Reborn Cat Sheriff

Chapter 593 Aftermath
By using the gossipy old woman as a starting point, the whole case was finally revealed.

Just as the police had suspected, everything revolved around superstition and the preference for sons over daughters—two outdated customs that should have been consigned to the dustbin of history—leading to tragedies and crimes.

Gossip Girl was once an abandoned baby girl who didn't know who her parents were. She was later adopted by the former abbot of Jingyue Temple and required to dress as a boy from a young age. She also received and learned the value that girls are not as useful as boys.

She and Guan Yu shared the same views on this matter, which led to all the subsequent events.

The former abbess who misled the gossipy old woman caused all of this, and has since disappeared without a trace. Whether she is dead or alive, still deceiving people, or has already retired in peace, is all unknown.

Based on the approximate age given by the gossipy woman, her master was probably around 80 or 90 years old at this point, and was most likely already dead. It was not worthwhile for the police to expend a lot of manpower and resources to continue the pursuit; at most, they could set up an online manhunt and let it go.

According to the gossipy woman's confession, the original killer in the serial murder case twenty years ago had already been killed by Guan Er.

Even if the person is dead, the body must be found; the police still have a lot of work to do. Or rather, only when the body is found and the identity verified can it be proven that the gossipy woman wasn't lying, and the case can be closed.

And then... there are still twenty-six victims left in this case!
The shocking figures were all committed by Guan Er's family, namely Guan Er, his eight-year-old wife, and their mentally challenged son.

Incidentally, just like the gossipy old woman who never had a name and only had an informal title of shaman, her mentally challenged son also doesn't have a name to this day.

Guan Er refused to name the fool. The gossipy woman felt that the name should be given by the father, so she had no right to give the child a formal name and only called him "Fool" or "Fool" as a nickname.

Of course, none of that matters now; none of this family member is destined to escape legal punishment. Even if the child is indeed mentally challenged, being mentally challenged only indicates intellectual disability, not mental illness, and he still cannot escape legal consequences.

"In the cliffside body-dumping case, the remaining seven victims were all killed by Guan Er. Furthermore, according to the testimony of the gossipy woman and the expert's questioning of the mentally challenged man, he admitted to participating in two cases over the past five years, involving six victims. In particular, he admitted that the four victims from five years ago were all killed by Guan Er after they were rendered incapacitated, and he was instructed by Guan Er to personally kill them. This has been confirmed by the technical center's analysis of the head wounds on the victims. In this year's crime, he was responsible for attacking the female victim and disposing of the body. Although Guan Er has refused to speak about the entire serial murder case, the mentally challenged man and the knowledgeable gossipy woman have already confessed."

Ma Shun read from a sheet of paper, while Liu Yuan, Yue Qisheng, Nie Guoqiang, and Xie Changjun sat opposite him.

"Could the case be so easily dismissed? So there are no flaws, no possibility of a wrongful conviction?"

Yue Qisheng glanced at Liu Yuan, then stared at Ma Shun with a serious expression and said, "Guan Er isn't talking, and according to you, there's only him and an idiot at the scene; Ma Shun, can you guarantee that all the testimonies right now are correct?"

Ma Shun paused for a moment, then shook his head with a wry smile, saying, "Director Yue, there's simply no way to guarantee this! The biggest problem with the whole case is that we discovered the victims too late, there were too few useful traces left at the scene, and the amount of evidence that could serve as primary evidence was negligible. But I don't think that's a particularly big problem! Even if the primary evidence is insufficient, the circumstantial evidence is complete! The murder weapon, the motive and timing of the crime, the witness testimonies, the small amount of evidence found at the scene, and Guan Er's other criminal acts all prove that he is that unbridled murderer! A case like this, where dozens of people have been killed, if not him, then who else could it be?"

Yue Qisheng glared at him, angrily saying, "Ma Shun, do you know how many superiors are paying attention to this case? Do you think the prosecutor will take your advice? What if another murderer uses him as a scapegoat? Or what if a few years later someone is arrested for something else and confesses that he committed one of these cases? What do you expect the Baiyan City Public Security Bureau to do then? Bow down and apologize like the Japanese?!"

