shadow of crime

Winter is coming to an end, spring is getting warmer, and the bushes on both sides of the road have sprouted new shoots, and they are no longer sparse.Jiang Bei was in a hurry, sweeping the rain and dew all over the ground.The crowd was crowded, some were busy, some were leisurely, and the passers-by who passed by them turned into unreal phantoms in Jiang Bei's eyes, as if they had fallen into a weird vortex.

There are thousands of people in the world, but there is no one else.

Beep--!

The horn sounded like a sharp cone, piercing the eardrums. The taxi driver slammed on the brakes, stuck his head out of the window, and yelled, "You're looking for death?! Don't you have eyes? How dare you run a red light!"

Jiang Bei stared at the red light at the opposite intersection, and quickly came back to his senses, opened the car door and sat in the back row: "Go to XX Hospital."

Cheng Ye's adoptive mother was caught in the rain that night, and in addition to the loss of her beloved son, she was overwhelmed with grief and fainted before she walked out of the city bureau. Fortunately, she was met by colleagues in the bureau and rushed to the hospital.Jiang Bei got off the car at the entrance of the hospital, carried the box to the information desk, and asked the ward number of Cheng's mother.

The corridors of the inpatient department are long, and the smell of disinfectant water is mixed with various peculiar smells.Standing outside the ward, Jiang Bei saw the elderly and frail woman through the small window, his heart tightened, and the box in his hand became heavier and heavier.

"Excuse me." The nurse pushed the trolley and opened the door of the ward. "Bed 03 is taking blood pressure."

Everyone in the large ward of 10 people heard the sound and looked over. Jiang Bei's eyes collided with the woman for a moment, and he stepped back a few steps, wanting to leave.

"Are you Xiao Jiang?" Cheng's mother stopped him in time, "Are you here to see Xiao Ye off?"

Jiang Bei hugged the box tightly, his knuckles were slightly white: "Are you... are you feeling better?"

Cheng's mother didn't get out of bed, she beat her calf, and said, "You're old, no matter how good you are. Don't stand at the door, come in and sit for a while. Xiao Lin has come to see me these days, I heard from him , it's okay, come in."

Jiang Bei moved his feet and gently placed the box on the bedside.He didn't dare to look at Cheng's mother, so he just said, "In a couple of days, I'll go look around and find a sunny place."

"Don't bother, I'm very embarrassed to ask Xiaolin to help." Cheng's mother stroked the box, "By the way, where is the child?"

Jiang Bei's heart skipped a beat: "Who?"

"Just..." Cheng's mother took a look at Jiang Bei, and changed her words, "Forget it, it's nothing. What about Xiao Lin, why didn't you come with you?"

Jiang Bei didn't want to bring up the past, so he followed Cheng's mother's lead: "He's at work, so he should come over after get off work."

"Is he in a hurry? I think he runs to the hospital quite frequently, but I just saw him when I went to get hot water. I was in a hurry, and I didn't call him."

Lin An, a friend of women, came here every day to make Cheng's mother happy, and Cheng's mother's complexion improved a lot.After hearing everything, she didn't know what to say for a moment, she just stared at the box in a daze.

Jiang Bei hadn't seen Lin An for half a month, and he really didn't know Lin An's recent situation: "Has he come to the hospital?"

"Here, I can't be mistaken." Cheng's mother wiped the corners of her eyes and said, "Go and see him, don't fall into the root cause of the disease. Thank you for making a special trip to bring Xiao Ye to me. I won't delay you any longer."

Jiang Bei left the ward, and called Lin An while walking, and the other party quickly answered, and before Jiang Bei could speak, he chattered a lot.

"Brother Jiang, I heard you came to work? I haven't seen you for a long time, are you okay? By the way, that box... is Cheng Ye. Wu Zichuan said you took it away. Give it to me, and I will deliver it."

"I've already handed it over to Auntie," Jiang Bei said, "Where are you?"

"I am in the city bureau."

Jiang Bei walked around the corner: "Auntie said, seeing you coming to the hospital, are you in the orthopedics department? I'll come to you."

"..." Lin An went "uh oh" for a while, and then said, "No, it's nothing serious, I'm already on my way back to the Municipal Bureau. Are you still in the hospital? Do you want me to pick you up, oh, I If you don’t drive, forget it, you can go back by yourself.”

Jiang Bei frowned and stood still, his tone of concern turned frosty the next second: "Lin An, I saw you."

"what?"

The voice in the receiver overlapped with reality, Lin An looked around like a thief with his hands on his phone, as if to confirm whether what Jiang Bei said was true.

Jiang Bei hung up the phone, put his hands in his pockets, and said in a deep voice, "Here."

Lin An looked over, switched to an Oscar-worthy acting skill in a second, jumped to Jiang Bei's side, and began to act coquettishly: "Brother Jiang, I miss you so much, are you better? Is your leg healed? Neck Are you ready? Are you able to face life alone?"

