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墨書 Inktalez
My words left several people deep in thought. After a moment, the Old Instructor spoke up, "As an ordinary person, if I were to dismember a body, it would definitely be to hide it and transport it. Otherwise, why would anyone go through such effort to dismember a body?"
The old lady glanced at the Old Instructor and nodded. "But the Murderer didn't take the body away."
I interjected, "Dismemberment is also a form of desecration. The Murderer must have had a significant grudge against Lu Zhiqiu. This hatred was so intense that even after killing someone, it wasn't enough; they had to gouge out the eyes and sever the limbs to feel satisfied. Do you know who might have such a deep-seated grudge against Lu Zhiqiu?"
"Or," Zhao Mingkun added, "could there be someone who particularly liked Lu Zhiqiu?"
"Love turning into hate?" I understood Zhao Mingkun's implication.
Zhao Mingkun looked at me but shook his head. "People often like to think of love and hate as opposites, but in reality, love and hate are just extreme emotions. Love is hate, and hate is love. It's not that hatred arises from love; rather, it's because of love that one might resort to murder."
The old lady fell silent, seemingly pondering something. After a moment, she spoke again, "I truly don't know if Lu Zhiqiu had any enemies. From what I remember, Lu Zhiqiu was quite kind to others. There was a girl from a poor family whom Lu Zhiqiu often helped."
Pausing for a moment, the old lady continued, "However, there were indeed many who liked Lu Zhiqiu. The class monitor back then, Wang Yikai, really liked her. He even confessed with candles in a romantic gesture. But whether anything came of it afterward, I'm not sure."
"Wang Yikai went to that construction site too?" I asked.
The old lady nodded. "That's right; it was considered an internship. Quite a few students from our three classes went—around ten or twenty in total. Wang Yikai definitely went as well. Why? Are you suspecting him?"
"Not necessarily," I said as I picked up the enrollment photo. "Can you tell me which students went? Their addresses or information?"
The old lady nodded and asked the Old Instructor for a pen. She began circling names on the list while saying, "The police also found those names and investigated each one individually. But in the end, there were no leads; these students probably weren't involved. Sigh, it's really puzzling—I can't figure out who could be the murderer."
With that, the old lady fell silent again and continued drawing circles on the paper.
At this point in the case, there were two key points: what exactly happened seven years ago and who killed Lu Zhiqiu? The other key point was identifying the current Murderer. As a staunch atheist, I couldn't believe in ghosts or supernatural killings. So after seven years, who had returned? Why did they kill Hu Pei and Hu Xiaoxue and successfully drive Jiang Xiaochun insane?
Would they kill again? If so, who would be next?
Who killed Lu Zhiqiu? Could it have been Hu Pei? And was the current Murderer seeking revenge for Lu Zhiqiu?
With this thought in mind, I asked, "Grandma, what about Lu Zhiqiu's family? After seven years, do you still have contact with them?"
Upon hearing me mention Lu Zhiqiu's family, the old lady sighed heavily. She said, "What saddens me even more is this situation; sometimes I think about it and feel sorry for Lu Zhiqiu. As an advisor, I have to approve financial aid based on students' family situations every year—Lu Zhiqiu was one of them."
Zhao Mingkun furrowed his brow and asked, "Isn't Lu Zhiqiu always helping other girls? Her family situation isn't that great either?"
"Maybe Lu Zhiqiu is just a good person. She has scholarships and often helps others," the old lady sighed heavily before continuing, "I know about Lu Zhiqiu's family. They come from a village in the suburbs of Dongxing City. Although it's under the jurisdiction of Dongxing City, their economic situation can't compare to that of the city itself."
"I remember Lu Zhiqiu once told me that when she was in high school, her mother didn't want her to continue. If it weren't for her excellent grades, she wouldn't have been accepted into high school without paying tuition, and they even gave her a monthly living allowance of one thousand yuan. Half of that living allowance went back home; otherwise, she would have started working long ago."
The old lady capped her pen and set it aside, continuing, "She mentioned having a younger brother who was around ten at the time; now he must be seventeen or eighteen. When Lu Zhiqiu died, her family naturally had to be notified. They gathered dozens of people to hold banners and sat at the construction site, refusing to leave and stopping the work. The halt in construction resulted in significant losses. Eventually, after negotiations between the construction site and the school, the site paid seven hundred thousand yuan, and the school contributed three hundred thousand. Only then did her family leave."
