Chapter 171 Portrait
Under the leadership of Captain Xia Mufan, the Special Operations Team of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Xing City Public Security Bureau began their first operation.
Everyone's way of addressing Xia Mufan also changed from "Team Leader" to "Captain Xia".
In order to improve efficiency, the special operations team was divided into two groups.
The first route was led by Xiao Yuanfeng, with the participation of Sun Xianbing and Gong Weiguo. They went to several taxi companies in Xing City to investigate whether there was a night shift driver with the word "Guo" in his name, which might be Dingguo, Jinguo, Jinguo, Jingguo, or Qingguo. This person usually likes to drink. He was in a car accident between August and September this year, broke his leg, and rested for a period of time.
The second route was led by Xia Mufan, with Feng Xiaoyu and Yu Jing participating. The three were taken by Han Ying to the pet shop owner to get information and seek help from Bai Yu, a criminal investigation portrait expert from the provincial department.
Xia Mufan is the youngest criminal investigation expert in the provincial department. He was warmly received as soon as he arrived at the provincial department. When he heard that he came to ask Bai Yu for help and that the nature of the case was extremely bad, he called Bai Yu back from a business trip without saying a word.
Bai Yu and Gu Shaoqi are good friends. They had dealt with Xia Mufan once because of Lu Pingping's disappearance case. Seeing Xia Mufan again, Bai Yu greeted her with a smile: "Xiao Xia, long time no see."
Bai Yu had a straight square face, bright eyes, and a kind attitude. Xia Mufan shook hands with him, thanked him, and got straight to the point without being polite: "Officer Bai, I have a case here, and I need your help to draw a portrait of the suspect."
Bai Yu was also a straightforward person, and didn't say anything long-winded: "Okay, where should I draw it? Where are the witnesses?"
Xia Mufan brought the pet shop owner forward and said to Bai Yu, "The witness is him. He saw the suspect about half a month ago, and the suspect sold him a parrot at that time."
Bai Yu glanced at the pet shop owner and frowned slightly: "Half a month ago? Do you still remember his appearance clearly?"
The pet shop owner hesitated: "Actually, I just have a general impression. If you ask me what that person's eyebrows and eyes look like, I really can't remember."
Bai Yu frowned even more tightly.
He has been working as a criminal portrait artist for more than ten years, and he draws dozens of portraits of suspects every year. In order to improve his portrait skills, he insisted on drawing ten sketches every day, and continued to do so for many years.
Criminal investigation portraits are different from general portraits. A portrait needs to be drawn based on the description of witnesses. In order to draw a more accurate portrait, Bai Yu divides the face into multiple parts such as eyes, ears, mouth, and nose. The eyes are then divided into fish eyes, phoenix eyes, almond eyes, slender eyes, round eyes, drooping eyes, drooping eyes, triangular eyes... The noses are divided into hooked noses, upturned noses, upturned noses, thick noses, lion noses, and teardrop noses... Bai Yu will repeatedly and in detail ask about the characteristics of different parts based on the witnesses' statements, and finally use a puzzle-like method to bring these parts together to present the overall appearance.
Through this set of portrait splitting methods, Bai Yu is not only able to draw anything that looks like it, helping to solve countless major cases, but he also teaches classes in various places and has trained hundreds of criminal portrait artists for the public security department.
However, there is a prerequisite for drawing an accurate portrait of a suspect, that is, the witness clearly sees the suspect's face and facial features and has a deep memory of them.
Humans' memory of strangers' portraits usually exhibits some memory biases.
When you see this person for the first time, you will have an intuitive feeling. It is easy to give subjective descriptions such as beautiful, ugly, elegant, fierce... However, if you want to give specific answers about what kind of face shape the person has, what kind of nose he has, how long his philtrum is, whether his eyebrows are thick, whether his earlobes are distinct, such detailed descriptions are very difficult for ordinary people to give. This is also a challenge that criminal portrait artists must face.
But today Xia Mufan gave Bai Yu a difficult problem.
The pet shop owner only saw the suspect briefly in the store. It is hard to say how much information this glance can contain. What's more, it has been half a month since the incident happened, and I'm afraid the image of the suspect in the pet shop owner's mind has become vague.
However, we are all here to solve the case, so we'll help as much as we can. Thinking of this, Bai Yu didn't say much. He sat down at the desk, took out the drawing board he carried with him, fixed a piece of sketch paper, and then took out a charcoal pencil.
Bai Yu placed the paper on the table and gently stroked it with his left hand to make sure it was flat and smooth. The palm of the right hand is slightly open, the wrist is lightly raised, and the pen is suspended in mid-air.
