Chapter 74 Chapter 74 Someone's ears turned slightly red...
Ji Yinhe was tilting his head at this moment, holding the microphone between his ear and shoulder, and his hands were quickly recording every word Ahua said.
After hearing this, I felt like I was thrown into an ice river in the cold winter and started shaking uncontrollably.
...cat abuse?
Did she hear it right?
How could Wu Sijia abuse a cat? When they were young, they could have raised a little sun together!
"...Hey, officer, I've said what I want to say. Do you have any other questions?"
Ji Yinhe shuddered, and pulled himself out of his deep thoughts. He cleared his throat and asked, "Do you have any evidence for what you said?"
Ah Hua snorted and laughed. "What a coincidence! It really happened! I just happened to have a DV camera imported from Hong Kong that day, and I was filming outside from the balcony... Suddenly, I heard a shrill scream from the grove, and I saw Wu Sijia stepping on an orange ball—"
"Alright!" Ji Yinhe suddenly imagined Little Sun's soft, cute, furry head. He said in a cold voice, "No need to be so detailed... Since you have a video, could you send it to the Handong Provincial Office?"
Ah Hua hesitated for a moment, "Officer, this is smuggled. What if you catch me later..."
"I promise you, I won't keep it as evidence." Ji Yinhe said, pressing his eyebrows.
"..." Ah Hua thought about it, still not daring to believe the police. "How about this, I'll go back to Jingzhou tomorrow and show it to you in person, okay?"
"Okay, where shall we meet?"
"It's the alley in front of my house, tomorrow night at nine o'clock?"
"good."
Ji Yinhe hung up the phone, paused at the table for a moment, then quickly walked to the nearby evidence center and told Lu Zheng, who was reading the report, what Ahua had said.
"I'll go with you tomorrow night." Lu Zheng handed her the papers in his hand and said gently, "Take a look at this first."
Ji Yinhe shifted his gaze to the black words on the paper and began to read with a slight frown.
"The body's identity is still difficult to determine. No other injuries were found, and no evidence of sexual assault was found. The skeletal age is approximately 25 years old, weighing approximately 48 kilograms. There are no obvious birthmarks or scars on the body. The cause of death is brain damage, which basically matches the results of the on-site autopsy and the current status of the only missing person, Wu Sijia. However, the gravy contains... ethyl maltol?"
Her eyes flickered slightly, and she looked up at Lu Zheng in surprise, "If I remember correctly, this is a kind of... food flavoring agent, right?"
After Lianjie Snack Shop became famous in Jiangtan, the owners of several old-fashioned restaurants wanted to join forces to suppress Lianqiao. At that time, they dressed up as diners and came to the restaurant to eat. They secretly learned a few popular dishes, added flavor enhancers and sold them in their own restaurants.
However, dishes made with chemical methods may taste delicious at first, but if you eat too much, you will feel thirsty, uncomfortable, and nauseous, and even your urine will have a smell.
It was only later that people learned from television news and newspapers that food flavors had secretly developed rapidly in the early 1990s.
This thing is not cheap and difficult to make, so it can't be a long-term battle. In addition, Lian Jie Snack Shop's new dishes are constantly emerging, which quickly suppressed the waves raised by the other party.
Lu Zheng nodded and said, "...Yes, this is ethyl maltol A2, suitable for meat products. It can react with the amino acids in meat, significantly enhancing the flavor and aroma of meat. It is widely used in the food industry today... You can see it in major video factories and small restaurants in Jingzhou, making it difficult to pinpoint the murderer."
Ji Yinhe tapped his fingers slowly on the table, pondering for a moment. "But Mr. Lu, this thing is indeed common in the food industry, but it's probably hard for ordinary people to think of this aspect... So, perhaps the murderer we're looking for has some related background?"
"It's possible." Lu Zheng raised his eyebrows, his gaze fixed on the scattered hair at the corner of her jaw. "Did Team Leader Tan call you over just now?"
"Yes," Comrade Xiao Ji said, his lips straightening. "I told him the deceased might be Wu... Wu Sijia, and Captain Tan suggested we start our investigation with the luxury car that took her away."
Lu Zheng stared at the tip of her delicate and upturned nose for two seconds, pretending not to notice the evasiveness in her tone every time she mentioned Wu Sijia.
"Okay, that car has fake flowers on its windshield." He nodded slightly. "I'll have the traffic police check the streets this afternoon... You don't look well, are you suffering from low blood sugar?"
"Hypoglycemia? Who? Me? How is that possible?" Ji Yinhe puffed out his chest, trying to regain his usual cheerful demeanor, and changed the subject, "But it's really time. The last meeting of the ancestral hall said that nothing is more important than eating on time and getting a good night's sleep, so let's go to the cafeteria for lunch first!"
She jumped up and grabbed Lu Zheng's arm, ready to rush out of the office.
Although there was a layer of sleeve between them, the slight touch still made someone's ears slightly red.
Lu Zheng walked a few steps outside with Ji Yinhe, and when he met the first colleague, he pulled his arm back calmly.
Although they have been working in the same unit during this period, except for a few times of eating Jingzhou snacks outside, they rarely eat alone in the unit.
The crackdown team usually prepares meals and eats them in the office. Even if they go to the cafeteria together, Ji Yinhe is popular and is always surrounded by colleagues.
Sometimes when something big happens at home or with the police, Lu Zheng has to run back and forth.
So when the two of them took their lunch boxes and found a corner seat to sit down, several people turned their heads to look at them and whispered:
"Isn't that the Public Security Mainland teacher? The girl next to him is the new Xiao Ji?"
"It seems so... How do they know each other? They look so familiar!"
