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

Chapter 3 Unsolved Case Files
About half an hour later, the doctor on duty came out of the emergency room with a tired face and told them that the old man's life was saved and he was not in danger for the time being.

However, whether he can return to normal depends on the treatment of the cerebral congestion. If the treatment is effective and the recovery is fast, he can be discharged from the hospital in as little as one week.

After hearing what the doctor said, several people immediately expressed their gratitude, especially Zhou Yi, who finally put his mind at ease.

He never thought that he would save his grandfather's life just after his rebirth.

Later, under the doctor's arrangement, Zhou Yi's grandfather was transferred from the emergency room to the emergency ward, with a lot of equipment connected to him because he needed to observe the patient's condition at all times.

Zhou Yi was busy running around, sometimes buying hospital supplies, sometimes getting various test reports.

He originally wanted to let his father and aunt go back first to inform everyone, but his father insisted on staying, so in the end his aunt went back first.

Zhou Yi's father never left the hospital bed. Although he couldn't understand anything, he stared at the instruments with red eyes.

During this time, Zhou Yi also encountered a woman who was rushed from a suburban hospital in labor and had already started bleeding profusely. The doctor on duty in the obstetrics and gynecology department was so anxious that she stamped her feet because the hospital's blood bank was running low.

Zhou Yi ran over without hesitation and told the doctor that he had type O blood and that he could have his blood drawn.

The doctor looked at him with great gratitude, and without saying anything more, he immediately asked the nurse to do a blood test.

Finally, after drawing 400cc of Zhou Yi's blood, the nurse said that no more blood could be drawn, as it could easily cause accidents.

When Zhou Yi caught his breath and returned to the emergency room, he found that his father was snoring loudly at the end of the bed.

Zhou Yi took a deep breath, tightened his clothes, pulled over a stool and sat down against the wall.

Four hundred milliliters of blood were drawn in one breath, and even this young body felt it was too much to bear.

Zhou Yi yawned, and a strong feeling of fatigue came over him, making his eyes feel as heavy as stones, and he had to close them.

But he didn't sleep well because he was always thinking about his grandfather, afraid that something might happen.

Zhou Yi didn't know how long he slept, but he woke up because of thirst.

He found that his father was still snoring, so he stood up to check on his grandfather. Everything seemed normal on the observation instruments.

He wanted to drink some water, but found that the thermos was empty, so he carried the thermos out of the ward.

But I couldn't find a place to get hot water, so I had to walk to the nurse's station to ask.

But there was no one at the nurses' station, probably because she was busy, so Zhou Yi thought of waiting for a while.

On the wall nearby is the information of the medical staff in the emergency department.

Zhou Yi glanced casually and happened to see the young nurse who had spoken in a bad tone just now.

Under her photo, there is a name: Du Xiaolin.

Oh, so she is grandpa’s responsible nurse.

and many more!

Du Xiaolin...

This name...

This face...

Zhou Yi suddenly shuddered all over and lost all sleepiness.

Because he finally remembered where he had seen the little nurse with big eyes.

In a trance, he seemed to be back in the archive room where he had worked for eight years.

He was surrounded by gloomy air, dim lights, and countless cold, old filing racks.

His temples were already slightly graying, and he wore a pair of reading glasses.

On the table in front of him was an old file.

——Hongcheng Public Security Bureau, criminal investigation file.

——Case cause: homicide.

——Case filing date: March 1997, 3.

These are a few lines of text that have long faded on the cover of the file.

This file is from twenty-seven years ago.

But it was never stamped with the "case closed" stamp.

This means that there is a dead soul that has not been able to rest in peace for twenty-seven years.

The file shelves around him were filled with files of unresolved cases like this.

He opened the file and flipped through the case records page by page.

Until he came across a photo that had turned yellow due to oxidation. It was an ID photo of a young woman.

The woman in the photo has a pretty face and a pair of beautiful big eyes.

On the back of the photo, there are a few words written: Hongcheng Third People's Hospital, Du Xiaolin.

Above this line of words, there are three very blurry and illegible words: victim.

He remembered!
He finally remembered!
All the case file information that was originally hidden in the corner of memory has now come out.

More than 20 years later, I, who had been "banished to the cold palace", sorted out an unresolved criminal case code-named "Case 316" in the archives.

Du Xiaolin is the victim in this case.

She is a nurse in the emergency department of Hongcheng Third People's Hospital.

On the day of the incident, Du Xiaolin was working the afternoon shift and left work after handing over her shift at midnight.

The Third Municipal Hospital is about three kilometers away from her home, so Du Xiaolin walked home that night.

In Shangyang Lane, 900 meters away from her home, Du Xiaolin was stabbed six times and brutally murdered.

The fatal one among the six stab wounds was the one that hit the carotid artery in the neck, which directly led to Du Xiaolin's death from excessive blood loss.

The murder weapon was a knife with a blade width of 2.4 cm, but it has never been found.

The body was discovered by passersby around 5:20 a.m. However, due to a heavy rainstorm at around 3:00 p.m., the scene was damaged, leaving almost no useful clues.

