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

Chapter 431 The Meeting Started (11 Days of 10,000-Word Updates)
Xu Nian's words were like a blow to Zhou Yi's head.

Xiao Bing is dead?!
I'm really afraid of what's coming!
I can't even think about it anymore, let alone speak about it!
"Are you sure?" Zhou Yi asked in a trembling voice.

"Yes, although the body is starting to show signs of gigantism, facial features are still discernible." Xu Nian glanced back; Song Yiming was conducting a detailed examination of the retrieved body. "It can be confirmed that it is Xiao Bing."

Zhou Yi's heart sank to the bottom. He gritted his teeth and asked, "Have the preliminary autopsy results come out yet?"

"Wait a moment, I'll have Teacher Song talk to you." Xu Nian said, walking to Song Yiming's side, pressing the speakerphone button, and then whispering, "Zhou Yi."

Song Yiming was still wearing white gloves, so it was Xu Nian who was holding the phone.

"Zhou Yi, this is Song Yiming."

"Professor Song, what are the preliminary autopsy results?"

"Based on the characteristics of the gigantism, the preliminary judgment is that the time of death was between thirty-six and forty-eight hours. A more accurate autopsy is needed."

Thirty-six to forty-eight hours? That is, the period from the evening of May 10th to the early morning of May 11th.

Wasn't that the night someone resembling Xiao Bing appeared near the long-distance bus station and then fled?

In other words, Xiao Bing died that very night and didn't even see the sun rise the next day.

Song Yiming continued, "As for the cause of death, the preliminary judgment is that he drowned. There were mushroom-shaped bubbles in his mouth and nose, the lividity was light and the distribution was special, and the arrector pili muscles on his arms and thighs contracted, causing hair follicles to protrude. These are all typical characteristics of drowning."

"Of course, the final conclusion still requires an autopsy to confirm whether there was any drowning in the respiratory tract, or whether there was any emphysema."

Zhou Yi asked, "Teacher Song, are there any obvious external injuries on Xiao Bing's body? Or any signs of a struggle?"

Song Yiming looked at the somewhat deformed corpse and said, "There are no obvious signs of external injury on the body, but there are traces of rupture in some subcutaneous capillaries. It's just that we can't confirm how it was caused yet. It's hard to determine whether it was caused by someone or by floating and hitting the water after drowning."

Zhou Yi couldn't help but sigh. In other words, based on the autopsy results, Xiao Bing was more likely to have committed suicide or accidentally fallen into the water.

The preliminary autopsy showed characteristics of drowning, which directly ruled out the possibility of murder followed by dumping the body in the river.

Although Xiao Bing was not physically strong, he was still an adult male and could not be easily pushed into the river.

Moreover, he was in the process of fleeing at the time and was under great mental stress, making it even more impossible for him to take the risk of standing on the riverbank with his back to others.

So by all accounts, it doesn't seem like murder.

But did Xiao Bing have any reason to commit suicide?

Because Dong Lu has disappeared?
Have you mentally collapsed?

But he's someone who's endured so much for so many years, and even signed the school's responsibility confirmation form to save Dong Lu's life, yet he's still working at the school to this day. How could he possibly have a mental breakdown so easily?

Zhou Yi suddenly thought of a possibility.

"Teacher Song, I have a question to ask you," Zhou Yi said quickly.

"You said."

"After a person dies, will the drugs ingested while alive still be metabolized and broken down?"

Song Yiming said, "That's an interesting question. You mean anesthetic and hypnotic drugs, right?"

"Yes, Lu Xiaoshuang's abduction was divided into two stages. In the first stage, the perpetrator used ether, and in the second stage, an unknown drug was mixed into the water. However, in the blood test after Lu Xiaoshuang was sent to the hospital, no sleeping pills were detected in her blood. So I suspect it is a very rare sleeping pill that is metabolized very quickly."

"Zhou Yi, I understand what you mean. You want to know if Xiao Bing was also controlled by these two drugs and then thrown into the Nansha River, so you want to know if these two drug components can be detected?"

Zhou Yi nodded repeatedly: "That's right, that's exactly what I meant."

Song Yiming said, "First of all, ether is a highly volatile inhaled drug. Regardless of whether a person lives or dies after inhalation, it cannot be detected after a long time."

