Chapter 164 Evidence
When he met Zou Bu Ran, Xia Mufan was attracted by the relaxed feeling she showed.
Zou Bu Ran has neat short hair, a loose and baggy casual outfit, and carries a large canvas bag. She walked down from the third floor of the girls' dormitory, looked at Xia Mufan and Feng Xiaoyu who were waiting in the lobby, shrugged her shoulders, and said "Hi" as if she had seen old friends she hadn't seen for many years.
Xia Mufan showed his police ID: "Zou Bu Ran? We are from the serious crime unit of the Hui City Criminal Investigation Brigade."
Zou Bu Ran didn't seem surprised by their arrival: "Why did you come just now?"
Xia Mushige raised an eyebrow: "When do you think we should come to see you?"
Zou Bu Ran said: "On the third day after Zou Chengye reported the case to the police, they should have investigated his past. Apart from me, who else could have such a deep hatred for him?"
She suddenly realized something and laughed: "Oh, I see. It seems that Zou Chengye has offended many people. You have many suspects to investigate. It's not my turn until now, right?"
Zou Bu Ran looked at Xia Mu Fan and asked curiously in a low voice, "Besides me, who else have you investigated? To be honest, I'm really curious. Who has Zou Cheng Ye had a grudge against over the years? Has anyone ever torn his elegant and gentle face?"
Xia Mushi looked around and said, "Are you sure we want to discuss these issues here?"
They are now standing downstairs of the girls' dormitory, and there are always groups of girls passing by them. From time to time, there would be curious looks at them.
Zou Bu Ran said "Oh", "Okay then, I'll go to the Criminal Investigation Team with you. I just hope you don't treat me as a criminal."
Feng Xiaoyu was infected by her calmness and said with a smile, "Don't worry, I won't put handcuffs on you."
Zou Bu Ran breathed a sigh of relief: "Ah, that's good. To be honest, it would be quite embarrassing to get into the police car with handcuffs on."
The group returned to the Criminal Investigation Brigade and Zou Bu Ran was taken to the reception room.
Once, Zou Chengye sat in the reception room with a terrified look on his face, grabbing Gong Weiguo's arm and nervously recounting the horrific incident he had encountered.
Now, Zou Chengye's daughter Zou Bu Ran sat in the chair in the reception room with a relaxed expression, telling Zou Chengye everything she had done to him recently.
"Yes, I made the threatening phone calls. After graduation, my high school classmate was assigned to work at the Telecommunications Bureau in Hui City. I deliberately chose her working hours to visit her and secretly called her when she wasn't paying attention. Each call was only a dozen seconds and didn't attract anyone's attention."
"Yes, I was the one who sent the threatening letter."
"Envelope? The envelope was addressed to the nephew of my college classmate, and the contents were cut out from the newspaper and pasted on."
"Are the clippings neatly pasted? Yes, I studied architecture, and I pay attention to beauty and balance. It's probably my professional habit, so when I pasted the small words I cut out, I unconsciously brought out that style."
"I also installed the mechanism in Zou Chengye's kitchen."
"When they were renovating their house, they went to the market to look for laborers, and I sneaked in. I gave a fake name, rarely spoke, and focused on my work. At that time, I had a crew cut, wore baggy clothes, and looked dirty. They thought I was a boy who came to the city to work, and they didn't suspect anything at all."
"It took them two months to complete the renovation, so it was easy for me to do something. You know what, I not only made money from this part-time job, but also gained a deep understanding of the renovation process. If I need to renovate a house in the future, I can do it by myself."
Considering that Zou Bu Ran was a girl, only Xia Mufan and Feng Xiaoyu were responsible for questioning her in the reception room. Xia Mufan looked up at Zou Buran: "Why are you doing this?"
Zou Bu Ran put away the nonchalant smile on his face, and his expression turned cold: "Why? Of course, it is to tear off Zou Chengye's hypocritical mask and make him pay with blood!"
As Zou Buran told the story, the events of 12 years ago finally appeared clearly in front of Xia Mufan.
"In 1984, I was just 10 years old and not very sensible. Our family is the kind of family where the father is kind and the mother is strict. My mother is very ambitious and strong, and she pays relatively less attention to the family. My father has a gentle personality and speaks softly. He is a teacher in a vocational school and does not have to work in the office. Therefore, he spends more time at home. My father basically does all the housework. I have a closer relationship with my father. If my parents have a quarrel, I will stand on my father's side and speak for him."
"I am the only daughter of my parents, and my two uncles both have sons. All three families dote on me and treat me like a little princess. I am really happy. I thought I would be happy forever, but unexpectedly, something unexpected happened in my family."
