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Detective Captain patted my shoulder and walked out first, leaving me alone in the interrogation room. I leaned against the wall, rubbing my temples with my fingers. After all this time investigating the case, it made no sense to give up now. Even if the Second Unit arrived, there would be a mountain of handover procedures, and they would need days to familiarize themselves with the case. By then, who knew where the Killer would have gone?
At that moment, footsteps echoed, and I glanced over to see Juan Juan approaching. Noticing that I had seen her, Juan Juan spoke up, "The Vice Minister just called me and said we should head back. Your video of hitting someone has gone viral online. The Vice Minister is looking out for you; he means to arrange your work after this situation settles down."
I looked at Juan Juan and sighed, asking, "What did you say in response?"
Juan Juan shrugged and replied, "I told him you're the leader of the Special Investigation Team; whatever happens is up to you. By the way, Mary and Dezi think the same way. You decide; whatever happens, we'll bear it together as the Special Investigation Team. This isn't the first time we've faced such a situation."
As she spoke, Juan Juan smiled and added, "We've faced disbandment more than once already."
Seeing her expression made me smile too. No matter how strong they were, the bright moon still shone over the great river. We would deal with future matters later; right now, we needed to focus on finding the Killer.
That night was restless; my mind was troubled with thoughts that kept me tossing and turning uncomfortably. First was the complexity of this case, then there was Yan Junde's situation, and finally, the orders from the Vice Minister. These three issues intertwined like a twisted cage around me, causing an unbearable headache.
It felt like I had just fallen asleep when I heard someone knocking on my door. I glanced at my watch; it was only around four o'clock. Groggily opening the door revealed Dezi standing in front of me. His early visit indicated something urgent was going on. Thinking of this, I quickly asked, "What's wrong?"
Dezi raised his phone and said, "I just received a message from Lanjing City—someone has died. They were killed last night by being strangled with a rope. After investigating, they found out that the deceased is from Kaiyang City. They find this case suspicious since we are also in Kaiyang City; they sent us the information about the deceased hoping we could compare it."
"Another Kaiyang person has died in Lanjing City?" As I put on my coat, I said to Yan Junde, "Has the information about the deceased arrived? Send it to Detective Captain so he can verify it downstairs."
But Dezi remained unmoved, his face showing a strange expression. Seeing that expression made me realize something—it meant we knew this deceased person already; there was no need for comparison. Sure enough, Yan Junde continued, "The person who died is someone we know—it's Xiao Jingguang!"
I could hardly believe my ears; the deceased was Xiao Jingguang—the heartthrob from high school. Logically speaking, Xiao Jingguang should still be in Kaiyang City at this moment. He had clearly promised us before that he would keep his phone on 24/7 and wouldn't leave Kaiyang until the case was resolved. So how could he end up in Lanjing City?
"Are you sure it's Xiao Jingguang?" I asked again.
Dezi nodded seriously and said, "It's definitely Xiao Jingguang; his photo has already been sent to Mary's computer. Mary is currently booking plane tickets because given the situation, we must return to Lanjing City to investigate further. Sister Juan has already contacted Detective Captain."
I quickly finished getting dressed and said, "Right, we must go back to Blue Capital. Xiao Jingguang must have learned something important that led him back there. This also means that the Killer is still in Blue Capital—and very likely someone we know—making it less suspicious for them to hide among people rather than run away."
After getting dressed and packing my things, I walked outside with Yan Junde. At that moment, Juan Juan also brought Detective Captain over. Detective Captain said to us, "I just heard Dr. Yang explain the situation. Captain Shao has also discussed the case with me, and we have a general understanding of the direction for the investigation. Don't worry, if there are any leads, I will call Yan Junde immediately."
Mary had already booked the flight, which was set to depart in an hour. Before leaving, I sighed and wished Detective Captain well: "Try to dig deeper into Han Youliang regarding the whereabouts of the items in Qiang's Container, as well as the relationship between Qiang, Han Youliang, and Xiao Jingguang. Look for common points."
"Understood," Detective Captain nodded.
We boarded the plane back to Lanjing City, where the Police Department personnel were already waiting for us. Since the Lanjing City Police Department did not anticipate that this case would be related to Zhao Kaifang's case, they proceeded directly with the autopsy and had already cleared the crime scene. At this point, they had written up the report, and the body had been stitched up.
Lanjing City is a large metropolis with a high level of police expertise, so we did not need to conduct another investigation or autopsy. The deceased was indeed Xiao Jingguang, and the time of death was approximately around midnight last night. Xiao Jingguang's death was quite bizarre; he had been strangled but was found hanging from a tree.
