You're supposed to be a security officer, what case are you solving?

Chapter 140 The Guesthouse Fire! (Seeking Monthly Tickets)
December 10, 1997, the ninth day of the first lunar month, was the day of Heavy Snow. The winter solstice was just a few days away.

Early in the morning, He Jinbo, like a crowing rooster, started shouting downstairs again.

"Detectives, get up now! There's a major criminal case. Hurry up, you have ten minutes to get downstairs!"

The cat, feeling dizzy, jumped down from the top bunk and asked, "What time is it?"

Yang Jinwen was sleeping on the lower bunk. He opened his eyes in the warm quilt, picked up the watch under his pillow and looked at it. It was just past seven in the morning.

“There was a case yesterday, and there’s a case today. There’s a case every day. When will this end?” Yang Jinwen sighed and got out of bed.

As Maozi dressed, she said, "It might not be a big case. My master likes to exaggerate the facts. Like yesterday's case, although it was a murder case, the murderer called to confess himself, so it wasn't a big deal at all."

Yang Jinwen let out a breath, walked to the washstand, poured water from the thermos into the basin, and prepared to wash his face.

Yesterday's case was a murder case that stemmed from a neighborhood dispute.

The two families lived next door. The family on the left found it too troublesome to go downstairs, so they would leave the garbage bags outside the door and wait until the next day to bring them down.

The neighbor on the right, surnamed Zhang, was unhappy. The garbage bags had been left overnight and were all chewed up by rats. The garbage was torn up everywhere, and the area in front of his door was a mess. Every morning when Mr. Zhang went to work, he felt extremely depressed.

That day, he finally snapped, and the two families started arguing.

The argument escalated, and the neighbor surnamed Zhang, unable to win the argument, ran back to the kitchen, grabbed a cleaver, rushed out, and slashed at the old woman who was constantly cursing him.

A single blow to the head caused blood to gush out.

At this moment, a person's emotions are at their most intense. If the man surnamed Zhang had stopped, the old woman might have survived.

But the man surnamed Zhang stabbed the man again to vent his anger. After calming down, he discovered that the man was already dead.

When the old lady and her family saw this, they closed the door and immediately hid inside, crying and shouting, but dared not come out.

The man surnamed Zhang returned home, shivered, lit a cigarette, and then called the police.

It was indeed he who called the police first, as the victim's home did not have a landline phone.

This case is very simple and common. Every year, murders caused by excessive emotions are common and easy to investigate.

What's truly worrisome is random killings, which gives the criminal investigation team a major headache.

When Yang Jinwen and Maozi came downstairs, He Jinbo and Zheng Kang had already driven out two cars, and there were only a few of them in the yard.

He Jinbo laughed and said, "Ha, Captain Yang, your Third Squadron is always the fastest. You deserve praise."

Yang Jinwen rubbed his hands together. The weather was getting colder and colder, and the morning air was dry and icy.

"Captain He, what case is it this time?"

"Arson case."

Yang Jinwen raised an eyebrow. Did the entire criminal investigation team really need to be mobilized for an arson case? He glanced in the direction of the forensic room.

He Jinbo said, "Wen Ling won't be there that early. I already called her, and she's coming directly from home to the scene. By the way, how far have things progressed between you two? Have you kissed?"

Zheng Kang and Maozi both stared at Yang Jinwen, seemingly very curious about the question.

Yang Jinwen turned around, pretending not to have heard what he said.

He Jinbo wouldn't let him off the hook, and continued, "You've struck gold, kid. Wen Ling is beautiful and generous. You'll be Wen Ling's son-in-law from now on. Just thinking about it is pretty exciting."

Zheng Kang rolled his eyes: "Old He, you're a brigade leader, what nonsense are you talking about, asking about other people's private affairs first thing in the morning?"

“Old Zheng, what’s wrong with me caring about my subordinates? Unlike you, you’re not like a mentor at all. You don’t ask or care. If I were Yang Jinwen, I would have betrayed my master long ago.”

"Then why don't you care about the cat?"

"Uh……"

He Jinbo was sitting in the car at the moment. He looked at Maozi standing in the cold wind and clicked his tongue, saying, "If you're cold, get in the car. What are you doing standing outside?"

The cat chuckled and said, "Alright."

He Jinbo said, "In our bureau, only Zou Jiahui from the archives is an unmarried woman. You should pay attention and learn from Yang Jinwen. If you can win her over, I'll give you a big bonus."

The cat looked miserable, thinking to itself, "I'd love to, but they don't seem to have that kind of interest in me."

Jiang Jianbing and Xu Guoliang were late; by the time they led their men downstairs, it was already past the designated time.

He Jinbo scolded, "Every time we go on a mission, you're the slowest. You're all company commanders, can't you be a little more aware of your responsibilities?"

Jiang Jianbing sighed: "When will you solve the toilet problem? There aren't enough squat toilets, so everyone has to take turns pooping. Besides, I'm getting old, and pooping is hard work."

Xu Guoliang also said, "Captain He, I have a suggestion. In the future, when you go on missions, don't shout through the megaphone. Every time you do it, it causes chaos. I'm almost going crazy. I even dream about you crowing."

"Crowing?" He Jinbo was speechless.

