1995, Starting as a Criminal Investigation Expert

Heading south from Lilou Town, along the Yongdang Highway, a straight-line distance of 20 kilometers leads to Xuanhu Town, north of Ningbo City.

When he first arrived, Li Shu didn't recognize the characters on the road sign.

I asked Gu Yanfei, who was in the same car, and found out that the character is pronounced Xue, the second tone, and it roughly means a mountain spring that has water in summer but dries up in winter.

Therefore, this place must have had lakes and springs in ancient times.

Gu Yanfei is quite young, only 35 this year. He is also the first bespectacled criminal police captain that Li Shu has met in his travels all over the country, which is very rare.

Of course, he was not a scholar-general. He was tall and thin with slightly high cheekbones. His eyes were hidden behind his glasses, but even a quick glance revealed their sharpness.

According to his self-introduction, he had served in the military before and was demobilized.

I wasn't nearsighted when I was young. The reason I wear glasses is that after I left the military, I became obsessed with martial arts novels. I would read them whenever I had free time, and by looking at the small print so much, I gradually became nearsighted.

He gradually became the team leader, so it didn't bother him. For convenience, he started wearing glasses.

The convoy slowly came to a stop.

Xuanhu is a small town on the plain. The town is not adjacent to the Yongdang Highway; it is almost two kilometers away.

So the town is one area, and the area surrounding the highway is another.

The place where everyone stopped is less than 300 meters ahead, at the intersection of the Yongdang Highway and the rural road leading to the town.

Xuanhu, and Chenji further south, are both located in the northern part of Ningbo, an old coal mining area. In this area, there are a large number of small coal mines run by townships, villages, and even private individuals, mining shallow coal.

After mining began, the materials were transported outwards via the north-south Yongdang Highway.

Being so close to Lilou Town, the investigation of coal stations proceeded from the inside out, and within a few days, they reached this place and made the discovery.

The crowd disembarked from the bus in droves.

A deputy director surnamed Lian from the Su'an Municipal Public Security Bureau accompanied them.

Because it involved crossing provincial borders, people from Ningbo also came.

Captain Cheng Guiping of the Criminal Investigation Team of Ningbo Municipal Public Security Bureau, and Deputy Director Bian of the Municipal Bureau were already waiting here and came forward to greet them.

After exchanging pleasantries, the group headed towards the coal station called Guoguan.

"Director Ji, I think someone from Jin Cai's gang has committed crimes in this area?" Li Shu asked in a low voice as they walked.

Zhao Jincai's gang was so large that they committed crimes everywhere, even extending into Ningjiang Province. Li Shuji had committed crimes in the Xiao County area.

After all, there are quite a few small coal mines in this area.

Ji Chunyang nodded slightly and saw a four-wheeled vehicle speeding by on the highway, sputtering and belching black smoke. It had two cargo beds towed behind it, filled with coal. Coal kept falling off as it passed, and was then crushed into dust.

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Winter has arrived, and the weather was already bad, but now it's even more gloomy, making the environment quite poor.

We arrived at the entrance of the coal station.

The same large courtyard, with a dark open space in front of the main entrance, is where vehicles come and go, spilling large amounts of coal.

Li Shu bent down, picked up some, and looked at them.

Compared to coking coal, lean coal is indeed harder and has a more pronounced luster.

But the destination wasn't here; it was a restaurant next to the coal station, less than fifty meters to the south, where people parked and ate.

Upon investigation, it was confirmed that the coal depot was selling lean coal.

I asked the staff at the coal station, but they didn't remember much about what happened on the day of the incident, and they had no recollection of the two suspects described.

As is customary, visits and inquiries are conducted at coal sales points.

And that's exactly what I was asked.

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The owner of this restaurant, called "Home-Style Stir-Fry," recalled that he had seen the two suspects before the incident, and they had eaten at his restaurant many times.

The people from Ningbo arrived early, so the restaurant owners, a couple, were waiting at the entrance.

The other shops and residents on both sides watched from a distance.

