The Devil in the World (1)

Because the Li Muxiao case was relatively serious, Lu He was called to the office by Director Liu as soon as he arrived at the police station in the morning.

Liu Maoping was drawing the curtains. When he saw Lu He enter the office, he did not turn around and said, "I read your report first thing in the morning. I didn't even draw the curtains..."

The room was suddenly bright, and the morning light outside seemed to shine through the window in a restrained manner, casting layers of halos on Lu He's cheeks.

Liu Maoping turned around and gestured for him to sit down. Lu He said, "Director Liu, do you have anything else to say about the case?"

"This case is very good," Liu Maoping walked to the desk and sat down, motioning him to sit across from him again. As Lu He sat down, he said, "I will report this to the provincial department later. I will arrange for someone to handle the media work. You should do the follow-up work well. You must hand over the materials and evidence to the procuratorate as soon as possible for review and prosecution."

Lu He understood that this case was serious and needed to be transferred to the procuratorate as soon as possible. He stayed in the police station not because he was afraid of the long night and many dreams, but because he was afraid of being covered by the overwhelming news outside. Now the society paid too much attention to it, which was not a good thing.

This is the most perfect job I have done so far. Regardless of whether I will be praised by my superiors or not, everyone hopes for a successful ending.

Director Liu is a man who can judge the situation at hand. Lu He still has doubts about this case. He expects the procuratorate to perfect the details, bring prosecution, and wait for the judge to make the final decision on Li Muxiao's fate.

But he is definitely not the kind of person who gives up easily. He will still try to find out some chains of evidence that have not been completely closed, such as why Ruan Mengying disappeared that year.

He replied: "Don't worry, Director Liu, I will take care of it right away."

“Have the deceased’s family been notified?”

"Xiao Liang is following, but he hasn't contacted his family yet."

"Okay, don't neglect these follow-up tasks."

"Don't worry, Director Liu. If there's nothing else, I'll go back first."

When Lu He stood up, Liu Maoping asked, "Have you finished reading the previous Di Renjie detective series?"

“Still watching.”

"There's a new revised edition that's just come out. I've reserved a copy for you. Come pick it up later."

"Okay." Lu He would also read novels when he had time, but he did not have enough time to read "Detective Dee" over and over again, but he could not refuse the kindness.

Just as he was about to turn around, Liu Maoping said, "There's one more thing. I've been following your criminal investigation this time. I won't talk about other people's performances, but what do you think of Xiao Meng from Team 2?"

Lu He said: "Meng Siqi is a very good criminal police officer. Her performance in this case is unique. She provided a lot of key clues from the beginning of the case. In the end, it was her meticulous and detailed exploration spirit that uncovered the key evidence. I haven't had time to report the case closure report yet, but I will report it later."

There was a bright and brilliant light in his eyes when he described it. Liu Maoping looked at him with a look that read a thousand mountains and nodded, saying: "Okay, your evaluation is very pertinent, which shows that you have seriously understood her. But I also want to praise your work, which is as good as always this time."

"Director Liu, I'm flattered. It's my job."

"Well," Liu Maoping also stood up, speaking in a relaxed tone, as if he was chatting casually, "Lu He, when you are free from work, communicate more with Xiao Meng."

"must."

"Okay, let's get busy first."

Liu Maoping looked at Lu He's thin and resolute figure disappearing at the door and smiled slightly.

*

After finishing the Li Muxiao case, the morning meetings of Team One and Team Two were naturally cancelled, and Meng Siqi returned to his work in Team Two.

Also during these two days, Han Changlin and Tang Xiaochuan returned from Guangdong. After returning, everyone met in the conference room. He first praised the three for their performance in the Li Muxiao case. He said that he heard about what happened here when he was in Guangdong, but he couldn't get away. When he hurried back, he didn't expect that the case was solved smoothly.

Finally, he even praised her: "I heard that it was Xiao Meng who solved the case in the end."

"Yes, Korean team, Siqi embarrassed our second team. You don't know how arrogant Luo Xiaoguo was at the beginning. He thought our second team was all vegetarians," Zhao Leiting said with a beaming face. "In the end, his face was beaten to a crisp. You don't know how scared he was when he bought bread for Siqi."

Meng Siqi's face turned red when he heard this, and he felt extremely embarrassed. Although the story was somewhat true, it was definitely not as exaggerated as Zhao Lei Ting described.

She hurriedly said, "It's almost done, Zhao Leiting. It's all because of you, Lu He and Master, who have been busy all the time. I finally got a chance."

"Being too humble is arrogance. You should be praised. This time, Master will also praise you." Feng Shaomin's tone was calm, but it was like honey pouring out of a pot into Meng Siqi's heart, "Master is very proud of you."