After making all the preparations, Bai Yu asked the pet shop owner: "What does the suspect look like?"
The pet shop owner glanced at Xia Mufan, then at the drawing board: "That man is not very tall, but rather sturdy, with an untidy beard, and reeks of alcohol."
Bai Yu looked at the pet shop owner: "Anything else?"
The pet shop owner tried hard to search for the almost forgotten memories in his mind: "His eyebrows were quite thick, and his hair was a bit long and hard. He had a beard, and it seemed that he hadn't shaved for two days, so I couldn't see his face clearly. He was quite polite when he spoke to me, and didn't bargain. As for the rest... I really don't remember."
It's hard to draw accurately based on such a vague description.
Bai Yu thought for a moment, then turned to ask Xia Mufan: "What kind of case is this suspect involved in?"
Xia Mufan: "Child abuse and wife murder. The suspect beat a child under three years old for a long time, and then beat his wife to death and dismembered her body."
Wife murder and child abuse, a family tragedy. Bai Yu's face became much more serious, and he searched his mind for similar cases he had handled.
Only incompetent men will vent their anger on their family members. Long-term psychological distortion has caused them to develop the bad habit of alcoholism, but this type of people usually behave relatively cowardly, honest, and submissive in public. Just as the pet shop owner said, the other party did not bargain when selling the pet and was quite easy to talk to.
Because he behaves very honestly in public, dares not speak loudly, and dares not laugh heartily, the long-term repressive environment will cause the corners of his mouth to turn down, and deep nasolabial folds will form between the tip of his nose and his mouth.
At the same time, because of long-term beating and cursing of family members, his eyes would unconsciously show a hint of ferocity, such as the corners of his eyes drooping downward, forming triangular eyes, and when he looks at people, he always likes to squint slightly, with a hint of vigilance.
After thinking for a long time, the charcoal pencil in Bai Yu's hand began to move.
General criminal investigation portraits focus on facial portraits, but because the description of the pet shop owner was too vague, Bai Yu’s pursuit this time was not "likeness in appearance" but "likeness in spirit", so he drew a rough full-body sketch.
——He is of medium height, with a slightly hunched waist, strong legs and feet, unkempt, with an untidy beard, long hair, thick eyebrows, downward-pointing corners of the eyes and mouth, and two deep nasolabial folds, giving people a feeling of being both honest and sad.
The pet shop owner's eyes lit up, and he slapped his thigh with his right hand, making a crisp "snap" sound. "Oh, police comrade, your drawing is too good, isn't it? Yes, yes, that's exactly how it looks, with that expression. He looks quite honest, and I don't believe you if you say he killed someone."
Xia Mufan was full of admiration in his heart. He didn't expect Bai Yu's portrait skills to be so high.
Bai Yu was not satisfied and shook his head while looking at the portrait. If an acquaintance sees such a portrait, he may be able to recognize the person. However, if a joint investigation warrant is issued and a city-wide wanted notice is issued, it may be difficult to find the person with just a portrait like this.
Just at this moment, the parrot that had been squatting on Xia Mufan's shoulder began to chirp.
[Ah, it’s dad. He looks a bit like him but not too much.] 】
[My father’s left foot is shorter, one of his shoulders is crooked, and he walks with a limp. 】
[He has a big face and is always gritting his teeth, with his cheeks stiff. 】
[He has a big mouth and is very rude. He is very fierce when he scolds people. 】
[One eye is big, the other is small. The little eye is always squinting. Whenever he squints, Xiaoxiao will get beaten.]
【Little ears, the ears can move.】 】
…
The more Xia Mufan listened, the happier he felt.
The parrot has been with the suspect day and night and knows his appearance very well. Wouldn't it be more accurate to let it tell the story than the information provided by the pet shop owner?
Thinking of this, Xia Mufan turned his head and said to Feng Xiaoyu, "You guys go wait outside for a while. Officer Bai Yu and I will talk to each other."
Feng Xiaoyu didn't ask any more questions. She took Yu Jing and the pet shop owner out of Bai Yu's office and closed the door considerately.
When there was no one around, Xia Mufan walked over to Bai Yu, pointed at the portrait and said, "This portrait needs to be changed."
As a member of the provincial criminal investigation expert group, Bai Yu knew that Xia Mufan had some special talents, but because of work reasons, he had to keep it secret. He didn't ask and said directly: "Okay, how do we change it? You tell me."
Xia Mufan repeated what the parrot had just said.
Bai Yu breathed a sigh of relief. If that was the case, then the portrait could be 70% to 80% like.
