Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Luckily, although the Headless Corpses Case’s second victim was from Qinshan, she was not related to Zhao Yu at all. The person’s name was Sun Xiuer.
She was thirty eight years old when she went missing. She was single and didn’t have a proper job. As she was estranged from her family and didn’t have many friends, no one filed a police report when she went missing. Hence, the case dragged on for many years and her dead body remained a Jane Doe.
However, the Bai Ling Police Station’s investigated it more thoroughly. They searched through identity databases and found her record in an old file at the Qinshan police office. It turned out that Sun Xiuer was once arrested by the police in the late eighties, which caused her imprisoned for two years.
Another human trafficker?
After they saw the information, Zhao Yu and his teammates first thought that she must have been a human trafficker. After all, when they were investigating Bai Lili previously, they already suspected that the motive of the Headless Female Corpses Case was related to human trafficking.
The previous investigation group that investigated the case in 2003 had the same suspicions. Captain Jin even recorded it in the yellow notebook!
Although Bai Lili wasn’t technically a human trafficker, her act of kidnapping Cui Lizhu was considered as being close enough. In the end, however, the police gave up on this suspicion during the investigation back then!
The fourth victim of the Headless Female Corpses Case, Zhang Xiaoxiao, was an accountant at a state-owned enterprise. She was famous locally and her family was quite wealthy. Hence, she wouldn’t be related to human trafficking at all.
As for the fifth victim, Xi Yanmei, she was a teacher at a private school, while her husband ran a factory. They were considered to be the wealthiest couple in their area, so it would be ridiculous for her to get into human trafficking!
So, although Sun Xiuer had once been a human trafficker, it couldn’t prove that the Headless Female Corpses Case was related to human trafficking. Besides, Sun Xiuer was located in Qinshan, so she wouldn’t have known Du Manting. Hence, although the identity of the victim had been confirmed, it didn’t help at all with the case investigation!
“Oh my God!” Ran Tao pointed at the map and said, “Sun Xiuer’s dead body was found in Jin’an Linfu. Linfu is eight hundred kilometers away from Qinshan. He carried the dead body eight hundred kilometers! This… This is unbelievable.”
“Yeah! No wonder Sun Xiuer’s dead body had rotted the most!” Wu Xiumin said. “It seems that the murderer killed her, took care of the dead body, then moved it that far away!”
“True!” Hearing that, Captain Sun let out a heavy sigh and told Zhao Yu, “Sir, I have worked on the frontline for all of my life. I wonder if I could share my thoughts about this case with you all?”
“Of course, you are more than welcome!” Zhao Yu never thought that Captain Sun would be so helpful, and he quickly thanked him with a firm handshake and nod.
Ever since he had met Captain Sun, Zhao Yu had taken a liking to him. He felt that he possessed all the qualities that an outstanding police detective should have. He was neither too haughty nor too humble, he had an awe-inspiring righteousness, and he devoted himself wholeheartedly to his work.
“I found an issue…” Captain Sun said seriously, “I realized that the most extreme measures that the murderer took was in transporting a corpse for a thousand miles!”
What Captain Sun had just said attracted everyone’s attention. He looked around at their surprised faces, then continued. “I suspect that the murderer transported the dead body so far in order for the police to be unable to identify it, as it would have rotted so much by the time anyone discovered it! Especially back then!”
Captain Sun started reminiscing. “Yep, back then, we were kind of backwards as far as investigation methods. The information couldn’t be obtained as easily as it is now. We certainly didn’t have modern technology and surveillance cameras everywhere! Hence, the golden period to solve a case was always at the very beginning, when the case first occurred! The earlier we could identify the dead body, the easier it would be to solve the case! Thus, the murderer picked at our weakest point!”
He shook his head, clearly saddened by this. “After he killed someone, he moved the dead body a thousand miles away. This undoubtedly increased the difficulty in our solving the case! Plus, he even chopped off the victims’ heads and fingers! Hence, the police couldn’t certify their identities!”
Again, he shook his head, then paused to calm himself a bit. “As the identity couldn’t be confirmed, it delayed the best time to collect evidence, which made it even more difficult to solve the case! So, I think the murderer must be very familiar with the police investigation procedure!”
“Yes!” Zhao Yu nodded in agreement.
Actually, Zhao Yu had thought of this very thing a long time ago. He really was beginning to think that the murderer was either an internal staff member or a person who regularly dealt with the police!
This was partly why Zhao Yu had suspected Tao Xiang, as the king of the thieves naturally knew the police department’s investigative approach. However, the recent signs pointed to the fact that Tao Xiang might not be the true murderer of the Headless Female Corpse Case!
Then, who could it be? could it be Tao Xiang’s mysterious ally?
As the person was in the same field as Tao Xiang, would he also know about the police department’s investigative approach?
“If what Captain Sun said is correct…” Ran Tao pondered and said, “We can confirm something! After 1998, the murderer stopped killing! Would it really be because the DNA technology had gained popularity by then? With DNA technology, even if the murderer sent the dead body overseas, they would still be able to identify the person’s identity. Hence, he dared not continue to commit any more crimes!”
“Yes, I think that could be right!” Captain Sun nodded. “I hope I helped!”
Zeng Ke suddenly gestured to Zhao Yu, who understood him with just one glance. Zeng Ke had found the girl with the dragon-shaped bracelet. With Captain Sun being there, Zeng Ke wasn’t sure about whether he should mention it to Zhao Yu in front of him, which is why he had used the charades method!
At that very moment, Zhao Yu was planning his next step in his head. They had to use the Bai Ling Police Station’s manpower to investigate the origins of the dragon-shaped bracelet.
However, Zhao Yu faintly realized that, if he were to carry out the investigation publicly, it might not be appropriate. After all, the case investigation was currently under a microscope. The Central Criminal Division, Nanjiang provincial office, Bai Ling Police station, Wu Fangfang and many other people were paying close attention to them.
Moreover, they had only found a dragon-shaped bracelet. If they were to go look for more evidence so openly, yet not find anything else, it would definitely negatively affect his special investigation group. Plus, Zhao Yu was worried that such information regarding the search for new clues might alert suspects who had been paying close attention to the case investigation in secret.
Hence, it would be better to be very careful and quietly conduct every step. As such, Zhao Yu redirected his attention to Captain Sun. He held Captain Sun’s shoulder and spoke to him in whisper, telling him everything about the dragon-shape bracelet and his concerns regarding the case.
Captain Sun was excited upon hearing the news of the bracelet’s discovery. He shared with Zhao Yu that he thought it was an important clue that required immediate investigation.
However, Zhao Yu requested that he carry out the investigation in secret and not report anything to the higher ups until further notice. As Captain Sun was an experienced general, he naturally understood Zhao Yu’s concerns and immediately guaranteed Zhao Yu that the people that he was going to send out for investigation were trustworthy!
At that moment, Zhao Yu felt an even deeper reverence for the senior police detective. He was going to retire in a few days time, so he didn’t have to take the risk, but he agreed to help him anyway. This said a lot about his virtue and patriotism!
After Zeng Ke located the girl via GPS, Captain Sun immediately gathered his team and flew into action. In order for them to obtain information, Zhao Yu brought Ran Tao, Wu Xiumin, and Cui Lizhu altogether, leaving Zeng Ke to guard the headquarters.
It was half past five before dawn and the sky was still dark. Zhao Yu was sitting in the police car, wondering if they could find any new clues.
