Chapter 157 Mental Illness
It was already evening when Xia Mufan and Sun Xianbing returned home after finishing their investigation.
It was cold in late autumn. A gust of autumn wind blew by, and Xia Muchan shook his shoulders. Time flies so fast, and 1996 is about to pass.
But for some people, time is like poison, eroding their souls day by day. The longer time passed, the stronger the hatred in my heart became, until one day, this hatred could no longer be suppressed, which led to today's threatening letters and phone calls.
From the perspective of criminal psychology, revenge after hatred has been suppressed for a long time is usually fierce, violent, and extremely destructive, and rarely given in advance. Like now, Xia Mufan really couldn't understand why Zou Chengye was being played around like a cat and a mouse.
Strange noises in the kitchen, threatening letters, and intimidating phone calls, one after another, gradually forced Zou Chengye to call the police, but a month passed and there was no movement. No one knew what the other party's intentions were.
From what we know so far, Zou Chengye is not a kind-hearted person. During his 45 years, he has offended and retaliated against many people. It is really a difficult task to identify these people one by one.
After listening to a lot of comments about Zou Chengye at the School of Finance and Trade, Xia Mufan's brows became more and more furrowed. But when he saw the familiar courtyard and the tall sycamore tree in front of the courtyard, Xia Mufan's expression became relaxed and his steps became lighter.
"ice cream!"
Before entering the yard, Xia Mufan called out crisply.
"Woof! Woof!"
When Xue Gao heard Xia Mufan's voice, he jumped out happily. It circled around Xia Mufan's legs, wagging its tail non-stop, and it was obvious that it was very happy.
Xia Mushi bent down and touched the top of Xue Gao's head, and said with a smile: "I will take you to carry out the mission tonight, and you must perform well."
[Great, I can finally go on a mission.] 】
[Don't worry, I will do my best.] 】
[Ensure that you follow instructions and do not make any noise.] 】
Since getting the police dog license, Xue Gao has been staying at home and has no chance to participate in Xia Mufan's case investigation. It has been eager to try it for a long time, and now it hears that it can join the action, Xuegao is very excited.
After getting the assurance from the ice cream, Xia Mufan took out a piece of jerky and stuffed it into the ice cream's mouth, then patted its head in praise: "Ice cream is really good."
Sun Xianbing looked at the interaction between Xia Mufan and ice cream with some envy: "You know what, you have a really good relationship with animals. You can make anything you raise look like it. First it was coal ash, then it was ice cream, and even a bird can be put to use. It turns out that a team leader is a team leader."
Xia Mufan smiled softly and walked into the yard with Xuegao. Xu Shumei also walked out of the house when she heard the noise and said with a smile, "You're back. We can eat in a while. Xianbing will have dinner at Auntie's house today. I'll make you a bowl of stir-fried diced radish with dried chili peppers."
When Sun Xianbing heard this, he smiled so hard that his eyes narrowed into slits: "Aunt Xu, you are so kind. Then I won't hesitate to have a meal at your house."
Ever since Xia Mufan found his mother, it has become a normal occurrence for the Serious Crime Unit 7 to eat at Xia Mufan's house, and Xu Shumei knows everyone's taste well.
Sun Xianbing grew up in the countryside. There were few vegetables in the vegetable garden in autumn and winter, so there was always a bowl of pickled vegetables on the dinner table. Sun Xianbing's favorite was fried diced radish with dried chilies.
Xu Shumei also has the good habit of pickling vegetables. There were so many leftover peppers, radishes, beans, and eggplants in the vegetable garden that they pickled them in several large jars. When Sun Xianbing came to eat, she would make him stir-fried diced radishes with dried peppers. As long as he had this dish, Sun Xianbing could eat three big bowls of rice.
As they were talking, Gu Shaoqi came over.
Recently, the Serious Crime Unit took on a case in which a woman died inexplicably in a villa and there were signs of burglary in the house. Gu Shaoqi has been busy during this period.
