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

Chapter 400 The Old Hunter

"Ask me? What question?" Xie Guoqiang looked at the young man in front of him with some surprise and curiosity.

He didn't have much contact with Zhou Yi; it mostly happened at meetings, except for when he visited him at the hospital after the food street incident.

But it was only a brief meeting.

More information about Zhou Yi comes either from what Wu Yongcheng said or from the case closure report.

All he knew was that this was a young man with great talent in criminal investigation. Since Wu Yongcheng was willing to train him, he would naturally give him the green light, as it was about team building and talent reserves.

He trusted Wu Yongcheng, not Zhou Yi.

So he was genuinely surprised that Zhou Yi dared to ask him questions; how could this kid be as reckless as Wu Yongcheng?

Zhou Yi asked with a serious expression, "Director Xie, what I'd like to ask is, if we still can't find the murderer, will we ultimately use Lu Xiaoshuang as a scapegoat? Even if the chain of evidence isn't complete."

The moment the question was asked, the atmosphere in the room instantly became tense.

Zhou Yi knew he shouldn't have asked that question, because it was too sensitive; it was tantamount to asking the police chief if the police were willing to disregard human lives in order to close a case.

This was an extremely risky act, and even if he was worried about Lu Xiaoshuang's safety, he shouldn't have asked.

Instead of asking, it's better to find out who the real culprit is.

But he still asked, because his real intention was not what he asked; he wanted to use the opportunity to test Xie Guoqiang's attitude.

He asked the question because of the July 27th case, and because of Du Qingming.

The current situation is too similar to the July 27 case, where Du Qingming suddenly confessed without forming a complete chain of evidence.

The only difference is that the major case also involves the education system, which attracts more public attention.

Zhou Yi wanted to observe Xie Guoqiang's reaction through this question, because such an opportunity to have a one-on-one conversation with Xie Guoqiang was extremely rare for him.

If Xie Guoqiang's answer is problematic, then he will have to make plans sooner rather than later regarding the current major case and the Du Qingming case, which will inevitably be overturned someday.

Zhou Yi's gaze was sharp, and he accepted Xie Guoqiang's scrutiny without fear.

Xie Guoqiang, however, stared at him with a deep gaze and an expressionless face.

In fact, the whole process only lasted for two seconds, but because the atmosphere was so oppressive, it gave Zhou Yi the illusion that it took a very long time.

Xie Guoqiang began by asking, "Zhou Yi, what do you think are the duties of a criminal police officer?"

Zhou Yi was not surprised that Xie Guoqiang did not answer the question but instead threw it back at him.

If Wu Yongcheng is an old fox, then Xie Guoqiang is a veteran hunter.

Moreover, given the vast difference in their status, Xie Guoqiang could choose not to answer his questions, but Xie Guoqiang had to answer Xie Guoqiang's.

"Reporting to Director Xie, I believe that the duty of criminal police is to solve cases, combat crime, and protect the property and lives of the people," Zhou Yi replied loudly.

"So, do you think the suspect is just ordinary citizens?"

“The law stipulates that criminal suspects still enjoy basic civil rights before a court verdict, so I believe that suspects are also part of the people.”

Xie Guoqiang nodded in satisfaction and then asked, "Have you seen what slogan is posted on the wall outside the interrogation room on the second-floor corridor, between the third and fourth windows from the left?"

This question was completely different from the previous ones, which caught Zhou Yi off guard. But after a moment's thought, he replied, "If I remember correctly, the sign there read, 'Never let a bad person go unpunished, never wrong an innocent person.'"

Xie Guoqiang nodded: "Alright, you've answered everything for me, so I don't have to do anything."

At this point, Zhou Yi already knew the outcome.

Xie Guoqiang didn't answer a single word, but used three rhetorical questions to bring the conversation back on track.

The key point is that not a single one of these high-sounding words was spoken by Xie Guoqiang himself. He seemed to have made a statement, but in reality, he didn't say anything at all.

"The work was arranged in the meeting just now. Since you raised your suspicions about Xiao Bing before, you can go and investigate this line of inquiry. Go ahead."

Zhou Yi said yes and got up to leave.

This attempt to test the waters left him feeling like he had lost both his wife and his army.

He's definitely a seasoned hunter.

When Zhou Yi left, Xie Guoqiang didn't even glance at him; he just stared at the pen in his hand.

Immediately, a barely perceptible smile appeared on his lips.

……

This case analysis meeting of the task force covered a massive amount of information.

There were both targeted special investigations and wide-ranging visits and inquiries. At least these actions confirmed Zhou Yi's earlier statement that the task force had identified Lu Xiaoshuang as a suspect, but it was not a complete certainty.

Because this room is full of professional criminal investigators, everyone can see the suspicious points inside.

Zhou Yi listened, took notes, and summarized as he went.

Although Director Xie assigned the Xiao Bing lead that he had previously proposed to him and Chen Yan, this was a task assigned from a leadership perspective. For him, he needed to understand all the information before he could think about how to find the murderer's flaws.

