Chapter 5 Did the murderer change his target? Or...
As daylight dawned, Qi Bai walked into the office with breakfast in one hand and a stack of documents in the other, and saw Xu Nian leaning against the conference table, staring at the whiteboard in front of him in a daze.
At this time, there were several photos and a lot of words on the whiteboard. Qi Bai walked over and handed the documents to Xu Nian. Seeing the dark circles under his eyes, he said, "Captain Xu, you haven't slept all night again."
Xu Nian came back to his senses and took it, flipping through it quickly and answering, "I slept for two hours."
"I put the buns on the table," Qi Bai picked up one and stuffed it into his mouth, saying vaguely, "I didn't sleep well last night. I dreamed of the crime scene of the 119 case. I can't figure out why Liu Jiahui and her son became the targets of the murderer. I checked. Liu Jiahui was born in 1993, married for 17 years and divorced for 20 years. She raised her son Liang Wenxing alone until her death. She had little contact with her ex-husband Liang Da. In the first two years after the divorce, she didn't even receive any child support. It wasn't until 23 years after Liang Da started his new business that he received some child support intermittently. Such an ordinary mother and son have almost nothing in common with the victims of the 612 case and the 119 case. Oh, yes, it's not that there is nothing in common."
Qi Bai bit the bun in his hand hard, paused and added a few words, "Liu Jiahui and her son have a very good relationship. I visited Liu Jiahui's workplace and community, and they all said that although Liu Jiahui raised the child alone, she took very good care of the child."
Qi Bai said this with a slightly confused expression, "Did the murderer change his target? Or is this simply a copycat crime?"
Qi Bai's last words were very soft, almost a murmur.
Qi Bai stopped eating the buns and couldn't help but flash the information of the two cases he had seen in his mind.
612 case, two victims.
The deceased, Tang Wenyan, male, 29 years old, graduated from a top major in a well-known university. He was recommended for admission from high school and studied for a master's and doctoral degree. He found a job after graduation and stayed at his alma mater to get engaged to his childhood sweetheart. When he died, there were two months left before the selected wedding date.
The deceased, Qiao Rong, female, 29 years old, graduated from the Finance Department of a well-known university. She started a business while studying for her master's degree. Within three years after graduation, she developed her three-person makeshift team into a micro-enterprise with 82 employees.
In addition to their own excellence, both of their parents are also talents in their respective fields.
Case 119, two victims.
The deceased, Tan Hongyu, was a 13-year-old boy in the first grade of junior high school.
The deceased was Tan Hongyun, a 2-year-old boy.
My father is the general manager of a real estate company and my mother is a partner in a law firm.
Qi Bai analyzed the problem over and over in his mind. He finished his breakfast without any taste and came up with nothing. His mind was in a mess.
It was not until the sound of Xu Nian walking that he came back to his senses.
Qi Bai grabbed a wet towel from his colleague's desk and walked over to Xu Nian while wiping his hands. "Captain Xu, do you have any ideas? Our colleagues from Taoyang City and Ningguan City should be arriving soon."
Xu Nian had already finished reading the autopsy report and was staring at the whiteboard in a trance. He replied casually, "It's not a copycat crime. Whether it's the criminal method or the level of sophistication in leaving no traces at the scene, it can't be a copycat crime."
Qi Bai heard the unspoken words and said, "In other words, the breakthrough point still lies with Liu Jiahui and her son. Got it. I'll go find Brother Jiang and watch the surveillance together."
Qi Bai finished speaking and turned to look for Jiang Yingyao. After taking two steps, he turned back to remind Xu Nian, "Captain Xu, don't forget to eat breakfast. You won't be able to take care of your comrades from Taoyang City and Ningguan City when they arrive."
Xu Nian waved his hand to indicate that he understood.
…
Guan Xia stayed at Pang Le's house for two days, and the pain in her legs was relieved a lot, and she finally didn't have to use a trekking pole anymore.
Feeling the relaxation in her legs, Guan Xia felt a rare sense of joy on the way to the gym with Pang Le.
While waiting for the elevator, Pang Le replied to a few messages. Suddenly, he thought of something and asked Guan Xia, "How is it going? After playing with me for two days, have you got any inspiration for your new comic?"
Guan Xia thought for a moment and shook his head. "No, Shi Lu is a handsome man, but he has absolutely no desire for me to create."
Perhaps because they had too little contact, in Guan Xia's opinion, there was nothing memorable about Shi Lu except his face.
Pang Le said, "Oh," and suggested, "Then let's go out to dinner with you in a couple of days. Maybe you'll get some inspiration if we see you more often."
Guan Xia couldn't help but roll her eyes at her. "What kind of stupid idea are you coming up with? Why did you two bring me along for dinner? I won't be a light bulb."
The elevator arrived, and the two stood in the corner. Pang Le asked again, "Your new house has been sitting out for half a year, right? When are you going to move in?"
Guan Xia calculated, "It will be about half a month soon. By that time, the case upstairs should be solved, so it's a good time to move in."
