NOS Chapter 19
by VolareChapter 19: Huangsha Ridge (6)
At eight o’clock in the morning on the second day, the railway department sent news that, as expected, the suspect had once again used Lin Zhimin’s ID number to purchase a train ticket.
“K5278, departing from Za Mu Er, destination Haizhu Erge, with stops at Za Mu Er Changlian Airport, departure time is 9:30 AM.” Sitting in the car, Guan Yao quickly pulled up the train’s schedule and times. He said, “People from Huangsha Ridge Police Station are already waiting at the station, and the Criminal Investigation Team of the Branch Bureau is also rushing over there.”
Yu Chunming frowned, not saying anything.
Guan Yao looked at him, “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” Yu Chunming shook his head, “Let’s talk about it when we get to the station.”
The originating station starts checking tickets fifteen minutes in advance. It’s 8:30 AM now, and there are still forty-five minutes before the railway staff opens the gate. There aren’t many people gathered at the security checkpoint yet.
When Yu Chunming and Guan Yao arrived, Min Chao, the captain of the Criminal Investigation Team of the Branch Bureau, had just arrived as well. He was wrapped in a cotton police uniform, exhaled a puff of white air, and nodded to Guan Yao: “How is it, should there be no problem, right?”
Guan Yao saw the men gathered together smoking on the steps, one or two of them carrying backpacks and suitcases, no different from the passengers coming and going.
He smiled and said, “They’re acting quite convincingly.”
Min Chao chuckled, “We haven’t had a case like this in half a month, those young guys are itching for action, they’re all counting on this to get some fresh air.”
Guan Yao nudged Yu Chunming with his elbow: “Anything wrong, Officer Yu?”
Yu Chunming was standing on the large steps, looking at the meteorological station in the distance and the Yuan Ridge, where countless birds had just flown over. He narrowed his eyes and asked, “Besides Changlian, what other stations does this train stop at?”
Guan Yao pulled out his phone and, looking at the schedule information, replied, “Fu Yang River, Baihua, Lao City, Qianshui, Jialancha Er, Damuqi. It will stop for an hour at Damuqi in the evening. After Damuqi, the next stop is Haizhu Erge.”
“Fu Yang River…” Yu Chunming muttered to himself.
“What are you thinking?” Guan Yao looked at him.
Yu Chunming asked, “Do you think that person might not get on at this station, nor get off at Changlian?”
“Not get on at this station…” Guan Yao didn’t understand what Yu Chunming meant at first, but when he repeated the words once, he instantly understood.
They had previously formed a fixed mindset because of the airline ticket and the money withdrawn from the train station that morning, believing that this person, suspected to be He Wang, would definitely board the train at Za Mu Er Train Station, and the destination would most likely be Changlian Airport.
And now, he used Lin Zhimin’s ID to buy a train ticket passing through this line, then isn’t the destination self-evident?
But—
“Although the roads to Fu Yang River and Lao City are not connected to Za Mu Er by road, it only takes three and a half hours to drive to Baihua from here. It hasn’t snowed here yet, and the ground is not frozen, the road is clear, if that person wants to leave Za Mu Er, and doesn’t want to be noticed, Baihua is a great place to get on the train.” Yu Chunming’s brain was racing. “Za Mu Er is on the border, separated from the other side by only a river, but the river hasn’t frozen yet, so he can’t get out from here if he wants to run away. However…”
“However, Damuqi is possible.” Guan Yao immediately understood.
Damuqi is on the border of the neighboring province, surrounded by mountains and rivers, and the national boundary marker faces a small Far Eastern village. Due to heavy snow in the mountains, the road to Damuqi was blocked in three sections a month ago. Now, the only way to get there is by train.
Min Chao, who was standing aside, also realized this problem. He became nervous and asked, “What do we do? Should we also get on the train with the Huangsha Station people and wait?”
“No, you stay here and observe the situation on the scene at any time. Those who were originally going to board the train continue to board. Guan Yao and I are going to Baihua now. After all, there are many people on the train, and if a fight breaks out, it can easily cause stampedes and casualties. It’s better to subdue the person outside if possible.” As Yu Chunming spoke, he pulled out a photo. “This back view, I’ll have to trouble Captain Min to recognize. If you find a suspected target here, notify us in time.”
After the two settled things with Min Chao, they turned around and got into the car.
Guan Yao squeezed Yu Chunming into the passenger seat: “Don’t be angry with me at this time. I know the road to Baihua well, I’ll drive.”
Yu Chunming had no objections. He fastened his seat belt and asked, “What do you think is the relationship between this person suspected to be He Wang and the suspect in the Mopan Mountain dismemberment case?”
Guan Yao was taken aback, hesitatingly saying, “Relationship?”