The Police Department simulated the scene of Xiao Jingguang's death for us. Around midnight, Xiao Jingguang had arranged to meet someone in New Town. While waiting for his appointment, he leaned against a large tree. Then, the Killer appeared. The Killer seemed very familiar with the terrain and environment.
He quietly circled behind Xiao Jingguang. As night fell, the Killer made no sound, and Xiao Jingguang did not notice that danger was approaching. He continued to wait for his contact but instead encountered a deadly noose. In the darkness, a nylon rope slipped around Xiao Jingguang's neck and was suddenly pulled tight.
Mentioning the nylon rope reminded me of the scene at Ma Youshan's death site, where a nylon rope was also used to bind him. I wondered if there was any connection between them. With this thought in mind, I immediately said to Captain Li from the Police Department, "Captain Li, have someone compare this nylon rope with the one used to bind Ma Youshan during his death to see if they are of the same type!"
Captain Li's eyes lit up as if he suddenly understood something. From what we currently knew, aside from Qiang's death confirming the Killer's identity, we could not ascertain who killed Zhao Kaifang, Ma Youshan, or Xiao Jingguang; however, they all shared one characteristic—they were all strangled with ropes.
Captain Li quickly dispatched someone to make the comparison and then proceeded to simulate the crime scene for us.
The nylon rope was tightened around Xiao Jingguang's neck rapidly. The rope had quickly tied itself behind the tree with a knot formed around a wooden stick inserted in between. Utilizing the twisting force of the stick made it effortless and allowed for quick tightening of the rope. In just a few minutes, Xiao Jingguang was dead.
Before his death, Xiao Jingguang struggled violently; on either side of the tree trunk were nearly all scratches made by his fingernails. Additionally, numerous nail fragments were found on the rope in front of his neck. It appeared that Xiao Jingguang fought hard but still could not escape from the Killer's nylon rope.
The simulation results indicated that this was indeed the primary murder scene. However, there was a significant point of suspicion about this crime scene—namely, that wooden stick used to twist the rope. In my experience with crimes I've encountered, wooden sticks do provide speed and ease in execution; victims can perish within minutes.
Yet wooden sticks also have their drawbacks: they are difficult to manipulate and inconvenient to carry. This suggests that it could not have been a crime of impulse; the Killer must have come prepared. It is highly likely that whoever Xiao Jingguang was meeting ended up killing him; otherwise, who would walk around carrying a wooden stick?
So now comes the question: who exactly was it that Xiao Jingguang was supposed to meet? Suddenly I recalled something he said when he stopped by at Kaiyang City's police station; I hadn’t paid much attention at that time as I thought it was merely Xiao Jingguang expressing nostalgia over Zhao Kaifang’s death. However, analyzing it now suggests that perhaps Xiao Jingguang had already discovered something troubling—talks about ropes and suicide among other things.
At that moment, the young officer responsible for comparing the ropes returned. He saluted us and said, "After a comparison by the technical department, we found that the material of this nylon rope is exactly the same as that used to bind Ma Youshan. It's one type of rope!"
"One type of rope!" Captain Li slammed his hand on the table and continued, "We can merge the cases for investigation. After you left, we continued to follow up on Ma Youshan's case and conducted extensive inquiries. We discovered that Ma Youshan's death was indeed suspicious, particularly concerning his mobile phone."
"What did you find?" I asked eagerly.
Captain Li replied, "Although nothing of Ma Youshan's was missing, it seemed as if no one had been there. However, when we investigated Ma Youshan's phone, we found that someone had indeed been there and had tampered with it. All of Ma Youshan's call records and contacts were completely deleted."
"We questioned several punks who hung out with Ma Youshan, and they said he never deleted his call records; he was too lazy to do so," Captain Li continued. "Yet when we examined Ma Youshan's phone, there was absolutely nothing left! This raises suspicions. Therefore, we concluded that Ma Youshan did not die accidentally; someone held onto the rope, preventing him from freeing himself, leading to his hanging from the beam."
I nodded in agreement and said, "Yes, we've simulated this before. If someone grabs hold of the end of the rope, he wouldn't be able to get down by himself."
"Exactly!" Captain Li said earnestly. "After confirming Ma Youshan's death, this person deleted his contact list and call records to prevent us from discovering who he had spoken to. I believe this person is among us!"
Hearing Captain Li's words reminded me of Qiang; Qiang's death was strikingly similar to Ma Youshan's—one had their phone records deleted while the other had their phone completely taken away!
【Unsolved Mystery】 A mysterious 21st-century Airborne Troops appeared in North America, rescuing an Indian Red-Haired Beauty, enjoying the company of a Blue-Eyed Busty Blonde, dominating Wall Street, amassing wealth across America, and initiating a Han Ethnic Colonial Global Model.
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