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

Chapter 406 I've Come to Find You, Teacher Xiao
Zhou Yi and Chen Yan asked for directions as they walked, and then followed the directions pointed by passersby.

As they passed a crossroads, Chen Yan pointed to the left and said, "It should be this way."

“Okay,” Zhou Yi replied.

Just as he was about to follow Chen Yan to the left, he instinctively looked around.

Just then, I saw a figure disappear around the corner in the alley on the right.

Zhou Yi vaguely felt that the figure looked familiar; it was wearing long clothes and trousers, and also a hat.

His body acted before his brain.

Chen Yan turned his head and was startled to find that Zhou Yi was running in the opposite direction.

"Zhou Yi, over here..."

Chen Yan suddenly realized that Zhou Yi had discovered something, so he immediately chased after him.

Zhou Yi rushed over, turned the corner, and saw the back of the person in front of him.

He grabbed the man's shoulder.

The man was startled and turned around, shouting, "What are you doing?"

Zhou Yi then realized that the person he had grabbed was an old man in his sixties.

Although he wore a hat, he didn't wear a mask or sunglasses.

The old man's face was full of anger. "What are you doing? Why are you pulling me?"

Zhou Yi realized he had mistaken the person for someone else and quickly apologized.

The old man walked away grumbling.

Chen Yan asked Zhou Yi curiously what was going on.

Zhou Yi told Chen Yan that he had been in the vicinity on May 1st, looking for body parts and clues.

Then they spotted someone wearing long sleeves and pants, a hat, a mask, and even sunglasses in broad daylight.

"The most crucial thing is that I only glanced at that person, and he took off running."

Chen Yan exclaimed in surprise, "This person is so alert?"

Zhou Yi nodded: "Yes, how could it not be suspicious?"

"Didn't catch him?"

"Yeah, he got away. This person clearly knows the area very well, which is why I lost him. And guess who I ran into while I was chasing him?"

Chen Yan asked, "Xiao Bing?"

"That's right! It's Xiao Bing! Brother Yan, how could I not suspect him?"

Chen Yan frowned and said, "Indeed, it's too much of a coincidence."

"Brother Yan, here's what we'll do: once we're inside Xiao Bing's house, I'll mainly be responsible for questioning him and diverting his attention. You can take the opportunity to look around, like borrowing the restroom or something, and see if anything seems amiss."

At this point, it's just suspicion, there's no evidence yet, so we can't take any forceful action to avoid alerting the enemy.

Chen Yan nodded in agreement. Since Zhou Yi knew the other party, the other party would naturally be wary of him.

The two continued searching in the original direction. After repeatedly confirming and asking passersby, they confirmed that Xiao Bing's house was on the easternmost side of a row of old houses.

It was just two ordinary bungalows, one with a door and the other with a window. The bedroom with the window had its curtains drawn, so you couldn't see inside.

The exterior walls of the bungalow are peeling and look very old, but the doors and windows don't look very old, so they must have been replaced before.

When Zhou Yi confirmed that the two bungalows were indeed Xiao Bing's home, his heart skipped a beat.

This is because it is not only a detached dwelling, but there are no houses on the east side, and the houses on the west side are empty and dilapidated.

This means that this is a dismemberment site where it is not easy for anyone to discover anything unusual.

The constant sounds of chopping and frying would arouse suspicion from neighbors in most old houses with poor sound insulation.

However, Xiao Bing's house is practically an isolated island compared to the surrounding environment. At most, people might hear some noises when they pass by, but it's unlikely that anyone would linger around his house for an extended period of time.

Zhou Yi and Chen Yan walked around the house three times. There was a small shack in the back, but it looked dilapidated and abandoned.

Apart from that, Zhou Yi and Chen Yan did not notice anything unusual.

Zhou Yi and Chen Yan had just turned out from behind the bungalow when they saw someone riding a bicycle coming from the alley.

Zhou Yi recognized her at a glance; it was Xiao Bing.

Xiao Bing, who was riding a bicycle, also saw Zhou Yi. Her expression changed slightly, but she quickly returned to normal.

However, due to the distance and the surrounding light, Zhou Yi did not notice Xiao Bing's reaction.

"Officer Zhou, what are you doing here?" Xiao Bing jumped off her bicycle and shouted in surprise.

“I came to see you, Teacher Xiao,” Zhou Yi said calmly.

Xiao Bing was slightly taken aback, but then nodded with an expression of understanding and said, "Oh, I understand."

He parked his bicycle against the wall, took out his keys, and said with a smile, "Wait a moment, let me open the door first, then we can talk inside."

As he spoke, he turned the lock and pushed the door open.

"Please come in, both of you," Xiao Bing said warmly.

