NOS Chapter 84

Chapter 84: Rhododendron Peak (5)

By the time Wang Zhen arrived, a long cordon had already been set up in front of Li Ying’s house. Several nosy villagers were crowded together, eager to see what was happening inside.

Wang Zhen, with a grim face, ducked under the cordon and quickly walked to the bathroom outside the side room.

Guan Yao, Han Chen, and Li Xiaotian were all standing there, waiting for the preliminary autopsy results from the coroner.

“What’s going on?” Wang Zhen asked sternly.

Han Chen glanced at Guan Yao and remained silent.

Guan Yao had no choice but to step forward and say, “Yesterday, I was…”

“I’m asking you, stop trying to get others involved!” Wang Zhen rebuked Han Chen.

Han Chen had no choice but to retreat sheepishly, lowering his head as he replied, “Yesterday, Guan Yao was on a routine patrol in Qianjinping when he discovered something was wrong with Li Ying’s cellar. We sent people down to investigate and found a large amount of bloodstains at the bottom of the cellar and in the ventilation shaft. So we brought Li Ying back to the station for interrogation.”

“And then?” Wang Zhen asked impatiently, “Stop beating around the bush, just say what you have to say!”

“Then…” Han Chen took a deep breath, “Then, during the interrogation, Guan Yao asked Li Ying some questions about his daughter. This may have agitated Li Ying, causing him to lose control of his emotions. After the test results came back, confirming that the bloodstains did not belong to Meng Changqing but to the suspect, and in order to avoid alerting the suspect and to protect the missing officer Meng Changqing, and also because he was constantly making a scene, the Task Force finally decided to send Li Ying back to Qianjinping after discussion. That night, two police officers were on duty in the vicinity, patrolling every hour. In theory, nothing should have happened…”

“In theory? According to whose theory?” Wang Zhen questioned loudly.

Han Chen fell silent again.

This guy was skilled at shirking responsibility, pushing everything he had agreed to onto Guan Yao, while portraying everything he had done himself as a collective effort. It was as if Han Chen wasn’t the acting head when Wang Zhen was away, but a trainee officer to be ordered around.

Guan Yao sighed inwardly, too lazy to explain. He said, “It wasn’t wrong to send Li Ying back to Qianjinping. Now we’ve confirmed that Li Ying has an inextricable connection with the suspect, Li Guanglai. If we had insisted on keeping Li Ying here, interrogating him and pressuring him, we could have provoked the suspect who is currently hiding in the shadows. We also anticipated that Li Ying might cause trouble, so we left two people to guard him in Qianjinping. We just didn’t expect him to commit suicide.”

After listening, Wang Zhen shook his head. He bypassed the Task Force and walked toward the body, which had been covered with a white cloth.

The corpse’s face was twisted, the conjunctiva of both eyes was severely burned, and a large amount of vomit and blood remained at the corners of the mouth.

Paraquat, carelessly discarded at the bottom of the sink, spilled across the floor, emitting a pungent urea smell.

The two police officers who discovered Li Ying’s suicide stood aside, heads drooping. This morning, they saw Li Ying walk into the bathroom. When he didn’t come out after thirty minutes, they realized something was wrong. If Li Ying hadn’t chosen such a “thorough” method of suicide, but had chosen to hang himself or cut his wrists, perhaps the two of them could have saved him.

Unfortunately, Li Ying drank paraquat, and even a deity couldn’t have saved him.

“What’s the result of the crime scene investigation?” Wang Zhen asked.

The coroner stood up and replied, “Preliminary identification shows that the deceased ingested a large amount of pesticide. The scene is very clean. Apart from the deceased’s own footprints, there are no other suspicious traces. It should be suicide.”

“Damn it!” Wang Zhen cursed.

Guan Yao interjected at this moment, “Did you find any communication equipment at the scene?”

“Communication equipment?” A forensic technician replied, “No. There’s only a landline in the house, in the east room, and that landline isn’t connected to a phone line.”

Guan Yao found it strange, “What about Li Ying’s cell phone?”

