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

Chapter 561 International Hospital
Saint-De International Hospital.

Shen Jiale looked at the spotless ward in surprise.

In this exquisitely decorated hospital room, besides a hospital bed, there is a wardrobe, a coffee table, a soft sofa, and a large color TV.

He was a city dweller from a relatively well-off family, but looking at his surroundings, he felt like a country bumpkin.

Zhou Yi, on the other hand, did not show any surprise.

After all, no matter how luxurious the renovation was in 1997, the materials and aesthetics could not compare with those of twenty or thirty years later.

Besides, no matter how luxurious a private hospital ward is, it's still just a ward. The most luxurious ward Zhou Yi has ever seen these days is the Golden Phoenix Nightclub.

There was a sense of luxury there that seemed to transcend the times.

Lying on the hospital bed is Wang Xinkai. Although he has woken up, he is still wearing an oxygen mask and his face is somewhat pale.

Sitting beside the hospital bed was the elegant lady I had seen outside the emergency room that day, Zhang Hongjing, Wang Xinkai's mother.

Next to Zhang Hongjing was a man in a suit and glasses. He introduced himself as Wang Xinkai's lawyer, surnamed Jiang. The business card he handed to Zhou Yi read: Haohan Law Firm, Senior Partner, Jiang Wenhan.

Whether this lawyer Jiang thought the two policemen were too young or shared the same bad taste as Wang Mingyi, he spoke with an arrogant expression.

If he weren't half a head shorter than Zhou Yi, this lawyer would probably judge people by their noses.

Two burly bodyguards stood guard outside the door.

Zhou Yi had previously called Wang Mingyi to inquire whether Wang Xinkai had regained consciousness.

He wanted to confirm whether the person who stabbed Wang Xinkai on Xinkang Road outside the art school was Tian Yipeng.

Although he hadn't yet figured out what connection the two could have, he didn't believe Tian Yipeng's death was as unexpected as it seemed on the surface.

There are too many coincidences, making it highly suspicious.

But at the same time, he was also unsure, because there was another very important reason.

In my memory, there was no such case in my previous life.

Then there are two possibilities.

First, Tian Yipeng was safe and sound in his previous life!
The trouble in this life is due to Zhou Yi's appearance and intervention.

The problem is that Zhou Yi and this Teacher Tian had no direct contact whatsoever.

Indirect contact was through Director Wang, who made an extra home visit last night compared to the previous life.

However, when Director Wang and his team went to visit the homes, they didn't get any useful information.

Therefore, Zhou Yi does not favor this possibility.

Tian Yipeng's death should not be closely related to my involvement.

That would be the second possibility. In his previous life, Tian Yipeng also died, but the final determination should be that it was an accident, not murder.

It's understandable that Zhou Yi hadn't seen the file.

This means that neither the forensic autopsy nor the on-site investigation found anything unusual.

In this situation, considering Tian Yipeng's personal social relationships and ruling out the possibility of homicide, it would be classified as an accident.

Logically speaking, this makes sense.

But two points were missing in the previous life.

First, there's Zhou Yi's existence. Apart from Zhou Yi, no one would connect Wang Xinkai, Zhu Lingling, and Qin Chao with Tian Yipeng's death, especially since these are two cases that occurred almost two months apart.

Secondly, there was that flowerpot from yesterday afternoon. In my previous life, there was no home visit, so naturally, there wouldn't have been a flowerpot that was smashed down.

If someone really wanted to kill Tian Yipeng, then the murderer would definitely have been secretly following Tian Yipeng.

Then create an accident to kill the person.

This is the least risky approach.

Unfortunately, it failed.

That's why we're experiencing a gas leak now.

Zhou Yi even suspected that Tian Yipeng's cause of death in his previous life was not carbon monoxide poisoning.

Because of the high concentration of gas, any careless action by anyone, such as the school discovering that Tian Yipeng is missing and casually ringing the doorbell when they go to look for him, could trigger a huge explosion that could affect the entire building.

This is an extremely serious safety incident. Not only will the city government have to intervene, but the provincial government will probably have to get involved as well.

Wu Guang and Hongcheng are only one city apart. If something this big happened, Zhou Yi, who works within the system, couldn't possibly have been completely unaware of it.

In other words, Tian Yipeng in his previous life may have died in an accident!

