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墨書 Inktalez
I shared this matter with everyone and then said, "Now we just have to wait for the results from the provincial capital's lab. If they match, then..."
I paused here. "The deceased must undoubtedly be Russell Mei."
From the current evidence, it was almost a certainty that the deceased was indeed Russell Mei. However, in front of Captain Zhou, I couldn't be too definitive. Perhaps giving Captain Zhou a glimmer of hope, even if it was fleeting, was better than laying the harsh truth bare before him.
And the truth might not be something anyone could easily accept.
It seemed that Guan Zengbin wanted Captain Zhou to forget about this matter, as he remarked sarcastically, "It's a pity this process is taking too long. Back when we were in Dongxing City, we got results in just one hour. But now, three hours have passed, and still no news on those samples we sent for testing."
Although Captain Zhou was still grieving at that moment, he appeared much better than before. He stood up, smiled at us, and began to start a fire while saying, "No matter what happens, life must go on. It's so cold in here; you all should remind me to get a fire going."
Watching Captain Zhou skillfully tend to the fire made my heart feel heavy. He had faced such a significant event yet still took the time to help us warm up. If it were an ordinary person in his situation, they would likely have no mind for such things. Captain Zhou's thoughtfulness truly ran deep.
What a wonderful boyfriend he was; I felt sorrow for Russell Mei.
Seeing that we had nothing more to say, Captain Zhou continued with Guan Zengbin's earlier topic: "Actually, our Yumu City is quite slow. To get tests done, we first have to go to the Provincial Capital City. Even when we arrive there, it's not as simple as getting tested right away; there’s a queue. We have to wait until the previous tests are completed before it's our turn."
Guan Zengbin shrugged and replied helplessly, "But the efficiency is just too low."
Captain Zhou responded, "There's nothing we can do; that's just how our country operates right now. It's like letting some people get rich first before everyone else can follow suit. Even among us civil servants, allowances vary by location. I don't know why you all were assigned here, but I imagine your pay isn't very high."
I usually didn't concern myself with such matters; I wasn't even sure how much money I had in my account at that moment. I typically ate at work and rarely bought anything else; my situation was already quite good.
Gu Chen shook his head and said, "You earn according to your ability. If you earn more, you spend more; if you earn less, you spend less. Dongxing City has high wages but also high living costs. A bowl of noodles there costs twenty yuan regularly—unlike here where a big bowl of beef noodles is only ten yuan; it's generous and cheap."
Captain Zhou sighed and said, "Gu Chen, you're still young and don't understand. When you reach my age, you'll realize that we bear more responsibilities than just ourselves. Why do so many people choose to go to big cities? Don't they know that higher wages come with higher costs?"
Captain Zhou shook his head again: "It's not that simple. A bowl of noodles costs twenty yuan, but instant noodles have a standardized price nationwide. So every month, you could earn an extra thousand yuan compared to someone in the city—and that extra thousand can mean a lot in certain places."
When it came to money, Captain Zhou became quite reflective: "Take five hundred thousand yuan for example—do you think I could earn that much in my lifetime? My monthly salary plus benefits barely adds up to three thousand yuan. If I lived frugally and worked for fourteen years without spending a dime, I might save enough for that five hundred thousand—but what in life doesn't require money?"
"I could save one yuan a month," Captain Zhou said with some agitation. "It would take me forty years to save enough."
People often say that even a penny can thwart great heroes; it seemed Captain Zhou was truly afraid of poverty in this regard. Suddenly, I recalled Liu Yinyan from Dongxing City who once told me that ten million yuan could only buy a bathroom-sized space in their home. People are indeed quite strange.
The coal stove was lit, and we spent the entire night in silence.
In the morning, we got up to wash up briefly.
It hadn't snowed last night, so the murderer didn't come out to dispose of the body. We took advantage of this time to get a good night's sleep, but looking at the sky now, it seemed likely that it would snow soon.
As usual, we went to the Old Village Chief's house for breakfast and ran into Sun Kangning and his father in the village.
"Hey, what are you up to?" Seeing the lively Sun Kangning lifted my spirits considerably, sweeping away the gloom brought on by the case.
Sun Kangning spotted me and said, "We're going to play chess with Uncle Li. The bad guys took Uncle Li's eyes, so now I'm his eyes."
"Is Uncle Li really that amazing?" I asked with a smile.
Sun Kangning nodded seriously and replied, "Yes, even though Uncle Li can't see anything, it's like he can see everything. He can even cook for himself at noon."
Then Sun Kangning turned to ask, "Are you going to stay here for a long time, like last time?"
"Last time?" I didn't quite understand what Sun Kangning was referring to.
