Chapter 75 75 After ten years, I suddenly came from another city...
The two teams quickly joined together. After a simple handshake, Xu Nian and Xia Chenghui communicated in low voices.
Guan Xia and Pang Le were not far away, and were trying hard to listen. They saw Wang Yu waved at them implicitly, and then slowly moved his feet, taking advantage of the group of people not paying attention and slipping up to them unnoticed.
"Why are you here?" Guan Xia was a little surprised, then she realized something and asked Wang Yu, "Xu Nian, do you have something to tell us?"
Wang Yu glanced to the side again before leaning closer to them and whispering, "Captain Xu asked me to ask you if you want to participate in this case."
"We can get involved?" Guan Xia was even more surprised. "Isn't this an existing case?"
Wang Yu's voice softened as he explained, "Based on the current clues, this is very likely an ongoing case. It's precisely because it's an ongoing case that we're able to get involved. Look at the weather..."
Wang Yu glanced around and continued, "It's getting worse. On the surface, there seem to be plenty of clues, allowing for investigation in several directions. But in reality, we haven't found the victim, and we don't know the suspect's whereabouts. Even if there's a murder weapon, it'll take time for the technical team to examine it, and that's exactly what the criminal police squadron in charge of the investigation lacks. Think about it, if the first scene was indoors, it would be fine, but what if it's outdoors? What would be left after a rainstorm? So they're racing against time, devoting every ounce of their strength to this."
Pang Le listened with great interest, his eyes sparkling. "No wonder Captain Xia is still discussing with Captain Xu at this critical moment. It turns out they're trying to recruit foreign aid."
Wang Yu said softly, "It's better to use the labor that comes to your door than not use it. Besides, we're all trying to solve the case. We can't go back before the rainstorm ends anyway, so we might as well lend a hand to our sister unit. That way, we can talk to them when they need us next time."
Pang Le showed an admiring expression and gave a thumbs up.
After explaining the whole process, Wang Yu quickly asked, "How about it? Do you want to come together?"
Pang Le didn't say anything, but stretched out his finger and gently poked Guan Xia's waist, which was obviously a hint that Guan Xia wanted to see the clues she found solved with her own eyes, so he said, "Of course we want to go together, but after all, we are in Fu'an City, is that okay?"
Wang Yu said confidently, "Don't worry about that. It's all up to Captain Xu. Anyway, no matter what Captain Xia from the Dingyang District Branch says, just don't say anything. Just nod."
Guan Xia was curious and agreed, "Okay."
Then Guan Xia noticed that while Xu Nian was talking to Xia Chenghui, he glanced at them vaguely. Wang Yu noticed Xu Nian's eyes and quickly made an OK gesture. Xu Nian nodded implicitly as if he had received it.
A few minutes later, after no one knew what Xu Nian had said to Xia Chenghui, a group of people came towards them. Just as Guan Xia was feeling nervous and confused, Xu Nian suddenly introduced them, "This is Guan Xia, an expert hired from outside our branch."
As Xu Nian finished speaking, Guan Xia felt several question marks pop up in her head. When did she become an external expert of the Pingjiang District Branch? How come she didn't know about it?
But Guan Xia kept in mind Wang Yu's instructions just now, and tried hard to control her expression so as not to show confusion. She forced a smile and nodded.
Compared to Guan Xia's reserved attitude, Xia Chenghui was much more enthusiastic. She came up to Guan Xia, shook her hand, and said, "No wonder you were so perceptive in spotting the suspect in a crowd. Turns out he's one of us. Hello, Expert Guan."
Guan Xia couldn't keep silent any longer, so she could only say stiffly, "Hello, Captain Xia."
Xia Chenghui finally released Guan Xia's hand, staring intently into her eyes and asking, "All the clues in this case so far were discovered by you, Expert Guan. I wonder if you have any suggestions for the next direction of investigation?"
Guan Xia's expression became even stiffer. She just wanted to get involved and figure out what was going on in this case, but she didn't know how to investigate it specifically.
Fortunately, before Guan Xia could even speak, Xu Nian spoke up immediately, "Comrade Guan Xia is very good at finding clues from details. Several cases in our branch were solved with her help. In addition to her exceptional sensitivity to criminal suspects, she is also very good at finding clues about suspects in surveillance footage."
This explanation finally diverted Xia Chenghui's attention from Guan Xia, and she immediately said firmly, "That's easy. I've already asked someone to go to the traffic police brigade to retrieve the surveillance footage. Now I'll have to trouble Expert Guan."
The people from the first squadron came in a hurry and left in a hurry just as quickly. Of course, they not only took away the sketches drawn by Guan Xia, but also the entire black plastic bag including the fruit knife that was suspected to be the murder weapon.