Bai Yu took out another portrait and began to modify the suspect's image. This time he directly drew the suspect's face.
——Big face, facial muscles are tense due to frequent clenching of teeth, forming a square face with two deep nasolabial folds at the corners of the mouth.
——Small ears, big mouth. One eye is big and the other is small. Both eyes are slightly narrowed with the corners of the eyes pointing downward, forming triangular eyes.
——Both shoulders are slightly tilted, with the left shoulder slumped downward, and the neck is slightly bent forward, making him look a little hunched.
Seeing this portrait, the parrot quacked again.
[It’s him!] It's him. 】
[Catch him quickly and don't let him beat Xiaoxiao.] 】
Bai Yu then looked up at the noisy parrot, with a smile in his eyes, and asked Xia Mufan: "What did the parrot say?"
Xia Mufan curled the corners of his mouth slightly, neither saying yes nor no.
Bai Yu winked at her and gave her a thumbs up: "Great."
Xia Mushige smiled: "Officer Bai is really amazing. He was able to draw a portrait of the suspect based on just a few words from us."
Bai Yu had heard too many compliments like this, so he said calmly, "Practice makes perfect. When you come into contact with more cases in the future, you will understand that the saying that appearance reflects the heart is true. Different types of criminals will have certain common facial features."
As Bai Yu spoke, he took the portrait off the drawing board and handed it to Xia Mufan: "This case must be very urgent, right? Hurry up and make a few copies, issue a cooperative investigation order, and search the whole city for the person."
Xia Mushige took the portrait and thanked him again: "Officer Bai, thank you very much. You really helped us a lot this time."
Bai Yu waved her hand and said, "It's okay. We are all here to solve the case and catch the murderer as soon as possible. Xia Mufan, I've heard your name a lot recently. If I need your help in the future, please lend a hand."
Xia Mufan nodded solemnly: "Okay, as long as Officer Bai asks, I will be there whenever you call."
The two smiled at each other, feeling a sense of mutual understanding.
After getting the suspect's portrait, Xia Mufan immediately handed it to Fang Yuan. Fang Yuan looked at it for a moment and asked, "Did Bai Yu draw it?" After getting a positive answer, Fang Yuan asked again, "How realistic is the portrait?"
Xia Mucheng nodded confidently: "At least 70%."
Fang Yuan was a little unconvinced: "How could he remember so clearly the person the pet shop owner had met half a month ago? When did Bai Yu reach this level?"
Xia Mushige smiled: "The pet shop owner may not remember, but the parrot will never forget."
Fang Yuan understood something and raised his eyebrows: "Did the parrot tell you?"
Fang Yuan is nicknamed Smiling Tiger. He understands the ways of the world very well and is considerate in dealing with people. He is a shrewd man. He certainly didn't think that a parrot could be smart enough to communicate normally with humans and guide criminal portrait artists in drawing portraits. After a little thought, he knew Xia Mufan's secret.
However, Fang Yuan did not intend to make it public. A female police officer who can communicate with animals will soon become his subordinate and will surely shine in the field of criminal investigation. Just thinking about it makes me happy.
Fang Yuan immediately called his men to distribute the portrait to all grassroots police stations in Xing City, asking the household registration police and case police to assist in the investigation and identify the suspect in the portrait.
Everything is progressing in an orderly manner.
Although he really wanted to find Xiaoxiao as soon as possible, Xia Mufan also knew that the investigation would take time and he could only wait patiently.
There was no point in waiting in the guesthouse, so Xia Mufan, Yu Jing and Feng Xiaoyu went out together and walked along the railway line, hoping to try their luck and find the parrot's former home.
It’s a pity that Star City is too big. Until the sun went down, it still hadn't found it, and the parrot began to cry out sadly.
[I seldom go out and can't find my home. 】
[Is Guoguo very stupid?] 】
Xia Mufan fed it some nuts and comforted it, "It's okay, Guoguo has helped us a lot." Guoguo made the greatest contribution to the accurate drawing of the suspect.
Although Xia Mufan agreed to be transferred to the Xing City Public Security Bureau, the transfer procedure had not yet been initiated, and there was no time to equip him with dormitories and offices, so he was temporarily placed in the guesthouse of the Public Security Bureau.
I brought the parrot back to the guesthouse and just went into the room to catch my breath when there was a knock on the door. Gong Weiguo and Sun Xianbing walked in with tired looks on their faces.
Feng Xiaoyu asked: "How was your day? Did you gain anything?"