Zhou Yi and Chen Yan went inside. The room was a bit dark, as there was only one window at the back, besides the main door, that let in light.

However, Xiao Bing immediately turned on the lights, and the room instantly became bright.

The two were somewhat surprised, because the house was not as old as they had imagined, and it was quite different from the outside.

This is an outer room that serves as both a kitchen and a living room, and it's about twenty square meters.

The floor was covered with gray tiles, and the four walls were covered with off-white tiles. There was also a suspended ceiling overhead.

While not spotless, it looks quite clean and tidy, especially when the fluorescent lights are on, the white tiles on all four sides immediately reflect the light, making the room appear much brighter.

Xiao Bing's house faces south, and the outer room has a north-facing back window, which is probably made of patterned privacy glass for privacy.

There is a row of cabinets near the back window, complete with a stove, sink, and worktop.

Moreover, it was very clean, and everything was in its proper place at a glance.

It's a bit like a laboratory.

Zhou Yi wasn't sure if the house used coal gas or liquefied petroleum gas, but based on the environment of the surrounding old town, it was most likely liquefied petroleum gas.

Upon entering, there is a 1.2-meter-long dining table and two chairs on the right.

On the left is an altar with three portraits of the deceased, an incense burner, and an electronic ever-burning lamp, among other things.

These three portraits are naturally of Xiao Bing's grandfather, Xiao Fugui, and his parents.

Xiao Youfu looks exactly like Xiao Bing, except for the fact that he wears glasses.

Then there was nothing left in the room, no sofa or TV, it looked a bit empty and monotonous.

There is a door on the east wall of the outer room, but it is closed.

Zhou Yi's first impression of this place was that it was too clean and tidy.

In our previous two encounters, I didn't notice that Xiao Bing had obsessive-compulsive disorder. In fact, everything she arranged was so neat and tidy that it seemed like she had OCD.

If he doesn't have obsessive-compulsive disorder about cleanliness, then it's very likely that a murder and dismemberment occurred here, and the place was deliberately cleaned up to remove the crime scene.

It would be difficult to find clues from the surface alone.

Xiao Bing closed the door, invited the two to sit down, and then opened the cabinet door, took out two glasses and poured water into them.

"Thank you, Teacher Xiao." Zhou Yi noticed that there were only two chairs in the room, so Xiao Bing would have to stand after they sat down.

He gave Chen Yan a look, and Chen Yan immediately understood, stood up and said, "Teacher Xiao, please sit down."

"No, no, I can just stand."

“Teacher Xiao, let’s sit down and talk,” Zhou Yi said. “There are some things I need to ask you about, and it may take some time.”

"This... it's so embarrassing to make this officer stand here. It's my fault, nobody comes here usually, and we don't even have an extra chair at home."

Chen Yan laughed and said, "It's alright, I'm just standing here for a while to stretch my muscles."

Zhou Yi raised his hand to look at his watch. It was getting late, and he had to hurry.

"Teacher Xiao, how many times have we met?" Zhou Yi asked.

Xiao Bing immediately replied, "This is the fourth time, isn't it?"

Do you know why we've come to find you?

Xiao Bing tentatively asked, "Is it because of the girl who was murdered?"

"Have you heard?"

"Hey, it's been all over the school these past few days, everyone's talking about it, how could I not have heard about it?"

Zhou Yi nodded: "Alright, since you've heard about this, let's get straight to the point."

Zhou Yi took out his ID and said, "This is my ID. We need to show it to you according to regulations when we ask you questions."

"Ok."

"This is my colleague, Officer Chen."

Xiao Bing nodded to Chen Yan in greeting.

“Teacher Xiao, we’re here today because of this case. We’d like to ask you about the situation and hope you can answer my questions truthfully, okay?” Zhou Yi stared intently into Xiao Bing’s eyes, trying to catch his every reaction.

Xiao Bing nodded repeatedly and said, "Officers, rest assured, cooperating with the police investigation is the duty of every citizen."

"Teacher Xiao, may I ask what you've heard about this case so far?"

This is a very important issue. What is being said outside will inevitably differ greatly from the true facts of the case.

Regarding the specific details of the case, Zhou Yi asked Chen Yan, and it seems that only a handful of people on the hospital's side, including the principal, know the details. These are all high-ranking members of the school's leadership.

These people don't easily gossip or spread rumors, because their every word and action is closely related to their future.

The remaining people who will likely spread the information are probably Xu Liu's counselor and her roommates who participated in identifying the body.

Although the police warned them to keep it strictly confidential, most people preferred to say, "I'm only telling you this."

So Zhou Yi wanted to see just how much Xiao Bing would admit to knowing.

(End of this chapter)