"At first, when my mother received the threatening phone call at the office, she was not alert. She thought it was a prank. But later, the family received several threatening letters. In addition to the words cut from the newspaper, there were traces of blood, scattered hair and cut fingernails on them. It looked very creepy."
"My mother was a little scared by the threatening letter, so she called the police on my father's advice. At first, the police station and my mother's workplace leaders took it very seriously. The bank even sent two young men to take turns patrolling near our home, and the police station also sent people to secretly protect my mother. But after a month or two, nothing happened.
"My mother's mental state was also in trouble at that time. She couldn't sleep all night, her hair was falling out in clumps, the dark circles under her eyes were getting darker, and she would get overly nervous and restless when something happened."
"At that time, everyone thought that my mother was nervous because of the threatening letters and phone calls. No one thought that it might be the effect of diet or medication. My father took sick leave from his work and prescribed sleeping pills for my mother. He stayed by her side and comforted her gently. At that time, I was very distressed to see the change in my mother, but my father told me not to worry and to go to school with peace of mind."
"My uncle and aunt also said they wanted to come home to accompany my mom, but my dad firmly disagreed. He said he could take good care of my mom and let them rest assured. Everyone was deceived by my dad, including my mom and me."
"Later, I think you may have learned from the police that my mother had two accidents."
"Once, she was almost strangled to death in the bathroom. My dad was on a business trip at the time, and before he left, he asked my aunt to stay at home with my mom. I don't know why, but everyone slept very soundly that night. When I woke up in the morning, I went to the bathroom and saw my mom hanging from the window railing with a belt around her neck. The scene was really horrible, and I burst into tears. My aunt was awakened by my crying and quickly called the police, but the police said they found no stranger's footprints, fingerprints, or signs of fighting, and finally concluded that my mom almost strangled herself."
"In the winter, my mother's condition became worse and worse. She often sat alone in the house, mumbling to herself. Her behavior was very similar to that of a mental patient. My uncle and aunt thought my mother might really be sick."
"It was really cold that day. It was snowing heavily outside the window. I could hear the snowflakes falling to the ground even when I was lying in bed. Around 4 or 5 in the morning, I was awakened by the noise outside the door and the sound of a police car. After waking up, I found out that my mother had sneaked out again and almost froze herself to death. If my father hadn't found her and brought her home, she would have died."
When he said this, Zou Bu Ran's tears welled up in his red eyes.
"I was really scared at that time, afraid of losing my mother. I thought at that time, even if she became a mental patient, she was still my mother, and I still loved her very much. I was afraid of losing her."
"After investigating, the police once again determined that my mother was having a mental illness. After she ran out of the house, I hugged my mother's legs and cried loudly. I refused to go to school and was unwilling to leave my mother. I was afraid that if I let go of her, my mother would do something to hurt herself. Once there is a second time, there will be a third time. My mother has already had two accidents. If we don't care anymore, what if she really dies? What should I do?"
"When my uncle saw me holding my mother tightly, he finally gave in and agreed to conduct a mental evaluation on her. My uncle said we can't hide our illness and avoid seeing a doctor. If she is really ill, we should get treatment."
"From the beginning to the end, no one in my family wanted to mention the word 'mental illness'. People say people's words are scary. If my mother was diagnosed as mentally ill, people around her would look at her with strange eyes."
"When my father saw that my uncle agreed to send my mother for treatment, he found a doctor named Song from the psychiatric department of the hospital. Dr. Song examined my mother and gave a report saying that my mother had schizophrenia and needed treatment."
"The doctor's conclusion made my uncle and his family resigned themselves to their fate and gave up. They sent my mother to the best mental hospital in the city for closed-door treatment, medication and injections. She went in May, and it wasn't until October that the doctor said my mother had basically recovered and would not do anything to harm herself, so we took her home."
"During the time when my mother was in the hospital, my father would visit her every other day. The mental hospital is very far from our home, and it takes about an hour and a half by bus. My father traveled back and forth for three hours every day. Just for this reason, he was recognized by my uncle and aunt."
"After we brought my mom back home, she became dazed and her eyes were dull. She didn't respond when you talked to her. She was just dazed. But she took medicine at night and slept very soundly. She basically didn't go out during the day and stayed at home. She was very quiet and didn't disturb anyone. My uncle and aunt were very sad to see my mom become like this, but at least she won't do anything to hurt herself and she no longer receives threatening letters or phone calls, which makes us feel a lot more relieved."
"One month after my mom came back, my dad went to see my eldest uncle and they talked for more than two hours behind closed doors. After the conversation, my uncle and my dad both had tear marks on their faces and their eyes were red. It seemed that both of them had cried."