"But oral sleeping pills are different. After entering the body, sleeping pills are metabolized through the liver enzyme system and blood circulation, and are eventually excreted from the body. However, the premise for the human metabolic system to function is that the person is still alive. Once the heart stops beating, all biological activities, including metabolic functions, will immediately stop."

Zhou Yi asked excitedly, "So it's possible to find out?"

"Yes, the drug concentration may show a false increase or decrease due to changes in the body, but it will not disappear completely unless it is destroyed in an extreme way, like Xu Liu's body."

"Teacher Song, Xu Nian, please expedite the autopsy, especially to check for any drug residue in Xiao Bing's body."

"Okay, we'll let you know the results as soon as they're available."

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Yi went into the hospital's emergency room, found the emergency doctor, identified himself, and received a tetanus shot.

After getting the injection, I saw Qiao Jiali already standing next to the car.

"Sister Qiao, something's happened." Zhou Yi walked over and said, "Xiao Bing is dead."

"What?" Qiao Jiali was stunned.

"There are still many things about Xiao Bing and Dong Lu that we haven't figured out. Now that one of them has gone mad and the other is dead, hasn't this connection also been severed!"

Zhou Yi sighed and said, "Let's go back to the task force first and see what the leaders decide next."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Chen Yan called, telling them to return to the task force immediately for a meeting, saying that Director Xie would personally chair the meeting in an hour.

Zhou Yi and Qiao Jiali immediately rushed back.

As soon as the two got out of the car, another police car with its lights on pulled up downstairs.

Looking back, they realized that the person in the car was Jiang Biao.

After Jiang Biao got out of the car, Chen Yan also came out of the office building.

Under the cover of night, all members of the Third Brigade, except for Wu Yongcheng, were present.

Chen Yan said with a hint of sadness, "It's a pity that Master is no longer here."

Zhou Yi patted him and said, "It's precisely because Captain Wu isn't here that we can't let him down. If we can't solve this case, he'll have plenty of excuses to criticize us later."

Chen Yan said that Director Xie had not arrived yet, and Captain Liang had not returned either, but he had already obtained Liu Baoguo's household registration information.

Jiang Biao and Qiao Jiali were both unaware of the situation. Jiang Biao asked, "And who is Liu Baoguo?"

“Xu Liu, a vice principal of Hongda University, received a pager on February 14th of this year from a number that is the landline number in the vice principal’s office.”

Jiang Biao exclaimed in surprise, "Holy crap, what's going on? How did a vice principal suddenly appear?"

Zhou Yi looked around and said, "Let's go inside and talk."

The four arrived at the office, sat down, and began exchanging information before the meeting started.

Zhou Yi recounted how she went with Liang Wei to negotiate with Liu Baoguo and Chen Gengyun, especially how Liang Wei later dialed that number and Liu Baoguo answered the phone.

After listening, Qiao Jiali said, "February 14th is indeed a very delicate date. But it might be difficult to handle based on this alone. After all, the other party is a deputy director-level cadre. If we want to investigate him, the approval process is very complicated and requires the Standing Committee of the Discipline Inspection Commission to collectively study and decide whether to file a case."

Qiao Jiali's family has a cadre in them, so naturally he knows more about these things than Zhou Yi and the others.

Chen Yan asked, "What if it's a crime? Does that mean we don't need to go through the disciplinary committee?"

Qiao Jiali shook her head: "If we have irrefutable evidence that can directly confirm that the vice principal is the murderer, we can take measures to arrest him directly. However, after apprehending the suspect, we must immediately notify the Discipline Inspection Commission, which will then initiate a dual investigation procedure."

“But if it’s just a preliminary suspicion, it will be very difficult to handle, as a lot of information is hard to find. Unless…” Qiao Jiali said, raising a finger and pointing upwards, “someone can withstand the pressure.”

The other three knew that she was referring to Xie Guoqiang, the head of the municipal bureau.

Zhou Yi thought it was unlikely; no one would take such a risk based on just one phone call.

Therefore, all they can do is conduct peripheral reconnaissance unless they can find more useful and direct evidence through other means.

