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

Chapter 490 Captain Wu is also a jinx.

Zhao Liang said that Director Chen led a group to Xipinggou last night to find out about the situation from the village chief.

It's simply a matter of understanding two points.

First, do the Miao people have any enemies or mortal adversaries in the village?

Second, did Miao Genhua experience any emotional turmoil during the years she was widowed?

The village chief said that it's nonsense to say that you don't have a single enemy in the countryside.

After all, horses are tall and stirrups are short, so trivial matters are common.

But if it's something like a deep-seated hatred, the village chief thought and thought but couldn't recall any.

Even if there were any, that was back in the old days, when Lao Miao was still alive. The debts were long gone, and no matter how you try to trace it back, it can't be related to these younger generations.

As for the years Miao Genhua was widowed, there were indeed some circumstances.

The village chief said that after Miao Genhua received Ge Hongqi's compensation, she had no further contact with the Ge family. Of course, the Ge family also did not come to see the child, since it was a girl. If it were a boy, the Ge family probably would not have let Miao Genhua take the child away at all.

Not long after Miao Genhua returned to her parents' home with her child, a matchmaker came knocking on her door.

After all, she was only in her early twenties and had only given birth to one child, a daughter. Such a young widow was highly sought after in the countryside.

Because marrying a widow doesn't require as much dowry as marrying a young, unmarried woman, and besides, Miao Genhua had some money on hand.

Although the exact amount is unknown, it was ultimately earned by Ge Hongqi at the cost of his life, so everyone guesses that the amount must be substantial.

Marrying her would be like getting both a beautiful woman and a wealthy man.

Therefore, the number of people coming to propose marriage is no less than during the first marriage.

Zhao Liang added that although Miao Genhua wasn't particularly beautiful, she had delicate features and regular facial structure, which made her quite attractive to men in a rural environment.

Although she was introduced to many people and met quite a few, it is said that Miao Genhua did not take a liking to any of them, and the village chief was not very clear about the specifics.

In any case, quite a few men do send gifts to her family during holidays and festivals.

Some people in the village had their eyes on her, and one even climbed over her courtyard wall in the middle of the night to throw love letters inside, but her brother Miao Zhuang chased him away with a hoe.

As for whether she had ever dated anyone before Ma Weichang, the village chief didn't know, but he was certain that she hadn't in Xipinggou.

As for why Director Chen said Zhou Yi was impressive, it was because after leaving the village chief's house, he didn't leave immediately, but instead secretly circled around to the village entrance under the cover of night.

Then he hid outside the crowd and eavesdropped on the villagers chatting while they were enjoying the cool air at the village entrance.

This is the awareness of experienced veteran police officers. Inexperienced officers will simply ask questions and leave, but veteran officers know to gather intelligence from different channels.

Major events like a missing child will be a topic of conversation for a long time. With so many people talking, some valuable information will naturally emerge.

As expected, Director Chen heard some interesting information.

Some villagers suspect that Ge Fangfang's child was taken away by Miao Genhua's boyfriend when she was in school, because when Miao Genhua married Ge Hongqi, that guy came to the village to make trouble and even threatened to kill Ge Hongqi.

After Miao Genhua lost her man, he must have been thinking about her again. As a result, Miao Genhua turned around and married Ma Weichang. That guy must hate Miao Genhua.

Another villager agreed with this view and added a piece of information.

She had once bumped into Miao Genhua and that boy coming out of the sorghum field. At that time, Miao Genhua had already married Ma Weichang.

A middle-aged man behind us reminded everyone not to talk nonsense or gossip, or the police would arrest you.

The villagers were so frightened that they stopped talking and changed the subject, starting to chat about a certain TV series.

At this moment, Director Chen walked over, revealed his identity, and asked them what the name of Miao Genhua's boyfriend from her school days was.

A group of villagers shook their heads, seemingly unable to give a clear answer. Finally, an older woman said she knew the man's surname was Shi because her son and Miao Genhua were in the same grade in junior high school, and he had mentioned that Miao Genhua had a boyfriend with the surname Shi. But she truly didn't know his given name.

Because it was too late yesterday, the police station was unable to continue investigating the information of this man surnamed Shi.

We can only check again today.

At the same time, Director Chen also asked Zhao Liang and the others to ask Miao Genhua for information about this man.

“Our director believes that this man surnamed Shi is the most suspicious right now. We need to find him as soon as possible and interrogate him thoroughly,” Zhao Liang said, glancing at the rearview mirror before asking, “What do you think?”

Zhou Yi, sitting in the back row, nodded: "This clue is indeed very useful. This person surnamed Shi is indeed quite suspicious."

“When Miao Genhua got married for the first time, he caused trouble and even threatened to kill Ge Hongqi, which shows that he is impulsive and has violent tendencies.”

"After Miao Genhua's second marriage, he continued to have private contact with her, and the possibility of an affair between them cannot be ruled out. This indicates that he had deep feelings for Miao Genhua, or rather, he was very persistent in his feelings for her. It is possible that after Miao Genhua ultimately chose Ma Weichang, he became angry and resentful, and thus developed the idea of ​​revenge."