Hearing this, I suddenly recalled what Zhang had said earlier: after Lu Zhiqiu's death, the insurance company also paid out one million. I wondered if that was true or not. However, it seemed genuine that Lu Zhiqiu's family had caused a scene at Hu Pei's home; otherwise, Zhang wouldn't have fabricated something verifiable.
I asked, "Did the insurance company really pay out one million?"
The old lady nodded and said, "At that time, since they were going to the construction site, the school had taken out insurance for everyone. After someone dies, once the insurance is paid out, that's usually it. But Lu Zhiqiu's family made such a fuss that to settle things down, they ended up paying an additional one million. For a wealthy developer, a million isn't much."
"The insurance policy must have had very detailed stipulations," I continued asking. "Do you know who the beneficiary was?"
The old lady shook her head and replied, "I think there was some cooperation between the school and the insurance company. I only know it was called Kangning Insurance Company, but I don't know who she listed as the beneficiary. After all, no one expected any danger back then."
I repeated, "Kangning Insurance? It seems we need to inquire there."
The old lady nodded.
I asked again, "Do you have any phone numbers or addresses for these people?"
She shook her head and said, "It's been seven years; many people have changed their phone numbers. How about this: you leave me your phone number, and I'll contact these people on your behalf by organizing a reunion for university classmates. Then I can give you their contact information."
Her suggestion made sense; it was more practical than us searching individually. I was about to give my phone number when I realized I was no longer the captain of the Special Operations Group. Somewhere along the way, I had subconsciously started thinking of myself as a real police officer.
In this role, I could no longer step back.
Zhao Mingkun spoke up, "The higher-ups have regulations against using personal phones for investigations. How about this: you leave us your number, and we'll contact you later."
The old lady nodded without seeming to doubt Zhao Mingkun's "sincere" words.
As we were leaving, she took my hand and said, "Officer, it's been seven years; I'm over sixty now. Lu Zhiqiu's family took the money and disappeared without caring about what really happened. I fear I'm probably the only one still concerned about this matter. I'm worried that in a few more years, when I'm gone too, no one will remember that there was ever someone named Lu Zhiqiu."
Tears welled up in her eyes as she said, "Lu Zhiqiu was only twenty-two or twenty-three, at an age full of potential, yet he died like this. You must catch the murderer."
I nodded and replied, "The Silver Serial Killer who escaped for twenty years has finally been caught. This has only been seven years; don't worry. No matter how long it takes or how many police officers change, we will eventually catch the murderer. Rest assured, we will get to the bottom of this."
"Thank you, thank you," the old lady said, shaking my hand vigorously.
I had heard that a person dies three times. The first time is when they take their last breath; physiologically, they are dead. The second time is at their funeral; socially, they are dead. The third time is when everyone forgets them; only then do they truly die.
I never expected that after seven years, it was not Lu Zhiqiu's parents who remembered him, but his former teacher.
As we stepped out of the building, Zhao Mingkun asked me, "You just inquired about Lu Zhiqiu's family. I heard he has a younger brother who is now around seventeen or eighteen. Do you think it's possible that Lu Zhiqiu's brother is seeking revenge?"
I nodded and said, "That's what I was thinking too. However, since the police have never identified who killed Lu Zhiqiu back then, his brother probably won't find anything either. But from the current situation, Hu Pei seems to be the most suspicious. Perhaps the brother thinks the same."
Zhao Mingkun hopped on his motorcycle and said, "So he doesn't know who killed his sister and decides to kill all the suspects? A boy who was just a child has now grown into a seventeen or eighteen-year-old young man? That really shows some deep sibling affection. Shall we go ask at Kangning Insurance Company?"
I also got on the motorcycle and replied, "That’s a possibility. But if you think about it carefully, there were workers at the construction site back then and classmates who went for internships—all of them could be suspects. If that's the case, there are many people who could end up dead. It's possible that the murderer is killing based on their own suspicions."
Zhao Mingkun started the motorcycle and said, "But can her brother really endure for seven years and then come back to kill? With one hundred fifty thousand, is it worth committing murder?"
I replied, "Before we investigate this matter further, let's buy a phone. In today's society, you can't do anything without a phone..."
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