Gong Weiguo shook his head: "There are three main operating models for taxi companies. The first is that the ownership and operating rights of the vehicles belong to the company, and individuals pay to rent the company's cars for operation; the second is that the ownership and operating rights of the vehicles belong to individuals, who operate the vehicles independently and pay a small management fee to the company; the third is that the taxi driver owns the vehicle, rents the vehicle operating rights, and pays a daily operating rights fee."
"No matter which case, there is a management-management relationship between taxi drivers and the company. Night shift drivers are hired by taxi drivers themselves, and all expenses incurred during the operation are borne by the taxi drivers and have nothing to do with the taxi company."
"We visited three taxi companies today, and found that quite a few of the registered taxi drivers have Chinese characters in their names." At this point, Gong Weiguo couldn't help but complain, "What else can I call this suspect? He actually has the same Chinese character as me."
Gong Weiguo snorted and continued, "Because the parrot's speech is a bit unclear, so according to the pronunciation you said, I copied down the names of all the people named Dingguo, Jingguo, Jinguo, Jinguo... and left their contact information. I have to check them one by one."
Having said that, Gong Weiguo handed the list in his hand to Xia Mufan. Xia Mufan took a look at the list and was surprised to see that there were more than a hundred men who met the name requirements.
Gong Weiguo sighed: "Captain Xia, let's not count on this list too much. After all, the night shift drivers are hired by the taxi drivers themselves and are not registered with the company."
Sun Xianbing added, "Yes, considering that the taxi company does not have adequate management over night shift drivers, we went to the traffic brigade today to find out about the taxis that were involved in accidents in August and September this year. The traffic brigade said they need time to search and sort out the information and will try to give us the information tomorrow."
Three taxi companies and the traffic brigade, it seems that Gong Weiguo and Sun Xianbing are really tired today. It was freezing cold outside, and Gong Weiguo and Sun Xianbing had been running around all day, with beads of sweat on their foreheads.
After finishing the report, Gong Weiguo looked at Feng Xiaoyu: "How are you doing today? Have you finished drawing the portrait?"
Feng Xiaoyu nodded. "Yes, it's drawn. Expert Bai Yu drew a portrait of the suspect based on the clues from the pet shop owner and the parrot. Now Director Fang has issued a search warrant to search for the suspect throughout the city. I hope to get results soon."
“Gurgle…Gurgle.”
Before Feng Xiaoyu could finish her words, she heard Sun Xianbing and Gong Weiguo's stomachs growling.
Feng Xiaoyu burst out laughing: "It seems that you are really hungry after running all day. Let's go downstairs to eat."
There is a restaurant on the first floor of the guesthouse of the Xing City Public Security Bureau where you can order food. Although Fang Yuan gave Xia Mufan and his team the authority to investigate and named them the special operations team, they could only rely on the guesthouse to solve the accommodation and office problems.
There is a small conference room on the first floor of the guesthouse, which is now their office.
You can order dishes in the guesthouse restaurant, and all three meals a day will be charged to Fang Yuan.
On the third floor of the guesthouse, there is a double room and a triple room, which is where they rest.
Five people came to the restaurant, ordered four dishes and a soup, sat down and started eating.
Feng Xiaoyu sighed: "I never thought that after we came to Xing City, we would be transformed from the Serious Crime Unit 7 into the Special Operations Team."
Gong Weiguo scratched his head: "Yes, my teacher Qiao is still a little confused now. She has taught at Hui City No. 7 Middle School for several years and is now teaching the graduating class. She is a little reluctant to leave for the time being. ”
Feng Xiaoyu said: "Ye Rong is fine. He said it's the same everywhere. He is also familiar with the Xing City Taxation Bureau. It's just that the price of commercial housing in Xing City is higher than that in Hui City. I don't know if the company can get a house."
Seeing that everyone was worried about the future, Xia Mufan tried to comfort them: "The most important thing now is to find Xiaoxiao. If this case is solved, we can gain a foothold in Xing City, and we will be more confident in negotiating terms with them in the future."
As soon as these words were spoken, Gong Weiguo and Feng Xiaoyu were immediately excited: "Yes, we must work together to solve this case as soon as possible."
Yu Jing said: "Instead of waiting for news at home, why don't we take the initiative? Anyway, the suspect lives next to the railway tracks. Just like today, we can take the passenger line first, then the freight line, and walk around the area. Maybe the parrot will see a familiar environment, and we can follow the clues to find the family."
Gong Weiguo stated: "I have got the list. I will call each country one by one tonight to screen those countries."
Sun Xianbing also took the initiative to take on the task: "I will go to the traffic brigade early tomorrow morning and try to find the names and contact information of the car owners who had car accidents in the past two months, and then contact them one by one."
