The Red Era: Living in Seclusion in a Siheyuan as a Boss

Chapter 678 Uncovering the "Cold-Blooded Trio"!!!
(This story is entirely fictional. Any resemblance to actual events or persons is purely coincidental.)
Let's continue from where we left off last time.

Speaking of Lao Bao, one of the "Eight Tigers of Criminal Investigation," his real name is Bao Yuting.

Based on Guan Wei's description of the woman's physical characteristics, Bao Yuting discovered that this woman was the same woman named Aying who was found at a reservoir in Minhang on April 22.

So he immediately showed Guan Wei the photos of the scene investigation, and Guan Wei admitted that he was the one who killed and dismembered the woman.

At this point, Bao Yuting became even more convinced that Guan Wei must have accomplices.

According to eyewitness accounts, on April 8th, Ah Ying got on a man's red motorcycle and left the Tonglin Dance Hall.

Guan Wei doesn't own a red motorcycle, nor can he dance.

This means that there is at least one other man with a red motorcycle who can dance, who is Guan Wei's accomplice.

Therefore, Bao Yuting once again instructed the pre-trial team: "This kid must have accomplices, and he is very likely involved in other cases. You continue the interrogation and make sure you find out everything about his ancestors!"

So the investigator in charge of the interrogation asked Guan Wei, "You're definitely not going to make it out to be alive. Killing one person means execution, killing several people means execution, and you've committed several crimes, so just tell us everything. That'll make you a real man."

"I killed five people in total!"

The investigators present were all shocked. If what he said was true, it would be the biggest serial murder and dismemberment case in Shanghai in decades.

Furthermore, if Guan Wei really killed five people, it further proves that he must have had accomplices.

The interrogation then continued.

Where did you go during the day?

"Zhoujiawan".

Whose house is Zhoujiawan?

"Gao Xiumei's home."

"What is your relationship with Gao Xiumei? What are you doing at her house so late?"

"She's my mahjong partner. I went to play mahjong because I had nothing better to do."

"Besides playing mahjong, what else do you do?"

"Did not do anything."

How often do you play mahjong?

"I go almost every day."

“You and Gao Xiumei are more than just ‘partners,’ right? At this point, there’s no point in hiding it anymore.”

“Gao Xiumei and I were having an affair.”

Let me briefly explain here: "轧姘頭" is a Shanghai dialect term for an improper relationship between a man and a woman.

So Bao Yuting sent someone to Zhoujiawan to summon Gao Xiumei to the station.

Gao Xiumei stated that Guan Wei spent the entire day of May 7th at her house playing mahjong, not leaving until midnight, and refused to say anything else.

However, when Gao Xiumei learned that Guan Wei had also been detained and had already said everything he needed to say, she panicked and cursed Guan Wei for being "disloyal."

After an hour of stalemate, Gao Xiumei's psychological defenses completely collapsed, and she began to confess.

Gao Xiumei also implicated her husband, Ding Dafu, as an accomplice. Ding Dafu owned a red "Happiness" 250 motorcycle, which he used to illegally transport passengers. He also liked to drive his motorcycle to dance halls to pick up women and then bring them home for promiscuous sex.

Now, everything matches up!
At 4 a.m. on May 8, a sleepy-eyed Ding Dafu was taken to the police station.

In the end, Ding Dafu didn't last an hour either, and he completely collapsed.

The three people's testimonies matched up, revealing a series of shocking and bloody cases to the investigators.

Even though these "Criminal Police 803" officers were experienced and knowledgeable, they were shocked by the chaotic relationship between the three and their heinous and cruel methods of committing the crime.

The case unfolded as follows:
Textile worker Gao Xiumei and laid-off worker Ding Dafu are a married couple.

However, although the couple lived under the same roof, they were not of one mind.

The two men were "doing their own thing" outside, with his wife Gao Xiumei having an affair with Guan Wei.

Her husband, Ding Dafu, would ride his motorcycle all over Shanghai's dance halls, looking for pretty women to have one-night stands with.

Over time, Ding Dafu, Gao Xiumei, and Guan Wei all faced the same problem: not enough money.

So, in order to make money, Ding Dafu had drugged young and middle-aged women he met in dance halls and robbed them of their belongings several years ago in parks and movie theaters.

After Ding Dafu confessed that he had committed ten similar cases, he saw the composite sketch drawn by Jiang Xin on an episode of the "Oriental 110" program and was immediately terrified.

Because Jiang Xin's portrait was at least 80% similar to Ding Dafu's, he immediately stopped.

Furthermore, Ding Dafu changed his basic appearance, including his hairstyle, and did not commit any crimes for a long time.

