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

Chapter 548 The Art School Tragedy (Win a 1000 RMB prize with monthly tickets)
At the turn of the century, on Christmas Day in late 1999, a tragedy occurred in Wu Guang.

The incident occurred at an arts school in Wuguang, where a Christmas event was being held that evening.

As a result, a Ferrari sports car suddenly went out of control and crashed into the crowd, ultimately causing five deaths and more than ten injuries. The scene was horrific.

The Ferrari that hit the pedestrian attempted to flee but crashed into a tree.

When the school's security personnel dragged the driver, whose face was covered in blood, out of the car, he was still yelling that anyone who dared to touch him would be dead.

Because of the egregious nature of the incident, it quickly spread through the news media, attracting widespread social attention and even making it into national newspapers.

In those days, Ferrari sports cars were simply not something that ordinary wealthy people could afford.

Therefore, there are many different opinions about the origins of this arrogant and domineering driver.

By the end of 1999, the internet had developed tremendously compared to before, with the number of internet users surging from over 600,000 in 1997 to over 8 million.

A large number of netizens are active in various forums and BBS, and rumors about the car accident at Wuguang Art School are also flying around on the Internet.

At the time, Zhou Yi did not have access to the internet and only learned about the incident from the news. However, he was unaware of the final outcome of the tragedy.

He never saw the relevant case files, indicating that the case was classified as a traffic accident and was handled entirely by the traffic police department.

It wasn't until many years later, when he was browsing Tianya Community, that he came across a post related to that incident again.

The post was clearly made by someone in Wuguang who knew the inside story of the incident, because the poster immediately listed the identities of the five victims in the incident.

Three of them were art school students, two women and one man, who all died at the scene.

The other two victims were a mother and daughter. The mother was an arts school teacher, and the daughter was only nine years old. The mother had brought her daughter to the school for a Christmas event that day, but the tragedy occurred.

In addition to describing the incident in detail, the poster also listed some other information.

The post mentioned that the driver of the sports car who caused the accident was a 22-year-old rich second-generation with a wealthy family background.

Because he was both rich and had a powerful background, despite the overwhelming news coverage at the time, the name of this rich second-generation was never actually revealed.

Moreover, this rich second-generation heir was also found to have "limited criminal responsibility" at the time of the incident based on a bribed mental evaluation report, and was ultimately sentenced to only four years.

He later managed to evade capture through means such as medical parole and was eventually sent abroad to live a life of freedom.

Only the victims' families silently endure this endless pain.

The poster not only exposed the inside story of that year, but also questioned the nature of the case and the verdict.

The poster mentioned a crucial piece of information: the rich second-generation who caused the accident had been in a relationship with one of the female victims. He questioned whether the tragedy was an accident or a deliberate act of murder by the rich second-generation.

The target was his ex-girlfriend; the others were just unlucky to get dragged into it.

Although the poster spoke with great certainty, the amount of information online at that time was already very complex, and such "speculation" about old matters was unlikely to cause much of a stir.

Even Zhou Yi didn't take it too seriously, because those years were a time of rampant online information and imperfect regulatory mechanisms, with too much of this kind of arbitrary speculation.

If the poster, "Ru Meng Chu Xing," really has any substantial evidence, they should report it to the police.

The rich kid's surname appeared once in the post: Wang.

The reason why only the surname appeared in the post and no name appeared was because a netizen who called himself Wu Guang asked the poster what the rich second generation's name was.

The original poster only replied with two words: "My surname is Wang."

But what's even stranger is that the netizen who posted Wu Guang's message replied with only seven words: "I know who you are."

Then, the poster never appeared again, and the post quickly disappeared.

Thinking about it now, it's quite chilling.

Therefore, Zhou Yi had never seen the name Wang Xinkai before, nor could he find any corresponding case files.

Because this name never appeared in any criminal case file, nor in that post on Tianya Community.

Strangely enough, when Zhou Yi saw this name, he had a feeling that he had seen it somewhere before.

Until just now, the Ferrari sports car, the art school, the surname Wang, and the rich second generation—these pieces of information came together.

This convinced Zhou Yi that the Wang Xinkai she had saved today was the same rich second-generation driver who would kill five people two years later.

But in reality, even if Zhou Yi hadn't saved him today, this bastard wouldn't have died.

Therefore, even if Zhou Yi did not offer assistance, the tragedy two years later would not have been prevented.

Zhou Yi couldn't help but recall the contents of that post from back then. Could it be that there really was something wrong with favoritism and abuse of power involved in that tragedy two years later?
"Teacher Zhou, what...what's wrong? Is something the matter?" Shen Jiale couldn't help but ask.

