Chapter 52 52 Realizing that this suddenly appearing Lao Tian might...
The four of them drove out of the Xicheng Branch. Although they were delayed a little while buying things on the way, they still arrived at the intersection of Qianjin Street and Pingcheng Road at around four in the morning.
When Xu Nian and his companions got off the car, several auxiliary police officers transferred from the Pingjiang Branch had already arrived. They were standing on the side of the road, looking around and observing the road conditions.
Seeing Xu Nian, several auxiliary police officers came forward and greeted him, "Captain Xu, Brother Jiang."
Xu Nian nodded, and Jiang Yingyao responded happily.
Qi Bai ran over with a few bags and quickly distributed them to everyone, "Come on, come on, eat something first. Fill your stomach so you can work better later."
Qi Bai was distributing burgers and Wang Yu was distributing water, and soon everyone had a burger and started discussing while eating.
Qi Bai wolfed down his food and asked vaguely, "Captain Xu, how should we investigate? How many groups should we split up?"
Xu Nian ate quickly, but much more politely than Qi Bai. He looked up in the direction of Binhu Road and said, "First, walk Pingcheng Road a few times to determine how long it would take someone of Lu Manqing's height to walk the entire route. Then, work in pairs to explore the smaller paths leading off Pingcheng Road and all nearby buildings to see if there's a good place to hide or destroy the weapon."
Wang Yu suddenly spoke up, "Captain Xu, I've checked. The distance from the intersection of Pingcheng Road and Qianjin Street to the intersection of Pingcheng Road and Binhu Road is 1,869 meters. Lu Manqing is 1.77 meters tall. We have eight people in our squadron, and only Xu Zian's height roughly meets that requirement."
As soon as Wang Yu finished speaking, everyone looked at Xu Zian who was unscrewing the cap of the mineral water bottle.
Xu Zian felt a little nervous when he was being stared at, and subconsciously stood up straight.
Xu Nian looked at him and asked, "How tall are you?"
Xu Zian replied, "179."
Xu Nian said: "It's only two centimeters off, but there's nothing we can do. The others are too far off. So, Qi Bai."
Xu Nian called out to Qi Bai, "We'll leave in a minute. You take Xu Zian and stay where you are. Wait for my call. Don't hang up. Then walk with Xu Zian. He'll be in front and you'll be behind. Walk at a normal pace. We'll see how long it takes."
Qi Bai agreed, and everyone immediately sped up. It took a few minutes for everyone to finish eating and clean up the garbage. Xu Nian said, "Let's get started. Hurry up."
Leaving Qi Bai and Xu Zian where they were, Xu Nian led the rest of the people along Pingcheng Road towards Binhu Road.
Before coming, except for the new auxiliary police, everyone else had repeatedly watched the surveillance video of Lu Manqing. In the video, Lu Manqing was very relaxed, and he didn't seem nervous at all about leaving the crime scene as soon as possible after killing someone. So Xu Nian was also very relaxed when he was leading them away. He walked at a normal pace and looked around at the buildings around Heisei Road.
Pingcheng Road is not a main road. It has four lanes on both sides. Apart from a small shopping mall with only three floors and a small area, the rest are small restaurants, small pharmacies and the like. There are quite a few residential communities, but it can be seen that they are all old communities. The exterior walls are not only dull in color but also mottled and peeling.
They arrived at Binhu Road smoothly. Xu Nian immediately raised his wrist to check the time. It took a total of sixteen minutes.
After confirming the time they spent, Xu Nian called Qi Bai and said, "You guys should start going."
Everyone stood there waiting. Except for the slight sound of footsteps coming from the phone that was still connected, everyone remained silent.
Soon, Xu Zian and Qi Bai appeared in everyone's sight one after another. Until they reunited with the others, Xu Nian said with confirmation, "18 minutes. You two run back and walk again."
Qi Bai and Xu Zian agreed and jogged back. After calming their breath, they walked back again.
After walking back and forth like this four or five times, Xu Nian finally called a halt. "That's roughly 18 minutes. Lu Manqing appeared at the intersection of Qianjin Street and Pingcheng Road at 2:05 a.m., and at the intersection of Pingcheng Road and Binhu Road at 2:43 a.m. The normal time it takes to cross this road is about 18 minutes, but he took 38 minutes. That means he spent 20 minutes dealing with the backpack on his back."
"Twenty minutes," Jiang Yingyao frowned. "If he was hiding, that's enough time to walk a kilometer round trip. Besides, he could have hidden his things and left directly from somewhere else. There's no need to go back to Heisei Road."
"Perhaps Zhang Weiyan only told Lu Manqing about the surrounding environment within one kilometer of the crime scene," Qi Bai speculated, "and didn't include Pingcheng Road. He's not familiar with it, so he doesn't dare to wander around on small roads or in residential areas."