“When we got the surveillance footage from He Wang’s neighbor before, we regarded these two as collaborators, not only because of their conversations and meetings before the incident, but also because after the incident, neither the cleaner ‘Yi Jun’ nor the missing homeowner He Wang has appeared even once.” At this point, Yu Chunming paused, “But, if these two are collaborators, how should we simultaneously assume that the two people fighting in the stairwell of the San Mine Family Compound are suspected to be them?”
Guan Yao frowned, unable to figure out the question raised by Yu Chunming.
“Also, Lin Zhimin’s cause of death can now be preliminarily determined as being beaten to death after falling off a cliff. Liu Bin is not primarily responsible. The murderer is his employer, who is the person suspected to be ‘Yi Jun’. At the same time, a month ago, Lin Zhimin himself, or someone disguised as ‘Lin Zhimin’, carried his ID and rented a room in the San Mine Family Compound. It seems that Lin Zhimin’s seemingly simple social relations should have other hidden secrets.” Yu Chunming continued.
Guan Yao turned the steering wheel and drove the car onto the Ning Nie Li Qi River Bridge leading out of the city: “In the early years, many people from the No. 2 Timber Factory left after the factory closed down, and many of them even transferred their household registration away from Za Mu Er. As for Lin Zhimin, if he has any friends, they can only be those old workers of the No. 2 Timber Factory who left Za Mu Er.”
“Old workers…” Yu Chunming softly uttered a name, “Qian Guowei.”
If there is any information that can connect these two cases, in addition to “Yi Jun” and “He Wang”, who may have appeared in both cases, it is only the fire thirty-three years ago.
The address written on the pieces of the corpse, the victims who died in the fire… Could it be that these two far-removed cases are both related to the fire thirty-three years ago?
Yu Chunming and Guan Yao fell silent. The car sped away from the Ning Nie Li Qi River Bridge, leaving Za Mu Er, the small county town trapped in the Yuan Ridge, behind.
At 1:30 PM, the two, who had been driving at full speed, arrived outside the Baihua Train Station. This place is located at the end of Huangsha Ridge, the westernmost part of Jin A Lin Mountain.
The police from the Baihua District Branch Bureau had been waiting outside the station for a long time. Seeing Guan Yao, one of the people in charge stepped forward and whispered, “The railway department just sent news that the train had a malfunction at Fu Yang River and is delayed by half an hour. Calculating the time, it is estimated to arrive around 2:30 PM.”
Guan Yao glanced at his watch and asked Yu Chunming, “How many of our people are on the train?”
“Han Chen and the few from Huangsha Station who were squatting there are all on it. They didn’t find anything unusual,” Yu Chunming replied.
Guan Yao breathed a sigh of relief and nodded to the comrades from the Baihua District Branch Bureau: “We’ll check the surveillance again, you guard the door.”
After instructing them, he pulled out the surveillance screenshot that Yu Chunming showed to everyone he met, instructing the Baihua police to remember it well and notify each other in time if there were any situations.
Baihua is a small station. Walking inside, there is only a row of houses in front and two railway tracks in the middle, with a low mountain behind it. At this time, there were three or four people sitting sparsely in the station waiting for the train, plus two policemen squatting at the door smoking and a few staff members who were rarely in high spirits. There were no more than fifteen people in the entire station.
“You go stay in the duty room.” Guan Yao instructed Yu Chunming.
“Why should I go?” Yu Chunming was a little unhappy.
Guan Yao pushed him and whispered in his ear, “You’re too handsome, you don’t look like someone from here, go quickly.”
“What the hell?” Yu Chunming raised his voice.
“Hey, with that shout, the suspect would be scared away at the door.” Guan Yao chuckled at the Baihua Branch Bureau colleagues who looked at them, turned around, and continued to push Yu Chunming, “Besides, didn’t you meet that person in the middle of the night that day? What if you’re recognized at once?”
“Didn’t you also meet him?” Yu Chunming retaliated, “What if you’re recognized at once?”
Guan Yao said seriously, “So I’m going to squat behind, hiding in that train dispatch room.”
“No way,” Yu Chunming turned his face and left, “I want to hide in the train dispatch room.”
“Hey…” Guan Yao stretched out his hand but didn’t catch the person. He couldn’t help but say, “Who’s the leader here?”
Regardless of who’s the leader, Guan Yao now had to stuff his big body into the duty room of the train station staff, and together with the old man who was holding a bowl of instant noodles, staring at the boarding passengers who didn’t exist at all.
An hour later, the two received news from Han Chen that Train K5278 was about to enter the station.
Leaning against the door of the duty room, Yu Chunming had a cigarette in his mouth and saw the black dust coming from the train’s engine in the distance. Soon, a strong smell of diesel fuel rushed towards him, accompanied by the “clang clang” sound, the train entered the station.
The safety officer, who was yawning in the dispatch room, reminded him, “Basically no one gets on or off at this station. Usually, it’s just the train attendants coming down to dump the trash, because it takes another two hours to reach the next station, Lao City.”
