Courtyard House: The Long-Lost Eldest Son Returns with Military Merit

As Xie Jian walked out, he explained to Lin Minghua, "Old Lin, Yang Nan was murdered by her husband's cousin, and she was buried in her cousin's yard."

I need to take men to make the arrest now; I'll explain the details later.

That morning, Lin Minghua had just sent someone to deliver the case file to Jia Dongming's security department at the steel rolling mill. Unexpectedly, only a few hours later, this three-year-old cold case was solved. Lin Minghua was deeply shocked and immediately instructed his subordinate, "Xiaodong! Come with me to the scene!"

While the Dongcheng branch was reeling from the shock of Jia Dongming solving a long-standing cold case in less than half a day, Jia Dongming had already led several police officers to dig out the remains under the jujube tree.

Based on the rotten clothing outside the remains and the account book inside the bag, Jia Dongming could basically conclude that the remains in front of him were those of the missing Yang Nan.

Section Chief Sun and Lin Minghua entered the courtyard together, and Sun eagerly asked Jia Dongming, "Deputy Captain Jia! Comrade Xie Jian said that the case of the missing female accountant from the thermos factory three years ago has been solved, and we need to go to the scene..."

Before he could finish speaking, Section Chief Sun caught sight of the skeleton at the edge of the pit and exclaimed in astonishment, "Deputy Captain Jia! Could these skeletons be those of the missing female accountant?"

Jia Dongming nodded and replied, "Based on the deceased's personal belongings, the remains should belong to Yang Nan, the accountant who has been missing for three years."

Next, we need your forensic examination.

Section Chief Sun immediately assured him, "Deputy Chief Jia! Don't worry, I will personally oversee the autopsy this time, and the situation will definitely not repeat itself."

After Section Chief Sun began the autopsy, Lin Minghua approached Jia Dongming and asked with genuine admiration, "Deputy Captain Jia! Could you please tell us how you discovered the clues and found the female accountant's remains?"

After Lin Minghua raised his question, Jia Dongming noticed the focused expressions of the people around him and explained to Lin Minghua and the police officers present: "According to the case file of the missing female accountant of the thermos factory, Yang Nan is a person who is extremely serious about her work and also very family-oriented."

A woman like her, if she truly intended to abscond with the money, would inevitably take her husband and children with her.

"But Yang Nan did not take her most cherished family members with her when she disappeared. Based on this alone, it can be judged that she may not have disappeared voluntarily, but was robbed."

"The road between the bank where Yang Nan withdrew money and the thermos factory is located in a bustling area of ​​Beijing, and there were no robbery cases recorded on the day Yang Nan disappeared."

Therefore, I deduce that the person who robbed Yang Nan was likely someone she knew well, someone she was close to, and perhaps even knew that Yang Nan would go to the bank to withdraw money and return to the factory to distribute her wages on this day every month.

"Based on this hypothesis, I made further inferences and ultimately concluded that Yang Nan likely encountered someone she knew and trusted very well on her way back after withdrawing the money."

"This person passed a message to Yang Nan."

What news could possibly make Yang Nan rush to deal with it, despite carrying a large sum of money? I speculate that the news is likely related to Yang Nan's relatives.

"The person who robbed and murdered Yang Nan likely used this information to lure her to a secluded place, killed her when she was off guard, and stole the money she was carrying."

"With this direction of investigation, Xie Jian and I went to Yang Nan's home to investigate."

According to Yang Nan's husband, Yang Nan doesn't have many close friends. Her closest relatives are her husband's cousin and his wife, who live next door to her.

"A suspect who could make Yang Nan lower her guard, and a crime scene where Yang Nan was off guard—when I learned that Yang Nan's husband's cousin's house was right next door, I felt that the yard was very suitable for committing a robbery."

"Of course, that's not the most crucial point."

More importantly, Yang Nan's husband's cousin moved out of the neighborhood shortly after Yang Nan's disappearance, which made me even more suspicious of his involvement.

"So Xie Jian and I came to this courtyard."

As soon as I entered the courtyard, I noticed something unusual about the two jujube trees.

"Normally, if you want to plant two jujube trees in the yard, you should plant them at the same time."

But these two trees, one growing at an average rate, and the other with lush foliage, indicate that the latter absorbs far more nutrients than the former.