For example, it could also be a flowerpot.

After all, if a flowerpot falling from the fifth or sixth floor hits a person's head, the probability of death is extremely high.

If a person is destined to die in an accident in both of their lives, then it is definitely not an accident!
Although Zhou Yi had also watched some time loop movies, he believed that fate had determined that a person was destined to die.

But there are no mysterious forces in the real world. A person will die in different times and spaces. As a criminal police officer, Zhou Yi thought that there must be a murderer!
His first suspicion was of Wang Mingyi, an arrogant big boss who seemed like the kind of person who would hire someone to commit murder.

But even if you want to avenge your son, you have to be targeted.

After all, Zhou Yi hasn't even found out who stabbed Wang Xinkai yet, so even if Wang Mingyi hires a private investigator, he can't possibly find out faster than the police.

In China, the main job of private investigators is to catch mistresses, collect evidence, and help their clients gain the confidence to fight divorce and divide assets.

In criminal cases, private investigators not only face significant difficulties, but their investigations are often illegal, and the police can handle such cases according to the law.

Detectives are largely mythologized in literature and film; in reality, it's incredibly difficult for a detective to even access a case file.

Therefore, if Wang Mingyi were to hire someone to commit murder, he would have two ways of finding out about the target.

The first option is to wait for the police to find out, and then find out through a lawyer or other personal connections.

The second scenario is that Wang Xinkai wakes up and directly asks him who the murderer is.
Logically speaking, the second option is more reliable, because Wang Xinkai's coma is only temporary, he is out of danger, and it is only a matter of time before he wakes up.

But Zhou Yi couldn't understand why Wang Mingyi would go to such lengths to specifically request him to handle this case. What was the point?
Therefore, Zhou Yi was skeptical when Wang Mingyi answered him on the phone that Wang Xinkai did not know the murderer.

So he requested to see Wang Xinkai in a formal manner and asked him about the incident in person.

Zhou Yi thought the other party would make excuses to obstruct him.

As a result, Wang Mingyi readily provided the address of the private hospital and politely said that he was temporarily unable to attend and would not be able to accompany him.

When Zhou Yi and Shen Jiale arrived at Shengde International Hospital, a pretty young nurse was already waiting at the entrance. She immediately told them that it was Mr. Wang's order.

Then they were led to the ward upstairs.

"Wang Xinkai," Zhou Yi called out, "I am Zhou Yi from the Criminal Investigation Detachment of Wuguang City. This is my colleague Shen Jiale, and this is my identification."

"Are you able to speak normally now? Regarding the incident on August 5th at around 11:00 AM, when you were stabbed on Xinkang Road, we have some questions for you."

Zhou Yi's tone was quite formulaic, even revealing a hint of barely perceptible indifference.

He really couldn't feel any sympathy for Wang Xinkai, who would kill five people two years later.

Moreover, if it really was Tian Yipeng who stabbed him, Zhou Yi had a feeling that it was related to Zhu Lingling being "raped".

Wang Xinkai, lying on the hospital bed, glanced at him, a layer of white mist rising from his oxygen mask, and said nothing.

Zhang Hongjing, who was standing nearby, said tactfully, "I'm sorry, Officer Zhou, Xiao Kai doesn't have the strength to speak yet."

Zhou Yi nodded and casually said, "I understand, after all, he's only been awake for less than two hours, so his body is definitely not fully recovered yet."

"How about this? Can you move your hand?"

Zhang Hongjing immediately grabbed her son's hand and said, "He can move. The nurses massage and care for his limbs every day."

Zhou Yi nodded and said, "Then I'll ask you the question in the form of a true/false question. If it's true, raise one finger; if it's not true, raise two fingers, okay?"

Zhang Hongjing looked at her son on the hospital bed, and Wang Xinkai immediately raised one finger of his right hand because there was an IV needle inserted in his left hand.

Zhou Yi immediately asked questions, but in fact, he had already noticed something was wrong.

"Wang Xinkai, did you see the murderer's face?"

Wang Xinkai raised a finger.

Do you know this murderer?

Two fingers.

Have you seen this killer before? Or does this person look somewhat familiar?

It's still two fingers.

Zhou Yi paused for a moment, then continued, "Was the murderer wearing black clothes?"

One finger.

"Wearing a white hat?"

