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

Chapter 510 The Murderous Trap (Last week of monthly ticket giveaway)

What if Ge Fangfang hadn't died?

A week has passed! Yet there's still no sign of him, neither alive nor dead.

The only evidence that she had been murdered was the pair of underwear found in the quarry office, and some bloodstains that had been wiped away.

Thinking of this, he jumped off the folding bed and rushed out of the lounge to find Yang Chuan.

He wants to see the detailed on-site investigation report.

Yang Chuan was dozing off in his chair when Zhou Yi suddenly rushed in and called out to him, startling him.

"Officer Zhou, what's wrong? Did something happen?"

"I need to see the on-site investigation report."

Yang Chuan retrieved the report from the table and handed it to Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi frowned, intently flipping through the report.

The report stated that traces of bloodstains that had been wiped away were found in multiple locations inside the house.

The items included the corrugated steel walls, the floor, and the bed, with multiple blood spots found on the bedding.

However, the distribution of blood spots is irregular, and they do not resemble splatter or splash patterns, but rather drip patterns.

Two footprints, one large and one small, were found at the scene.

After comparison, the size of the large footprint and the pattern of the sole matched the shoes worn by Ma Weichang.

The small footprints matched the shoe that Ge Fangfang was found in.

Therefore, it can be confirmed that the footprints at the scene belonged to Ma Weichang and Ge Fangfang.

No other footprints were found.

The footprints of Ma Weichang and Ge Fangfang were rather messy, but Ma Weichang's footprints were the main one.

However, unusually, no fingerprints resembling Ge Fangfang were found at the scene.

They did find a lot of Ma Weichang's fingerprints, as well as some other people's fingerprints. After comparison, some of them belonged to Miao Genhua, and some to Miao Zhuang.

Interestingly, in the locked drawer, in addition to Ma Weichang's fingerprints, Miao Zhuang's fingerprints were also found.

This illustrates two points.

First, these fingerprints must have been left by Miao Zhuang when he stole the money.

Second, it is highly likely that Miao Zhuangda did not participate in the murder of Ma Weichang or in faking the office scene.

Otherwise, even if he didn't have the brains to think of it, Miao Dongfang would have thought of it.

Only Ma Weichang and a few members of the Miao family should know about the theft.

Otherwise, Miao Dongfang would definitely have cleaned up the traces in the drawer to prevent the matter from being exposed.

"Officer Zhou, what's wrong? What did you find?" Yang Chuan couldn't help but ask when he didn't speak for a while.

Zhou Yi looked up and said, "Ge Fangfang might not be dead!"

"Huh?" Yang Chuan thought he was still half asleep and had misheard. "Say it again."

"Ge Fangfang should not be dead. This case was targeted at Ma Weichang from the very beginning. It's a setup, a murder trap tailor-made for Ma Weichang!"

This time Yang Chuan heard it clearly. His face was full of shock. He asked, "Are you...are you sure you're not mistaken?"

"Come here, look here," Zhou Yi said, pointing to a photocopy of the crime scene investigation report. "We found a lot of bloodstains that had been wiped away, right?"

Yang Chuan nodded.

"But I remember Director Li saying from the beginning that there were no signs of a struggle at the scene."

"Well, how could a six-year-old girl possibly fight against an adult? The strength is completely disproportionate."

“You’re right, the disparity in strength is too great, so there are no signs of a fight, which makes sense,” Zhou Yi asked. “But if there was no fight, then why is there blood everywhere?”

The report also contains many photocopies of photos from the scene, with the locations of the bloodstains marked on the photos.

“It would be easy for Ma Weichang to rape or kill a six-year-old girl. Moreover, if a child of this age is injured and bleeding, it is almost impossible for them to run around like an adult. They will only cry because they are terrified. This is an instinctive reaction.”

“Once the child starts crying loudly, Ma Weichang will inevitably be afraid that things will be exposed. What will he do?” Zhou Yi asked.

Yang Chuan replied, "We would cover the child's mouth, or... smother her head with a pillow to prevent her from making a sound."

“That’s right. So, under normal circumstances, if Ge Fangfang had been murdered in this office, she wouldn’t have had the chance to leave bloodstains everywhere.”

Zhou Yi pointed to his temple: "Children's behavior is completely different from that of adults."

Yang Chuan instantly understood and excitedly said, "You mean, an adult deliberately left these bloodstains to create the illusion that Ge Fangfang was murdered here?"

