Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
On the sixth day of the first lunar month, at 8:15 a.m., right outside the high-speed railway station of Changming City in the Jizhou Province.
“Alright then…” Zhao Yu said into the phone, “In that case, you will not return to the team for the time being. If you need money, just let me know! It’s okay… Don’t cry… Don’t be so emotional. You know, I am an honest man…”
Before Zhao Yu hung up the phone, he and Miao Ying had already seen Ran Tao coming to pick them up at the station. Ran Tao lived in Beijing, and his house was less than two hours away from Changming. So, he had come to the scene yesterday to learn the details of the case.
At this moment, he came to meet Zhao Yu and Miao Ying, driving the car that was designated for use by the Criminal Division only. Due to Zhao Yu’s current popularity, the Changming Police Station had wanted to welcome him with a motorcade, but Zhao Yu had asked Ran Tao in advance to pick up him and Miao Ying at the station alone, without letting anyone else know about their arrival.
“What happened?” When Miao Ying saw that Zhao Yu had ended the call, she couldn’t help but ask, “Is it about the burglar?”
Zhao Yu smacked his lips. “Come on, she’s a member of our special investigation group, not a burglar anymore, okay? She just called to say that Tao Xiang suddenly got worse. The doctors are going to perform a craniotomy on him, so she’s not coming to meet us.”
“Oh…” Miao Ying nodded. “Do you want to verify that?”
“No! I have no doubt about our members!” Zhao Yu shook his head. “Can’t you see that she has changed? Don’t worry, there’s no problem with her! It’s just… I don’t know if Tao Xiang will make it through the operations this time…”
Miao Ying sighed. “The king of thieves has finally come to such an end. It sounds like quite a sad story.”
Zhao Yu said, “I hope that Tao Xiang can get through it this time. He has many untold secrets that I’m curious to know about.”
“Boss, Leader Miao!” Ran Tao hurried to greet them and took their luggage. “Happy New Year!”
Because he was just discussing his old colleague’s death, Zhao Yu did not feel in the mood to pay New Year’s greetings to Ran Tao.
Before he got in the car, he asked anxiously, “Well, you went to the scene yesterday, right? What’s the latest on the situation there?”
Ran Tao put the luggage into the car, then sat in the driver’s seat and said, “Yes, I have been to the scene. Wu Fangfang is the head of her special investigation group, so the Criminal Division attaches great importance to her accident, and even Gao Facai has come with his team to help look for answers!”
Ran Tao then said, “At present, they are going through the routine procedures. Yesterday, the Changming Crime Investigation’s Captain took charge. They are waiting for you to come so that they can hand over the leadership role to you.”
Zhao Yu sat next to Ran Tao and asked, “Why did she go to visit graves on the fifth day of the New Year? And… Why did she go to Martyrs Memorial Park in particular?”
Ran Tao started the car, then said with a solemn expression, “Wu Fangfang is not a Changming local! She went to Changming Martyrs Memorial Park to pay her respects at her fiance’s grave! The reason why she chose that day was because it was her fiance’s birthday. However, she was killed in front of her fiance’s grave!”
Ran Tao then said with a heavy heart, “When I went to the crime scene yesterday, I saw that the bunch of lilies that she had placed on the grave had been dyed red by her blood!”
After hearing this, Miao Ying asked, “Oh dear! How did she die? From what I heard, she might have been struck over the head with a blunt object… Is that true”
Ran Tao said, “Yes. She was hit on the back of the head, more than once! The scene is very bloody, so the killer must be very cruel! The weapon may have been a hammer! Oh… And… Last night… I heard from Gao Facai that there were wounds on her neck and traces of her being strangled, but they were not the actual cause of her death!”
Zhao Yu frowned, then suddenly had a bad feeling and started to say, “This case…”
“What?” Miao Ying noticed Zhao Yu’s abnormal behavior, and when his sentence trailed off, she asked, “What are you trying to say?”
“The strangling and the striking marks conflict with one another!” Zhao Yu finally pointed out the key point that had been causing him trouble. “If I wanted to use a hammer to kill Huo Fangfang, why would I strangle her as well? Don’t you think that’s simply needless extra effort?”
