Hechuan City, which has been awarded the "Peaceful City" honor title many times, has consistently ranked in the top ten nationwide for public security. The "headless corpse" case that occurred on September 10th has become the hottest topic in the city for the past few days. The Hechuan police are therefore under immense pressure.
After the incident, the Hechuan Municipal Public Security Bureau quickly established the "9.10" Special Case Team. Yan Qing, the Deputy Director of the Municipal Bureau in charge of criminal investigation, personally took the lead as the team leader. Mei Qian, the Captain of the Serious Cases Brigade of the Municipal Bureau's Criminal Investigation Detachment, and Su Xia, the Deputy Director and Captain of the Criminal Investigation Brigade of the Bian District Public Security Bureau where the incident occurred, both served as deputy team leaders. Based on the preliminary investigation plan, one team led by Mei Qian would search for a breakthrough in the victim Niu Jian's network of connections throughout the city, while another team led by Su Xia would conduct a carpet search in the area where the incident occurred, interviewing informants around the scene.
In the conference room of the Hechuan Municipal Public Security Bureau's Criminal Investigation Detachment, the words "9.10 Case Situation Analysis Meeting" floated on the electronic screen. Ping An was brought into the room by Mei Qian and found it already filled with people. Yan Qing, an "old poker buddy," sat solemnly in the first seat at the round conference table. To his left was Gao Xiaofei, the Captain of the Criminal Investigation Detachment, whom he knew well enough to be considered inseparable. Gao Xiaofei had been out recovering from an illness and was not in the city, but surprisingly, he had ended his sick leave early for this case. Further down were others whom Ping An also recognized, Gao Xiaofei's close circle of friends, with whom he had worked on many cases. They were all good friends.
Seeing Ping An being escorted into the conference room by Mei Qian as if he were a prisoner, Gao Xiaofei's side winked and smirked, covering their mouths. Gao Xiaofei himself even secretly sent Ping An a "flying kiss."
Bastard! Such a big case occurred, and you couldn't even find a familiar police officer to contact me! What kind of nonsense is this brainless Mei Qian? Ping An glared fiercely at Gao Xiaofei.
This novel's first publication site is: Tadiao Novel app
In the conference room, on Yan Qing's right side sat a group of people, all of whom, except for Su Xia, appeared to be strangers. Seeing an empty seat next to Su Xia, Ping An casually sat down. Mei Qian, who had gone to retrieve documents, watched enviously as Ping An took his seat.
"Please, sit anywhere you like. Let's get started. This case feels strange. Murder is understandable, but beheading is not that common. Now, the entire city of Hechuan is discussing this matter, with much fear and terror," Yan Qing said, putting on his glasses and ignoring Mei Qian, who was still standing there in a daze, initiating the meeting.
"A headless corpse, brazenly placed in a key construction project. Many citizens are discussing it, saying the project caused the death. Nonsense, without restraint, causing a negative impact on society," Yan Qing stated. "The Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal Government attach great importance to this case and have demanded that we crack it with a heavy hand and quickly restore a clear and safe social environment for the citizens."
"It's been two days since the incident. Everyone has worked hard. The case has seen some developments. Now, I'll ask Director Su Xia to report on the investigation conducted by your district bureau first." Yan Qing then specifically pointed to Ping An and said, "This gentleman, I believe everyone is familiar with him. He's an old friend of our Public Security department, a well-known reporter in our city, and an outstanding detective. He's not participating in this case as a consultant, but because he is himself involved in the case. Alright, Director Su, please proceed!"
Su Xia, 41, is a capable criminal investigator who, with Ping An's help, had solved a child kidnapping case. After that case, Su Xia always referred to Ping An as his teacher in public and maintained a good friendship with him in private.
"After the incident, the Bian District Party Committee and the District Government attached great importance to this case. To be honest, the Gaizhuang overpass project is a key project in our district. Now, due to this case, the project has been halted. District Chief Qiao is very angry and calls me several times a day asking about the case." Su Xia said, "After the incident, we conducted a detailed investigation of the crime scene, mobilizing nearly fifty people from three surrounding police stations and two criminal investigation teams. Centered on Gaizhuang, we conducted a comprehensive search, focusing on temporary residents. Our efforts were not in vain. After two days and two nights, we finally found two witnesses."
It turned out that at the time of the incident, a man who was drunk and heading home was passing by the overpass construction site. He stopped to relieve himself under a roadside tree. According to his recollection, he saw a black minivan drive out of the construction site. Strangely, it was late at night, and the minivan was driving without its headlights on. If it weren't for a streetlight nearby, he wouldn't have seen it at all.