Zhou Yi shook his head: "It's okay. Why don't you contact the comrades at Fenghu Branch again? Since they are now in charge of this case, the branch should also be responsible for the victim's side."

As he spoke, he handed the phone to Shen Jiale.

After learning what kind of person this guy surnamed Wang was, Zhou Yi no longer cared whether he lived or died.

Firstly, they knew this person wouldn't die; secondly, they felt that it would be better for such a person to die.

Out of sight, out of mind; after all, I can't interfere with things two years from now.

Shen Jiale was unaware of Zhou Yi's thoughts, but he felt that what he said made sense, since the most important thing for the team right now was the headless female corpse case.

So he went to the side to make a phone call.

Soon, the officers from the branch office arrived.

Because if the victim can be saved, his testimony will be the most important clue to solving the case.

After a brief handover, Zhou Yi and Shen Jiale left and returned to the Municipal Bureau.

Shen Jiale was quite emotional, saying all the way that this was the first person he had saved since becoming a police officer, and he felt a great sense of accomplishment, hoping that the young man could pull through.

He was talking with great interest when he turned his head and found that Zhou Yi was not saying a word. He then remembered Zhou Yi's solemn expression just now.

I couldn't help but ask, "Teacher Zhou, is something on your mind?"

"Brother Jiale, I have a question for you."

"What's the problem?"

"If the person you saved later killed someone, would you feel guilty?" Zhou Yi didn't have such a psychological burden because he knew very well that even if he didn't save Wang Xinkai, he wouldn't die.

I just happened to take this opportunity to chat with Shen Jiale.

Shen Jiale answered without hesitation, "Of course I would. If I had known it would turn out like this, I would never have saved this person, even if you killed me."

"But the problem is that when you save someone, you don't know that the person you save will later kill someone."

Shen Jiale answered as decisively as ever: "Oh, I see. Then I will definitely save him. After all, I can't just stand by and watch someone die because he might kill someone in the future."

Shen Jiale smiled and said, "After all, nobody knows what will happen in the future."

Zhou Yi said slowly, "Yes, after all, no one knows what the future holds."

It seems that I'm the only one who might encounter this problem.

Zhou Yi genuinely hoped that he would never encounter such a dilemma one day.

Back at the municipal bureau, there were very few people in the branch office, as almost all of them had gone out to gather leads.

But Zhou Yi immediately spotted someone: Hou Kun from Taicheng. "Officer Zhou," Hou Kun called out, standing up, looking somewhat restrained.

"Don't be so polite, just call me Zhou Yi. Brother Hou, you haven't been out on fieldwork?"

Hou Kun smiled helplessly and said, "Deputy Captain Fang said that compiling information on missing persons over the years is also very important, so he asked me to stay and do this particularly important work."

Zhou Yi shook his head helplessly, because he only glanced at it and saw some documents on Hou Kun's desk. Hou Kun had been missing for more than ten years.

He knew that Fang Jianqing was deliberately making things difficult for him.

The headless female corpse was in her early twenties, which is obviously inconsistent with the missing persons from ten years ago. How could a little girl who went missing ten years ago at the age of ten have grown up without leaving any trace?

So Hou Kun was assigned a pointless task, but he couldn't disobey the order.

Zhou Yi could only offer him a few words of gentle comfort.

Hou Kun, however, seemed indifferent, giving off an "whatever" vibe.

Actually, if an "exchange student" doesn't want to work hard from the beginning and just wants to slack off, then there's not much of a problem.

Although Cao Anmin revealed to himself that this rotation plan included a scoring system and was also linked to exceptional promotions.

However, city leaders will definitely have to carefully consider giving high scores, but they don't need to consider giving low scores at all, because they certainly won't do that.

They're all part of the same system. The talents sent out by each municipal bureau are all people they intend to train. But if they're sent to a relative's house and the relative gives them a bad review, wouldn't that be a slap in the face to their brother unit?

So even if the performance is really average, the score will be relatively moderate.

Therefore, as long as Hou Kun accepts this "laissez-faire" mentality, there's no problem with it.

However, Zhou Yi didn't like Fang Jianqing very much. He thought Fang Jianqing was too petty and even less so than Ni Jianrong.

Zhou Yi had seen this kind of person in his previous life; once they gained power, they would establish a one-man rule.

Thinking of Ni Jianrong, I thought to myself that if I had time in the afternoon, I should go and find this "old leader".

After all, there were still some things that needed his help, and he also wanted to know the follow-up to the two cases in Yunshan County.

Because both cases were solved at the county level, the entire judicial process was still underway at the Yunshan County Public Security Bureau.

