Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Changming Martyrs Memorial Park was filled with green grass and neatly arranged gravestones. Those buried here were either revolutionary martyrs or other various people who had made great contributions to the country.
Leader Wu’s fiancé, Shi Hai, was a hero in the drug control taskforce, who died in the line of duty. Therefore, he was buried here upon special approval from the government.
However, although his heroic deeds were impressive, his rank was the lowest among all of the martyrs buried here. His grave was in the newly built area, close to the east wall.
After finally coming here and seeing it himself, Zhao Yu finally understood why there were no obvious footprints left by the murderer on the ground. It turned out that the cemetery here was different from the one in Qinshan. The passages between the graves here were covered by indigo tiles!
Moreover, Gao Facai said that because there were so many people visiting this cemetery before and after the New Year Festival, the fingerprints and footprints that they left behind greatly increased the difficulty of obtaining conclusive evidence. Also, the killer seemed to have covered his tracks at the scene, which also made any trace analysis difficult.
“All of Wu Fangfang’s belongings are here, including his mobile phone, wallet, watch and necklace,” Captain Wang said, while standing beside Zhao Yu. “We checked her calls, and it appears that she didn’t answer any calls that day… So… Um…”
After a little hesitation, Captain Wang said with embarrassment, “Leader Zhao, our people who searched the woods from the east of the park to the Red Star Road just reported back to me that no suspicious motorcycle tire traces were found! Either the motorcyclist didn’t go into the woods or he somehow got rid of the marks.”
“Um… I know…” Zhao Yu felt that the case had just become much more complicated.
The scene stirred up a memory from Zhao Yu’s past. When he saw the gravestone in front of him, he couldn’t help but think of his former group leader Qu Ping.
Qu Ping was an honest and dedicated female criminal police officer, but in the end, she died in an unexpected disaster. Zhao Yu still felt quite sad when he thought about this tragedy. She died without even knowing why she was being killed.
Qu Ping didn’t even know why she had to die. Did Leader Wu? Zhao Yu turned his eyes to the grave and wondered.
Although he didn’t know much about Leader Wu, he knew that she had a short temper and was a very persistent and loyal policewoman. He couldn’t help but wonder… Who would want to kill her? And… Why did the killer kill her in front of her fiancé’s grave?
So many questions continued to fill his mind… Why was Yang Zebiao’s DNA underneath her fingernails?
“Zhao Yu, are you alright?” Miao Ying saw that Zhao Yu look strange and asked with concern.
“Oh… It’s nothing…” Shaking his head, Zhao Yu pointed to the grave and asked, “Meow… Do you know anything about Wu Fangfang’s fiancé?”
“Oh, I almost forgot an important thing!” After hearing Zhao Yu’s question, Captain Wang suddenly said, “Leader Zhao! I read Leader Wu’s information. Although she and Shi Hai didn’t live in the same city, they did grow up together!”
She then said, “Apparently, during that time, the privileged urban youth would be sent to mountainous areas or farming villages to learn from the workers and farmers. So, Leader Wu and Shi Hai grew up in Gaolanqi in the Mengxiang Province!”
Upon hearing this, the others were shocked. Hearing about the place, Gaolanqi, caught their attention because 13 years ago, the bloody Ziliu Case took place in Ziliu Town in Gaolanqi!
What a coincidence! Leader Wu is from Gaolanqi, and so is her fiancé. I wonder if this is important for solving the cases? Zhao Yu thought.
Captain Wang looked even more surprised than the others, even though she was the one who told the others about this. She then said, “I also heard that they were neighbors, and their parents got along quite well with each other and were happy to see them together. However, the parents’ jobs were very dangerous.”
Captain Wang continued, “Their parents were both involved in construction projects. They were rich, but both of them chose to give all of that up in order to become police officers. Their parents naturally didn’t like that. But, they had already made up their minds, so their parents had no way to stop them.”
When Captain Wang said this, Zhao Yu turned to look at Miao Ying, as Miao Ying’s situation was similar to this couple’s.
Captain Wang then said, “For this reason, they seemed to have been arguing with their families a lot. It is said that right up until her death, Leader Wu’s relationship with her parents was strained.”
