Silver Snow Line [Criminal Investigation]

The snow outside the window was much heavier than before. The dense snowflakes kept hitting the window. The whole sky was dyed gray and white, as if wrapped in a layer of rotten shroud.

Fang Yutong seemed to be able to hear the snowflakes falling, but that was not as clear as the sound of her teeth chattering.

The chair was pulled away, making a sharp sound on the ground.
Fang Yutong stood stiffly where she was, feeling the smell of tobacco getting closer and closer. The person was right in front of her.
He's coming to kill her, she thought.
Well, what she lacks the least is the courage to die.
Fang Yutong's heart suddenly calmed down. She raised her neck calmly, exposing her most vulnerable part to the other person.

"Did you have meal?"

After waiting for a long time, she heard a deep and rich male voice asking.

Fang Yutong was slightly startled. She felt that the voice was very familiar, as if she had heard it somewhere before.

While she was frowning and thinking, the man had already pulled her wrist and led her to sit on a chair. Fang Yutong smelled the aroma of food in front of her, and chopsticks were stuffed into her hand. She tasted that it was a bowl of plain noodles.

"You are too thin. Is Zheng Yuxuan usually not nice to you?"
Hearing this name suddenly, Fang Yutong pursed her lips uncomfortably: "He is very good to me."
The man sneered.

As she was eating, she felt that gaze was staring at her. The sound of footsteps, one shallow and one deep, gradually faded away. It was him walking in the hut. Fang Yutong focused her attention on recalling that voice. The same voice would sound different when the speaker was in different emotions, but sometimes the habit of breath and pronunciation was not even noticed by the speaker himself.

Not far away, Fang Yutong heard him say again: "Zheng Yuxuan's actions are unforgivable. He should pay the price for his mistakes."

Another identical voice sounded in Fang Yutong's ears at the same time, and memories came flooding back.
——"It was never your fault to reject him. He should pay the price for his actions."

"I helped you get revenge, you should be happy. Do you want to live in the lies he made up forever?"
——"Don't worry, no matter how rich and powerful his family is, they are not above the law. I will definitely help you get justice."

"Little girl."
——"Xiaotong."

"You have a long life ahead of you, be strong and live well."
——"You are still young, you shouldn't be defeated by the bad guys like this. You have to live well to see the day when he gets his comeuppance."

Fang Yutong suddenly pushed the chair away and stumbled almost falling in front of the man. She grasped the corner of his clothes tightly with her cold hands and said in a hoarse voice: "Kill me too."

"..."

"I know who you are."

The man fell into a long silence, so long that Fang Yutong thought he would no longer pay attention to her, but he finally helped her up and said, "Take good care of yourself."

There was a hint of panic in his tone, and his footsteps were hurried and heavy. Fang Yutong was stuffed with a tissue in her hand. It took her a long time to realize that she had shed tears. When she raised her hand to wipe it, her cheeks were dry, and the man had already left.

Only loneliness remained in the air. Fang Yutong's stiff hands and feet regained strength. She went back to the dining table and took the dishes she had eaten to the kitchen to wash. When the water rushed out, she seemed to hear her brother's voice again.
"Put me down and let me wash. Don't touch the cold water."
"With me here, can I still let you work?"
"You are touched already? Are you stupid?"
"I will always be so good to you. Why? Tell me why?"
"Okay, okay, I won't say anything anymore."
"because I like you."

Suddenly, she heard a soft "pop" sound. Fang Yutong quickly turned off the faucet and went to meet him. For a moment, she almost thought that her brother had come back. However, after a few seconds of waiting, nothing she expected happened. It was just the sound of the branches outside the window breaking after being crushed by the heavy snow.

She lay quietly by the sink for a long time, and finally took the dishes out of the sink and put them in the cabinet on the lower level.
The man, his fingers brushed against her skin as he supported her, and she noticed then that he was not wearing gloves.
Therefore, fingerprints will definitely be left on the dishes and chopsticks that he touched.

