Chapter 1170: Chapter 11: Concealment
The next day, around lunchtime, Song Ying finally got a call from Luo Qiu.
After grimacing at the phone for a while, Miss Song learned the meeting place and hurriedly declined Zhang Qingrui’s lunch invitation. Driving the car borrowed from the Zhang Family, and navigating through traffic, she reached the destination: the park.
Luo Qiu had apparently arrived a bit earlier… When Song Ying arrived, she found him looking at his phone.
“I mean, couldn’t you have picked a place where we could at least have a drink?” Song Ying looked around.
Due to the timing, the park was sparsely populated… Though quiet, it seemed suitable for discussing matters. Despite her plaining, she sat on the bench, “What are you looking at?”
“The power outage last night, checking what people are saying online.” Luo Qiu casually remarked, then turned off his phone, “Let’s continue our discussion from yesterday.”
“Have you… digested it all?” Song Ying cautiously asked.
“Thanks for your concern.”
“Who’s concerned about you?” Song Ying snorted lightly, “If it weren’t for Grandpa asking to take good care of you, I wouldn’t have e… Can you believe you dared to throw me out?”
“Eat up, you must be hungry.” Luo Qiu smiled, lifting a small paper bag from beside him.
Warm, steaming, and aromatic, it was naturally food.
“What is this?” Song Ying took it, curiously.
“Egg waffles.” Luo Qiu said softly, “I saw a cart selling them over there, thought you might not have eaten, so I got some. Not fond of sweets?”
“Tastes pretty good.” Song Ying took a bite, instantly conquered by the rich egg aroma and the soft, chewy texture, her previous mood brightened.
“Did your family find anything?” Luo Qiu suddenly asked.
“What do you mean by ‘your family’ and ‘my family’?”
Song Ying rolled her eyes, then took out a PAD, opened it, and handed it to Luo Qiu.
“The investigation was mostly arranged through Grandpa’s acquaintances here. As the report states, we’ve basically re-investigated everyone who was involved in that case back then. Surprisingly… Luo Qiu, you’re something, your father’s group of brothers are all sorts of strong players: Interpol agents, military majors, some even have their records classified.”
Luo Qiu quietly browsed through the data on the tablet, ignoring Song Ying’s muttering.
It’s undeniable that the pleteness of this data is notably high, achievable by no ordinary person—although there are quite a few discrepancies from what he looked up last night, it includes the happenings of many individuals over the years.
While munching on the egg waffles, Song Ying said, “We brought in several professional analysts, and broadly identified a few suspects. Generally speaking, if the shooter was someone internal, there must be some clues or traces, no way it’d be seamlessly covered up.”
As Song Ying spoke, she gestured on the tablet, “Look at this person, Zhou Yusheng. After the case concluded, his issued gun went missing. Claimed to have lost it during the battle, he was hospitalized for gunshot wounds afterward. Considering the fatal bullet was police issued, his suspicions are significant. Now promoted to the city bureau’s second squad captain, but his account shows nothing unusual… Here’s the second one, this person wasn’t originally scheduled that day but swapped shifts with someone else right before, coinciding with the armored car heist on his patrol route. Coincidence? Perhaps, but it’s awfully convenient… Oh, do you want any?”
Song Ying tore off a piece of the egg waffle and offered it.
But Luo Qiu slid to the third set of data instead.
Song Ying smacked her lips a bit, disgruntled but patient, “This person, Gao Wen, was the second squad captain back then. We’ve investigated his background; he’s well-connected, with a high-ranking father-in-law. Based on the intel we dug out from Old Forensic Doctor Ouyang, if anyone could cover this up, they’d need considerable influence within the system, which fits Gao Wen’s father-in-law. Moreover, Gao Wen’s actions later were questionable. Six months post-case, he resigned and joined a university as a teacher… Hey! Are you listening?”
“Hmm.” Luo Qiu simply responded.
Song Ying frowned, “This is basically what we have so far… What’s your take? Don’t worry, we’re fully cooperating with you. Whatever you want to investigate, whoever you want to look into, feel free.”
Luo Qiu closed the tablet, “Do you have time this afternoon?”
“Hmm, sort of.” Song Ying shrugged.
“Acpany me to the university then.”
…
…
Outside the cordon, a crowd had gathered—the current location was an old district’s residential house.
The scene of the crime was on the third floor of this house.
Officer Ma, upon just arriving, cautiously scanned the surroundings, thief-like, until a present team member reassured him, “Officer Ma, Ms. Ren isn’t here, rest assured.”
“Get off, am I afraid of her? I tell you, if she dares to e, I’d kick her out in no time!”
“Oh…”
When Officer Ma and Lin Feng led their team inside, they immediately smelled a strong stench.
“Hey, Xiaobao, it’s your turn today?” Lin Feng greeted Xiaobao from the forensic department, “What’s the situation here?”
Xiaobao slightly lifted his gloved hand, “Officer Ma, Officer Lin, looks like you’re in for some work… it’s a dismemberment case, and it’s particularly severe.”
“Dismemberment?” Officer Ma was startled… That’s a major case, usually implicates highly aggressive criminals, posing severe social threats.
Xiaobao nodded, “Moreover, we can’t currently ascertain the victim’s identity because the body isn’t intact. Most of the recovered tissue is shredded… We’ll need to piece things together later. However, I found the victim’s pelvis, temporarily confirming the victim is male… As for age, we’ll need to conduct further bone age analysis.”
The body was stored in an icebox… Officer Ma peeked inside.
Only to see pieces chopped, sawn, or hacked, piled messily.
The icebox walls should’ve had frost, but it had melted, now mixed with thawed flesh and bones, emitting a rancid odor.