"Yes, that's how an adult thinks. When an adult gets hurt, their natural instinct is to run away. But a child in this situation will only cry, because crying is a child's instinct when facing fear!"

Zhou Yi's analysis sent chills down Yang Chuan's spine.

It was not only because the case was so insidious—that someone would use a six-year-old girl to commit murder—but also because he was astonished that this young man, Zhou Yi, could see through such a thing. He vaguely sensed something from Zhou Yi.

That's Zhou Xiangdong's consistent approach, which only applies to violent and illegal crimes. In a complex murder case like this, it could very likely lead to a wrongful conviction!

Old-school figures like Zhou Xiangdong scoffed at some of the new directions advocated by Li Linglong.

But Zhou Yi's appearance made him realize this.

Perhaps Director Li is right; they really do need to change and improve.

"Officer Zhou, I think your analysis is very reasonable. So, is Miao Genhua the mastermind behind this case? Did she deliberately hide her daughter and then incite Shi Jian to carry out the murder plan for her?"

Yang Chuan felt that this was probably the closest thing to the truth.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Yi shook his head: "No, Miao Genhua and Ge Fangfang are both pawns in someone else's hands."

"Huh? Then who else could it be besides Miao Genhua?"

"Uncle Dong!"

"Dong... Village Chief Miao Dongfang?"

Zhou Yi nodded heavily.

"I'll go and catch this old guy right now," Yang Chuan said, standing up.

Zhou Yi grabbed him and said, "I'm just speculating right now, I don't have any evidence yet, and letting Miao Zhuang go back was just to alert the enemy. Don't rush, let's let things play out a bit more."

"Let the bullets fly a little longer?" Yang Chuan thought to himself, "That's a great description, it's so interesting."

"Shall we re-examine Miao Genhua?" Yang Chuan asked.

Zhou Yi lowered his head and pondered for a moment, recalling the process of interrogating Miao Genhua earlier, then slowly shook his head and said, "Her act should be over. I estimate that it will be difficult to get her to speak again through forced interrogation."

Because of the previous interrogations, towards the end, Miao Genhua basically just kept crying.

The retrial will most likely elicit the same response.

Furthermore, although her suicide attempt by overdosing on sleeping pills yesterday occurred in the hospital, the risk was very small.

But even the smallest risk is still a risk.

This shows that Miao Genhua is willing to go all out in this matter.

To get her to confess and speak, we need irrefutable evidence.

Upon hearing Zhou Yi's words, Yang Chuan muttered, "Ironclad evidence? Where can we find ironclad evidence?"

"Ge Fangfang is irrefutable evidence! As long as we find Ge Fangfang, this whole scheme will fall apart!"

……

"That makes sense!" Li Linglong clapped his hands excitedly.

After confirming this direction, Zhou Yi immediately had Yang Chuan call Li Linglong.

However, it might be a signal problem; I couldn't get through even after trying for a long time.

Yang Chuan told Zhou Yi to go and rest first, and that he would talk to him after he got through.

Zhou Yi said he wanted to wait with him, but Yang Chuan insisted that he go and rest, not only because he was a guest, but also because he was a sharp-minded person and could only play a significant role if he was well-rested.

Zhou Yi couldn't persuade him otherwise, so she went to the lounge to take a nap and told him to call her when Director Li returned.

But to my surprise, when I opened my eyes again, it was already dawn outside the window.

I glanced at the clock on the wall; it was past four.

Zhou Yi thought to herself, "Has Li Linglong been unreachable all night?"
So he quickly got up and went to the office to find Yang Chuan, and then he saw many people lying haphazardly in the room.

It seems that while I was sleeping, the main force had already returned.

Judging from this state, it seems unlikely that anything has been discovered.

Zhou Yi looked around and found that Yang Chuan was not there.

She tiptoed out again and went upstairs towards Li Linglong's office. Then she saw Yang Chuan coming down from upstairs.

"Oh, you're awake?"

"Officer Yang, is Chief Li back?"

Yang Chuan nodded, "After the connection was cleared, Director Li and the others didn't get back until after 2 a.m.

"Then why didn't you call me?"

"Director Li told me not to call you, saying you've worked hard. But don't worry, I've reported everything you told me to Director Li."

Zhou Yi hurriedly asked, "Have they found Ge Fangfang's body?"