Sun Kangning pointed at Captain Zhou and said, "Yes, this uncle used to come here often. Sometimes he would stay here, but not for as long as this."
Captain Zhou smiled and patted Sun Kangning's head before saying, "That's right. Your village chief is a good friend of mine. Just like how you visit Uncle Li, we have a good relationship too."
Sun Kangning asked earnestly, "Are you also the village chief's eyes?"
After bidding farewell to Sun Kangning with a smile, we arrived at the Old Village Chief's house.
At the dining table, I chatted casually with everyone: "Old Village Chief, looking at your age difference with them, it seems like there's quite a gap. How did you become such good friends? I remember when I first came to Tou Gou Zi Village, Captain Zhou kept talking about you."
The Old Village Chief took a sip of porridge and looked at Captain Zhou. "Well, our village is not usually welcoming to outsiders due to special reasons. But after Captain Zhou visited our village once, he started coming regularly. Captain Zhou is a good person; he knows that most villagers have difficulties and sometimes brings officers along to help out."
Captain Zhou waved his hand dismissively and said, "Our Yumu City has good public safety; there hasn't been a murder case in decades. As the captain of the Criminal Police Force, I have some free time on my hands, so I just come over to help out."
Looking at Captain Zhou's smile from the heart, we couldn't help but smile back. However, even though Captain Zhou often visited Tou Gou Zi Village, the villagers didn't seem very warm towards him. If Captain Zhou was so eager to help, why were these villagers so indifferent?
Nothing much.
As evening approached, Mary sent me a WeChat message, and I went through it line by line.
Mary informed me that through investigating Russell Mei's phone number, the last call record for Russell Mei was at noon four days ago. This means that Russell Mei likely met with this person before her death.
The person who met with Russell Mei is highly suspicious.
However, when Mary tried to trace this number, she found it was a phone card purchased on the street; the information did not belong to a local resident but rather to someone far away. This indicates that this person had planned to kill Russell Mei when they arranged to meet. They used a randomly bought phone card to call Russell Mei to avoid being traced.
I frowned; this clearly showed that the murderer must have a strong awareness of counter-surveillance.
Mary continued messaging me.
Early this morning, Mary went to the nail salon to verify the situation. The nail technician, Tony, told her that Russell Mei had walked there. When she left, she didn’t take a taxi; that fool would come to pick her up. However, Tony didn’t see who it was or what kind of car it was.
Mary retrieved the surrounding surveillance footage and found that after Russell Mei entered an alley, she never came out again. The footage also didn’t capture what kind of car picked her up; it seemed the other party deliberately chose a parking spot out of sight.
According to Mary’s speculation, driving from that location to Tou Gou Zi Village would likely take over an hour. If that's the case, then the fool Russell Mei mentioned must be the last person who saw her and is also the most suspicious one.
But in Tou Gou Zi Village, I hadn’t seen a single car. The only vehicles were delivery trucks—would Russell Mei really go on a date with one of them?
Moreover, for the murderer to park in a place without surveillance coverage clearly indicated their excellent counter-surveillance awareness and familiarity with the city. Since Russell Mei getting her nails done seemed like a spur-of-the-moment decision rather than a regular occurrence.
I already had an expectation forming in my mind, and the direction of the case was gradually aligning with my suspicions.
I put my phone into my pocket and said to Captain Zhou, "Captain Zhou, things might be a bit difficult here, but I still have to—"
Captain Zhou nodded and said, "Whatever you need to say, just say it. Don't worry about me."
I asked, "Was Russell Mei somewhat greedy when she was with you?"
"Greedy for money?" Captain Zhou frowned and said, "It's not that she's particularly greedy; otherwise, she would have sought out someone wealthier. I've mentioned before that I send money home every month, leaving myself with very little. I don't think she's after my money."
I furrowed my brow. If Russell Mei wasn't a gold digger and wasn't particularly attractive, why would a fool be willing to give her five hundred thousand? Could he really be that foolish?
Gu Chen looked outside and said, "Wu Meng, it's time to act. The snow is falling heavily today; I suspect the Murderer might choose tonight to dispose of the body."
I glanced outside, and sure enough, it was as Gu Chen had said.
"Let's go." We stood up.
One by one, we filed out of the house.
Guan Zengbin called from behind, "You're leaving me here alone? I want to go too!"
I turned back and shouted, "What good would it do for you to go? Just stay at home!"
In the meantime, the other two had already exited the courtyard.
I turned to Guan Zengbin and said, "I've got a task for you. Follow what I've written on my phone. If all goes well, we should be able to catch the Murderer soon."
Guan Zengbin looked puzzled as he took my phone, but at that moment, I was already running out of the courtyard.
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