Xia Mufan nodded and said, "Okay, everyone, take your newly-assigned pagers and intercoms with you. We'll contact you at any time if anything happens."
The waiter brought the food, interrupting everyone's conversation and turning everyone's attention to the steaming food in front of them. The food in Xing City tastes basically the same as that in Hui City, both are spicy, salty and fragrant. The five of them ate their fill with the fragrant rice, then took the initiative to work overtime and returned to the small meeting room on the first floor.
Gong Weiguo was making a phone call there.
"Hello, is this Zhang Qingguo? I am from the Xing City Public Security Bureau. I have a few questions that I would like you to cooperate with my investigation."
"How many people are there in your family?"
"How old is the child?"
"Did you hire a night driver?"
"Oh, okay, thank you for your cooperation, goodbye!"
After hanging up the phone, Gong Weiguo drew a cross next to the name and sighed: "Alas, Zhang Qingguo's son is already 12 years old, and he hasn't hired a night shift driver. He doesn't meet our requirements."
Next, he picked up the phone again and dialed the next number.
In one night, Gong Weiguo made dozens of phone calls, his throat was sore, but to no avail.
As the night deepened, Gong Weiguo sat on the chair with some frustration.
Sun Xianbing comforted him, "Didn't you just say that? The list we got is the employee list of the taxi company, and the suspect is an outsourced night shift driver, so this list is not very meaningful."
Gong Weiguo sighed again: "Now we can only fight them one by one. What if the night shift driver hired by these people is also called Guo and is the suspect?"
The parrot Guoguo stayed with everyone the whole time. He opened his mouth and called out, "Xiaoxiao, Xiaoxiao."
For a moment, everyone fell silent.
Xiaoxiao, where are you? Are you still alive?
The next day was another busy day.
Yu Jing brought Xia Mufan and Feng Xiaoyu and came to the old freight station in the north of the city according to the instructions on the map.
This place was once bustling and prosperous, but it gradually declined with the construction of new freight and passenger stations.
In the distance are farm fields, along the railroad tracks. There are densely packed buildings built by farmers themselves.
The former village was turned into an urban area with the construction of the old freight station, and the farmers switched to become workers or small business owners.
The daily freight throughput of the old freight station is now much lower than before. The local people who originally made money from the freight station have to find ways to rent out their self-built buildings to supplement their family income. Over time, this place has become a famous low-rent living area, attracting urban workers with limited income to settle down here.
After the parrot came here, it looked left and right with its eyes and made chirping sounds with its mouth.
[A bit similar.] 】
[I heard the clanking sound of a train. 】
[Did you see it?] There is a tree on top of that house. I remember looking out the window of my house and seeing a tree on the roof. 】
Xia Mufan was delighted: "Guoguo, are you sure this is the place?"
Hearing Xia Mufan's words, Yu Jing, who was driving, could not hide his excitement. He deliberately slowed down the car to give the parrot more time to observe the surrounding scenery.
"Dayu, drive the car in that direction." Xia Mufan pointed to the old building in the distance.
The building is five stories high. Someone planted a tree on the roof. Against the blue sky, it looks lonely.
"Okay!" Yu Jing responded and drove the car steadily.
The parrot became more and more excited. It flew off Xia Mufan's shoulder and flew to the passenger seat. It stared at the front window and made a shrill voice: "Xiaoxiao, Xiaoxiao."
The road near the old freight station is relatively narrow, with many small trucks parked on the roadside, so only one car can pass. If it weren't for Yu Jing's good driving skills, he would have been stuck in traffic if he encountered a car coming from the opposite direction.
Following the parrot's instructions, Yu Jing walked through several alleys and arrived at an old residential area.
The residential buildings are arranged in a U-shape. Some dormitory buildings have single-sided corridors, while others are tube-shaped buildings. Judging from the degree of damage to the exterior walls, they are at least 20 to 30 years old.
Xia Mufan was about to ask the parrot where its home was when the pager on his waist suddenly rang.
Xia Mufan looked down and saw the text was from Fang Yuan: The person has been found, call back soon.
Xia Mufan's eyes lit up, he patted the driver's seat and shouted, "Dayu, Dayu, find a pay phone, we found the person!"
The suspect has been found?
Feng Xiaoyu shouted excitedly: "Did the police station give any feedback? They found the person so quickly? Expert Bai's portrait drawing skills are really amazing!"
Yu Jing was delighted. He quickly searched the scene in front of him and parked the car in front of a small grocery store.
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