"No, we dug up a lot of ground, but we didn't find anything. Oh, but we did find Ma Weichang's car."

"Where?"

"It's in a ravine about two kilometers from the quarry. Judging from the tire tracks, it should be a one-way road. After driving through it, it was abandoned."

"Two kilometers away..." Zhou Yi said in confusion, "That's too strange..."

It's very strange. Ma Weichang appears to have committed suicide. How could someone who is about to commit suicide drive his car to a remote mountain area two kilometers away and then walk back to the quarry to commit suicide?
Isn't this like trying to hide something obvious, implying to the police that there's a murderer?

Have you found any footprints or other clues in the vicinity?

"Probably not, since it was already midnight, the surroundings were too dark, and there were many people around. Besides, the technical squadron wasn't there either; they didn't get there until dawn."

A large-scale search, especially at night with very low visibility, makes it difficult to completely ensure that the scene around the car is not disturbed. In addition, many of the search participants are grassroots police officers, and footprints are indeed easy to destroy.

Furthermore, it cannot be ruled out that the murderer was cunning enough to notice and clean up their own footprints.

"Was anything found in the car?"

"Some bloodstains and another girl's shoe were found in the trunk, but no body was found. The blood test results are not yet available. Director Li said they searched the area around the abandoned car but did not find the child's body."

“No!” Zhou Yi murmured, “Even if it was a body disposal, they wouldn’t abandon the car. Something’s fishy about this.”

"Yes, Director Li also felt that this matter was abnormal, but he couldn't figure out what was going on."

"Is Director Li in his office right now?" Zhou Yi asked.

Yang Chuan pointed upstairs and said, "It's here, the third room on the right when you go upstairs."

"I know, thank you, Brother Chuan," Zhou Yi said, and rushed upstairs.

Yang Chuan smiled, a thought suddenly popping into his head. He muttered to himself, "Hmm, Captain Zhou will be retiring in a few years. Could this Zhou Yi be someone Director Li recruited to take over Captain Zhou's position?"

Zhou Yi knocked on the door of the bureau chief's office upstairs.

"Director Li, this is Zhou Yi."

"Please come in."

Zhou Yi pushed the door open and entered, and Li Linglong stood up from the slightly peeling sofa.

"Zhou Yi, please sit down, please sit down. You've really worked hard."

Zhou Yi noticed that Li Linglong looked somewhat tired, but his spirits seemed good.

In front of him lay a pile of case-related documents.

"Director Li, Officer Yang has told you everything, right?"

"He said that although your speculation was bold, it made a lot of sense, and he admires you a lot."

Zhou Yi smiled modestly.

“I was just arranging work for him. Just like you said, finding Ge Fangfang would be irrefutable proof.”

Zhou Yi knew that Li Linglong agreed to find Ge Fangfang first, and the reason was actually quite simple.

Ma Weichang's death, at least for now, cannot be definitively classified as murder. This is because the preliminary autopsy was conducted by Zhou Yi, and based solely on the scene, the objective appearance is suicide.

Therefore, we have to wait for a professional forensic doctor to issue a formal autopsy report.

Another reason is that, apart from the autopsy which revealed a clear motive and suspicion, there are currently no other clues pointing to any suspect.

Miao Genhua was merely summoned; at most, he would be detained for 24 hours before being released.

Suspecting village chief Miao Dongfang is purely a deduction, without any witnesses or clues.

Of course, if it were Zhou Xiangdong, he definitely wouldn't wait any longer and would arrest the person and interrogate them first, regardless of the consequences.

Ordinary people don't really understand things like complaints or regulations.

But Li Linglong is not Zhou Xiangdong; his principles would not allow him to do such a thing.

Therefore, to solve the case quickly, they either need to find Shi Jian, who is currently the prime suspect, or Ge Fangfang, whom Zhou Yi suspects is actually still alive.

But Shi Jian is hard to find; he's an adult, and an adult with no relatives or friends.

He can go to so many places; he can even buy a train ticket and travel to the ends of the earth.

In the 1990s, this was practically equivalent to vanishing into thin air.

But Ge Fangfang is different; she is a six-year-old child, and she cannot run away on her own.

Now that they're nowhere to be found, neither alive nor dead, if they're still alive, the only possibility is that they've been hidden by the adults.

To properly settle a six-year-old child, you have to entrust her to someone with connections.

