Netherworld Investigator

At 09:30 in the evening, Wen Baifan strolled into the investigation room, gestured to the other party to please sit down, and said with a smile: "It's just a routine statement, don't be nervous."

The person across the table was named Zhang Guian, 22 years old, a security guard on duty at Chaoyang Elementary School at the time of the incident, a young man with an unremarkable appearance but a sense of reliability, and his accent did not sound like a native of Chaocheng.

"It's still hot, warm your hands." Wen Baifan pushed a bottle of cocoa milk in front of Zhang Gui'an. The packaging of the milk bottle is very delicate, only half the size of a palm, with a cute and playful little cow full of chocolate chips printed on the front. The painting style is incompatible with the empty and solemn atmosphere of the investigation room.

Wen Baifan poked open another bottle with a straw, took two sips, and then said to Zhang Gui'an, "Please recount the incident in as much detail as possible."

The security guard held the milk box cautiously, did not open it, and began to narrate after deliberation: "This afternoon, at about 10:[-], Teacher Bai Xue hurried to the security room and said that some students were trapped on the fifth floor. I followed her to the fifth floor, and found that the door was locked and could not be opened without a key. Hearing the cry of the child, Teacher Bai was very anxious, for fear that there would be an accident if the student was alone inside, so I immediately called the fire department In less than [-] minutes, the fire police officers arrived, picked the lock, opened the door and found Gao Kui...and Principal Xu lying on the ground."

This part of the information was almost the same as what Wen Baifan knew. He nodded and asked again: "Five quarter to three, this time is very accurate. When Teacher Bai came to see you, did you pay special attention to the wall clock?"

Zhang Gui'an thought for a while and replied: "Yes, because I was on duty at the time. Our school's management is very strict. If the security guards are going to patrol or something, they will record the time to leave the security room on the form. I saw that Teacher Bai was in a hurry The way she came here, I felt that she should need my help, so I subconsciously glanced at the wall clock."

"You are very careful." Wen Baifan smiled, and changed the topic, "But if the management is strict, why would no one even know that the spare key is lost?"

"Not only this one, many keys on the fifth floor are missing. This has been the case since the last security guard handed over to me." Xu was worried that he would be held accountable for dereliction of duty. Zhang Gui'an's tone was a little hurried, but his words The order is still clear, "The classrooms on this floor have been abandoned for a long time, those doors are not usually locked, and no one will open them if they are locked all the time, so even though the spare keys are here and there, I have never Take it too seriously."

Wen Baifan nodded, seeming to accept the explanation, and asked again: "About the trapped female student Gao Kui, do you have any impression of her before?"

"I know that she practiced ballet with Teacher Bai. The little girl is very hardworking. She often leaves school only when the bell for clearing the venue rings. Gao Kui has a quiet personality but is very polite. Whenever she sees me, she will say hello to Brother Security." Zhang Gui'an His eyes dimmed, and he said regretfully, "I didn't expect this kind of thing to happen to her..."

"That's right. Fortunately, the amount of medicine used by the gangster is not heavy, and it didn't cause any irreversible damage to the child's body." Wen Baifan also sighed.

"Medicine?" Zhang Gui'an's eyes were slightly opened, and his expression was stunned for a moment, "You mean that child was...then she is fine now?"

Wen Baifan sized him up. Obviously, Zhang Gui'an didn't know that Gao Kui was knocked out by the medicine, but for some reason, there seemed to be a hint of guilt in his tone.

"Do you know exactly when she woke up?"

"I'm not sure." Zhang Gui'an tried to recall for a moment, and then said hesitantly, "After I got to the fifth floor, I tried to knock the door open, and after knocking twice, I heard a child crying from inside the door. Maybe she was woken up by the sound of my banging on the door. The two teachers were very anxious when they heard Gao Kui crying, for fear that the child would be injured inside and be delayed, so they decided to go to the fire brigade."

"That is to say, before you hit the door, Gao Kui was silent." Wen Baifan tilted his head and said to himself, "It's so strange, the door is locked, Gao Kui is unconscious on the ground, How did the two teachers make sure someone was inside before you knocked on the door?"

