Chapter 316 Deadline for Solving the Case
Due to language barriers, the communication between Zhou Yi and the old lady relied entirely on the little girl Lele to act as a translator.
Zhou Yi told the old lady that he could help them find the little girl's father and take them to the police station tomorrow.
The old lady said a few words, and Lele translated: "Grandma asked you, can she get the money back by finding my father?"
Zhou Yi knew that it was difficult to explain this matter to the old lady, and just because the old lady raised Lele, Zhou Yi knew that she was not a person who only cared about money.
To be honest, if the old lady hadn't taken care of the child, the child would probably have died long ago.
I have seen such things in my previous life.
She was just a little stubborn of her own, which was normal for an old person of her age.
Zhou Yi wanted to know some specific details from the old lady, such as when she went to find the little girl's father and whether she knew where the little girl's father worked.
But the old lady didn't know anything about anything, and Zhou Yi was helpless.
Zhou Yi found a pile of scattered branches on the ground outside the door. The old lady must have picked them up to make a fire and cook. She probably saw a stranger in the house and threw them on the ground in a hurry.
Zhou Yi couldn't look at Lele from the old lady's perspective.
He only knew that when people get old, they need something to rely on and think about, otherwise living would become just waiting to die.
Perhaps, the child Lele is the old lady’s hope.
He picked up the branches and put them in the house. It was already dark, and the only light in the house was the faint candle.
Zhou Yi looked around and found that the house probably didn't even have electricity. There was no light or electrical wires in the house.
He thought about it, turned back to the main road, found a grocery store and bought a kerosene lamp.
When the kerosene lamp was lit, the soft yellow light illuminated the shabby little house and the little girl's rosy face. Lele exclaimed: "Wow, it's so bright."
This reminded Zhou Yi of his childhood, when the Zhou family had just split up and he and his parents, a family of three, lived in a rented apartment. Electricity was limited at the time, so there would be a power outage every week.
Whenever there was a power outage, Zhou Jianguo would take out a big kerosene lamp. When the burning kerosene lamp illuminated the entire rental house through the glass cover, he was very happy as a child because that sense of novelty was something that electric lights could not bring.
He did his homework under a kerosene lamp, smelling the unique smell of the burning kerosene lamp. It was one of his important childhood memories.
Zhou Yi pointed to a bottle of kerosene on the table and said to the old lady, "If the oil in the lamp is running low, add this."
The old lady said something and the little girl covered her mouth and laughed.
"What's wrong, Lele?"
"My mother-in-law asked you, can this oil be used for cooking?" Lele said with a smile.
Zhou Yi quickly waved his hands at the old lady and said no, it would kill people.
Then he patted the little girl on the head and said see you tomorrow.
The little girl kept waving at him under the kerosene lamp, and even though he had walked very far away, he could still see her when he turned around.
Like a tiny firefly in the dark night.
…
Early the next morning, Zhou Yi went to find the old lady and the little girl.
The little girl ate the steaming hot breakfast with gusto, but the old lady didn't eat much. The little girl even asked Zhou Yi: "Uncle, would you like to eat something too?"
She looked so well-behaved that it made people feel distressed. "No, I've eaten, you can eat it."
After eating, he took the two of them to a nearby police station. After he revealed his identity, the police officer at the police station was quite enthusiastic and said they could help him check.
After understanding the situation, the police officer who received them said to Zhou Yi with some resignation: "We can only register it first. I'm afraid this situation doesn't meet the standards for filing a case."
Zhou Yi had expected this outcome. "Thank you for your hard work. Can I see the household registration information for this child and her father?"
"No problem, please wait." The police officer found the relevant information and handed it to Zhou Yi.
After Zhou Yi read it carefully, he wrote down the key information and returned the information.
When they walked out of the police station, the little girl Lele asked, "Uncle, when can you find my dad? I miss him."
"You go back with grandma first, and uncle will help you find dad, okay?"
The little girl nodded vigorously.
Lele's father is named Yang Jian, and he is 29 years old. Since his work unit was not written on his household registration information, Zhou Yi went to find the owner of the restaurant where he had dinner yesterday. After some inquiries, he found out that the little girl's father worked at a place called Guangming Poultry Farm.
Zhou Yi decided to go to the chicken farm to find out what happened, because neither the little girl nor the old lady could tell when Yang Jian disappeared.
But as a workplace, the chicken farm at least knows from which day Yang Jian stopped coming to work.
However, before going to the chicken farm, Zhou Yi went to the Anyuan Municipal Bureau first. Although he was there to co-organize the event and was not required to report and clock in every day, he could not be too casual.
After arriving at the Municipal Bureau, I ran into Xia Yu head-on.
"Officer Xia, have you found anything?" Zhou Yi asked.
There are many clues to investigate right now, including the origin of the hammer, the red car, the autopsy results, the identification of the two dead bodies found yesterday, and the identity of Jiang Wei.
Xia Yu shook his head and pointed to the office in front and said, "Captain Pan is in there. Why don't you go ask Captain Pan? He's not in a good mood, though."
"Okay, then I'll ask him myself."
Zhou Yi walked into the office and found Pan Hongjie standing in front of the blackboard with his hands behind his back.