With only acquaintances left, Guan Xia finally no longer had to maintain a tense expression. With a sigh of relief, she asked, "What's going on? How did I become an expert? Isn't it a bit outrageous that you're using this excuse to get us involved?"
Guan Xia looked at Xu Nian in confusion, feeling that he would not do such a thing.
Pang Le was also a little curious, but Ji An seemed to have thought of something and a look of understanding appeared on his face.
Xu Nian said: "Let's go to the Dingyang District Police Station first, and then explain it to you on the way."
So the group dispersed and got in the car, Guan Xia, Pang Le, Xu Nian and Wang Yu were in the same car.
As soon as they got in the car, before they even fastened their seatbelts, Guan Xia couldn't wait to ask, "What's going on?"
Xu Nian started the car, glanced at Guan Xia, reminded her to fasten her seatbelt, and then said slowly, "This is Director Ren's suggestion. In his own words, as long as Guan Xia needs it, she can participate in solving the case under the name of our branch's experts when necessary."
Guan Xia never thought that it was Director Ren who asked Xu Nian to do this. Just as she was about to speak in surprise, Pang Le exclaimed, "Wow, Director Ren is really big-minded. He has never even met our Guan Xia, but he trusts her so much."
Wang Yu smiled and said, "Although we've never met, Guan Xia's reputation in our Pingjiang branch is already well-known. Not only in our Pingjiang branch, but throughout Yongquan City, she knows about it. I'm afraid by the end of the year, someone might have called me in a roundabout way."
Guan Xia was a little confused, "What do you mean?"
Wang Yu said, "We're looking for you to solve a case. We have targets in our line of work. It's not about a certain number of cases we have to solve each year, but how many cases we can't solve and end up with backlogs. Not to mention the annual backlog review. Normally, it's not so bad. We can always get experts from the municipal or provincial bureaus to handle difficult cases, but at the end of the year, everyone's short on manpower, so they'll look outside, especially for people like you who are suspected of being a Category 3 individual."
"The third category?" Guan Xia seemed to have vaguely heard or seen this term before. As she was recalling it, Pang Le suddenly spoke excitedly, "I know this."
Pang Le poked his head over from the back row and said, "I happened to be reading a crime novel a while ago, and it mentioned the so-called third category, which is neither the experience accumulated from a large number of cases nor the innovation of new technologies, but the kind that science can't explain clearly, including things like intuition and metaphysics."
Guan Xia nodded subconsciously after hearing this. A system suddenly popped up in her mind. Isn’t this the third category?
"So, go ahead and do it," Wang Yu patted Guan Xia on the shoulder. "We criminal police officers must make bold assumptions and carefully verify them. The only fear we have in a case is that there's no direction to solve it, not that there are too many directions to solve it."
As they were talking, a group of three cars quickly arrived at the Dingyang District Branch. As time passed, the wind became stronger and stronger. People walking on flat ground felt like they were being blown forward by the wind, and visibility became worse and worse. Guan Xia got out of the car and didn't even bother to observe. He followed the people in front of him and rushed into the office building.
Guan Xia quickly smoothed her messy hair and looked up to see a tall but thin middle-aged man who looked somewhat gentle. He pushed his glasses up and came up to greet them.
"This must be Captain Xu, right?" the middle-aged man shook hands with Xu Nian first, then searched the crowd and quickly fixed his sight on Guan Xia. He walked up and shook Guan Xia's hand again, "You must be Expert Guan. Hello, hello, I'm Lin Zhuang, the deputy captain of the first squadron. Captain Xia told me to prepare an office, and it's ready. It's upstairs."
Lin Zhuang led the way. Guan Xia rubbed her stiff cheeks again and whispered to Wang Yu in her ear at the end, "When your criminal police team solves cases, is it usually the captain who leads the team outside, while the deputy captain is in charge?"
Wang Yu lowered his voice in agreement, "Under normal circumstances, it's like that. After all, I'm the one who leads by example."
Guan Xia was a little confused. "Does your criminal police team always act so quickly? Captain Xia just took over this case. We don't know the identity of the suspect yet, and we haven't even reviewed the surveillance footage. I thought everyone would go back to the precinct for a meeting first."
Wang Yu whispered, "Before we arrived, Captain Xia had already contacted the traffic police and found the bus the suspect you spotted was on. The driver has roughly confirmed that the suspect boarded the bus at Jinxiu 1st Street and No. 16 Middle School. It's almost 9 p.m. now, and it's going to rain in six or seven hours. Time is running out, and Captain Xia can't wait for the surveillance footage, so he's taking people out to investigate, trying to find the victim and the primary crime scene as soon as possible."