"..."

Ma Shun had nothing to say.

He could only grumble to himself, "Where in this world are there so many criminal acts with conclusive evidence, both witnesses and physical evidence, and where the perpetrators were caught on the spot?"

Which police officer can guarantee that they will thoroughly investigate every rule and every detail in a case? How much effort, time, and money would that take, and how many police officers would need to work together?
impossible!

The evidence is sufficient. We can't expect the police to be completely unable to continue the case just because the murderer keeps denying everything. If we do that, all criminals will learn to do the same, and the national police system will collapse!
However, on the other hand, Ma Shun understood Yue Qisheng's concerns.

Liu Yuan, the clerk, came from the provincial department, and he personally supervised this case, so its seriousness was self-evident. Furthermore, as the case escalated, more and more people at higher levels were paying attention; indeed, if anything went wrong, everyone in Baiyan City would be in trouble.

But... this pressure can only be put on the police, not on that bastard Guan Er!

Guan Er knew he was doomed whether he confessed or not; at this moment, he acted more carefree and unrestrained than anyone else. He even boasted to the detention center police that he had had enough fun in his life, that he had lived more happily in his decades than most people had in a lifetime!
What can you do with someone like that? You can't exactly kneel down and beg him to confess, can you? How despicable!
Ma Shun looked bitter, while Yue Qisheng looked serious but kept nodding towards Liu Yuan. Liu Yuan immediately knew... these two bastards were waiting for him to make the decision!
The evidence in these cases is insufficient, and most are old cases from several years, even decades ago. Finding solid evidence in these cases today, or even closing them down given the investigative methods and archival storage capabilities of that time, is extremely difficult. Take, for example, the four victims from five years ago. While the city police bureau has a lot of investigative materials archived now, they are insufficient and even contain errors by modern criminal investigation techniques and standards. Using those old files as evidence, the case simply cannot be solved! The Baiyan City police bureau isn't unwilling to continue the case; it's just that unless Guan Er intervenes, it's simply too difficult!

Will Guan Er speak up? Will he know he's doomed and recklessly provoke the police? Nobody can guarantee that!
Currently, apart from the cases this year and the victims in the well at Guan Er Villa, which have detailed evidence and surviving witness testimonies, it's extremely difficult to establish solid evidence in other victim cases!
What is needed at this time?
We need a powerful figure to take responsibility, even at the risk of wrongful convictions.

Even if Guan Er did indeed humiliate and kill multiple people and was almost certainly sentenced to death, if all the cases were pinned on him and he ended up taking the blame for the real culprit, it would still be a miscarriage of justice, and the person in charge would still be in trouble.

Liu Yuan's lips twitched slightly, and he turned to exchange a glance with Nie Guoqiang.

"The police force in Baiyan City is no good!"

"Heh... No wonder such a big case happened. It took so long to find out that so many people were killed in the jurisdiction. The Baiyan City Public Security Bureau does bear some responsibility."

"How to do?"

"Since you're in charge of overseeing it, you should be the one to make the decisions."

"Hold!"

Liu Yuan and Nie Guoqiang exchanged glances, and their staring contest left Xie Changjun, who was standing nearby, shaking his head helplessly and quietly watching the spectacle.

Anyway, his situation is already resolved. Regardless of whether Guan Er admits it or not, the evidence at the scene, the murder weapon, and the condition of the victims are enough to pin the guilt of killing the two victims in Jinhua City on Guan Er and the idiot.

In other words, Xie Changjun has completed his mission on this business trip and can return home at any time to report back and give the victims' families an explanation.

"cough!"

Yue Qisheng stared at Ma Shun with a stern face. Ma Shun lowered his head, waiting to be criticized. All the pressure was placed on Liu Yuan.

Liu Yuan couldn't help but think of several unfortunate people in the media who had been infamous in the past. Some of them may have indeed been derelict in their duties, negligent, or acted recklessly, causing wrongful convictions. But were there others who were facing the same situation as they are now?
But as a supervisory official, Liu Yuan was not lacking in awareness of taking responsibility.