Chen Yan took out Liu Baoguo's household registration information. This vice principal is 56 years old this year. He is not a native of Hongcheng. He graduated from a prestigious university and had been sent abroad for study. It can be seen that he was a key talent cultivated by the country in that era.

Liu Baoguo was transferred to Hongda in 1981, and his household registration was also transferred to the school in the same year. However, his work experience and promotion process at Hongda cannot be seen in the household registration information.

Liu Baoguo's wife is the same age as him. She used to work in the cultural department of a certain city and is now retired.

The couple has one daughter who works at the Civil Affairs Bureau in the provincial capital. She is 33 years old this year and should theoretically be married and settled down by now.

According to Liu Baoguo's household registration information, there is no problem, especially one piece of information that contradicts Zhou Yi's previous guess.

He couldn't understand what connection Liu Baoguo and Lu Xiaoshuang could have.

That phone call was at least a clear clue, indicating that Liu Baoguo and Xu Liu had contact.

But the person who died in the previous life was Lu Xiaoshuang, and Lu Xiaoshuang had absolutely no connection with Liu Baoguo.

So he thought of a possibility: if Liu Baoguo had a son, and that son happened to work at Hongda, then things would be hard to say.

However, according to the household registration information, Liu Baoguo is a daughter and does not live in Hongcheng at all, so my guess is invalid.

"Brother Yan, after your meeting, could you help me investigate someone else?" Zhou Yi said.

Chen Yan nodded and asked who it was.

Zhou Yi said, "Chen Gengyun is the dean of the Hongda Social College."

Then the topic of Xiao Bing's death came up. Jiang Biao said that he was the first to arrive at the scene after receiving the news. The body was floating face down on the river and was caught in a fishing net set up by a fisherman downstream. Otherwise, it would have been swept downstream to the neighboring Wuguang City.

Moreover, when the body was pulled up, it was already unrecognizable, showing signs of gigantism. He didn't even dare to recognize it. It was only after the forensic doctor arrived and conducted a careful identification that it was confirmed to be Xiao Bing, who had fled.

Chen Yan said he had only seen it in books when he was in school, and had never seen it in real life.

Jiang Biao waved his hand repeatedly, saying that it was better if he didn't watch it, as he almost threw up.

Chen Yan said sadly, "Hey, you know, this Teacher Xiao, after the investigation, he didn't even have the means to commit the crime. Why did he run away? If we hadn't gone to see him that night, would this have happened?"

Qiao Jiali tried to stop her, but it was too late.

It's normal for Chen Yan to be sentimental, but he shouldn't have said that, because it was Zhou Yi who raised doubts about Xiao Bing.

On the way back to the task force, Zhou Yi remained silent the entire time.

If Chen Yan says he regrets it at this point, wouldn't that make Zhou Yi feel even more guilty?

Chen Yan immediately realized the problem and was about to explain that that was not what he meant.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Yi took the initiative to say, "Brother Yan, you can't think like that. The responsibility for this matter is not ours. It was Xiao Bing who concealed some information. If he had trusted us a little more, things wouldn't have turned out this way."

"But unfortunately, this outcome may have been predetermined long ago."

Chen Yan asked in confusion, "Why?"

"Two events in Xiao Bing's life dealt him a huge blow and changed the course of his life. The first was the death of his parents while saving others, and the second was Dong Lu being burned. In both of these events, no one could help him, so he must have had a hard time trusting others."

"In addition, since Dong Lu was burned, his personality has become very withdrawn and gloomy. I suspect that he actually has some psychological problems, just not to the point of mental illness. For example, his obsessive-compulsive disorder and cleanliness at home seem more like his own doing than Dong Lu's two personalities."

Qiao Jiali said, "Yes, Rome wasn't built in a day. Even if you hadn't gone that day, someone else would have investigated later, and he would still have done it. So don't blame yourselves; we were just carrying out a mission."

Qiao Jiali was actually quite surprised; she was surprised that Zhou Yi could think that way.

Because this is something that someone his age can't do; only an experienced veteran like Captain Wu can have such composure and insight.

"So, Brother Yan, the people who truly wronged Xiao Bing are those who caused him and Dong Lu to end up like this," Zhou Yi said through gritted teeth. "And the person who killed Xiao Bing!"

