Chapter 6
"The suspect is Feng Xumei." Zhou Zhengzheng pondered the materials. "Master, now that Qiu Yue's body has been found, the missing person case has become a murder. Doesn't that make Feng Xumei an even bigger suspect?"
"On the contrary, the suspicion has become smaller." Chang Ting said gritting his teeth.
"Why..." Zhou Zhengzheng looked up and saw Chang Ting's fists clenched on the steering wheel, veins bulging. "Master, why are you so angry?"
"What's so mad about... My stomach hurts!"
"Oh... drink something hot quickly." Zhou Zhengzheng quickly handed over his thermos cup.
Chang Ting drank some hot water, and his stomach finally felt better. Ever since he became a criminal police officer, his irregular work schedule and frequent cold meals had damaged his stomach, and even at such a young age, he couldn't live without a thermos.
He said angrily, "This Chen He is so insidious. He deliberately gave me cold water to drink and gave me a stomachache."
"...You didn't refuse. She doesn't know you have a stomach problem."
"Haha, that's not necessarily true. This guy is extremely scheming."
"Master, do you think that Chen He killed Qiu Yue?"
"Right now, she's no less suspicious than Feng Xumei. How did you feel about interacting with her today?"
"...I feel a chill down my spine."
"I was furious. His attitude was too arrogant."
Zhou Zhengzheng frowned: "Master, I think you are particularly not calm today."
"I..." Chang Ting reflected for a moment, "You're right."
"Is it because you handled Qiu Yue's case five years ago?" Zhou Zhengzheng found Chang Ting's name in the materials.
"That was the first case I worked on with my master after I started working, so it really touched me."
The unsolved case of Qiu Yue's disappearance was a source of great concern to him and his master. As soon as Qiu Yue's body was discovered, he took over the case without waiting for his superiors to assign him another task.
This case must be solved personally to put an end to this regret that has been accumulating for five years.
He rubbed his short hair in frustration and asked, "Have you finished reading the case file?"
"I've finished reading it."
He closed his eyes and said, "Put it back to me and let me hear it."
Zhou Zhengzheng folded the materials together and said, "Five years ago, Qiu Yue, a student at the art training base, disappeared. The person who reported it to the police was the base's principal, Zhu Zangmo..."
Zhou Zhengzheng has been a top student since he was young. He has a sharp mind and can remember almost every file he has read.
As she recited, Chang Ting recalled it bit by bit.
Zhu Zangmo is a famous painter who has taught at top art schools and holds a pivotal position in the painting world.
Because of his qualifications, art students from all over the country come here to study, and the base's enrollment quotas have always been tight.
At that time, Chang Ting had just graduated from the police academy and went to the scene with his master Lao Xiao.
At that time, Chang Ting was still in the stage of pretending to be good, not as arrogant as he is now, and he didn't dare to speak much when following his master.
It was around two in the afternoon when they arrived.
The Zangmo Art Training Base is not located in the urban area of Qi'an City, but is located in the scenic Mingzhu Mountain on the outskirts of the city. The layout of the courtyard and buildings looks like a sanatorium from the 1980s and 1990s.
In fact, it was originally a sanatorium. After it closed down due to poor management a few years ago, it was bought by Zhu Zangmo and converted into an art training base.
Zhu Zangmo was very anxious at the time. He stood at the gate of the compound, looking forward to it. When he saw the police car coming, he hurried forward, shook the policeman's hand and spoke incoherently:
"Comrade police, please help find Qiu Yue! The parents entrusted their child to us, and we failed to take good care of her. I cannot bear this responsibility!"
Zhu Zangmo is in his forties. He looks quite artistic in his suit and silk scarf, but he is completely out of his mind.
He hurriedly explained the situation.
Qiu Yue, a girl from the base, left the dormitory last night and hasn't returned yet. The teachers have searched everywhere but haven't found her.
Old Xiao and Chang Ting stood downstairs and looked up. Behind each window, groups of students' heads were crowded, looking out into the courtyard with curiosity.
"Principal Zhu, do you know who saw Qiu Yue last?" asked Lao Xiao.
"It's Yu Aiai from the same dormitory." Zhu Zangmo turned around and called out, "Yu Aiai, where is Yu Aiai?"
A girl walked out of the dim doorway of the building, her hair tied in a loose ponytail draped over her left shoulder.
Zhu Zangmo pulled her to the front and said, "Tell the police officer quickly when was the last time you saw Qiu Yue."
