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

Chapter 144 Premeditated? Random?
The criminal investigation meeting at the Chengbei Branch was not so solemn and serious.

Some were lying on the conference table, some were sitting on the table, and some were simply squatting on the ground.

Why? Because these old hands each have their own style of thinking.

Take He Jinbo, for example. When he's thinking, he smokes one cigarette after another. If you stand next to him, you'll look like a piece of smoked meat.

Zheng Kang, on the other hand, just drank water, sipping it slowly, and paced back and forth like a human machine.

Xu Guoliang was the one lying down, his eyes slightly squinted, looking no different from a lapdog.

Jiang Jianbing liked to squat with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, just like when he was slacking off in the toilet, holding a newspaper and analyzing major news events from home and abroad. As a result, the old guy developed quite a few hemorrhoids.

Right now, he was holding his own notebook, his eyes slightly narrowed as if he were thinking about something. Actually, it was his own handwriting, which was so messy that he couldn't recognize it.

He Jinbo tapped the table and urged, "What Captain Wen said is that first, we need to check gas stations. The gas stations in the north of our city are indeed quite chaotic. We need to check them thoroughly first thing tomorrow morning. Second, we need to check for fuel thieves. I think this clue is particularly important."

"Anything else? Are there any other clues we can investigate? Everyone, please share your opinions. Old Jiang, you go first!"

Jiang Jianbing looked bitter. He took the cigarette butt out of his mouth, held it in his hand, and threw his notebook onto the conference table.

"Captain He, aren't we enough leads to investigate in the last two days? Our team only has so many people, it'll take us several days to investigate this."

Xu Guoliang opened his eyes: "That's right, those guys at the gas station, who doesn't steal and sell oil on the side? If you line them up one by one, it'll exhaust you. Oil thieves are like rats, they're active at night and hide during the day. If you don't work through the night, you won't catch them."

He Jinbo glared at them both: "Can't you two stand up straight? When you take my cigarettes, you're like vicious dogs chasing a frisbee, all excited. But as soon as there's a problem, you wilted immediately!"

At this point, Zheng Kang suggested, "Let's talk about the crime scene first and see if we can find any clues from the investigation."

Upon hearing this, everyone's eyes turned to Yang Jinwen, who was sitting to the side.

Yang Jinwen was still holding a fountain pen, scribbling in his notebook, while Maozi sat next to him, constantly covering her mouth and yawning.

A moment later, the older folks gathered behind Yang Jinwen, glanced at him, and immediately lost interest.

As before, Yang Jinwen's notes were like scribbles, as if he had created his own writing system, and no one could understand them.

He Jinbo said earnestly, "Xiao Yang, no, Captain Yang, you listened to the meeting for most of the day, and then you wrote non-stop after you came back. What are you writing? Does it help the case?"

Can you analyze this for us? What approach should we take to catch the murderer the fastest?

Yang Jinwen paused for a moment, then capped the pen, twirled it in his hand, and said thoughtfully, "Captain He, there was a very important matter that wasn't brought up during the municipal bureau meeting, so this is what I've been thinking about..."

"What is it?" He Jinbo asked hurriedly.

The others quickly brought chairs and sat around Yang Jinwen.

Cat suddenly remembered that he was now the deputy captain of the third squadron, no longer a menial worker.

He immediately raised his head and nodded thoughtfully, as if he were thinking about something Yang Jinwen was pondering, but his lifeless eyes betrayed him.

Yang Jinwen asked, "First, can we determine how many perpetrators there are? Is it one, or multiple?"

Jiang Jianbing said, "It must have been a multi-person crime. How could one person commit such a big crime, killing seven people and setting fire to their bodies? One person definitely couldn't have done it."

Seeing that the others agreed, Yang Jinwen continued, "So here's my question: Was this a random act, or was it premeditated?"

“Uh…” He Jinbo scratched the back of his head.

Jiang Jianbing and Xu Guoliang were also unable to answer.

Zheng Kang frowned and said, "We didn't find the wallets in the guesthouse. All seven wallets are missing. It can be classified as robbery, but we can't be sure whether it was random or premeditated."

Yang Jinwen nodded: "Seven people were murdered, one man and one woman, in room 202. Their bodies were not taken to the storage room. They were the last to be murdered."

In the storage room, Yan Dahong's body was placed on the bottom shelf, probably the first to die, followed by the bodies of several other victims.

Why did the killer move the bodies to the storage room?

Zheng Kang replied, "Is there even a question? We killed them one by one. Let's simulate the scene."

The first to die was Yan Dahong. Several murderers went into the guesthouse, hit him with a hammer, and then strangled him. The body was carried to the storage room. Then... the bodies number four and five came to stay at the guesthouse. The murderers continued to kill, then the bodies number six and seven, and finally the bodies number one and two.

After killing victims number one and two, the killer poured gasoline, burned down the entire guesthouse, stole the victims' money, and fled the scene.

He Jinbo stroked his chin: "This goes without saying, everyone can deduce it. But let's return to the question Captain Yang just raised: did these murderers just randomly choose a guesthouse to commit the crime, or was it premeditated?"

