Chapter 82 Chapter 82 ...So, who are you? ...
"...The contract Xiao Yan found at Che Xiaozhen's house shows that Dong Sihai had indeed rented part of the warehouse at the dock under the name of Baihualou and had assigned Che Xiaozhen to oversee it. Che Xiaozhen didn't lie about this. Furthermore, only Che Xiaozhen's hair, fingerprints, and footprints were found at her home. No clues were found in Dong Sihai's Mercedes-Benz, which clearly had been thoroughly cleaned. Xiao Yan has already contacted Shi Youhua, and the Mercedes-Benz is temporarily in police custody until the case is closed."
In one hand, Lu Zheng held the inspection report that Officer Yan from the Physical Evidence Department had just handed over, and with the other hand, he opened the door of the small restaurant for Ji Yinhe who was walking in front of him.
Ji Yinhe found a clean table and sat down. "What was Shi Youhua's reaction?"
"Xiao Yan said she was a little flustered. After clarifying the situation, she hung up." Lu Zheng took the menu from the proprietress and pushed it across the table. "It seems your guess was correct. Her feelings for Dong Sihai are much deeper than she's letting on."
"Well, she has a private detective there, and he should also start investigating Dong Sihai's disappearance."
"Let's order something to eat first." Lu Zheng saw the fatigue in Comrade Ji's eyes and smiled. "It's almost nine o'clock. No matter how anxious you are, you can't overwork yourself."
Ji Yinhe obediently lowered his head, flipped through the menu, and picked two items at random. "I want stir-fried winter melon with garlic and greens, and an order of beef dumplings. You can take care of the rest."
"Okay." Lu Zheng called the waiter and pointed to the menu and added two more dishes.
Comrade Xiao Ji rinsed the dishes with hot water in a distracted manner and couldn't help sighing.
There were only twenty-four hours left before the deadline set by Tan Li. Although she had no strong evidence, let alone a closed-loop itinerary, the intuition in her heart was constantly pushing her towards the name "Wu Sijia".
Amidst deep doubts, the little moments of playing with Wu Sijia when I was a child slowly emerged before my eyes.
Although Wu Sijia was an only child, the Wu family didn't treat her very well. They always wanted a son. Although they failed to give birth to a second child, they always treated their eldest daughter as an "older sister" in everything.
For example, let her learn to do housework early, teach her to keep herself clean, open her eyes and find a good husband when she grows up, and try to stay in Jiangtan, so that her parents can rely on her to take care of them when they are old.
But Wu Sijia was a very independent girl who loved to dress up and enjoy the attention of others. By the time she was just over ten, she had become friends with all the boys in the compound and even received a bouquet made of foxtail grass.
That year, she suddenly carried the little sun, who was only a dozen days old, to the other end of the park, greeted Ji Yinhe who was playing in the mud, and asked her if she would like to help her take care of the little stray cat. Ji Yinhe was shocked. She couldn't understand why this girl who never lacked friends rejected the pursuit of so many little boys and girls and insisted on playing with her.
But the little sun was so cute. It tilted its orange little face and meowed at her, and Ji Yinhe's heart melted immediately.
Without hesitation, she agreed to Wu Sijia's request and became a "cat-raising partner" from then on, vowing to raise the skinny little thing into a plump and round big orange cat.
But the little sun's life ended on that cool autumn day.
Ji Yinhe closed his eyes and recalled how it lay in a pool of blood.
Some parts of the body were flattened. At that time, she and Ji Jianguo thought that Xiao Taiyang had been run over by a tire - now thinking back carefully, those bloody wounds were scattered, rather than a whole track.
——So, what if it wasn’t a car that pressed it, but a person?
Ji Yinhe's breathing was a little trembling.
...If the guess is true, then the real murderer of Xiao Taiyang is actually the "friend" whom he trusted very much back then.
If she had taken the little sun home instead of leaving it in the park, would it still be alive now?
…
"The food is served!"
A huge casserole was placed in front of him, and the rich aroma made Comrade Xiao Ji's thoughts instantly return to reality.
Lu Zheng couldn't help but smile as he saw her eyes slowly opening wide.
"This is a Jixi specialty called Yipin Hot Pot. My mother is from Jixi and used to make it at home. You don't often find it in Jingzhou or Jiangtan." Lu Zheng skillfully rolled up his sleeves to help her pick up some vegetables and scoop up some soup. "It has pork belly, chicken, egg dumplings, quail eggs, fried tofu, and radish. It's simmered in broth over low heat... It's a pity that the bamboo shoots are out of season now, otherwise it would be even more delicious."
Ji Yinhe's greed was aroused. After taking a bite, his frown instantly relaxed. "Delicious, delicious! I'm going to write down this recipe and let my mom learn it!"
Seeing that she was in a much better mood and ate three bowls of food before slowly burping, Lu Zheng took the opportunity to put forward his own ideas.
"I've been thinking, since the deceased was disfigured and wearing a flight attendant uniform, it's very likely that the murderer deliberately led us to believe Wu Sijia was the deceased. Then who is the real deceased? Xu Yanhong?"
"I don't know." Ji Yinhe shook his head. "Is there anyone else at the Forensic Center? Can we ask them to do another autopsy tonight?"
"Let's go check it out after dinner. There's no rush." Lu Zheng picked up a piece of meat for her with his chopsticks and asked softly, "Do you suspect... Wu Sijia is the murderer?"