No murder weapon, no fingerprints, no footprints.

There was no surveillance at the time, which directly led to a deadlock in the investigation of the case and eventually it became an unsolved case.

The murderer, with the help of a heavy rain, remained at large for twenty-seven years.

Zhou Yi was just a small policeman at the time and was not qualified to deal with such a vicious murder case.

And because his grandfather passed away, he took bereavement leave and had no time to take care of other things.

It was only later that I heard about this incident from the police station.

It was not until more than 20 years later that he officially came into contact with the 316 case through an unresolved case file in the archives of the Provincial Urban Bureau.

"The March 16th Incident, March 16, 1997," Zhou Yi muttered to himself. "Tomorrow?"

Because he remembered his grandfather's death anniversary very clearly, it was March 15th.

"wrong!"

Zhou Yi looked around, looking for the clock.

Finally, I saw a round clock on the wall inside the nurse's station, and the time on it showed 12:27.

So, it's already March 16th. The crime isn't going to happen tomorrow, it's going to happen today!

It might even be now!

"Which bed's patient's family member are you?" a voice suddenly asked.

Zhou Yi looked back and saw that it was not Du Xiaolin, but a round-faced little nurse he had never seen before.

"Where is Du Xiaolin?" Zhou Yi asked hurriedly.

"Is she off work?"

"She's gone?"

"She'll leave after her shift." Seeing Zhou Yi's nervous expression, the young nurse immediately asked, "Is she going to mix up the patient's medication again?"

Zhou Yi didn't bother to explain and immediately ran back to the ward and took out the key to the three-wheeled motorcycle from his father's pocket.

The father, who was half asleep, looked confused. Before he could ask any more questions, Zhou Yi disappeared in a flash.

Zhou Yi rode his three-wheeled motorcycle and headed straight to Shangyang Lane relying on his vague memory.

This type of three-wheeled motorcycle was not the later battery-powered one, but a diesel engine. It was very common in the 1990s, and most of them were modified by small workshops or individuals.

Although the power is not strong, it is much faster than walking.

It's just that the noise is a bit loud when it's turned on, with a constant rumbling sound.

In the dark night, the cold wind cut my face like a knife.

In the 1990s, most places in Hongcheng didn’t even have street lights.

It was a new moon tonight, and it was so dark that he couldn't even recognize the road. He could only rely on his vague memory to determine the direction.

After driving for about ten minutes, the tricycle crossed a bridge, and Zhou Yi finally remembered that Shangyang Lane was in front.

Because there is a headless stone lion at the head of this bridge, I always took a second look at it when I passed by here when I was a child, so it left a deep impression on me.

After crossing the bridge, Zhou Yi twisted the accelerator, but the three-wheeled motorcycle sputtered a few times before losing power and slowly coming to a stop. Furious, Zhou Yi nearly cursed. He had no choice but to jump off the motorcycle and run.

In the 1990s, people's pace of life was not fast, and their consumption power and entertainment environment were also weak, so you could hardly see anyone in the middle of the night.

Usually the only people who would be on the road at this time are workers going to and from the night shift.

He vaguely remembered that after crossing the bridge, walking south for a few dozen meters would lead to Shangyang Lane.

He had walked through that alley before. It was a small alley about one meter wide, running north-south and more than one hundred meters long.

To the east of the alley is the engine room factory building, and to the west is an abandoned residential area, which is said to have been built by the Japanese before the founding of the People's Republic of China and later became the employee dormitory of the Eight Cotton Mill.

However, because the houses were too old, a rainstorm in 1994 collapsed many houses and killed two people. The government then issued a ban on living there and relocated everyone.

This area became empty and looked very desolate.

However, many people still take this alley because if they take the main road, they have to take a detour of almost two kilometers.

So there are quite a few people walking in this alley on a normal day, of course, usually during the day.

With the faint moonlight, Zhou Yi found Shangyang Lane.

Although it was late at night and the air was freezing, Zhou Yi was already sweating profusely from anxiety.

Because he didn't know whether he could catch up and save Du Xiaolin.

It was not until then that he realized that he was unarmed and had no preparation, not even a flashlight.

He tried to find something nearby to protect himself, a thick branch or a stick.

Unfortunately, he got nothing. He didn't dare to delay any longer, because every second of delay would reduce Du Xiaolin's chance of survival.

Zhou Yi took a deep breath and plunged into the dark alley.

He didn't dare walk too fast, firstly because it was too dark around him, and secondly because he was not sure whether the murderer was lurking nearby.

Only then did Zhou Yi realize that eight years on the bench was enough to change a person.

He actually felt nervous, which was something that rarely happened before.

However, although he was very cautious, his pace was getting faster and faster.

In the narrow alley, the faint breeze blowing from the upwind side carried a faint smell of blood.

Suddenly, Zhou Yi saw a figure lying on the ground in front of him, motionless.

His heart suddenly skipped a beat.

Oops! I'm still a step too late!
(End of this chapter)