Chen Yan was shocked: "Xiao Bing was murdered? Didn't the forensic doctor say that the preliminary autopsy showed drowning?"

"Although I don't have any evidence yet, my intuition tells me that Xiao Bing didn't commit suicide or die in an accident, but was murdered!"

"Moreover, the person who killed him should be the murderer of the grand case!"

Following Zhou Yi's line of thought, Chen Yan said, "If he was really killed by the murderer in the grand case, then it means that he encountered the murderer while fleeing, and that he discovered some evidence that made him suspicious of the murderer's identity, leading the murderer to kill him to silence him!"

Zhou Yi nodded, "That's right, and he should know the murderer, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to discover anything. The last place Xiao Bing could have been was near the long-distance bus station on the night of the 10th, and the time of her death was also that night. So this means that the murderer must have had the opportunity to meet with Xiao Bing, spend time with her, drug her, and dispose of her body on the night of May 10th."

Zhou Yi and Chen Yan exclaimed in unison, "The car!"

“That’s right, the murderer must have had a car to do all this!” Chen Yan said, “The key to everything lies in this car that has not been found so far.”

Zhou Yi pondered, "That raises a new question: why was the murderer driving there that night? Was he just passing by? Or was there some other reason?"

Qiao Jiali agreed, saying, "Indeed, in this situation, the murderer should have kept a low profile. Why would he drive out alone in the middle of the night if there was no reason to do so?"

“Unless…unless…” Chen Yan pondered.

Zhou Yi said in a deep voice, "Unless the murderer is forced to deal with something urgently!"

Jiang Biao tentatively asked, "Bone?"

The three of them turned to look at Jiang Biao.

Jiang Biao scratched his head and said, "I was just saying it offhand, you guys continue."

Zhou Yi said excitedly, "No! Brother Biao, you're absolutely right. The only thing we haven't found and can't deal with right now is Xu Liu's bones!"

Jiang Biao felt like he'd stumbled upon a dead mouse by sheer luck. "Is...is that so? But last time you said the murderer didn't intend to dispose of the bones, so I couldn't find anything."

"You'll have to ask Brother Biao."

"Ask me?" Jiang Biao was even more confused.

Qiao Jiali and Chen Yan didn't understand why the murderer had to dispose of the bones at this particular time. Wasn't that just courting death?
"Zhou Yi, hurry up and tell me, I'm not as smart as you, I really can't think of that."

"Brother Biao, the only reason the murderer would risk being discovered to dispose of the bones at this critical juncture is that if he doesn't dispose of them quickly, the primary crime scene might be discovered."

Jiang Biao was startled: "So...you mean...the murderer knew I was about to find the first crime scene? That can't be right, how could he know? Does he have some kind of divination ability?"

"No, it's not that I knew you were about to find it, but that I knew you had already searched the area where the first crime scene was located, so I was scared."

"You mean, I found it, but didn't discover it?"

Zhou Yi nodded: "Yes!"

Jiang Biao frowned and grinned, "That can't be! I should have investigated everything that needed to be investigated. How could I have missed anything?"

"Then you'll have to lead your team to review the search, focusing on the area before the 10th. I don't think it's necessary to do the search after the 10th."

With such a large-scale search, it was impossible for Jiang Biao to personally search every corner of Hongcheng. The grassroots auxiliary search was bound to have some oversights, so Jiang Biao had to do the debriefing himself and dig out the area where the first case was discovered!

Jiang Biao nodded emphatically and said, "Okay! I'll do a debriefing after the meeting. I'll search every single place on the map. I refuse to believe I missed anything!"

Brother Biao was clearly still bothered by this, but Zhou Yi was wondering if this was the clue brought about by Xiao Bing's death.
That price is far too high.

"Thank you for your hard work, Brother Biao," Zhou Yi said in a deep voice, hoping to make some discoveries.

"Oh, right, there's one more thing. I went back to check on that old man who bought the oil, and none of the oil vendors nearby remembered him. He probably hasn't been seen since," Jiang Biao said.

Originally, this was just an inconspicuous clue, since there was no previous evidence pointing to middle-aged or elderly people, and murder, dismemberment, and frying are all crimes that require a lot of physical and mental effort.

