After the familiar door of the room was opened, the first thing that hit me was a strong smell of dust. Then I immediately looked into the room expectantly, only to find that the room was exactly the same as when I left. The visible dust accumulated on the ground indicated that no one had come to the house during the time I was away.
Even though I had asked the guard before and got his answer, I still held on to a glimmer of hope that I would see the face of the person I wanted to see the moment I opened the door. Unfortunately, reality is so cruel.
Seeing me standing at the door without going in, Officer Yang sighed slightly, reached out and patted my shoulder and said, "Come in, the room hasn't been cleaned for a long time, clean it up first, otherwise how can people live here?"
As he said that, Officer Yang walked into the room first, covered his nose and went around the room, opening all the windows that I had closed when I left.
At this time, Lin Yingxue came up to me from behind, stared at me with an inexplicable look and said, "She still hasn't come back."
I shook my head slightly and said, "No, she has been back!"
Hearing what I said, Lin Yingxue's eyes dimmed instantly, and then asked: "How do you know?"
I bent down and picked up the photo frame and the note that I had placed on the ground before I left. I wiped the dust off them and said, "Before I left, I placed the photo of her and me here and left a note. But now the photo is gone, but the note is still there. It's obvious that she took the photo away."
In fact, in my opinion, if Zhang Qishan had not come back, maybe I would not be so upset now, because if she had not come back, it would prove that she was just playing with me, or that she had given up on me. But now she left evidence of her return and took away the precious photo, which means that she, like me, has not forgotten the past, but why did she still leave
After we returned to the room, I sat on the sofa in a daze, and Lin Yingxue also cleaned the room during this time. Officer Yang sat aside watching TV boredly. I don’t know how long it took, but Officer Yang might have become a little impatient and asked me when we would set off to check out the crime scene.
Officer Yang's questioning broke my train of thought. I sighed slightly, put all my worries back into the depths of my heart, stood up and stretched my body, and said, "Let's go now. This matter is quite urgent. The sooner we solve the case, the better!"
I don’t know when it started, but I have gradually gained confidence in solving cases. When I was in Zhongwei City in the past, I would hear about bizarre cases, although I was also very interested, but I had no confidence at all. Now, this kind of confidence has firmly taken over my character with the passage of time.
Hearing that we were leaving, Lin Yingxue, who was still wiping the table, immediately threw away the rag, went to the bathroom to wash it, then followed us out of the room and walked towards the crime scene.
The community where the crime scene was located is a community that I am relatively unfamiliar with. It is located near the easternmost bus station in Zhongwei City. After we arrived downstairs of the deceased, I first looked at the building carefully and found that there were only six floors in total. In other words, the deceased was located on the top floor. After a closer look, I found that there was a faint burnt area on the side of one of the bedroom windows. Obviously, the room where this window was located was the crime scene.
I stared at the blackened burnt area on the roof and asked in confusion, "What time was the deceased's death?"
Officer Yang said, "Eight o'clock in the evening."
"He died at 8 o'clock in the evening, and you didn't receive the report until the next afternoon? In such a long time, didn't anyone notice that there was a fire here? Besides, the fire started at night, so it must have been very obvious."
When Officer Yang heard my question, he sighed helplessly and said, "Have you forgotten which police station I'm from?"
"Binhe Police Station!"
"That's right! The east side belongs to the Wenchang Police Station, so fires and homicides are supposed to be under their jurisdiction. The reason why I was able to receive the report was probably because the reporter happened to be from our side, so the call was received by us. I have already talked to the director of the Wenchang Police Station. The report they received was from the fire alarm. At around 8 o'clock, the firefighters came to put out the fire and found the body, so they called the police."
Officer Yang handed me a cigarette as he spoke. "Originally, I could have just walked away if the incident hadn't happened to us, but the director of the Wenchang Police Station and I have a good relationship. His wife is about to give birth to her second child, and she's been taking care of her in the hospital every day, so he entrusted this matter to me. In my opinion, he just thought this matter was weird, so he left this mess to me."