However, no matter how busy he is, Gu Shaoqi will go to Xia Mufan's house for dinner. Meeting and chatting with Xu Shumei and Xia Mufan is the most relaxing and happiest time of Gu Shaoqi's day.
As soon as he saw Gu Shaoqi, Sun Xianbing asked curiously, "Forensic Doctor Gu, what was the cause of death of that woman?"
Gu Shaoqi did not answer his question immediately, but looked at Xia Mufan. There was a hint of inquiry in his eyes, as if asking: Can I speak?
Xia Mushi was actually quite curious as well. Although the Criminal Investigation Brigade has regulations that prohibit the disclosure of case details before the case is solved. But we are all family, so there is no problem in discussing it internally.
Xia Mufan asked: "I heard that the woman died with her eyes open. Is that true?"
Xia Mufan had participated in some murders, big and small, but she had never encountered anyone who could die with regrets.
Gu Shaoqi nodded: "The eyelids are not closed, which means he died with his eyes open. Usually this is caused by death under anesthesia."
anaesthetization? Xia Mufan immediately became interested when he heard this. "Didn't they say that the woman hit her forehead against the bedpost, causing intracranial hemorrhage and death? Could it be that someone had drugged her?"
Gu Shaoqi shook his head: "Although there is a wound on the forehead and intracranial bleeding, judging from the size of the wound and the amount of bleeding, it is not the cause of death. Moreover, there are no signs of struggle on the woman's body. It is unlikely that she died accidentally after a fight with the burglar and then hit her head on the corner of the table."
The more complicated the case, the more Xia Mufan wanted to explore it. Hearing this, her eyes lit up and she raised her hand to hold Gu Shaoqi: "Then tell me in detail, have you found the cause of death?"
Xu Shumei interrupted Xia Mufan and said, "You kid, Gu Shaoqi has been busy all day. Can you guys relax a little and talk about something else?"
Xia Mufan pursed his lips and smiled: "Mom, he and I are colleagues. What else can we talk about together except the case?"
Xu Shumei gave her daughter a cold look. well! This daughter is good in every way except that she is naturally lacking in passion for love between men and women and is only concerned with solving cases.
Gu Shaoqi didn't mind and smiled gently: "Auntie, it's okay. We can discuss whatever Mu Fan likes."
The name "Mufan" seemed particularly gentle when it came out of Gu Shaoqi's mouth.
Xia Mufan coquettishly hugged her mother's arm and said, "Mom, do we have to talk about romance every day when we are in love? You know I won't say those nonsense words. However, when I talk about the case, I become energetic."
Xu Shumei lost her temper because of her daughter's coquetry. She sighed and said, "Okay, okay, you two can handle your own affairs. I'm going to go cook. However, you can chat, but you still have to pay attention to discipline. Let's talk inside, so that there won't be ears."
After living in the Criminal Investigation Brigade dormitory for a long time, Xu Shumei also gained some understanding of police discipline. Criminal investigators are not allowed to reveal details until the case is solved. The yard on the first floor is open, and it would be bad if someone heard what happened and spread it.
Xia Mufan pulled Gu Shaoqi's arm and ran into the house: "Come on, let's talk inside."
Gu Shaoqi obediently followed Xia Mufan into the house. Although Sun Xianbing felt like a follower, he couldn't suppress his curiosity. He touched his nose and followed him into the house.
Xia Mufan put on slippers and found the most comfortable position to sit on the sofa.
Outside the living room window, the shadows of trees are swaying, and the cold wind blows through the dead leaves, making a rustling sound, which makes the room even warmer and quieter.
Gu Shaoqi felt like he was back home. He poured a cup of hot tea for Xia Mufan and Sun Xianbing before slowly beginning to tell the story.
"This case is not as simple as you think. Yue Yuan handed the case to the Serious Crime Unit, thinking it was just a simple burglary and murder case. However, the autopsy found that the cause of death was not intracranial hemorrhage. The deceased died with his eyes open. I'm afraid there is another hidden story."