"In this serial murder case, we'll focus on Guan Er and the simpleton as the main suspects and continue searching for evidence. We need to get a breakthrough from Guan Er as soon as possible. As police officers, we can't always throw the pressure out the door and try to absolve ourselves before we get to work!"

Liu Yuan first subtly criticized Yue Qisheng a couple of times, then took the blame himself. Now, the serial murder case has become a minor issue; the grievances and truths surrounding the remaining twenty victims need to be addressed by the police.

"In Guan Er's villa, most of the cash and valuables were found, primarily from extortion by the gossipy woman, with a small amount taken from the victims—this is largely undisputed. Furthermore, in the well outside the villa, besides the female college student named Jiang Zhen, eight other victims were found. Currently, only three have been identified through DNA testing; all are innocent women killed by Guan Er. The identities of the other five are currently unknown. However, the gossipy woman confessed that Guan Er killed his father and brother and disposed of their bodies in the well. Based on the results of the technical center's analysis of all the skeletal remains, two sets of remains match the age and height characteristics described by the neighbors of Yuehe Village. In particular, Guan Er's brother, Guan Daqiang, had previously suffered a broken arm in a fight. The forensic doctor has found signs of fracture healing on the corresponding skeleton, essentially confirming it is Guan Daqiang."

Ma Shun continued his report, but unfortunately, it was still very difficult to completely destroy these cases.

The remains of three other victims could not be matched with the DNA of their relatives in the national missing persons database. In other words, their families either did not report them missing, were unaware of their disappearances, or had other family reasons. Given the size of the country, and Baiyan City being a tourist city with an annual influx of over ten million people, identifying these unidentified victims from several years to over a decade ago is practically like finding a needle in a haystack.

Moreover, most of the victims abducted by Guan Er had sought help from Jing Yue'an and secretly concealed their identities. They cut off their own contact with the outside world, which greatly increased the difficulty for the police to find them.

To put it bluntly, this is suicide. "In other words, we can basically confirm that Guan Er was responsible here, but the identities of three victims have not yet been determined, and the case cannot be completely closed?"

Liu Yuan continued to frown.

Does this mean that if the villa case is to be closed as soon as possible, he also needs to bear responsibility in this regard?

“The country’s DNA data is not yet complete, and given that they have been missing for several years, their families may have given up the search even if they knew they were missing. It is indeed very difficult to find the victims’ families.”

Ma Shun spoke frankly, saying that given the large population of our country, judging from the amount of data in the database, the vast majority of people have indeed never been logged in.

Police are currently identifying victims, and in more complex cases, they are using blood analysis to compare data with hospital records. After all, everyone gets sick and needs blood tests, so there's more data available in this area.

But in this case, the victim had already decomposed into skeletons, and even the bone marrow had been emptied out. Where could there be any bloodstains to test?
Being able to identify three out of six victims is already a result of the victims' families actively cooperating and trying their best to provide more data after discovering the victims' disappearance.

"hiss……"

Covering his forehead, Liu Yuan considered faking illness.

Taking a deep breath, he restrained himself and continued, "The case in Yuehe Village is basically settled, that's not a big problem. But whether the mentally challenged man was involved is something we still need to consider. Given Guan Er's behavior and mental state, I wouldn't be surprised if he did something. How is Jiang Zhen doing now? Has she revealed anything valuable, such as whether Guan Er boasted or threatened anything during the assault?"

"Jiang Zhen's condition is not good. She had a big fight with her parents who rushed to the hospital after hearing the news. Her father shouted in front of many onlookers at the hospital that he would kick Jiang Zhen out of the house and also publicized her victimization, which caused some negative impact."

Ma Shun sighed and shook his head repeatedly.

"This...this is what it's like to be a father?"

Xie Changjun gasped, his eyes widening in disbelief.

"Stepfather, second marriage, has another child."

Ma Shun answered Xie Changjun's question with three words, which made the others suddenly realize the answer and sigh repeatedly.