The second witness was a delivery driver. On the night of the incident, after delivering a late-night meal, he was walking from the rural road in front of Gaizhuang Village towards the city when he nearly collided with a black minivan. The car wasn't going fast, but it had no headlights on, which was why he almost hit it. After "brushing past" the minivan, the delivery driver, having narrowly avoided a collision, swerved his handlebars and accidentally kicked off his shoe. After the minivan drove away, the delivery driver stopped his vehicle, stood on the road barefoot, and cursed. After cursing, he found water under his feet. He turned on his phone to illuminate the area and discovered that a large puddle of water had been left where the minivan had driven. He had just stepped into the water.
"Based on the testimony of the two witnesses, we believe that first, the suspect who went to the construction site that night was driving a minivan. Based on the witnesses' descriptions, we judge it to be a model from the Dongfeng Xiaokang brand. Second, this car was driving without headlights. Not turning them on at the construction site was likely to avoid attracting the attention of the security guards. But why wasn't it turned on in the safe zone after leaving the site? Was the car broken? Or was there another reason? Third, we followed the clue of the black minivan and investigated along the rural road of Gaizhuang. Through surveillance equipment of some township enterprises and banks, we captured some traces. Finally, the vehicle's trail led to the area of Xiaoli Village in Hama Township within our district. Our men are still tracking this vehicle in this area."
Since the Municipal Bureau entrusted the main focus of this case to Mei Qian's Serious Cases Brigade, Su Xia was only responsible for peripheral work this time. However, as an experienced criminal investigator, he managed to track the black minivan through interviews and inquiries, even with almost no surveillance equipment, and narrowed down the location to a village.
After listening to Su Xia's report, Yan Qing nodded at Gao Xiaofei, who cleared his throat, preparing to report.
Gao Xiaofei's background was not simple. He was the only criminal investigation doctoral student in Shanhe Province. Although young, only 34 years old, his approach to cases differed from other senior investigators, and he was quite compatible with Ping An's style. Six months prior, during the investigation of a drug case, Gao Xiaofei, against all opposition, located the drug den with Ping An's help. However, during the final capture of the criminals, Gao Xiaofei was inexplicably shot and did not participate in the later stages, directly entering the hospital. After this case, he was awarded the "Collective Third-Class Merit" by the Ministry of Public Security. Gao Xiaofei's gunshot wound was severe, and he nearly died. He recuperated in another city for six months. For this case, Gao Xiaofei ended his holiday early, intending to team up with Ping An for another big operation. However, he was deeply hurt when Yan Qing said, "Your injuries haven't healed yet. For this case, you'll only be responsible for logistics and coordination. Leave the rest to Mei Qian to handle."
"For this case, as the detachment captain, I will only be responsible for logistics and coordination. The specifics will depend on Comrade Mei Qian. Now, I will inform everyone of the autopsy report from the forensic doctor." Gao Xiaofei took out a report and read, "Victim, Niu Jian, taxi driver. At the time of the incident, we confirmed his identity through the mobile phone and ID card he was carrying. The forensic doctor also confirmed him to be Niu Jian through DNA matching, from a legal perspective. In this report, during the external examination of the deceased, apart from the wound on the neck, there were no obvious external injuries elsewhere. Because the wound contained a large amount of cement slurry, which also contained lime solution, extensive flesh and skin were damaged, making it impossible to determine how the head was separated from the body, and even impossible to conduct effective examination of the wound itself. During the autopsy of the deceased, it was found that there was bloody frothy liquid in the trachea, punctate hemorrhages under the pericardium, a small amount of soft blood clots in the left atrium, necrosis and autolysis of the pancreas and adrenal glands. Lung sections were taken, and the lung surface appeared bright red. There were also blood spots under the gastric mucosa. Given the large amount of alcohol found in the victim's stomach, it was determined that all the above conditions were caused by alcohol. During the pathological autopsy of the deceased, extensive congestion of the cardiovascular system was found..."
"In summary, this is the report from the forensic doctor. According to the鉴定, the victim's head died before separating from the body. The direct cause of death was cardiopulmonary congestion, which, simply put, was drowning," Gao Xiaofei said. However, the method of drowning was very strange. Typically, when a person drowns, their heart and lungs contain a large amount of water, and the pressure of the water causes the cardiopulmonary vessels to congest. Yet, there was no accumulated water in the victim's body. The forensic doctor also stated that without the head, further valuable examinations could not be performed.
"I knew it! That's why there was a large puddle of water left by the black minivan. It was scooped out of the water," Su Xia said, suddenly enlightened.
"But the victim's clothes were dry," Gao Xiaofei added.