Yu Aiai tugged at the end of her braid shyly, her voice like a mosquito's hum, "Qiu Yue and I have bunk beds, I'm on the lower bunk and Qiu Yue is on the upper. Last night around midnight, the bed frame shook me awake, and when I opened my eyes, I saw Qiu Yue climbing down from the upper bunk.
"I saw her go out the door and thought she was going to the bathroom, so I ignored her and went back to sleep..."
Lao Xiao interjected, "Don't you have a toilet in your dormitory?"
"Yes, but the toilet has been broken for the past two days. Teacher Feng said he would fix it, but he never did. Everyone in our room has to go to the public restroom at the end of the corridor to use the restroom."
Lao Xiao nodded: "Go on."
"It wasn't until this morning that I realized she wasn't in bed. I didn't see her at breakfast, and I didn't see her until class. That's when I realized something was wrong and reported it to Teacher Feng."
Lao Xiao asked, "Who is Teacher Feng?"
Zhu Zangmo answered for her: "Teacher Feng is our teaching assistant here, specifically responsible for student life."
He turned around and looked around: "Where is Teacher Feng?" He pointed to the group of boys watching, "Xu Candong, go call Teacher Feng Xumei over!"
The boy ran over in response.
Zhu Zangmo's face was filled with anxiety, his voice choking a little. "Comrade police officer, although Qiu Yue hasn't been missing for long, her situation is special. She suffers from congenital heart disease and has always been in poor health. I'm worried that she might have an accident."
Old Xiao frowned. "That's true. If she had a seizure somewhere and couldn't call for help, it would be troublesome. So, she's most likely still in the dormitory area. Where is the dormitory?"
"The student dormitory is on the third floor." Zhu Zangmo led Lao Xiao and Chang Ting into the building. "This building has three floors. The first and second floors are classrooms, and the third floor is the student dormitory. The male and female dormitories are separated on the left and right. I have organized teachers and students to search, but there is no one there."
"Is it possible that she could have left the building?"
"It's unlikely. Teacher Feng's duty room is right at the entrance to the third-floor corridor. According to regulations, students are not allowed to leave the dormitory area at night."
Zhu Zangmo said this, and he became anxious again, raising his voice, "Why hasn't Teacher Feng come yet?"
The boy who went to call Teacher Feng suddenly ran down the stairs, looking panicked: "Principal, this is bad! Teacher Feng has gone crazy! She's setting fire!"
Everyone was shocked.
Before he could finish his words, he saw flames and thick smoke billowing from the windows on the third floor.
Lao Xiao's expression changed: "Call 119, evacuate the students!"
Nothing is more important than the safety of students. During this period, students are all in classrooms on the first and second floors.
Lao Xiao and Chang Ting ran around, helping the teachers evacuate more than 200 students to the open space in the compound.
Lao Xiao searched one last time and found a girl in a painting studio.
The girl was squatting next to a stack of painting frames on the side of the door, busy with something.
She was startled when Lao Xiao broke in.
"There's a fire, why are you still here?" Lao Xiao pulled the girl out. He thought she was running too slowly, so he just carried her on his back and ran.
When I ran out of the building, Principal Zhu was busy calling the teachers to take a headcount, shouting, "Is everyone out yet?"
A teacher said with sweat on his forehead: "One is missing..."
"There's another one!" Lao Xiao put the girl down.
The teacher breathed a sigh of relief: "Now we're all here. Thank you, police officer."
Lao Xiao said: "The girl was in the innermost studio on the first floor and didn't even know there was a fire outside. It was really dangerous."
Principal Zhu scolded the girl, "Kid, what are you doing in that room..."
The girl was probably frightened and didn't say anything.
The base is far from the city, and it will take some time for the fire truck to arrive. Flames and thick smoke are already bursting out of the windows.
Old Xiao couldn't find Chang Ting, so he shouted at the top of his voice, "Chang Ting!"
Chang Ting had already covered his mouth and nose with a wet rag and rushed up to the third floor alone.
The stairs are in the middle of the building. As Principal Zhu said, boys and girls occupy each side of the dormitory, and there are iron gates at the entrance of the corridor.
The room opposite the stairs is the duty room. It can be imagined that if a student goes out at night, whether boy or girl, they will be seen by the teacher in the duty room.
Chang Ting kicked open the door of the duty room and searched for a while in the thick smoke, only to find that there was no one in the room.
Teacher Feng is not in the duty room. This is not where the fire started.
He left the duty room and found the direction where the fire was the brightest. That was the girls' dormitory area.
He remembered that boy saying that Teacher Feng was crazy and setting fires everywhere.
Teacher Feng must be in there.
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