Free Web NovelChapter 667: Chapter 635 Li Chengbin’s Discovery_1
Afterward, Xu Dayuan stood with hands on his hips, purposefully putting on a stern face as he urged Zhou Ning:
"Hurry up and get to work. I’ve already contacted the relevant personnel and told them to send me the inspection report. Once I receive it, I’ll forward it to Cui Lili. Is that okay?"
As soon as he finished speaking, he closed the door with a bang. Mr. Zhao shrugged his shoulders, looking utterly unconcerned.
"Next time, be more polite when you speak to Director Xu. See? He feels like he’s working for you, and that’s upsetting him. Let’s hurry inside too and make sure we catch up with Guan Jian about his work history."
Zhou Ning smiled and said nothing more, heading straight into the interview room. Before long, Mr. Zhao brought Guan Jian in. Guan Jian looked puzzled and kept looking around as he entered.
"What’s the matter, Director Zhou? Have we done something wrong, or is there a problem?"
Zhao Xinli moved closer and handed Guan Jian a bottle of mineral water.
"Why all the fuss? According to the requirements of both provincial bureaus, all personnel entering the special case group are to undergo an internal review to compare with previous files, isn’t this to prevent internal leaks? Whatever the leaders command, we do, so be quick about it and don’t waste time. Don’t you have to go to Gaotai later?"
Guan Jian uttered an acknowledgment but didn’t seem too nervous. After all, these were the faces he saw every day. The three of them sat down, Zhou Ning activated the software on his laptop, and then, angling it slightly, he smiled at Guan Jian.
"Mr. Dui, talk about your work history. Tell us where you worked, from when to when, starting with your employment."
Upon hearing this, Guan Jian relaxed as well.
"I joined the criminal police force on September 2, 2006, when the Ganzhou City Bureau was expanding. I had just graduated from the police academy at that time, and I’ve been here ever since. Oh, I graduated from Longyou Province Police Vocational School, just a junior college graduate."
"When were you born, and what’s the situation with your family?"
"I was born on March 7, 1985. I have parents and an older brother. I got married on May 1, 2010. My parents bought me a house, right next to our criminal police team’s office; it’s so close that I can pretty much roll to work. My wife is a teacher at the government kindergarten, and we had a daughter just two months ago."
At the mention of his daughter, Guan Jian’s smile widened as if his mind was filled with her laughter. After a brief pause, he continued.
"I’m just an ordinary guy from a small city, living an ordinary life. It’s nothing as exotic as your experiences. Furthermore, since I started working in 2006, there haven’t been many serious incidents in Ganzhou City. The one that made the deepest impression on me was one we dealt with last year.
The killer was a man, a worker at a local aluminum factory, who had been laid off for six months. The neighbors reported that the man was introverted, but suddenly, in a fit of madness, he killed his two children, his wife, his mother-in-law, and his parents – six people in total – and then stood on the roof, threatening to jump."
"When we received the alarm and went there, Mr. Fang and Mr. Huang were also there. After all, the crime was too heinous. We also called the fire department, and they set up an aerial ladder that reached right to the fourth floor where the man’s apartment was. Through the window, you could see the bodies scattered across the floor."
"After some persuasion, the man, without saying a word, turned his back to the negotiators. Before we could take action, we discovered that the gas was on, and there was a hissing sound from the kitchen. We couldn’t shoot him for fear of causing an explosion, so we urgently called the gas company to shut off the valve."
"Then we evacuated the building; it was quite a hassle. But the killer was just sitting by the window, with his back to the negotiators. After the evacuation was complete, and the hissing in the room had subsided, before we could take action, the man slit his throat and fell from the window, dying on impact."
"This case is the biggest and most gruesome I have ever seen. The killer landed headfirst; despite it being only the fourth floor, he had broken bones all over. The way the family members died was truly horrific, not a quick death. Each had multiple cuts on their bodies."
"The youngest daughter was just over a year old, and her neck was almost severed. Even the killer’s parents weren’t spared; they had cuts on their backs, heads, and necks. Doctor Zhang counted, and the most severely injured victim, the mother-in-law, had been cut 23 times, while the youngest daughter had been killed with one stroke."
Zhou Ning listened to the account, recalling what she had reviewed in the files, and it seemed that she hadn’t seen the dossier for this case at the time.
With that pause, Mr. Zhao glanced over, immediately understanding what Zhou Ning was thinking.
"A few days ago, we went through the archives of major cases in Ganzhou City, looking for clues related to cases from twenty years ago, but we didn’t see this one. Neither Mr. Huang nor Mr. Fang mentioned it."
Guan Jian was startled and rummaged through his pockets, pulling out his phone. He began to search through the photo album while Mr. Zhao leaned in to help. After searching for a while and unable to find what they were looking for, Guan Jian became anxious. Mr. Zhao patted Guan Jian’s shoulder and took the phone, suggesting:
"Let me try. You can search for photos by date. Do you remember the date?"
Without a moment’s hesitation, Guan Jian replied:
"November 11, 2012. I remember that date clearly. People were talking about Singles’ Day or something. It was almost lunchtime when we received a call from the 110 command center, telling us to hurry over. That’s when we all headed to the scene together. I was following Doctor Zhang, and we took a lot of photos on the scene."