Zhang Gui'an was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly said: "It should be the crack in the door..."

"A crack in the door?" Wen Baifan wondered.

Zhang Gui'an hummed lightly, lowered his eyes, "In a hurry, I looked into the room through the gap between the door and the ground, and found someone lying on the ground."

Wen Baifan leaned back on the chair casually, stretched out his hand and gestured, "I remember that the gap in the door is about two fingers wide. If you want to see the corner where Gao Kui is from that angle, you have to lie down on the ground and look inward, right?"

An imperceptible smile appeared on Zhang Gui'an's face, and his tone became inexplicably brisk: "Teacher Bai loves these children from the bottom of his heart, and he must have been very anxious at the time..."

"It turned out that Teacher Bai came up with the solution, thanks to her discovering it in time." Wen Baifan suddenly realized, and sighed again, "Mr. Bai looks very temperamental. I didn't expect to be so informal in a hurry."

"Yeah." Zhang Gui'an suddenly looked a little embarrassed, took a deep breath almost imperceptibly, his cheeks were slightly flushed, "When Teacher Bai and Bai Xue came to the security room, I found some dust on the front of her clothes. At that time, I wondered , How could such a beautiful and elegant teacher like her get dusty? I just thought of it when you said it just now... Actually, this is all my speculation. "

Wen Baifan raised his eyebrows, and sincerely praised: "Your observation ability is really good."

Zhang Guian lowered his head embarrassingly, and said in a low voice, "Fortunately, you need to be more careful as a security guard."

"Not every security guard is so careful. For example, the security guard who lost the key was very careless. Fortunately, the little classmate didn't have any accidents this time, otherwise this person should be held accountable." Wen Baifan had a chatty tone, eyes But he quietly observed the subtle changes in Zhang Guian's facial muscles.The other party's brows were slightly furrowed in an unconscious way, as if he didn't quite agree with Wen Baifan's words.

Wen Baifan took a sip of the milk, glanced at the wall clock, and sighed almost inaudibly, as if he wanted to make a quick decision, "By the way, how long have you worked in this elementary school?"

"It's been more than three months since the school started in September."

"What is the time and scope of your daily patrols?"

"We work in three shifts. At my time today, after the clearing bell at five o'clock, I will be responsible for patrolling the classrooms of the teaching building to ensure that all the students have left." Zhang Gui'an's tone gradually relaxed.

"Will every floor be patrolled?" Wen Baifan turned the ballpoint pen in his hand, "Including the abandoned classrooms on the fifth floor?"

"The classrooms on the fifth floor are not within the scope of the daily patrol." Zhang Gui'an hesitated for a moment, subconsciously rubbing the milk box between his hands. "We usually only go up to check the fire protection facilities and the like before weekends and long holidays."

Wen Baifan lowered his gaze, and asked again: "Have you seen Principal Xu on the fifth floor before?"

"...No." Zhang Gui'an's face was slightly stiff, he paused, and then said, "I mean very little, because Principal Xu is mainly responsible for school management affairs, and rarely appears in the teaching area."

"Okay, this is the end of the transcript." Wen Baifan put down his pen as if he was more relieved than the other party, and said cheerfully: "Thank you for your cooperation, you can leave now."

Hearing this, Zhang Gui'an also breathed a sigh of relief, stood up, and gently pushed the stool back to its original position.

From the beginning to the end, Zhang Gui'an's every move made people intuitively feel that this is a careful, down-to-earth and cautious young man.

Wen Baifan glanced thoughtfully at the slightly deformed milk box in Zhang Guian's hand, stroked the back of his neck with one hand, twisted it left and right, and made a clear "click".

The second person brought into the investigation room was Bai Xue, a music teacher at Chaoyang Primary School, who also served as the instructor of the school's ballet team.

Bai Xue is the type who doesn't need a special introduction to her profession, and others can still judge from her temperament.She was good-looking, her makeup was light and pleasant, and her hair exuded a faint fragrance of roses that seemed to be natural.

Even though it was already December, she was still wearing knitted clothes and black stockings. The thin fabric wrapped a pair of slender legs, which made Wen Baifan, who was quietly looking at her, couldn't help... shivering.

