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

Chapter 219 Who is he?
April 5th.

Inside the office of the Criminal Investigation Detachment of Guangyuan City, specifically its Third Squadron.

When the squad leader Luo Ming came in, everyone immediately stood up, except for Sun Peng, who sat in his chair, looking at the items on the table, frowning in thought.

Luo Ming coughed twice: "Cough cough."

Sun Peng remained unmoved, keeping his head down and tilting it slightly as if he were pondering something.

His apprentice, Yuan Hao, quickly tugged at his shoulder.

Sun Peng was completely absorbed in his own thoughts and did not notice anything unusual around him.

"Ahem, Old Sun, how's the investigation into that unidentified corpse going?"

Upon hearing the detachment commander's voice, Sun Peng seemed to suddenly realize something, stood up, and exclaimed in surprise, "Detachment commander, you've arrived?"

"Get lost, don't try to fool me. I'm asking you a question. Have you found out the identity of the nameless corpse?"

Sun Peng replied, "It has been preliminarily determined that the unidentified body should be a villager from a village surrounding Banchang Town."

"Identity! I need to know my identity, my name, and who I am!"

"Oh."

"Hurry up, the body has been kept here for a month and a half."

I've only been handling this case for a day, do you think I'm a super detective?... Sun Peng nodded: "I'll do it as soon as possible."

Luo Ming glanced at Lu Zhongtai, who was in charge of major case investigations, and asked, "Have you received any more calls from An'nan City?"

Lu Zhongtai nodded: "Yes, they call on average once every three days."

Did they say anything?

"I'll say it again, they said a fugitive from their side might have come to our side. They sent over the fingerprints and a photo of the fugitive along with them."

A bystander complained, "We're busy all day long, how can we have time to chase after fugitives for them?"

Luo Ming, with his hands behind his back, replied, "That fugitive committed a major crime in An'nan City, killing five people. You all need to be careful, in case you run into him, that would be a second-class merit award."

"Old Lu, put the fugitive's photo on the wall in the break room so everyone can see it."

"Yes, Captain."

Luo Ming glanced at Sun Peng, who then sat back down in his chair, tilting his head and staring at the items on the table.

He shook his head and left the Major Crimes Unit's office.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as soon as he left.

Captain Lu Zhongtai took out the fugitive's photo from the folder and prepared to post it on the wall of the tea room, but no one around paid much attention.

After all, everyone has a lot on their plate, so who has the time to care about fugitives from other provinces?

Half an hour later, Sun Peng drove Yuan Hao to Banchang Town.

Today is Qingming Festival, and also a market day.

So the streets were crowded with people, mostly villagers from nearby villages, carrying baskets on their backs or shoulder poles.

After getting out of the car, Sun Peng took out two photos of unidentified corpses. He had specifically asked Zhang Yonggui to take them last night. He handed one to Yuan Hao and instructed him, "Remember, ask the people who sell hoes, noodles, candied hawthorns, and rattles."

"Master, I understand."

“Let’s ask them separately.”

Two days ago, after Sun Peng and Yuan Hao came out of the police station, they went to the town to ask around, but because it was a quiet time, they didn't get any clues.

Sun Peng is a veteran criminal investigator. The first thing he can confirm is that the deceased was definitely from a nearby village and was murdered on his way home.

Sun Peng could never understand why he was killed.

If a farmer from the countryside had no money, it certainly wasn't for robbery. It meant the deceased had a conflict with someone, making it a crime of passion.

The basket on his back contained a hoe, which he would use to dig the ground in the spring.

Aside from the two bundles of noodles, there was also a candied hawthorn and a rattle drum, both of which are children's items, proving that there were children in the deceased's family.

Most importantly, there's that red cloth!

Previously, Sun Peng had seen a red cloth on an evidence bag in his office; it was stained and clearly had been used.

Sun Peng guessed that the red cloth was probably tied to the hoe, as a way to bring good luck.

As he was thinking this, he saw Yuan Hao, holding two strings of newspapers and a candied hawthorn, squeeze through the crowd and shout to him, "Master, I found it."

"So fast?" Sun Peng exclaimed in surprise; he hadn't even started investigating yet. "The owner of the candied hawthorn stall knew the deceased?"

Yuan Hao shook his head: "No, they sell hoes."

"take me!"

The two found a shop ahead. The owner was smoking and standing on the steps, watching the people going to the market.

“That’s him,” Yuan Hao pointed.

Sun Peng leaped up the steps in two strides, stood in front of the boss, and asked, "What's your name?"

After speaking, Sun Peng introduced himself: "We are from the Municipal Public Security Bureau, here to investigate a case."

Immediately, the man threw away his cigarette and pointed at Yuan Hao, saying, "I just told this comrade that I've seen the person you're looking for."

Sun Peng handed the deceased's photo to him: "I know you've seen him. What's his name?"

“I don’t know his name, but every spring he comes here to buy a hoe.”

"You really don't know?"

"real."

"What date did he arrive?"

"I forgot."

Didn't he say anything to you?

