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

Chapter 389 Identifying the Suspect

In the dead of night, after Zhou Yi finished turning Lu Xiaoshuang over, he sat down in a chair.

There are three beds in this ward. Lu Xiaoshuang's bed is the outermost one by the window, where she can get sunlight.

In 1997, the provincial capital was much more developed than Hongcheng.

Looking down from the more than ten-story hospital building, the provincial capital is a sea of ​​lights in the night, and there are cars coming and going on the road.

Of course, this was originally the city center, and its prosperity is incomparable to that of Hongcheng.

Zhou Yi gazed at the night view outside the window, feeling as if he were in another world.

In 2010, he was noticed by the leaders of the provincial and municipal public security bureaus and transferred there because of his outstanding performance in a major cross-provincial case.

Under normal circumstances, being transferred from a prefecture-level city to the provincial capital basically means good career development.

Unfortunately, in the second year after he was transferred to the provincial capital, he offended some people by solving a major case.

He arrested a famous entrepreneur who was also the brother-in-law of a certain leader.

Zhou Yi was simply handling the case according to procedure, but as a newcomer, he was unaware of how complex things were, and this incident ultimately affected his promotion.

After all, that leader was quite vengeful and tried to make things difficult for him in many ways.

Some friends advised him to give the person a gift and apologize, so as not to affect his job and future.

Zhou Yi's approach was to sever ties with anyone who advised him against it, acknowledging that those with different values ​​should not associate with each other.

Fortunately, three years later, that leader was imprisoned for well-known reasons, and no one targeted Zhou Yi anymore.

Zhou Yi also became much more tactful after that.

But the good times didn't last long. In 2016, the incident involving the young captain happened.

If Zhou Yi had softened his stance at the time, he might not have been transferred to the archives department, and might even have been able to rise to prominence.

Unfortunately, even though he had become somewhat "smooth," when faced with his ultimate bottom line, he still chose to uphold the oath he had sworn under the police badge.

So he became Old Zhou, the one who organized the files.

All of this seems like a dream to him now.

Because less than two months ago, he was in the provincial capital, only in a different time and space.

His hands were resting on the windowsill, his head on his hands, and through the window, he could even clearly point out where the provincial government was, where the municipal bureau was, and where his home in the provincial capital was in his previous life.

"Rebirth? Or are those memories just a long, illusory dream?"

Once Zhou Yi recovered, he couldn't help but start thinking about something.

It's about a major case.

In the previous life, the grand case occurred on May 6th, and the victim was Lu Xiaoshuang.

In this life, the major case occurred on April 30th. Although it is unknown whether Captain Wu and his team have confirmed it, the deceased is most likely Xu Liu.

Before leaving Hongcheng, Zhou Yi explicitly told Wu Yongcheng that he suspected the deceased might be Xu Liu.

He didn't actually connect Xu Liu with the deceased, but rather considered Xu Liu as a suspect who might have killed Lu Xiaoshuang. After all, they had a clear conflict before, and she should be the culprit who cut Lu Xiaoshuang's sweater.

However, after confirming that Lu Xiaoshuang was still alive and that Xu Liu's student ID was on Lu Xiaoshuang, Zhou Yi began to suspect that the deceased might be Xu Liu.

Because Xu Liu and Lu Xiaoshuang are both students at Hongda University, and even roommates in the same major.

Based on the available information, Xu Liu and Lu Xiaoshuang have similar heights and weights.

As for appearance, although Zhou Yi has never met Xu Liu in person, objectively speaking, putting aside his personal feelings for Lu Xiaoshuang, Xu Liu's appearance is not bad, but it is still not as good as Lu Xiaoshuang's.

It's certain that Xu Liu is good-looking. Judging from Mo Youyou and Gao Xiaofang's descriptions, Xu Liu is rather arrogant and claims that her family is very wealthy.

She probably has aspirations and a sense of superiority in terms of material conditions, which means she is definitely more concerned about clothing and makeup than Lu Xiaoshuang.

After all, Lu Xiaoshuang was just an ordinary female college student who dressed simply and had no makeup on.