"Moreover..." Zhou Yi thought for a moment and said, "If this person also heard from some channels that Ma Weichang treats Ge Fangfang as his own daughter, killing Ge Fangfang would not only be a way to take revenge on Miao Genhua, but also on Ma Weichang, which can be described as killing two birds with one stone."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Liang excitedly slapped the steering wheel and said, "That's right, that's exactly what I mean. If we catch this guy surnamed Shi, we might be able to solve the case. We won't even need the county bureau to get involved; we can solve a murder case, and then we'll really make a name for ourselves."

Zhou Yi did not respond, but was thinking about the issues involved.

In terms of criminal motive, this person surnamed Shi is indeed a suspect.

But the question is how he can commit the crime without being discovered?

Ge Fangfang went missing on the evening of the 22nd, after parting ways with her friends.

Although Zhou Yi hadn't been to Xipinggou to see the terrain, how big could the village be? In other words, Ge Fangfang was controlled within a range of at most 100 meters.

This requires the murderer to meet two necessary conditions.

First, you must be very familiar with the terrain of Xipinggou and know where to take action with the lowest risk and without being discovered.

Secondly, Ge Fangfang, and even the Miao family, should be monitored.

Since he is only a six-year-old child and not in school, his behavior and timing are unpredictable.

To find an opportunity to kidnap a child who is alone, one must keep a close watch on the Miao people for a long time.

Unless we use one possibility to explain it, that this person surnamed Shi was exceptionally lucky and happened to run into Ge Fangfang, who was returning home after playing, and then kidnapped her, and coincidentally no one saw it.

But even if everything was just a coincidence, how did he manage to take the person away?

Car?

The economic conditions of Shacao Town are obvious to all. The police station only has one police car, and when they need to go on a mission, they have to borrow a car from other units.

If someone surnamed Shi can afford a car, then theoretically he shouldn't lack partners. Why insist on being with Miao Genhua, who has been married twice?

Moreover, in this rural area of ​​Northwest China, a car is a very conspicuous object, so it's impossible that there wasn't a single witness.

During the few days Zhou Yi stayed here, apart from the police car from the police station and the truck that the workers used to haul goods that day, he didn't see a single other vehicle.

According to Lu Guohua, there are very few people in the village, let alone cars, even bicycles and oxcarts. The vast majority of people walk on their own two feet, and some elderly people don't even dare to take the bus.

Therefore, Zhou Yi couldn't understand how the murderer, whether it was this person surnamed Shi or Ma Weichang, managed to do it without anyone noticing.

Based on these two conditions alone, Ma Weichang is far more suspicious than this first love boyfriend surnamed Shi.

After all, Ma Weichang was not an unfamiliar face, and his appearance in the village would not arouse suspicion.

And there's another crucial point: if it were Ma Weichang, he could easily trick the child away with just one lie.

But this first boyfriend clearly didn't meet those requirements.

Therefore, Zhou Yi felt that whether this man surnamed Shi was the murderer still depended on further clues. He was just going along with Zhao Liang's words to give him some confidence.

After a bumpy and swaying ride, the car finally arrived in the county town.

They soon drove into the gates of the county hospital.

After getting off the car, Zhou Yi followed the two towards the hospital building.

Zhao Liang suddenly turned his head and asked, "Zhou Yi, aren't you going to get allergy medication? The outpatient clinic is that way."

Zhou Yi then remembered that he had made up an excuse to come along.

It would be too fake to say I'm not worthy now, so I pretended to suddenly realize and said, "Oh, really? I thought this was the way. By the way, what's Miao Genhua's ward number? I'll come find you after I get my prescription."

He planned to pretend to go to get his medication first, and then go to the ward after about ten minutes. Anyway, a normal questioning wouldn't end so quickly, so he would observe the situation further later.

Zhao Liang pulled out his notebook and told Zhou Yi the ward number he had copied down.

After Zhou Yi remembered this, he turned and walked towards the outpatient building.

But he didn't go far. He turned around and saw Zhao Liang and the others enter the hospital building, so he stopped.

There was a flower bed not far behind, and two cars were parked in front of it; the location was relatively secluded.

Zhou Yi planned to go over there for a while, have a smoke, and then go directly to the ward in about ten minutes.

As soon as I walked over, I heard a man's voice coming from the back of a truck.

"Honey, stop making a fuss, okay? After what happened to her family, it's no big deal for me to accompany her to the hospital. Besides, I didn't hide anything from you!"

Behind the truck, a middle-aged man in his thirties was making a phone call.

The man was wearing a white short-sleeved shirt, was not tall, and had a serious expression.

He looked up and saw Zhou Yi. His gaze fell on the cigarette pack in Zhou Yi's hand, and he instantly understood.

He immediately said impatiently into the phone, "Alright, alright, let's talk about it when I get back, it's so annoying."

He then hung up the phone.

Then, as he walked out, he nodded to Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi nodded in response, after all, the man had essentially given her the spot.