"So we need to wait until her mental state has calmed down, her physical condition has improved, and the stress of pregnancy has been resolved before we can question her, right? Okay, let's put it aside for now and let the technical center handle it slowly. Let's talk about Jingyue'an's situation later."

Liu Yuan felt that nothing was going right today.

"call……"

Taking a deep breath, Ma Shun's eyes turned grave, his chest heaving. After a long while, he whispered, "The six headless skeletons have all been found, buried in a wild peach grove on the back mountain. The old hag confessed that she killed her own daughters. She strangled each baby she gave birth to; she was destined to be childless, having given birth to six girls in ten years, all of whom she disposed of herself. According to her, Guan Er knew she had strangled his daughters, but because they were childless, he ignored it. This woman has gone mad; she turned her own children into sacrificial offerings..."

"You son of a bitch!"

"Aren't daughters human too? To favor sons over daughters to this extent is beyond insanity; this is not human, it's animalistic!"

"Even tigers don't eat their cubs... These two, a man and a woman, are actually the same kind of scoundrels? What right does this gossipy woman have to say Guan Er is a scoundrel? Didn't she do the exact same thing herself? No! She's even more cruel than Guan Er!"

Liu Yuan, Yue Qisheng, and Xie Changjun cursed together.

Although they already knew this outcome, the way the case was defined in the written document was still completely unacceptable to the three of them.

From the child's perspective alone, Guan Er initially only intended to use surrogacy. He humiliated the ignorant woman but didn't kill the child; at most, he ignored it. The only person he killed was the woman's child in the secret room, and that was "only" killing.

Even the child's remains were cruelly disposed of by the gossipy old woman...

"Besides the seven infants, the identities of the other five victims have been largely confirmed. The identities of two university graduate students have been confirmed, and the other three... two of them are women who were imprisoned in a locked room. Their identities have been successfully identified through bloodstains and other DNA clues found in the room, and their families have been notified. The last one, according to the gossipy woman's confession, is the perpetrator of the first part of the serial killings. He is a resident of a village near the crime scene about twenty years ago. I have asked the local police station to help collect blood samples from all the nearby residents, and I have also sent people to inquire whether anyone sought a child twenty years ago. We should have the results soon."

In the end, Ma Shun finally revealed a positive outcome, one that meant Liu Yuan wouldn't have to take the blame anymore.

"When this person was killed, didn't his wife, family, or relatives call the police?"

Liu Yuan discovered a flaw.

"At that time, it was the peak season for migrant workers to go to Guangdong Province. Many villagers rushed there to seek their fortune, and many others severed ties with this place and remarried there. So it's possible... that they weren't actually missing."

Ma Shun shook his head.

"What is this?"

Liu Yuan also shook his head.

"That's the gist of it! The case at Jingyue Nunnery is complicated, but the evidence is clear, and the gossipy women have all confessed. Apart from the fact that the body of the murderer from twenty years ago hasn't been found, there aren't any major problems. As for the victims at the villa, their identities haven't been fully investigated yet, and they might end up being unclaimed. The most troublesome case is actually the serial murders involving bodies dumped on the cliff. There's too little evidence at the crime scenes, so we can't completely pinpoint Guan Er yet."

Ma Shun gave a final summary.

To be honest, any police officer who handled the case has the right to be proud of themselves for solving a heinous torture and murder case that lasted for twenty years and involved more than twenty victims in such a short time.

Although the assistance from police officers from other regions was indispensable, especially the selfless dedication of Li Siyu and Li Yiduo, and even the incredible, magical, and amazing police cat, the fact that such a vicious criminal was ultimately apprehended without exception was also thanks to everyone's hard work and efforts.

The case is basically clear, and only the finishing touches remain. Everyone can finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Only Liu Yuan.

He should be responsible for all the finishing touches and patching.

The case ended a bit abruptly because I was warned for writing a little too recklessly; I apologize.

However, the plot and the logic of the crime are still complete. There may be some minor flaws, but I appreciate it if you can point them out so I can gradually fill in and revise them.

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(End of this chapter)