"Alright, next, Mei Qian, what are your thoughts? Tell us about your investigation," Yan Qing said. "Oh, let me introduce everyone. Comrade Mei Qian is a deputy division-level cadre assigned to Hechuan City through the Ministry's talent exchange program. He was formerly the Political Commissar of the Serious Cases Brigade of the Public Security Bureau in Suru City, Nanhai Province. He came to our bureau to serve as the Captain of the Serious Cases Brigade. Many comrades don't know him. He's only been here for a month, and he took office a week ago. I assigned him to this case immediately, partly to test him. To be frank, he is a favored disciple of my old classmate, so he's somewhat related to me. Please don't be polite with him in the future; exchange ideas and criticize him freely! Mei Qian, you may proceed."
"Good morning, leaders and comrades. The case is serious, so I won't mince words. If there's anything I do improperly, please criticize me." Mei Qian stood up, bowed to everyone, and began his speech politely.
"On the day of the incident, I was assigned to the task. To be honest, the former captain of the Serious Cases Brigade was promoted to deputy director of a county bureau, and the political commissar was studying at the provincial department. I was new here, and apart from Comrade Liu Kedou who came with me, I knew almost no one. Fortunately, the Hechuan Municipal Bureau has a reputation for many years and has trained a formidable team. Although we lack coordination in our initial collaboration, through these two days of interaction, I have gained a direct understanding of our Hechuan Bureau. It is truly impressive..."
"Flattery can be saved for later. Get to the important points first," Yan Qing said with dissatisfaction.
"Through two days of preliminary investigation, we examined Niu Jian's network of connections. We discovered that Niu Jian himself was not an easy person to get along with. The evening before the incident, around 6 PM on the 9th, someone saw Niu Jian fighting with a man outside the 'Hao Romantic' bar in the city. Through video surveillance, we identified the man he fought with as Wu An, unemployed, making money by driving an online ride-hailing car. They fought from 6:15 PM to 6:30 PM and left the bar one after another. Niu Jian left first, followed by Wu An. After Niu Jian's incident, we investigated his taxi and found that the car had been parked outside the 'Hao Romantic' bar. This means that after the fight, Niu Jian left on foot or by other means of transportation." Mei Qian continued, "Based on this, Wu An is the first suspect we've identified. The second is the great reporter Ping An, who is sitting in front of you. After unlocking and retrieving data from the victim's phone, we found that his last call before he was killed was to Ping An. The call records show that they had been in contact for the past half month. Later, through investigation, I found that Ping An did not have the space or time to commit the crime. Furthermore, through further investigation, I learned from Ping An that Niu Jian had recently been preparing to report a police officer. I have audio recordings obtained from Ping An as evidence for this, please listen."
Mei Qian signaled Liu Kedou to turn on the conference room's public address system, preparing to play the recording for everyone. However, Yan Qing waved his hand, stopping them.
"The contents of the audio recording involve disciplinary inspection matters. While this part is related to the case, it is not directly related. Due to disciplinary reasons, we will not play it for everyone. It is sufficient for you to know that these recordings contain Niu Jian's intention to report a police officer through Ping An." Yan Qing said, "Mei Qian, please continue."
"Okay, based on the recording, we believe this might be a case of murder to silence a witness. The reported officer learned that Niu Jian intended to report him and killed him in advance. This has become the second most important clue." Mei Qian stated, "Early this morning, considering that the reported officer might cause trouble for Ping An after killing Niu Jian, we conducted a surveillance operation at a warehouse, which was somewhat successful. We found that someone was indeed tracking Ping An. Later, we pursued that person, but he rode a motorcycle into the suburbs, and we couldn't catch up. Kedou last spotted him in the vicinity of Chongshan Temple."
"Regarding Ping An, he, knowing that he was in danger, trespassed into the crime scene. Later, he was taken away by the Gaizhuang Police Station. I only brought him out just now," Mei Qian said with some dissatisfaction.
"What about the investigation of the crime scene?" Yan Qing said nonchalantly.
"According to technical investigation, we found that the crime scene is within a bridge construction site, specifically within the concrete pouring area of a bridge pier. The victim's hands and feet were bound, and his body was hung upside down, almost vertically entering the concrete surface. The part of his body covered by concrete was about twenty centimeters. Since there was no head, the concrete was poured up to the victim's chest," Mei Qian explained, displaying slides and playing images. "At the scene, we found no traces on the victim's concrete surface, including footprints or palm prints. Furthermore, we also found vehicle tire tracks at the scene. After identification, they do not belong to the construction site's engineering vehicles, and we preliminarily concluded they belong to the killer. Additionally, we found a small hole at the construction site, which we preliminarily believe was left by the killer, but its purpose is not yet clear. After questioning the security guard on duty that night, Gaodai, we suspect the criminal committed the crime while Gaodai was out using the restroom. Currently, the investigation of the crime scene is underway, and we have several questions to resolve. First, how did the perpetrator enter and exit? Second, how was the victim placed in the concrete surface? Third, what is the significance of placing him in the concrete surface? Fourth, where is the victim's head now? Currently, our work involves summoning Wu An, who had direct conflict with the victim. However, Wu An has been missing since yesterday. On the other hand, given the victim's prior intent to report and the fact that an unidentified person was monitoring Ping An, we have decided to provide Ping An with close protection and conduct further investigation." Mei Qian said.