"I had Xie Jian and others find tools and dig around that lush jujube tree, and we found Yang Nan's remains."

Now, if Xie Jian successfully apprehends the suspect, the case will be solved.

The case was initially handled by Lin Minghua and Xie Jian, among others. They had suspected that Yang Nan had been robbed, but since the area from the bank to the thermos factory was a busy area and no robbery reports were filed that day, they subconsciously ruled out the possibility of robbery and ultimately concluded that Yang Nan had absconded with the money.

After listening to Jia Dongming's analysis, Lin Minghua realized that they had overlooked this important clue back then, which led to Yang Nan's disappearance becoming a cold case.

"Deputy Captain Jia, according to our examination of the deceased's remains, the deceased was female, and she died from intracranial hemorrhage after being struck on the back of the head with a heavy object."

After carefully examining the remains, Section Chief Sun reported the test results to Jia Dongming.

Jia Dongming expressed his gratitude to Section Chief Sun: "Section Chief Sun, thank you for your hard work."

Then he said to Lin Minghua, "Comrade Lin Minghua, the case file is in my office. You can go and get it when you return to the branch office."

There's nothing else going on here. I'm going back to the steel rolling mill.

Lin Minghua respectfully replied, "Deputy Captain Jia, please go ahead and take care of your work. We'll handle the remaining cleanup."

Yang Nan's husband, Guo Qisheng, works at a light bulb factory.

After Yang Nan went missing, the light bulb factory sent him home on standby because the case was unsolved, and his two children were also expelled from school because of their mother's disappearance.

For the past three years, the family of three has been subjected to gossip and pointing fingers wherever they go because of rumors that Yang Nan has absconded with the money. The two children are even afraid to go out and meet people.

Upon hearing Jia Dongming's analysis of the case and learning that the remains before him were those of his wife who had been missing for three years, Guo Qisheng was overcome with grief and tears streamed down his face.

Looking back on the past three years, the gossip from neighbors, and the fact that his children were afraid to go out because of what others told them, Guo Qisheng felt that the heavy burden on his family of three had finally been lifted.

Thinking that his child, who had longed to return to school, could finally go back to school with dignity, and that his family of three no longer had to live in fear, Guo Qisheng walked up to Jia Dongming, knelt down, and thanked him with a choked voice: "Deputy Captain Jia, thank you for clearing the name of my Yang Nan, so that our child can finally stand tall like other children."

Guo Qisheng's kneeling caught Jia Dongming completely off guard. He quickly stepped aside, reached out to support Guo Qisheng's arms, and said to him, "Comrade! Please get up. Punishing evil and eliminating wickedness is the duty of the public security officers. These are all things we are supposed to do."

Shortly after Jia Dongming left, Lin Minghua rode his bicycle back to the Dongcheng branch.

He strode to Zhang Huanchun's office door, knocked, and excitedly reported, "Team Leader! Deputy Team Leader Jia has solved the case of the female accountant who disappeared three years ago at the thermos factory."

Upon hearing Lin Minghua's report, Zhang Huanchun, sitting behind his desk, wore an incredulous expression and asked Lin Minghua in surprise, "Minghua! What did you just say? Jia Dongming solved the case of the missing female accountant from the thermos factory? Is that true?"

Faced with Zhang Huanchun's question, Lin Minghua nodded vigorously and reported to his superior with high spirits: "Team leader! It's absolutely true. The female accountant at the thermos factory was murdered by her husband's cousin, and her remains are buried under the jujube tree in the yard next to her house."

After learning the details of Yang Nan's murder, Zhang Huanchun immediately pressed Lin Minghua for an explanation: "Minghua! Tell me in detail how Jia Dongming discovered the clues and solved the case in such a short time?"

When Lin Minghua heard Zhang Huanchun ask about the clues Jia Dongming found in the case file, a look of shame appeared on his face. He explained to Zhang Huanchun, "Team leader! When we were investigating this case, we focused on the large sum of money Yang Nan was carrying, but we overlooked Yang Nan's personality traits, which is why this case has only come to light today."

"The reason why Deputy Chief Jia was able to solve the case so quickly was based on his analysis of Yang Nan's personality and reasoning, and he ultimately concluded that Yang Nan's disappearance was likely related to an acquaintance."