But now that Liu Baoguo has appeared, and his age fits the bill, this oil-buying clue becomes even more suspicious.

"Brother Biao, I remember you said that the old man was wearing a hat back then, right?"

Jiang Biao nodded: "Yes, the oil dealer said it was a gray-brown baseball cap with English on it."

"Were you wearing glasses?"

"No, I wasn't wearing glasses. I spoke fairly standard Mandarin, so I couldn't hear any accent."

Wearing a hat and speaking Mandarin—is it just a coincidence or a deliberate disguise?
"Brother Yan, print out Liu Baoguo and Chen Gengyun's photos separately and give them to Brother Biao."

"Then, Brother Biao, you arrange for someone to take these two photos to the farmers' market and the surrounding area to ask if anyone recognizes them."

The two immediately nodded in agreement.

Qiao Jiali smiled knowingly as she watched this scene. With Captain Wu absent, Zhou Yi had unknowingly taken on the main responsibility; the Third Brigade truly had a worthy successor.

She was the only woman in the Third Brigade, so she was naturally sensitive and perceptive, and could tell that Captain Wu was tired.

It's not physical exhaustion, but mental exhaustion.

For someone of Wu's age without a family, he feels very empty inside. Moreover, he is not a workaholic at heart. He often works the night shift in order to actively fill the void in his heart.

"Hey, what are you all doing here?" A chubby, dusty face suddenly appeared at the window near the balcony.

Zhou Yi was stunned for a moment, looking at the face without reacting.

Three seconds later, he tentatively called out, "Team Leader Shi?"

The chubby face that suddenly appeared was none other than Shi Tao, whom Zhou Yi hadn't seen in a long time. However, he looked quite different from the usual Shi Tao, with a dusty face and a scraggly beard, as if he had just crawled out of a cave dwelling. So Zhou Yi didn't recognize him at first.

Jiang Biao turned his head and asked, "Team Leader Shi, what happened to you?"

Suddenly, a mouth next to Shi Tao grinned, startling Jiang Biao.

"Oh my god, who is this?"

"It's me," a familiar voice replied.

"Teacher Gu?" The four were shocked. Upon closer inspection, they found that Gu Changhai was even darker than Shi Tao.

"What exactly happened to you two? How did things get like this?" Jiang Biao couldn't help but ask.

Shi Tao said triumphantly, "A discovery has been made!"

Everyone immediately perked up, and just as they were about to let Shi Tao and the others come in and tell them what they had discovered, they heard someone outside shout, "Meeting time!"

Everyone had to go to the main conference room for a meeting first.

Soon the room was full, and everyone's face was etched with exhaustion.

Of course, you couldn't see anything on Shi Tao and Gu Changhai's faces because they were so dirty.

Soon, Xie Guoqiang walked in, followed by Liang Wei and Ni Jianrong.

"Is everyone here?" Xie Guoqiang stood in the main seat, glanced around, and suddenly paused.

Because he saw two black coal-skinned men sitting in the crowd.

"Who...who are these two people?" Xie Guoqiang asked in confusion.

Shi Tao quickly said, "Director Xie, it's me, Shi Tao."

As she spoke, she wiped her face, but it only made it dirtier.

Gu Changhai, who was standing next to him, chuckled and said, "Hello, Director Xie, I am Gu Changhai."

"What happened to you two? Did you go into a coal mine?" Xie Guoqiang asked casually.

Unexpectedly, Shi Tao nodded vigorously and grinned, "Yes, I spent a whole day and night in the mine with Lao Gu."

Xie Guoqiang nodded in sudden realization: "Oh... thank you for your hard work. Tell me about your discoveries later."

Zhou Yi was very concerned about Shi Tao's discovery in Xinbei Town, but he guessed that Shi Tao's appearance at the meeting was somewhat of a publicity stunt.

Xie Guoqiang clapped his hands and said loudly, "Everyone, the main reason for calling this meeting today is to summarize some recent investigation findings and clues, so that everyone has a sufficient understanding of the overall situation of the case and can better cooperate in our work."

"But before that, I have something to announce."

Everyone sat up straight, because clearly, this was the main purpose of the meeting.