"Look," Zhao Leiting raised his eyebrows, "I didn't tell a single lie."

Tang Xiaochuan showed a bit of hesitation, "I can imagine how good Si Qi was at that time."

Meng Siqi blushed slightly, waved his hands, and said embarrassedly: "Let's not talk about this anymore, let's talk about something else."

Han Changlin smiled and nodded, "There will be many opportunities for praise, no rush. I will also tell everyone about Xiaochuan and I going to Guangdong."

Talking about the case, everyone gradually calmed down, and the heat on Meng Siqi's face slowly cooled down.

Because this trip to Guangdong involves an important incident. Eight years ago, the Dandelion Textile Factory closed down and several female workers disappeared after leaving their jobs. At that time, some people thought that they went to work in other places and did not contact their families for various reasons. But Director Liu felt that this matter was suspicious and might be related to the female workers in the textile factory serving alcohol as hostesses, so he asked everyone to investigate.

Many of the witnesses at that time have passed away or suffered from dementia. Gui Xiangyang described Hong Kong businessmen Jin Weirong and Shen Jiuxiang as having been to the textile factory and witnessed the drinking incident with their own eyes. Now that they have been arrested for smuggling, Han Changlin went to Guangdong specifically to interrogate them and find out the truth.

Tang Xiaochuan told them about the incident, and Jin Weirong and Shen Jiuxiang explained some details of the incident. It was basically that they did come to the mainland to invest eight years ago, but they didn't give up the investment because of the drinking incident, nor because Long Shanwen refused to get in Jin Weirong's car.

Jin Weirong visited the textile factory and found the situation very bad. He even suspected that the main leaders of the factory were seriously corrupt. It was difficult to revive such a dying enterprise. The factory leaders had the illusion that they could make a fortune by taking a large sum of money. Jin Weirong even thought that they wanted to swallow up the investment funds.

As for the girls who accompanied him to drink, he also said frankly that he stayed very little time, and apart from drinking with the girls at the table, he never asked them to have sex. He really liked Long Shanwen, because he rarely saw her with that kind of appearance in Hong Kong, and he had thought about playing around and taking some money to pass the time. But because Long Shanwen refused and he had no investment plan, he left early.

Another Hong Kong businessman, Shen Jiuxiang, came with Jin Weirong. He said that a female worker did sleep with him. The worker came from a poor family and had expressed the hope that he could take her away. She was willing to be his girlfriend. He had never violated her and they were just having a formal relationship. However, half a month later, because of family matters and no investment interest here, he left temporarily and the relationship ended.

When asked about the female worker's name, he said he didn't know, he only knew her nickname was Xiaohong. Perhaps because several female workers disappeared innocently and involved in a criminal case, Shen Jiuxiang was worried about being involved, so he revealed the love story.

Although it was just a few simple sentences, Han Changlin and Tang Xiaochuan had to pry them openly for several days and finally confirmed it by using both soft and hard tactics. In the missing persons list, there was a girl named Ding Yinghong, who might be Xiaohong's real name.

Han Changlin asked the painter to draw a portrait based on Shen Jiuxiang's description. He asked Meng Siqi and Zhao Leiting to take the portrait to visit the family members of the missing female workers in the textile factory to find out whether Xiaohong was the missing Ding Yinghong.

At Ding Yinghong's home, Meng Siqi met her parents. They might have found it hard to accept the reality that Ding Yinghong had left and never returned, and their faces were filled with sorrow and their hair had turned gray due to their longing for her.

In the main hall, Ding Yinghong's mother sat in front of the eight-immortal table and answered inquiries. She said that eight years ago, Ding Yinghong said that the factory arranged a new job for her, so she wanted to try it again. During this period, she also left a sum of money for her family. Later, the factory went bankrupt completely. Ding Yinghong said that she wanted to go out and take a look, and then she never came back.

Meng Siqi could probably guess what the new job the factory was talking about at the time, which might be to accompany drinking, but the girl was unwilling to tell the truth. She had a relationship with Shen Jiuxiang. She was young at the time and she knew it was not a glorious thing, so she must have kept it hidden. As for the money, it was probably given to her by Shen Jiuxiang.

Later, Shen Jiuxiang left Jinyang City. Ding Yinghong might have been a little disappointed, but at that time someone else approached her and promised her some benefits. Ding Yinghong might have felt that it was inconvenient to tell her parents about these things, so her whereabouts became very mysterious.

The missing girl like her should be in the same situation.

Meng Siqi guessed that they were all very poor at the time, and the factory had not paid wages for more than a year, so they were penniless. However, the new job arranged by the factory, "accompanying guests drinking," made them discover a new world. The money might have come too easily, and they could not accept a life without money. During that time, they began to lose themselves.