"Maybe it wasn't hiding, but burning?" Wang Yu, studying something on his phone, suddenly spoke up. "Captain Xu, I asked the clerk at the Xicheng District Police Station. There's an unfinished building on Pingcheng Road. It was originally going to be rebuilt into a high-rise building after the demolition in 2017, but the construction company went bankrupt, so they stopped halfway through and it's still rotten. The clerk at the Xicheng District Police Station said that ever since it was abandoned, the area has been unsafe. The local police station has arrested robbers and drug users there. Some homeless people with no fixed residence live there, and there have even been serious cases like attempted rape."
Xu Nian frowned and said, "Let me make a phone call."
While the others continued their discussion, Xu Nian walked aside and called Zhuang Yinghua.
Zhuang Yinghua asked very quickly, "Xu Nian, what's the matter?"
Xu Nian said, "Zhuang Da, we've found some clues. We suspect the suspect disposed of the murder weapon somewhere on Pingcheng Road. I'd like to ask you about your investigation around Pingcheng Road, especially that unfinished building."
Zhuang Yinghua had taken over the case of Case 129 in 2021. He had a deep memory for the relevant information of the case and replied immediately without recalling it, "I personally led the investigation of that unfinished building. On the night of January 29th, there were three homeless people living there. We repeatedly questioned them, and they claimed that they had been sleeping that night and did not see anything. We also conducted a comprehensive investigation of the residential area with a view of the unfinished building. Because the crime occurred late at night, except for a few people working the night shift, most residents were asleep, so we did not find anything. We also worked with the local police station to conduct a detailed investigation of marginalized people in society who often mingled in the unfinished building, but found nothing."
Xu Nian wrote them down one by one, and then said, "I understand. Thank you, Zhuang Da."
After hanging up the phone and walking back, Qi Bai immediately asked, "How's it going, Captain Xu? What's the situation with that unfinished building?"
Xu Nian shook his head and said, "In 21 years, Zhuang Da personally led a team to investigate. They turned the area upside down and even visited all the nearby residential areas, but found nothing."
The excitement that had just been building up among the crowd suddenly cooled. Wang Yu asked, "Captain Xu, are we still going?"
Xu Nian thought for a moment and said, "Apart from that unfinished building, there's no better place to dispose of the murder weapon. Let's go take a look first."
Wang Yu immediately took out his phone and said, "Then I'll contact the local police station. They know more about the situation in that area."
The crowd did not wait for the local police station to arrive, but arrived at the location first after Wang Yu asked about the route.
This unfinished building complex is larger than Xu Nian had imagined. He originally thought that there were only a few buildings, but when he went there he found that it occupied a large area. It was quite far away from the nearest residential area, and there were no public facilities such as street lights. It relied entirely on natural light. No wonder it attracted the attention of criminals.
Qi Bai was also a little surprised. "Wow, this place is so big, and it has been unfinished for so many years. Isn't the Xicheng District Municipal Government worried? Although this place is a bit out of the way, it will be worth a lot of money if it is actually built."
Wang Yu said: "It's because it's so big that it's hard to find a buyer. After all, small companies don't have the strength, and big companies with strength will focus on more valuable locations."
Qi Bai realized it belatedly and muttered, "That's right. No wonder the suspect chose this place to dispose of the murder weapon. It's indeed a natural crime scene."
The crowd did not walk in blindly. They stood at the entrance and waited for about ten minutes, then they saw two people walking towards them one after another with flashlights.
As they got closer, everyone could see clearly that they were two policemen in uniform. One was older, looking to be in his forties, and the other was a young man who was on night shift. He looked energetic and it was obvious that he had just graduated.
The two groups exchanged greetings, and the older police officer said, "This unfinished building has been in constant turmoil since it was demolished in 2017. At the time, clashes broke out between the stubborn residents and the construction company. Later, after the building was abandoned, it became even more troublesome. We patrol here almost every day, once during the day and twice at night. We've tried installing surveillance cameras and even surrounding it with fences, but they were always vandalized. Over time, we've had to rely on human patrols."
The older police officer said as he led the way inside, "I was on patrol with the new interns the night of Case 129 in 2021. I still remember the times of our patrols: the first was around 10:30 pm, and the second was around 3 am."
The two patrols were conducted at different times than the crime. Xu Nian asked, "Are there any surveillance cameras outside this unfinished building?"
The older police officer shook his head. "Yes, there are, but they were all broken on the night of the incident. In fact, we replaced the nearby surveillance cameras in mid-January 2021, but they were vandalized within a few days. The environment in this area is really too complicated. There are petty thieves, drug addicts who have quit and relapsed, and some who take advantage of the environment to try to rob. Plus, there are homeless people who slip back into welfare institutions. It's really hard to catch anyone who is vandalizing them even if we want to."
