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

Chapter 517 is almost over (last day for the monthly ticket lottery)
When Zhou Yi spoke with Wu Yongcheng on the phone before, Wu Yongcheng warned him to be wary of the possibility that an old bachelor in the countryside might rape and murder Ge Fangfang and bury the body in his own house.

However, after getting to know Ma Weichang and Miao Genhua, Zhou Yi realized that something was increasingly wrong with the case.

Attention has also shifted from random, accidental murders to premeditated killings.

Therefore, he overlooked the direction that Wu Yongcheng mentioned earlier.

Just now, after confirming that the strange smell in the inner room was earthy, he suddenly remembered what Wu Yongcheng had said before.

Bury the body!

If there are no concrete floors in rural areas, burying a body can be done inside the house, away from everyone else.

Although Miao Dongfang was not a bachelor, he lived alone and had the means to commit the crime.

If the inner room smells earthy, there's only one possibility: the floor of the inner room has been turned over.

Because of poor ventilation, the smell did not dissipate and was noticed by Zhou Yi.

Yang Chuan had originally planned to put up a seal, but the old lady had given him some information.

Miao Dongfang has a gun, a double-barreled homemade hunting rifle, and her old man also has an identical one.

It was used for hunting in the early years, but his father handed it over later, but Miao Dongfang did not.

The fact that Yang Chuan and Zhou Yi didn't find the hunting rifle in the house earlier indicates that it was the same hunting rifle that had been hanging on the wall.

This is a big problem; an armed murderer has escaped, and the situation has escalated dramatically.

Although not as notorious as the notorious bandit Long Zhiqiang who caused a sensation in Hongcheng, it was still an extremely rare occurrence in the area.

Upon learning this, Yang Chuan immediately ran back to the village committee office and called Li Linglong, who was in charge.

Zhou Yi had noticed before that this place was truly poor; even the police cars didn't have police radios. The communication range of a handheld radio is only about five kilometers, so unless someone like Li Linglong or Zhou Xiangdong has a mobile phone, they would have to search for a phone to make a call or report.

Such efficiency in handling cases is naturally greatly reduced, but this is also a true reflection of how most police officers handle cases in this era.

Yang Chuan ran back breathlessly to tell Zhou Yi, but Zhou Yi gave him an even bigger "surprise".

There was something under the bed, which naturally referred to a corpse.

Yang Chuan didn't hesitate for a second, because it was Zhou Yi who said those words, and he knew that Zhou Yi must have discovered something.

He gritted his teeth and said, "Move it aside and let me see."

So he called Dayong and the others for help. First, he took out the clutter under the bed, found nothing special about it, and threw it aside. Then he called Dayong and the others for help.

Because the inner room was too small, it was inconvenient to move the bed, and it couldn't be moved out, so they simply removed the bed board and dismantled the bed frame.

Then, the floor underneath the bed was revealed.

Yang Chuan opened the window, and the room immediately became much brighter.

Da Yong was about to go up and check when Zhou Yi suddenly shouted, "Wait!"

Da Yong took a step forward but then pulled back.

Zhou Yi squatted down and looked at it carefully, discovering that this piece of ground was indeed quite different from the surrounding ground.

The surrounding ground, having been trampled and compacted over the years, is black and shiny.

Although the ground was compacted, the soil was clearly new.

Furthermore, Zhou Yi observed that there were some messy footprints on it, which must have been made to flatten and compact the ground.

"Collect footprint data. Did you bring a camera? Take photos to preserve evidence," Zhou Yi instructed methodically.

Soon, two footprints of different sizes were extracted from the messy marks on the ground.

One is 41 yards, and the other is 44 yards.

If nothing unexpected happens, one belongs to Miao Dongfang, and the other is likely to belong to Miao Tiejun.

After securing the evidence, the group began digging.

Although the soil is compacted, short-term compaction is very different from long-term compaction.

The soil on top was very compact, and it took some effort to dig it out. But after digging away the top layer, the soil underneath felt noticeably softer.