After the factory closed down completely, they lost their "new jobs" and naturally wanted to make up for it desperately. Just at this time, someone took them to what they thought was a "new world."

But fate played a trick on them. Perhaps that "new world" was a new hell.

This is Meng Siqi's profile and also her guess. There is too little information now, so she cannot explore the core of this matter. She can only rely on the fragmentary impressions of that year to restore what happened in that time.

But judging from the current situation, she believes that her profiling is likely to be successful.

Meng Siqi asked: "When Ding Yinghong left, she mentioned the outside world? Did she describe to you specifically where it was?"

Ding Yinghong's mother's eyes were filled with sorrow and she shook her head. "I don't know. Yinghong was so young and very well behaved. She probably just wanted to find something to do in the city. She loved her father very much, and her father was not in good health. At that time, she gave all the money she earned to her father."

At this time, the man in his late 50s sitting next to him had a hunched back, a heavy expression, and cloudy tears in his eyes.

It is unlikely that any further information will be found from this elderly couple; if they knew anything, they would have kept it secret for eight years.

After leaving their home, Meng Siqi and Zhao Leiting found the family of another missing girl. Only a mother was left in this family. The mother said the same thing, but to be more specific, her daughter said she went to the city to find a job and never came back.

The Dandelion Textile Factory was located in the suburbs, some distance from the city. Although Yang City is not big today, the city center is more developed. At that time, transportation was not very developed. For these girls, it was a very prosperous and remote place.

They don't have a high degree or solid skills, so what can they do in the city?

Meng Siqi ended the visit that day, but her heart was filled with many questions. Eight years ago was a long time ago, so long ago that many people's memories are vague and they will not remember many details, but the pain is unforgettable. These parents will always remember that their daughter "left".

In their eyes, disappearance does not mean death. They have always held great faith, believing that their daughter will come back one day, come back to them, and hear her call them "Mom and Dad" again, the most beautiful name in the world.

In the past two days, Meng Siqi, Feng Shaomin and Zhao Leiting visited the families of other missing girls and also went to the surrounding residents to understand the situation at the time.

Including Ding Yinghong, the specific information is that a total of five girls were missing. They all disappeared within two or three months after the textile factory closed down. Due to the special circumstances at the time and the rumors that the five girls had left home to find work, the five families did not report the case and have been waiting for their daughters to return.

But the fact that the five girls were missing was true, so Director Liu paid attention to this matter and wanted Team 2 to investigate. If Gui Xiangyang hadn't told about the drinking incident, no one would have realized that the story of the textile factory was so unbearable. Perhaps this is why Director Liu believed that the drinking incident was closely related to the girls' disappearance.

Meng Siqi has been immersed in this confusing case for the past two days, and her heart is gloomy, but she still firmly believes that she can find out the truth of that year.

In the morning, she felt a little bloated and painful in the head, perhaps because she did not sleep well last night and had a lot of important work to do today. She hurriedly got on the bus, held the bus hanging ring, and wanted to take a nap in the shaking carriage.

Suddenly, a strange voice came to my ears: "Did you hear that the murderer who dismembered the body in the museum changed his statement in court yesterday?"

"What do you mean?" another passenger asked in surprise.

At this time, almost everyone in the carriage was looking for the source of the sound, because this museum dismemberment case was once the talk of the town and a nightmare for the common people in Jinyang City, and almost everyone knew about it.

When the case was solved, the Public Security Bureau released a media statement.

Meng Siqi woke up immediately, as if a bucket of cold water was poured over her head. She didn't believe that Li Muxiao would change his confession. After all, she and Lu He were the ones who interrogated him personally at that time. There was no problem with Li Muxiao's confession, and the whole chain of evidence was complete.

She still believes that the passenger was telling fake news, perhaps black traffic from an irresponsible tabloid.

She was not the only one who had the same idea. Before she could ask, someone shouted, "Who told you that the murderer changed his confession?"

"I also heard from someone that the murderer had produced an alibi at the court session yesterday afternoon and might face being acquitted..."

"How is that possible? We, the police, are not pushovers. We will never wrongly accuse a good person..."

A man's calm voice came from somewhere: "I work in the media. I also heard about this incident last night. But everyone should wait for the official announcement and stop speculating here."

Even if Meng Siqi didn't believe it, she felt a chill on her back at this moment.

She didn't know how Lu He felt after hearing the news. She still remembered the sadness in Lu He's eyes when he sent her home that day.

He might have expected that among many possibilities, one of the results was that Li Muxiao made a false confession. Therefore, he, who had always been so calm, was sad when he felt that there might be a huge hidden secret in this case.