Xu Guoliang continued, "I think it's random. Who would kill so many people for no reason? And set fires too? Isn't that insane?"

Jiang Jianbing asked, "What if it was premeditated? Who was it targeting? Yan Dahong?" Zheng Kang shook his head, "Don't be so absolute. It could also be targeting the other victims. Right now, apart from bodies number two and three, we don't know the identities of the other victims."

Xu Guoliang said, "The second body is that shampoo girl. We checked, her name is Wu Qingfang, everyone calls her Fangfang. The girls in the hair salon said that Fangfang left with a stranger at 11 p.m.

"The man lying on the floor in room 202 should be that 'guest'."

Yang Jinwen continued, "The police station said they received the alarm at four o'clock the next morning, which is also the time the fire department arrived. Because gasoline had been poured in the guesthouse, the fire started very quickly."

So what were these murderers doing during those four hours, from 11 PM to 3 AM? Were there still travelers checking into the hotel?

He Jinbo shook his head: "It was late at night, and it wasn't during the Spring Festival. The Dongfeng Guesthouse is a bit far from the train station and is quite remote. There might not be many travelers coming in. Even if someone did go in, they might choose not to stay. Where are we supposed to find them?"

Zheng Kang asked, "Where is the murderer? Jinwen, what's your opinion on the murderer?"

Yang Jinwen pondered for a moment and replied, "A desperate criminal, but probably not involved in organized crime. His weapon was a hammer, which is very common and convenient for killing people."

"convenient?"

Yang Jinwen nodded: "If they are carrying guns, then disregard what I said. Generally speaking, a hammer is a better killing weapon than a knife."

If you use a knife, you have to stab several times, maybe a dozen times. If you don't hit a vital spot, the person may not die. They might still be able to struggle and fight back.

If you're hit on the head with a hammer, you'll immediately be unable to resist and will be at the mercy of others.

At the same time, I don't think the killer who used the hammer is necessarily someone who spends a lot of time in the underworld; finding them will be quite difficult.

Jiang Jianbing asked, "Xiao Yang..."

He Jinbo glared at him: "Call him Captain Yang. He's your equal now!"

Jiang Jianbing clicked his tongue: "Okay, okay, Captain Yang, what do you think? Can you come up with a plan? Whether our Captain He can be promoted to deputy detachment leader depends on you."

He Jinbo was very unhappy that he had been tricked, but he couldn't refute it, so he took out cigarettes and offered them to these old guys to shut them up.

Yang Jinwen took a cigarette from He Jinbo and replied, "I tend to think that these people planned this in advance, otherwise there's no way to explain where so much gasoline came from."

If the perpetrator obtained the item from outside on a whim after committing the crime, it would be even easier to investigate, and the perpetrator could be found quickly.

Therefore, there is a lot to investigate.

First and foremost, gas stations and fuel thieves should be the focus of the investigation to clarify the source of the gasoline; this is correct.

Secondly, we need to know if any suspicious individuals boarded a train and left Annam on the morning of December 10th. After committing the crime, these people would definitely flee, and we need to know where they would go.

Third, find out the identities of the victims and what their purpose was. I don't quite agree that it was robbery. Robbery might have been an afterthought of the crime. After all, killing so many people for such a small amount of money is not worthwhile; it would be better to rob a coal mine owner.

If they weren't after money, but rather after killing a victim, they probably thought, "Since I've already killed someone, killing a few more won't hurt."

So last night, they stayed at the Dongfeng Guesthouse, waiting for guests to arrive, then impersonating the guesthouse owner and killing them one by one.

Most of these victims had suffered severe blows to the forehead, similar to the first victim. It's likely they were tricked into opening the door by the killer, who then brutally murdered them upon entry.

He Jinbo agreed wholeheartedly and nodded, saying, "In that case, there's a lot to investigate. Here's what we'll do: tomorrow morning, Lao Jiang, your team will go and investigate gas stations and fuel thieves. You'll have a day, so make sure you find out everything."

Old Xu, your second team goes to check the train station. This morning, find out all the passengers who took the train from An'nan City and make a list..."

Xu Guoliang immediately frowned and asked, "How do we check this? What about those who evade fares?"

"I don't care about your opinions. You smoke more cigarettes than I do, and now you're complaining to me?"

Yang Jinwen said, "Captain Xu, when these murderers left, in addition to taking the tools used in the crime, they also took a gasoline can. The gasoline can must have been quite large. We couldn't find it at the crime scene or around the guesthouse, so we went to look for the gasoline can."

Gasoline cans can't be taken on trains. If discarded gasoline cans are found in or around the train station's trash cans, it's possible these people escaped by train. If not, they're either still in the city or hiding in some county.

Xu Guoliang's eyes lit up: "You're really smart, kid!"

He Jinbo glared at him: "Call him Captain Yang, what kind of 'kid' is that?"

Then, He Jinbo smiled warmly at Yang Jinwen and said, "Captain Yang, we're counting on you to find out the victim's identity."

Yang Jinwen nodded: "And Brother Cat, the two of us will go investigate."

He Jinbo glanced at the dozing cat and let out a long sigh...

(End of this chapter)