It's clear that Jiang Xin's reputation as the "Ma Liang of the police force" was truly well-deserved.

On March 5th, Gao Xiumei brought her colleague, Xia, from the same workshop to her home to play mahjong.

Ding Dafu, Guan Wei, and the others "joined a table," and while playing mahjong, Ding Dafu and A Xia exchanged flirtatious glances.

That noon, taking advantage of Guan Wei's return home and Gao Xiumei's outing to buy groceries, the two of them had a "kiss, hug, and lift-up" moment in the house.

Afterwards, Xia made an outrageous demand for a "reward" of 4000 yuan.

These days, 4000 yuan is no small amount; some people don't even earn that much in a year.

This demand instantly turned Gao Xiumei and Ding Dafu, who had previously been living separate lives, into "shared hatred."

The couple, whose marriage was already in name only, decided to "get rid of" Xia after discussing it.

So they lied to Xia, saying that they had no money, but their friend, Guan Wei, who they played mahjong with, had money.

If A-Xia agrees to let Guan Wei "come again," he will give A-Xia 5000 yuan.

Xia, who was greedy for money, immediately agreed.

On the afternoon of March 5, Ding Dafu first rode his motorcycle to Guan Wei's place and discussed with him how to take action;

Soon after, Gao Xiumei took A-Xia by taxi to Guan Wei's house.

As soon as A-Xia entered the house, Gao Xiumei suddenly covered A-Xia's head from behind with her black coat.

Ding Dafu and Guan Wei immediately used a rope they had prepared beforehand to strangle A-Xia's neck and pulled hard in both directions, one at each end. A-Xia died shortly afterward.

The next afternoon.

Gao Xiumin and Ding Dafu bought a serrated knife and a meat grinder and went to Guan Wei's house.

The three men, in a vicious act, then flushed Ah Xia down the drain.

The parts that couldn't be chopped were put into snakeskin bags with heavy weights, and carried by three people on the ferry that night.

As the ferry was about to dock at Pudong Wharf, the other passengers on board gathered at the entrance.

Taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention to them, they threw the snakeskin bag into the Huangpu River from the other side of the ship, and then bought tickets to return to Puxi on the same ship.

After killing Ah Xia, Guan Wei and his two companions not only showed no remorse, but became even more ruthless.

They thought they could use this method to find some women who liked to dance and had a little money to "get rid of," and then split the money among the three of them.

Thus, a "cold-blooded trio" that terrified people in Shanghai was formed.

Just a few days later.

On the afternoon of March 15th, Ding Dafu found A-Feng, a female worker from a shirt factory, at the Tonghua Dance Hall.

Ding Dafu tricked Afeng into "playing around" with him for 500 yuan and took her to Guan Wei's house on his motorcycle.

Then, he first used a drink to knock Ah Feng unconscious, and then used the same method he used on Ah Xia to kill Ah Feng.

After leaving the body for a day, Ding Dafu and Gao Xiumei came to Guan Wei's house the next day with a serrated knife and a meat grinder, and "disposed of" A Feng's body in the same way.

That same evening, he took a ferry and dumped the body into the Huangpu River.

On the afternoon of the 24th of the same month, Ding Dafu once again scouted out an unemployed young woman named Alan from the Shuyu Ballroom.

After dancing a few dances, Alan followed Ding Dafu onto his motorcycle and drove away...

On the evening of the 25th, Gao Xiumei, Ding Dafu, and Guan Wei threw two snakeskin bags into the Huangpu River from the ferry.

Next up is Ah Ying on April 8th.

However, when "disposing of" Ah Ying's body, the three of them couldn't find any heavy objects to put in the snakeskin bag.

That's why a snakeskin bag and a leather bag floated up, got attached to a raft, drifted to a reservoir, and were discovered.

Then came Hua Xin on the afternoon of May 4th. Guan Wei and the other two admitted that Hua Xin was the richest of the five victims, but they never expected that he would be arrested by the police before he could even enjoy his wealth.

Jiang Xin concluded by telling Liu Yong that when the case was made public, it caused an uproar in Shanghai.

For a time, parents in Shanghai used this "cold-blooded trio" to scare their disobedient children.

“What's wrong with you, cut me off, smear me, and throw me into the Huangpu River…”

The effect is often immediate, and the mischievous children are all silenced after hearing it.

For a time, the "Cold-Blooded Trio" became the "top influencers" on the streets and alleys.

……

Liu Yong has great respect for his colleagues in Shanghai. Thanks to the efforts of several generations of people, including the "803 Team," the "Three Musketeers," and the "Eight Tigers of Criminal Investigation," the Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau has solved countless major cases.

