's death?"
As Guan Xia was speaking, she suddenly thought of a possibility and shuddered subconsciously, "His mother..."
Xu Nian almost immediately understood Guan Xia's unspoken meaning, "We have investigated this before. His mother did die of illness, not murder."
Although he denied this, Guan Xia was still horrified by Xia Wenguang's bizarre motive for murder.
Xu Nian said, "His first crime was committed during his junior year. His methods were very crude, and he left a large bloody fingerprint at the crime scene. However, since he wasn't in the deceased's social circle, he was completely ruled out during the investigation."
Guan Xia understood, "So, just like the other deceased, he was also a complete stranger to Xia Wenguang?"
Xu Nian said, "Yes, the victim in the first case was a senior at the same school as Xia Wenguang. The two had no contact, not even any social interaction. According to Xia Wenguang's confession, the victim was the most perfect woman in the school since Xia Wenguang enrolled. She was beautiful, intelligent, cheerful, and had extremely high emotional intelligence and IQ. However, after she got a boyfriend in her senior year, her perfection was destroyed. She lost her rationality and even cried for a man."
Guan Xia really couldn't understand Xia Wenguang's train of thought. She didn't know what to say, and question marks popped up in her mind one after another.
Guan Xia opened and closed his mouth, and finally couldn't help asking, "Since he thought that man was the one who destroyed the perfection, why didn't he kill that man?"
Xu Nian paused for a moment before continuing, "Because he feels that if this one is gone, there will always be another. Moreover, people will always age and get sick. Whenever he thinks that such a perfect person will become completely unrecognizable like his mother, he suffers greatly. He believes that one should stay in the most perfect moment."
Guan Xia: ...
What should she say? Should she say this world truly is a fusion of crime fiction and crime fiction? The murderer's perversion was beyond her imagination. This was a logic that no normal person could even begin to imagine.
"He will die immediately, right?" After knowing the murderer's motive, Guan Xia is now only concerned about this question.
Xu Nian replied, "This case is too serious. He won't receive a suspended death sentence. The provincial government has sent people to oversee the case, so it's very likely to be carried out this year."
Guan Xia felt relieved. Such a disgusting person, as long as he was alive, she would feel that he was wasting the earth's air.
Finally, the cause and effect of the case were clearly understood. While Guan Xia was solving his doubts, he became more concerned about the case, which was still a bit confusing, and was eager to find out what was going on.
Fortunately, Ji An was very quick in his work. Although he said it would take two days, he actually called Guan Xia in the evening of the next day.
"We've found both of their identities," Ji An said. "Do you want to meet today? Or should we wait until tomorrow?"
Guan Xia glanced at the sky. The sun was just setting, so it wasn't too late. So he said, "Let's do it today."
Ji An said, "Okay, where shall we meet? Or the same coffee shop as last time?"
Guan Xia glanced at the time. It was almost rush hour. By the time she got a taxi, it would be dinner time. No public place would be quiet by then. So after thinking for a few seconds, she simply said, "Remember the mall near the coffee shop where we met last time? Let's meet at Gate 1 of that mall."
Ji An said, "Okay."
After hanging up the call with Ji An, Guan Xia called Pang Le again.
"Are you in the gym now?" Guan Xia asked.
Pang Le said, "Yes, what's the matter? You came to see me?"
Guan Xia said, "There's some results from Ji An's investigation."
Pang Le was immediately excited. "You guys want to meet now? Why not just come to my place? I cleaned up my office when we separated last time, and it's just right for you."
Guan Xia couldn't help laughing. She had guessed this, so she made an appointment with Ji An to meet at the entrance of the mall.
"Okay," Guan Xia said, "I'm going out now. See you later."
Although they hit the evening rush hour when they were almost at their destination, fortunately the traffic jam was only short-lived, and they met Ji An only five minutes later than Guan Xia had expected.
Ji An was standing in an inconspicuous corner. He saw Guan Xia coming towards him first. The two of them met successfully, exchanged a simple hello, and then walked into the mall side by side.
As expected, Ji An didn't ask anything. He quietly followed Guan Xia's steps and walked into Pang Le's gym.
Pang Le was waiting at the gym entrance. When he saw the two of them, his eyes lit up. "Come on, come on, I'll take you to see it."
Pang Le led the way, walked through the entire gym, turned an aisle, and opened the wooden door at the end of the aisle.