"Captain Pan."
Pan Hongjie looked back and said, "Oh, Zhou Yi is here."
Zhou Yi walked over and found that the case analysis on the blackboard had been updated. The latest clues were written on it, but there was a question mark behind them.
"Captain Pan, Jiang Wei doesn't match the man who died yesterday?"
Pan Hongjie shook his head: "The heights don't match, it's definitely not the same person. Sigh, we can only issue a body identification notice."
No wonder he was in a bad mood. Once the body identification announcement was released, the pressure came up.
"Zhou Yi, I heard from Director Guo that you guys in Hongcheng have solved a lot of big cases recently."
Zhou Yi counted on his fingers, "A murder case, a major medical fraud case, a dismemberment case, a serial kidnapping case, and then another dismemberment case... It seems like quite a lot..."
Pan Hongjie was frightened when he heard this and turned to look at him in shock.
"So many? We haven't had this many major cases here in the past five years."
Zhou Yi thought, apart from the Du Xiaolin case and the Sun Kun kidnapping and murder case, aren't the others all cases caused by the chain reaction after my rebirth? Moreover, the first two cases were still unsolved cases in my previous life.
So it’s not that there are many cases in Hongcheng, it’s just that they haven’t been discovered. Maybe it’s the same in Anyuan, for example, the little girl’s father is one of them.
"You said yesterday that you'd only been transferred to your Criminal Investigation Division for a month, but you'd already been involved in four or five cases. Did you participate in all the cases you just mentioned?"
Zhou Yi nodded. "Captain Wu gives young people like us the opportunity to learn and train. Otherwise, with so many major cases, I wouldn't have a chance to take on them."
Pan Hongjie thought thoughtfully: "Oh, don't say that, a strong general has no weak soldiers."
"Captain Pan, are you under pressure from above regarding this case?"
"Well, I won't hide it from you. After I reported this to Director Guo yesterday, he took it very seriously. He even encouraged me not to feel pressured and not to be impatient in handling the case. I must find out the facts, the truth, and give an explanation to the people of Anyuan."
"But this morning, a phone call came in. They said the case was extremely serious and needed to be investigated as soon as possible. They also mentioned Hongcheng, saying that you have been performing very well recently and asked us to learn from you."
So that's why Zhou Yi finally understood why Pan Hongjie was so sad.
He asked, "Did Director Guo give you a deadline to solve the case?"
Zhou Yi didn't know why Director Guo's attitude suddenly changed, but it was simply because he reported to the higher-ups and they asked him to solve the case as soon as possible.
Pan Hongjie stretched out his hand and said, "Five days. Originally, they were only given three days, but I managed to get five."
Zhou Yi nodded and thought to himself that if you can get five days, then the time given by the higher-ups should be seven days, otherwise you would not be able to get five days.
As for Director Guo giving Pan Hongjie three days at the beginning, it was to put extreme pressure on him and make him nervous.
This kind of thing is the skill of gaming.
However, Zhou Yi has always felt that there is something wrong with solving a case within a deadline, because it is easy to create false charges and wrongful convictions in order to close the case.
Applying pressure is understandable, but ultimately, in order to complete orders, it often backfires.
For example, Du Qingming’s case is an exception.
However, the deadline for solving a case is generally used in extremely serious cases or cases involving special duties.
"Captain Pan, are there any major events coming up in Anyuan?" Zhou Yi initially thought of May Day, but in 1997, May Day had not yet become a short holiday, it was just a normal one-day holiday.
"Next month, the city will hold a conference to attract investment, intending to expand the development of Anyuan's aquaculture industry."
"That makes sense." Zhou Yi nodded. "Director Guo is putting pressure on you because the city is planning to hold this investment promotion conference. They're worried that this vicious murder will affect foreign investment."
Pan Hongjie nodded. Of course he knew why, but what was the use of knowing?
"Captain Pan, since our Captain Wu asked me to assist in the investigation, just like I said on the first day I arrived, I will follow your instructions. If there are not enough people, please feel free to assign work to me at any time." Zhou Yi said sincerely.
Pan Hongjie patted Zhou Yi's arm and said, "I'm not deliberately not assigning you a job. When you and Xiaoxia went to investigate Ding Wenyuan, didn't you find the important clue about Jiang Wei?"
"Just look at the few clues we have now. The murder weapon, the car where the bodies were dumped, and the identification of the two newly deceased. We need to investigate them bit by bit, and there's no rush. I've already mobilized everyone I can, so you're not the only one needed. Besides, you're not familiar with Anyuan's situation, and many of the middle-aged and elderly people here can't even speak Mandarin."
"What I'm worried about now is how to solve this case in a short period of time."
Zhou Yi asked, "Is there any information about Jiang Wei's whereabouts?"
"We've contacted the local police station and asked them to investigate the situation, as Jiang Wei's hometown has been uninhabited for several years."
Jiang Wei had cheated Fu Daqing of money before, so he would definitely run away. It depends on whether he can come back.
As soon as Pan Hongjie finished speaking, the phone on the table rang.
Pan Hongjie picked up the phone and listened for a while before putting it down and saying to Zhou Yi, "There's news about Jiang Wei."
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