Therefore, Li Linglong said that he asked Yang Chuan to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the social relationships of the Miao people to see if there were any places where people could hide.

"Zhou Yi, what are your thoughts on this?"

“Director Li, I think Miao Zhuang probably doesn’t know the truth. Because with his intelligence, if he knew about and participated in the whole thing, he could easily become a breakthrough point. The only suspicious thing about him is that on July 22nd, when he went to Antong, his account was completely different from what Ma Weichang himself said.”

Li Linglong nodded: "We should get accurate information from An Tong by this morning. You can continue."

"Then there is Miao Genhua's mother, Hu Shuzhen. I haven't met this old lady, so I'm not sure, but from Miao Genhua's testimony, I know that she should also be a rather shrewish rural woman, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to raise such a pair of outstanding talents."

Li Linglong was taken aback and asked in confusion, "Sleeping Dragon and Young Phoenix...aren't those good phrases?"

Zhou Yi's heart skipped a beat. Unconsciously, he brought back some of the future context to the 1990s. He really had to thank Brother Teng.

Zhou Yi grinned and continued, "Miao Genhua definitely knows, and if the mastermind is the village chief, then he should know too. But the probability of getting it directly from them is relatively small."

“Yes, without evidence, if we rely solely on reasoning to interrogate someone, it’s easy to be classified as leading interrogation,” Li Linglong joked, spreading his hands. “We can’t just force a confession out of someone else, can we?”

“I think there are two rather suspicious directions,” Zhou Yi said.

"You said."

"One of them is a relative of the child's maternal grandmother, Hu Shuzhen. Hu Shuzhen shouldn't be from Xipinggou Village, right?"

"Yes, from another village, but still from our county."

“That makes sense. She must have some relatives there. Maybe Miao Genhua found some excuse, gave some money, and temporarily placed the child in the care of her relatives. This is a key area of ​​investigation.”

“I agree with your point of view. This has already been considered, and Yang Chuan will arrange for someone to keep a close eye on it,” Li Linglong said. “Do you think it’s possible that Miao Genhua handed the child over to the Ge family? Although Miao Genhua and the Ge family had a falling out over the compensation, the child is still with the Ge family…”

As Li Linglong spoke, he thought of Miao Genhua's statement and added, "At least the Ge family believes that he is the flesh and blood of their son, Ge Hongqi."

"If she were truly their flesh and blood, then Miao Genhua wouldn't have been able to take Ge Fangfang away in the first place. It's highly likely that the Ge family wanted a grandson, not a granddaughter, since they've already paid the bride price. But it's not entirely impossible, the Ge family should be easy to find; we can send someone to inquire."

Li Linglong nodded, thinking that Zhou Yi's words made some sense.

"Then what is the other suspicious direction you mentioned?"

"Director Li, I'm wondering, how much of what Miao Genhua said is true, and how much is false?"

"What do you mean?"

"She said she went to see Shi Jian on July 23rd because she suspected he had kidnapped her daughter in revenge. But if Ge Fangfang hadn't encountered any danger at all, wouldn't she have no reason to go to Shi Jian?"

"Is she trying to use Shi Jian to do her dirty work?"

“She contacted Shi Jian on July 23. According to her own testimony, she began to suspect Ma Weichang after Shi Jian swore an oath. But Ma Weichang was murdered on the night of the 27th, a full five days later.”

"Someone like Shi Jian, who's in his late twenties and still a scoundrel, is either extremely impulsive or cold-hearted and selfish. If he's impulsive, would he have waited five days before taking action? If he's selfish, would he care about a daughter he has no emotional connection with?"

Zhou Yi's analysis was so logically sound that Li Linglong couldn't help but admire and praise it.

It seems that Captain Wu wasn't exaggerating; he was telling the truth. This young man is indeed their best criminal investigator.

"So you think that Miao Genhua sought out Shi Jian not to use him as a tool to kill someone?"

Zhou Yi nodded and said, "I've always been puzzled about what role Shi Jian played in this case, because it seems like he was just a tool used to kill someone else."

"But when I thought that Ge Fangfang was not dead, I thought of another possibility."

Li Linglong seemed to realize something: "You mean, Miao Genhua handed Ge Fangfang over to Shi Jian?"

“Yes!” Zhou Yi nodded. “I only realized this when I went upstairs just now.”

"And that's not all. Director Li, I suspect that Shi Jian might be silenced next!"

(End of this chapter)