Yu Chunming put out his cigarette and turned his head to look outside.
Baihua used to be a freight station, and the tracks were half a meter higher than the platform. It was extremely inconvenient for the train attendants to carry the trash up and down. In the blink of an eye, one person almost tripped over the stairs.
“Be careful.” At this time, a man who got off to smoke kindly helped him.
“Fuck.” The next moment, the safety officer heard Yu Chunming curse in a low voice.
He quickly walked out of the dispatch room, greeted the person, and asked, “Where did you get this clothes?”
The kind man was surprised and said in a dumbfounded voice, “These are my clothes.”
“Your clothes?” Yu Chunming grabbed his collar, “What’s going on with this damage?”
“Damage? What damage?” The man was full of incomprehension. He shook off Yu Chunming’s hand and turned around to get on the train. “Are you sick?”
Guan Yao, who was sitting in the duty room, had already witnessed all of this. He chased forward, grabbed Yu Chunming, and asked, “What’s wrong, what happened?”
“That person is wearing the suspect’s clothes.” Yu Chunming left a sentence and turned around to get on the train.
Guan Yao’s pupils shrank: “What do you mean the suspect’s clothes?”
Yu Chunming ignored his words, went up and grabbed the man’s collar again, and took out his police ID with one hand: “Repeat your whereabouts for the past three days to me.”
Anyone who suddenly encountered this would be startled, and the man was no exception. He quickly stood up straight and raised his hands: “Police officer, I didn’t do anything.”
Guan Yao interjected at the right time: “We didn’t say you did anything, first recall, are these clothes really yours?”
“Yes, they should be mine.” After this question, the man didn’t know what he remembered, and his face suddenly changed greatly. “No, no, it’s really not, when I went to the toilet after eating dumplings at the dumpling restaurant last night, my clothes were taken by mistake.”
“Taken by mistake? Who took them by mistake?” Yu Chunming asked eagerly.
“That’s…” The man scratched his head. “I originally hung my clothes on the wall of the dumpling restaurant. After eating and paying the bill, I went to the toilet. As a result, I found that the clothes on the wall were gone when I came back. I asked the boss to check the surveillance, and the boss said that the people at the next table took them by mistake. Mainly, the people at the next table left, and I didn’t know where to find them anyway, and there was nothing in my pocket, so I took his and wore them. Police officer, this, this doesn’t count as theft, right?”
Guan Yao waved his hand: “Which dumpling restaurant were they taken by mistake at?”
“At, at…it’s over there in District 8, Lao Gao Dumpling Restaurant, I often go there.” The man asked tremblingly, “Police officer, this is really taken by mistake, there is nothing valuable in the clothes, I…”
“Don’t be nervous, do you remember what the person at the next table looked like? Describe him.” Guan Yao asked slowly.
The man honestly replied: “I don’t remember what he looked like, I only remember that he smoked a lot.”
Guan Yao looked at Yu Chunming, signaling him to ask whatever he wanted next.
Yu Chunming didn’t ask anything, turned his head and was about to get off the train: “Record his ID, the suspect is unlikely to be on this train.”
“Not here?” Guan Yao grabbed him and lowered his voice, “What do you mean?”
Yu Chunming’s brow was furrowed: “Last night, he should have been sure that this person was going to board this train today, so he deliberately took the wrong clothes. This morning, he deliberately used Lin Zhimin’s ID to buy a ticket, luring us to take the bait. This person’s figure and appearance are three points similar to him. If I blocked his face, I might have mistaken him just now. In other words, he already knew that Lin Zhimin was dead… No, how did the specific details of the case get out?”
Guan Yao was also frustrated when he heard this. He quickly wrote down the man’s ID number and turned around and asked, “Then this train isn’t being checked? What if there’s still someone inside…”
Ding—
Before Guan Yao could finish speaking, his phone suddenly rang. After answering, a colleague from the Baihua Branch Bureau said on the other end, “Old Guan, I looked at the surveillance you showed me just now. There was no one who looked like him among the passengers, but the train attendant who got off and then got back on the train seemed to have changed. He looked a lot like the one in the surveillance, tall and burly.”
“Train attendant?” Guan Yao’s spirit tightened. “Are you sure it’s a train attendant?”
“He’s wearing a uniform, isn’t he a train attendant?” the other side said. “The one who went down was a skinny guy, dumping trash, and almost fell over. The one who went up was a tall guy.”
Guan Yao’s phone was leaking sound, and Yu Chunming, who was standing next to him, heard the general idea. He looked at the time and asked, “It’s about to close and leave, ask him which car, it looks like it’s too late…”
As he spoke, Yu Chunming raised his head and saw a train attendant wearing a mask and a uniform, carrying a huge black plastic bag, walking towards him.
The person on the other end of the phone answered loudly: “Car nine, I saw it, it should be car nine.”
“Car nine?” Guan Yao looked up at the car number directly above his head.
–It was the number 9.