"He left no fingerprints, dandruff, or hair, a series of traces that could prove the suspect's identity. He is the most cautious murderer I have ever seen."

Cheng Buyu had just stepped off the autopsy table when Qin Haiyang's body was pushed into the freezer. "We have tested the cigarette butts you sent people to retrieve, and there is no matching DNA information in our database. How could a serial killer who had no criminal record choose to take this path?"

Xie Qingfei: "I want to see Zheng Yuxuan's body."
"Okay," Cheng Buyu walked to the other side and opened the cabinet, "This is it."

Cold mist rolled up clouds in the air, and Xie Qingfei looked at the pale body of the boy. The scratches on Zheng Yuxuan's eyes ruined his originally handsome appearance, just like Fang Yutong.
Xie Qingfei glanced at the hideous knife wound on his face and stared: "What's wrong with his mouth?"
"Oh, he bit off half of his tongue," Cheng Buyu paused and said, "He must have thought it was an ordinary home invasion when he saw the murderer, and was afraid that the noise would be too loud and wake up Fang Yutong who was still sleeping in the room."
He felt that as long as he stood outside, the murderer might not discover that there was another person at home, and Fang Yutong would be spared from being killed. So he insisted on not making a sound when he was being beaten and dying, and eventually even bit off his tongue.
Because he was so determined, the murderer had to fight with him, so he had the most injuries among the four victims.

Xie Qingfei took another look at the bruises and scratches on Zheng Yuxuan's right hand, measured the length from his shoulder to his elbow with his fingers, and couldn't figure out how it was caused.

Seeing that she looked calm, Cheng Buyu asked curiously, "I've also heard about what happened between these two children. Do you think Zheng Yuxuan's fate... is it really what he deserved?"
"I have no right to comment." Xie Qingfei motioned for him to put the person back in place, and said lightly, "Only Fang Yutong is qualified to decide whether Zheng Yuxuan should be forgiven. If you want to say whether he should die, of course not. Who has the right to dominate the life and death of others? The most heinous villains also have human rights before being tried." Cheng Buyu changed his clothes, and the two chatted as they walked.

"After New Year's Day, the school will have winter vacation in two weeks, right? Do you have any plans to travel with your friends?"
Holidays are extremely precious to the public security community, and people like Xie Qingfei who have a winter vacation are even more enviable and jealous.
She shook her head: "Do you really think I'm a full-time teacher? You have to come back to work."
Although Cheng Buyu was not surprised by her decision, he still said, "This is a rare opportunity. I think you can take a break and relax. I have never seen you playing with friends before."

Cheng Buyu was stunned when he said this, and then realized that Xie Qingfei was indeed very lonely these years. Not only had he never heard her mention any close friends, but even where she lived, they, who had been together for many years, had no idea. Although she did not deliberately set up social red lines in front of him, it was not easy to get close to her.
Later, she got together with Wei Cheng. Love is a very mundane thing, but this precious intimate relationship did not last.

Xie Qingfei heard his hesitation and said with a smile: "What are you talking about? Aren't you my friend?"
Cheng Buyu said: "I was your colleague first."
"I see. It's my fault for being too polite to you." Xie Qingfei joked, "Then you should be more careful in the future. I am a lovely person who likes to order people around."
Cheng Buyu saw that she didn't want to continue this topic, so he smiled and said cooperatively, "I'll follow Captain Xie's orders."

When he arrived at the office, Lu Shaohui said that Li Mu had already arrived at the Public Security Bureau and was now waiting in the interrogation room.

Xie Qingfei asked Zhao Chongyun to go in with her. At first glance, she felt that Li Mu looked very different from what she had imagined.

The information shows that Li Mu is 33 years old this year. He is wearing a three-piece suit that is obviously made of expensive and sophisticated fabric. His coat is folded and hung on the back of a chair. He has his hair combed back and wears a pair of gold-rimmed glasses on his nose. His appearance is not very handsome, and can be said to be ordinary, but because of his clothes and demeanor, his whole gesture naturally reveals an elegant and gentle temperament.