Less than twenty minutes later, Yang Chuan's shovel struck something as he swung it down.

Soon, a snakeskin bag was dug out.

Yang Chuan and Zhou Yi exchanged a glance, then squatted down and reached out to untie the tightly tied rope on the snakeskin bag.

Suddenly, a foul stench wafted out of the bag.

Zhou Yi's face turned ashen, and he frowned. There was no doubt about the smell.

The stench of corpse!

The other three covered their noses, barely daring to breathe.

Inside the snakeskin bag that Yang Chuan opened, there was another layer: a rolled-up floral bed sheet.

Pulling back the sheets, the stench of death became even stronger.

Inside, a head that had begun to rot was visible, but it was still discernible that it was not a little girl, but an adult male.

"Dayong, hurry up and call the village committee to request reinforcements," Yang Chuan said, standing up.

That being said, it is clear that the police force in the former Beixian County is insufficient in the current situation.

Zhou Yi said, "I'll go."

"it is good."

After saying that, Zhou Yi went straight to the village committee and dialed the number Yang Chuan had given him.

The phone was answered after just one ring.

"Director Li, this is Zhou Yi."

"I am Li Linglong. Are you and Yang Chuan still in Xipinggou?"

"It's still there. Director Li, we dug up an adult male corpse at Miao Dongfang's house, and there's a high probability it's Shi Jian."

These words sent chills down Li Ling's spine.

How could such a huge case have occurred? One person's fate was already unknown, another's cause of death was a mystery, and now another corpse has appeared.

It sent a chill down his spine; this was far worse than the case in Huangniu Township.

If this case can't be solved, how can I explain it to my superiors and to the people?
"Director Li, report to your superiors immediately and request police support from the city. Miao Dongfang is most likely carrying a hunting rifle. We absolutely cannot let him escape from Yuanbei County, or something terrible will happen."

"Okay, okay, I'll report to the city bureau leaders immediately and request support." Although Li Linglong was anxious, he didn't make any mistakes in his haste. He added, "You guys protect the scene, and I'll have the technical team rush over there immediately to conduct an on-site investigation."

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Yi thought for a moment and then called Wu Yongcheng again.

"Hey, Captain Wu, it's me."

"How's it going on your end? I heard from Xu Nian that you performed the autopsy yourself?"

Zhou Yi said in a deep voice, "We just found another body. As you said, the body was buried inside the house."

Although the initial idea came from Wu Yongcheng, he was still surprised to hear the result: "Is it that child?"

"No, it was an adult male. That child... is most likely not dead."

"Not dead? Could someone have hidden him?"

"It should be, but we're still looking for it."

Have the killers been identified?

Zhou Yi nodded: "Yes, we've locked them down. One has already been caught, and the other is on the run. Hopefully, we won't have to wait too long to catch him."

Wu Yongcheng knew what was going on from Zhou Yi's tone and immediately said, "Zhou Yi, you need to see this through to the end. I've already spoken with Director Li over there. You don't need to rush back until this case is finished. Don't worry about Wu Guang. I've already taken care of things. They're all on our side."

"Understood, thank you, Captain Wu."

Miao Dongfang's escape has made it uncertain when the case will be fully resolved.

Although Miao Tiejun has been arrested and Miao Dongfang has been identified, he can now retire and return to Hongcheng, which will not delay his reporting to Wuguang.

But ultimately, we still haven't figured out everything behind this.

That's enough from Wu Yongcheng's words.

When Zhou Yi returned to Miao Dongfang's house, the male corpse had already been moved out of the pit by Yang Chuan and the others. There was no place to put it in the inner room, so it could only be placed on the floor of the outer room.

Yang Chuan did not touch the body because he was waiting for Zhou Yi to return.

Zhou Yi gave a wry smile and could only bite the bullet and perform a preliminary examination.