Guan Xia recalled, "There are only a few people in their squadron, and with only two stations, and no one knows how many residential areas there are nearby, how long will it take to find a time to go?"
Wang Yu smiled and said, "Don't worry, a large number of people will be deployed at this time."
Guan Xia nodded, followed the crowd up two flights of stairs, and soon arrived at a small office.
The layout was similar to the office of Xu Nian's Second Squadron that Guan Xia had seen before, except that there were three additional people, Guan Xia, Pang Lejian, and others. There were a few familiar laptops on the conference table, all turned on. In the middle of the conference table was a box with a lot of mobile hard drives piled on it.
Pang Le hissed and whispered, "We just arrived at the Dingyang Branch, and the surveillance footage was obtained so quickly? It's incredibly fast."
Wang Yu explained, "From what I heard, it seems that as soon as the people sent by Captain Xia explained the situation to the traffic police brigade, the surveillance footage there was already prepared. We were also very surprised."
Guan Xia immediately thought of the traffic policeman who had been entangled with Pang Le for about ten minutes before Captain Xia and the others arrived, and then came over to verify.
Pang Le also thought of this and asked Wang Yu, "So, we can hopefully stop the suspect tonight before the rainstorm arrives?"
Wang Yu glanced at the time and said, "I guess the traffic police have already set up a checkpoint at this time, but it's hard to say whether they can catch the person before the rainstorm comes."
While the three of them were talking in low voices, Xu Nian and Lin Zhuang were discussing and arranging everyone's seats. As expected, Guan Xia and the other three were non-staff members, and the laptops on the conference table were for them.
Although they were not familiar with Fu'an City, facing such an office, the three of them felt completely relaxed and sat down as if they were familiar with the place.
Based on Guan Xia's limited experience, she had assumed it would be the same as before, with a group of people watching the surveillance footage to work backwards to find the primary crime scene. However, after less than two hours of watching the footage, they had only determined that the suspect had boarded the No. 528 bus from No. 16 Middle School Station and had been spotted at Jinhu Road, Ronghe North Second Road, and Hongxing Street. As they were continuing to search for the suspect's movements, Lin Zhuang, the deputy captain of the First Squadron in charge of the case, suddenly received a call. "Just got word from Team Xia. Fifteen minutes ago, the police center received a report of a woman, approximately 60 years old, suffering from hemorrhagic shock after sustaining an abdominal injury at home in the No. 16 Middle School family compound on Shengli South Second Road. She's been taken to the Second People's Hospital. Team Xia suspects she's the likely victim. She's already led the team to the primary crime scene and asked me to take them there now."
While Lin Zhuang was speaking, he looked at Xu Nian and Guan Xia inquiringly, obviously asking if they wanted to go with him.
Guan Xia and Xu Nian looked at each other and stood up almost at the same time.
Before he could open his mouth, Lin Zhuang said, "The car has been arranged, let's go together." Then he walked out quickly.
Although there was still a strong wind outside, fortunately it was already 11 o'clock in the evening, the roads were very clear, and there were almost no pedestrians outside. Everyone arrived at the hospital smoothly.
Almost at a race pace, they reached the operating room of the surgical building. Lin Zhuang was the first to speak, "Who is Ye Tao?"
A young man who had been sitting on a chair and talking on the phone stood up and said, "I am the police. Are you the police?"
Lin Zhuang flashed his ID. "I'm from the Dingyang District Criminal Police Team. Did you call the police?"
Ye Tao nodded nervously and said, "Yes, I arrived outside Teacher Jiang's house around 10:20. My sister was supposed to come, but she had some unfinished business at work and was on her way back. She was worried about Teacher Jiang because of the weather, so she called me to ask me to go. When I went over, I knocked on the door for a long time but no one opened it. At first I thought he wasn't home, so I called to ask if he was outside. I would answer the phone, but no one answered. However, I heard the phone ringing outside the door. I felt something was wrong, so I knocked on Teacher Du's door opposite, asked for the key to Teacher Jiang's house, and opened the door. I saw Teacher Jiang face down in the living room, bleeding a lot, and he was unconscious."
Lin Zhuang opened his phone and found a photo. He showed it to Ye Tao and asked, "Do you know this person?"
Guan Xia, standing aside, could vaguely see that the person in the photo was the same person in the sketch she had drawn before.
Ye Tao looked at it very seriously, then shook his head after a few seconds and said, "I don't know him."
Lin Zhuang asked again, "Do you know if Teacher Jiang has had any arguments or grudges with anyone recently?"
