heart poison

Hua Chong leaned against the wall of the laundry room, with earphones hanging by his ears, and while waiting for the sweater jacket he had worn for a few days to dry, he talked on the phone with Liu Zhiqin.

The temperature in Los Angeles was higher than that in Luoguan Village, so he took off his shirt and only wore a large T-shirt. The T-shirt was black and very loose, making him look much thinner than usual.

After several days of busy work, he has indeed lost some weight.

The machine was rumbling, but fortunately it was not noisy, just the right background sound.

In fact, there is no need to rush to clean the sweater coat. He has put several coats in the office of the serious crime team, and he can change them casually.But when he returned to the City Bureau in the middle of the night, the first thing he did was to wash the sweater in the laundry room, so that he could continue to wear it during the day after drying.

With this one, I don't really want to wear my own clothes.

"Nine years ago, the corpse of a rotten boy found by the villagers of Luoguan Village in the downstream village may not be Liu Zhanfei. A piece of clothing can't explain anything. Besides, the Liu family brothers have a low presence in Luoguan Village. The village chief may have identified the wrong person. Then hastily cremated the corpse. This kind of thing used to be too common in backward villages and towns." Liu Zhiqin described his guess not long ago, his tone was very indifferent, not as intense as when he guessed, "If that child is not Liu Zhanfei , Liu Zhanfei is not dead, so when he learns what happened in the 'Knowledge City' on the day Liu Xuchen died of illness, he will definitely take revenge on the three people who caused the congestion on the school road."

Hua Chong frowned, shook his head after a while, "No, that's not right."

"What's wrong?"

"If Liu Zhanfei is still alive, he is indeed the most likely person to take revenge on Zhou Liangjia and the others. But this is only a 'possibility', not an 'inevitability'."

Liu Zhiqin was taken aback, and after careful consideration, he realized that his thoughts were a bit extreme.

Liu Zhanfei's life experience is unknown, and he doesn't know who his biological parents are. He was ill since childhood and was dragged up by Liu Xuchen.It can be said that without Liu Xuchen, he would probably not be in this world long ago.For him, Liu Xuchen is the only relative.

But even so, knowing that Liu Xuchen's death was indirectly related to Zhou Liangjia's "fake suicide", would Liu Zhanfei definitely take revenge on them in that cruel way?

This is the thinking of a killer, not the thinking of a normal person.

Why does Liu Zhanfei have killer thinking?

"The murderer chose to kill by burning. I was wondering, is this related to the small village case?" Hua Chong's voice was low and hoarse because of exhaustion, but it sounded better than usual, "Assuming Liu Zhanfei is not dead, the murderer is him, What developed his 'killer mindset'?"

Liu Zhiqin was silent for a few seconds, and said: "There is only one reason - he has seen similar killings with his own eyes. The person he trusted and relied on killed and burned five people who bullied him in order to protect him. Liu Xuchen His behavior is projected in his character, affecting his behavior all the time."

Hua Chong was not surprised, "You mean, Liu Xuchen was the murderer of the small village case ten years ago? And Liu Zhanfei witnessed all this?"

"I can't think of any other possibility." Liu Zhiqin said, "Do you still remember the information revealed to us by the wife of the mushroom shop and Qian Chuangjiang—the wooden house used by the village primary school for corporal punishment of students has actually become Qian Maojiang's stronghold for bullying children? , they bring people there, and no one knows about it except the person being bullied and themselves, and even the teachers don't bother to meddle in this kind of 'nosy', so that most of the villagers only know about a few big bullying incidents, but I don’t know that the back of the proprietress was burned by Qian Maojiang; and Qian Chuangjiang said that he once heard the sound of a little boy being slapped and crying outside the wooden house. Who is this child? Could it be Liu Zhanfei?"

The washing machine was spinning crazily, and Hua Chong felt that his brain was about to run out of blood. "Liu Xuchen is 10 years older than Liu Zhanfei. They are brothers who depend on each other. This relationship is completely different from that of 'father and son' or 'mother and son'. Parents are likely to They can't notice that their children are being bullied. And in a place like Luoguan Village, even if they notice, they may choose to compromise. But Liu Xuchen is an older brother, and he will definitely protect Liu Zhanfei. Liu Zhanfei's bullying must happen when Liu Xuchen is in the town When he was in school. Ten years ago, Liu Xuchen was admitted to university and was about to leave Luoguan Village. He was temporarily unable to take Liu Zhanfei with him. He knew that Liu Zhanfei might be bullied to death if he left. His only way was to Before the tragedy happened, get rid of Qian Maojiang and others for Liu Zhanfei."