"Tsk, how could you forget? The Criminal Investigation Bureau has set up a crackdown team!"
"Oh, now I remember. I heard that she was transferred here because of Teacher Lu's recommendation?"
"That can't be possible. The requirements of the ancestral hall are so high! The little girl must have some skills!"
The voice blew into his ears, and Lu Zheng lowered his head slightly with a bit of shyness. While others were looking away, he picked up the clean chopsticks and picked up a large piece of braised beef for Ji Yinhe.
However, Comrade Xiao Ji had a hard time eating.
"No appetite?"
Ji Yinhe shook her head, pursed her lips, and seemed to be subtly angry for some inexplicable reason.
Lu Zheng asked tentatively, "Is it related to the case...Wu Sijia?"
Ji Yinhe looked around and sighed, "I'll tell you after I see Ah Hua."
Lu Zheng said okay and didn't ask any more questions.
In the afternoon, the two went to Jiangnian's technical center and borrowed a computer to view the surveillance videos of major intersections in Jingzhou sent by the traffic police brigade.
However, the flight attendant dormitory was located in the suburbs, away from the key road sections in the city center where cameras were installed. Furthermore, the video quality was poor and full of noise, making it difficult to make out even the license plate, let alone the fake flowers stuck to the window.
It was already late at night before they finished watching the surveillance video. Jiang Nian threw the keys on the table, left the technical center to them, and went back to the dormitory to sleep with his hands in his pockets.
Ji Yinhe was already in a very bad mood, and after watching the surveillance for several hours, he didn't gain anything.
Thinking of the faceless female corpse lying on the cold operating table in the autopsy room, and recalling the innocent and happy childhood, and the oath he made to find Wu Sijia... After being a policeman for so long, he felt an indescribable frustration for the first time.
She didn't even want to say a word, but just clicked the mouse with a stern face and expressionless expression.
Fortunately, Mr. Lu was very considerate and did not ask any more questions. He sat quietly in front of the computer next to me.
Unexpectedly, just after ten o'clock, a rumbling sound of intestines was heard in the house.
Comrade Xiao Ji pressed his stomach embarrassedly, withdrew his attention from the screen, and prepared to go to the office to look for some peach cakes and biscuits sent by Ms. Lian.
Unexpectedly, when I looked up, the person sitting next to me was gone.
"...Teacher Lu?" She stood up and called out twice in confusion.
Suddenly, I heard footsteps coming from the corridor.
Lu Zheng strode in from the corridor carrying two aluminum lunch boxes. Seeing her confused look, he laughed refreshingly.
It was strange. It wasn't that hot today. When I woke up this morning, I still felt the coolness of the electric fan blowing on my body. But at this moment, Ji Yinhe felt his cheeks were slightly hot.
Lu Zheng opened the lid of the box, revealing the small wontons inside, surrounded by milky white pork bone broth, emerald green onions and golden egg shreds.
"I just bought it downstairs." He asked gently and gentlemanly, "Do you want to eat it?"
"Eat!" Ji Yinhe pushed the keyboard forward.
Lu Zheng returned to the office and took two clean soup spoons. After a while, the two of them sat across the desk, their heads lowered, enveloped in a cloud of white mist.
It was so quiet that only the faint sounds of chewing and contented sighs could be heard.
Ever since he saw the body this morning and suspected that the deceased was Wu Sijia, Ji Yinhe felt as if his heart was being pulled up, wrinkled, and extremely uncomfortable.
But now, he was appeased by this bowl of ordinary-tasting wontons.
…
The clock quickly turned to the next day.
At the same moment, the Grand Cherokee stopped silently outside the alley.
Ahua arrived earlier than planned. As soon as Ji Yinhe rolled down the window and greeted him, he trotted over familiarly, opened the back door, and got in.
"Wow, you policemen drive really well!" Ah Hua, who had been working away from home for many years and had long been slicked by society, looked around and raised an eyebrow at the two officers in the driver's and passenger seats who looked very well matched. "What's your relationship? Partners? Are you a couple?"
"..." Ji Yinhe coughed heavily, not even daring to glance at Lu Zheng. He frowned and scolded, "What are you asking about? Where are the things you asked me to bring?"
"Why are you so fierce? I'm not a criminal!" Ah Hua muttered, took out the DV camera tucked under his arm, opened it carefully, and called up the footage that was filmed many years ago.
——This is a shot from an overhead perspective. You can vaguely see Wu Sijia walking on the path in a light blue dress. An orange shadow flashes by, and she bends down and grabs the kitten's tail.
The orange ball kept struggling in the girl's hands.
She looked around for a few moments, then walked into the bushes nearby.
A moment later, the light blue skirt was stained with a bright red blood stain.
The video ends here. Seeing his old friend after a long time, Ji Yinhe's breathing couldn't help but tremble slightly.
She was very sure that it was Wu Sijia, there was no mistake.
Ah Hua rubbed his hands and asked, "Um, officer... my mom told me that a headless female corpse appeared in the suburbs. Could it be Jia Jia?"
"First of all, it's not a headless female corpse." Ji Yinhe closed the DV camera with a snap and glared at him. "Secondly, don't ask about things you shouldn't ask about. Finally—"
She held up a finger. "You can get out of the car now."
"Okay, okay." Ah Hua curled his lips, "Officer, please don't take my DV camera—"
"Got it." Lu Zheng stretched out his arm and opened the car door for him. "Keep in touch."
Ah Hua got off the car mumbling.
After Lu Zheng and the others had gone far away, he looked at Ji Yinhe, whose pupils widened slightly, and asked in a low voice:
"Comrade Wu Sijia, is he an old friend of yours?"
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