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

Chapter 311 Little Hill Park (Seeking monthly votes)
Zhou Yi asked the old policeman for help to take Zhang Xianglan to the train station. To avoid any further mishaps, it would be best to watch her go through the ticket gate.

The veteran policeman readily agreed.

Zhou Yi followed Pan Hongjie and others, taking the vendors to Xiaoqiushan Park.

Although it's called a park, it's more like a nature reserve. Pan Hongjie said that besides watermelons, Anyuan is also famous for its monkeys.

The monkeys in Anyuan are a Class II protected animal in China, and this park was built precisely because there are many monkeys on the hill.

Because of two days of heavy rain, and because it was morning, the park was deserted.

The park ranger told them that the place they wanted to go was inaccessible by car, and they would have to climb up themselves.

However, due to the heavy rains over the past two days, a lot of soil has been washed down from the mountains, making the roads extremely slippery, so they must be careful.

With no other option, the five of them had to climb uphill with great difficulty.

As they climbed, Pan Hongjie, who was walking ahead, suddenly turned around and asked the vendor, "Why did you come to this desolate mountain wilderness all of a sudden?"

"Ah." The vendor was taken aback, clearly not expecting the other party to ask this question.

"I...I...I..." The vendor stammered for a long time, but couldn't get a straight answer.

"You didn't come up the mountain to steal monkeys, did you?" Pan Hongjie stared at him sharply.

The vendor's legs buckled, his foot slipped, and he almost fell, but luckily Zhou Yi grabbed him from behind.

Pan Hongjie pointed at the vendor and sneered, "You little brat, you're not going back this time. Old Chen, handcuff him."

When they came before, they didn't handcuff the vendor because they had already confirmed that he had nothing to do with Li Youqiang's case. But now it's different. Selling a Class II protected animal makes him a criminal suspect, and this is no small crime; he could face at least five years in prison.

The group continued walking forward, but the vendor, whose hands were cuffed, had weak legs and was supported by Chen Dejiang and Xia Yu as they walked.

"Captain Pan, is someone stealing monkeys?" Zhou Yi asked.

"Yes, just two years ago, we took down a large gang of more than a dozen people who specialized in stealing monkeys."

"What is the purpose of stealing the monkey?" Zhou Yi asked curiously.

"Damn it, you have no idea how perverted some rich people can be. Have you ever heard of eating monkey brains?"

Zhou Yi had certainly heard of him, but had never met him.

Pan Hongjie told him that this had become an industry chain, with many wealthy people using eating monkey brains as a symbol of status and wealth, as well as bear paws and the like.

As they were talking, Zhou Yi suddenly noticed a movement above him. Looking up, he saw some dark figures darting past in the tall bushes.

“It’s a monkey,” Pan Hongjie said. “Don’t worry, monkeys generally don’t attack people on their own.”

Zhou Yi nodded.

"There are no mountains in Hongcheng, are there?"

"It could be considered half a mountain, but it's still a barren mountain."

After walking a while longer, the vendor pointed to a spot and said, "Right...right there."

"Are you sure? If you're going to talk nonsense and interfere with our normal investigation, don't blame me for being impolite."

"How could I dare?" The vendor was now filled with regret. He should have never gotten entangled with that crazy woman, even if it meant dying.

The group arrived at the location indicated by the vendor and began their investigation.

However, the situation is not optimistic. It's all mud and mud, and it will be quite difficult to find any remaining traces.

After searching for a while, Zhou Yi suddenly noticed that a small monkey had appeared nearby at some point.

The little monkey stared at Zhou Yi with its bright black eyes. Zhou Yi helplessly spread his hands and said, "I don't have anything to give you to eat."

The little monkey seemed to understand him, scratched its head with its paw, and then ran off in one direction.

Zhou Yi smiled and was about to look away when he noticed something in the soil some distance away in the direction the little monkey had disappeared.

Pan Hongjie and the others were still looking for clues when Zhou Yi walked in that direction.

The sky was already overcast, and the dense trees in the mountains made the light even dimmer.

Zhou Yi walked forward for more than ten meters, and the outline of the thing in the soil became clearer and clearer.

Zhou Yi muttered to himself, "I hope I'm not right."

Upon closer inspection, Zhou Yi appeared as calm and collected as a well-behaved student who already knew the answer and had turned to the answer page.

He turned around and shouted, "Captain Pan, there's something here! I've found a body!"

A pale human foot was visible in the mud in front of them.

……

Xiaoqiushan Park is closed today.

When some citizens tried to enter, they found the gate closed and a sign that read "Closed for the Day" displayed at the entrance.

The park manager waited anxiously at the gate for the park's leaders to arrive, because several police cars had just arrived and the police had ordered the park to be closed, forbidding anyone from entering.

On a hill, crowds thronged, and police were everywhere.

There were many monkeys watching from the tree. In the monkeys' eyes, several humans were digging in the soil with tools, and they dug out another human from the soil.

Then, the group of humans stood there stunned for a long time, picked up their tools and continued digging. After a while, they dug out another human.

The monkeys looked at each other, puzzled as to why a person would grow out of the ground.

Pan Hongjie looked at the two corpses he had dug out of the ground and felt completely overwhelmed.

We found one body a couple of days ago, and today we found two more.