"He let go of those who went to junior high school because they couldn't go back to Luoguan Village often." Liu Zhiqin felt an indescribable excitement and helplessness.What is exciting is that several cases have finally been connected in series, and there are no major loopholes in logic; what is helpless is that the big boy who is regarded as an excellent boy by the villagers can only use this cruel method to protect his beloved brother.

Liu Xuchen's so-called "protection" was deeply rooted in the heart of Liu Zhanfei, who was only 9 years old at the time.It was like a seed soaked in evil, which eventually turned Liu Zhanfei into a cruel and paranoid killer.

"When the accident happened to Qian Maojiang and others, according to the villagers, Liu Xuchen had already left Luoguan Village." Hua Chong squatted in front of the washing machine, staring at the sweater that was thrown around inside, "But in fact, no one knows his identity. The exact whereabouts. He is familiar with Luoguan Village, and it is not difficult to go back and forth and hide. Maybe he left early to create an alibi for himself, and the villagers believed it and vowed to 'endorse' him. The group did not follow this line."

"Now there is no way to check the traffic records from ten years ago." Liu Zhiqin sighed, "No one can tell where Liu Xuchen was when the incident happened. And he died of illness a few months after committing the crime. It is equivalent to 'self-produced and sold'."

Hua Chong was out of his mind for a while, remembering what he had heard in Chuyu Town, "By the way, Zou Ming only appeared in the orphanage after the villagers of Luoguan Village believed that Liu Zhanfei was frozen to death in the river. He claimed to be Mi Hao, 10 years old, has no father and no mother, and has been wandering with scavengers for a long time. After living in an orphanage for a year, Zhou Mei adopted him away."

"Mi Hao? Zou Ming?" Liu Zhiqin's pupils tightened instantly, and he immediately understood what Hua Chong was thinking, "Zou Ming is probably Liu Zhanfei?"

"Zou Ming took the initiative to 'report' to the orphanage. He was already 10 years old at the time, and the reason he told the orphanage was that the old man who had taken him to pick up waste for many years passed away." What's the problem, but if you think about it, it's actually very weird. Since he has lived by wandering and picking up waste since he was a child, how could he go to an orphanage at the 'advanced age' of 10 years? He is used to a wandering and free life, why would he want to That little bit of comfort, sending himself into a 'cage'? He chose to go to the orphanage at that time. I think he was desperate and had no choice—although his previous life was not rich, he was not down to the point of wandering and begging. He was not used to that kind of life at all, so he went to the orphanage. This is one. Second, do you think he has the temperament of a scavenger at all? No! He doesn't look like he has lived in ten years People who live a wandering life. I have come into contact with many real scavengers. Zou Ming is completely different from them. He thinks he has made up a watertight identity for himself, but a fake is a fake. He only has the shell of a scavenger. Inside is his own soul."

Liu Zhiqin quickly digested Hua Chong's words, "Liu Zhanfei knew that Liu Xuchen was in Xiancheng, but he didn't know where Xiancheng was, and he didn't have enough money. But Liu Xuchen died there, so he must go! In winter, in the summer of the next year, he walked all the way from Luoguan Village to Chuyu Town. Chuyu Town is very close to Xiancheng, but he really couldn't keep going, so he found an orphanage to rest for a while?"

"Yes! How could a waste picker who is used to wandering go to the orphanage for help? It doesn't make sense. But if Zou Ming is Liu Zhanfei, all this makes sense. He was only 10 years old at the time, although he was bullied by Qian Maojiang very badly , but he has been taken care of and protected by Liu Xuchen. The six months of trekking and wandering have made him unbearable, so he can only stop and seek shelter temporarily. As for why he concealed his true identity, he made up a 'm Hao', probably because of his experience in the past six months—he was deceived and hurt along the way, and he gradually understood that if he wants to protect himself, he must learn to deceive others."

