Chapter 373 Lu Xiaoshuang's Hairband
"Brother Yan, wait for me, I'll be there soon!"
Zhou Yi hung up the phone, turned around and ran away.
He no longer had time to deal with Xiao Bing, because Chen Yan's words made him feel like he was falling into an icy cave.
The pink bow hairband that Chen Yan described was exactly the same as the one he bought for Lu Xiaoshuang that day!
Just the day before he went to Anyuan, when he went to the school to find Lu Xiaoshuang, she was still wearing the hairband on her head.
Now she is missing, and among the latest body parts found, a hairband that did not exist in her previous life strangely appeared.
All the circumstances seemed to tell Zhou Yi that the deceased was Lu Xiaoshuang, just like in the previous life.
But he gritted his teeth and refused to accept this possibility unless... unless he saw the dead man's head.
Otherwise he wouldn't believe that Xiaoshuang was dead!
In criminal cases, there is a very important principle, which is that the investigation of the case must be based on the confirmation of the identity of the deceased.
This is because from a judicial perspective, only when the true identity of the deceased is determined will all evidence have legal effect, otherwise big problems will easily arise.
Behind the establishment of every law is almost bloody experience.
Therefore, before it is finally confirmed that the deceased is Lu Xiaoshuang, the best we can say is that it is highly suspected.
This is also why, in the Anyuan case, both Li Youqiang and Zheng Guangming had to find ways to confirm the identity of the deceased.
"Officer Zhou, go that way..." Xiao Bing wanted to give Zhou Yi directions, but found that the other party had already run in the right direction before he could give him directions.
It disappeared in the blink of an eye.
An old man passed by and greeted him.
He also responded with a smile: "Good morning, Uncle Zhang."
After the old man walked past him, the smile on Xiao Bing's face slowly disappeared.
He walked in the direction Zhou Yi left.
Suddenly, he stopped and looked back with cold eyes in an unknown direction.
There seemed to be nothing there.
Zhou Yi left Daguan Street, found a motorcycle taxi on the side of the road, and asked the driver to go directly to Hongqi Road and quickly.
The driver was very happy to see that he had a job, and he stepped on the accelerator and took off.
On the way, the messy wind blew Zhou Yi's face so hard that it hurt. He didn't know if it was the wind that blinded him, but he felt his eyes hurt.
Why? Why are the grand cases of this life so different from those of the previous one?
Was it caused by my own intervention?
Is it my responsibility for all this?
He began to feel confused. Did he really do something wrong?
Shouldn't I intervene?
Are some people destined to die?
Suddenly, Qian Lailai's smiling face appeared in his mind, as well as Hu Zi, Ding Chunmei, Xu Xinxin, and finally Lu Xiaoshuang's glowing white face in the sun.
No! He's not wrong!
Even if I don't intervene and do nothing, these people will still die.
The fact that he was able to save Qian Lailai and the others meant that he did nothing wrong!
No matter in the previous life or this life, the murderer is the one who is wrong!
"Xiaoshuang, please don't die, wait for me!" Zhou Yi murmured.
The motorcycle driver didn't hear clearly and thought he was being spoken to, so he shouted, "Don't worry, buddy, I'm a very good driver, fast and steady, I won't die! Don't worry, I definitely won't die!"
Zhou Yi knew that the driver didn't mean what he thought, but the last sentence seemed like a metaphor, giving him a sense of inexplicable comfort.
As they approached Hongqi Road, the driver suddenly slowed down and exclaimed, "Oh my god, why are there so many police officers up ahead? Buddy, why don't you just get out and walk over? It's right up ahead, and I'll save you a dollar."
Zhou Yi patted him on the shoulder and said, "It's okay, just drive forward, they won't catch you."
These police officers are all searching for body parts, so they don't have time to catch illegal motorcycle taxis.
Moreover, police officers and traffic police are two different types of police forces, and they would not care about this matter during normal driving. The driver simply felt guilty when he saw the police.
"That's easy for you to say. What if..."
Before the driver finished speaking, Zhou Yi said, "I'm a police officer too. Don't worry, I won't arrest you."
When the driver heard this, he felt a chill on the back of his neck. Oh my god, is he going to fall into a wolf's den?
Driving forward, Zhou Yi saw a bus stop on the side of the road. A cordon had been set up, and there were many police officers on the scene, with several police cars parked nearby.
The driver stopped and asked nervously and curiously, "Oh my god, what's going on?"
Zhou Yi got out of the car, paid, and said, "Thank you, master. Don't just stand there and watch the fun. Let's get down to business."
The driver nodded and quickly turned around to leave, but he kept looking back and muttering, "When did Hongcheng become so uneasy?"
After showing his ID, Zhou Yi crossed the cordon.
Everything in the trash can was turned out, and the on-site investigation was conducting a detailed inspection on the spot.
"Zhou Yi." Chen Yan stuck his head out of the police car nearby and waved and shouted.
Zhou Yi ran over quickly and before he got into the car, he saw a large evidence bag in the car, which contained a black plastic bag.
From a preliminary look, it looks exactly like the body parts found in the previous life.
Zhou Yi got into the car, took the gloves handed to him by Chen Yan, put them on, opened the evidence bag, reached out to open the opening of the black plastic bag, and took a look.
It was very strange. There was no strong stench of decaying corpses. Slices of meat, about one centimeter thick, had been fried and were neatly arranged in plastic bags, just like the pork that had been cut, fried, and carefully arranged in a store.
At the same time, these greasy slices of meat exuded a strange smell of decay mixed with the aroma of meat.
Zhou Yi took a look and sealed the evidence bag again.