Two fingers. "The killer looks older than you?"

Zhou Yi noticed that Wang Xinkai's right index finger twitched slightly, but he didn't lift it up, nor did he lift two fingers.

Then, through the oxygen mask, Wang Xinkai answered with some difficulty, "I don't know."

This reaction is subtle.

Zhou Yi nodded, did not ask any further questions, and instead took out a photo from his pocket.

These photos were taken from Tian Yipeng's house before we set off.

When Zhou Yi showed the photo to Wang Xinkai, he used his finger to block Tian Yipeng's wife who was next to him.

"Take a close look at this photo. Do you recognize this person?"

Zhou Yi held up the photo, but her gaze was fixed on Wang Xinkai's eyes.

From the tragedy at the art school two years later, Zhou Yi could confirm that Wang Xinkai was a spoiled brat.

This kind of person is used to being domineering and arrogant, has a bad temper, is easily agitated, and explodes at the slightest provocation.

Two years later, even after being subdued on the spot, he still dared to shout. One can imagine his mental state two years ago.

Shen Jiale saw Wang Xinkai raise two fingers on his right hand.

But what Zhou Yi saw was that Wang Xinkai's pupils were clearly dilated and his breathing under the oxygen mask had become rapid.

Ironically, right next to the hospital bed was a row of monitoring instruments, and on the screen, Wang Xinkai's heart rate was clearly increasing.

Attorney Jiang, who was standing nearby, was the first to notice something was wrong. She immediately stepped in front of Zhou Yi and asked anxiously, "Mr. Wang, are you feeling unwell again, Mr. Wang?"

Because he was blocked, Zhou Yi could only take a step back.

Only then did Wang Xinkai's mother, Zhang Hongjing, belatedly realize what was happening and cried out, "Doctor! Doctor!"

After only two shouts, the medical staff outside rushed in.

Jiang Wenhan then gave his seat to the doctor, and walked up to Zhou Yi and Shen Jiale and said seriously, "I'm sorry, officers, my client is not in good health and is not suitable to continue your questioning. Please leave."

Zhou Yi glanced past Jiang Wenhan and knew that the group was just putting on an act.

However, he could not force Wang Xinkai to continue being questioned, because Wang Xinkai was the victim, not the suspect.

Zhou Yi didn't bother with any more words, simply tossed out "Take care" and turned to leave.

After leaving the hospital, Shen Jiale, who had been holding back a lot of things to say, finally couldn't help but ask, "Teacher Zhou, are we leaving now?"

Zhou Yi turned his head and glanced at the impressive signboard of the international hospital, then sneered and said, "What I wanted to know has been confirmed. Why aren't you leaving?"

Shen Jiale was stunned. It's already confirmed?
I haven't left for even a second. What is Teacher Zhou confirming?

In the blink of an eye, Zhou Yi had already gotten into the police car and shouted, "Let's go."

"Hey, here we come."

After driving the car onto the road, Shen Jiale asked, "Teacher Zhou, where are we going now?"

Zhou Yi raised his hand to look at his watch and said, "Let's go back to the branch office. By this time, Tian Yipeng's family should have finished their investigation."

"okay."

Three minutes later, Shen Jiale couldn't help but ask, "Teacher Zhou, what did you confirm? Can you... tell me? I'm a bit slow, I didn't figure it out, hehe."

Zhou Yi, who was deep in thought, casually remarked, "Don't underestimate yourself. Your starting point is much higher than mine..."

What he really meant to say was, "Your starting point is much higher than mine was back then."

But he realized his mistake halfway through and changed the subject, saying, "Wang Xinkai should have woken up yesterday."

"Really? Didn't you say you just woke up?"

“Wang Mingyi said that Wang Xinkai had just woken up half an hour ago. But I just said two hours ago, and Zhang Hongjing and Jiang Wenhan did not react abnormally or correct me.”

"Perhaps they remembered it wrong?" Shen Jiale asked.

"Of course it's possible. But look at the conditions at that private hospital, and the attitude of the doctors and nurses. It shows that money has been spent to get that kind of treatment. In this situation, there's a significant difference in perception between half an hour and two hours, so how could you have misremembered them?"

Shen Jiale nodded: "That makes sense. So what's the difference between Wang Xinkai waking up early and late?"