The couple, both around forty years old, were quite nervous upon suddenly seeing so many people. They led everyone inside and stood there awkwardly. After a while, the male owner, named Shen Yingming, remembered to call his wife to pour some water.

Wu Guoqing smiled and said, "No need to be so polite. You two don't need to be too nervous. What those bad guys did has nothing to do with you. We're just here to ask about the situation. Let's just have a casual chat."

He cheerfully invited the couple to sit down.

Cheng Guiping ran to pour water for everyone.

The weather had already turned cool, and the north wind was howling outside. Only by the coal stove in the shop could the two of them relax a little.

Li Shu also took out a notebook and pen, preparing to make a forensic portrait later.

However, they had already asked before, and more than a month had passed. This was a restaurant with people coming and going, so the couple's impression of the two people was very faint. They could only say they would give it a try.

Shen Yingming's wife was named Chang Chunhua. At the restaurant, Shen Yingming was in charge of cooking, while Chang Chunhua was in charge of greeting customers in the front of the restaurant.

It was she who remembered these two people.

Chang Chunhua glanced at her husband and then said, "It was probably at the beginning of last month. I don't remember the exact date. We keep accounts, but we only record how much money we received each day, not who ate how much food. Anyway, it was definitely at the beginning of the month, around the 1st or 2nd."

"It was around noon when the two of them came to eat. There were quite a few people there. I remember one of them saying that our old-fashioned steamed noodles were quite authentic and delicious."

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"Then the person came again the next day, I think it was in the evening. We didn't get to talk, and after eating, they left in a car. As I mentioned before, it was a red Santana. I don't remember the license plate, but I do remember that it was from Anhui province."

"He came again on the third day, after noon. There weren't many people that day. It was that guy with the big ears who asked me first, asking how business was at the coal station next door, whether I was making money or something."

"I told you they must make a lot of money. Everyone in town buys from him. The owner also owns a mine, and he sells coal produced in his own mine. We also buy from him; it burns really well."

Hearing this, Wu Guoqing interrupted her with a smile and asked, "You mean these two people asked you if coal is profitable?"

Chang Chunhua nodded.

Wu Guoqing turned his head and exchanged a glance with Ji Chunyang, whose expression became more serious.

Li Shu also reacted quickly.

Perhaps the reason these two people stayed here and ate here for three consecutive days was actually because of this coal mine.

Their initial targets were probably not cotton purchasing stations, but coal stations.

Chang Chunhua said, "I haven't seen them since then. As for what they looked like, I really don't remember. As for their accent, it was our Central Plains dialect. If you want me to specify where they were from, I can't tell."

Li Shu picked up the conversation and said with a smile, "Sister Chang, actually there are some differences in accents between the North and the South. How about this, try to recall what those two people said, and then I'll imitate it for you so I can make a specific distinction."

Ningbo, located at the easternmost part of Central China Province, is influenced by other provinces due to its location at the intersection of four provinces. To be precise, its dialect has reached the Xuhuai area and is already somewhat different from the Shangfu area to the west.

Especially the area around Xuehu Lake.

"Take the water in drinking water, for example. In some places, the word for 'water' sounds more like Mandarin, but here, it's more likely to be pronounced as 'bandi'."

When two suspects come to a restaurant to eat, they will definitely say the word "drink water." By distinguishing the specific words they say, we can tell which dialect area they are speaking from.

Of course, the premise is that you can remember the name of the ivy and remember it accurately.

"Li Shu, you go ahead with your work."

Wu Guoqing stood up, confirmed the accent, and said he was relieved to leave the composite sketch to Li Shu. He was going to check on the nearby coal mine.

After taking Ji Chunyang and the others out, he immediately asked Gu Yanfei if they had visited and investigated all the shops and residents in the vicinity: "Especially the towns to the west, especially the hotels. These two have been staying here for several days. They can't be sleeping in the car every day, can they?"