After the man left, Zhou Yi began to slowly smoke.

He recalled himself before he was 23 years old. He seemed to hardly smoke, and he rarely smoked when he was in the police station. After all, although grassroots work was hard, the mental pressure was not high.

He really started smoking when he joined the criminal investigation team of the branch office. At that time, he was under a lot of pressure to solve cases, and his seniors offered him cigarettes, which he naturally accepted.

However, I only take a drag occasionally when I'm under a lot of pressure while handling cases, or when I'm socializing for work.

I was bored and decided to smoke one. Thinking back, I didn't used to smoke often. It seems I've been too influenced by Wu Yongcheng.

Thinking this, Zhou Yi took out his phone and dialed Wu Yongcheng's number.

The phone rang for quite a while before it was finally answered.

"Captain Wu, did I disturb you?"

"No, I just had a short meeting with Director Xie, and it just ended." Wu Yongcheng asked with a smile, "How did you get along with your future in-laws?"

"That's great. Xiaoshuang's dad is a really good person. I'll tell you more about him when I get back. Oh, he asked me to thank you for your kindness on behalf of the children in the village."

"Hey, it's nothing, no big deal. So, what do you need me for this time?"

Zhou Yi asked with a smile, "Captain Wu, how did you know I needed to talk to you? It couldn't be that you've been missing me terribly for just three days, could it?"

"Come on, you're so glib. Just tell me already, or I'm hanging up."

"No, I'll tell you, I'll tell you."

Zhou Yi immediately gave a brief retelling of the Xipinggou case.

Wu Yongcheng couldn't help but complain, "So you're Zhou Qingtian, aren't you? Everywhere you go, there's a case?"

"Captain Wu, please stop teasing me. Every year, there are so many cases of all sizes all over the country. It's not strange that I just happened to come across a few. If I hadn't been sending things to the children here, I wouldn't have contacted the local police station or known the police officers here, and naturally, I wouldn't have come across this case."

That's true. After all, this case didn't happen in Yangjiatun. If it had, he probably would have questioned his own existence.

It really became a case that the case would happen wherever they went.

But now it's the result of cause and effect. After all, if I hadn't contacted Zhao Liang in advance, my trip wouldn't have involved Xipinggou.

"Just kidding, don't be nervous." Wu Yongcheng returned to his office, lit a cigarette while playing it on speakerphone, because Zhou Yi heard the sound of the lighter.

"But don't get too involved in this matter, or you'll get complaints."

"Don't worry, Captain Wu. I didn't participate in the investigation of the case. The information was all given to me by the police station. At most, I just helped analyze the case."

“Oh…they told you on their own initiative…” Wu Yongcheng muttered.

"I initially thought it was because they didn't follow the rules very well, but later I found out that the main reason seemed to be that the local police station and the county bureau didn't get along, so they probably tried to find me as an outside help as a last resort."

Wu Yongcheng nodded: "Alright, just make sure you know what's good for you and don't let it affect you."

"clear."

"So you're telling me this now because you want me to analyze the case for you?" Wu Yongcheng asked.

"Yes, I think this case seems simple, but there's something strange about it. In Xipinggou, if the child was murdered and the body was simply dumped and then found during a search, that would be normal. But instead, there's no trace of the child, neither alive nor dead, and not a single witness. How did the murderer manage that?"

“Hmm, this case looks like it was committed by someone known to the family.” Wu Yongcheng pondered for a moment and asked, “Does the Miao family have any enemies in the village? If they are from the same village, then they have the means to lure the child home and then kill him there. Many rural houses have earthen floors, making it easy to dig a hole and bury the body inside the house, which would create a very private crime scene.”

Zhou Yi nodded: "Captain Wu, your analysis makes a lot of sense. If the murder and burial are all done inside the house, outsiders won't be able to find out. And I remember that the search only went outside, not into the villagers' homes. But the problem is that the police station has checked, and the Miao family doesn't have any mortal enemies in the village, so it's unlikely that anyone would do something so heinous."

Are there many elderly bachelors and old men living alone in this village?

Wu Yongcheng's question immediately made Zhou Yi's heart ache.

Wu Yongcheng's point is that the old bachelor and the old man living alone might have lured Ge Fangfang home on her way there because of their evil intentions, then raped, murdered, and buried her body.

This possibility could indeed explain how the murderer made Ge Fangfang disappear without anyone noticing and without any witnesses.

Moreover, rural bachelors are already extremely lacking in sexual resources, so it's not impossible that they might act impulsively in a moment of passion.

Zhou Yi just didn't want the truth to be like this, because that would be too cruel for Ge Fangfang and her family.

"Thank you, Captain Wu. I'll talk to them in a bit and ask the police station to investigate this further."

“There’s another possibility you can keep an eye on,” Wu Yongcheng said.

"what?"

"What if... this is just the beginning?"

Zhou Yi's heart skipped a beat: "Captain Wu, you mean, people will die again?"

Wu Yongcheng puffed out a cloud of smoke and said, "I hope it's just my bad luck."

(End of this chapter)