Silver Snow Line [Criminal Investigation]

The narrow living room seemed even more cramped because of the arrival of several criminal police officers. Wei Cheng looked at the blind girl shivering on the sofa. She was as thin as a butterfly that would break if pinched. Although her family was poor, she was dressed very cleanly and beautifully. Her skin, which rarely came into contact with the sun, was dazzlingly white, and her long, thick black hair covered her palm-sized face.

When she raised her head towards the source of the sound, her long hair slid aside, revealing the tip of her small chin. Wei Cheng paused and saw that the upper half of her face was covered with scars from burns. The skin around her eyes was covered with flesh-colored patches of varying shades.

The neighbor who came after hearing the news told the police: "Xiaotong was bullied by her classmates when she was in junior high school. Sulfuric acid was splashed on her face and her eyes were blinded at that time. Her parents divorced a long time ago and didn't want to have such a burden around them, so she had to live with her grandfather. Later, her grandfather also passed away, alas..."

Wei Cheng asked: "What is the relationship between this boy and her?"
The neighbor said with a strange expression: "It should be her boyfriend, right? He came to live with Xiaotong three years ago. At that time, I was afraid that he was a bad guy with bad intentions, so I watched him for several days."

But this boy looked very young, about the same age as Fang Yutong. Let alone any ill intentions, he took the initiative to assume the responsibility of taking care of her and supporting the family without any regrets. He was simply a living thunder Feng sent from heaven.

Fang Yutong trusted him very much and called him brother. She had to stop her studies after she became disfigured and blind, and she almost lost her life after her only relative passed away. Her brother's company helped her to get out of the haze and gradually find the meaning of life. So when she touched the boy's body yesterday morning, she had a convulsion and fainted. Until now, she still can't accept this fact.

Xi Ming found his ID card from the boy's room and was shocked: "His name is Zheng Yuxuan, he is young, only 19 years old."

The boy in the ID photo had a shaved head and sharp features, like the bad boy known as a "school bully" in school, but looking at the entire cottage, he had kept it exceptionally warm and tidy. Next to the balcony where the body was hung was a basin of half-washed dirty clothes. He knew that girls' underwear had to be hand-washed, with dark and light colors separated, and that different types of laundry detergents had to be used. From Fang Yutong's condition, it could be seen that she was usually cared for and loved.

Zheng Yuxuan's death was also relatively ugly compared to the previous two. Probably because the teenager was strong and healthy, he had obviously struggled hard before his death. There were bruises on many parts of his body, especially on his right wrist and elbow, and a large area of ​​subcutaneous bleeding on his back. Wei Cheng checked his fists and found that his knuckles were also swollen and abraded, which should be caused by fighting against the opponent. The murderer was agile and may have some fighting skills, and finally crushed the boy.

The forensic doctor said: "Both eyes were cut by a sharp weapon. The injuries to other parts of the body were not fatal, but there was a hematoma on the back of the head. It needs to be determined whether the death was caused by craniocerebral injury."

"He shouldn't have made enemies with anyone," Xi Ming tilted his head in confusion as the bodies were being put into bags. "The three dead bodies found so far have no connection with each other, and I don't know what criteria the murderer used to identify his targets."

The blood around Zheng Yuxuan's eyes had already coagulated, and there were still a few strings of blood drops on the ground. Wei Cheng looked away uncomfortably.
"Is Xie Qingfei coming again?"
"Brother Cheng said that Kang Wenxia's autopsy report is out, and she went back to take a look." Xi Ming looked at Fang Yutong who was curled up on the sofa, "This little girl is in such a pity. Now that her brother who depended on her for everything is dead, who will take care of her in the future?"

Back at the police station, Zheng Yuxuan's personal information had already been retrieved.

Xi Ming drank half a cup of water to moisten his throat, and pulled Dai Lin over to accompany him to ask Fang Yutong about the situation.
Blind people will feel uneasy because of the fear of the unknown when they first come to a strange environment. After Dai Lin helped her sit down, she couldn't help but feel sympathy for her and asked in a gentle tone: "What is the relationship between Zheng Yuxuan and you?"
Fang Yutong was stunned when she heard the name. She tilted her head and frowned, "Why did you mention this person?"
Dai Lin and Xi Ming were both confused by her question. Xi Ming studied her expression and asked tentatively, "It's related to the case. If it's convenient, can you tell me about your relationship with him?"
Fang Yutong bit her lower lip, brushed her eyes with her fingertips, and said indifferently: "Five years ago, he was the one who blinded my eyes. In terms of relationship, he is my enemy."

Xi Ming opened his mouth, a look of astonishment appeared on his face. He turned to look at Dai Lin and found that she also had a shocked expression.