The shop owner thought for a moment and then said, "I just asked about the price."

"Is he carrying a basket on his back?"

Yes, that's right.

"Around forty?"

“That’s right.” Sun Peng pursed his lips and asked again, “Boss, think carefully, where is he from, and what’s his name?”

"I told you, I really don't know."

The shopkeeper got impatient with his questions and pointed at the people at the market: "Go and ask them one by one. This guy must be from some village. He's at the market today, so there must be people from the same village who are here."

This reminded Sun Peng. He put down his hand and looked at the hoes in the shop. In addition to hoes, the shop also sold cattle tools.

He asked, "Was the hoe you sold to this person tied with a red cloth?"

The shop owner shook his head: "Why tie red cloth around them? They're all carried by straw ropes. Look, that's how it is in my shop."

Sun Peng took a closer look, and it was indeed the case.

Where did that red cloth come from?

Now is not the time to think about this. Sun Peng said to Yuan Hao, "Call the police station and call their people over to investigate with us."

Yuan Hao said, "Master, your mobile phone is with you, I don't have a telephone."

“I know,” Sun Peng retorted, and quickly notified the police station.

The police station sent three people, plus Sun Peng and his apprentice, making a total of five people.

Looking at the throngs of people on the street, everyone was a bit lost.

Yuan Hao asked, "Master, there are so many people, do we have to ask them one by one?"

Sun Peng smoked a cigarette, his mind racing.

In the 90s, rural markets were spectacular scenes, since few people owned houses in the city and didn't have the spare money.

He asked the police officer at the local police station, "On which road was the unidentified body found?"

The other party replied, "Huangguoshu is three kilometers away."

"Huangguoshu?"

The other person pointed forward: "It's at the other end of the town."

"Let's go over there and keep watch. It's most likely the direction the deceased went home. If anyone recognizes him, they'll definitely have gone back the same way. We'll ask them one by one!"

The three people from the police station were all wearing uniforms and hats, which saved a lot of trouble; at least they wouldn't be mistaken for hooligans by the people at the market.

After noon, more and more people started returning to the village.

Most people walk, but some ride in farm vehicles. The farm vehicles are covered with waterproof tarpaulins, and there are two long benches in the cargo compartment for passengers to sit on.

After asking around, no one recognized the deceased.

More than an hour later, a man and two women carrying baskets on their backs passed by Sun Peng and his group.

Sun Peng squatted by the roadside smoking, while Yuan Hao, accompanied by three police officers, questioned them.

Sun Peng was still thinking about the red cloth, so lost in thought that he didn't hear Yuan Hao calling him several times.

Yuan Hao ran over, intending to kick him.

"Master, I found it!"

"Found them..." Sun Peng suddenly stood up: "Found the person?"

"That's right, he's from Wanjia Village, his name is Wan Dehai!"

Sun Peng threw away his cigarette butt, ran up to three villagers, and pulled out a photo from his bag: "Do you know this person?"

"Wan Dehai, we know each other."

The photo was taken from a low angle, with the freezer in the background.

"From your village?"

“It’s from our village.”

"Get in the car, take us there."

Because there wasn't enough room for so many people in the car, the three police officers from the local police station turned back and went home.

Sun Peng drove, Yuan Hao sat in the passenger seat, and the three villagers, along with their baskets, were crammed into the back seat.

The villagers were happy to be able to ride the free bus, but they were also a little reserved.

As Sun Peng drove, he glanced at the rearview mirror and asked, "How long has it been since you last saw Wan Dehai?"

The man replied, "It's been a long time since I've seen him. The winter melons are rotting on the ground, and he hasn't even picked them."

How many people are in Wan Dehai's family?

"His parents died early, so there were only four people in his family, including him."

"Please explain in more detail."

"It's him, his wife, and a son and a daughter. The son is in elementary school, and the daughter is only two years old."

"Why didn't his family report him missing for so long?"

"Report a crime? How could his family dare to report a crime? He only has one daughter, and he hasn't paid any money to the government."

Sun Peng pursed his lips, pretending not to say anything.

Wanjiacun is about eight kilometers away from Banchang Town. Because it is a dirt road with many potholes, it took more than an hour to get to the village entrance.

After getting off the bus, the man instructed his wife, "You two go back first. I'll take the police officers to Wan Dehai's house."

After he finished speaking, he said to Sun Peng, "Come on, it's just over there on the other side of the mountain."

The roads in the village are impassable; cars can't drive in, and they're all uphill.

In the village, every wall is covered with slogans from the modern era.

Following the stone tablet marking "Closing the Mountain for Forest Regeneration," we finally found Wan Dehai's home deep in the mountains.

It's a detached house with its own courtyard. The house is made of yellow mud and covered with black tiles.

The male villager walked to the front of the yard and went straight to push the door open.

Yuan Hao frowned: "You're just going to go in like this? Aren't you going to call out?"

The other party replied, "What are you yelling about? Wan Dehai's wife is a madwoman, she's got something wrong with her head."

(End of this chapter)