Perhaps Xu Liu would leave a better impression on most men after she puts on makeup and dresses up.

The fact that the victim has changed in this life means that the murderer may not have originally targeted Lu Xiaoshuang as a specific objective.

Instead, it is a relatively precise and well-defined group of female students, which is why the victim in this life changed from Lu Xiaoshuang to Xu Liu.

If that's the case, then my appearance might have led to a change in Lu Xiaoshuang's life trajectory.

Based on the secret and unknown developments of her previous life, Lu Xiaoshuang should have had relatively frequent and clandestine contact with the murderer. Ultimately, due to certain reasons, the murderer controlled Lu Xiaoshuang on the night of May 3rd and then carried out the murder and dismemberment.

But in this life, he, the "Cheng Yaojin," suddenly appeared out of nowhere. His frequent contact with Lu Xiaoshuang and Lu Xiaoshuang's absolute trust in him led to Lu Xiaoshuang not following the same life trajectory as in the previous life and not having any contact with this murderer.

The murderer didn't necessarily have to be Lu Xiaoshuang; any pretty female college student like Lu Xiaoshuang would suffice. So, his target became Xu Liu.

Of course, whether in the previous life or this life, the murderer's actions must have been initiated proactively and carried a clear malicious intent.

Although the motivation and reason are still unknown.

As a result, the victim changed in this lifetime.

As for the time of the incident, it is normal for the time of the incident to change after the victim has been changed.

Because Xu Liu is not Lu Xiaoshuang, their personalities are different, which inevitably leads to different behaviors and perceptions, causing the dismemberment case to occur earlier than expected.

From the perspective of this world, there has never been a grand case of Lu Xiaoshuang being murdered; there has only been a grand case of Xu Liu being murdered.

The grand case of Lu Xiaoshuang's murder exists only in Zhou Yi's mind.

This case is completely different from the cases Zhou Yi had encountered before.

In the Du Xiaolin case, it was Du Xiaolin who died in both her previous life and this life.

The same applies to the Zhang Hui case, except that in her previous life, Zhang Hui was identified as a missing person.

The Qian Lailai case changed because Zhou Yi's first rescue of Qian Lailai reactivated Long Zhiqiang's gang, who had initially given up on the kidnapping. In the previous life, even if Sun Kun hadn't kidnapped her, Qian Lailai would still have been doomed.

The occurrence of these cases is completely consistent with the trajectory of my previous life.

Only the grand case is completely different. But this is just Zhou Yi's speculation.

Even if what he predicted is true, there are still many unexplained doubts in this case.

The biggest question is why the methods of handling corpses have changed so drastically.

The only reason the deceased was changed from Lu Xiaoshuang to Xu Liu is that the situation has become so complicated.

He handled the matter the same way he had in the previous life, which involved a sum of over three hundred yuan, and still wasn't caught by the police and remained at large.

Why must the deceased be cut into a thousand pieces in this life, and why must their DNA be destroyed through such a perverse method as deep-frying?

What is the purpose of destroying DNA?
Xu Liu is a college student. If she goes missing, the school will have to report her missing to the police within a week at most.

If it's someone like a nightclub hostess or a prostitute—people with already chaotic social relationships—it's understandable that the DNA damage might be delayed in being discovered.

Furthermore, if the murderer changed his target after I got involved, then why did Lu Xiaoshuang disappear inexplicably?

After being missing for nearly thirty hours, they mysteriously reappeared in an abandoned mine north of Hongcheng.

Moreover, according to the information obtained from Mo Youyou, it is very clear that someone maliciously tricked Lu Xiaoshuang away in their own name.

Zhou Yi considered one possibility: that the act of tricking Lu Xiaoshuang and throwing her into an abandoned mine was actually unrelated to Xu Liu's murder and dismemberment.

But Xu Liu's student ID was found on Lu Xiaoshuang.

It is impossible for Lu Xiaoshuang to have stolen a student ID or mistakenly taken a student ID.

This student ID card has brought the two things together again.

But the problem here is something Zhou Yi couldn't figure out no matter how hard he tried.