The central parts hadn’t fully thawed, adipose tissue, shattered flesh, and bone fragments still clung together.
Officer Ma swallowed reflexively… While Officer Lin had less posure, quickly covering his mouth.
“Damn… such a deep hatred?” Officer Ma frowned, surveying the room as he inquired about the discovery process of the corpse.
The officer brought over a fifty-something old man, “Officer Ma, this is the informant, he is the landlord of this house. According to his statement, he came over this morning to check, when he noticed a strange smell out of curiosity he opened this freezer and discovered the corpse within.”
“Inspect?” Officer Ma glanced at the landlord, “What were you inspecting?”
“Oh, officer, here’s the thing.”
The landlord quickly replied, “It was the city-wide power outage last night, right? My house is actually quite old, so I was worried something might go wrong, came early to check the circuits and wires. When I got to this place, I knocked on the door for a long time, but no one answered. Feeling uneasy, I quietly opened the door, intending to take a look… unexpectedly, I found this thing, sigh! Scared me to death, you tell me, why is there this thing hiding here in my good place?”
Officer Ma nodded his head.
Officer Lin came over and said, “The landlord should be correct. I’ve looked at this freezer, the circuit board is burnt. It’s likely due to the sudden power outage last night causing a short circuit. But if it weren’t for that, the contents inside wouldn’t have thawed, without the smell we might not have discovered it.”
Officer Ma scratched his head, “So, we should thank last night’s power outage? Otherwise, who knows how long this corpse would have remained hidden?”
“You could say that.” Officer Lin shrugged.
Officer Ma rolled his eyes, then looked at the landlord, “Who rented this place?”
The landlord hurriedly replied, “Oh, it’s a young man named Wang Liang.”
“Where is he?” Officer Ma immediately asked sternly.
The landlord quickly said, “Oh, he went back to his hometown for the New Year, but he didn’t return the house.”
“Has he not returned since?” Officer Lin continued to ask.
The landlord shook his head, “Should be not.”
“How can you be so sure?” Officer Ma pursued further.
The landlord took out his phone, “I have leg problems, when collecting rent, I directly use mobile transfer. I added Wang Liang as a friend, checking his friend circle posts… Here, his status was updated just the day before yesterday. Oh, right, since I knew Wang Liang wasn’t home, I was worried his appliances might catch fire, so I opened the door to check… I didn’t have any other intentions, officer!”
“Do you have the rental agreement? Please bring it out to verify.” Officer Ma instructed, “Also, Landlord, please e to the bureau and provide all the information you know about this Wang Liang, make a detailed statement.”
“Sure.” The landlord nodded honestly.
Then Officer Ma whispered to Officer Lin, “Whatever method, find this Wang Liang quickly… Also, get all the surveillance from before New Year’s till now, review it carefully, see who’s been in and out during this time. Since dismemberment occurred, the killer surely returned to take away the body parts.”
“Got it!”
Officer Ma called loudly, “Get some guys, check the area, see if there are any clues.”
Inside the apartment building, everyone was bustling around… Crime will never cease, but such a major case is the first since the year began, even in usual times it’s rarely encountered—as Xiaobao said, it seems there’s busy work ahead.
However, no wall is pletely soundproof, leaks eventually happen, especially now in the age where everyone can record short videos… The dismemberment case is spreading at an unimaginable speed.
People have been deeply curious about the conversation, regarding last night’s power outage, which is still being discussed, but has quickly attracted attention due to this dismemberment case… Of course, it’s only within this city.
Yet, it seems every place has something that can draw people’s attention… After all, somewhere, from at some point in time, the age already has a hint of “entertainment to death.”
…
…
The classroom is tiered, this is the first class in the afternoon. The one holding the microphone because of his scholarly appearance has a lot of student fans—most are female students.
“… When a person or animal feels anxious or fearful, they will use every means to block this action of themselves, in psychology it is known as ‘concealment behavior’. They will use their hands to cover their eyes, maintaining a certain distance between themselves and the matter before their eyes.”
On the projection screen, a picture appeared showing a baby turning away its head, avoiding the milk bottle.
The scholarly lecturer’s voice gently sounded, “Just like a baby, when he has drunk enough milk, he will turn his head to one side, avoiding the bottle.”
At this moment, the picture was replaced with another one, showing a man, covering his mouth with both hands, his raised head filled with fear in his eyes and brows.
“This was taken on America’s September 11th, fearing the tragedy before his eyes, he chose this form of self-protection…” Speaking, the scholarly lecturer changed the picture again.
Now it was a picture of a bloody throat cutting.
Suddenly, many of the girls present, even some of the boys instinctively covered their faces with their hands.
“Indeed, just like what you are doing now…”
Unconsciously, the scholarly lecturer had been speaking on stage for a long time, until the bell rang signaling the end of class, prompting students to reluctantly pack their things—the lecturer also packed his things.
But perhaps this lecturer’s popularity was too high, as many students still surrounded him after class, asking various questions… Not until the bell for the next class rang did the muting students leave reluctantly.
Just as the lecturer was about to leave, he found there were still a male and a female student left in the classroom.
The pair, unlike engaging in post-class conversation, just kept staring at the lectern… or perhaps, at him. But he had no impression of these two students.
“Do you two have any questions?”
The girl glanced at the boy beside her, and seeing the boy seemed not to want to speak, stood up and smiled slightly, “Teacher Gao, I have some questions I’d like to ask you if you have the time?”
The lecturer… Teacher Gao looked at his watch, nodded, “I don’t have class next period or any particular appointment, go ahead.”
“In general, why would one suddenly change from a familiar environment, a familiar job, to another job? And, their original job was in a rising state, with a lot of development space?”
Faced with the female student’s question, Teacher Gao was momentarily taken aback.
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