"Hasn't the forensic doctor come yet?" Zhou Yi asked.
Chen Yan shook his head helplessly: "I'm too busy. This is the third bag I've found today..."
Zhou Yi was not surprised. With such a large-scale and targeted search, the body parts would naturally be found one after another. The place where this bag of body parts was dumped was exactly the same as in the previous life.
"I was planning to take the evidence back first, but you happened to say you wanted to come over."
"Brother Yan, where is that hairband?" Zhou Yi asked in a trembling voice.
"Here." Chen Yan took out a small evidence bag from the side and handed it over.
Zhou Yi took it and looked at it. Although he was mentally prepared, he still felt heartbroken.
Because inside the transparent evidence bag was a pink hairband with a bow.
It’s exactly the same as the one Zhou Yi bought for Lu Xiaoshuang that day!
There were very obvious blood stains on the hairband.
"Is there anything special about this hairband?" Chen Yan asked.
"Brother Yan, let's go back to the bureau first and find Captain Wu. I have something to say!"
Seeing Zhou Yi's face turn pale, Chen Yan stopped asking questions and started the police car.
Along the way, Zhou Yi kept holding the evidence bag containing the hairband.
He remembered the day he and Lu Xiaoshuang went to the orphanage to see Xu Xinxin. Lu Xiaoshuang didn't have her hair in a ponytail as usual, and Zhou Yi noticed she kept fiddling with her hair.
While shopping in a store, he happened to see a row of hairbands hanging on the shelf, so he picked one up and quietly took it out when paying for it.
He remembered that there were many identical hair ties on the shelf.
Is it a coincidence?
If he were an ordinary citizen Zhou Yi, he would remind himself that it was a coincidence and he must think of the best.
But as a criminal policeman Zhou Yi, his professional instinct tells him that he must think of the worst in everything.
After returning to the bureau, Chen Yan first sent the bag of body parts to the forensic room. At the forensic department, Song Yiming was performing a detailed autopsy on the body parts, while Xu Nian was rushing around the scenes where new body parts were found.
Logically, this hairband should be sent to the technical department for testing first, because it is stained with blood and is very important physical evidence.
But seeing that Zhou Yi was still holding on to the evidence bag, he didn't say anything.
In the office of the Third Brigade, everyone was present except Jiang Biao.
Wu Yongcheng looked at the evidence bag Zhou Yi placed on the table and asked doubtfully, "Zhou Yi, what do you think?"
Zhou Yi took a deep breath and said, "Captain Wu, I might recognize this hairband."
This one sentence shocked the other three people.
"What? Where have you seen him?" Wu Yongcheng asked hurriedly.
Zhou Yi's words once again shocked the three of them: "This hairband might have been bought by me."
Zhou Yi felt a little blocked in his throat, but he still said those words.
He knew that instead of letting his imagination run wild, it would be better to focus on "confirming that Lu Xiaoshuang might be the deceased" as the current focus of the investigation.
In this way, whether it is investigation work, police force deployment, or resource mobilization, it will be more useful and efficient than fighting alone.
The police are a collective, not individual heroes. Without overall coordinated operations, even the most skilled detective can’t do anything without the necessary resources.
This is the only time that he, as a veteran criminal policeman, can maintain his rationality even after facing such a severe psychological shock.
Zhou Yi said: "I bought this hairband for Lu Xiaoshuang."
Of course, everyone in the Third Brigade knew who Lu Xiaoshuang was, especially Qiao Jiali, who particularly liked this sensible girl.
Although they were not aware of Zhou Yi and Lu Xiaoshuang's interactions outside of work, they all knew that they had a good relationship.
"Are you suspecting that the deceased is Lu Xiaoshuang?" Wu Yongcheng asked in surprise.
Zhou Yi nodded, he felt his head was very heavy.
"No..." Qiao Jiali said quickly, "This kind of hairband is very common. It must be a coincidence."
Zhou Yi said, "Xiao Shuang... has been missing since yesterday afternoon. I contacted the school, sent people to her house, and even checked my house, but couldn't find her anywhere." Earlier on Daguan Street, when Qian Hongxing went to find the administrator, Zhou Yi called Uncle Ma, the communication room of the Ergang dormitory, and found an excuse to ask Uncle Ma to come to his house and knock on the door. Uncle Ma said that his hands were numb from knocking, but there was no movement in the house.
This means that Lu Xiaoshuang didn’t go to her home at all.
Qiao Jiali was stunned. She instantly remembered Zhou Yi's abnormal behavior on the train last night.
Could it be... Could it be that Zhou Yi had a premonition at that time?
Wu Yongcheng picked up the evidence bag and handed it to Chen Yan. "Send it to the technical department and have them extract the blood from it for testing immediately. Tell them to give the results as quickly as possible. Say it's my request."
Chen Yan nodded and immediately ran out with the evidence bag.
"Zhou Yi, don't be anxious. Don't forget that before the identity of the deceased is confirmed in a murder case, all possibilities exist," said Wu Yongcheng.
"Captain Wu, I understand the reasoning."
"Let's do this. Since there's a possibility that the deceased is Lu Xiaoshuang, let's focus our investigation on that direction. Xiao Qiao, immediately retrieve all the information related to Lu Xiaoshuang. Then we'll split up. You and I will investigate the school, while Zhou Yi and Chen Yan will investigate her family. Let Biaozi continue to search for body parts outside."
"Okay, Captain Wu, I'll be there right away." Qiao Jiali said and left the office.
Only Wu Yongcheng and Zhou Yi were left in the office of the Third Brigade.
Wu Yongcheng patted his shoulder and asked, "Zhou Yi, do you want to take a break first?"
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