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

Chapter 551 My cigarettes are great! (2941 won the grand prize)

"First of all, in any case, the first step is to analyze the perpetrator's motive."

Since Wang Xinkai still had all his valuables, robbery and murder can be ruled out.

Wang Xinkai is a stylishly dressed, middle-aged man, which largely rules out the possibility of him committing random killings as revenge against society. This is because such criminals who seek revenge against society are essentially a group of cowardly bullies who take risks, typically choosing women and children who are weaker than themselves as their targets.

Adult men like Wang Xinkai are unlikely to be targeted randomly; the risk is too high.

Having ruled out those two possibilities, that leaves us with the possibilities of revenge killings and crimes of passion.

Both of these motives have one thing in common: there is a social connection between the perpetrator and the victim.

It is highly likely that the crime was committed by someone known to the perpetrator, whose goal was very clear: to kill Wang Xinkai.

Next, we need to analyze whether this case was premeditated murder or a spontaneous crime of passion.

According to the interrogation records of Wang Xinkai's parents taken over by the branch office yesterday, they also did not know why Wang Xinkai was on Xinkang Road.

Although Wang Xinkai holds the position of vice president at a cultural company, it's essentially a nominal position. He doesn't need to go to work regularly and doesn't participate in the company's operations. Therefore, his parents are often unaware of his whereabouts.

However, a crucial piece of information is that the Ferrari that Wang Xinkai was driving the day before had scraped against a roadside bollard due to his own carelessness. Yesterday morning, he took the car to a repair shop. This repair shop is not far from Xinkang Road, less than one kilometer south of Xinkang Road.

This indicates that after Wang Xinkai took the car for repairs, he walked from the auto repair shop to Xinkang Road.

Where is he going?
We'll talk about that later.

It is now confirmed that Wang Xinkai traveled from south to north.

According to the forensic report from the hospital, Wang Xinkai was stabbed in the front of his abdomen. The wound was at a small angle and was deep, indicating that he was face-to-face with the assailant when he was stabbed.

The murderer must have been Wang Xinkai, who was walking from north to south and ran into him.

Then he suddenly developed the intention to kill and committed the crime.

As for why it wasn't premeditated murder, there are three points of logic.

First, Wang Xinkai usually drives a sports car, and even his parents don't know his whereabouts, so the possibility of the murderer wanting to follow him is very low.

Secondly, in the case of murder, the murderer should not stab from the front; stabbing from behind would have a higher success rate.

Third, and this is the simplest logic, if the murderer premeditatedly followed and killed someone, then choosing to do it in broad daylight on a main street would be incredibly stupid.

Therefore, it can be basically determined that this case was a crime of passion committed on impulse.

The murderer and Wang Xinkai ran into each other, and something may have happened that provoked the murderer, causing him to suddenly have the intention to kill and commit the crime on the spot.

Having established the first two points, we now need to analyze the psychological state behind Wang Xinkai and the perpetrator's behavior at the time of the incident.

Wang Xinkai was walking from south to north. After being stabbed, he immediately turned around and ran south, even attempting to cross the road.

These behaviors perfectly align with the victim's instinctive reaction of fear and survival after being stabbed: to run away from the assailant.

But the killer's reaction at this point is quite interesting.

From a normal criminal psychology perspective, if a stabbed victim is still able to escape, it means that the murderer's objective of killing was not achieved.

At this point, it would be reasonable for the murderer to chase after the victim and finish them off, both to complete the murder and to silence the victim, preventing the murderer from immediately exposing their identity after the victim was rescued.

However, the perpetrator in this case did not do that; instead, he immediately chose to flee.

This indicates that the killer's fear outweighed his murderous intent and took over, to the point that he didn't care about Wang Xinkai's life or death and chose to flee immediately.

So here's the question: the murderer was walking from north to south without any premeditation, so why did he run south instead of north when he was escaping?

It's important to understand that the murderer was just as scared as Wang Xinkai at the time, and it's a biological instinct for people to stay away from danger when they're scared.

"If Wang Xinkai ran south, the murderer should have run north; that would have been more logical."

Zhou Yi looked at Shen Jiale with a questioning gaze.

Shen Jiale was completely stunned. He stood there looking south and then north, feeling a sense of unreality.

All of Zhou Yi's analyses are based on the facts of the case that he already knows, and Zhou Yi doesn't know any more of this information than he does.