“Li Ying has a cell phone? Would he even know how to use that thing?” Wang Zhen frowned.

“I’ve seen his cell phone,” Guan Yao replied, “It was when he misunderstood Qin Tian for stealing money that time. He brought his cell phone to the police station, and we even have his phone number on file.”

“Find it.” After hearing this, Wang Zhen pointed at Han Chen.

Han Chen immediately led his men into Li Ying’s house.

Fifteen minutes later, he returned in a hurry, “Sir, we didn’t find the cell phone, but we found a note under Li Ying’s pillow.”

“What note?” Wang Zhen put on gloves and stepped forward to take the object Han Chen handed him.

Guan Yao also leaned in to look. They saw a line written on the note: December 2nd, 13 kilometers north of Danfeng Pass, outside the 725 boundary marker, No. 1 Ranger Station of Golden Hook Mountain.

“What kind of place is this?” Several people were puzzled.

“The location where the suspect is holding Meng Changqing captive?” Han Chen speculated.

“That’s not right. If it’s the location where the suspect is holding Meng Changqing, what does the date at the beginning represent?” Guan Yao denied Han Chen’s guess.

Li Xiaotian blurted out nonsensically, “The suspect is going to tear up the ticket on that day!”

“Don’t talk nonsense,” Wang Zhen said speechlessly, “Have you received any demands from the suspect? Does he want money, or people, or for us to let him leave? There’s nothing on this note. Who is he tearing up the ticket for?”

Li Xiaotian shut his mouth sheepishly.

Guan Yao said, “December 2nd is two weeks away from today. If we really receive demands from the suspect within these two weeks, perhaps Xiaotian’s guess is correct.”

Han Chen was a little impatient, he asked, “Sir, should we send someone to check out the No. 1 Ranger Station of Golden Hook Mountain?”

“Don’t go there yet,” Wang Zhen was practically tearing at his hair, “Who knows what’s in that place? The No. 1 Ranger Station of Golden Hook Mountain is close to the national border marker. If something really happens, can we run away in time? Now the Black Water River is almost completely frozen. What if the suspect takes a big step and crosses to the other side, escalating into a diplomatic problem? If the Ministry holds us accountable, who will step up to take responsibility? And how did you determine that this note is related to the case? Could it not be that Li Ying himself had an appointment on that day?”

“Then what now? Just wait like this?” Han Chen said breathlessly.

Wang Zhen pondered, “I remember there are still a few villages near the No. 1 Ranger Station of Golden Hook Mountain. Go back and check the villagers’ information, choose a few reliable ones, and let them wander around outside…”

“That won’t work,” Guan Yao denied Wang Zhen’s suggestion. He said, “What if there are snakeheads among the villagers near the ranger station?”

These words immediately awakened Wang Zhen. He said thoughtfully, “Could this note… be the specific information the suspect is preparing to use to flee the country?”

Whether it was or not, no one dared to draw a conclusion at this time. All they could do was take Li Ying’s body and, braving the heavy snow, rush back to Za Mu Er for further identification.

Guan Yao was physically and mentally exhausted. He sat in the car, looking at the body under the white cloth, smelling the faint stench, and suddenly remembered the day the fire broke out thirty-three years ago.

“Stay at home with your brother, don’t go anywhere, got it?” Before leaving, Guan Yao’s grandmother led the two siblings into the bathroom filled with three buckets of water and said.

It was already dark, but the sky above the distant No. 2 Timber Factory was stained with an eerie crimson. Guan Yao and Guan Na clung to the window, trying to look outside.

“Why haven’t they come back yet?” Guan Yao was only four years old. He shrank beside his sister and asked in a low voice.

Guan Na pursed her lips, holding her brother’s hand, and didn’t say a word.

The fire cut off the cables. The house, which was already prone to power outages, couldn’t see a sliver of light. Guan Yao suddenly sobbed and said, “Sister, I’m afraid of the dark.”

“Don’t be afraid!” Guan Na, who was only ten years old, puffed out her chest, “They’ll be back soon. Close your eyes, count to ten, and the door will open.”