He didn't even mention his identity as the "leader's nephew". After the two of them entered the room, he took the initiative to stand up and extended his hand to Xie Qingfei. Zhao Chongyun stood in front of him and shook hands with him.

Xi Ming said in the monitoring room: "At first, our master told us to focus on investigating whether Li Mu had done anything to bully others. I thought he was a second-generation official who was arrogant. And his novels were just so-so, not like someone with a lot of knowledge. Now it seems... I was a little wrong."

Lv Shaohui was also looking through Li Mu's resume and frowned: "'Outstanding youth representative of Shengzhou City in 2022, made outstanding contributions in the fields of culture and education' - it doesn't mention what contribution he made. 'Member of Shengzhou City Youth Writers Association, representative works...' It's too literary to understand, so I can't criticize it. 'Focus on public welfare and provide economic and material support for the healthy growth of young people and children', if this is true, it's not bad."

"Three pages full of serious titles and projects," Xi Ming sighed. "If I stop being a policeman and go out to look for a job, the one about the farthest pee in the neighborhood will have to be written on a separate line to make up the word count."

In the monitoring screen.

"I rushed back as soon as I received the call. I'm sorry, but high-speed rail tickets for last-minute trips are hard to buy, and I'm not very familiar with the ticket-grabbing mechanisms on the software. I'm sorry to have kept you waiting for a long time. Please let me know if there's anything I can help with." Li Mu said humbly.
Zhao Chongyun said, "It's like this, Mr. Li. We invited you here to ask you about the circumstances under which you wrote the book "Nightmare at Versailles"?"
"This one?" Li Mu smiled, obviously very satisfied with his work. "Because I have read too much news in real life, I really hope that all the evildoers who break the law and commit crimes can be punished by law. Suspense novels have always been a subject of interest to me, and this book can be regarded as a breakthrough work of mine."

Xie Qingfei pressed his temples, thinking that people who didn't know the situation would think that these two were doing a special interview, one daring to ask questions and the other daring to answer.
She signaled Zhao Chongyun to shut up and asked herself: "Since you said you were inspired by real news, do the protagonist Vansetti and the murderer X have prototypes?"
"Of course not. I personally think that character prototypes are a taboo in creation. Real people are often not perfect, which can easily shatter readers' fantasies." Li Mu said with a slight smile, "But I have to admit that many of the views expressed by Versetti in the article are my own thoughts. He and I look at things from the same perspective."

Xie Qingfei: "What are the specific aspects?"
Li Mu: "Vassetti dreamed of becoming an excellent detective since he was a child. His talent was already shown when he was a child. When he was young, he led his playmates to protect classmates who were bullied. When he grew up and became a detective, he never let any evildoer escape from his hands. That's why I named him after the God of Justice."
Xie Qingfei: "What about X? How did you create this character?"
"X is a bad guy who has done many evil things. He is nothing special except that he is a little clever." Li Mu thought for a moment and said, "He comes from a mediocre family, has low self-esteem and is suspicious. He always blames others for everything. He is also jealous of the protagonist Versetti's popularity. Because of his psychological imbalance, he wants to vent his anger by killing people. He enjoys the process of embarrassing Versetti. It's a pity that his cleverness can't achieve anything big, and the conspiracy was eventually exposed."

Xie Qingfei nodded thoughtfully, and then said: "Mr. Li, we are currently investigating a serial murder case, and the information the murderer left us has always puzzled us."
Li Mu asked with great interest: "You called me here to help solve the case?"
Zhao Chongyun cleared his throat and said in a deep voice, "We called you here because the murderer in these cases is like the X in your novel. He is a person who carves numbers on the bodies of the dead and leaves his name on the scene."
The excited smile on Li Mu's face froze instantly, and he waved his hands in panic: "This... I don't know."

"So we hope you can provide a few more clues," Xie Qingfei assessed his expression, "Do you have any enemies? For example, competitors at work, or companions you don't get along with in life."
Li Mu smiled bitterly and shook his head: "I am not a fun-loving person, I don't have many friends, and I never have conflicts with others. I really can't think of it. Sorry."