Jiang Bei was a little annoyed by his question, and Lin Ping'an, who should have seen what he should have seen that night, saw it.Jiang Bei coughed twice, withdrew his held hand, and asked, "How are you? What did the doctor say, are you all right?"

"What can I do, even ten Jiang..." Lin An's mouth twitched sharply, "It's okay, I'm going to be the number one hunk in the city bureau, it's a little hurt for a month, okay , three months should be fine."

Jiang Bei was dubious: "I thought you were serious, otherwise why would you appear in the intensive care area?"

There is a sign hanging on the top of the corridor, the three letters "ICU" are really eye-catching, almost blinding Lin An's 24k titanium alloy dog ​​eyes.He has been here so many times, but he didn't notice a sign!

"Oh, it's a long story," Lin Oscar Ann, who didn't even need to read the script, stretched out his hand, "My second aunt was seriously ill, and she was sent to the city hospital overnight in Xiaonian. You said I left It’s so close, I have to come and take care of her, but our office is open, I’m embarrassed to ask for leave, so I sneaked here. Brother Jiang, you won’t deduct my salary, will you?”

The second aunt who has been buried for many years silently decided to have a long talk with Lin An tonight.

Jiang Bei glanced at the end of the corridor, and then turned his attention to Lin An's face: "Second Aunt?"

Lin An felt that something was wrong, and with his boss's keen sense of smell comparable to that of a police dog, he must have discovered something.But he was lucky, after all, Jiang Bei has been plagued by troubles recently and his brain is not working well.

"Yes, Second Aunt, didn't I tell you? Why don't you go and see my Second Aunt?"

Jiang Bei found it troublesome to change into the isolation gown when entering the ICU: "Forget it, I'll come to see Auntie after she transfers to the general ward."

"Let's go, everyone is here."

"Go back to the bureau, you have been absent from work for half a day, go tell the logistics yourself."

Lin An chuckled, thinking that Jiang Bei was still the same Jiang Bei, and he was not relentless in certain things. From this point of view, his boss has climbed ashore from the river of sorrow!

-

Life is still going on as usual, and it hasn't changed much because of anyone's departure.Jiang Bei has been waiting for punishment since he went to work, but more than half a year has passed without any movement.Due to health reasons, Xu Zhengyuan came to the bureau less and less. Jiang Bei asked the deputy director about the punishment, and the deputy director's answer was also three words—let's talk about it.He suspected that Xu Zhengyuan ran to the deputy director to practice Tai Chi.

Jiang's mother never returned to her hometown. She lived in Ning'an City for half a year, and insisted on decorating Jiangbei's three-bedroom and two-living hardcover house into a magical country style.There is a picture of a phoenix wearing a peony hanging on the wall, and the cool-colored sofa cover has been replaced with a big red flower cover. The kitchen is full of kimchi jars, and a native chicken is fed on the living balcony, serving delicious food every day. , Just wait for the stew pot chicken soup when you grow up.

Jiang Bei was at home on vacation that day, mother Jiang and the chicken looked at each other affectionately for ten minutes, exchanging ideas with each other, but their opinions were not unified.But thinking about how hard it was for his son to go back to vacation, he had to make up for everything he said.

Mother Jiang set up a pot to boil water: "Xiaobei, let's stew chicken today, and you will kill the chicken later, I dare not do it."

Jiang Bei closed the computer and went to the kitchen with his slippers on: "Let's kill now."

In fact, he has been unhappy with this chicken for a long time. Every time he went to the living balcony to get something, he would be pecked at the back of his feet. Today he can finally settle it.Jiang Bei chose a sharp knife and put it on the stove to sharpen it twice. No matter how you look at it, it looks like a thug.

Mother Jiang didn't dare to look at it, so she ran to the living room.Jiang Bei's eyes darkened, and he was about to make a move when the phone rang.

"Xiao Bei, is it convenient for you to answer Lin An's call? Mom put the speakerphone on for you."

Jiang Bei held the chicken in one hand and the knife in the other, and squatted on the ground listening to Lin An's nagging.

"Brother Jiang, someone reported to the police that a middle-aged patient was killed in a nursing home. Are you on vacation today? Then I will bring someone to the scene first. You should rest at home."

Jiang Bei felt that Lin An had been weird for the past six months. As long as he was free at work, he would not see Lin An's shadow, and would ask for leave every now and then.Not only that, but sometimes he avoids Jiang Bei. For example, now, the subtext of the sentence "You have a good rest at home" is: Don't come to the scene, it's not appropriate.

"I'll be right over." Jiang Bei stuffed the chicken into the cage and let it go for now.

When Jiang's mother heard that her son was going out on vacation, her face immediately collapsed: "You want to go out? Then this chicken..."

"Next time, let's talk next time when I have time." Jiang Bei took his things and changed his shoes at the entrance, "I'm leaving first, so you don't have to wait for me to come back for dinner tonight."

At 10:[-] in the morning, the health care nursing home.

"The deceased Li, male, 32 years old, was found stabbed to death in the room by the nurse this morning. After preliminary examination by the forensic doctor, it was deduced that the time of death was between 2:3 and [-]:[-] in the morning," Lin An followed Jiangbei. Behind him, he reported the situation while wiping his sweat, "It's very likely... um... it was done by insiders."

