Reborn in 97, I solved a cold case at the Municipal Bureau

Chapter 291 Sister Niu

Hongcheng City Public Security Bureau, Third Brigade Office.

Wu Yongcheng hadn't returned by noon. During this time, Zhou Yi received a phone call from his third uncle, who told him that the steel coils had been successfully delivered to the tractor factory and that there would be results soon. He added that he would keep an eye on things.

When it was time to eat, everyone went to the cafeteria.

Chen Yan was two minutes late because he needed to use the restroom.

After washing his hands, he came out of the toilet and walked towards the canteen. Just as he passed the door of the Third Brigade office, the phone inside suddenly rang.

Chen Yan immediately turned back to answer the phone.

"Hello, this is the Third Brigade of the Criminal Investigation Detachment of Hongcheng City Public Security Bureau."

"Oh, it's Officer Xia from Anyuan. Yes, I'm Chen Yan, the one who contacted you before."

Yes, that's right.

"Okay, I understand. I will report this to my supervisor as soon as possible and cooperate with your work."

In the cafeteria, Zhou Yi and his two companions were eating, but they had not seen Chen Yan for a long time.

More than ten minutes later, Chen Yan came over with a bowl of rice.

"We thought you fell into the toilet," Jiang Biao joked.

"I received a call from Anyuan City," Chen Yan said.

Zhou Yi immediately asked alertly, "Anyuan City? They found Li Youqiang?"

When his grandfather was hospitalized, Zhou Yi's mother took on a job for him. An elderly woman in the hospital had lost her son inexplicably, and the old woman was constantly worried.

The missing person is named Li Youqiang, and the last city he may have gone to is Anyuan City in the neighboring province.

After Zhou Yi took on this case, Chen Yan helped contact the Criminal Investigation Detachment in Anyuan City and asked them to keep an eye on a man named Li Youqiang.

Anyuan City helped investigate, but they did not find a person named Li Youqiang among the detainees and missing persons.

While Pan Hongjie's second team was investigating the case of the naked corpse in the well, someone suddenly remembered that they had previously helped Hongcheng investigate a missing person named Li Youqiang.

Pan Hongjie also remembered this matter, so he used it as a clue and asked someone to contact Hongcheng to see if they could provide some assistance in the investigation.

That's why Chen Yan received this call.

Faced with Zhou Yi's question, Chen Yan shook his head and explained the situation of An Yuan's body. It was precisely because it could not be identified that he wanted to ask them for help in confirming it.

"Brother Yan, when Captain Wu comes back later, report to him, and then I'll go to Li Youqiang's house with you," Zhou Yi said.

Chen Yan nodded, looked around, and said worriedly, "Why hasn't Master returned yet? Is something wrong?"

His words made Qiao Jiali and Jiang Biao a little nervous.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Yi calmly replied, "It's alright, Captain Wu will live to be a hundred."

After a while, they all finished eating and were waiting for Chen Yan. Wu Yongcheng arrived late, carrying a tray of food.

"Hey, Chen Yan, why are you eating so slowly today?" Wu Yongcheng said, sitting down.

The four immediately greeted each other, those who called him Team Leader Wu called him Team Leader Wu, and those who called him Master called him Master.

As soon as Zhou Yi heard Wu Yongcheng's tone, he knew that everything was fine and he wouldn't die.

"Master, what were the results of your hospital checkup?"

Wu Yongcheng looked at Chen Yan in surprise: "Who said I went to the hospital?"

The three of them pointed at Zhou Yi in unison. Zhou Yi thought to himself, "Good grief, they sold me out without a second's hesitation."

"You've become a genius, haven't you?"

"So, Master, is something wrong with you?" Chen Yan asked with concern.

"I have a problem with my lumbar spine, which is causing nerve compression and chest pain," Wu Yongcheng sighed. "Alas, as you get older, you can't stop these ailments."

Zhou Yi thought to himself, "Sure enough, there are problems, but I'm just scaring myself."

It's not Wu Yongcheng's fault. He's been living alone in Hongcheng for so many years, and single middle-aged men like him are most prone to overthinking.

Moreover, police officers may not be afraid of sacrifice, but everyone is afraid of terminal illness.

So Zhou Yi understood perfectly; it would be best if everything was alright.

He stopped teasing Wu Yongcheng and Chen Yan reported on the situation in Anyuan City to him.

Because of the previous searchlight operation, Li Youqiang was already a missing person on the wanted list, and Wu Yongcheng knew the basic information.

He then ordered, "Zhou Yi and Chen Yan go to Li Youqiang's house to find out what's going on, ask his family members if they have any distinctive features that can be used to identify him, and also collect Li Youqiang's fingerprints."

Wu Yongcheng didn't mention DNA because the demand for DNA testing in the provincial capital is already extremely high.

It's a case of too many monks and too little porridge; the DNA test results from the Tang Xue case are not yet available.

Therefore, the current requirements of the provincial department for DNA applications are major cases, important cases, and old cases with key investigative needs.

"Xiao Qiao, you and Biaozi go and find out about the person who disappeared with Li Youqiang, what was his name again..."

Chen Yan added: "Fu Daqing, nicknamed Brother Gua."

"Yes, Fu Daqing, check his social connections, see if he has appeared recently, what he did before he disappeared, and whether he did anything unusual."

"Okay, Captain Wu."