Following this lead, he located Yang Nan's husband, Guo Qisheng, to learn more about the situation. From Guo Qisheng, he obtained information about the suspect, and ultimately, based on this lead, he found Yang Nan's remains.

"About half an hour ago, Xie Jian led his men to arrest the real culprit of the robbery. I estimate that the murderer has been brought back by now."

After listening to Lin Minghua's account and understanding the entire process of solving the case, Zhang Huanchun smiled with satisfaction and said to Lin Minghua, "Minghua! If it weren't for your suggestion to let Comrade Jia Dongming take charge of the investigation of the old case, the case of the missing female accountant of the thermos factory would not have been solved so quickly."

Hearing Zhang Huanchun's praise, Lin Minghua was not complacent. Instead, he gave Zhang Huanchun a thumbs up and said with sincere admiration, "Team Leader! I, Lin Minghua, have never admired anyone when it comes to handling cases, but after witnessing Deputy Team Leader Jia's ability to solve cases today, I am truly impressed."

"Team leader! The murderer has been caught. We also found 16,321.50 yuan in his house. Compared with the amount stolen from the thermos factory, it's 1,027 yuan less."

Xie Jian carried a cloth bag into Zhang Huanchun's office, placed the bag on the desk, and excitedly reported to Zhang Huanchun.

Upon hearing Xie Jian's report and looking at the seized stolen money on the table, Zhang Huanchun immediately asked Xie Jian, "Xie Jian! Have the murderers confessed to the robbery?"

When Xie Jian heard Zhang Huanchun ask about the murderer, he immediately reported to his superior: "Team leader! The murderer's name is Gao Bingfa, and his wife's name is Liu Lirong."

When we arrived at Gao Bingfa's house, his wife, Liu Lirong, collapsed to the ground in fear upon seeing us.

"According to Liu Lirong's confession, she and her husband invited Guo Qisheng to dinner once, and accidentally learned from Guo Qisheng that Yang Nan would go to the bank to withdraw tens of thousands of yuan every month on the 15th to pay the wages of the thermos factory workers."

"At the time, Gao Bingfa's mother was sick and needed money, and Liu Lirong's younger brother was getting married and also needed money, so the couple came up with the idea of ​​using this money."

"That day, Yang Nan's daughter happened to be sick, and Yang Nan's husband had to go to work, so Yang Nan asked Gao Bingfa and his wife to help take care of the child."

Upon learning that Yang Nan was going to the bank to withdraw money for her salary, Gao Bingfa conspired with his wife to lure Yang Nan home under the pretext that her child's condition had worsened, and then rob her when she was off guard.

"Faced with the threats from the two men, Yang Nan tried to protect the wages of the thermos factory and attempted to escape from Gao Bingfa's house. As a result, Gao Bingfa hit her on the head with a hammer. Then, they dug a deep pit in the yard and buried the injured and unconscious Yang Nan alive, regardless of whether she was already dead."

"Afterwards, they were worried that the fresh soil in the yard would arouse suspicion, so they went to their old home in the countryside, dug up two jujube trees, and planted them where the poplar was buried, in order to cover their tracks."

"Later, feeling guilty, Gao Bingfa and his wife used the stolen money to buy two houses at Liu Lirong's parents' home under the pretext that Liu Lirong's mother needed care, and moved there to live."

They thought their crimes would never be discovered, but we eventually found out anyway.

The factory manager of the thermos factory was named Zhao Huanxi, and he was Zhang Huanchun's old comrade-in-arms.

Because the case of the female accountant disappearing with the salary money has been unsolved for a long time, every time Zhang Huanchun meets Zhao Huanxi, Zhao Huanxi will complain to him, which has caused Zhang Huanchun to avoid Zhao Huanxi for more than a year.

Now that the case has been solved, Zhang Huanchun suddenly felt more confident.

He listened carefully to Xie Jian's report, then reached for the phone on his desk, turned it twice, picked up the receiver, and politely said, "Operator? This is the Dongcheng Public Security Bureau. Please transfer me to the office of Director Zhao at the thermos factory."

"Hello! Is this the thermos factory? This is Zhao Dajun. Who are you looking for?"