He cleared his throat and tried to speak calmly: "Why did he do that back then?"
"He wanted me to be his girlfriend, and many people around me encouraged me to do so. I did not agree, and he felt humiliated. In a rage, he ran to the school laboratory, stole sulfuric acid and poured it on my face." Fang Yutong recounted her nightmare word by word, as if she felt the intense pain of her face being burned again.

When Zheng Yuxuan was still a student, he was indeed a school bully who could call the wind and rain. He had a lot of younger brothers, did not study hard, and always tried to act like a big brother. Flirting with pretty female classmates was a fashionable thing to do under that status.

The information collected by the police showed that Zheng Yuxuan came from a wealthy family. His parents traveled all over the world for business and neglected to educate their son, causing him to develop a lawless character. He was the young master at home and the big brother at school. His younger brothers flattered him in various ways to please him, and he himself became arrogant, fighting and skipping school. He was a bad student who gave school teachers the most headaches throughout his compulsory education.

So when he "condescended" to ask Fang Yutong to be his girlfriend but was rejected, his self-esteem was severely hit, especially since he never thought she would dare to refuse, so he made a big scene. How could a "big brother" tolerate an ungrateful girl losing face in public? Zheng Yuxuan felt like he was poured with cold water. The more he thought about it, the more he couldn't get over it. In anger, he did something wrong that ruined someone's life.

As a minor and with a wealthy family, the matter was easily settled by Zheng Yuxuan's parents, who took their son to another school. No one knew that this seemingly respectable teenager had committed such a devilish act. As an innocent victim, Fang Yutong's parents took the compensation money from the Zheng family and ran away, leaving her in a nightmare.

"Uncle policeman," Fang Yutong said with bulging veins on her forehead, "Did Zheng Yuxuan kill my brother? He still won't let me go, right?"
Xi Ming didn't know what to say for a moment, and said dryly: "Calm down first, this is what happened. The person you call brother is Zheng Yuxuan."
Fang Yutong seemed not to understand and was stunned for a moment. Then she touched the back of the chair and stood up: "What are you talking about?"
"The body found in your home was Zheng Yuxuan's. If you are sure that he is the person you have been with day and night, then my words should have made it very clear." Xi Ming felt that it was cruel to say this to her. They had not expected that this matter would come between them, so they had to ask again, "Are you sure you didn't recognize the wrong person?"

No, of course not. Fang Yutong's slender arms began to tremble uncontrollably, and her originally pale face turned as pale as paper. There was a scar on her brother's calf. She felt it clearly when she touched his body. There was no way she could be wrong. But how could he be Zheng Yuxuan? She thought she had met her savior and wanted to live a good life with him wholeheartedly, but he turned out to be the instigator of everything -

"Why did he do this?"

After listening to Xi Ming's retelling, everyone in the conference room raised questions. "He gave up evil and turned to good, and had a change of heart?" Zhao Chongyun curled his lips. "He's already dead, and we don't know what he was thinking. If he took care of Fang Yutong for the past three years just to atone for the mistakes he made when he was a child, then I can't accept it. The damage has been done and it can't be undone. Not to mention that he owed her a lifetime of hard work, he must have known Fang Yutong's attitude, otherwise he wouldn't have followed her incognito."

Xi Ming agreed, "Yes, this is the first time we agree. I also think that what Zheng Yuxuan did is unforgivable."

"So, does Zheng Yuxuan also 'deserve to die'?" Lu Shaohui turned around and scribbled a few words on the whiteboard, saying, "Kang Wenxia maliciously made noise that disturbed the rest of the neighbors downstairs, and Zheng Yuxuan was a perpetrator of school bullying. In a sense, these two people are not good people. Is this a common point?"

Xi Ming asked in confusion: "What does the old man say? He is already halfway into the coffin, has he committed any unforgivable sins?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Wei Cheng came in with an old newspaper. He happened to hear this and said, "I may know the master's identity."
Xie Qingfei raised his head: "Are you an acquaintance?"
"Your acquaintance." Wei Cheng replied, spreading the newspaper to the front page and handing it to her. "Two years ago, a man on the roof of Tianning Bank tried to commit suicide by jumping off the building, but was stopped by a teller in time."