However, unlike Ma Weichang's death, the cause of death of this male corpse was very clear. There were dried and blackened bloodstains on the back of his head, and a crack on the back of his head, which clearly indicated that he was killed by a heavy blunt object.

The back of the head is very fragile and cannot withstand a heavy blow.

Many people can die instantly from a fall and hitting the back of their head, let alone being struck by a blunt object.

This shows that the murderer acted without hesitation when he committed the killing.

"Brother Chuan, does this look like Shi Jian?" Zhou Yi, wearing white gloves, asked, brushing the hair smeared on the corpse's face.

Judging from the condition of the body alone, there were obvious signs of mild decomposition, indicating that the person likely died before Ma Weichang.

Although Zhou Yi had never met Shi Jian, he had seen his ID photo. However, Shi Jian's ID photo was from when he had just turned 18, and he hadn't changed it after it expired, so he wasn't sure if the corpse in front of him was Shi Jian.

Yang Chuan stared at the deceased. Although it had begun to decompose, its basic features were still intact, and its face had not been damaged.

"It looks somewhat similar, but I can't quite put my finger on it."

Zhou Yi fell into deep thought. If the body was confirmed to be Shi Jian, then he needed to deduce the time of his murder.

It's highly likely that it will happen between the evening of July 26th and July 27th.

Because a nurse saw Shi Jian go to the county hospital to see Miao Genhua on the evening of July 26th, and Miao Genhua also admitted during the interrogation that she was the one who called Shi Jian.

Of course, Miao Genhua was probably lying about the reason she was summoned.

What exactly caused Miao Dongfang to kill Shi Jian before killing Ma Weichang?

Is this related to Miao Genhua looking for Shi Jian?

“Pager! Shi Jian’s pager!” Zhou Yi said, and began to search the corpse.

The body was dressed normally; it was simply wrapped in a bed sheet before being put into a snakeskin bag and buried.

After searching for a while, Zhou Yi found a pager with a chain attached to the belt around the corpse's waist.

It seems the murder and burial were somewhat rushed, as Miao Dongfang did not search the victim's body.

Yang Chuan's eyes widened; it seemed there was no escaping it—Shi Jian was dead.

What about the child? What about Ge Fangfang?
This case started with this six-year-old girl. Is she still alive?
Zhou Yi pressed a few buttons and said, "The battery is dead."

"Let me see."

Yang Chuan took the pager and looked at it, then looked up at Dayong and said, "Dayong, go see if you have any size 7 batteries. This is an older model that uses batteries." "Okay, I'll go ask," Dayong said, and ran out.

After a while, he came back with a size 7 battery. "It was given to me by a fifth-grader."

After installing the batteries, Yang Chuan began searching through the pager's records.

Since this is an older model, it does not have a Chinese character display function, so it only has call logs and no information.

Therefore, it is difficult to find any clues from the caller ID. The only advantage is that you don't have to specifically check the call logs.

Yang Chuan quickly flipped forward, when Zhou Yi suddenly called out, "Wait a minute."

"What's wrong?" Yang Chuan stopped what he was doing and asked.

"Give it to me." Zhou Yi took the pager and flipped it back.

"Brother Chuan, look at this number. It called on the afternoon of July 26th." He continued pressing the buttons and flipping through the pages. "Then look at the back. It called again around noon on July 27th, and then again around 4 p.m. that afternoon."

"We need to check this number," Zhou Yi said.

"Let's go, let's call the village committee." Yang Chuan said, walking out with Zhou Yi, telling Da Yong and the others to keep an eye on the scene, and that the technical department would arrive soon.

Zhou Yi and Yang Chuan spent most of their time today at the village committee office.

As soon as the two arrived at the door, the staff member inside, who was already used to it, picked up the phone and handed it to them, saying, "Please."

Yang Chuan dialed the number on his pager.

After ringing a few times, the phone was answered with a click.

A woman on the other end of the phone asked in a dialect, "Who is it?"

"Who are you?"

"You called me and then asked who I was? That's strange," the woman said, displeased.

