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

Chapter 295 With Knives and Guns

The person who opened the door was not Niu Fengxian, but Li Youqiang's wife, Zhang Xianglan.

Upon seeing Zhou Yi, Zhang Xianglan's expression changed slightly, and she had a bad feeling.

"Officers, why... are you here again?" Zhang Xianglan asked, her voice trembling.

"Who is it?" Niu Fengxian's weak voice came from inside the house.

Because it was too dark inside, Zhou Yi couldn't see very clearly, but he could still see someone get up from the folding bed and pull back the curtain.

Niu Fengxian's voice sounded noticeably worse than before.

"Mom, lie down quickly. Your health isn't good to begin with, don't faint if you do," Zhang Xianglan said.

But Sister Niu still walked shakily to the door, her face full of worry, and asked, "Have you found Qiangzi? He... he didn't do something wrong and get arrested, did he?"

The tone in her voice was not one of panic, but of anticipation.

She would rather her son had been arrested than have any other outcome.

Chen Yan didn't know how to start the conversation, so he instinctively looked at Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi said in a deep voice, "The Anyuan police have found a deceased person. After forensic examination, the location of the fracture in the deceased's left leg is exactly the same as that of Li Youqiang. Therefore, we can basically confirm that the deceased is Li Youqiang. I hope you can accept our condolences."

As soon as Zhou Yi finished speaking, Niu Fengxian's vision went black and she collapsed to the ground.

"Mom!" Zhang Xianglan exclaimed in surprise.

Zhou Yi and Chen Yan rushed the person to the hospital. Although they knew the result was unacceptable, the situation was still somewhat unexpected.

The tense atmosphere only eased temporarily after the person was taken to the emergency room.

Zhang Xianglan sat weakly on a chair by the door, crying as she said, "After you came to see me today, I was quite worried about my mother-in-law. She has a history of cerebrovascular disease, so I came to check on her after get off work. I had only been here a short while when you arrived."

Chen Yan said apologetically, "I'm sorry..."

Zhang Xianglan covered her mouth and shook her head: "It's not your fault, you would have found out sooner or later."

Zhou Yi remained silent, because he had seen this kind of thing far too often.

In the beginning, he, like Chen Yan, empathized with the families and even felt guilty because the families could not accept it and it caused them to have mental breakdowns.

But after experiencing it many times, you gradually become numb to it.

Since the die is cast, sympathy is not only unnecessary, but may even cloud one's judgment.

Moreover, in the end, you can only deal with these things yourself; no matter what others say, it won't make a difference.

Zhang Xianglan sat in a chair, helplessly holding her head in her hands, her elbows resting on her knees.

Chen Yan walked to Zhou Yi's side and asked in a low voice, "Zhou Yi, what's the next step? Do you want to ask again?"

Zhou Yi gently shook his head: "It's not the right time yet. Let's wait for the rescue results. Even if we ask now, the information we get may not be accurate."

I asked this afternoon, but I couldn't get any answers then, so I can't ask now given the current situation.

Suddenly, Zhang Xianglan stood up abruptly, as if she had remembered something: "Oh no, Xiaowei."

"What's wrong?" Zhou Yi asked as he came over.

"I forgot to pick up my son, Xiaowei."

Zhou Yi remembers that Li Youqiang's son is named Li Changwei, who is twelve years old and in the sixth grade.

Generally, students attend schools near their homes. Cities have high population density and many schools, so students don't live too far away.

Zhou Yi started going to and from school by herself from the second grade of elementary school.

However, Zhang Xianglan said that because her parents' home is a bit far away, she has been staying at her parents' home recently, which is why she went to pick up and drop off the children.

Zhang Xianglan wanted to leave, but Niu Fengxian was still being treated. She was torn between the two and was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.

Zhou Yi said, "Let me pick up your son. Should I take him to your house or bring him here?"

Zhang Xianglan was somewhat surprised, but did not refuse, saying that if possible, she would trouble Zhou Yi to take the child to his maternal grandmother's house.

Then he mentioned which school he attended, how tall and fat he was, and what he looked like.

Zhou Yi greeted Chen Yan, took the car keys, and left.

When Zhou Yi arrived at Li Changwei's school, it was already past dismissal time. After getting out of the car, he was about to ask the gatekeeper when he saw a little boy wearing glasses squatting alone by the flower bed not far away inside the school gate.

Zhou Yi called out, "Li Changwei."

The little boy immediately looked up, following the sound, his eyes filled with confusion.

"Your mother asked me to pick you up."

Li Changwei hesitated for a moment, then ran over with his schoolbag on his back.

But before he arrived, he was stopped by the security guard.

The middle-aged man looked at Zhou Yi warily and asked, "What are you doing?"

Before Zhou Yi could answer, he asked Li Changwei, "Classmate, do you know him?"

Li Changwei shook his head.

The older man immediately pulled him behind him and glared at Zhou Yi with hostility.

Zhou Yi couldn't help but give the uncle a thumbs up; his awareness of prevention was definitely commendable, and he was quite responsible.

He pulled out his badge and handed it over, saying, "Uncle, I'm a policeman. It was indeed the child's mother who asked me to pick him up. His mother's name is Zhang Xianglan, his father's name is Li Youqiang, and his grandmother's name is Niu Fengxian. They live at..."