But he himself was completely clueless about it. Even when Zhou Yi asked him earlier, he only gave some perfunctory and meaningless opinions.

Zhou Yi's thinking was outrageously clear; even with information that he also knew, Zhou Yi was able to analyze so many detailed and precise directions.

If they weren't out in the open, he would have kowtowed to Zhou Yi right now and become his disciple.

Seeing that he was looking around without speaking, Zhou Yi pressed on, "Brother Jiale, why do you think the murderer would do this?"

Following Zhou Yi's train of thought, Shen Jiale gave the obvious answer: "The murderer was afraid that running back would expose him even faster."

Zhou Yi snapped his fingers and said, "That's right. The murderer's psychological state is different when he commits the crime and flees in different environments."

"If it is nighttime, in a dark environment, the murderer will run to a familiar environment because it can bring a sense of security."

"If it is daytime, the murderer will try to stay away from familiar environments to avoid being identified."

Shen Jiale silently repeated Zhou Yi's words in his mind, wishing he could take out a small notebook to write them down. These were all valuable tips.

Suddenly, he remembered Zhou Yi asking him in the hospital yesterday if Wu Guang had an arts school.

And if you go north along Xinkang Road to the end, isn't that Wuguang City Art School?

Isn't Zhou Yi's current "guidance" all pointing towards art schools?

"Teacher Zhou...the murderer...was a graduate of an arts school?" Shen Jiale asked tentatively.

Seeing that Zhou Yi did not answer, he remembered what Zhou Yi had said earlier: if he knew why Wang Xinkai was here, the case would have a direction.

Then he asked, "Wang Xinkai, is he also going to an arts school?"

Zhou Yi strode north and said, "Let's go, let's go to the art school and ask about the situation."

As Shen Jiale watched Zhou Yi's retreating figure, he thought about how Zhou Yi had already identified the art school as a clue in the hospital yesterday, and he was filled with admiration for him.

He quickly followed in Zhou Yi's footsteps.

……

"Our Wuguang City Art School is a key provincial school and one of the top key secondary vocational art schools in the province. Look at these photos on the wall; they are group photos of leaders from the provincial and municipal education and cultural departments."

Zhou Yi and Shen Jiale followed a tall, slender female teacher in her early thirties inside, passing a display window with various photos of leaders and honors.

"Teacher Cai, your school is a secondary vocational school, so how old are the students usually?" Zhou Yi asked.

"Our main target group is junior high school graduates, so most students are between 15 and 18 years old. Some majors that particularly emphasize basic skills, such as dance and opera performance, have a different enrollment scope. They may admit students as young as 11 or 12 years old who have just graduated from primary school. However, these majors generally have a longer study period and will focus on the combination of academic and professional courses."

Are there any students in these majors who are older?

Teacher Cai turned around and smiled professionally, "Officer Zhou, our school added the Aviation Services and Management major in 1994, and this year the first batch of graduates has already started working. And look, this is a group photo of this year's graduates."

As she spoke, she pointed to a huge photo in the glass window. The photo showed a group of handsome men and beautiful women dressed in flight attendant uniforms, which was very pleasing to the eye.

"Our program has appropriately relaxed the age limit for admissions, but we will pay more attention to students' comprehensive qualities."

Zhou Yi looked at the photo and nodded. Graduating in 1997 and becoming a flight attendant was indeed a good choice.

"In addition, our school also offers some training courses and refresher courses for adults, mainly in performance, vocal music and fine arts, and the age range is quite wide. However, for these types of courses, our school is only responsible for teaching, and the students do not live on campus."

Zhou Yi nodded. "I understand. Thank you for your patient explanation, Teacher Cai."

"Officer Zhou, you're too kind. This way, please," Teacher Cai said with a smile.

If both Wang Xinkai and the murderer are connected to the arts school, then the younger students can be largely ruled out.

Teacher Cai took them to meet the director of studies at the art school, and Zhou Yi mainly raised two requests.

First, has a Ferrari sports car ever been seen in or near the school gate before?

Zhou Yi believed that something so eye-catching would attract everyone's attention wherever it went these days.

Other luxury cars may not leave a deep impression, but a sports car with a roaring engine will definitely be the focus of everyone's attention.

Secondly, we need to investigate the information of teachers, students, and staff who did not have an alibi between 10:00 AM and 12:00 PM yesterday.

However, this matter has encountered a very real problem.

Director Wang of the Academic Affairs Office said that the school usually adopts a semi-closed management system, meaning that some students live on campus while others commute. During class time, the school strictly controls student movement in and out.

