Reborn in 97, I solved a cold case at the Municipal Bureau

Chapter 297 Going to Anyuan

Zhou Yi replied, "Because I now suspect whether Fu Daqing is the murderer or not."

These words startled the members of the Third Brigade. The most suspicious person at present was Fu Daqing. How could he suddenly not be the murderer?

"Tell me more details, don't hold back," Wu Yongcheng urged.

Zhou Yi thought to himself, "I didn't hide it either."

"Here's the thing, my opinion is that the timing of Fu Daqing's plan to flee is very delicate. Before he decided to flee, what do you think happened?"

Wu Yongcheng said, "Lock down the city."

"Yes. Let's make two assumptions. First, let's assume that Fu Daqing just fled back to Hongcheng from another city and then hurriedly sold his assets to run away. If he is the murderer, would he risk running back to a city where the police have just conducted a city-wide manhunt for such a small gain?"

The answer is undoubtedly no.

The mentality of a fugitive murderer is such that the sound of a police siren makes him tremble, and he avoids it at all costs.

"Let's make a second assumption: suppose Fu Daqing had already fled back to Hongcheng before this, but hid at home undetected. It wasn't until the city was locked down and a manhunt took place that he got scared, and once the heat died down, he immediately planned to flee, thus selling off his assets. Which scenario do you think is more reasonable?"

Is there even a question? Of course it's the latter.

"If he wasn't the murderer, why did he run away?" Chen Yan asked.

“Good question. Either he knows how Li Youqiang died, or he has other problems himself. Either way, arresting him is definitely the right thing to do.”

Jiang Biao said, "Could it be that he killed Li Youqiang, fled to his home to escape punishment, and was scared by our city lockdown, so he finally ran away?"

"If a murderer runs back to his own home, isn't that like catching a turtle in a jar? If it's the first hypothesis, there's a possibility that he's worried about his father, so he risked coming back to settle him down."

Jiang Biao stood up and said, "Simple, I'll go check the water and electricity situation at Fu Daqing's house for the past few months right now."

There is another reason why Zhou Yi believes that Fu Daqing is not the murderer of Li Youqiang.

In the previous life, there were no case files related to Fu Daqing and Li Youqiang.

The body found in the well in Anyuan City would definitely have been discovered in his previous life. As for whether the case was solved there, he didn't know, because it was a case file from another province or city, which he couldn't access.

But he tends to believe it remains unsolved, a cold case.

Because the basic premise of solving a case is to confirm the identity of the deceased; otherwise, it becomes a wrongful conviction.

If it's just a simple matter of verifying identity and investigating some information, like when Zhou Yi asked Lu Zhengfeng for help with an investigation, it's considered an act of assistance and doesn't need to be documented in writing.

However, what the Third Brigade is doing now already falls under the category of collaborative case handling. In the end, there will be a separate case record here, as well as a backup of Anyuan's case file that will be synchronized after the case is solved.

In the previous life, if An Yuan had found Li Youqiang, it would have been impossible for them not to find Fu Daqing. As long as they found Gua Ge, the Municipal Bureau would have kept a case file.

Having worked at the Municipal Public Security Bureau for six years, it's impossible that I wouldn't know this.

After a while, someone delivered a search warrant for Li Youqiang's house. Wu Yongcheng asked them if they had eaten enough.

Zhou Yi said, "Captain Wu, how about we hold off for a bit? Zhang Xianglan is still in the hospital taking care of her mother-in-law. If we call her back now and say we're going to search her, I'm afraid her body won't be able to handle it."

Wu Yongcheng thought for a moment, nodded, and decided there was no rush.

"Alright, let's search again tomorrow. If you're not busy, go back and rest first. Tomorrow, we'll summarize the information and then communicate with An Yuan."

……

The next day, the Third Brigade officially searched Li Youqiang's house, and Zhang Xianglan was called back from the hospital.

The area is already densely populated, and when the police arrived, the surrounding area was immediately packed with onlookers.

Because the room was too dark, even with the lights on, it wasn't bright enough, so the police officers in charge of the search had to use flashlights.

Strictly speaking, it wasn't until October of last year that the country officially implemented the Gun Control Law, enacting a comprehensive ban on firearms.

Because in the 1990s, there had been many public security incidents across the country.

These outrageous security incidents prompted the emergence of comprehensive gun control regulations. From then on, guns became something that people feared as much as drugs.

Although the onlookers did not know why the police were searching Li Youqiang's house, they were all neighbors and knew that Li Youqiang had been missing for a long time.

Some speculated that Li Youqiang had committed a crime and been arrested, while others speculated that he was dead.

Zhang Xianglan stood under the low eaves, her eyes vacant, her face ashen, like a walking corpse.

"Captain Wu, we couldn't find it," Qiao Jiali said as she came out of the house.

Wu Yongcheng nodded. "It seems Li Youqiang took them away. Didn't you find anything else?"

No abnormalities were found.

“Alright, let’s call it a day then,” Wu Yongcheng said to Zhou Yi. “You know the families well, so go and talk to them.” Zhou Yi nodded and walked over to Zhang Xianglan.

"Ms. Zhang, we have finished searching here and there are no problems. Sorry to bother you."

