Anti-gang campaign: Female bureau chief

Station surveillance footage shows that Zhao Baoshan entered the waiting hall around 9 p.m. last night, bought a ticket to the provincial capital, and boarded the train.

However, the surveillance cameras at the provincial capital's bus station didn't capture him getting off the bus—he got off somewhere along the way, possibly at a temporary stop on the national highway where there are no surveillance cameras. He had arranged for someone to meet him beforehand. We are currently contacting the bus driver to confirm the situation.

"Investigate his network of connections in the provincial capital." Jiang Ruolan turned away from the window and walked back to her desk. "Zhao Baoshan has spent half his life in Yi'an. His connections and activities are all in Yi'an. He wouldn't run to the provincial capital for no reason."

If he chooses to flee towards the provincial capital, it means that someone there must be there to meet him—either his superior or an old acquaintance.

"Let's look at the old case files of Shen Wangshan's case and see which companies Fengmao had in the provincial capital when Zhao Baoshan supplied sand and gravel to Fengmao, and who were in charge of them."

She had barely finished speaking when there was a knock on the office door, before Lu Zheng had even hung up the phone.

Forensic pathologist Lao Zheng pushed open the door and came in, holding a newly printed test report in his hand. His face showed the fatigue of staying up all night and the focus unique to discovering an important clue.

He placed the report on Jiang Ruolan's desk, pointed to a line of data marked with a highlighter, and said, "The comparison results of the fiber samples extracted from the two sites in the north and west of the city are in."

The fibers remaining in the marks on Ma Guoqing's neck were made of cotton, from an ordinary white towel—the kind you can buy in any supermarket—without any brand name.

However, the fibers in the marks on Yu Xiaomei's neck were different—they were a blend, containing 65% polyester and 35% cotton, a dark-colored square scarf used in hotels or saunas, not for home use.

These handkerchiefs are rarely seen in local wholesale channels in Ngee Ann; they are usually purchased in bulk from hotel supply suppliers.

"Hotel supplies." Jiang Ruolan repeated the word. "The KTV where Yu Xiaomei works is owned by people who used to work at the Golden Coast Club. Where do they source their drinks and linens?"

After Lu Zheng hung up the phone, Jiang Ruolan read through the fiber report that Lao Zheng had brought her again in her office.

Made of blended polyester and cotton, this dark-colored square scarf is designed for use in hotel saunas and other similar establishments. It's not something an average person would casually buy at a supermarket.

The KTV where Yu Xiaomei works is called "Royal Dynasty". It was converted from a closed bathhouse in the west of the city after the Golden Coast Club was shut down. The decoration level is not comparable to the Golden Coast Club back then, but the business model is the same - on the surface it is a chain KTV, but in reality all kinds of things are done in the VIP rooms upstairs.

The drinks and linens in these venues usually have fixed suppliers, either continuing the old channels from the Fengmao era, or there is someone behind the scenes coordinating the distribution.

She asked Lu Zheng to investigate the linen suppliers of the Imperial Dynasty, and at the same time, to retrieve all the physical evidence lists from the Ma Guoqing case in the north of the city and the Yu Xiaomei case in the west of the city for cross-comparison.

Twenty minutes later, Lu Zheng called back, his voice tense as if he had just uncovered something: "Director Jiang, we've found the linen supplier for Royal Dynasty Prosperity. It's called 'Yi'an Jiefeng Hotel Supplies Company,' registered in the old city area of ​​the east, and the legal representative is a man named Cui Changhe."

You might not recognize this name, but I looked up his background—Cui Changhe, 50 years old, a local of Yi'an, has two prior convictions. One was in 2009 when he was detained for disturbing public order, and the other was in 2014 when he was sentenced to two years of probation for intentional injury.

When he committed the crime, the police station in Chengdong was the handling unit, and the station chief at the time was Fang Xuewen.

Fang Xuewen.

The deputy director of the Yi'an City Public Security Bureau, who was dismissed in the Shen Wangshan case, was sentenced to fifteen years in prison for accepting bribes from Fengmao Group.

He served as the head of the Chengdong Police Station for six years, a period during which Fengmao Group was rapidly expanding in Chengdong.

Cui Changhe's crimes committed under Fang Xuewen's watch ultimately resulted in only a suspended sentence—the same recipe, the same taste.

Now, Cui Changhe has opened a hotel supplies company that supplies linens to Huangchao Shengshi, and Yu Xiaomei happens to have some of the scarf fibers supplied by his company still on her neck.

"Where is Cui Changhe now?" Jiang Ruolan asked.

"It's in Yi'an. His Jiefeng Company has a small warehouse in the east of the city; I've already got the address. Another piece of information—Cui Changhe and Zhao Baoshan know each other. They're brothers-in-law. Cui Changhe married Zhao Baoshan's wife's younger sister."

Jiang Ruolan picked up her police cap and walked out.

Brothers-in-law – Zhao Baoshan is a building materials supplier, and Cui Changhe is a hotel supplies supplier. The two are relatives and both have close ties with the Fengmao system.

After Zhao Baoshan called Ma Guoqing on New Year's Eve, Ma Guoqing died, and the handkerchief supplied by Cui Changhe's company ended up around Yu Xiaomei's neck.

The role these brothers-in-law played in the New Year's Eve serial murders went beyond that of "insiders." They were directly involved in the case, and may even have been one of the planners.

She had just reached the parking lot and hadn't even opened the car door when her phone rang again.

This time, it was the police officer on duty at the command center, whose voice was more urgent than ever before: "Director Jiang, the Chengdong Police Station just received a report—a male corpse was found in a residential building in the old city that is slated for demolition."

The person who reported the case was the project manager in charge of the demolition project. He said that he found a body in an empty room on the second floor when he went to inspect the buildings this morning.

The deceased was not a homeless person; he was fully clothed and had external injuries.

The police from the Chengdong Police Station have arrived, and the preliminary judgment is that it was a homicide.

They said...they said there were also ligature marks on the deceased's neck.

Jiang Ruolan stood there holding her phone. The cold wind of December blew across the empty parking lot, making the hem of her coat flutter.

She was silent for a few seconds, then spoke, her voice harsher than the cold wind: "Notify forensic doctor Zheng to send a team over."

Inform Lu Zheng that the arrest of Cui Changhe in the east of the city is temporarily suspended. Come with me to the new scene first.

Inform Zhou Pei of the provincial department that this was the third incident, and instruct him to go directly to the east of the city after arriving in Yi'an.

The third incident.

On New Year's Eve, Ma Guoqing was in the north of the city; Yu Xiaomei was in the west; and on the first day of the Lunar New Year, an unidentified male corpse was found in the east.

In less than twelve hours, three murders occurred, with the three crime scenes located in the north, west, and east of Yi'an, and the method was the same—strangulation with a towel.

This is not a serial killing; this is an organized crackdown operation.

The murderers struck simultaneously on New Year's Eve, killing two people before killing another before dawn.

Their actions were extremely fast-paced, with clear objectives and no hesitation. This level of efficiency and determination was beyond what a disorganized group of soldiers could achieve.

.................