"In November 1985, Zou Chengye and my mother went through the divorce procedures. My uncle told me not to hate my father, saying that it was not easy for him. After all, my mother was mentally ill. If my father filed for divorce, the court would have granted the divorce. We couldn't let our family drag him down for the rest of his life. He should have his own life."
"Regarding my custody, Zou Chengye gave a very high-sounding reason. He said my mother was too pitiful to be alone, so he wanted to keep me. He also said that although we are divorced, we are still a family, and I can only come to him if I have any problems in the future."
Xia Mufan noticed that when Zou Bu Ran talked about the time before her parents' divorce, she always called Zou Chengye "my dad". After the divorce, the way she addressed her father immediately changed to "Zou Chengye".
"What's funny is that not long after Zou Chengye went through the divorce procedures, he left Xing City and never had any contact with us again. In fact, it's not difficult for my uncle to find Zou Chengye's whereabouts, but my uncle is a tough guy with a strong self-esteem. He thinks that my mother's illness dragged Zou Chengye down, and since he wants to give up everything, let him go."
"After Zou Chengye left, my mother's mental state gradually returned to normal, but because of the side effects of the drugs used to treat mental illness, her memory was damaged to a certain extent. She couldn't remember many things, and her reactions were much slower than before. Although she can take care of herself, she can no longer work. My mother's life was ruined."
"After I was admitted to university, a high school classmate of mine was admitted to Huishi Finance and Trade College. We had a good relationship and kept in touch often. It was from her that I learned that Zou Chengye taught at Huishi Finance and Trade College and that his son was born in June 1986."
There was a chill in Zou Bu Ran's eyes, and he laughed sarcastically: "June 1986, do you think it's ridiculous? Zou Chengye and my mother divorced in November 1986, and less than seven months later, he gave birth to a son! I don't think he has the magnanimity to treat someone else's son as his own. He must be his own flesh and blood."
"It's terrifying to think about it. My mother was hospitalized in a mental hospital, and he played the role of a qualified and loving husband in front of others. But who could have known that he had a child with Yu Yaxiu at that time. A cheating man has always played the role of a victim's family member in front of me and my uncle. My trust in him completely collapsed, and I began to suspect that my mother was harmed by him."
"Zou Chengye was just an ordinary lecturer at a vocational school in Xing City at the time, and he was still a fledgling. If he wanted to divorce my mother, my uncle would not let him go; if they knew that he had an affair, public opinion would not let him go either. Zou Chengye was unwilling to bear any losses, so he made up such a play and ruined my mother. He is worse than a beast!"
"After knowing this, I didn't tell my uncle. My uncle has been worried about me and my mother for so many years, and he has done his best to raise me. If they knew that it was Zou Chengye who killed my mother, I'm really afraid they would do something extreme. Since it was Zou Chengye who committed the sin, let me, his daughter, punish him personally."
Xia Mufan raised his eyes and looked at Zou Buran: "How are you going to punish him?"
Zou Bu Ran sneered, "He should give someone a taste of his own medicine! Didn't he first falsely accuse my mother of being mentally ill? He sent her threatening letters and phone calls, and flickered the lights in the middle of the night, scaring my mother into becoming nervous and dependent on him. My mother has a strong personality, and logically she wouldn't be frightened by a few threatening letters. I suspect that Zou Chengye secretly gave my mother some hallucinogenic drugs, which led to her mental breakdown in the later stages."
Xia Mushige continued to ask: "Then, did you achieve your goal?"
Zou Bu Ran leaned back and his expression returned to the relaxed state he had just had.
"My high school classmate has graduated and is working, but she has some acquaintances in school. She introduced me to the girls' dormitory. I would hang out on campus when I had nothing to do, hoping to see his reaction. They used to go out for a walk in the evening as a family of three, and they were very happy."
"But since I sent the threatening letter, they no longer dare to go out for walks. They would hide in the house after hurriedly picking up the children. Sometimes I would sit on the small flower bed below the school's fund-raising building. At 12 o'clock, the lights in their living room would flicker. Seeing this scene, I felt very happy. He hurt my mother like that back then, and now I am just letting him experience one tenth of what my mother suffered back then."
"But one thing I didn't expect was that he actually called the police."
"It seems that he has completely forgotten the evil he committed 12 years ago. He still has the nerve to call the police and seek their help! Aren't these all the mental torture he once inflicted on my mother? It seems that Professor Zou is living a good life and has washed away the blood on his hands."
Xia Mushi asked: "What are you going to do next?"