"Of course. If Wang Xinkai has only just woken up, then Tian Yipeng's death has nothing to do with him. But if he woke up yesterday, then it's hard to say."

On the way here, Zhou Yi had already shared his thoughts and guesses with Shen Jiale.

Because Shen Jiale had previously heard Zhou Yi's speculation about the third possibility and knew that he had connected Qin Chao's police report with Wang Xinkai's stabbing, he wasn't as shocked when Zhou Yi connected Tian Yipeng's death with it.

Therefore, Shen Jiale immediately understood when Zhou Yi said that.

"But didn't Wang Xinkai not know Tian Yipeng? Why would Tian Yipeng stab him for no reason?"

"No, Wang Xinkai knows him."

"What?" Shen Jiale was startled. Had he missed something?
"Did you really think that what just happened was because Wang Xinkai had a health problem?"

"No...isn't it? I saw that all the doctors and nurses looked very nervous."

Zhou Yi smiled and said, "They were nervous enough, but unfortunately, all they did was get nervous. I didn't see them actually do anything."

Zhou Yi guessed that the doctors and nurses were also confused at the time, but they couldn't ignore the emotional value from their sugar daddy, so they just did a lot of busywork.

"When Wang Xinkai saw Tian Yipeng's photo, his pupils dilated, his breathing became rapid, and his heart rate increased, clearly indicating that he was emotionally agitated. However, he still denied it, which shows that someone deliberately asked him not to admit it."

"Then think about it, he clearly knows Tian Yipeng, but he got emotional just from seeing the photo, so why won't he admit it?"

Shen Jiale suddenly realized that this person clearly had something to hide!
"But Teacher Zhou, none of these things can be used as evidence."

“That’s right, you’ve hit the nail on the head. These are just our observations and speculations, and can’t be used as evidence. We currently have no valid evidence to prove that these three events are related.”

Zhou Yi took a deep breath, somewhat helpless.

Some cases are not particularly complicated, and suspects can be identified quickly, but the difficulty lies in obtaining evidence. Without evidence, arrests and interrogations are impossible.

In this case, even if we investigate Wang Xinkai and Wang Mingyi, it will be useless, as they have alibis 100%.

Wang Mingyi is rich enough to hire a hitman; there's no need for him to risk killing someone himself.

Needless to say, Wang Xinkai is still in the hospital.

Therefore, we can only pin our hopes on on-site investigation.

"Sigh, Wu Guang's waters are a bit deep," Zhou Yi murmured.

"What did you say, Teacher Zhou?" Shen Jiale asked.

"No, I was just making a casual remark."

……

In the office of the Criminal Investigation Brigade of Fenghu Branch, Captain Feng Xueqin was touching his bald head, feeling a wave of fear.

I heard a few days ago that a headless female corpse was found in Qingyuan County. At the time, he told his superiors that he was glad such a big case did not happen in Fenghu District.

But now, listening to his subordinates report on the affairs of Sixi Village, he broke out in a cold sweat.

If this were to explode, that would be terrible!

In a residential area like Sixi Sancun, built in the 1970s, half of the buildings could probably be blown up.

That would be a huge incident, even more serious in some ways than the headless female corpse case in Qingyuan County.

"Was it discovered by Zhou Yi, the guy who was transferred from the detachment?" Feng Xueqin asked.

The subordinate nodded: "Yes, the neighbor said that Zhou Yi climbed into 404 from their balcony. As soon as the door to 404 opened, she smelled a strong gas odor."

Feng Xueqin stood up excitedly and said, "I have to report this to the leaders. Zhou Yi is our savior."

Just as he was about to leave, he saw two people coming in.

His eyes lit up immediately, and he went to greet them: "Zhou Yi, Xiao Shen, where have you been? I was just about to look for you."

"Captain Feng, is the on-site investigation finished?" Zhou Yi asked quickly.

Feng Xueqin nodded: "It's over."

"How is it?" Zhou Yi asked impatiently, "Any suspicious discoveries?"

"If we're talking about suspicious things, there are some."

"what?"

“Some potential bloodstains were found at the scene,” Feng Xueqin said. “They shouldn’t be the deceased’s, because the forensic doctor said the deceased had no obvious external injuries.”

"Lacquer blood?" Zhou Yi exclaimed in surprise. "Could it be the murderer's?"

(End of this chapter)