Eyes that are the same as those of evil

Chapter 3: The Elopement Murder Case
The criminal investigation team had just returned from a subordinate county town and had taken on another heinous murder case. They were so busy that they kept yawning as they walked.

Team leader Zheng Yan, who had just returned from the provincial capital, was rushing to change his clothes while Tan Ming reported on the information gathered so far.

"The deceased was a woman between 45 and 47 years old. She died about two nights ago. The preliminary forensic examination indicated that she died of mechanical asphyxiation, most likely strangulation. Although the skin on her neck was abraded, some marks could be seen. In addition, her face was smashed. After death, her body was dumped into a pond next to the vegetable garden. It was not discovered until 7:13 this morning. Because it rained last night, villagers went to the pond before calling the police. The forensic examination has not yet found any indicative information."

"What about the deceased's identity?"

"This is the key point: the deceased had no identification on him, and his cell phone was also missing. Because his face was smashed, we couldn't match his face in the system, and there was no matching information in the city's missing persons file. Now, Xiao Chen and his team are interviewing villagers near the site where the body was dumped. I have provided the nearby police station with the deceased's characteristics, and I hope to get good news as soon as possible."

Since the identity of the deceased is currently unknown, we also do not know what exactly happened. We can only hope that forensic experts, medical examiners, and interviewers can provide more information.

After Tan Ming finished his report, he went to his office and made himself a strong cup of tea. He planned to go see forensic doctor Lao Li first, and then return to the site where the body was dumped, as the primary crime scene might be nearby.

At this point, the operator came in and said that a girl outside who claimed to be his sister was looking for him, and emphasized, "Your sister is so cool."

Tan Ming was surprised—Tan Jia was a woman of few words and no patience. She had rarely gone out since returning to China a month ago. After all, Jiujiang was just an unfamiliar place for her to recuperate temporarily, and the only people she knew were a few old ladies in the staff community.

Why are they suddenly looking for him at the police station? Did something happen at home?

He went outside and saw Tan Jia leaning against the door with her arms crossed, a few strands of green hair falling over her collarbone, a baseball cap on her head, a silver ear cartilage stud on her exposed ear, and a stray cat rubbing its chin against her in her black riding boots. She looked even more stylish than the blond-haired street racer recently arrested by the police, and people passing by couldn't help but take a second look at her.

But her expression wasn't good; her lips were tightly pressed together and her brows were furrowed.

A very contradictory behavioral response.

"Jiajia," Tan Ming greeted her, "Why are you looking for me at this time? Did something happen at home?"

Tan Jia stood up straight and, instead of answering, asked, "Brother, was a body found this morning? Was it a man or a woman?"

Tan Ming switched from being a relative to being an investigating police officer, frowning as he looked at her: "Where did you hear this news from? Why are you asking about this?"

“I want to know if the deceased is the person I suspect,” she said quickly and simply, not used to long-winded explanations. “The day before yesterday, I went with my uncle to mediate a marital dispute between a middle-aged couple living in the Glass Factory neighborhood on the outskirts of the city. The woman, Luo Mei, mentioned that her sister-in-law, Mi Junfang, had run off with her lover around 1 p.m. the day before yesterday. But yesterday, when we tried to mediate the dispute in Mi Junfang's family, we couldn't get through to her on the phone. I felt something was wrong; I was worried that she might not have run away but had been murdered. By the way, when Mi Junfang left, she was wearing a beige short coat, had short, curly hair, a red mole between her eyebrows, and should have been wearing jewelry. Is the deceased her?”

Tan Ming's eyes sharpened; the deceased did indeed fit the first two characteristics.

"What did you say that person's name was?"

"Mi Junfang's family should be from outside the province. She remarried here. Her husband's name is Luo Zhiyong. Luo Zhiyong has a younger sister named Luo Mei, and her brother-in-law is Wang Yong. Their families have overlapping marital conflicts. Many people saw Mi Junfang and her lover leaving. Luo Zhiyong even chased after them to stop them, but they came back around 5 pm." Tan Jia controlled his breathing, presenting himself as an enthusiastic citizen actively providing clues to the case, answering one question while adding other information.