The "803" case-solving rate has consistently been the highest among all police forces nationwide.

Of course, like all police officers, "803" inevitably had to shed blood and sacrifice their lives for the happiness and well-being of the people.

Teacher Gu Shen once told Liu Yong such a story.

It was around 8:30 p.m. on January 24th, in the late 1970s.

Wang Yaogang, a young worker at the Shanghai Watch Factory, had just finished his day's work, returned home, washed up, and was about to go to bed.

Just then, he heard a sound of someone climbing over the wall coming from the courtyard.

It should be noted that the People's Bank of China's Fuxing Middle Road Savings Office is located right next to Wang Yao's house on the east side.

At that moment, Wang Yao thought to himself that someone was probably trying to take advantage of the savings bank, but ended up in the wrong place and ended up in his own courtyard.

Thinking of this, Wang Yao quickly got up, pushed open the door, and went out to check.

Hey, guess what?

He actually saw a figure climbing over the wall into the yard.

Wang Yao was also quite bold. Seeing this, he grabbed a clothes drying fork, rushed forward, grabbed the man, and shouted, "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

The man stammered, saying for a while that something had fallen into the courtyard and he had turned the house over to retrieve it, but he couldn't explain exactly what it was.

Wang Yao couldn't believe his nonsense. He thought there was definitely something wrong with this person, so he decisively said, "Why didn't you knock before coming in if you dropped something? Why did you have to climb over the wall? Come on, let's go to the police station and get this straight!"

At this moment, Wang Yao's mother and sister heard the commotion and came out of the house to help.

The three people, one on each side, pulled the man towards his house, heading straight for the police station along Fuxing Middle Road.

At this moment, several students who had been watching the commotion outside the door, including Chen and Yu, also walked forward together.

The situation was as follows: Wang Yao was holding tightly to the strap of the suspicious man's grass-green backpack and walking at the front.

Wang Yao's mother stood right next to the man, while his sister, Chen, and Yu followed at the very back.

The group turned from Fuxing Middle Road onto Sinan Road and headed north.

When they reached No. 44 Sinan Road, the suspicious man suddenly turned around and punched Wang Yao hard in the chest.

Wang Yao held onto the man's arm tightly. Seeing this, the man pulled out a sharp weapon and stabbed Wang Yao in the chest three times. Then he broke free from Wang Yao's grasp and dashed into No. 44 Sinan Road.

Upon seeing this, Chen and Yu immediately shouted "Catch the thief!" and chased after him inside.

Unexpectedly, that guy climbed over the wall of No. 44 Sinan Road onto Xiangshan Road and ran wildly westward.

Just then, a Yanjing 212 jeep with military license plates stopped on Xiangshan Road.

Just as Yang, a driver for a certain car fleet, was about to get out of the car, he saw this person climb over the wall of No. 44 Sinan Road and heard someone shouting "Catch the thief!"

Without saying a word, Yang shouted "Don't run!" and strode after him.

There happened to be three students from Hongxing Middle School nearby. Wang Xuedong was chatting with his classmates Jiang, Ding, and Zhang.

They saw a People's Liberation Army soldier chasing a young man. Wang Xuedong thought to himself that the guy being chased was definitely not a good person, so he volunteered to help with the capture.

Upon seeing this, the suspicious man panicked and quickly fled into a narrow alley.

Several students followed and entered the alley, while Wang Xuedong and Yang approached from another alley.

As a result, Wang Xuedong, holding a broom, rushed to the front and bumped into the assailant at the T-junction in the alley.

The man then raised the sharp weapon and stabbed Yang Xuedong hard in the abdomen.

Caught off guard, Wang Xuedong was stabbed in the abdomen, but he endured the excruciating pain and continued the chase.

The two ran out from the entrance of Lane 105, Ruijin Second Road, one after the other, and then turned towards Fuxing Middle Road.

When Wang Xuedong reached the No. 24 trolleybus depot, he finally collapsed from exhaustion, his intestines spilling out of his abdominal cavity.

The perpetrator fled into Fuxingfang Second Lane.

The group of people who had followed them saw that the alley was dark and that the other party had already injured two people with a knife. Fearing that they would be ambushed, they reported to the nearest police station.

By the time the police arrived, the murderer had already disappeared, leaving only a blue cloth cap behind.

The injured Wang Yao and Wang Xuedong were sent to the hospital for emergency treatment.

Sadly, Wang Xuedong had already lost vital signs when he was taken to the hospital and eventually died from his injuries at the young age of 19.

Despite the best efforts of medical staff, Wang Yao succumbed to excessive blood loss and passed away at 2 a.m. at the young age of 21.