Yang Chuan said sternly, "I'm from the county public security bureau. Tell me quickly, who are you?"

The woman on the other end of the phone was startled and said, "I...I work at Ping An Supermarket."

"Supermarket?" Yang Chuan frowned. "Which supermarket are you referring to?"

"It's...it's just across from the county hospital, what's wrong?"

……

After the county bureau's technical department arrived, they completed the on-site investigation and cordon with the cooperation of Yang Chuan and his team.

Through technical means, some bloodstains were found on the ground near the door of the outer room, and in the wood grain behind the door.

The overall bloodstain pattern should be a splatter pattern.

Additionally, a hammer was found in the ashes below the firebox on the inside of the stove, and bloodstains were also detected on it.

Without a doubt, this is the murder weapon.

So Shi Jian was killed at Miao Dongfang's house, which is the primary crime scene.

The body, the murder weapon, and the primary crime scene—these points combined constitute irrefutable evidence.

But what Zhou Yi couldn't understand was why Shi Jian was at Miao Dongfang's house.
Logically speaking, he should have been in "single-line contact" with Miao Genhua, since it was impossible for an outsider like him to know his true purpose.

How did this person end up dying at Miao Dongfang's house?

Moreover, the number found on the pager belonged to the small supermarket opposite the county hospital, indicating that the person who made these three calls must have been Miao Genhua.

So here's the problem: Miao Genhua's testimony is questionable.

She only mentioned that she called Shi Jian on July 26th and asked him to come to the hospital.

She did not mention that she had also called Shi Jian on July 27th, and when Zhou Yi asked her to call Shi Jian on his pager on the spot, she lied and said she did not remember.

According to the communication records, she made two calls on July 27th, once in the morning and once in the afternoon.

It was obvious that there was no response after the injection in the morning, so they continued to inject in the afternoon.

As for whether the call went through in the afternoon, we can find out by checking the call records of the public phone at the small supermarket later.

The problem with pagers is that after you call someone, you have to wait for them to call back.

If there is no return call by the afternoon, then we can further confirm Shi Jian's time of death.

On the evening of July 26th, when Miao Genhua paged him on the morning of July 27th, Shi Jian was already buried under Miao Dongfang's land.

Once in the morning and once in the afternoon, Miao Dongfang was most likely not home when his pager went off.

Otherwise, if he really heard a sound coming from underground, he would definitely dig up the body to check it and destroy the pager.

Besides the pager, Shi Jian also found some cash, half a pack of cigarettes, a lighter, and a butterfly knife.

It's one of those cool-looking knives you see wielded in movies.

Unfortunately, he didn't even have a chance to draw his knife.

Apart from that, there was nothing else that could prove their identity, such as an ID card.

Therefore, from a legal perspective, confirming his identity still requires finding his family or acquaintances to identify the body.

After the on-site investigation was completed, the body could only be taken to the county funeral home to be frozen, because there was another body there waiting for a forensic doctor to come and perform an autopsy.

Shi Jian had no choice but to become Ma Weichang's neighbor.

It's actually quite scary to think about. No matter how Miao Genhua is ultimately sentenced, her reputation as a jinx will probably spread far and wide.

After all, Ge Hongqi, her ex-husband, is dead; Shi Jian, her first love and casual sex partner, is dead; and Ma Weichang, her illegitimate legal husband, is dead.

Even a fortune teller would be shocked by her cursed fate of being a lone star.

After sealing the area, the police officially left.

Some villagers in Xipinggou stood at their doorsteps, some peeked out of their windows, and others stood under the scorching sun. The blank expressions on their faces made Zhou Yi feel once again the strangeness of the people in this place.

Only the children, both young and old, had expressions of confusion, curiosity, and fear on their faces.

They reacted like normal people, as if they hadn't been contaminated yet.

Yang Chuan and Zhou Yi drove back to the county bureau because, based on the latest findings, Miao Tiejun was to be interrogated, and Miao Genhua was to be re-examined.