Xie Guoqiang said, "Given that the core investigation into the victim's social relationships has been basically completed and no suspicious targets have been found, the task force leadership has decided to expand the scope of the investigation in the next step."

"Including all faculty and students of Hongcheng University, and suspicious persons in the surrounding area of ​​Hongcheng University who have the means to commit the crime."

"In addition, after friendly consultation with Principal Hongda and an application to the organization, starting tomorrow, the principal will personally lead all school leaders to take the lead in accepting questions from the special investigation team, setting an example for all teachers and students."

“Because this job is quite special, it will be carried out personally by Captain Liang and Captain Ni,” Xie Guoqiang said to the two. “Thank you for your hard work.”

The two immediately expressed their opinions.

What others heard was an even greater workload.

The decision to expand the scope of the investigation, like in the previous life, was an inevitable result, given that the task force had investigated for three whole months in the previous life.

But Zhou Yi understood the underlying meaning of this decision.

It's simply because the scope of the investigation wasn't expanded earlier in the previous life.

And it's too much of a coincidence. Just today, it was discovered that Liu Baoguo's office number had paged Xu Liu, and tonight they announced an expansion of the investigation.

This was clearly Xie's doing on purpose; he was using the rules to circumvent the complicated investigation procedures that Qiao Jiali had mentioned earlier.

While it's impossible to investigate every detail of a person, including their assets, accounts, and call records, it's at least possible to conduct reasonable questioning and, following standard investigation procedures, ascertain the alibi of these school leaders.

It's like deliberately finding a pretext to cut down the entire forest just to cut down one tree.

This really is the only way; experience truly matters.

Then Xie Guoqiang said a few words to boost morale and began to have each department summarize the case details.

When Chen Yan mentioned that Liu Baoguo's household registration information had been retrieved earlier, Xie Guoqiang said that it wouldn't be necessary to retrieve it separately again. The information of school leaders would be retrieved uniformly by the internal affairs team, including the information of faculty and staff who liaise with the school. If members of the special investigation team needed to access the information later, they would need the signature of the team leader or deputy team leader, namely Xie, Liang, or Ni.

This put Zhou Yi at ease, at least Liang Wei would definitely agree to let him access the documents.

Then Qiao Jiali talked about Dong Lu's treatment and care. She said that she would communicate with Director Sun about Dong Lu's condition every day. If Dong Lu's condition improved and Director Sun felt that it was time to communicate, she would report immediately.

Xie Guoqiang nodded and reminded them to avoid mentioning Xiao Bing during subsequent questioning.

That's true. If Dong Lu were to learn of Xiao Bing's death, she probably wouldn't have the will to live anymore.

Then there's the list of Xu Liu's call records. After manually checking each one and trying to call back, two very interesting phenomena were discovered.

First, from February 14th to April 12th, a number would call every three to five days, totaling fourteen times, with the last call occurring around 4 PM on April 12th.

Of these fourteen calls, nine numbers were involved, meaning that five of those numbers were called twice.

The first call came from the number in Liu Baoguo's office, and it was never heard again.

The other eight numbers were all public telephones.

Of the five calls made twice, all were public phones inside the Hongda campus, while the remaining three were public phones on the street outside Hongda, not close to the campus, but all in the city.

From this, it is reasonable to suspect that Xu Liu has found a new financial backer, and that this person is in Hongcheng, or even inside Hongda.

Compared to Zhang Wenhua's previous monthly meetings, this new donor meets with Xu Liu much more frequently, basically once or twice a week. Naturally, Xu Liu will receive more money than before.

However, Xu Liu did not actually show a significant increase in spending after the second semester, indicating that even though she received four or five times more money than before, she did not spend it recklessly.

That means she's saving money.

There must be a purpose to saving money. When Zhou Yi heard this information, her first reaction was that she was preparing to go abroad!
This is her obsession, and also her only way to escape reality.

As long as she goes to a foreign land, a place where no one knows her, she can start over.

From a deeper psychological perspective, this is her path to self-redemption.

Then, this new investor deliberately concealed his existence.

Moreover, the methods used were exactly the same as those used by Zhang Wenhua before.

Although the methods are the same, there are still differences in essence.