The problem is that it's summer vacation now, and the students have all gone home for the holidays.

But the schools weren't idle, because summer vacation is the best time for schools to run short-term training courses and tutoring classes.

This has resulted in the school being unable to implement the same strict management of people entering and leaving the premises as usual.

Both students and teachers are free to come and go.

Zhou Yi pondered for a moment, realizing that the problem was indeed somewhat tricky and would make the investigation more difficult.

But after thinking about it carefully, I felt that this actually proved that Wang Xinkai and the murderer were both connected to the arts school.

Today is Friday. If it weren't summer vacation, the school would be in session as usual, and students wouldn't be able to leave, so Wang Xinkai wouldn't be able to get in either.

Wang Xinkai's appearance on Xinkang Road couldn't possibly be because he was there for the art school.

But it is precisely because it is summer vacation and it is easy to come and go from the art school that Wang Xinkai appeared in this area at this time.

This suggests that he was likely looking for someone who was taking a training course at an arts school.

Therefore, Zhou Yi still expressed his hope that Director Wang could arrange for someone to compile the information of the faculty and students who came to the school yesterday.

Then, based on the time period of yesterday's incident, the scope was further narrowed down.

Seeing Zhou Yi's firm stance, Director Wang naturally agreed to his request. Director Wang then called the security department to inquire about the sports car.

"Officers, I've asked around, and the security guards have indeed seen a red sports car recently, appearing at the school a few times."

Shen Jiale was very excited, which proved that Zhou Yi's reasoning was completely correct and that the reason Wang Xinkai appeared on Xinkang Road was because of this art school.

Zhou Yi remained unmoved and asked, "Did the security guard register the car owner's information? Or did he ask the car owner what they were here for, or who they were looking for?"

"I didn't ask that, but I guess... you're here to visit a friend."

Does your school have CCTV cameras at its entrance?

"I'm really ashamed. I've always wanted to pretend, but unfortunately, the budget was limited," Director Wang said with an embarrassed smile.

Zhou Yi nodded. "Director Wang, I understand about the car issue. Now, I'll need your help with this second matter."

"Of course, of course, I'll arrange it right away."

Zhou Yi stood up and said, "My colleague can help you. He can handle some situations."

Then, turning to Shen Jiale, he said, "Brother Jiale, could you cooperate with Director Wang? The main thing is to keep an eye on how to define an alibi."

Shen Jiale quickly stood up and nodded repeatedly: "Okay, Teacher Zhou."

Director Wang was a little confused, wondering what these two people were addressed as.

"Then Officer Zhou, you..."

Zhou Yi pointed outside and said, "I'm just taking a casual stroll around your school. It won't interfere with your work, will it?"

"Shall I have Teacher Cai show you the way?"

Zhou Yi quickly waved his hand: "No need, no need, I'm just wandering around."

With that, he walked straight out.

Director Wang hesitated, but it was too late.

He glanced helplessly at Shen Jiale, whose face was full of sincerity: "Officer Shen, come with me."

After leaving the teaching office, Zhou Yi wandered aimlessly around the school.

Although it's summer vacation, there are still quite a few students at the school, which shows that this school is still of high quality.

Just as Teacher Cai had mentioned before, the students included both vibrant young men and women and stylishly dressed young adults.

Some carried easels, while others held musical instruments, creating a unique scene.

But what caught Zhou Yi's attention even more was the number of nice cars parked in the art school, which obviously couldn't all belong to the faculty and staff.

Are all art students really from wealthy families?

At the same time, he began to have some doubts about what Director Wang had said earlier.

If, as he said, outside vehicles are not allowed to enter during normal class hours, then how did the tragedy two years later come about?

As Zhou Yi was pondering this question, a car horn suddenly sounded behind him, startling him.

Looking back, I saw an Audi behind me, and I realized that I was unintentionally blocking the way.

He was about to raise his hand to apologize and move aside when the burly driver leaned out of the car and angrily shouted, "Are you blind?"

When Zhou Yi looked at this person's appearance and demeanor, he couldn't associate him with any of the school's faculty and staff.

Looking into the car again, besides the man with the fierce look, there was a young and pretty girl in the passenger seat, with exquisite makeup and dressed very fashionably.

When the driver saw that Zhou Yi not only didn't move aside but also peered into his car, he angrily opened the door, got out, and walked towards Zhou Yi while cursing.