“Okay…” Guan Yao wiped away his tears and counted intermittently, “One, two, three…”

Four, five, six…

Guan Na continued to count, “Ten, eleven, twelve…”

One hundred, one hundred and one, one hundred and two…

All night long, no one came back. Guan Yao and his sister Guan Na huddled in the pitch-black bathroom, listening to the screams in the fire, tears streaming down their faces.

A plate of dried sausage buns specially reserved for Jiang Min was still on the table, the corn that Grandma brought home was still piled up in the kitchen, and Uncle’s martial arts medal had just been framed on the wall.

That was September 24th, thirty-three years ago. The fire burned for a whole night.

Perhaps Li Ying should have died long ago. He should have paid for the countless workers, police officers, and firefighters who sacrificed their lives in the fire, but as the culprit, he had lived another thirty-three years for nothing. How many people’s lives is that? And how many people don’t get the future?

Guan Yao’s mind was filled with these inappropriate thoughts. He admitted that people are selfish, but so what if they are selfish? A life for a life is a matter of course, no matter how just the reason for killing is.

Guan Yao is a police officer. He doesn’t want to listen to the murderer’s self-proclaimed misery and pain.

It’s just a pity that a potentially useful lead has been cut off, and a criminal who has not been tried has committed suicide.

At noon that day, the snow stopped and the weather gradually cleared up.

In the afternoon, the sun faintly appeared, but in the evening, dark clouds once again covered the night sky of Za Mu Er, blocking the last few stars behind them.

Yu Chunming had just made a call to Guan Yao, but after a few “beep beep” sounds, no one answered.

This was common. After all, the Task Force had a lot to do. Wang Zhen was there today, who knows what tasks he would be assigned to and where he would be sent?

But Yu Chunming was inexplicably worried. He sat at his desk, looking at the suicide note left by Li Shengnan thirty-three years ago, and felt a burst of panic in his heart.

The suicide note was filled with Zhang Nan’s evil deeds and the persecution of Qian Guowei, Miao Xiaoyun, and others. The language was filled with tears. But one thing was very strange. That is, Zhang Nan was already dead, and the content described in the suicide note was not enough to convict Qian Guowei, even if it was made public, it could only bring condemnation at most.

Since this was the case, why would Qian Guowei risk letting Lin Zhimin impersonate him to demand this suicide note?

Could it be that Qian Guowei was deceived by someone who believed that Li Shengnan’s suicide note contained evidence of his illegal and criminal activities?

In addition, the information that Jiang Min could provide was not comprehensive. For example, she certainly didn’t know what Qian Guowei and the other two did on the night after she was sunk into the river. She also couldn’t figure out why she couldn’t find these three people anywhere when she walked through the entire No. 2 Timber Factory the next day.

According to Ai Hua, the three of them ran away after seeing Jiang Min “resurrected from the dead”. If this was the case, they had seen Jiang Min, so why hadn’t Jiang Min seen them? Or who was lying?

Moreover, Jiang Min claimed that on September 24th, she didn’t see Qian Guowei and the other two, nor did she see Zhang Nan.

Where did Zhang Nan go? As the then director of the No. 2 Timber Factory, he wouldn’t stay in the factory, so where would he go?

Or did Li Ying, who was carrying a hammer to find him the day before, strike a black hand on the night before the fire broke out?

This conjecture made Yu Chunming sit up straight. He quickly flipped through the notes from previously inquiring with Ai Hua’s mother and other old employees of the Second Factory. Sure enough, there was a record that Zhang Nan was not in the factory on the 24th.

Yu Chunming had read the accident investigation report after the fire. Zhang Nan was different from Qian Guowei, Xu Wen, and Ai Hua. Zhang Nan was directly reported dead at the time, that is to say, Zhang Nan’s body was found at the scene of the No. 2 Factory fire.

Where was this body found? How complete was the body? Apart from burns on the surface, were there any traces of fighting with others?

Too much time had passed. The accident identification report from thirty-three years ago was too rough, and all the thought-provoking details were missing.