If it matches, they will have information about the deceased, which will allow them to speed up the investigation.

Tan Ming still had doubts, but he needed to find out the information about the deceased as soon as possible. He settled Tan Jia in the reception room and went to notify the others.

"You stay here for now. If the deceased is indeed Mi Junfang, the people from the mediation channel will need to take your statement. Someone will come and ask you questions later. Don't be afraid, it's a normal procedure."

Tan Jia nodded obediently. After the others left, she breathed a sigh of relief, holding the paper cup full of hot water. At least her cold fingertips warmed up a bit.

Now the police can quickly summon Luo Zhiyong and Luo Mei's family, find the surveillance footage of Mi Junfang and her lover leaving, and solve the case as soon as possible, regardless of who among them is the murderer.

I hope this dream will disappear once the case is solved.

Around noon, a large number of people poured into the police station, all of whom needed to give statements in connection with the Mi Junfang case.

The statements of other unrelated personnel were almost completed, and the second team also gained a general understanding of Mi Junfang's chaotic romantic relationships before her death.

“Older people are different; they’re more promiscuous than young people. They can even have affairs with their sister-in-law and brother-in-law. Some say the deceased would go to a room with other men after losing at cards… This makes a lot of suspects. The murderer deliberately smashed Mi Junfang’s face after strangling her, clearly out of disgust and hatred for that face that led her to seduce people. The murderer might be the wives of those men, Luo Zhiyong, or Luo Mei,” Xiao Chen said, looking at a large stack of statements.

"It's also possible that the lover killed Mi Junfang and then used this trick to mislead us. He's the prime suspect, since Mi Junfang died after leaving with him. Have you checked the surveillance footage on that road?" Captain Zheng Yan asked.

"The technicians are investigating, but only the speed cameras on the expressway have any information about that area in the suburbs. There's very little surveillance in other places. It's possible that the murderer deliberately chose that location," Tan Ming speculated.

“We still need to investigate. What if there are surveillance cameras that captured the primary crime scene, and the pool was just where the body was dumped? Let’s go, let’s interrogate the Luo family.”

But the interrogation yielded no further useful information.

The night before last, from 8:00 PM on February 27th to 8:00 AM on February 28th, Luo Zhiyong, Luo Mei, and Wang Yong stayed at home and did not go out. Their children and neighbors can attest to this.

Furthermore, they couldn't say who Mi Junfang's lover was, where he came from, or where he planned to take Mi Junfang; all they knew was that he was quite wealthy.

Luo Mei, who had been cursing at her sister-in-law during the mediation, fell silent after learning of the death. When asked about the appearance and character of Mi Junfang's lover, she only replied curtly, "He doesn't seem like a good person."

When Luo Zhiyong was identifying the body, he saw the gruesome sight of Mi Junfang's death and broke down in tears. The middle-aged man cried like a water ghost, which made Luo Mei start cursing at him from halfway down the corridor.

"Cry, cry, cry! All a grown man does is cry! You've cried your whole life, been a coward your whole life, what have you gained?! You've only brought shame to others!"

The roaring sound startled Luo Zhiyong and Wang Yong from afar, making them both tremble.

Tan Ming and Xiao Chen exchanged a glance; Luo Mei had quite a temper.

They didn't get any more information from the Luo family, but fortunately, the technician stared at the surveillance footage until night and finally found two surveillance videos related to that lover.

One video shows Mi Junfang being led along the wall by her lover in profile, while the other video shows the face of her lover, who had just entered Jiujiang a few days prior, identified based on a similar figure in the previous video.

"This person's movements against the wall are very practiced, like he's deliberately trying to avoid surveillance cameras."

Zheng Yan bent down and looked at the person in the second video, saying, "Check his identity and see if he has left the city in the past two days."

Wu Yang, a female police officer in the team, immediately matched the faces in the facial recognition system.

"Found him, Liu Guanhua, 43 years old, was sentenced to three years for robbery and was only released two years ago... How did he become rich in two years? By robbing jewelry from fifty-year-old women?"

"And he had no plans to leave the city. He killed someone and is still hiding. Is it because he has a strong mentality or does he want to do something else?"

(End of this chapter)