As we were talking, we had already started walking upstairs. Although Officer Yang's explanation sounded reasonable, I still found something unusual and asked immediately, "That is to say, from the time the crime occurred to the time when the Wenchang police station came to investigate, and then to the time when the reporter came to you to report the case, in the nearly one day, the case was not exposed, and even you didn't know about it, right?"
"Yeah, what's the problem?"
“This is a big problem!”
I lit the cigarette in my hand and continued, "Could it be that this mysterious reporter is the murderer? He ran away after killing someone, but there was no news about the case the next day, so he went to you to report the case. That's why he chose to report the case in the afternoon of the next day, just to confirm whether his murder was successful?"
Hearing what I said, Officer Yang's eyes suddenly lit up, and he even dropped the half-smoked cigarette in his hand to the ground. Then he said excitedly: "Yes! Why didn't I think of that! I'll find someone to find the reporter right away. It's good to have a smart person around!"
Before Officer Yang could call for help, Lin Yingxue, who was walking beside me, suddenly frowned and said, "But if what you said is true, the person who reported the case is the murderer, then what he did was actually unnecessary! After all, he finally lit a fire on the dead body. Although we don't know how the fire started, in that case, the survival rate of the dead is completely zero, and there is no need for him to confirm whether he succeeded in killing."
In fact, I had thought of this even without Lin Yingxue telling me. This is indeed a problem. I nodded and said, "You are right. This matter is indeed somewhat contradictory. However, we still have to find the person who reported the case. It is still necessary to meet him."
Without saying a word, Officer Yang called his men to help check the specific information of the reporter and asked them to find a way to find the reporter.
By the time Officer Yang finished his call, we had already arrived at the door of the crime scene on the sixth floor, but we found that the door was not locked but was open in front of us.
"Is there anyone inside? Officer Yang, is it your men?" I turned to Officer Yang in confusion, and Officer Yang was also confused and said, "No, there was still a seal when we left, how could there be someone here?"
After getting the answer from Officer Yang, Lin Yingxue and I immediately became alert. Lin Yingxue motioned for me to follow her, then she quietly opened the door of the room and led the way into the room.
As soon as I walked into the room, I smelled a pungent smell as if something was burning. It seemed that the smell in the room had not dissipated yet. But before we could look for the person who had secretly torn off the seal and broke into the deceased's room, we suddenly heard a sound similar to that of a bell coming from a room in front of us!
After hearing the sound, Lin Yingxue rushed forward in three or two steps and kicked the door of the room open. I followed closely behind her. After the door opened, I finally saw clearly who was inside.
I saw a young man wearing a Taoist robe, holding a yellow paper talisman and a bell in his hand, shaking his head and performing a dance in the room. He was shaking the bell and muttering something. He looked like a Taoist priest.
However, when I saw the young man clearly, I gasped! Because I recognized him at a glance. He was the young man who made me stare at him for a long time and asked me what was wrong.
Apparently the young man was also startled by our appearance. He stopped what he was doing and stood there staring at us in a funny posture. Then he seemed to recognize me and immediately smiled and said, "What a coincidence. We actually meet here."
When they heard the young man talking to me, Officer Yang and Lin Yingxue were both confused and asked me who this person was. I didn't know how to answer them, so I could only say that he was someone I had taken the same flight with before.
Upon learning that I didn't know this person, Officer Yang's face darkened. He stared at the young man and said sternly, "Who are you? What are you doing here? Don't you know that this place has been blocked by our police?"
The young man was startled by Officer Yang's tone, and then he immediately apologized with a smile: "No, officer, I came in with your permission. If you don't believe me, ask your leader."
After hearing this, Officer Yang's eyes became even more furious. He approached the young man step by step and said, "I am the leader here. Who let you in? You'd better tell the truth, otherwise I will arrest you and take you back!"
"Please don't do that. It was Chief Liu who asked me to come. I've already made arrangements. If you don't believe me, ask Chief Liu." The young man seemed a little timid. He kept backing away in the face of Officer Yang's questioning. Although he was a little nervous at the moment, judging from his expression, he was not lying.
I asked Officer Yang with some confusion: "Who is Chief Liu?"
The anger in Officer Yang's eyes turned into confusion, and he whispered to me, "He is the director of the Wenchang Police Station."