Free Web NovelChapter 671: Chapter 639 Special Project Meeting_1
Zhou Ning looked around, then slowly said:
"I don’t know either, I’ve lost my memory for over a decade, and now I am investigating a case that involves the murder of my father. As for the details, some content is confidential and I can’t disclose it to you for now.
However, in these contents you’ve transcribed, Sun Pengfei, who did the on-site inspection, the witness Hao Xin, and the forensic doctor Zhang Guocheng, appear quite frequently. And what I can tell you is that we have seen the revised version of this case file.
It was missing a lot of content, but the handwriting was still that of these people. I’d like to know if you have any impressions of these individuals? Also, what case was my father investigating before he met with misfortune? Do you have any relevant records here?"
Zhu Jianguo nodded, not at all upset by Zhou Ning’s barrage of questions, but instead found two notebooks from 1994 in his notebook. Upon seeing the contents page, Xu Dayuan’s jaw dropped.
This old gentleman was so meticulous that he even had a table of contents in handmade archiving notebooks. It wasn’t page numbers but instead arranged from 1 to 11, with small paper tabs attached to each case on the spine.
Zhu Jianguo pointed directly to a few and said:
"Although your father Zhou Xiangrong was the deputy team leader at the time, he handled most of the cases. The team leader then was this Sun Pengfei. In the year 1994, he took leave for most of the year. I remember that he had injured his leg and underwent several surgeries, which led to significant reimbursement claims.
There were two cases that Zhou didn’t finish, one missing person case involving a woman from Tianshan who claimed to be tracking the disappearance of her child, and tracked it all the way to Ganzhou, but found no leads. Your father had been investigating this matter.
The other case was a fugitive pursuit, the Aerospace City from Jiuquan City sent over a request for assistance. At the time, it was a fax, very unclear, with two black and white photos. They just looked like two ordinary men. I can’t draw, so I didn’t make any record of their likenesses."
Xu Dayuan and Zhou Ning exchanged glances. Both understood that the missing person case might be related to the cocoons hanging in the main cave, after all, all eight people were from Tianshan.
So what was this fugitive pursuit case about?
This information was not seen by them when they reviewed the files. If Zhu Jianguo had a record but all the files were lost in the archives,
then this Cao Wenyu...
"Old gentleman, may I look at your records?"
Zhu Jianguo pushed the notebook in front of Zhou Ning, who, along with Xu Dayuan, began to read it. The missing person case was recorded on March 2, 1994, and included the woman’s statement.
The general content was that five years earlier, she couldn’t bear domestic violence, escaped her husband’s family’s village, essentially risked her life to divorce, broke a leg, and lost almost all sight in one eye. It took her a year to recover, after which she learned Mandarin, found a job, and gained some financial independence, deciding to get her daughter Aiyinur out.
Since 1992, she visited her ex-husband’s family several times a year to see her child but was turned away. Only after calling the police and going with them did she find out that her daughter Aiyinur had been sent to a psychiatric hospital around Spring Festival of 1992, supposedly because the child had a propensity to bite and hit others, indicating mental issues.
By then her ex-husband’s new wife was almost giving birth. Why Aiyinur was sent to the psychiatric hospital was clear. After questioning the man, she learned the child had been sent to Tianshan Zhongzhou Psychiatric Hospital.
But Tianshan Zhongzhou Psychiatric Hospital had no record of the child being admitted. Upon inquiry, it was revealed that in November 1993, the child was sent back by the hospital due to six months of unpaid fees, as they couldn’t contact her family, who wouldn’t visit. This was a last resort because the father did not accept the return and thus didn’t sign for her.
The police and the woman went back to her ex-husband’s home where he claimed the child had not been sent back, although the unpaid fees were true.
A neighborhood canvass around the ex-husband’s house didn’t turn up any leads. However, during the search, they heard that children often went missing from this psychiatric hospital. Her own undercover investigation suggested roughly a dozen children had disappeared, all around six or seven years old.
In the following months, she kept inquiring along the way, and finally arrived in Ganzhou City.
What followed was Zhou Xiangrong’s investigation; with this perspective, Zhou Ning understood why that woman came to find him. Zhou Xiangrong had been investigating a trafficking case, and there had just been a breakthrough that was reported in the newspaper.
Zhou Xiangrong’s investigation did not follow the conventional direction of looking for trafficked women. Instead, it combined with related ritual activities and even had people go up the mountain to search areas including the location of the cave.
After this period, the woman no longer visited the police station. The investigation began focusing on the multi-ethnic communities in the vicinity, and related sacrificial activities. It ended with a note indicating the screening of information related to hotels and other places with outside visitors.
Xu Dayuan continued flipping through, clearly seeing this case was not resolved. However, having investigated to this extent, Xu Dayuan understood that if Zhou Xiangrong was part of a special department, he would definitely investigate the matter of missing persons under this guise to get to the bottom of the cave’s mystery.
"It seems he has been in the cave and was preparing to report it. I remember you said that in that dream, he was returning from a business trip and mentioned going to North Border. Connecting this, it’s obviously related to the investigation.