The four got up and left, with Zhou Yi being the last to stand up.

Wu Yongcheng took a bite of rice, looked up and saw that Zhou Yi was still there, and asked, "Is there anything else?" "Captain Wu, a gentleman's word is his bond," Zhou Yi said, raising an eyebrow.

Wu Yongcheng, whose mouth was still full of food, was stunned: "What is that?"

Zhou Yi smiled and turned to leave.

Wu Yongcheng suddenly realized what was happening and shouted at him, "The gentleman said the horse is lame."

……

Zhou Yi and Chen Yan first retrieved Li Youqiang's household registration file.

Li Youqiang is 42 years old and lives on an old street in Nanming District with his mother, wife and children.

His father passed away more than ten years ago, and his mother is Sister Niu, whom Zhou Yi met at the hospital.

Zhou Yi remembered that when her mother took her to Sister Niu's ward, she glanced at her and saw that the symptoms written on Sister Niu's medical record card seemed to be cerebrovascular disease.

I didn't see anyone with her, and she didn't have a caregiver, so I guess her family is struggling financially.

At the time, it was said that Li Youqiang was idle and irresponsible, and his wife had objections and took their son home. I don't know what the situation is now.

Zhou Yi and Chen Yan drove to Haitang Old Street according to their registered address.

However, when the car reached the street corner, it had to stop because there was a drainage ditch at the intersection, which was quite wide and covered with only two stone slabs.

Chen Yan looked at it and realized that it wasn't that he thought he couldn't drive through, but rather that he was afraid of damaging the stone slab.

The two parked their car nearby and then got out and walked.

The street was much older than Zhou Yi had imagined; it was basically developed from a former shantytown.

Following the address, the two navigated through narrow, winding alleys, amidst cluttered old houses and overhead power lines, and finally found Li Youqiang's home.

A "福" (good fortune) character is pasted on an old wooden door, and the wood grain clearly shows that it has been around for a long time.

Zhou Yi knocked on the door, and a voice came from inside.

"coming."

After a while, an old lady opened the door; it was Sister Niu, whom Zhou Yi had met before.

Although she's called "Big Sister," that's what Zhou Yi's mother and the others call her; in reality, Big Sister Niu is over sixty years old.

"You guys..." Because of the high building density, the lighting in the entire old street is quite poor, Sister Niu asked, squinting her eyes.

"Are you Niu Fengxian?" Chen Yan asked.

"I am Niu Fengxian."

"Is Li Youqiang your son?"

Upon hearing the name Li Youqiang, Sister Niu trembled and asked excitedly, "Do you know my son?"

Suddenly, she recognized Zhou Yi and pointed at him, saying, "You...you're the son of Sister Zhang, the policeman, from the hospital?"

Zhou Yi nodded: "Sister Niu, we'd like to ask you about your son, Li Youqiang. Is that convenient for you?"

Sister Niu quickly nodded and said, "It's convenient, it's convenient, young men, please come in quickly."

Zhou Yi and Chen Yan followed them into the house.

The room was dimly lit, so Sister Niu quickly turned on the light switch.

An incandescent light bulb lit up overhead, but it was still dim, barely better than nothing.

The house was small, with only two rooms, one inside and one outside, totaling no more than twenty square meters, and was quite shabby. The walls were covered with newspapers, but some parts of the newspapers had grown mold due to dampness, so another layer of newspaper was pasted on top to cover them up.

They couldn't see clearly from the inner room because of the lack of light; the outer room basically served as the cooking, dining, and living room.

There was a folding bed in the corner, with a curtain made from faded blue sheets hanging beside it, serving as a partition.

There was no toilet in the room; under the folding bed was a toilet with a red lid.

The house, which can be seen from one end to the other, reveals the poverty of the life lived there.

"Please sit down, I'll get you some water," Sister Niu said hurriedly, clearly very nervous.

"Sister Niu, no need, no need, don't bother." Zhou Yi gestured for her to sit down and then asked, "Are you home alone?"

Sister Niu nodded: "Ever since my son Qiangzi disappeared, my daughter-in-law took my grandson back to her parents' house, and I'm all alone at home."

"Is there...any news about my Qiangzi?" Sister Niu asked, her voice trembling.

Zhou Yi comforted him, saying, "We're here today to understand the situation so we can help you find your son, so you don't need to be too nervous."

"You...you're not lying to me, are you...?"

“Sister Niu, we are police officers, how could we lie to people? Here, take a look, this is my identification.” Zhou Yi said, taking out his identification.

Sister Niu waved her hands repeatedly: "No need, no need, I know you're a policeman. Your mother told me, I believe you."

“This is our policy,” Zhou Yi said, showing his identification before reassuring her. “We are conducting a routine investigation today, so please cooperate with us as much as possible so we can find your son as soon as possible.”

After hearing Zhou Yi's words, Sister Niu was clearly relieved, and then Chen Yan began to ask questions.

The two learned about Li Youqiang's basic personal information, such as his height and weight, his situation before leaving Hongcheng, and his social connections.

They also asked for Li Youqiang's wife's workplace and her family's address, because there are some things that a mother might not know, but it's different for the person she shares her bed with.

However, they still learned a piece of information from Sister Niu: a clear characteristic that could confirm whether the male corpse in Anyuan City was Li Youqiang.

(End of this chapter)