After being reminded by him, Xi Ming also remembered: "Isn't it a middle-aged man in his forties who failed in investment?"
Wei Cheng nodded, "He was bankrupt and his wife and children were separated. He was so depressed that he jumped off the building. The teller who grabbed him had just started working and was still in the internship period. He also tried his best to save her, but he was too weak after all. When the uncle saw her, he thought of his daughter who was about the same age as her. He knew he was not going to survive, so he let go and fell down himself for fear of getting her into trouble."
Xie Qingfei continued, "When the firefighters arrived, the girl was also sent to the ambulance because of a dislocated arm. An old man in the crowd took the opportunity to say some unpleasant words—"

Is this woman the man's mistress? She wanted the money and let the man fall on purpose?
He is so young, but he has such a vicious heart.
Other people also refuted his words, but he blocked them all: How could she not save him if she really wanted to? She clearly held him. In my opinion, she didn't want the man to live at all! We should call the police and ask them to investigate this woman. She put on makeup and looked like a vixen. I don't know how many people she has harmed!
The girl who saved the man heard every word of these words, and it was only a week before she became depressed and committed suicide.

"After the incident was made public, the old man who spoke was dug up by netizens. Although the relevant video cannot be circulated due to privacy issues, the incident was written into the front page and discussed for a long time." Wei Cheng said, "I saw the video before the online news was deleted. There is a very conspicuous round mole next to his lower lip. I just went to the forensic doctor to confirm that there is a mole in the same position on the sutured wound. The uncle is this old man."

"So, I am not a good guy either?" Lu Shaohui looked at Xie Qingfei, "This murderer really wants to 'enforce justice on behalf of heaven'."

Xie Qingfei handed the newspaper to Dai Lin and asked her to check the old man's specific identity information.

"There are also the '×' marks that appeared next to the three dead bodies. This is what I think. Zheng Yuxuan caused Fang Yutong to be disfigured and blind, so his eyes were cut with '×' by the knife. The old man's bad mouth caused the teller who saved people to commit suicide, so the murderer cut his mouth open. When Shaohui and I went to Kang Wenxia's house this morning, we found a lot of high heels in the shoe cabinet. Combined with what Du Manhe said, we can also know that Kang Wenxia's walking noise is too disturbing. In the private chat record between Du Manhe and that netizen, she also emphasized this point. But the numbers were engraved on the soles of Kang Wenxia's feet, and the marks were left on the mirror by the murderer. This makes me a little confused."

"Kang Wenxia is number 3, between the old man and Zheng Yuxuan, so it shouldn't be that the murderer didn't think of the method of committing the crime in advance." Zhao Chongyun pondered, "Master, could it be that the murderer's thoughts were interrupted by something while he was killing Kang Wenxia, ​​or that some unexpected incident prevented him from completing the whole process in time, so he just hastily killed her?"

Lu Shaohui responded, "I think what Xiao Zhao said makes sense. Didn't you also say that the murderer didn't know the situation near Kang Wenxia's home?"
Xie Qingfei hummed, as if agreeing with their guess.
Then she said slowly: "If the murderer's criterion for selecting his victims is whether the other party has done anything immoral, then how can we determine who the next victim will be?"

How many people in the world dare to say that they have never done anything that they feel guilty about in their lives? Students who don't study well are in violation of the Education Law; calling someone "idiot" is also considered a verbal offense; spitting is a well-known lack of quality. Even if you don't do anything wicked, no one can guarantee that the butterfly effect of your unintentional actions will not harm innocent people.

If the murderer was really determined to "enforce justice", he would have too many targets to target, and they would be impossible to deduce or predict.

There was a moment of silence in the conference room, and everyone broke out in cold sweats.

At this time, there was a knock on the door. Xi Ming, who was closest to the door, shivered with fear. He turned around and saw a colleague coming over with a banner. "Thank you, Captain. The guard said this was given to you by a man named Xu Siruo, and asked me to bring it up on the way."

Xu Maokun and Tan Wei are both dead. There is no way to verify Xu Maokun's background. Xu Siwei is undoubtedly an illegitimate child. He has also been accused of abusing banned drugs, raping women, and murder. The family fortune was eventually inherited by Xu Siruo, the legal "legitimate son".

This episode broke the serious atmosphere, and Lu Shaohui was the first to laugh: "It's not often that ordinary people send us silk banners. This is rare."
Xi Ming took the item and said with a smile, "Xu Siruo has adapted to local customs so quickly. He even knows to give a banner. Brother, can you help me hold that end?"
Wei Cheng said coldly: "Take it yourself, it's not a gift for me."
"Tsk." Xi Ming had nothing to say to the jealous guy, and called out to Zhao Chongyun, "You... forget it."
Not a normal person either.

He untied his own straps, unfolded the half-man-high banner in front of him, and said, "Let's see what it says. Is it something like 'Police leader solves cases quickly'?"
As he moved, large yellow characters on a red background appeared before everyone's eyes.
Xie Qingfei looked over curiously, and saw his own name at a glance, followed by five large characters with dashes -

Aunt Qingtian.

(End of this chapter)