"Ding ding ding, how is it? Not bad, right?" Pang Le asked impatiently as soon as he opened the door.
The two followed her in and looked around. The room was not big, but it was carefully decorated. The entire office was divided into two areas, half of which was a meeting area and the other half was an office area. There was not only a long conference table of medium size, but also three desks with computers. There was also a water dispenser, projector, screen, whiteboard, etc. Everything was available, which made Guan Xia feel as if she was about to come here to work.
Ji An was also stunned for a moment, and after a moment he nodded and said two words, "Very good."
Pang Le immediately looked at Guan Xia with anticipation.
Guan Xia's expression twisted for a moment, and after a few seconds, she spoke with difficulty, "Isn't this... a little too formal? It made me think I was going to work here."
Pang Le subconsciously glanced back and said, "Yeah, but I've thought about it. I can't do it any differently. I've read a lot of detective dramas and novels, and every case requires a meeting to discuss and surveillance footage to be monitored. These are all necessary."
Guan Xia followed Pang Le's train of thought and thought about it. She felt that it made a lot of sense, but it inevitably reminded her of her difficult working life before she traveled through time. Even her expectations for the information Ji An had found were reduced a little bit.
After closing the door, Pang Le carefully looked at the computer connected to the entire gym, including the security cameras at the entrance, before looking at the two of them and saying, "No one's there, it's safe, we can start."
Now even Ji An couldn't help but twitch his mouth.
Pang Le pulled out the chair next to Guan Xia and sat down. Ji An took out the two sketches, posted them on the whiteboard, and pointed at the man who jumped into the river. He introduced, "I found out that this man is Zhang Weiyan, 35 years old, from Anqi County, Yongquan City. He is unemployed and usually makes a living by doing odd jobs. And this man," Ji An pointed his finger at the sketch of the passerby, "is Feng Xingping, 27 years old, from Taoyang City. He runs an online store that takes orders for figurines and also runs a short video account teaching people how to make figurines. He only shows his hands and not his face. He stays in a fixed area all year round and only occasionally travels to nearby cities."
Guan Xia listened thoughtfully, "So, these two people have absolutely no connection at all, they're just strangers?"
Ji An didn't answer directly, "Based on my investigation, the two of them really don't know each other."
Pang Le couldn't help but say, "That's strange. They're not friends, but just strangers. How could they do such a deadly thing?"
Ji An looked at Pang Le with a puzzled look, but still didn't ask anything.
Guan Xia recalled the time when she saw the man who jumped into the river appear among the crowd of onlookers at the crime scene, and asked Ji An, "Where was Feng Xingping on January 29, 2021?"
Ji An said with certainty: "In Taoyang City, Feng Xingping came to Yongquan City for tourism in December 2020, but returned to Taoyang City after New Year's Day and has no record of going out since then."
"The person is not in Yongquan City?" Pang Le frowned even more tightly and looked at Guan Xia subconsciously.
Guan Xia also frowned. The two of them were ruled out as friends, and it was now confirmed that it was impossible for a man named Feng Xingping to be at the scene at the time of the crime. So what was going on with this case?
In the past, Guan Xia might have doubted the system, but now that it has helped the police solve several cases, it proves that the system cannot be wrong. So how is she going to find a breakthrough in this case?
Guan Xia thought about it and felt that she knew too little about the case. She was also a little impatient to hear from Xu Nian, so she asked Ji An directly, "I want to know the details of a case. Can you find out and tell me?"
For the first time, Ji An showed a serious expression. He frowned and looked at Guan Xia and asked, "Is it about the backlog of cases?"
Guan Xia nodded, "Yes."
Ji An shook his head and said, "The case files and related physical evidence are kept in the police force to which they belong. All information is confidential until the case is solved. Even if I can find some information, it is only some relatively superficial information."
Guan Xia immediately said, "That's fine. Also, can we get the surveillance video from the area near the crime scene on the day of the incident?"
This question was a bit difficult. Ji An thought about it for a while, took a deep breath, and then said, "I'll think of a way."
Seeing Ji An's somewhat reluctant expression, Guan Xia felt a little embarrassed, and she also wondered if what she was doing was wrong. After all, as an ordinary person, it sounded a bit over the line to investigate these things privately. She really wanted to tell the police directly as she did before, but when she thought about the two sketches she could provide, which could not prove that the suspected murderer was related to the case, she could only throw the idea that had just popped up in her mind to the back of her mind and carefully think about all the possibilities she could think of.
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