"Watch your mouth! What are you doing!" Zhou Yi shouted sternly.

"Hey, you're asking for trouble, aren't you!" the driver said, and charged over.

Zhou Yi dodged to the side.

The driver missed his target and nearly stumbled and fell.

"I'm warning you, if you dare to lay a hand on me again, you'll face the consequences!"

"Damn you, I'm going to beat you to death today, you poor bastard!" The driver raised his fist and was about to pounce on Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi took a step back and shouted, "Police! If you dare to lay a hand on me again, you're assaulting a police officer!"

The driver looked at Zhou Yi with surprise and suspicion, still cursing, but dared not raise his fist again.

"You...you say you're a cop, then you are! I could fucking say I'm the mayor!"

Zhou Yi shoved the ID in his face and sneered, "Look carefully, this is my ID, from the Municipal Public Security Bureau. Come on, Mr. Mayor, show me your ID too."

The driver's face instantly changed. "Oh, it really is. Officer, I'm so sorry, so sorry. Here, have a cigarette..."

As he spoke, he took out a cigarette and tried to hand it to Zhou Yi, saying, "These are good cigarettes, imported ones, you can't buy them anywhere else."

Zhou Yi pushed away the cigarette offered to him and said coldly, "Identity! Mayor."

The driver quickly smiled apologetically: "Comrade, I was just joking. Wait a moment, I'll go get it; it's in the car."

He then climbed into the car and began rummaging through the contents.

Zhou Yi walked over and looked at the young woman in the passenger seat. She was wearing a tank top and a miniskirt, and carrying a rather exquisite bag.

When her eyes met Zhou Yi's, she immediately felt a little guilty and used the gesture of flipping her hair to avoid his gaze.

"Who is this?" Zhou Yi asked.

The driver quickly said, "It's my sister."

"Your sister?"

The girl was at most eighteen years old, while the driver was at least twenty years older than her.

The driver pulled out his driver's license and handed it over, smiling as he said, "I...I recognize her, my god-sister."

Zhou Yi glanced at the driver's license; he was indeed nearly forty. Then, looking at the girl in the car, he asked, "Are you a student here?"

The girl nodded somewhat flusteredly.

"Shouldn't we be in class at this time?"

"I...I need to take leave," the girl replied softly, her head bowed.

The driver quickly said, "Oh right, she's not feeling well. I'll take her to the hospital to get some medicine."

Zhou Yi couldn't help but sneer inwardly: Prescribing medicine? Dressed like that, she's probably going to a hotel.

"What do you do?"

"I...I'm in the building materials business."

Zhou Yi patted his car and deliberately asked, "Doesn't the school not allow outside vehicles to enter? How did you drive this car in?"

"Huh?" The driver was taken aback, and stammered, "No...you're not allowed? When did it change?"

Zhou Yi sneered inwardly; Director Wang was indeed not telling the truth.

"Comrade... I'm a legitimate businessman, I certainly can't do anything illegal or disorderly. I was just in a hurry to take my god-sister to see a doctor, so I acted rashly. I apologize, I apologize."

Zhou Yi, of course, did not believe his ridiculous excuse. Judging from the fierce look in his eyes and his arrogant demeanor just now, he was definitely not a good person under normal circumstances.

However, he didn't want to argue with such people; he just wanted to scare them and teach them a lesson.

Zhou Yi looked around the car and asked, "Is there anything illegal in the car?"

The driver waved his hands repeatedly, saying no.

"Controlled knives?"

"No no."

"swag?"

"How could that be? Absolutely not."

"poison?"

"Oh my god, you're my own father! I would never dare touch that thing even if you killed me!" The driver's face trembled with fear.

Zhou Yi nodded and said casually, "Yeah, he's already impersonating the mayor. If he dares to sell drugs again, he'll be shot on sight."

The driver was so scared his legs were trembling.

Zhou Yi only let them go after he had scared them enough.

After all, one has no right to interfere with such an improper relationship between a man and a woman.

The driver was extremely grateful, repeatedly saying thank you for your hard work, police officers.

The driver, sweating profusely, was about to step on the gas and start driving when suddenly a hand slammed on the car window.

The driver turned his head and saw that it was Zhou Yi tapping on the car window again, and he was immediately startled.

He opened the window and chuckled awkwardly, "Officer, is there...is there anything else?"

Zhou Yi held out his hand and said, "Let me see your cigarette!"

(End of this chapter)