"A dispute?" Ye Tao frowned and recalled for a moment, then shook his head and said, "I'm not sure about this. I only know that Teacher Jiang was a high school teacher at No. 16 Middle School. She was rehired after retirement. She divorced her husband early in life and has no children. She has always lived alone and usually keeps to herself. However, students often visit her. I heard from my sister that they even have a group for students who were helped by Teacher Jiang in the early years. Everyone goes there whenever they have time. My sister might know more."
Lin Zhuanggang asked, "Can you provide me with your sister's contact information?"
Everyone heard a series of hurried running sounds, followed by a crisp female voice, "Brother, how is Teacher Jiang?"
Guan Xia turned around and saw a pretty girl in a professional suit with sweat all over her forehead. She ran so fast that she almost fell. Fortunately, Ji An was quick to help her.
After a quick thank you, the girl grabbed Ye Tao and asked in a panic, "You weren't being clear on the phone just now. What happened to Teacher Jiang? How did he get injured? Is it serious? What did the doctor say?"
The girl asked a series of questions, and Ye Tao said, "I don't know what happened. Anyway, when I opened the door, I saw Teacher Jiang lying on the ground, bleeding profusely. I quickly called 120. The emergency doctor said something about a ruptured organ. It was all chaotic, so I didn't hear clearly. As soon as the ambulance arrived, he was rushed into the operating room."
"Ruptured organs? How could that happen?" The girl's face turned pale and tears were streaming down her face, but she still held on to Ye Tao and continued asking.
Lin Zhuang had no choice but to interrupt and look at the girl and ask, "What is your relationship with Teacher Jiang? Do you know if Teacher Jiang has had any arguments or grudges with anyone recently?"
The girl then noticed a group of police officers nearby. She hurriedly wiped her tears and said, "My name is Ye Xi, and I'm a former student of Teacher Jiang. I've kept in touch with her, but I haven't heard that she's had any arguments or grudges with anyone recently. Teacher Jiang is a good teacher. She's been sponsoring students since she started at No. 16 Middle School. She divorced her husband for the same reason. She may appear stern, but she's actually kind-hearted. She wants everyone to improve."
Lin Zhuang took out the photo again and handed it to Ye Xi. "Take a closer look at this person. Do you recognize him?"
Ye Xi's panicked tears kept flowing, and she had to wipe them away vigorously to see the photo on her phone clearly. It was obvious that she looked at it very carefully, even trying to recall it seriously, but in the end she shook her head and said, "I don't know him. I'm sure I haven't seen him before."
Ye Xi handed the phone back, sniffed, and asked, "Is this person the murderer who hurt my teacher?"
Lin Zhuang said: "It's not certain yet, everything is still under investigation."
Ye Xi paused, as if thinking of something, and suddenly asked anxiously, "Comrade Police Officer, can I post this photo in our group? The group is full of students who have been funded and helped by the teacher over the years. I haven't seen it, but they might have."
Lin Zhuang refused and said, "The case is still under investigation. All information must be kept confidential except for the relevant personnel."
Ye Xi was stunned for a moment, then she understood, wiped her tears and said, "Then I will call a few classmates in the group who are in Fu'an City and ask them to come over now."
Ye Xi walked to the corner and started crying while talking on the phone. Ye Tao followed her to comfort her.
Guan Xia thought that the photo Lin Zhuang had taken out for identification seemed to be taken from the household registration, so he whispered to Xu Nian, "Have you found the identity information of the suspect?"
Xu Nian whispered back, "I've only found some basic information. The suspect is Wei Jianming, a 51-year-old male. He lived in Fu'an City until 2014, but after his son was admitted to a university in Dongyi City, the family moved there. He has a son and a daughter, both of whom attend No. 16 Middle School. However, because their grades aren't outstanding, they don't attend the victim's homeroom class. So, although they attend the same school, they're just acquaintances, not close friends."
"That's strange," Pang Le said, stroking his chin. "If they weren't familiar with each other, it means they didn't have much in common. So what motive did this criminal suspect have to go and kill Teacher Jiang? He got into university in 2014, so he must be at least 28 or 29 years old this year. Ten years later, he suddenly came from another city to kill someone. Isn't he another psychopath?"
As the identity information of the victim and the suspect emerged, Guan Xia felt that the mystery was even more numerous. She analyzed and inferred according to normal logic, but even with divergent thinking, she couldn't figure it out. After analyzing it over and over again, she felt that what Pang Le said made sense. Maybe it was really possible that he was in the same mental state as Yuan Yue in the previous case, so his motives were so outrageous that normal people could never imagine it.
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