Pang Le was silent for a moment after hearing this, then he leaned in close to Guan Xia and whispered, "I have a friend from Taoyang City. We were chatting last night, and he said there was a case in their city back then where the murderer's modus operandi was very similar to this one, so it's very likely a serial killer case."
This was something Guan Xia hadn't expected. She was shocked. "Serial murder case?"
Pang Le took out his mobile phone, found the link sent by his friend, clicked it and handed it to Guan Xia.
Guan Xia read the case quickly. The case happened in 2019. The deceased, a man and a woman, were a couple. The female victim had her throat slit and the male victim drowned. The two bodies were found more than ten kilometers apart. If it was not later discovered that they were a couple, it would be difficult to connect them.
Guan Xia glanced at the text and then focused on the pictures.
It was also a tricky angle. Half of a policeman's shoulder with epaulettes could be seen on the edge of the camera. The body was lying in a prone position on the river bank. It had crawled before death. Although it was blurred, one could vaguely see a bloodstain winding forward in the direction of the body's crawling, and finally formed a small pool under the body of the deceased.
Pang Le suddenly said, "This is the primary scene. The male victim fell into the water here."
Guan Xia looked at the bloodstains left by the corpse crawling before death in the photo again, and her mood was so complicated that she didn't know what to say.
The elevator arrived, and Pang Le pulled Guan Xia aside. "Let's go to the gym and talk about it. This case was a big deal at the time, and my friend heard a lot of gossip."
Guan Xia's pace suddenly quickened.
After turning a corner and being about ten meters away from the gym, Guan Xia, who was walking fast, suddenly noticed another gaze. It was different from the last time. She didn't know if it was Guan Xia's illusion, but she actually felt malicious intent.
Guan Xia turned around sharply and saw a familiar huge figure. It was the giant panda puppet that he had seen several times in the past two days.
Guan Xia paused, and Pang Le immediately turned around to look at her, "What's wrong?"
Guan Xia didn't say anything, but stared at the direction of the panda doll. Although there was a hood between them, Guan Xia knew that he didn't turn away and was still looking at her.
Pang Le stood beside Guan Xia and looked over, asking again, "What's going on?"
Just then, the panda puppet started interacting with the children around it. Guan Xia withdrew her gaze, thought about it with confusion, and finally shook her head. "I don't know. I was walking just now and suddenly felt someone was looking at me."
Guan Xia looked back at the panda doll and said hesitantly, "I don't know if I'm overthinking it, but I always feel that gaze..."
Guan Xia chose her words carefully, "It seems like there's some ill intention behind it."
Upon hearing this, Pang Le stopped immediately, walked to Guan Xia's left side, stood between her and the panda man, put his arm around her shoulders, and then led her forward.
After entering the gym, Pang Le immediately pulled Guan Xia to a corner with a serious expression. "Why would a stranger harbor ill will towards you for no reason? Could he be the murderer in the case upstairs? Because you ran into him and provided clues about him to the police, so he's targeting you?"
Guan Xia was startled, but after thinking it over, she felt it was impossible. "I was definitely not the only one who saw him entering and leaving our unit that day. Moreover, the police would definitely ask questions throughout our entire community. Moreover, even if they knew I lived in 501, how would they know what I told the police? The most important thing is that this isn't the first day we've seen him. It's been the third day since your competition. The first two days were normal, only today seems a little off."
Guan Xia thought for a moment and added, "Also, my staying at your house and visiting your gym were all last-minute decisions, and that panda doll man was already here on the first day of the store celebration. He couldn't have been deliberately following me."
Pang Le remained silent, barely convinced, but still felt uneasy. "I always feel something is wrong. I'll ask the floor manager to see what's going on with that panda doll."
Pang Le took out his phone and started typing messages. A few minutes later, he looked up at Guan Xia and said, "I asked, and the panda doll man is from outside the city. His name is He Wei. He came to Yongquan City last year and was delivering food before. He's short of staff for the store's anniversary celebration these days, so he came here to make some extra money. Today is his last day, and he won't be coming tomorrow."
"Then it really can't be the murderer," Pang Le concluded, but he still had doubts. "You've been with me the past three days and haven't provoked that guy named He Wei. Why does he suddenly dislike you?"
"Who knows?" Guan Xia said helplessly, "Maybe he has mental problems?"
Pang Le still frowned as he watched Guan Xia circle around her a few times. After a moment, he thought of something, "The only difference between you today and the previous two days is that, besides changing your clothes, you're not using crutches anymore. Could this be the reason?"
Guan Xia: “…”
Pang Le was also amused by his own speculation and patted Guan Xia's shoulder. "Forget it, if you can't figure it out, then forget it. He won't be coming tomorrow anyway. I will follow you for the next few days. Even if he wants to do something, I will make sure he never comes back."
Guan Xia was indeed not worried. She was a little nervous at first, but after she realized that it couldn't be the murderer, she completely relaxed.
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