The targeted investigation focused primarily on two individuals: the deceased Xu Liu and the suspect Lu Xiaoshuang.

The two individuals largely overlapped in their surveys regarding their time at school.

Regarding the investigation of Lu Xiaoshuang, Zhou Yi knew more about the period between Lu Xiaoshuang's disappearance on the afternoon of the 29th and her discovery in the mine in Xinbei Town on the evening of May 1st than anyone else in the task force.

As for Xu Liu's information, he really didn't know. After all, in his previous life, seven classmates, including Xu Liu, had alibis during the period when Lu Xiaoshuang was missing, thus ruling out suspicion.

The 1996 class of the Financial Management major at Hongda University had a total of 57 students. Lu Xiaoshuang's eight roommates were all students in this major, with 43 girls, more than 70%, and only 14 boys.

The first thing the task force investigated was Xu Liu's movements.

According to information provided by their counselor Wu Na, and the leave slip filled out by Xu Liu and submitted to the special task force, it was confirmed that Xu Liu took two days off to go home on the grounds that a family member was sick and hospitalized.

Because Xu Liu's information did not include a family contact number, and given the trust that professors at top universities have in their students' character, Wu Na approved her leave application without verifying the details.

I also told her not to worry, and if she couldn't make it back on Labor Day, she should call me in advance and I could take the day off later.

So Xu Liu left the dormitory at about 4:20 pm on the afternoon of April 28th, after finishing her afternoon classes.

This information is confirmed because the other six people in the dorm all corroborated it.

When she left, she was wearing a white long-sleeved shirt and light yellow plaid pants, and carrying a Nike backpack. Her roommates saw that she had some clothes and personal items in the bag, but it was unclear what else was in it.

It seems to fit the description of going home.

However, Chen Yao checked the surveillance footage at the school's main gate that day, from 4 p.m. until midnight, watching every girl leaving the school gate, but he couldn't find anyone whose clothing matched.

This only means that she didn't go through the main entrance on the south side, but probably left through the side entrance on the east side or the back entrance on the north side.

The task force deployed a large number of police officers to investigate all the buses that pass through the area and have stops, as well as the taxis and unlicensed motorcycle taxis that frequently solicit passengers at the school gate.

However, no one seemed to recognize Xu Liu; many people shook their heads when they saw her photo.

The task force also went to the train station and long-distance bus station and asked the staff there that day, but they also received uncertain answers.

In the era before surveillance and real-name registration, this kind of investigation was extremely inefficient.

Since everyone is a passerby in a hurry, unless the person has obvious characteristics in their clothing, appearance, or accent, they can not be remembered; or they can be remembered for something they have caused.

Otherwise, it's normal that no one remembers.

However, investigations still need to be conducted, which is why the investigation and screening work is time-consuming and labor-intensive.

Meanwhile, the task force contacted Xu Liu's parents through the local police in Huaixing, both to understand the situation and to notify the family to identify the body.

The words of Xu Liu's parents confirmed that Xu Liu was lying about asking for leave.

Because she didn't go home at all, and no one in her family was sick or hospitalized.

Xu Liu's family lives in Limin Town, Shuguang County, Huaixing City, a neighboring province. To get back to Xu Liu's family from Hongcheng, one has to transfer between trains and multiple buses, and the whole process takes more than ten hours. If it is a long-distance bus, the time will be even longer.

Therefore, Xu Liu generally doesn't go back home except during winter and summer vacations.

It's been ten months since I started university, and I've only come back once, during the Chinese New Year break of my first semester.

Therefore, her parents believed that she would never come home, and she never told them that she needed to come home.

The task force instructed the local police to arrange for Xu Liu's parents to come to Hongcheng to identify the body as soon as possible. Her parents arrived in Hongcheng on the evening of May 3rd, and Qiao Jiali picked them up. They went directly to the city bureau's forensic clinic to identify the body.

In order to accommodate the family's situation and to further understand Xu Liu's family circumstances and personality traits, the task force arranged for a guesthouse that night. The next day, after the deceased's parents were in a more stable emotional state, they were questioned at the Municipal Public Security Bureau.

According to the information, Xu Liu's father, Xu Damin, is a bricklayer, and her mother, Feng Ailian, is unemployed and does odd jobs. Xu Liu is the eldest daughter in the family and has two younger brothers, one in the first year of high school and the other in the second year of junior high school.

By all accounts, they came from a fairly ordinary family, which didn't match the arrogance Xu Liu displayed at school or her self-proclaimed wealth.

The intuition of Gao Xiaofang, who was also from Huaixing, whom they had previously consulted, was correct. Xu Liu's parents also admitted that although they lived in the town, the whole county was relatively poor, and they could not earn much money, so they lived a very frugal life.

Qiao Jiali also confirmed that Xu Liu's parents looked like honest, ordinary people who were completely lost and could only cry incessantly in the face of everything that had happened.

However, as the investigation team delved deeper into the questions on the second day, they began to make some more in-depth discoveries.

This seemingly ordinary and law-abiding family actually harbors very sharp problems.

(End of this chapter)