He can only hope that Hongcheng will make some major discoveries, preferably the kind that can directly identify the suspect.

However, it might be difficult, since the task force found nothing in the previous life.

Fortunately, Lu Xiaoshuang is still alive. If she wakes up, she might be able to provide some very valuable clues to help solve the case.

He especially wanted to know if the person who had deceived her in his own name was Xiao Bing!
The dismemberment case needs to be investigated because it is a real murder case.

He also needs to investigate Lu Xiaoshuang's case; he can't let this person go, neither for his own sake nor for his public interest.

He gently took Lu Xiaoshuang's hand and said softly, "Xiaoshuang, I promise I will never let you be in danger again."

Late at night, the gentle moonlight bathed the two of them.

Lu Xiaoshuang's fingers twitched slightly.

……

Zhou Yi, who was sleeping face down on the edge of the bed, felt a bit of neck pain, mainly because the edge of the bed was too low. He couldn't stand the constant bending over and looking down.

In his dazed state, he felt as if someone was touching his hair.

He groggily looked up and saw Lu Xiaoshuang staring at him with her eyes open.

He thought he was still half asleep and dreaming, but Lu Xiaoshuang gave him a weak smile, which made him realize that he wasn't dreaming.

"You're awake? That's great! You're finally awake! You scared me to death!" Zhou Yi immediately became alert, stood up, and said with a mixture of surprise and joy.

Lu Xiaoshuang was clearly still very weak. She wanted to speak, but when she opened her mouth, no sound came out.

Zhou Yi grabbed his hand excitedly and said, "Don't move around. You're still very weak. I'll go call the doctor."

Zhou Yi was about to leave when he noticed Lu Xiaoshuang trying to grab his hand.

Zhou Yi quickly and gently comforted her, "It's okay, we're in the hospital, you're safe, no one can hurt you. I won't leave, I'll stay here and watch over you, don't worry."

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiaoshuang finally let go of her hand, tears streaming down her face.

Zhou Yi was already in a hurry to find a doctor.

He called for the doctor and nurses, and followed them into the ward.

Suddenly someone patted him on the shoulder from behind.

Zhou Yi stopped and turned around to see a middle-aged man she didn't recognize.

Before he could ask a question, the other person spoke first: "Are you Comrade Zhou Yi?"

Knowing him? He was even more puzzled.

"I am Zhou Yi, may I ask who you are...?"

The man flashed his identification. "I am Xiang Jie from the Criminal Investigation Division of the Provincial Public Security Bureau."

Provincial Department? General Team?

Zhou Yi was startled. Why would people from the provincial department come looking for him?
Xiang Jie said with a serious expression, "Comrade Zhou Yi, thank you for your hard work. You can go back to Hongcheng now."

"What? I still have to take care of things here..."

Before Zhou Yi could finish speaking, Xiang Jie interrupted, "Lu Xiaoshuang will now be under the care of our special task force."

"A special task force???" Zhou Yi was even more confused. He hadn't heard of a special task force being established. And what the hell was this "guard" thing?

He suddenly felt a huge and inexplicable panic because he suddenly remembered that in his previous life, there was a person named Xiang Jie among the members of the special task force for the major case. The records at the time only stated that this person came from the Major Crime Investigation Division of the Provincial Criminal Investigation Corps.

"Officer Xiang, what's going on? Can I call my supervisor and ask?" Zhou Yi said, taking out his phone.

But Xiang Jie's words made his fingers, which were about to dial, freeze instantly.

Xiang Jie said, "It's best not to. Comrade Wu Yongcheng is now a member of the special task force. You have no right to ask him about the case because you are not on the task force's list."

"What?" Zhou Yi felt his head buzz. He had only been away from Hongcheng for two days, how did things turn out like this?

Xiang Jie's next words struck Zhou Yi like a thunderbolt, the shock no less than when he received Shi Tao's phone call on the train that day.

Xiang Jie leaned closer and whispered in Zhou Yi's ear, "For the sake of your Captain Wu, I can only reveal one piece of information to you: Lu Xiaoshuang has been identified as a suspect, so you'd better cooperate with the work."

(End of this chapter)