Zhang Xianglan nodded mechanically. She had heavy dark circles under her eyes and looked exhausted, appearing even more tired than the night before.

"Officer Zhou..." she said in a hoarse voice, "Can I go to Anyuan and bring my husband back?"

Zhou Yi found it strange. Hadn't they already discussed it last night? Why did they suddenly change their minds and want to go to Anyuan?
"Ms. Zhang..."

Just as Zhou Yi began to speak, Zhang Xianglan said, "My mother-in-law passed away early this morning."

What? ? ?
Zhou Yi was shocked, thinking he had misheard.

"Didn't the doctor say it was just a small blood vessel rupture, and that there was no danger to his life?"

Zhang Xianglan covered her face and wept bitterly, shaking her head repeatedly: "The doctor didn't know why this happened either. But I know that Youqiang is gone, so she didn't want to live anymore. When she was dying, she kept calling out 'Qiangzi, Qiangzi.' So I want to bring Youqiang back, otherwise my mother-in-law won't be able to rest in peace."

Zhou Yi felt a little sad. He remembered the old lady who had complained to him in the hospital room, and how she had asked him timidly and cautiously if he had any news of her son.

And then there's Zhang Xianglan. When I found her yesterday afternoon, she was full of resentment towards her husband and mother-in-law. But after get off work that night, she rushed to see her mother-in-law, and stayed by her side all night, never taking off her clothes, even though her mother-in-law was hospitalized.

Regardless of what kind of person Li Youqiang is, at least he has a mother who loves him dearly and a wife who has a sharp tongue but a kind heart. Both women have done right by him.

Zhou Yi was in a dilemma. Identifying the body was no problem, but taking it away was another matter.

Of course, the so-called "taking away" means cremating the body on the spot and then taking the ashes back. Transporting the body back from another place by special vehicle, which is five or six hundred kilometers away, is simply unrealistic for such low-income families.

However, even cremation is not something the family can decide.

It depends on the attitude of the Anyuan police, because there are risks in cremating the body before the case is solved. Even if the autopsy has been completed, the family will not be allowed to cremate the body in the short term.

Cremation is only permitted when the investigation is stalled and cannot proceed for the time being, and the feelings of the family members must be taken into consideration. Even then, an application must be submitted in accordance with the proper procedures.

However, since the case has just been filed, even if Zhang Xianglan goes to Anyuan to file an application, Anyuan will most likely reject it on the grounds of re-examination or evidence preservation.

This was undoubtedly a secondary injury for Zhang Xianglan, who had run over.

Seeing Zhou Yi hesitate, Zhang Xianglan asked in a trembling voice, "You won't even return my husband's body to me, will you? His mother is lying in the hospital morgue."

“Ms. Zhang, we deeply sympathize with your situation,” Wu Yongcheng said as he approached. “Your husband’s body will certainly be returned to you, but since the case didn’t occur in Hongcheng, we cannot presume to grant your request on behalf of the local police. You can choose to apply in Anyuan, but there is an approval process after the application, so it may not be quick…”

Zhou Yi understood that Wu Yongcheng's intention was to make her back down temporarily.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Xianglan firmly said, "Okay, I'll go and apply to them."

At this point, Zhou Yi understood that it wasn't that Zhang Xianglan needed to bring her husband's body back immediately, but rather that she needed to find a goal to support herself.

For someone who suddenly suffers a major blow, this is a self-protection mechanism.

If she doesn't find a goal to pursue, her mind might immediately collapse.

Zhou Yi whispered his idea to Wu Yongcheng, who nodded slightly and then said, "Zhou Yi, how about... you go on a business trip to Anyuan?"

"A business trip?" Zhou Yi asked in surprise. "Captain Wu, this case was filed by An Yuan. Isn't it inappropriate for us to go to their territory and interfere?"

"I didn't say you had to get involved. It's a joint investigation, with them taking the lead. You can offer suggestions when appropriate. Besides, we still need to investigate Li Youqiang and Fu Daqing's social connections, which is a joint case. I'll report this to Director Xie later and ask him to talk to An Yuan and get a letter of cooperation. They won't make things difficult for you."

Wu Yongcheng leaned close to Zhou Yi's ear and said, "Just don't be too high-profile in your actions, so that people don't think we're here to steal credit. Also, don't do any secret enforcement, or we'll be criticized."

Zhou Yi knew that the secret law enforcement he was referring to meant conducting investigations independently by bypassing the local police when handling cases in other locations.

"I understand, but... is it really necessary?"

Wu Yongcheng glanced at Zhang Xianglan and said, "Why don't you persuade her not to go?"

“Oh…” Zhou Yi immediately understood. Wu Yongcheng was afraid that Zhang Xianglan was too obsessed and kept dragging things out in Anyuan, which would only make things more complicated.

At the same time, they were probably also afraid that the case would reach a stalemate and become difficult to solve.

So this can be considered as sending oneself to break the deadlock.

The problem is, once you leave the province, the advantage of your previous life's records will be gone.

In layman's terms, it means he didn't die.

Moreover, Zhou Yi had another concern.

　Thank you to Yuelun Tianxia Diyi for the 16 monthly votes, and thank you to all the readers who voted.

　　If you'd like to continue reading, you can do so for now. I will write "[This volume is complete]" in the title at the end of this volume.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)