"Liu Zhanfei, Mi Hao, Zou Ming..." Liu Zhiqin whispered three completely different names, and Zou Ming's delicate and expressionless face clearly appeared in his mind.

Indifference sometimes has another explanation, that is cruelty.

"If our speculation is correct, at least before being adopted by Zou Mei, Liu Zhanfei had no way to find out the relationship between Zhou Liangjia and others and Liu Xuchen's death. He was still too young at that time, so he left Luoguan Village and went to Xiancheng alone. The purpose is very simple, it is to 'receive' the only relative." Hua Chong continued to analyze, "Meeting Zou Mei was an accident. As he grows older, maybe he didn't know what happened on the day of Liu Xuchen's death until the last year or two. This can also explain why Zhou Liangjia and the three were retaliated against after ten years."

"Liu Zhanfei met Zou Mei by accident, but Zou Mei chose Liu Zhanfei—that is, Mi Hao, but not." Liu Zhiqin pointed his finger on the table, "She is an adopter, she has the right to choose, she is a subjective choice killed him."

Now that this has been said, Hua Chong simply told Liu Zhiqin that Zou Mei was the noble lady who appeared in "Xiaoyun Gourmet" that day, and said: "I have seen her before, and she has no habit of eating late at night. She went to buy barbecue that day, and she bought a lot. But since she doesn't eat it, why should she buy it?"

The three cases were entangled and torn apart, Liu Zhiqin rubbed his temples, an idea was about to come out.

"The biggest connection between Wang Xiangmei's case and Xulushan's case is sevoflurane. We have now assumed that Zou Ming is the murderer who killed Zhou Liangjia and the other three, so he is the holder of sevoflurane." Hua Chongbian thought He said, "Where did his sevoflurane come from? What is his relationship with Wang Xiangmei and Chen Yun?"

"He and Chen Yun..." Liu Zhiqin shook his head, "Now it seems that Zou Mei is more likely to have a relationship with Chen Yun."

The two ends of the phone fell into silence in a tacit understanding, and the sound of lighting a cigarette rang out in a tacit understanding.

Hua Chong said, "Are you smoking?"

"My mind is a bit confused." Liu Zhiqin said.

Hua Chong looked at the cigarette between his fingers, and let out a light breath.

Liu Zhiqin called: "Flower team."

"Huh?" Hua Chong responded.

"Did you just think that Wang Xiangmei was also killed by Liu Zhanfei?"

"I..." Hua Chong paused.Sevoflurane was an inescapable clue. He had indeed thought about it just now, but felt that the details were contradictory.

"Two cases, one shows cruelty, and the other shows compassion. The former is insane, while the latter has a self-righteous 'salvation'. If the murderer is the same person, then he must have multiple personalities, otherwise the behavior would not be so split. "Liu Zhiqin said: "But I don't think there is any problem with Zou Ming's spirit."

"Then the murderer is not the same person." This is also the detail that Hua Chong felt contradictory before, "Liu Zhanfei had the motive to kill Zhou Liangjia and others, but there is no reason to attack the innocent little girl."

"Where's Zou Mei?" Liu Zhiqin said slowly, "A successful and wealthy woman, does she have any motive to kill a little girl living at the bottom?"

Hua Chong immediately thought of Zou Mei's eyes.

The "compassion" Liu Zhiqin mentioned seems to be the color in her eyes.

"Is there a way to find out about Zou Mei's past?" Hua Chong said, "The criminal investigation team has already focused on Zou Mei, but what happened to her before..."

"I'll give you an answer as soon as possible." Liu Zhiqin said.

Hua Chong thought for a while and then said: "It is difficult to obtain evidence now. 'Liu Zhanfei is Zou Ming' is our inference, but there is no evidence. The corpse discovered by the villagers has long been cremated, and other physical evidence and files have not remained. From the age of 9 to 19, these ten years are the period when a person's appearance changes the most, even if Zou Ming stands in front of them, they will not think that he is Liu Zhanfei."

"Maybe someone still recognizes it."

"You mean Qian Chuangjiang?"