Bai Xue sat down opposite him, lowered her head timidly, a few strands of fine long hair were hanging down her ears, she stretched out her hands to gently gather behind her ears, revealing half of her fair neck.

"It's just a routine inquiry, don't be nervous." Wen Baifan glanced at her quickly, then quickly lowered his gaze, "Please recount the incident in as much detail as possible."

Bai Xue spoke softly: "Today is the Thursday routine activity of the orchestra club after school. Teacher Li Xiaohui asked me to help design the formation for the performance. After the rehearsal ends at 4:50, the two of us will prepare the ballet together Props. Until 05:30, I received a call from Xiaokui’s father, saying that the child who was supposed to be home at this time was missing, so I went to find someone with Teacher Li.”

"How did you find out that the missing Gao Kui was in the classroom on the fifth floor?" Wen Baifan repeated a sorting action with both hands meaninglessly while asking, even though there were only two pieces of paper and a pen on the table for sorting.

"Next Friday, the dance club will represent the school in a ballet competition. The child is very talented and will be the lead dancer, but at the same time, she needs to devote more of her spare time. However, the dance studio we recently rehearsed for It was overcrowded, so she had to find another place to practice the solo part by herself."

Bai Xue's eyes drooped slightly, her slender eyelashes trembled, revealing a sense of fragility that I still feel sorry for: "I know that child often goes to practice in that dilapidated dance classroom after school. This afternoon, I received a call from my parents Then I went to Class [-] of her fourth year with Teacher Li, and found that the building was empty, so I thought of going to the fifth floor to find her."

"Gao Kui must like you very much." Wen Baifan said suddenly.

Bai Xue was taken aback for a moment, a little unsure of what he meant by saying this, and gave a soft "hmm" at the end.

As if he just realized that his words were inappropriate, Wen Baifan quickly explained: "That's why her parents trust you so much. When the child disappears, the first reaction is not to call the head teacher, but to find you, Teacher Bai."

Bai Xue smiled knowingly, acquiescing to this statement.

Different from the relaxed conversation with Zhang Gui'an, when facing Bai Xue, Wen Baifan seemed to behave like a stunned young man who didn't know how to get along with the opposite sex.

Of course, this is just a ploy to create atmosphere.

Baixue looks pure and innocent, but her precarious demeanor faintly exudes a hunting atmosphere, which may be a skill unconsciously acquired by naturally beautiful women.Most of the time, they don't do this for any special purpose, but exuding charm itself can really get them a goodwill tilt.

Satisfying the opponent's confident imagination about the balance of power is the best way to let people relax their vigilance.

Wen Baifan continued to return to the topic, "What happened after the two of you arrived at the crime scene?"

"I wonder why the door of that room can't be opened, because no matter from inside or outside, you must have a key to lock the door, but how could that child have a key? We knocked on the door a few times, but no one answered. But I was still worried, fearing that something might happen to the child, so I tried to look in through the crack of the door, only to find someone lying on the ground, so I hurried downstairs to seek help from the security guard."

Wen Baifan thought to himself, Zhang Gui'an looks dull, but his ability to see things is not bad.

"It's just..." Bai Xue pursed her lips, her face changed slightly, "I don't know why, but I didn't find the spare key. The manager is really negligent."

Wen Baifan glanced at her thoughtfully, Bai Xue's tone has always been warm and soft, I don't know if it's due to his profession, it seems that there is always a feeling of following the script, only when he said this sentence, did he bring some Real unadorned emotions are inside.

"I didn't mean to blame the security guards, I just thought that if the door could be opened earlier, maybe the person could be rescued." Bai Xue paused for a second, then said slowly: "It's just that I don't quite understand why Principal Xu chose to Will there be an accident in the place where Gao Kui dances? Although the death is the most serious, I always feel that this thing is a bit strange."

"Say what you think, don't worry." Wen Baifan gave her an encouraging look.

Bai Xue bit her lower lip, hesitated for a moment, and said with a trembling tone: "At that time, the firefighters broke into the door, and I also saw the situation in the classroom. It was a woman's intuition. I think the atmosphere...is not right .”