As Zhou Yi spoke, Li Changwei, standing behind the uncle, nodded in agreement.

"Is this real or fake? I don't recognize this thing either. Who knows if you made a fake?" The uncle looked at Zhou Yi's ID from left to right.

Zhou Yi smiled wryly; the older man's safety awareness was indeed top-notch.

Helpless, Zhou Yi turned to the side, lifted his coat, revealing a gun holster at his waist, and said, "Identity documents can be forged, but this thing can't, right?" The uncle was startled when he saw the gun and quickly returned the identification to Zhou Yi: "Young man, I believe you, I believe you. Here, keep this safe."

"Uncle, your safety awareness is excellent. I salute you."

The uncle laughed and said repeatedly, "Of course, of course."

Li Changwei got into the car with Zhou Yi. Zhou Yi told him to sit in the passenger seat, then confirmed his maternal grandmother's address with him before stepping on the gas and driving off.

Li Changwei couldn't help but ask, "Is that gun you have real?"

Zhou Yi nodded.

"Can I touch it?" the little boy asked longingly.

"What are you thinking? How could I let you touch a gun so easily?"

“Oh, okay…” Li Changwei said disappointedly.

Then he added, "My dad won't let me touch his gun either."

squeak--

A sharp screech of brakes suddenly rang out as Zhou Yi slammed on the brakes as if his life depended on it.

With wide eyes, he asked, "Does Li Youqiang have a gun?"

The little boy was startled, but he still nodded.

"What does your dad's gun look like? Where did it come from?"

“It’s…it’s a little different from yours, bigger than yours…it’s about this long,” the little boy gestured.

Based on his description, it seemed to be a homemade gun, which relieved Zhou Yi somewhat.

Homemade guns do exist in rural areas, and when asked where he got the gun, Li Changwei shook his head, saying that his father usually hid it, and he accidentally discovered it once.

At this moment, a car behind them honked its horn to urge them on, and Zhou Yi continued driving.

He remembered Zhang Xianglan saying that Li Youqiang should have taken a knife with him when he left, and now he learned from his son that he also had a homemade gun.

Based on this alone, it seems Li Youqiang's house will also need to be searched.

But if that homemade gun is also missing, it's very likely he took it with him.

But with knives and guns involved, what exactly is Li Youqiang trying to do?

Besides, now that people are dead, they're completely naked, so losing the knife is no big deal.

What about that homemade gun? Even if it's just a homemade gun, it's still an extremely dangerous thing.

Moreover, there is another problem here: if Li Youqiang went to Anyuan City with a knife and a gun, then my previous speculation about the pyramid scheme organization might be wrong.

How could someone carrying both a knife and a gun be detained by a pyramid scheme organization for so long and ultimately die?

When a pyramid scheme organization finds a gun while confiscating personal belongings, they know this person is not to be trifled with, and they'd rather send them a hundred thousand miles away than have time to do so.

Besides, how could someone carrying a gun be tricked into joining a pyramid scheme?

A thought flashed through Zhou Yi's mind: Li Youqiang was neither going to Anyuan to traffic drugs nor to engage in pyramid schemes.

Li Youqiang went there to kill someone!

But why would someone who travels thousands of miles to kill someone be killed themselves?

……

After sending Li Changwei back, Zhou Yi went straight to the hospital and called Wu Yongcheng to tell him that he also needed to search Li Youqiang's house.

Zhou Yi's deduction caught Wu Yongcheng off guard. Just guessing Li Youqiang's motive for going to Anyuan was already full of twists and turns.

When they returned to the hospital, Niu Fengxian had already been admitted to a ward, reportedly due to a ruptured cerebral blood vessel.

The doctor explained that the blood vessel hadn't just ruptured, but had been there for several hours.

In other words, after Zhou Yi and the others talked to Niu Fengxian about the situation in the afternoon, she may have been stimulated and her overthinking led to her health problems.

That's why she was in such a sickly state when Zhang Xianglan and the others came that evening.

Li Youqiang's death was just the last string to snap.

Fortunately, there was no danger to his life, as the ruptured blood vessel was not a major blood vessel and emergency craniotomy was not required.

Zhang Xianglan was extremely grateful for Zhou Yi's help; the middle-aged woman's face was filled with exhaustion and sorrow.

Zhou Yi had already realized that no matter how many faults Li Youqiang had, Zhang Xianglan still had feelings for him.

Their son, Li Changwei, seemed to be a rather sensible child to Zhou Yi, who remained quiet throughout the journey home.

Zhou Yi told him that because his grandmother was hospitalized, he came to pick him up in place of his mother.

After a while, Li Changwei suddenly asked: "Did you find my father?"

Zhou Yi did not give a direct answer, as this was not something she should say to a child.

However, he didn't know whether the child asked casually or had sensed something before asking.

In the ward, Zhang Xianglan stayed by the bedside.

Zhou Yi gave Chen Yan a look, and Chen Yan nodded. He then said to Zhang Xianglan, "Ms. Zhang, if it's convenient, would you like to go outside for a chat?"

Zhang Xianglan nodded, followed the two out, and closed the door behind her.

"Ms. Zhang, please accept our condolences. We still have some questions about your husband, Li Youqiang. What do you think about your current situation...?"

Zhang Xianglan forced herself to speak and said, "Let's do it now. I want to ask first, how did my husband die?"

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(End of this chapter)