Zhang Wenhua's main reason for not leaving a fixed contact method was self-preservation. He wanted to manipulate Xu Liu, but he was also afraid that Xu Liu would intrude into his life and destroy his peaceful life.

But the later investor probably doesn't need to do that. If he is really inside Hongda, or if he is Liu Baoguo, then he is a rabbit that eats the grass near its burrow. When he does eat, he shouldn't worry about Xu Liu interfering with his life.

But why would he use such a clandestine method to contact Xu Liu?

Is this the other party's instinctive counter-surveillance awareness? If they even have counter-surveillance awareness for something like this, then this person is a bit scary.

Secondly, there are the unfamiliar numbers that have been calling frequently since April 13th, over the past month.

All of these numbers are local to Hongcheng, and the investigation and verification process is very extensive, so it is still ongoing.

However, the task force did sample calls back, especially to numbers called in the last few days.

The result was a startling discovery: the reason these numbers were calling Xu Liu was entirely for soliciting prostitution.

The pager numbers and prostitution advertisements actually came from some poorly printed flyers.

He then produced a crumpled flyer, saying he had gotten it from one of the callers.

The paper was first handed to Xie Guoqiang, and then passed around to everyone.

When it reached Zhou Yi, he saw extremely explicit text on it, such as "sexy female college student" and "lonely and unbearable," and the contact information at the bottom was Xu Liu's pager.

After reading it, Zhou Yi did not pass it on immediately. Instead, he first rubbed the paper with his fingers, then smelled the ink, and finally even held it up to the light to check its translucency.

Xie Guoqiang and Liang Wei noticed this action.

Xie Guoqiang instructed that the source of the substandard leaflet be investigated, focusing on small workshops. He then pointed out some problems with the paper, ink, and printing, and that the illegal content could not have come from legitimate channels. He especially emphasized investigating the date April 13th.

So Zhou Yi's meticulous observations—stirring, smelling, and looking—were all understood by Xie Guoqiang with just a glance.

As Zhou Yi was handing out the flyers, Xie Guoqiang said, "Zhou Yi, if you have any thoughts, just say them."

Zhou Yi was startled. He hadn't even given any reaction, yet the other party had seen through him. This bureau chief was truly unfathomable.

All eyes turned to Zhou Yi, since the bureau chief had called him out.

Zhou Yi stood up, cleared his throat, and calmly said, "I believe that the person who printed this leaflet, Xu Liu's second financier, and the murderer in the grand case are all the same person!"

"Moreover, from the moment this flyer was printed, the murderer had already decided to kill Xu Liu!"

Although everyone knew there was something wrong with this, Zhou Yi's conclusion still startled everyone.

Xie Guoqiang remained calm, while Liang Wei looked on with admiration. Xie Guoqiang simply said two words: "Continue."

"Okay. There's no doubt that the murderer has a strong counter-surveillance awareness. Judging from Xu Liu's communication list alone, Xu Liu's financial backer also fits this characteristic, having a strong counter-surveillance awareness. This can be seen from the fact that he used public phones in different locations to contact Xu Liu. And the appearance of this flyer was not for a prank, nor for revenge or harassment, but rather he wanted to use a large number of unknown numbers to wipe Xu Liu's communication records."

"Wash?" This description is a bit ahead of its time, and someone asked in confusion.

"It's about using a massive amount of invalid information to hide valid information. So far, we haven't found Xu Liu's pager. Obviously, Xu Liu always carried it with her, and it must have been destroyed by the murderer after her death. But the murderer is very vigilant and knowledgeable; at least he wasn't stupid enough to think that smashing the pager would erase all the records. That's why he used this method to cover it up. Sexy female college students offering low-priced prostitution is indeed a good way to quickly attract a large number of people to make pager calls in a short period of time."

"He wanted to erase his existence, perhaps because he believed that the storage capacity of the operator's backend was limited."

"Therefore, I believe that the murderer had been premeditating the murder since April 13th."

Xie Guoqiang tapped the table with his knuckles and said, "Very good, so the focus should be on investigating the source of these leaflets. If we find out who printed these leaflets, we may be able to find the murderer!"

Everyone was excited when they heard that the murderer could be found. The case had been going on for almost half a month, with hundreds of people working around the clock, all to find the murderer.