Gu Yanfei hurriedly said, "Old Wu, we've already checked everything. Captain Cheng has been very cooperative with us, sending people to visit all the nearby towns and villages to ask if anyone had been acting suspiciously before or after the incident, but we haven't found anything."

Wu Guoqing frowned slightly.

Ji Chunyang said, "Old Wu, regarding the accommodation, could it be that they're staying in Ningbo? It's only a dozen kilometers from here to Ningbo, and the suspect has a car, so getting there wouldn't be a problem."

Cheng Guiping immediately said, "Director Ji, if Director Li produces a composite sketch, we will immediately arrange for people to investigate all hotels and guesthouses in the city."

Wu Guoqing nodded and led the group straight to the coal station next door.

When Chang Chunhua mentioned that the suspect had inquired about whether coal mines were profitable, he immediately realized that the suspect's initial target might have been the coal mines.

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Then, for some reason, I gave up.

Chang Chunhua recalled that the two men came to her restaurant for dinner at the beginning of November and stayed for three consecutive days.

Meanwhile, at the cotton station, a witness was found who saw the man with protruding ears around November 7th.

Wu Guoqing said, "Then you see, analyzing the timeline, the suspect first targeted the coal mine but didn't make a move. Then he went north to Lilou Town, where there's another coal mine."

"There might be some situation here that makes it inconvenient to carry out the crime. They thought of committing the crime in Lilou Town, and while they were hesitating, they set their sights on the cotton purchasing station, scouted the place, and then committed the crime. There is a sequence in time."

Everyone nodded in agreement, and as they talked, they arrived at the coal station.

The boss is away, and a relative is managing the place.

The yard was large, with coal piled up on one side and a row of bungalows on the other side, near the road.

There's a dog.

Wu Guoqing pointed to the entrance of the bungalow, where a wolfhound was tied up.

Ji Chunyang nodded slightly and asked the person in charge, "Will you have people staying at night? How many?"

The person in charge quickly replied, "Then we'll keep several. We often unload goods at night, sometimes until one or two in the morning. For convenience, the workers will use the dormitories."

Ji Chunyang understood and said to everyone, "That's right. Business is good here and there are a lot of funds coming and going, so the suspects have been targeting this place. But after scouting the area, they found that there are workers at night, so it's inconvenient to commit a crime."

"I guess the same thing happened at Li Lou's place. They unloaded the goods too late at night and there were too many people left, so they targeted the cotton purchasing station."

Wu Liqun's family consists of five people. Although there are quite a few people, the elderly, weak, sick, and disabled are relatively easy to control.

After everyone looked inside the courtyard and walked around the outside, they arranged for someone to question all the workers again. Once that was done, Li Shu's side was also finished.

"This is the best we can do with the portrait."

Li Shu handed over the picture album.

Only the one with the protruding ears, the other person, ate three meals in three days without saying a word.

As for Zhaofeng'er and Changchunhua, they only inquired briefly, so their impressions were not deep either. After so long, Changchunhua recalled for a long time, but she could only remember the general outline.

This already takes into account Li Shu's previous analysis of the video footage.

It's not accurate enough; it can only be used as a reference for investigation.

"We did make some discoveries regarding dialects. I think the suspect should be in the northwest of Wanyang, which is the Shangfu area, roughly Chenjiakou and Fucheng."

"In areas like Xuhuai, many people pronounce retroflex consonants as alveolar consonants, while in areas like Chenjiakou in Fucheng, more retroflex consonants are preserved."

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"Considering that the suspect's car had an Anhui license plate, I asked her more carefully if it was K. She recalled that it looked like it, so I think it's most likely Fucheng."

The group exchanged glances, and Cheng Guiping complimented, "You really are an expert. Not only did you create a portrait, but you also deduced the suspect's place of residence. That makes things much easier to find them."

Li Shu noticed that he visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

It's probably a case that's being considered for special supervision. If the suspect is from Ningbo, then his burden will be much heavier.

Li Shu's mentality is understandable.

This is precisely the main reason why the ministry needs to send people down; if you don't urge them from behind, those below really won't treat it as their own business.

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