Sun Xianbing asked anxiously, "What was the cause of death? Didn't Medical Examiner Gu find out?"
Gu Shaoqi had been dissecting corpses in the morgue all day and felt a little tired. He raised his hand and rubbed his brows, then shook his head: "The results of the gastric solution and blood tests are not out yet, let's wait until tomorrow."
Looking up, meeting Xia Mufan's sparkling eyes, Gu Shaoqi couldn't bear to disappoint her, so he revealed a few details: "However, I found a tiny needle hole on the deceased's buttocks. He may have been injected with some kind of drug before his death. I have taken muscle fluid for testing, and the results should be available tomorrow."
Xia Mufan listened and rubbed his hands involuntarily: "Such a complicated case, why don't you hand it over to us?"
Gu Shaoqi smiled: "How can you handle so many cases? You have to give others a chance to make contributions."
Xia Mufan thought about it and realized that this was true, so he suppressed his curiosity about the murder case and turned his attention back to Zou Chengye's case. He asked Gu Shaoqi, "The threatening letter was sent to the Trace Inspection Department. What conclusion did they come up with?"
Gu Shaoqi took out a medical report from the bag he carried with him: "I was thinking that if I see you tonight, I will give you this result."
Xia Mufan quickly glanced at the inspection report, and Sun Xianbing also came over.
As Xia Mufan expected, the handwriting analysis of the threatening letter showed that it was written by the same person. The handwriting was large, the strokes were uneven, and the order of the strokes was completely ignored. The other party should be an elementary school student who had just learned to read and was copying the letter.
The envelope is covered with mottled fingerprints, making it difficult to extract valid fingerprints.
No fingerprints were found on the briefing inside the envelope.
The words cut out from newspapers have slightly rounded edges and less white space, which should be the result of careful cutting with smaller scissors.
The words cut from the newspapers have different font sizes, which makes the layout look a bit messy, but if you look closely, you can see that the spacing between each word is almost exactly the same and on the same horizontal line.
Seeing this, Xia Mufan and Sun Xianbing exchanged glances. It seemed that the other party was a perfectionist almost with obsessive-compulsive disorder, and even had such strict requirements for posting a threatening letter.
Sun Xianbing said: "I suspect it was Lu Qiaoling who did it. Maybe she didn't really want to hurt her teacher, but because she hated Zou Chengye for ruining her future, she deliberately scared Zou Chengye to gain inner balance."
The more Sun Xianbing spoke, the more he felt that he was right, and his demeanor completely relaxed. "So I said that our case is not a big deal. It might just be a prank, to scare Zou Chengye. There won't be any substantial harm."
Xia Mufan said: "It may not be Lu Qiaoling, maybe it was the daughter of Zou Chengye's ex-wife who was seeking revenge? The lack of fatherly love for nearly ten years made Zou Chengye's daughter hate her father. Seeing that he now has a happy family and a happy life, she is jealous, so she deliberately disrupted his life and broke his current peace."
Who is it? In fact, no one knows, and it is just speculation at the moment. We need to slowly discover the truth of the matter during the investigation process.
Gu Shaoqi listened carefully, and after they finished their discussion, he said thoughtfully, "I remember there was a similar case in Xing City 12 years ago. At that time, due to limited means of investigation, nothing was found, and the case was eventually left unresolved."
When Xia Mufan heard this, he immediately became interested: "Tell me in detail."
In the process of searching for the murderer who killed his parents, Gu Shaoqi sorted out all the cases, big and small, in Hunan Province. He had a good memory and strong logical ability. When he heard Xia Mufan and Sun Xianbing talk about the threatening letter incident, it immediately triggered his dusty memories.
"This case was quite famous in Star City at the time because it involved Western mental illness. The detective in charge of the case at the time felt like he was listening to a foreign language."
"Mental illness? Who is it?" Xia Mufan couldn't help but think of what Zou Chengye said about his ex-wife having a mental illness.