Xie Qingfei raised his hand towards the surveillance camera.
Xi Ming stroked his chin and said, "He didn't lie. That's right, as his uncle, his sons and nephews must keep a low profile."

The next second, Xie Qingfei said in a casual tone: "Your uncle called me and told me about your usual situation. He cares about you very much."
Li Mu smiled slightly: "My uncle has no son, and he loves me like his own son."
Xie Qingfei suddenly asked: "What if someone wants to deal with him and chooses to start with you?"
Li Mu was slightly startled, and immediately lowered his voice nervously: "You mean someone wants to harm my uncle? He is about to retire..."
"He's about to retire, but he's not dead yet." Xie Qingfei borrowed Director Huang's words, "This is a good time to settle accounts."
Li Mu's lips were pressed into a straight line, and he could hardly maintain his elegant expression. He didn't know what he thought about because of these few words, and his eyebrows were getting more and more furrowed.
"Can I, can I call him?" he asked, licking his dry lips.
"Of course," Xie Qingfei agreed immediately, and then thought of something and comforted him, "You are a family, even if something happens, he will protect you first, don't worry too much."
Li Mu's face had turned pale, and he responded dryly with "yes".

Zhao Chongyun returned his phone to him. Li Mu stared at the screen in silence for a long time, then put the phone back in his pocket and said to Xie Qingfei, "Are you sure whether this is directed at my uncle or me? I... need a direction to think about."
Xie Qingfei: "You have the answer in your heart, think about it carefully."
As expected, Li Mu stopped talking.

After leaving the house, Zhao Chongyun came forward and asked, "Master, is this really related to Director Li?"
"When did I ever say it was related to him?" Xie Qingfei stretched his back. "It's obviously Li Mu who has a problem with his comprehension ability. If he wants to think about it, let him think about it. Maybe there will be a surprise."
As soon as Zhao Chongyun realized what was happening, he blurted out, "Master, you are so sinister..."
Xie Qingfei: "Hmm?"
"Heroic and resourceful." Zhao Chongyun quickly changed his words.
"We just took advantage of the information gap. Neither Li Mu nor Li Guangming knew what the police wanted him to cooperate in investigating, so there was no way to communicate the situation in advance. Li Mu's thinking space was restricted by us, and he was naturally affected by anxiety and suspicion, which led to illusions." Xie Qingfei said, "But if the situation is not special, don't do it like me."
Zhao Chongyun touched his head and asked, "Is there something special about Li Mu?"
Xie Qingfei: "It's like a murderer. He doesn't think what he did was a bad thing."

Leaving Zhao Chongyun still standing there in a daze, Xie Qingfei returned to the office and when he didn't see Wei Cheng, he sent him a WeChat message.

Wei Cheng had just finished a meeting and was on his way to the parking lot. He saw the message when he walked to his car and was about to reply when he suddenly heard someone calling him from behind.
Wei Cheng turned around and saw Captain Pu Yu, whom he had met last time, waving at him with a smile.
He remembered what Xie Qingfei had said before, and wondered why the other party appeared here. He nodded symbolically and didn't intend to pay any more attention to him.

Pu Yu walked up and pressed the driver's door: "Doctor Wei, do you have time to chat?"
Wei Cheng lowered his eyes and glanced at her: "Sorry, I don't have time."
Pu Yu narrowed his eyes and asked, "Did Xiao Qingfei say something bad about me to you?"
Wei Cheng asked back: "What bad things have you done to deserve her to say that?"
Pu Yu was stunned for a moment, then smiled: "Yes, you must like her very much since you defend her so much."

Wei Cheng's eyes fell on her hand pressing the car door: "I'm leaving."
"She never mentioned me to you?" Pu Yu seemed not to hear him. "That shouldn't be the case. She never mentioned me at all?"
Wei Cheng simply opened the car door and was about to lift his leg.
Pu Yu: "I am her master."

(End of this chapter)