Later, both of them were posthumously recognized as revolutionary martyrs by the Shanghai Municipal People's Government.

Wang Yao was posthumously recognized as a Party member, and Wang Xuedong was posthumously recognized as a member of the Communist Youth League. The Communist Youth League posthumously awarded them the title of Youth Heroes, and their remains were buried in Longhua Martyrs Cemetery.

After receiving the report, the investigators, technicians and forensic doctors from "803" arrived at the scene one after another, conducted a detailed investigation of the scene, and interviewed all the witnesses who had seen the incident and the victim's family members.

The site is located in a rectangular area bounded by Fuxing Middle Road to the north, Sinan Road to the west, Xiangshan Road to the south, and Ruijin Second Road to the east.

The primary crime scene was in the courtyard of Wang Yao's house, which was separated from the People's Bank of China's Fuxing East Road Savings Office by only one wall.

The criminals originally intended to steal from the Fuxing East Road Savings Bank, but failed, so they climbed over the wall and entered Wang Yao's courtyard.

The second scene was at No. 44 Sinan Road, where the large iron gate of the garden building was closed and locked.

However, the small iron gate on the large iron gate was ajar, and there was a pool of blood on the road outside the gate, which was later determined to be left by martyr Wang Yao.

There is a bamboo grove in the garden, and a path runs along the edge of the grove. After the criminals sneaked into the garden, they ran along this path to the south wall, and after climbing over the wall, they arrived at Xiangshan Road.

Technicians extracted a total of four complete shoe prints on this path.

The third crime scene was located in the residential area belonging to Lane 105, Ruijin Second Road and Lane 25, Gaolan Road. The location where Wang Xuedong fought with the criminals was at the intersection of the two lanes.

On the roof of a bungalow at No. 16, Lane 105, Ruijin Second Road, a grass-green backpack abandoned by the criminals was found, and a casual hat was lying on the ground.

The fourth scene was at the entrance of the No. 24 trolleybus depot at No. 577 Fuxing Middle Road. There was a pool of blood on the ground, left by martyr Wang Xuedong.

The criminals eventually fled into Lane 2, No. 565, Fuxing Middle Road, climbed over the wall at the end of the lane, and escaped from Lane 585, Fuxing Middle Road.

Upon inspection, the grass-green backpack left at the scene contained a flashlight, a hacksaw, four hacksaw blades, a pair of pliers, a pair of pliers, a flat file and a round file, a small wrench, a large and a small crowbar, two punches, a chisel, a knife made from a hacksaw blade, a large face mask, some muscle and tendon plaster, and several newspapers.

The backpack's white cloth clip was printed with the words "Awarded to the Fifth Automobile Factory for Advanced Producers in 1978" in red.

The shoe print left at the scene was 27 centimeters long. Upon inspection, it was found to be the print of a Warrior brand high-top sneaker, showing slight signs of wear.

The blue cloth cap is a felt flat cap, about 58 centimeters in diameter.

According to witnesses, the perpetrator was about 1.75 meters tall and between 22 and 24 years old.

He spoke with a local Shanghai accent and had a long, thin face.

She was wearing a blue khaki two-piece shirt and brown wide-brimmed elasticated sleeves.

He wore dark trousers, resembling khaki work pants, white high-top sneakers, and a blue cap.

The autopsy results showed that the direct cause of death for martyrs Wang Yao and Wang Xuedong was being stabbed in the chest and abdomen by a sharp object similar to a triangular scraper.

The on-site investigation results showed that the criminals were quite familiar with the terrain.

Given that the backpack left at the scene had the words "Car Factory No. 5" on it, the police did not rule out the possibility that the criminals had moved from Pudong to Puxi to commit the crime.

Therefore, the Criminal Investigation Brigade of the Municipal Public Security Bureau selected elite police officers to form a special task force, with Zhang Shenghua, the deputy captain of the First Criminal Team of the Criminal Investigation Brigade at the time, and Gu Shen serving as the team leader and deputy team leader, respectively, to investigate the case.

Director Duanmu, in the name of the bureau leadership, gave them a three-day deadline to solve the case.

If the case isn't solved in three days, the three of them, master and apprentice, will have to go hand in hand to face the spittle and punishment from the bureau leaders.

Therefore, the task force instructed nearby police stations to investigate suspicious individuals based on the characteristics of the criminals, and also requested assistance from other units throughout the city.
On the other hand, investigators from the Municipal Public Security Bureau's Public Security Division and the local branch took a patrol boat from the Water Police Branch and crossed the Huangpu River overnight to the Fifth Bus Depot in Pudong to conduct an investigation based on clues found in the backpack.

(End of this chapter)