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

Chapter 337 The 711 Case!
"you sure?"

In the brigade's office, Lu Ruixiang looked up from behind his desk, his eyes sharply fixed on Ma Hui.

"Captain Lu, it's true! A little over an hour ago, that guy surnamed Yang went to the archives on the third floor and, with the approval of the bureau leaders, took all the case files and materials related to Case 711!"

Lu Ruixiang squinted, twirling the pen in his hand, and asked again, "What's Captain Wu's opinion?"

"The Fifth Detachment should have agreed as well, since Wen Mo is the deputy director, and he couldn't disagree."

Captain Lu, these three teams are really slapping us in the face! This morning I heard that guy surnamed Yao say that they weren't going to compete with us.

Who knew they'd turn around and play dirty tricks on us? If they actually solved this case, where would our entire team put our faces?

Lu Ruixiang lowered his head and continued looking at the documents on the table. He said slowly, "Let him investigate if he wants to. We couldn't even find anything about the 711 case. I don't believe he has the ability to do so."

Ma Hui clicked his tongue: "Just who is this guy surnamed Yang? Is he that powerful? He dared to take on the 711 case?"

Lu Ruixiang raised his head: "You're unaware of the major cases that have occurred in An'nan City over the past year?"

Ma Hui shook his head: "We're too busy with cases in the provincial capital to pay attention to cases in small towns."

"Read more internal warnings and newspapers; don't be a frog in a well. Alright, go on with your work."

"So we're just going to stand by and watch?"

"What else? We're the police, we're disciplined. Are we going to trip them up? If we solve cases based on our abilities, no one can say anything. If you have that ability, you can have my seat."

"Uh... okay, I'll do as you say."

Ma Hui left dejectedly, while in the large office outside, more than a dozen people were staring at him, seemingly all wanting to know what their captain was thinking.

Ma Hui shouted irritably, "What are you looking at? Are you slacking off? The Second Brigade has solved all the cases, while we don't even have a clue about the cases we have. Aren't you going to hurry up and investigate? Do you want to put on a show at the end of the year?"

Everyone quickly went back to what they were doing, but their curiosity got the better of them, and they all said they would take a break to go to the toilet on the first floor later.

--------------

Inside the Second Brigade's office across the corridor.

Shen Wenzhu held a stainless steel water cup, drinking water while squinting her eyes.

Sun Yue stood in front of her desk and said, "Captain Shen, I've inquired, and Yang Jinwen did indeed take the 711 case file. When he was in Annam, he solved several major cases and successfully apprehended fugitives three times."

"twice!"

"what?"

"In the serial murder case at Danbei Coal Mine, the suspect Zhang Chen surrendered herself at the train station in Jiangcheng. Yang Jinwen was unable to track her down."

"So his ability to solve cases isn't very strong?"

"Not weak either."

"Then what should we do?"

"What can we do? Let him investigate if he wants to."

"Are we just going to stand by and watch?"

"What else? Go kick him?"

"Uh……"

Shen Wenzhu put down her thermos and pondered for a moment, then said, "Find two people to file the cases we've solved and then connect them with the procuratorate."

I'm going to the branch captain's office to take over a new case. Everyone, cheer up! We're just one case away from catching up with the main team. Let's give it our all!

If I'm dancing ballet on stage at the end of the year, playing Snow White, you all dance with me, playing the dwarfs.

Sun Yue swallowed hard: "Alright then."

After he went out, more than a dozen men from the Second Brigade immediately surrounded him.

"What did Captain Shen say?"

"Captain Shen said that Yang Jinwen is this person..."

Sun Yue raised his little finger and chuckled, "If he can solve the 711 case, I'll go to their first floor and clean the toilets for a year."

"A case that even the special task forces formed by the First and Second Detachments couldn't solve, how could the Third Detachment, with only five people, possibly solve the 711 case? Are you kidding me?"

"Yes, I love hearing that."

A voice broke into the crowd, and everyone turned to look. They saw Ma Hui standing at the door of the Second Brigade's office, holding documents in his hand.

He laughed and said, "Sun Yue, you've got some sense, buddy."

Sun Yue chuckled and said, "Captain Ma, how about we make a bet?"

"I bet their three battalions will only need a few days before they slink away in defeat."

“You can’t compete with me for it,” Sun Yue said. “You have to bet that they can break it.”

"Bullshit, if they can solve the 711 case, I'll go with you to clean toilets."

“Hehe…” Sun Yue said with a laugh, “That’s true.”

"Alright, I'm done bragging, I'm getting busy," Ma Hui said.

Unlike yesterday, the two smiled amicably, and the atmosphere of competition between them vanished. It seemed that because of the sudden formation of the Third Brigade, they had a common target for ridicule, or rather, an 'enemy'.

Only Gu Jun, formerly of the Third Brigade, stood to one side, his fists clenched tightly. "If I had known they were going to investigate this case, why would I have transferred myself!" he muttered, wishing he could slap himself.

----------

Inside the Third Brigade's office.

Yang Jinwen placed the cardboard box containing case files and documents on his desk.