Zhou Yi asked Shen Jiale to apply for a statement of assistance in the investigation to the Wuguang Metropolitan Daily, because Qi Dongqiang said that he could only apply to the newspaper's leaders with a statement, otherwise verbal agreements would be meaningless.

After the cooperation agreement is stamped, it can be faxed directly to the newspaper. Then Shen Jiale only needs to keep an eye on Qi Dongqiang and ask him for updates.

Zhou Yi went to the forensic room, but this time he didn't want to ask about the headless female corpse.

Instead, it was Li Chong who committed suicide by jumping off a building.

"The reporter who jumped to his death from the newspaper rooftop?" Yun Yao nodded and said, "I remember him."

"Sister Yun, are there any problems with his autopsy results?" Actually, this question is completely irrelevant. If there were problems with Li Chong's autopsy, then it would be impossible to close the case as suicide.

But Zhou Yi still couldn't help but ask.

“There’s nothing wrong,” Yun Yao said. “The autopsy results show that the deceased suffered severe traumatic brain injury from falling from a height and hitting a hard object, accompanied by cerebral contusion and hemorrhage, as well as ruptured liver and spleen and hemothorax, which is completely consistent with the characteristics of death from a fall from a height.”

"Were any drugs or other substances found in the deceased's body?"

"Blood and stomach extracts have been tested and no suspicious drug components were found. However, a very high concentration of alcohol was found in the deceased's blood."

"Alcohol?" Zhou Yi was immediately startled and asked hurriedly, "He's been drinking?"

“I heard from the Fenghu branch that a lot of empty beer cans were found on the roof of the newspaper building. You’ll have to contact the branch for details. I don’t know anything about the on-site investigation.”

"Sister Yun, were there any restraint or resistance injuries found on the deceased?" Zhou Yi asked unwillingly.

Restraint marks are ligature marks or pressure marks, while resistance marks are friction marks, similar to the characteristics on Ma Weichang's body in the previous Northwest case, commonly found on the back and buttocks.

"Are you suspecting that the deceased didn't commit suicide by jumping, but was pushed off the building?"

Zhou Yi nodded heavily.

"From my perspective as a forensic autopsy doctor, I didn't find the situation you described. Actually, I considered your suspicions from the beginning." The most important thing in cases of suicide by falling from a building is to determine the cause of death, whether it was suicide or homicide.

Yun Yao said that from the perspective of a forensic doctor, there are two main criteria for judgment: the posture of the fall and the characteristics of the injuries.

"The most important point is that the deceased did not exhibit atypical landing characteristics, that is, landing on his side or back first."

Zhou Yi asked, "The deceased was..."

Yun Yao replied, "The head."

Although the outcome was already predetermined, Zhou Yi still felt a chill in his heart. Falling to his death from a height of nearly fifty meters, with his head hitting the ground first, it was unbearable to imagine how gruesome Li Chong's death must have been.

"Was the deceased your friend?"

"We've never met," Zhou Yi said after a pause. "It's just a pity I didn't get to know him sooner."

"Zhou Yi".

Hearing the call, Zhou Yi looked up at Yun Yao.

"If you really think there's something fishy about this person's death, why not go and get justice for him?" Yun Yao said with a faint smile. "Teacher Qin once told me, 'Only by maintaining skepticism can you continuously improve.'"

"Thank you, Sister Yun."

"If you need any help, feel free to contact me anytime."

After leaving the forensic lab, Zhou Yi felt he still needed to go to the Fenghu branch to review the case files.

Because information is so fragmented these days.

The fact that Qi Dongqiang claimed it was a suicide due to an emotional dispute, and Yun Yao mentioned a drunken fall from a height, makes Li Chong's death even more perplexing.

Zhou Yi needs to know the full picture of the investigation into Li Chong's suicide in order to find a breakthrough.

After turning the corner, Shen Jiale came into view.

"Teacher Zhou, I was just looking for you."

"What's wrong? Is something the matter?" Zhou Yi asked hurriedly.

"My colleagues from the Fenghu branch just called to say that Wang Xinkai has been successfully rescued and is out of danger," Shen Jiale said excitedly.

Zhou Yi nodded and calmly said, "As expected. Has he woken up?"

"Not yet, he lost too much blood and is still unconscious. It will probably take a few days."

"As long as he's not dead, that's fine." In any case, let's keep things separate and deal with this stabbing case in the street first.

"Oh, right, there's one more thing. The guardhouse just called and said someone is looking for you at the gate."

"Looking for me?" Zhou Yi was surprised. He didn't know many people in Wu Guang, so why would someone from the Municipal Bureau come looking for him?

Did the person who contacted me say their name?

Shen Jiale shook his head: "No, the guard said she was a very pretty girl."

(End of this chapter)