The Mystery of the Inner Demon

Chapter 159 Dongji's Past

The rattan chair under Li Jianjun made a creaking sound. He turned his body and looked at Ye Ming in the photo on the wall, lost in thought. Unconsciously, the cigarette in his hand burned out, and the ash fell on his trouser leg, bringing him back to reality. He extinguished the cigarette on the empty beer can on the coffee table.

"Time flies! Over forty years have passed." He suddenly sighed as the last wisp of smoke dissipated before him, as if he had traveled through time and space, back to the 80s when he was still in his prime. "Old Ye is notorious in the bureau for being easily carried away. I mean, when it comes to handling cases.

According to our leader, he just rushes forward when something happens and cannot be stopped.

In the past, whenever there was a case analysis meeting, he was basically the only one speaking, and sometimes even the leaders couldn't get a word in.

On July 1983, 7, we received a report that a female body was found in the reef area of ​​Dongji Town. To be honest, my initial expectation was that it was more likely to be suicide or accidental fall into the water.

Because the people of Dongji Town are simple and honest, it has always been a place with relatively good public security within Nancheng, and there are almost no homicides.

However, the situation on site far exceeded our expectations.

That summer was exceptionally hot. We received the alarm in the morning and arrived at the beach around noon. The sun had baked the reefs so hard that the seaweed on them became curled and brittle like sawdust.

You can smell the stench of spoiled meat in the salty sea breeze.

The deceased was stuck between two reefs due to the tide. He was tied up and made to kneel, with his eyes gouged out. The humid and hot weather accelerated the decomposition of the body.

The mirror on her neck reflected the dazzling sunlight, attracting the attention of nearby fishermen. They thought it was something valuable, but when they arrived, they discovered it was a female corpse and quickly called the police.

The deceased was wearing a uniform from the aquatic products company and was quickly identified as Chen Afeng, a 38-year-old accountant at the company. Two days earlier, Chen Afeng had disappeared on her way home after attending a company night class.

Chen Afeng has been working in the aquatic products company for 20 years. She has always been diligent and non-competitive. Everyone from company leaders to colleagues praise her. They say that she has never made any mistakes in accounting in all these years. The only regret is that she has always been single and lives with her parents.

In 1982, Chen Afeng's parents passed away one after another. Her parents were workers who moved south and had no relatives in the local area, which meant that she was the only one left in Dongji Town since then.

"Hmph, a perfect victim." Zhong Kui's voice suddenly rang out. "First, her social connections are as simple as a straight line. Second, she's performed tedious financial work flawlessly for years. This sense of responsibility and respectability perfectly conceals her moral flaws, leaving no trace of the murderer's motive. The difficulty of this case is as high as hell."

Li Jianjun was once again surprised by Zhong Kui's remarks, and suddenly he felt sad: "At that time, we did not realize these things so quickly, and we did not know that Chen Afeng was just the beginning. Indeed, although Chen Afeng is 38 years old, but her social relations, family background, etc., we have investigated every aspect, and Chen Afeng is as simple as a blank sheet of paper. As she is introverted, she usually does not interact with neighbors and colleagues, and we can't find any suspicious people at all." "No matter who it is, 38 years of life cannot be a blank sheet of paper." Zhong Kui said slowly.

"Since Chen Afeng's body was discovered on July 7, Lao Ye and I have been living and eating in Dongji Town almost exclusively, tracking down possible leads. However, after a month, we haven't made any substantial breakthroughs. The only clue is the mirror hanging on Chen Afeng's chest. We discovered that its back is coated with mercury. After liberation, most factories producing mirrors used silver plating, and the mercury coating process dates back to at least the Republic of China period, or even the late Qing Dynasty. Although this situation is relatively unique, it has cut off our path to tracking down the murderer by tracing the mirror sales channels."

"Hmm? Aren't old items easier to trace?" Zhong Kui suddenly asked.

Li Jianjun was not surprised by this question: "You are right, but you have to know the history of Dongji Town. It was built by reclaiming land from the sea after liberation. You can't find such old things in Dongji Town. This mirror makes us suspect that the murderer came from outside Dongji Town.

However, the circumstances and technical means at the time made investigating this group extremely difficult. Dongji Town only had one guesthouse at the time, and we repeatedly investigated all guests staying there, but found no one connected to Chen Afeng's death. As for the bus, since real-name registration wasn't required for ticket purchases at the time, it was like searching for a needle in a haystack.

Just as Chen Afeng's case was still under investigation, a second victim, Wang Lijuan, appeared. Li Jianjun recited her name word for word. "At the dock in Dongji Town, on August 8th. Her family didn't even know she had died until her body was found."

"I have read the file. It said that Wang Lijuan went out on August 8 and told her family that she had made an appointment with her aunt Lin Suzhen, who was also from Dongji Town, to go to Nancheng for a game. Because Lin Suzhen was an elementary school teacher, the two planned to return before school started, so her family did not notice she was missing." Qi Fei said.

"Yes, this is a very big doubt. Based on the testimony of Wang Lijuan's parents, we questioned the staff at Dongji Town Station and confirmed that on August 8, Wang Lijuan and Lin Suzhen did not get on the bus to Nancheng." Li Jianjun's eyes fell on the photo in the transparent evidence bag. In the photo, Wang Lijuan had pigtails and smiled brightly at the camera. "Both Wang Lijuan's parents and colleagues said that she was a cheerful and enthusiastic girl who never had conflicts with others.

We initially suspected that the two people were kidnapped on their way to the station. However, someone witnessed Wang Lijuan and Lin Suzhen appearing in the opposite direction of the station on the evening of August 8th.

"Wang Lijuan lied to her parents." Zhong Kui said immediately.

Li Jianjun's face seemed to be covered with the dark clouds of forty-two years ago: "What's even more puzzling is that the direction where Wang Lijuan and Lin Suzhen were seen is the sea.

The most frustrating thing about this case is that we have never found the murder scene.

I think you also know that from the bodies found, the murderer has a fixed ritual, which must be done in a closed place where no one can disturb him. Dongji Town is so small, and we have checked abandoned warehouses, basements, single dormitories...any place you can think of, but found nothing.

Lin Suzhen's body was discovered while we were checking the air-raid shelter. Unfortunately, we discovered that the air-raid shelter was still the scene where the body was dumped, not the original crime scene.

(End of this chapter)