Before he could speak, two people passed by the door, followed by two more, all slowing their pace and glancing into the Third Brigade.

Yao Weihua sat in the chair, looked outside, and said, "Seriously, what's wrong with these people? Is there no toilet upstairs? Why are they all running downstairs?"

He had barely finished speaking when he saw Lu Ruixiang, the captain of the first brigade, walk past the door.

Then, Shen Wenzhu's tall, straight figure swept past them, her eyes glancing at the office out of the corner of her eye.

Cai Ting said, "A storm is brewing, Captain Yang. If we can't solve this case, we'll become a laughing stock."

The cat asked, "If we find out, will we get a bonus?"

Feng Xiaocai replied, "This case isn't about the reward. If it's successfully solved, my master will be very pleased, and the bureau and the city will definitely praise us. It's even better than the cases solved by the first and second detachments combined."

Yang Jinwen closed the office door, shutting out the curious glances from outside.

He turned around and instructed, "The case files are all here. Everyone, take a look."

Several people stepped forward, took out the case files from the corrugated cardboard box, and arranged them on the desk in categories.

It includes the entire investigation process of the case, the forensic autopsy report, witness testimonies, eyewitness testimonies, and the investigators' performance reports, etc.

The case file did not mention any serial murder case, but rather the 711 case and the 609 case, both of which were kept in the same file box.

Undoubtedly, the branch did not combine the two unsolved cases, but privately referred to them as serial murder cases, probably to reduce the impact and avoid causing unnecessary panic.

The case was not further investigated for a simple reason: it is very likely that similar cases did not continue to occur, otherwise the Qincheng Detachment would not have dared to let it remain an unsolved case.

When Yang Jinwen took the case file, he could tell from the expression of the person in charge of the archives that the reason why the case was not further investigated was probably because the First Brigade and the Second Brigade were competing for the case-solving rate.

They may have become discouraged by unsolved cases that have remained unsolved for a long time. After all, devoting all their time and energy to a single case is too wasteful, and the budget doesn't allow it.

Yang Jinwen sat in the chair and opened the case file of the 711 case.

The first thing you see is a photo of the victim: big, wavy hair, red lips, and crescent-shaped gold earrings on her earlobes.

Name: Zhou Lei.

Age: 28 years old.

Occupation: Sex worker.

Place of origin: Hanzhong City, Shaanxi Province.

Family situation: Married in 1989, her husband Zhang Xueying and son Zhang Kuang live in their hometown, while Zhou Lei works alone in Qincheng City.

Residential address: Room 302, Unit 3, Building 1, Fusui Community, Xiangyuan Road, Xingye District, Qincheng.

A woman named Wu Tong lived with her here, and the two were from the same hometown. Wu Tong was also a sex worker.

In other words, both of these people were engaged in illegal professions.

Time of the incident: Late at night on July 11, 1996.

Location of the incident: The woods north of Xiangyuan Road Park.

处警时间：1996年7月11日，深夜11点35分。

That evening, the Qincheng Criminal Police Detachment received a report from the Xingye District Police Station that someone had been murdered in a park on Xiangyuan Road. The detachment dispatched the Third Brigade to investigate and handle the case. They found that an adult woman had been murdered and was lying outside the fence on the north side of the park.

The person who called the police was the park's night shift security guard, named Kou Tao.

In the 90s, parks were not free; visitors had to pay a fee, so there were security guards on duty.

Yang Jinwen said, "There's a person who called the police named Kou Tao. Can you help me find his statement?"

A moment later, Feng Xiaocai took out a transcript and handed it to Yang Jinwen. Clearly, she had seen these case files and was quite familiar with them.

Yang Jinwen took it in his hand and opened the transcript.

"I was on night shift alone. I was sitting in the guard room watching TV. It was very hot, so I opened the window to let some air in."

Our guardhouse window is on the north side, next to a grove of trees.

I remember it was around 10:30. I was watching TV, and after an episode of Justice Bao had just finished, the local channel stopped broadcasting. I wanted to switch the channel to CCTV.

I had just reached out to turn on the TV when I heard a sound, but it wasn't very clear. I thought it was raining outside.

I turned around and saw a woman standing outside the window. There was an iron fence separating our guardhouse window from the outside, more than a meter away. In other words, the woman was standing outside the iron fence.

I couldn't see clearly at the time, but seeing how uncomfortable she looked, I went to the window and took a look, which immediately terrified me.

I saw the woman clutching her neck with both hands, her lips, chin, and chest covered in blood. Her eyes were wide open, and she couldn't speak; she just stared at me.

Then she collapsed. I was terrified. After I came to my senses, I knew something must have happened.

But I was the only one on night shift, and I was a little scared. After hesitating for a few minutes, I grabbed my baton and flashlight, went around the street next to me, and came to the innermost part of the grove.

When I got to the guardhouse window, I shone my flashlight on it, and there she was, lying under the iron bars, blood bubbles constantly bubbling from her neck, like a pig being slaughtered for the New Year, strings of blood bubbles, scarlet red…”

(End of this chapter)