Ji Yinhe lowered his head and picked at the rice for a while. "I just can't understand why she would do this if it was her?"
Lu Zheng hummed softly, "From the perspective of motive, Shi Youhua is much more suspicious than her."
"Yeah." Ji Yinhe sighed softly, "And Dong Sihai, his car was last seen at the dock, but where did he go... Could he be Wu Sijia's helper?"
Lu Zheng thought for a moment and asked, "How about we assume that Wu Sijia asked Dong Sihai to help her? If you were her, where would you choose to commit the crime?"
Ji Yinhe looked into the distance and spoke only after a long time.
"I think I'll start...at the place I hate the most."
*
The next day, the first ray of sunlight in the early morning pierced through the darkness and shone onto the table in the provincial department's autopsy room.
Lu Xiaoyan and Xiao Xie, who were wearing white coats, took off their gloves, lifted the transparent curtain and walked out.
Ji Yinhe and Lu Zheng, who were waiting outside, hurried over to meet them.
"Don't do it again." Lv Xiaoyan stretched her neck and handed the autopsy report to them. "If Tan Li hadn't called me personally, I wouldn't have come here to do the autopsy all night... Oh, it's six o'clock. I have to go home and make breakfast for the kids. Xiao Xie, I leave this to you..."
She took off her white coat and walked away like the wind, and the corridor was filled with the voices of gratitude from Comrade Xiao Ji and Teacher Xiao Lu.
Xiao Xie smiled and explained to the two detectives, "Director Lu is like that. She has a sharp tongue but a soft heart. When she heard there were doubts in the case, she performed the autopsy more carefully than anyone else. Otherwise, with her skills, she wouldn't have needed an entire night!"
"I'll definitely thank Director Lu after the case is closed!" Ji Yinhe stretched his head to read the report, his tone flattering. "So, what conclusion did you come to?"
"Oh, actually, most of them are consistent with the previous autopsy conclusions. I'll just talk about the differences." Xiao Xie spread out the papers in his hand. "We found that the deceased had very white skin and a relatively low muscle mass, especially in the legs. She might have been malnourished... I've seen photos of the victim you suspect, Xu Yanhong. She was indeed quite thin and fair, which is consistent with the autopsy conclusions..."
Ji Yinhe lowered his head and was silent for two seconds, then said, "That's not right."
Xiao Xie was bewildered, "What's wrong?"
"Xu Yanhong is a middle school teacher, teaching Chinese and serving as a homeroom teacher. This means she has to stand for long periods of time in her daily work," Ji Yinhe said. "You said she has varicose veins in her calves, which makes sense. She definitely can't have no muscles!"
"Yes, and we've seen her work and personal photos at the Jiangtan Municipal Bureau." Lu Zheng added calmly, "She loves wearing high heels both at work and outside of work, so her gastrocnemius muscles should be quite well-developed."
Xiao Xie blinked, "Teacher Lu, you seem to be quite knowledgeable about this..."
"My mother likes to wear it." Lu Zheng explained without any expression.
Xiao Xie glanced at Ji Yinhe, who looked gossipy, and coughed, "What if Xu Yanhong... has been imprisoned in a place where she can't move since she disappeared?"
"She has been missing for less than half a month. The time is too short for her muscles to degenerate so quickly." Officer Xiao Ji returned to his professionalism and pointed out the doubts directly.
"Time..." Lu Zheng tapped his chin lightly with his index finger, "So, could this deceased person have been imprisoned for a long time?"
"You mean, she's not Xu Yanhong?" Xiao Xie spread his hands in confusion. "Oh my God, who else could it be?"
After two seconds of silence, Ji Yinhe suddenly reached out and patted his head.
"...Wait for me here for a while!" She ran to the office.
A minute later, he came over with a thick notebook, cleared his throat, and read aloud:
"In November 1994, a 28-year-old female accountant named Song Panqiao from Longfan District went missing. Her body was later found in a canal. It's suspected she fell while drunk..."
"In February 1995, 21-year-old hairdresser Gao Li fell to her death. Suspected suicide..."
"In December 1993, 18-year-old female college student Deng Qianxiu disappeared and has not been heard from since!"
"The common thread in these cases is that the parties involved had a huge argument with their fiancés or boyfriends before and after the incident!"
Lu Zheng was shocked. "You mean Deng Qianxiu, the female college student who has been missing for over two years and has no news so far..."
"That's right." Ji Yinhe snapped his fingers. "Deng Qianxiu was eighteen years old when the crime happened in 1993. She should have been twenty-one in 1996!"
"—This completely fits the assumption that the deceased was between 20 and 25 years old!" Xiao Xie's eyes widened as he answered loudly, "If she had been held captive by the suspect for two full years, she would most likely have had such pale skin, malnutrition, and a loss of calf muscle!"
"right."
Ji Yinhe turned his head and stared at the dead body on the dissection table who had not yet been pushed back.
...So, who are you?
The body covered with white cloth lay there quietly, answering with silence.
Lu Zheng's gentle and pleasant voice rang in his ears: "Assuming that the deceased is Deng Qianxiu, then where is Xu Yanhong now? Could the previous victims also be related to Wu Sijia?"
His words reminded Ji Yinhe. She lowered her head, took a deep breath, and scanned the names of the women's fiancés and boyfriends.
"Teacher Lu, let's call them now and call them over this morning to interrogate them one by one!"
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