At first, Zhou Yi noticed a foot sticking out of the soil and called them over.

Pan Hongjie immediately called for backup and secured the scene.

After the on-site investigation team and forensic experts arrived, they began exhuming the body.

Judging from the scene, it must have been due to the heavy rains over the past two days that washed away the soil. The soil where the body was buried was not as compact as the original soil structure, so one foot was sticking out of the soil.

Even if Zhou Yi didn't find out today, someone else would have found out in a few days.

Several police officers carefully dug away the surrounding soil and discovered a female corpse inside.

Just after the body was pulled from the ground and placed aside, one of the policemen in charge of digging stared at the pit for a moment and then shouted, "Captain Pan... there's another one down there."

So they continued digging, and eventually they unearthed another male corpse inside.

Pan Hongjie's mind was buzzing. Three corpses had appeared in just a few days. Anyuan hadn't had such a big case in years. He was going crazy.

What did An Yuan do to deserve this?
Forensic pathologist Tang Wenli was conducting a preliminary examination of two bodies. Seeing that she was alone, Zhou Yi whispered to Xia Yu, "Officer Xia, is Tang Wenli the only forensic pathologist in Anyuan?"

Xia Yu nodded and asked, "How many forensic doctors are there in Hongcheng?"

Zhou Yi gestured the number two, saying that forensic doctors were truly rare treasures in the 1990s.

Pan Hongjie took a deep breath and directed everyone to carefully examine the scene, leaving no blade of grass unchecked.

That being said, given the situation at the scene, it would be very difficult to find any useful clues.

The vendor was so frightened that he collapsed to the ground, completely ignoring the mud all over his backside, and kept saying, "Officer, this has nothing to do with me, I don't know anything about it."

Chen Dejiang asked, "Captain Pan, why don't we take this back first? This crying and sobbing is affecting the investigation."

Pan Hongjie had no intention of dealing with such a nobody and waved for Chen Dejiang to take him away.

Wearing a mask and rubber gloves, Tang Wenli conducted a preliminary autopsy on the two bodies.

Although these two corpses were not completely naked like Li Youqiang, they were nearly naked.

The male corpse was wearing a gray cardigan on his upper body and only shorts on his lower body. He was about 1.7 meters tall, overweight, and between 40 and 50 years old.

The female corpse was wearing a sexy camisole nightgown, but her lower body was naked. She was about 1.6 meters tall, with a well-proportioned figure, and her age was approximately between 20 and 30 years old.

Neither of them was wearing shoes, and at least so far, no shoes have been found nearby or in the soil where the bodies were buried.

Both bodies were in a state of severe decomposition, but Zhou Yi couldn't determine the exact time of death.

Zhou Yi squatted down to examine the body closely. Tang Wenli, who was examining the male corpse, looked up at him and asked, "What, did you see something?"

"Teacher Tang, could I have a pair of gloves?"

Tang Wenli pointed to the toolbox next to her and said, "There are some inside, take them yourself."

Zhou Yi took out a pair of rubber gloves and put them on, then walked over and squatted down next to the female corpse. He wasn't wearing a mask, and immediately a pungent smell of decay mixed with the stench of earth filled his nostrils.

As he began examining the body, he said, "There are obvious bruises on the deceased's neck, but the bruises are quite regular and not messy. The bruises are deep, and judging from their shape, they were caused by a rope. This indicates that the deceased was strangled from behind with a rope. If he had been strangled by hand, the bruises would not have been so regular, and the center of gravity would not have been right."

Xia Yu had been standing next to Zhou Yi, holding the evidence bag containing the hidden knife. When he saw Zhou Yi begin examining the body, he also came over.

Zhou Yi then looked at the woman's feet; he had only noticed them when they emerged from the ground.

He examined it for a moment, and then immediately went to look at the male corpse's feet.

Tang Wenli asked, "What's wrong?"

"Teacher Tang, something's strange. In the male corpse's toenails, the dirt only reached a very shallow part on the surface, but if you look at the female corpse's toenails, the dirt is clearly stuck much deeper."

Tang Wenli looked at the two corpses and nodded.

Xia Yu asked疑惑地问道, "Is...something wrong?"

Zhou Yi said, "Judging from the clothes on the two deceased and the fact that no shoes were found nearby, the two bodies should have been transported here for burial. In other words, this is not the primary crime scene. The fact that there was little soil under the male deceased's toenails supports this point. Although they were buried in the ground, there is still a difference between passive and active force."

"But strangely, the mud under the female victim's toenails was very deep. However, judging from the actual excavation, the female victim was actually on top, so theoretically the mud under the female victim's toenails should not have been more than that under the male victim's toenails."

"Is it possible that it's just a coincidence?"

Zhou Yi pointed to the feet of the two corpses and said, "If it were just one or two toenails like that, it could be a coincidence. But look, all ten toenails of the female victim are in a similar condition, only differing in depth. So this means that the female victim was still alive when she was brought here."

"But if one of them came dead and the other alive, something just doesn't feel right," Zhou Yi muttered to himself.

He suddenly remembered that he seemed to smell a faint scent of blood in the stench of decay, so he reached out and forcefully turned the female corpse over.

After examining the woman's back, Zhou Yi suddenly realized where the problem lay.

(End of this chapter)