Zou Bu Ran smiled: "You don't have to try to trick me. I have no plans to do anything later. I am not like him, so shameless, so cruel, and so cold-blooded. He almost strangled and froze my mother to death, but I can't be like him. If I did something like that, I would not only be sorry for the care of my uncle and aunt, sorry for my mother's expectations, but also sorry for myself. I can't ruin my own life because of hatred."
There was a hint of smile in Xia Mufan's eyes: "Very good, then do you have any evidence?"
"Yes!" Zou Bu Ran nodded, took out a transparent information bag from his canvas bag that he had been carrying on his back, and placed it solemnly on the table.
Feng Xiaoyu's eyes lit up, he stopped taking notes, and stared at the information bag without moving.
Through the information bag, you can clearly see an old letter.
Thinking of what Zou Bu Ran had mentioned when he was recounting the past, that in addition to the words cut out from the newspaper, the threatening letter also contained traces of blood, scattered hair, and cut fingernails, Feng Xiaoyu couldn't help but get excited.
——It would be great if the person who sent the threatening letter committed suicide and left behind her own DNA!
Xia Mufan put on gloves and took the information bag handed over by Zou Bu Ran.
The handwriting on the envelope was very childish, with the strokes running from right to left. It was obvious that it was written with the left hand.
Xia Mufan opened the information bag, took the letter in his hand, and felt it was thin. After opening the envelope, a faint smell of blood hit his nose and Xia Mufan frowned.
There was only one piece of letter paper with four words pasted crookedly on it. I couldn't tell whether they were big characters cut from a magazine or a newspaper.
Bitch, die!
The punctuation marks were smeared with blood. The blood had dried and the color was dark red, which was really creepy to look at.
The last exclamation mark "!", the dot below should have been pressed with a finger, and some fingerprints can be faintly seen.
Fingerprints, bloodstains.
Criminal investigation technology in the 1980s was limited, and fingerprints could only be used after the suspect was found and compared. There was no technology for extracting and identifying DNA from bloodstains, so the bloodstains and fingerprints in the letter could not provide any help in solving the case at the time.
However, if this letter were to be published now, it would be of great use!
Xia Mufan's spirits lifted involuntarily, and he looked at Zou Buran with admiration in his eyes: "How could you have kept this letter until now? Didn't you hand it over to the police at the time?"
Zou Bu Ran shook his head. "In addition to bloodstains, there were also hair residue and fingernails in the previous threatening letter. But after checking, the police said that my blood type is the same as my mother's, and the fingernails and hair are also similar to my mother's. They all thought that the threatening letter was fabricated by my mother. This letter was sent to me after my mother called the police, and I hid it secretly."
"I was afraid that this letter would scare my mother, so I hid it very carefully, at the bottom of my drawer in my room, tucked inside a notebook. This time when I was preparing to send a threatening letter to Zou Chengye, I wanted to find a sample, and so I found this letter."
Zou Bu Ran looked up at Xia Mu Fan, his eyes full of desire: "Comrade Police, I heard that the public security organs can now check DNA, right? It's been twelve years since the bloodstains on the letter, can DNA still be found?"
Xia Mufan thought for a moment and said, "DNA in blood will not disappear with the passage of time. Generally speaking, DNA samples of blood stains left on paper can be found after five or six years. You preserved this letter very well, but after all, more than ten years have passed. I'm not sure if it will work, but we can give it a try."
Xia Mufan held the envelope sideways against the light and examined it carefully, looking at the fingerprint mark left on the exclamation mark. The blood fingerprint has not changed with the passage of time, and the spiral threads can be clearly seen.
Xia Mufan said confidently: "The fingerprints are very clear and can be compared. There is no problem."
Xia Mufan’s attitude gave Zou Bu Ran confidence, and a beautiful smile gradually bloomed on her face.
It's like a pearl oyster, and the sand that occasionally gets into the shell causes it to rub against the shell, causing it great pain. In order to resist the pain of foreign invasion, the pearl oyster secretes liquid, which wraps the grain of sand layer by layer during repeated grinding until the sand is turned into a beautiful round pearl.
After a long period of baptism, Zou Bu Ran gradually grew from a ten-year-old child into a brave and resourceful girl. Not only did he carefully plan to give the enemy a taste of his own medicine, he also kept the evidence for twelve years.
Zou Bu Ran looked at Xia Mu Fan and said, "You can help me bring Zou Cheng Ye to justice, right?"
Xia Mushige nodded solemnly: "Yes!"
Xia Mufan's clear and concise words gave Zou Bu Ran infinite confidence. She slowly stood up with anticipation in her eyes: "I'll wait for your good news!"
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