Captain Wang went on to say, “The two families returned to their hometown about ten years ago. Leader Wu was in Jinghai and Shi Hai was in Changming, so they were not very far from each other.”
Captain Wang then said, “Both of their parents bought luxury houses as marriage gifts for them. In fact, they should have gotten married a long time ago, but unfortunately, Shi Hai’s special tasks delayed their marriage many times. In the end, the tragedy occurred…”
Ran Tao sighed. “It is like one of those times when you wonder whether the fates conspire against good people! Their heroic choices brought about the worst results! Not all of the great talents end up with good ends.”
Captain Wang nodded, then said, “That’s why Officer Shi deserves our respect! He could have enjoyed an easy life without worries, but decided to come to the front lines to fight against the bad guys. His choice is worthy of all of our respect!”
Miao Ying said with admiration, “Their love story touches me. We must find out the truth and bring the murderer to justice!”
After hearing what they said, Zhao Yu once again thought of the past. Once, in a restaurant in Bailing, Leader Wu was drunk and had an argument with him in his car.
At that time, Zhao Yu felt annoyed, but now, he could understand the pain that she must have been feeling after losing her most beloved! Now, he had a deeper understanding of Leader Wu.
After they finished checking the scene, it was already two o’clock in the afternoon. If it had been in the past, Zhao Yu would certainly have wanted to find a restaurant nearby.
However, the situation had changed, and in order to reduce any unnecessary risks or danger, they returned directly to the Changming Police Station and had a simple lunch in the canteen there.
At this moment, there still wasn’t any progress in the case. Local police officers were still trying to track down the motorcyclist suspect. They had searched the area, but found nothing. The suspect and the motorcycle had both vanished without a trace. But, this confirmed the police’s suspicion about the motorcyclist, so they expanded their search area.
After Zhao Yu and the others had finished their meal, Ran Tao suddenly remembered something. He pointed to Zhao Yu’s right leg and said, “I just realized that our leader’s leg has recovered… And in such a short time!”
Wu Xiumin said in surprise, “I hadn’t noticed this before! You don’t need a cast or crutches anymore? How could you have healed so quickly? Wasn’t it a complex fracture?”
As Zhao Yu tried to hide his embarrassment, he replied, “Well… It’s been a while. How can you not know that I had recovered? Shame on you having for such bad observational skills!”
Ran Tao tried to explain, “Boss, we are not to blame for this! You know that we have all been very busy since we came back from Changming. New tasks keep coming in! So… How could we have time to notice that? We are already in a chaotic mess here!”
Upon hearing this, Zhao Yu frowned slightly. Ran Tao’s complaint gave him an ominous feeling.
Miao Ying, as the deputy leader, tried to boost the group’s morale as she said, “Don’t forget that we have cracked the Devil Case! So… This case…”
Ah, hero, please accompany me in pursuit of my dream… As Zhao Yu’s cell phone rang, he seemed to have anticipated the call, and he immediately answered it.
“Hello… Leader Zhao… ” A hoarse man’s voice came from the other end of the phone line. Zhao Yu recognized that this man was Xu Hai, the special investigator who he assigned in Jinghai to cover the investigation of Leader Wu’s house burglary.
“What happened?” Zhao Yu asked hastily.
Xu Hai’s voice sounded extremely nervous as he said, “Leader Zhao, we have just arrived at her house, and…”
Zhao Yu realized that there was something amiss as he listened to Xu Hai’s nervousness, so he urged, “And… What?”
Xu Hai gasped heavily, then said, “We have just arrived at Leader Wu’s house. The local police officer in charge of the search found something in the secret compartment of her drawer! We found photos… And…”
“Photos? What photos?” Zhao Yu had no idea what these photos could be.
Suddenly, his mobile phone vibrated twice. He clicked on the message and saw that Xu Hai had sent the photos to him.
As he looked at them, he suddenly felt his brain exploding!
“What happened?” Upon seeing his shocked face, the others came over to Zhao Yu in a hurry.
Then, after they saw the photos, they were as shocked as Zhao Yu. Among them, only Ran Tao, who was relatively slow in his response, pointed to the photos and said, “They’re just a few nude photos. Wu Fangfang is with…”
The next second, Ran Tao jumped in shock, pointed to a photo, then trembled as he asked, “This man… Is that Jiang Ke?”