Her wording was a bit ambiguous, but the meaning she wanted to convey was already obvious, Wen Baifan nodded understandingly, "Well, I understand what you mean, and it's not impossible."

"But this is still my random guess, I hope it won't affect your judgment." Bai Xue's eyes were slightly bent, and she gave Wen Baifan an earnest look.

Wen Baifan scratched his head and smiled shyly.

"So, what happened this time was just an accident, right?" Bai Xue's face showed a hint of worry, "I'm really worried that this incident will have a bad impact on the reputation of the school and the safety of the students."

"The police will announce the results of the investigation of the case as soon as possible, please rest assured." Wen Baifan smiled, folded the piece of paper in his hand, and put it beside him, "Thank you for your cooperation, you can leave now."

"I'm so hungry, I want to eat supper." Wen Baifan slumped in the chair, muttering weakly.Wang Yu pushed open the door and coughed heavily, reminding the nominal boss to pay attention to his manners.

Following the footsteps of "Kukou", a woman in pointed high-heeled shoes came from behind Wang Yu and sat down generously opposite Wen Baifan.

She is Li Xiaohui, the music teacher of Chaoyang Primary School, and also serves as the instructor of the orchestra club.

Teacher Li's appearance is barely above average. Her fair and delicate skin adds a lot of points to her. Her slender eyes are a bit sharp. Compared with a music teacher, she is more reminiscent of the image of a teaching director.

Wen Baifan straightened his slightly catty back: "It's just a routine inquiry, don't be nervous."

"I'll try my best." Li Xiaohui smiled generously, and the way her eyebrows and eyes stretched made people feel good.

Li Xiaohui's narration was basically the same as that of Zhang Gui'an and Bai Xue. It could be seen that she was a woman with a strong personality, and she was not stage-frightened when sitting in the investigation room of the police station, and she talked freely.

"Two years ago, our school expanded a new campus in the suburbs. The number of students enrolled in the Chaoyang headquarters decreased, and the demand for classrooms in the teaching building decreased. The school board decided to redecorate half of the space on the fourth floor as an art classroom. The building gradually became vacant. When I first graduated and came to work here, the fifth floor was full of art classrooms. Every afternoon after school, it was the busiest place in the whole school. Nearly half of the students would stay to paint, sing and dance. Because I was worried that the students would lock themselves up when they were fighting, so a special lock was used on the whole floor, and only the key can lock it."

"You mean Teacher Bai Xue? She graduated from a famous conservatory and is very capable. She chooses the bells for our school's morning reading, class, lunch break, school dismissal and clearing. For example, the ballet this time For the competition, although I was responsible for playing the background music, the selection of the main passages was all done by Mr. Bai."

"That child is Gao Kui. She is the lead dancer in this competition, playing the role of a magic doll. The plot of the story is very ingeniously designed. At the beginning, the little princess manipulates the magic doll to dance, but the more you see behind The audience will find that, on the contrary, the magic doll is controlling the princess. The roles of the princess and the doll are both important, but relatively speaking, the dancing skills of the protagonist doll, especially the requirements for leg strength, will be higher. Teacher Bai chose Gao Kui to play this role among the members of the dance team. The child was really resilient. After more than a month, he practiced hard every day. In contrast, another student who played the princess Although she looks pretty, but her temper is too spoiled, it is difficult to meet Teacher Bai's strict requirements."

Li Xiaohui's level of talkativeness is far beyond Wen Baifan's imagination. He finally caught a gap and quickly regained the initiative: "That is to say, when Teacher Bai ran to find the security guard, you stayed at the scene. At that time, Gao Kui's state of consciousness What's it like?"

"She probably passed out. If Bai Xue hadn't insisted on peeking through the door, I wouldn't have realized that there was someone in the classroom. I kept knocking on the door when I was guarding the door, but I still didn't hear the child's response." Later, the security guard came up and said he couldn't find the key, so he planned to hit the door directly, but the door made a loud bang bang, and the child woke up."

"But she is still a little confused. We asked her through the door, but she couldn't answer. First she let out a scream, and then she started crying." Li Xiaohui plucked a strand of hair from her forehead and sighed. Said: "Poor child, be frightened, the person who involved her in this kind of thing really deserves to die."