Ma Boming's technical team arrived a bit later. This old guy is more senior than He Jinbo, and he's always the last to arrive at the scene, which is a way of disrespecting He Jinbo.

He Jinbo couldn't do anything about him. In addition to looking at the position, the team also considered seniority. Even the gatekeeper was a senior.

Immediately, three vehicles drove out of the branch office compound and headed towards the scene in the light fog. The scene was on Dongsheng Road near the train station, with a main road called Tiexing Road on the left, and the dilapidated train station diagonally opposite.

The area had been cordoned off, and several onlookers, mostly elderly men and women who had nothing to do in the morning, were standing outside the cordon.

After all, it's still early, only a little past seven.

As soon as Yang Jinwen got out of the car, he saw the two-story building destroyed by fire, a scene of devastation, blackened and resembling a Gothic building.

The signboard hanging above the door was burned beyond recognition, leaving only an ugly iron frame.

Fortunately, there were no buildings on either side of the building; only one building burned down.

There was a wasteland in front of the building, where a fire truck was parked.

The police, firefighters, and joint defense team members gathered together, a dozen or so people discussing something.

Upon seeing He Jinbo leading his men over, these people immediately turned around.

The head of the railway station police station was surnamed Yong. Chief Yong nodded: "Team Leader He, Team Leader Zheng."

"What's going on?" He Jinbo gestured towards the fire scene with his chin. "You called and said someone burned to death inside?"

Director Yong nodded: "Two people died inside, but I haven't gone in to check yet."

"Let me explain the specifics first," He Jinbo asked, taking out cigarettes and handing one to everyone.

Although the criminal investigation team is responsible for handling major and serious cases, it is naturally separated from the general public.

Police stations and joint defense teams are the most basic units. These people are very shrewd. They deal with thugs and gangsters all year round. If you ask them who is involved or what is going on, they know the most. He Jinbo has to get along well with them.

He Jinbo spends one-third of his salary on cigarettes to appease these people, provided he is an impartial and selfless person. If it were someone like the criminal police captains of other branches, they would directly exert pressure, and you wouldn't dare to utter a word.

Yong looked at the fire station and said, "Let me speak first. We received the alarm around four o'clock in the morning, saying that there was a fire in this area. We quickly contacted the fire department. When I arrived with my men, the fire was already burning and spreading very fast."

This building is a guesthouse called "Dongfeng Guesthouse," privately owned, run by Yan Dahong and his wife Li Fen.

Zheng Kang asked, "Were the two of them dead?"

Yong shook his head: "I'm not too clear about the situation inside right now, but one thing is certain: Li Fen isn't inside. I just called her home, and Li Fen answered the phone. She's on her way here now."

The fire chief said, "We arrived around 4 a.m. and immediately started fighting the fire, but the fire spread too fast, especially on the second floor, which was almost completely destroyed. We found two bodies in one of the rooms, so we told Chief Yong, and Chief Yong contacted you."

At this moment, Yang Jinwen interjected, "Only two people died? This is a guesthouse near the train station. Did anyone escape?"

Yong shook his head: "I didn't see anyone escape."

Yang Jinwen's gaze sharpened, and He Jinbo and Zheng Kang also frowned.

He Jinbo instructed, "Let's go in and take a look."

They turned around and saw several members of Ma Boming's technical team staring at the burned-down building, their brows furrowed, cursing, "What I fear most is fire scenes. How the hell are we going to investigate this?"

He Jinbo patted him on the shoulder: "It might not be a murder case. Let's wait and see."

They put on disposable shoe covers, set up a cordon, and filed into the scene in a line.

The area in front of the door was wet, with water mixed with ash, a complete mess. This was after the fire department used water hoses to put out the fire.

Because it was early winter, the morning sunlight wasn't very strong, and the first floor was quite dark.

The ceiling was charred black, the sofa against the left wall was burned to an unsightly pile of ashes, the charred precast concrete slabs collapsed into twisted shapes, and the wooden table at the counter and the chairs in the hall were burned to ashes.

Yang Jinwen sniffed the air, then looked at the scene and immediately said, "It's arson; there's a smell of gasoline."

Ma Boming nodded, his expression turning even uglier.

The curtains on the staircase leading to the second floor had also been burned, leaving only a relatively intact strip of cloth about an arm's width on the lintel.

The cement staircase also bears the marks of a fire; the wooden handrails were burned, the walls are blackened, and the paint on the walls is blistering from the fire, like blisters that appear after being scalded by boiling water.

The guesthouse rooms were all on the second floor, and the doors had all been burned down, leaving an ugly hole.

He Jinbo looked up at room 201 at the back of the stairs, but there was no one inside.

Zheng Kang peered into room 202 and saw two corpses.

The body lying on the mosaic floor had been reduced to charred remains.

On the burned bed, there was also a body, burned along with the bedding and mattress, almost unrecognizable as human.

Compared to room 201, the fire in room 202 was much larger, and it looked like the point of origin of the fire.

Zheng Kang covered his nose, turned around, and found Yang Jinwen standing behind him.

He looked towards the end of the corridor, where there was an iron gate. All the other doors had been burned down, but that one remained unmoved!

　Asking for monthly ticket
　　
　
(End of this chapter)