By this time, Mr. Zhao had found the photos. He quickly looked for a data cable, connected it to the laptop, and turned around to reassure Guan Jian.
"Don’t worry, we’ve found the photos. Let’s export them with the data cable. It’s strange; such a major case shouldn’t be left out of the archives, should it?"
Guan Jian snorted with a discontented expression on his face.
"The archive room is a place for retirement. To put it bluntly, not even general connections can get in there, and the evidence room is a total mess. Mr. Huang can’t even manage it; as soon as there’s a bit of action here, someone’s smearing eye ointment."
Mr. Zhao approached Guan Jian with a gossipy look and bumped his shoulder.
"Tell me, how come they’re smearing eye ointment? Isn’t Mr. Huang the top dog? There’s no secretary here, and you could totally make it into the standing committee, yet even this can’t be managed. I just can’t understand it."
Guan Jian was a little naive, and although Mr. Zhao didn’t mention it, he was also indignant. Upon hearing this, Guan Jian’s eyes widened, and he glanced at Zhou Ning, lowering his voice as he spoke,
"You’ve been to the archive room, right? That woman is pretty, isn’t she? Her name is Cao Wenyu. She joined the city bureau the same year as I did, but she was directly parachuted in with her own job posting. Seems like she graduated from some Huining university as an art student.
She’s been in the city bureau for seven or eight years without ever having a wedding. Her household registration shows her as divorced, but she’s birthed three kids in these seven years, and their hukou are all properly registered. No one knows how that happened, no one dares to gossip. She was reprimanded by Mr. Huang once, and he was summoned to the city office for a whole day of scolding. You understand what I’m saying, right?" fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
In fact, with just a little hint, Mr. Zhao understood. Clearly, this woman had a very close relationship with some high-ranking official in the city. Her household registration showing as divorced, and having three children all at once—this was nothing but a mistress.
However, understanding was one thing; it was crucial to find out who this person really was.
After all, calling over Guan Jian and the others today meant just that—to clear up the messy web of relationships within the city. Such a big case, and the files just vanished? An administrator who’s also the big leader’s mistress; how far gone was this city?
Moreover, it was unpredictable whether this person was involved in Zhou Ning’s parents’ case.
"I’m not from Ganzhou, how would I know who you’re talking about? Just say it, why beat around the bush with me here? It would be good to know, so we can steer clear. After all, we’re not leaving any time soon, and we wouldn’t want to offend anyone by accident..."
Looking at Mr. Zhao’s earnest eyes, Guan Jian thought for a moment before raising two fingers. Mr. Zhao thought back to when they went to Hexi College, it seemed that someone from the municipal committee had accompanied them. Indeed, the team sent from Qindao was also quite strong, and he hadn’t paid much attention to who the second-in-command was.
"Who’s number two?"
"Mr. Bai, Mayor Bai Qishan."
Zhou Ning came to a realization, instantly recalling the event. At that time, it was Bai Qishan who went on stage for the photo shoot, shaking hands with the party from Qindao. Normally, for such public appearances, especially when Qindao was the investor, the big boss should show up, but it seemed he was absent on several occasions.
Moreover, according to Xu Dayuan, Bai Qishan was one of those who came to meet them, which indicated that Ganzhou was very humble and seemed very sincere.
Mr. Zhao glanced at Zhou Ning, noticing his expression and realizing he’d made the connection. He leaned closer to Guan Jian, lowering his voice a bit more to ask,
"Mr. Huang must be very frustrated, huh? If he had a good relationship with Mr. Huang, that would be one thing, but if not, having her placed right under his nose would be irritating."
"You can say that again, you can’t hit or yell at her. As for the case files, they often have issues. Mr. Huang can’t do much about it. However, the criminal police also keep a copy of these files, but the contents there are incomplete. The ones that need to be transferred to the procuratorate are complete, but if they’re not transferred, it’s uncertain."
"Don’t mention it. This case has really piqued my interest. Plus, after looking through the archives, there’s not much on major cases from twenty years ago. She wouldn’t have touched those cases, would she?"
Guan Jian sneered. freewebnσvel.cøm
"Who knows? Besides, any good-looking guy in the bureau, she’s been secretly hitting on them. Mr. Dui and the others know and block some of it, but some guys who’ve been flirted with are gone in an instant. We don’t even know what this person’s preferences are, so let’s drop the woman’s issue. You’re here to see the files, let’s go to our little warehouse."
Mr. Zhao glanced at Zhou Ning, and seeing that he stood up, he too stood with a smile.
"Let’s go. It would be great if we could find the older case files."
Guan Jian thought for a moment, rubbing the edge of his pants before saying,
"This place was moved here in 2007. The original bureau was right next to the city library, just a small broken two-story building with two rows of bungalows behind it. Let’s go check out the little warehouse. It’s hard to say about the case files from nearly twenty years ago."
The two followed Guan Jian, who collected a bunch of keys from his office. They left the office building and headed straight to the row of storage rooms next to the small two-story building in the backyard. This place seemed to be as dilapidated as the old storage rooms, with broken glass in the wooden windows.
Just as he was surveying the area, Zhou Ning felt a gaze on his back, a sensation of being prey under scrutiny. He abruptly turned around but after checking all the windows, he saw no one.
"What are you looking at, Zhou Xiaozhou?"
"Someone’s watching us."