Yu Chunming exhaled. He put away the suicide note, put on his clothes, and decided to go to the Linchang Police Station to see if there were any archival records related to Zhang Nan.

The road was dark in the evening. The Linchang Police Station was not far away. Yu Chunming stepped on the newly fallen snow during the day and pushed open the door to the office hall on the first floor.

Fang Wang’s apprentice, Liu Sheng, was sitting at the door dozing off. Just as the young man was about to close his eyes, he suddenly caught a glimpse of Yu Chunming in the corner of his eye and immediately sat up straight.

He shouted, “Officer Yu, why are you here?”

As soon as Yu Chunming saw him, he said, “Go to the archives room upstairs and help me retrieve the information on the 9/24 fire.”

“Yes, sir.” Liu Sheng stood up and replied.

Yu Chunming didn’t go inside. He glanced at the darkened corridor on the first floor and looked at the office on the second floor, where it seemed that no one was on duty.

Before long, Liu Sheng came down, “Officer Yu, why don’t you rest well at home and come here to find this stuff?”

Yu Chunming found it strange, “Why are there so few people in the station?”

“Ah, this…” Liu Sheng was at a loss for words for a moment, “They, they have a lot, all been transferred to the Task Force. They’re probably at the Branch Bureau right now.”

“Task Force?” Yu Chunming’s heart tightened, “Has something happened to the Task Force?”

“This… I’m not very clear,” Liu Sheng replied, “It seems like a suspect died.”

Yu Chunming was looking through the information Liu Sheng brought with one hand. When he heard this, he was immediately shocked, “Suspect? Which suspect?”

Liu Sheng scratched the back of his head, “At dinner, I heard Deputy Director Shu say that the one who died was the old man who came to our station to report the theft case before, what’s his name, Li Ying…”

“Li Ying is dead?” Yu Chunming’s expression changed instantly. He put down the information, took out his cell phone, and made another call to Guan Yao. As expected, no one answered.

Liu Sheng continued, “Moreover, a few patrol officers just came back and told me that they received news that the group who went to Qianjinping had their car overturned in a snow ditch. The situation isn’t very good now.”

“Another car accident…” Yu Chunming staggered.

Liu Sheng quickly reached out to help, “It’s okay, Officer Yu. You also know that in our area, these kinds of accidents happen several times every winter when there’s heavy snow. Fortunately, everyone was driving slowly, so there won’t be any casualties. They just have to wait there for rescue and a crane to come over…”

Yu Chunming couldn’t listen anymore. He dropped the stack of information and turned to leave.

Liu Sheng didn’t stop him and quickly called out from behind, “Hey, wait a minute, Officer Yu, wait a minute! I received a letter here this afternoon, the addressee is you!”

“Letter?” Yu Chunming paused and slowly turned his head.

Liu Sheng quickly found the letter buried at the bottom of a pile of documents by his side. He chased after him and said, “I was originally planning to have Guan Yao bring it to you when he came back tonight, but Guan Yao didn’t come back, and I don’t know where you live…”

Yu Chunming’s face was pale. He took the letter with trembling hands and, under Liu Sheng’s somewhat worried gaze, asked, “Who delivered the letter?”

“The delivery guy, the delivery guy who’s in charge of our area, his name is Tang Dafei, he’s been doing it for several years, an old acquaintance in our Linchang area.” Seeing that Yu Chunming was acting a little strange, Liu Sheng quickly explained in detail, “I have a good relationship with him. When he brought the letter this afternoon, he even chatted with me for a while.”

So, this should be a letter sent through official channels, Yu Chunming prayed in his heart.

Liu Sheng saw him struggling to open the envelope with one hand and quickly stepped forward to help. The ignorant young man asked, “Officer Yu, do you know who sent it?”

Yu Chunming shook his head. Before Liu Sheng could completely open it, he grabbed it, shook open the folded letter paper with one hand.

However, the heavens did not listen to his prayers. The first line of the letter made Yu Chunming hold his breath instantly.

The sender wrote, “I will kill Meng Changqing…”

[The author has something to say]

For details of the previous plot, see Chapter 40.