Miao Ying understood what Zhao Yu meant immediately. “If the killer could have strangled her to death, he wouldn’t have needed to use the weapon as well! Or, the killer must really hate her. Zhao Yu, didn’t you use to work with her?”
“Wu Fangfang, nicknamed ‘Hot potato,’ had a very short temper,” Zhao Yu shook his head. “She offended many people, including me! It’s just… I find it hard to believe that an enemy at work could have killed her so cruelly.”
Ran Tao suddenly shouted loudly to Zhao Yu, “Boss, I remember hearing from you that Wu Fangfang’s fiance was an undercover agent in a drug gang! As Wu Fangfang was killed in front of her fiance’s grave, do you think that it could be related to those drug dealers?”
Zhao Yu shook his head. “I don’t know. It may also because of her work! Division Chief Jiao said that she had made great contributions to the Criminal Division and had solved many major cases for them.So, it’s possible that she offended some very bad guys in the process.”
He then asked, “Ran Tao, did you find anything at the scene?”
“The Martyrs Memorial Park is a public park, so on the fifth day of the New Year, no one was on duty. Most of those visiting their families’ graves went there before the New Year. So, we haven’t found any witnesses yet!” Ran Tao said.
He then added, “Also, the park only has cameras at the main entrance and in the memorial hall, and even then, we haven’t found anything on those surveillance tapes. We could only see Wu Fangfang holding a bunch of lilies in her hand in the footage!”
Ran Tao thought about it a bit longer, then said, “But… I don’t think this case should be very difficult to solve! It’s like the local criminal investigation captain said, Changming was among the first cities to install Skynet, which means that there are many security cameras near Martyrs Memorial Park. So, it is only a matter of time before they capture the murderer.”
After hearing this, Miao Ying said, “Maybe there will have been some new findings when we arrive at the police station. Ran Tao, what about Wu Xiumin and Zeng Ke?”
Ran Tao answered, “Oh… They’re on their way! They are flying here together. In fact, they should be at the airport now!”
Ran Tao then said, “Zeng Ke will be very happy to learn that the beautiful forensic doctor, Zhang Peipei, has come along with Gao Facai on this case! The last time we went to Beiqian, Zeng Ke had made some progress with her with my help. By the time this case is solved, I suppose the relationship between the two of them will almost be settled!”
During the conversation, Ran Tao had driven the police car onto the highway, and it would take another 10 minutes for them to reach the Changming Police Station. Unexpectedly, Zhao Yu’s mobile phone suddenly rang. It was Gao Facai calling.
“Mr. Gao, happy New Year!” Zhao Yu said.
But, Gao Facai was in no mood for pleasantries, so he said with a trembling and excited voice to Zhao Yu, “Leader Zhao… This is serious! I’m placing you on speaker mode…”
Gao Fangfang, who was beside him, then swallowed hard and said, “We found the skin tissue of the suspected murderer from under the victim’s nails. After conducting DNA testing, we have a suspect! But…”
Zhao Yu was also excited now, so he urged her impatiently, “But what?”
“The DNA matches perfectly with a man named Yang Zebiao!”
Upon hearing this, Zhao Yu almost jumped out of the car seat. “Isn’t Yang Zebiao the suspect from the Ziliu Case from 13 years ago? No way! How could he…”
Upon hearing the news, Miao Ying and Ran Tao were also shocked. But, Zhao Yu’s reaction was different from Miao Ying’s and Ran Tao’s. He suddenly had a feeling that what had happened to him before might be repeating itself once again!
At the Jinping Nursing Home, he had met Tao Xiang unexpectedly, which got him get involved in the Headless Female Corpses Case! Then, when he was investigating Han Kuan’s wife’s death in Golden City, he had found the clue that was related to the Devil Case. Now, he was investigating Wu Fangfang’s death, but the Ziliu Case’s suspect’s DNA had suddenly appeared!
Suddenly, Zhao Yu’s heart started to beat wildly in his chest. He was very clear that this was definitely not a coincidence! There must be an important secret in this case!