"His behavior is actually no less weird than Zou Ming." Liu Zhiqin said: "They are the same age and were bullied by Qian Maojiang. The first time we asked Qian Chuangjiang about the situation back then, he said that he heard Xiao The cry of the boy. Maybe he not only heard it, but also knew who was slapped - but he didn't want to tell us. I have a guess, he knew who killed Qian Maojiang from the beginning to the end, and also knew Who is the person who committed the crime on Xulu Mountain? He said two words, 'unworthy'. From his point of view, the entire Xulu Mountain people do not deserve to have the current life. They, including his dying father, are not worthy of money. People like Mao Jiang and Luo Hao turn a blind eye to the atrocities, they can't even protect the most vulnerable children in the village, they habitually choose to ignore and connive, they should be punished."

"Then he is an accomplice?" Hua Chong said suddenly: "Now no one can tell who Liu Zhanfei stayed with on the day of the accident in the village. Is it possible that it was Qian Chuangjiang? When Liu Xuchen killed Qian Maojiang, the two A 9-year-old kid on the sidelines?"

Liu Zhiqin imagined that scene, and felt shuddering, although it was absurd, it was extremely realistic.

If he hadn't witnessed the slaughter when he was young, why would Zou Ming be so cold and cruel, and why would Qian Chuangjiang be so gloomy and dull?

Liu Xuchen saved them, but also destroyed them.

The two sides of the mirror are killings, one is in the name of protection, the other is in the name of revenge, it begins with love, but ends with cruelty.

"Didn't we talk about the post office last time? Maybe Zou Ming and Qian Chuangjiang actually exchanged letters." Hua Chong said, "There are also express delivery, which cannot be found on the Internet. Yes Also, there is Yuan Feifei, she lived in the 'Shanweitang', if Zou Ming and Qian Chuangjiang are inextricably linked, then there is a high probability that Qian Chuangjiang revealed to Zou Ming about the small case in the village. Ming, and then she became a tool used by Zou Ming."

"Yuan Feifei is the 'weakest' link."

"That's right. Qu Zhi is in charge here in Los Angeles. I'll go to Xiancheng at dawn tomorrow. Liu Xuchen's ashes were once stored in funeral parlors, but many funeral parlors used to only store them for three months. I will deal with it. Zou Ming was... ah!"

Hearing a call from the other end of the phone, Liu Zhiqin quickly asked, "What's wrong?"

Hua Chong took out the crumpled sweater from the washing machine, and asked in a low voice, "The sweater you borrowed from me...is it not washable?"

Liu Zhiqin finally understood what the rumbling sound was, "Are you in the laundry room?"

Hua Chong shook the sweater, a little embarrassed, "I've been wearing it for several days, I want to wash the sweater..."

But it is now scrapped by me.

"I usually take it for dry cleaning." Liu Zhiqin's voice was soft, and he didn't mean to blame at all.

"I washed it for you." Hua Chong covered his forehead and blurted out: "Then when these cases are settled, I'll accompany you to buy a new one. No, two! I'll buy you whatever you like, Anyway, autumn is too short, and it won’t be long until winter.”

Liu Zhiqin smiled, the laughter came from the receiver, Hua Chong suddenly felt itchy ears.

"Why don't you take a picture and send it to me now?" Liu Zhiqin said, "Let me see how it's broken."

Hua Chong spread out the sweater, feeling that laying it flat would not be easy to take pictures, so he simply held it in his hand, pressed several pictures at once, and randomly picked one to send to Liu Zhiqin.

Probably because he was so focused on the crumpled sweater, he didn't notice that his body was being reflected on the window glass.

"Why are you wearing so little?" Liu Zhiqin saw his black T-shirt with sharp eyes.

"Huh?" He still hasn't reacted.

"Photo." Liu Zhiqin reminded, "I took a picture of yourself. It's the middle of the night, wearing only a T-shirt, isn't it cold?"

Hua Chong looked at the window, his heart suddenly warmed up, and he said with a smile: "Let you look at the sweater, you look at the window."

Liu Zhiqin's deep laughter came again, but he stopped halfway, "Sweater..."

"Ok?"

"The sweater is fine like this." Liu Zhiqin's tone had an obvious turning point, "It's not bad after washing."