Several people were speechless after hearing this. Although those people did this essentially for their own convenience, to a certain extent, they were also indirectly covering up the whereabouts of the murderer of Case 129. If those people had not deliberately destroyed the nearby surveillance cameras, perhaps the murderer could have been caught when the case was still ongoing in 21 years.
This unfinished building was really too big, and Xu Nian and his companions were here for the first time, so they did not separate but followed the two policemen, walking together, slowly observing and trying their best to understand the place.
Xu Nian asked, "Are there many homeless people living in this unfinished building? Are there any who live here year-round?"
The older police officer replied, "Yes, there were many a few years ago. At the peak, there were more than 20 people. Then it gradually decreased. In 2021, there were three. The others came and stayed for a while and then left. Now there are only two left."
"Only two are left?" Qi Bai couldn't help but ask, "Where did the third one go? Did he find a more suitable place or his family?"
The older police officer said calmly, "He's dead. He was hit by a car. Aside from a few homeless people who pick up scrap to sell for money, most of the homeless people living in this unfinished building make a living by scamming people. That guy didn't choose the right time to do it, so he rushed out and was hit and killed."
Several people looked at each other in surprise, obviously surprised that they would not live in the unfinished building for this reason.
After a few seconds of silence, Xu Nian asked, "So, the remaining two make a living by picking up scraps?"
The older police officer nodded. "Yes, these two are quite obedient. They just go to get off work and pick up cardboard boxes and mineral water bottles from the nearby residential area during the day, and come back here to live at night. Some kind people even give them some old clothes and shoes. Although life is a bit difficult, they can still survive."
"What about their families?" Wang Yu asked. "They've all been sent to welfare institutions. It's not much better than here, so why did they sneak back?"
The older police officer sighed, "Most of the homeless people in the past few years were those who abandoned their wives and children when they were young. When they were young, they didn't care about their wives and children. When they got older, they wanted to find someone to take care of them in their old age, but their wives and children didn't recognize them. They had no money and couldn't find a job. In addition, after a long period of relatively free life, they couldn't adapt to the environment of the welfare institutions at all. They wanted to make money, so most of them resorted to fraud. The two people now didn't do anything when they were young. They were just miserable. They had no relatives, no house of their own, and no money. They had no choice but to wander. We sent them to welfare institutions, but they couldn't adapt to the environment. Plus, they said they didn't want to cause trouble for the government, so they just stayed here."
Wang Yu sighed after hearing this and didn't ask any more questions.
As the group chatted, they arrived in front of an unfinished four-story building. The older police officer shone his flashlight over there and said, "This is where the two homeless people live. They originally lived separately, but as the number of people living here dwindled, they got scared and moved in together."
Perhaps noticing the lights, before the group even entered, footsteps approached from afar. Soon, a thin figure appeared in front of the unglazed second-floor window. A gray-haired old man poked his head out, recognized the leading police officer, and greeted him familiarly, "Officer Zhao, you're on patrol again! You've worked hard. No one's here tonight, just the two of us. The whole unfinished building was so quiet that we didn't hear a single sound."
After greeting him, the old man noticed that there was a group of people following the older police officer. He asked hesitantly, "Are these people... here to investigate that case again?"
Just by listening to this sentence, you can guess that although the 129 case has become a backlog case five years ago, the Xicheng District Branch has never given up the investigation and still comes to inquire for some information from time to time.
The older police officer looked up and replied, "Yes, that case has never been solved, but we have to keep investigating. It's been five years. Have you guys thought of anything recently?"
The old man said, "We slept all night and really didn't see or hear anything, but..."
The old man paused, and the policemen were all startled. They subconsciously asked, "But what?"
The old man said, "But we did meet Old Tian recently. He lived here just five years ago, but later he got rich and moved away. We all thought he moved out at the end of January 21, but when we ran into him a few days ago and chatted for a while, we found out that he actually moved out in early February before the Chinese New Year."
The older police officer immediately realized something and his expression suddenly became serious. "Are you sure he moved out in early February 21?"
The old man said with certainty: "That's what he told us. He said he had agreed on a price with the person who hit him, but later regretted it and thought it was too low. He haggled for several days, so he moved out in early February."
Xu Nian's expression also became serious, realizing that the sudden appearance of Old Tian might be a breakthrough.
The older officer understood, and before Xu Nian could ask, he whispered, "This old Tian's full name is Tian Kangyun, a man born in 1956, 68 years old this year. He abandoned his wife and children and later became a homeless person. He has been making a living by scamming people. We followed him after he moved away. He now lives on Ziyang Lake Road, which is outside our jurisdiction."
Since it crosses the jurisdiction, it is no wonder that there is a certain time lag with the information we have.
Xu Nian nodded and thanked him, then turned to look at Wang Yu.
Wang Yu reacted very quickly and took out his phone. "I'm calling the police station in Ziyang Lake now."
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