Gu Shaoqi said: "I don't remember the names of the people involved in the case, but I roughly remember that it was a woman who came to report the case. She said that she kept receiving threatening letters and phone calls, and there were all kinds of strange noises at home, and the lights flickered. She said someone wanted to harm her, but the police did not find anything unusual after checking. After a week of surveillance, everyone withdrew. But strangely, the woman was indeed attacked from behind, and her neck was strangled by a belt, and she was almost strangled to death."
"Ah, is there really someone who wants to harm her?" Sun Xianbing became a little nervous.
Gu Shaoqi said: "Yes, although the woman who reported the case was attacked and fell into a coma, she could not remember the face of the person who killed her when she was asked about it afterwards. She was just terrified and screamed that someone was trying to kill her. The administrative staff reconstructed the case and suspected that the woman staged it herself, strangling her neck with a belt and hanging herself on the window frame, causing the neck marks."
Hearing this, Xia Mufan had no clue at all and felt that this case was really confusing: "No way, she directed and acted in this case herself, is she a masochist?"
Gu Shaoqi said: "Later, a similar incident happened again. The woman who reported the case ran out of the house alone in the middle of the night. When she woke up, her body was almost frozen. If her husband hadn't found her in time, she would have frozen to death outside the house. The woman insisted that she was carried out by someone, but it was snowing heavily in Xing City at the time, and there were no footprints of other people nearby. The police didn't believe her."
"This happened so many times that no one took the woman seriously when she reported it to the police. They all said she was mentally ill and had delusions."
"In the 1980s, reform and opening up had just begun, and everyone was busy. There were few cases of mental illness. Terms such as paranoia, delusion, and masochism did not appear in the Hunan case files. Instead, there were more studies on mental illness in the West. The woman's husband was an educated man, and he read some Western literature. He said that his wife might have dual personality disorder. She would imagine another personality in her mind and want to hurt herself, so she directed and acted out this scene herself."
Xia Mufan frowned, not knowing why he felt uncomfortable: "Then, what next?"
Gu Shaoqi said: "Then the case was dropped and the woman was sent to a mental hospital for treatment. As for whether she was dead or alive, or what her condition was like, I didn't pay any attention to it anymore."
Xia Mushige asked: "Are you sure this case happened 12 years ago?"
Gu Shaoqi nodded: "Yes, I remember it very clearly. The case was reported around October 1984. You should be able to find the case at the Public Security Bureau archives in Xinshi."
Xia Mufan nodded: "Okay, as long as you have the specific time of reporting the case, I'll go check the files." She had a hunch that these two cases with similar beginnings might be related.
Xia Mufan was extremely happy to get the new clue. He raised his hand and patted Gu Shaoqi's shoulder affectionately: "Thank you! You have a good memory."
Gu Shaoqi's shoulder was hit by his girlfriend, and a slight pain came over him, and his heart was also moved: "I'm glad I can help you, so that you don't think I'm a useless person."
Sun Xianbing joked, "Oh, is Forensic Doctor Gu so unconfident?"
Gu Shaoqi just smiled and said nothing. He was originally a very confident person, but because of the accidental death of his parents, his self-confidence suffered a great blow and he became a little depressed for a time. If it weren't for Xia Mufan's help in finding the truth of the matter, his life would probably have been extremely bleak, and he would have fallen into deep self-blame and regret ever since.
It is no exaggeration to say that Xia Mufan is a ray of light in his life and the warmth he longs for. Therefore, he has been working hard to become someone Xia Mufan can rely on and trust. Now his familiarity with the file files can help Xia Mufan solve the case, which is also a very happy thing for him.
The sound of cooking came from the kitchen, and the aroma made Sun Xianbing's mouth water. He jumped up: "Wow, my dried radish!" and rushed to the kitchen, wanting to eat it first.
Xia Mufan took the opportunity to kiss Gu Shaoqi on the cheek and said happily: "Let's both keep working hard and solve this case."
With the fragrance in his arms, Gu Shaoqi's heart beat faster and for a moment he didn't know where he was.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