"Isn't this considered bad?" Hua Chong's sensitivity was completely consumed by the case, and when he didn't talk about the case, he would fall into a certain kind of dullness, grabbed his sleeve and looked, "No, I still have to pay you two, this Just give it to me, I'll take it back and wear it as home clothes."

Liu Zhiqin was not polite, "Okay, then let's try to solve the case as soon as possible and go pick out clothes."

Hua Chong laughed, "You can choose!"

"But now you add some clothes." Liu Zhiqin said softly, "At least change to long sleeves. Now that the case has been investigated, it's a critical period. If you, the leader, get off the line because of a cold, you will be in trouble."

Hua Chong also felt a little cold, and put the sweater over his shoulders, "I'll wear it now."

Liu Zhiqin heard the sound of "Xi Xi Suo Suo", and knew that Hua Chong was getting dressed.

Before long, Hua Chong said, "Your sweater won't sting if you wear it next to your body."

Liu Zhiqin's eyes gradually deepened.Just now he thought that Hua Chong took another coat and put it on. After all, the sweater won't look good after being washed and wrinkled. He didn't expect Hua Chong to put it on like this, and it was still close to his body...

Before that, Hua Chong had been wearing a sweater over his shirt, which didn't stick to his skin anywhere. Although the fabric of the shirt was very thin, it was still considered an "obstacle".

When Liu Zhiqin thought that his clothes were being worn by Hua Chong, his throat felt a little dry.

And Hua Chong added: "It's too late today, go to bed quickly, I have to go to bed after washing the T-shirt."

So you took off your T-shirt too?Liu Zhiqin thought, the sweater is empty?

He didn't ask this, he was stunned for a while and said in his usual tone: "Okay, good night."

Hua Chong vaguely felt that this "good night" was not quite right, but he didn't have the energy to think about it.On this day, he flew from Luoguan Village to Chuyu Town, and then returned to Luocheng from Chuyu Town. He met many people related to the case. A large number of clues were mixed and pieced together in his mind, and his physical and mental strength were almost at their limit. I can't do without rest.

In fact, before ending the call, he still wanted to chat with Liu Zhiqin a few more words, but his brain had already shut down a bit, and if he continued talking, if he said something that shouldn't be said now, it would not end well.

Lying on the bed in the lounge of the Serious Crime Unit, he quickly fell asleep, and even forgot to take off the sweater he shouldn't be wearing when sleeping.

??

The night spread in all directions.

In Chenglongwan villa area, Zou Mei stood in front of the bar in the living room, staring straight at the black milk pot.The milk pot was newly bought by Zou Ming not long ago. The body of the pot is bright and the material is outstanding.But at this time, the milk boiled on a low fire was overflowing from its edge wave after wave, covering the pot with sticky milk skin.

The air gradually filled with the smell of burning, and the sound of liquid flowing.Before the milk pot was completely boiled dry, she suddenly came back to her senses, turned off the fire with her left hand in a panic, and her right hand tightly clutched her heaving chest.The numbness in his eyes was replaced by fear, and the depths of his pupils should clearly reflect the light by the bar, but it was as dark as night.

She only took a sip of the hot milk she ordered at the cafe. Although it was good fresh milk, it was not sweet enough.

She couldn't get used to unsweetened milk, so she had to go home and cook it herself.

However, just now, she suddenly realized one thing - in front of that sharp-eyed policeman, she seemed to have said something wrong.

Not used to eating supper...

He actually said such a thing!

That question was obviously so abrupt that I didn't notice something was wrong in the first place.

She took several deep breaths in a row, but her heartbeat still didn't calm down.

After a few minutes, she turned around and walked upstairs in a nonchalant manner.

Without Zou Ming, the house seemed to be dead.

She stood at the door of Zou Ming's bedroom, raised her hand and pushed the door open, stood there for a moment, then suddenly turned on all the lights, and frantically rummaged through the cabinets and drawers.

A few days ago, she had searched all the rooms other than this bedroom, but she still couldn't find that thing.

Without that thing, how would I free the poor girl?

The world sucks for girls, it doesn't deserve their beauty!

This bedroom is the last hope.

But she didn't want to believe that that thing would appear in Zou Ming's bedroom.