"Jiang Biao, you handle this. Dong Lu and Xiao Bing have been found, and you have the most people at your disposal, so you can use them," Director Xie said, specifically mentioning him. "Anyway, you haven't found the primary crime scene yet."

"It wasn't me..." Jiang Biao was about to explain when Qiao Jiali tugged at his sleeve under the table, and he immediately changed his tune, "Okay..."

"That's about it," Xie Guoqiang said, pointing at Shi Tao. "Oh dear, you two are too cunning! I almost forgot about you. Come on, you two upright gentlemen, tell me what you've discovered?"

Everyone laughed, knowing that the leader was trying to liven up the atmosphere.

Shi Tao immediately stood up and said with great seriousness, "My goodness, it's finally my turn. Director Xie, I have made a major discovery!"

……

Hongcheng Baodi Villa District.

At Qian Hongxing's home, the family had just finished eating.

Lu Xiaoshuang stood up to clear the dishes, but before Qian Hongxing and Yao Yuling could stop her, Sister Yang immediately snatched the dishes from her hands and said, "You sit down, you sit down, I'll clear the dishes."

Yao Yuling held Lu Xiaoshuang's hand and said with a smile, "Let Sister Yang take care of it, you are the guest."

"Sister Yuling, I was just thinking of helping out in some way," Lu Xiaoshuang said shyly. After all, she had been eating and staying well at the Qian family's house for the past few days, and even her clothes had been washed, which made her feel quite uneasy.

Although Zhou Yi said there was no need to be polite, living in such an environment felt very unreal to her, who had been used to poverty since childhood.

So she always thought she could do something, even something as simple as sweeping the floor, but she found that the Qian family couldn't even find a broom, and Sister Yang used a vacuum cleaner to clean.

"No need, you are a distinguished guest in our family, you just need to rest well," Yao Yuling said.

Qian Hongxing, who was flipping through the newspaper, said, "Officer Zhou entrusted you to us, so we have to treat you like a precious gem."

During her two days at the Qian family home, she learned the whole story of how Zhou Yi saved Qian Lailai twice, which Yao Yuling told in a tearful and exaggerated manner.

But she also learned from Yao Yuling's words that her family was truly grateful to Zhou Yi. Although they were rich, they valued relationships, and Qian Hongxing was very loyal.

Furthermore, the fact that Zhou Yi entrusted herself to them shows that she trusted them.

She just felt that she didn't belong here after all. Although it was safe here, she always had a sense of unease.

In comparison, Zhou Yi's small one-bedroom apartment seemed to make her feel more comfortable and at ease.

It feels like home.

"Sister, watch cartoons with me." Qian Lailai ran over and pulled Lu Xiaoshuang toward the living room.

Lu Xiaoshuang has watched more cartoons in the last two days than she has in the previous ten years.

A little while later, Yao Yuling arrived and sat on the sofa, acting coquettishly with her son, asking to hug him. But Qian Lailai preferred to be close to Lu Xiaoshuang and even begged her to hug him.

Yao Yuling laughed and scolded, "Men are all the same; they can't resist seeing young and pretty girls."

At this moment, Qian Hongxing walked over with a box in his hand and handed it to Yao Yuling, saying that he had asked someone to buy the latest model mobile phone from the south, a high-end imported product.

The box is printed with the words "Nokia 8110".

Yao Yuling hugged Qian Hongxing and kissed him, saying that her old man still knew how to cherish her.

Then I started unpacking the box and playing with the new phone.

Lu Xiaoshuang only glanced at it and saw that it was a black slider phone, which looked expensive.

After Qian Hongxing replaced the SIM card, he said he would make a call to see if it was working properly.

Soon, the phone in Yao Yuling's hand emitted a pleasant Nokia classic ringtone.

But the ringtone sent a chill down Lu Xiaoshuang's spine.

Because she suddenly remembered that she had heard this ringtone before!

On the day she was kidnapped, in the trunk of the car, she pretended to be unconscious, but after being forcibly given water the first time, the car started again.

Swaying unsteadily, she slowly lost consciousness.

But in the instant she was about to fall into a deep sleep, she vaguely heard a ringing bell!
The exact same ringtone as now!

(End of this chapter)