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

Chapter 53 Eyewitness: The Shoemaker! (Please continue reading, please vote with monthly tickets.)
"stand at attention!"

"Take a break!"

"Look to the right!"

"Look forward!"

Lu Shaohua shouted orders to the joint defense team members.

In addition to serving as the head of the Chengbei branch, he was also the chief of the joint defense team.

These groups typically consist of veterans, unemployed local youth, or retired officials.

Their daily work involves street patrols, such as in high-crime areas like bus stations and train stations.

They were either tasked with assisting the Chengbei Branch Bureau in case investigations, mediating civil disputes, etc., but these duties were gradually phased out in 04 and replaced by the auxiliary police system.

In addition to the chief, there are also positions such as squad leader and platoon leader. Platoon leaders usually manage 3 to 5 patrol groups, and each group is responsible for several communities.

Lu Shaohua spent a few minutes organizing the people, then strode towards Zheng Kang and the others.

He was usually in a good mood, always smiling at the police officers below him, and he wouldn't get angry even if he heard someone calling him "Lu the Bold" behind his back.

Veteran detectives like Zheng Kang hadn't forgotten that this old man was a former deputy company commander who had retired from the battlefield.

When he was demobilized and resettled, he received training and started as a squad leader in the Chengbei branch.

Lu Shaohua and Lao Fan from the canteen once spent three days and three nights in the woods, managing to capture an armed thug alive. By the time they caught him, the thug was so exhausted that he was foaming at the mouth.

At this moment, his old soldier nature was on full display. He immediately asked, "Old Zheng, are the clues you found true?"

Zheng Kang wasn't afraid of others, but he was somewhat intimidated by Lu Shaohua. He quickly nodded and said, "Director Lu, I think we should be able to find the person if we investigate like this."

He didn't say who analyzed these clues, not to show off, but because he didn't want to use Yang Jinwen as a scapegoat before the perpetrators were found.

What if something goes wrong? What if the Chengnan Branch and Jiaxing Branch arrest the person first?

Even if he didn't say it, Lu Shaohua knew exactly what was going on. He looked at Yang Jinwen and nodded: "Old He explained it to me very clearly. I support the clues you analyzed. As for the bank, I'll have He Jinbo take a few people to keep an eye on things first."

I've brought the entire joint defense team here. They're going to search the area from Jianmin Road to Wutong Lane—a three-kilometer stretch—leaving no one unchecked!

"Yes!" Zheng Kang nodded.

Immediately afterwards, he, Jiang Jianbing, and Xu Guoliang went to gather people and began to search the areas one by one, according to the previously designated zones.

It's already 7:30 pm, and it's completely dark. There are only a few streetlights on Jianmin Road, casting a dim yellow light.

Zheng Kang and his team, along with the joint defense team, conducted a thorough search of both sides of the street, following the route Zhang Xiaoying took home before her death.

At the end of Jianmin Road is a T-shaped street. Turning right leads to Hongxia Road, and turning left at the end leads to Linchuan Street.

Turn right at the end of Linchuan Street. There is an alley across the middle section of the road. Go in and there is a downhill road. Walk down the slope and you will reach Wutong Alley.

Zhang Xiaoying returned home at 10 p.m. on June 14th and was murdered at around 2:30 a.m.

This period is particularly important, as the killer may have been following her or scouted the area.

Moreover, after committing the murder, they would have fled the scene in a hurry. Although there are few pedestrians on the road after 2:30 a.m., they may still encounter eyewitnesses.

Yang Jinwen did not go with them, but went alone to search for eyewitnesses, focusing on the shops along the way.

The store housed a grain and oil shop, a clothing store, a computer room (the predecessor of an internet cafe), and a hair salon with a rotating lightbox in front, with several posters for perms plastered on the wall outside. This hair salon was on Linchuan Street, and it was already past nine o'clock at night.

Yang Jinwen stood next to the lightbox, the neon light shining on him, half of his face in shadow, the other half blood red.

His eyes were fixed on the sparse traffic on the street.

Zhang Xiaoying and Sun Lu's noodle shop has been open for several years. Before their child was born, she and her husband would go home together after get off work. But after having the child, she has been going home early for more than a year now.

She was a regular on this road, and on her way home she would always buy something, such as fruit, things for the children, and daily necessities.

Therefore, many people know her. Zheng Kang, Jiang Jianbing, and Xu Guoliang have led a team to investigate Zhang Xiaoying's life trajectory before her death.

The owner of the grain and oil store knew her, and so did the owner of the small goods store.

But the business owners in the neighborhood couldn't recall whether any suspicious individuals had followed her on the night of June 14th or during those days.

Just then, Yang Jinwen was stepping towards the slope when he heard the sound of a door being pushed open behind him.

He turned around and saw a rather stylishly dressed girl smiling at him: "Hey, wanna get your hair washed?"

Yang Jinwen narrowed his eyes slightly and pointed to the joint defense team members who were conducting door-to-door checks across the street.

The girl smiled and shook her head, saying in a non-local accent, "Don't worry, we've already paid, they won't cause any trouble. Big pot, can't you wash it? We have a second-floor washer here, I'm very nimble-handed, I can press and touch it."

"Uh……"

Looking into her bright, sparkling eyes, with violet eyeshadow on her double eyelids, Yang Jinwen couldn't help but frown slightly.

"Big pot, very cheap, only ten yuan, I guarantee you'll be satisfied." The girl continued to solicit business, and even deliberately lowered the neckline of her shirt to reveal her pitiful collarbone.

In 97, it was rare to see an overweight person on the street. People were far from being wealthy enough to eat meat every day, and young men and women were almost all on the thin side.

If you don't have a concrete concept of this, you can imagine the "Shamate" youth after the millennium to get a sense of the physical condition of this generation.

Yang Jinwen had already seen it all; only slightly plump girls were truly succulent and sweet, so he wasn't interested in the girl in front of him.

Just as he was about to lecture her, the girl quickly closed the wooden-framed glass door and pulled the curtain behind it, completely blocking out what was inside.

Yang Jinwen turned his head and saw Jiang Jianbing leading two joint defense team members, walking towards him menacingly.

He took two steps forward and hurriedly asked, "Uncle Jiang, what's wrong?"

"We've found an eyewitness!"

Jiang Jianbing replied, "There is a newsstand in the alley behind. The owner said that he saw Zhang Xiaoying carrying her child by at 10:20 pm on June 14th."

After Zhang Xiaoying entered the alley, a suspicious-looking middle-aged woman followed her.

Yang Jinwen's gaze sharpened: "Really?"

Jiang Jianbing nodded: "Absolutely true! Your master is over there, you should go over there quickly. Besides the newsstand owner, there's also an open-air shoemaker nearby. He finished work late that night and saw the person too. I'll go find that shoemaker and ask him questions now."

Upon hearing this, Yang Jinwen quickly ran towards the newsstand...

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(End of this chapter)