The case meeting had reached its conclusion, but Yan Qing, who was chairing the meeting, had not yet delivered his closing remarks. He picked up his water glass, took a sip, and then stared intently at Ping An.
"Do you want to speak here, or would you prefer to speak in my office? You explored the construction site at night for several hours. You must have gained something, right?" Yan Qing said to Ping An.
At this moment, the room fell silent. Everyone present, including Mei Qian, was eager to know Ping An's insights.
"What time is it?" Ping An, who had been silent, suddenly asked.
"It's 9:30," Su Xia, sitting next to him, replied.
"Excuse me, everyone. I have a meeting with Vice Mayor Wang at 10 o'clock, so I won't be able to stay any longer." Ping An stood up, stretched, and said with a smile.
"You can't leave! You need to explain things clearly before you go!" Mei Qian was indignant. He hadn't slept all night, all for Ping An, and now he wanted to leave so casually. How could that be acceptable?
"Director Yan, it's Vice Mayor Wang's meeting. Perhaps you could call Vice Mayor Wang and tell him that I've been detained here," Ping An said with a smile, seemingly ignoring Mei Qian. Vice Mayor Wang also concurrently held the positions of Party Secretary and Director of the Municipal Bureau, so in a sense, he was one of their own.
"Then you go ahead. We can chat later. However, Ping An, for your safety, I need to assign someone to follow you. Please don't be upset," Yan Qing said.
"Alright, then have him take me to the newspaper office first. I have work to do. I still need to earn a living," Ping An replied.
Inside the Hechuan Daily newspaper building, Zhang Gaige was posting the day's "Hechuan Daily" on the exhibition board in the corridor. After posting the newspaper, he glanced at his watch and realized it was already 9:30.
"This kid is late again. I'll deduct his bonus until he's broke!" Zhang Gaige gritted his teeth.
A pretty girl with a ponytail walked in through the newspaper office's main entrance. She walked familiarly to the elevator and pressed the call button, waiting anxiously.
The elevator door opened, and Fei Keqing, holding a coffee cup, emerged from the elevator car. She bumped into the girl.
"Jingjing, why are you here? Looking for your brother? He didn't have the morning meeting, so he probably hasn't arrived at the office yet." Fei Keqing affectionately stepped forward and took the hand of the girl named Jingjing, who turned out to be Ping An's biological sister, An Jing.
"Sister Fei, I just spoke with my brother on the phone. He told me to wait for him at the newspaper office. He stayed out last night, so I'm bringing him some clothes to change into," An Jing replied obediently.
"Come on, let's go sit in my office for a bit. I have the latest perfume, you'll definitely like it." Fei Keqing, who was originally going to meet a client, pulled An Jing and stepped into the elevator.
"Is this alright? You're quite busy," An Jing said politely in the elevator.
"It's nothing. You're being too formal with me. Your brother and I grew up together. You were my shadow when you were little, always pestering me to do your hair and makeup. Now that you're older, why are you becoming so distant from me?" Fei Keqing said.
"It's not that you're greedy for my brother..." An Jing smiled awkwardly, thinking this in her heart.
A police car slowly drove into the newspaper office's courtyard. Ping An, carrying his travel bag, lazily got out of the car. He glanced at the building and said with some emotion, "The past few days have really felt like a movie."
Ping An was now both tired and hungry. The fatigue from his business trip had not yet subsided, and he had spent the night exploring the construction site. Returning to the office, back to a familiar place, a wave of exhaustion washed over him.
"Old Zhang, help me arrange for an intern reporter to cover Vice Mayor Wang's event for me. If I don't get some sleep, I'm going to die in front of you." Upon entering the office and encountering Zhang Gaige, he quickly asked for leave before the other could start scolding him.
"Are you alright!" Zhang Gaige noticed Ping An's poor condition and, forgetting his anger, asked anxiously.
Ping An, who could barely stand under the elevator's influence, waved at Zhang Gaige and stumbled into the elevator. In the less than twenty-four hours since his return from his business trip, Ping An felt as though he had expended all his strength. He desperately needed a comfortable sleep, otherwise, he wouldn't be able to process all the information. Therefore, when he saw An Jing, he took her hand, retrieved a suitcase from his office, and then had An Jing drive him groggily towards home.
Seeking all kinds of votes, seeking collection and follow-up reads, the author thanks you!