Da Yong and his group went to the nearest intersection to meet up with the team that had set up a checkpoint for searching.

"Brother Chuan, could you detour to Yangjiatun? I'd like to grab a charger." Zhou Yi waved his phone and said, "It's inconvenient if it's dead."

"Okay, no problem." Yang Chuan stepped on the gas and drove forward.

Looking through the rearview mirror, Zhou Yi saw Xipinggou, nestled between two low mountains, slowly receding into the distance, like a stone exposed in a dry riverbed.

……

In Yangjiatun, Lu Xiaoshuang, who was helping her mother with chores, saw a police car driving towards them from afar.

She knew that Zhou Yi had returned.

Although she told Su Xiuying not to wait and to go to sleep last night, she still had a faint worry in her heart.

After all, Zhou Yi handles murder cases.

Seeing the police car approaching, he immediately put down what he was holding and ran to the intersection.

As soon as Zhou Yi got out of the car, Lu Xiaoshuang ran over.

"Brother Yi."

Zhou Yi gave her a light hug, then smiled at Yang Chuan, who was getting out of the driver's seat, and said, "This is my girlfriend, Lu Xiaoshuang."

Yang Chuan nodded to Lu Xiaoshuang and said with a smile, "I heard from Director Li that they are both top students. They are truly a perfect match."

“Officer Yang from the county public security bureau, a senior officer,” Zhou Yi said to Lu Xiaoshuang.

"Hello, Officer Yang."

"Hello, hello. I don't deserve to be called a senior, elder brother, elder brother."

"Brother Chuan, I'll go get my things first. Please wait a moment."

"Go ahead, there's no rush."

Zhou Yi pulled Lu Xiaoshuang towards home. Lu Xiaoshuang immediately understood that the case wasn't over yet, and Zhou Yi had just come back to get something.

So she didn't ask any more questions.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Yi suddenly said, "It's okay, it'll be over soon."

Just as he reached the door, Lu Guohua came out of the house.

"Oh, Zhou Yi's back? Perfect timing, I'm about to cook."

"No, Uncle Lu, I'll just grab a phone charger and go."

"This...this isn't over yet?" Lu Guohua asked.

Zhou Yi nodded: "Uncle Lu, did you just get back this morning?"

"Yes, I took the early bus. I arrived at the station before dawn to wait."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yi asked with concern, "You didn't sleep on the streets last night, did you?"

Lu Xiaoshuang immediately laughed and said, "You're thinking the same thing as me. No, he found the cheapest hotel to stay in for one night, and then, afraid that he would oversleep and miss the early bus, he got up before dawn."

"Oh, right, here's your refund." Lu Guohua said, starting to reach into his pocket.

"Uncle Lu, we'll talk later. I need to grab my things first; the people over there are waiting for me." With that, he went inside and quickly came out with the charger.

"Uncle Lu, Xiao Shuang, I'm leaving now."

Lu Xiaoshuang nodded: "Okay, be careful."

Lu Guohua held several neatly folded bills in his hand. "Then this money..."

But Zhou Yi had already run far away, so all he could do was shout, "Zhou Yi, are you coming back tonight?"

"Don't wait for me." Zhou Yi waved, got into the car, and then the police car turned around and drove away, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Su Xiuying had a basket slung over her arm, filled with vegetables, and asked the father and daughter, "Was that Zhou Yi just now? He looked like him."

Lu Guohua nodded.

"Why did you leave again after coming back for so short a moment? It's almost lunchtime. You should at least have lunch before you leave."

Lu Guohua waved his hand and said, "Hey, he has important business to attend to. Let him do his thing."

"Are you coming back tonight?" Su Xiuying asked worriedly.

"I doubt it."

At this moment, Lu Xiaoshuang spoke up, looking at the dust that hadn't yet settled at the edge of her vision, and said, "It's okay, he said it'll be over soon."

(End of this chapter)