The timing of his return, the plan for the day of the incident, and even the trip to the hospital hint at a conspiracy, most likely leaked by someone inside. As to what he ultimately discovered, we have no idea."
Everyone fell silent, only comprehending part of what Xu Dayuan had said, but the amount of information was overwhelming.
Zhou Ning nodded, glancing at the fugitive case from Aerospace City, the two faxed photos were so dark they barely showed a person’s head, and the content was simple. On November 2, 1994, they received a coordination document from Aerospace City, seeking information on these two people.
Known details: two males, both in their twenties, tall and thin, Han Chinese, no further descriptive details. These were hand-drawn portraits, drawn by someone who had been killed by these two men. They had infiltrated the Aerospace City’s technology building intending to steal corresponding blueprints and information.
Their entry point was quite secret, an east gate previously sealed, unknown to non-insiders, and their ingress route was all through surveillance blind spots. During the pursuit, the suspects’ vehicle plunged into a ravine and exploded."
A driver died, and another two people went missing, based on the road and the mountain’s trends, personnel hope for cooperation from Ganzhou City.
Zhou Ning looked for a long time but indeed couldn’t make out the faces of these two people, and moreover, within this investigation report, there was no information about the personnel who issued the orders from Aerospace City.
Such an event leaking information, despite knowing two people had infiltrated and one accomplice died during the escape, lacked even the most basic case number, and even if inquiries were made to Aerospace City, it would be very difficult to trace the records.
Moreover, the relevant records had already been destroyed on Ganzhou’s side, so would Aerospace City preserve them?
The answer was definite, absolutely impossible. If they were preserved, there would be subsequent investigations into the case, no inquiries meant probably the same situation as on Ganzhou’s side; the investigating personnel were dealt with, and the corresponding records destroyed.
Such capacity was astonishing, what a long reach!
Of course, the likelihood was that this wasn’t the act of one person, but likely organizational behavior.
Xu Dayuan stood up and grasped Zhu Jianguo’s hand.
"Thank you, Elder, for these archival materials. Having backups here has bought us time for our investigation, but some of the content just now is of a very high level of confidentiality and cannot be disclosed. Moreover, we may ask you to come over later to see the results after we have repaired the photos and those carbon copies, would that be okay?"
Zhu Jianguo stood up, somewhat excited.
"Don’t be so polite, I’m just a data administrator, I’m more than glad to help, and as for leaks, that’s impossible, or else how could these things still be here after my many years of retirement? If you need me to make a statement or an identification, just call and I’ll be there."
This commitment deeply moved Xu Dayuan. He shook the old man’s hand firmly and said:
"Then we won’t disturb you further, to avoid causing inconvenience to your life. If we need you to come to the bureau for identification, I’ll have Guan Jian come to pick you up. It’s also a bit less conspicuous in a small district."
Zhu Jianguo didn’t mind at all.
"Being retired and old, I just feel like I’m wasting away waiting to die; you don’t know how uncomfortable that feels. Anything you let me do, I should be thanking you!"
They all laughed, bid farewell to Zhu Jianguo, and took off directly in the car. On the way, Fang Dongsheng glanced at Xu Dayuan.
"Director Xu, what should we do next?"
Xu Dayuan glanced at him, didn’t speak, and kept sending messages. The person he was chatting with was Mr. Hu, and Mr. Zhao hurriedly smoothed things over.
"We’ll discuss everything back at the bureau. There’s also a fair amount of stuff that needs repairing, and we need to see if our people have finished checking the materials in that small warehouse."
No one spoke further on the journey. Fang Dongsheng and Guan Jian both felt quite awkward. The archives inside their own bureau were like a sieve; all the useful stuff was gone, the capable elders were squeezed out, and when it came to a handover, the other party didn’t care. It appeared they were already prepared to pin the blame on Zhu Jianguo.
Half an hour later, as the car pulled up, Xu Dayuan began making phone calls, summoning everyone to a meeting. Of course, by everyone, he meant the existing members of the criminal police team, including Liu Yufei and hers. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm
As soon as they sat down, Xu Dayuan looked towards Liu Yufei.
"When will Fang Mu and the others arrive?"
Liu Yufei checked her watch.
"They have already taken off by now. Lu Airlines should be arriving ahead of schedule. The landing time and their arrival here should be about the same. I’ve asked them to take a taxi here, going to pick them up is time-consuming and can arouse suspicion. Based on the list Guan Jian provided, I’ve selected quite a few people from the armed police force to join in the operation."
Xu Dayuan nodded and pushed a notebook towards Zhou Ning.
"Have Mr. Xia and Qu Heping restore those two portraits. I need to know what these two people look like. And the carbon copy, get in touch with Elder Hu, let him handle it, I think it could be clearer.
Mr. Zhao and you others, take some people and sort out the materials we previously found, extract fingerprints, and search the system. I need to know who touched these things. As for the DNA, collect it and send it all in for testing."
Xu Dayuan paused at this point.
"Fang Dongsheng and Guan Jian, select two teams to arrest and interrogate Cao Wenyu and Bai Qishan."
Fang Dongsheng’s eyes widened.
"We... arrest the mayor?"