It was midsummer, and Jiang Bei was wearing a dark dark-patterned shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows, revealing a thin forearm.The buttons were buttoned meticulously, even so, the collar of the shirt couldn't cover the bite marks on the neck, which added a bit of abstinence.

"The one who died in the early morning?" Jiang Bei came to the scene of the crime and put on gloves outside the cordon. "The nursing home does not allow outsiders to enter after 7pm. How many rooms are there in this floor? Have all the patients living there been questioned?"

Lin An stammered, with erratic eyes: "Ask... I have asked, I have asked all of them."

Jiang Bei smoothed out the folds of the glove, turned around and stared at Lin An.Lin An, who vowed to become the number one hunk in the city bureau, smiled uglier than crying under Jiang Bei's knife-like gaze.

"Are you... are you in love?"

"Talk, talk all the time, talk with your right hand on weekdays, talk with your left hand on weekends," Lin An hurriedly pushed Jiang Bei into the room, "Brother Jiang is here, Lao Wang, did you find anything at the scene?"

"Tell Old Wang, believe it or not, that I'll kill you!" Wang Zhipeng scolded him, then glanced at Jiang Bei meaningfully, and said, "There were no signs of damage to the doors and windows at the scene, and the items in the house were intact. fingerprint."

Jiang Bei squatted down, made eye contact with the corpse lying on the ground, and checked his eyes. This brother who was about his age had indeed been dead for a long time, and his eye masks were half-melted.He unbuttoned the clothes of the deceased, and what caught his eyes was a horrific knife cut on the chest. Compared with the murder weapon, the wound was longer.

"The deceased was attacked head-on. It may be an acquaintance who committed the crime. Who reported it to the police? Have you made a record?"

"It's the nurse on duty who called the police. I'll go and call him." Lin An ran to the next door, greeted the nurse who was taking care of other patients, and bowed his head to explain a few words before leading him over.

The nurse was a young woman who probably had just graduated, she was stunned when she saw Jiang Bei, she blushed and lowered her head.Straight men like Jiang Bei didn't take these things seriously at all. He took the evidence bag containing the murder weapon from Wang Zhipeng and waved it in front of the nurse's eyes.

"This knife is too small for men to hold, so it's just right for you to hold."

During the interrogation, Jiang Bei couldn't bear the sand in his eyes, and his whole body exuded a menacing aura. In addition, his facial contours were deep, and his brows and eyes were as cold as a knife carving, which made the nurse's face fade away in fright.

Jiang Bei went on to say: "You were on duty last night, right? You were responsible for taking care of the patients on this floor. According to the regulations, you checked the room every two hours. There was an interval of 5 hours between the death of the patient and the time you called the police. You treat your work really well." Feel free. The wound on the deceased’s body was not smooth, and it was not stabbed with a single knife. It means that the assailant was not strong enough and needed more stabs. It is very likely that a woman committed the crime. Can you explain where you were last night, what you did, and Does the evidence support what you said? Don't be afraid, this is a normal procedure, not only you, but everyone I will ask."

The scene was very quiet, and everyone's eyes were on the nurse.The nurse panicked, frowned, and pretended to cry, obviously frightened.

Jiang Bei raised his eyebrows, motioning for her to speak.

A room full of old men stared at her, either middle-aged men or straight steel men, and no one comforted the little girl.The nurse couldn't help but spoke weakly:

"I was with the kid in the next room last night. He refused to sleep, so I told him stories."

"What story are you telling?" Jiang Bei pressed on step by step, "When did it start and end? Where did you go after the end?"

Seeing that the situation was wrong, Lin An interjected belatedly. He intervened between the two of them: "Oh, little girl, hurry up and go back to take care of the patient."

"I..." The nurse twisted her fingers, glanced at Jiang Bei vacantly, and burst into tears, "The kid suffered from respiratory failure last night. I accompanied him to the emergency room. You can ask the doctor."

"what?!"

Lin An and Wang Zhipeng screamed at the same time, but they lost their composure and quickly covered their mouths, their eyes were full of panic, and their hearts were already full of violent wind and waves.Jiang Bei looked at the two of them and tilted their heads slightly, and asked in a deep voice, "Where's that kid?"

Before Lin An could speak, the nurse took the lead: "It's next door! He's awake, you can ask him."

"Little friend... what a kid says cannot be used as evidence." Lin An scratched his head, turned around and saw Jiang Bei strode out, and hurried to chase, Wang Zhipeng followed closely behind.

"That... Brother Jiang!"

Jiang Bei knocked on the door next door, and when the door opened, a group of people rushed out pushing the nursing bed, pushing Jiang Bei a few meters away in an instant.

"The patient in room 5 is suffering from respiratory failure. Hurry up and prepare for the emergency room. Who of you should contact the patient's guardian! This happened twice!"

The sound of wheels resounded through the corridor, and at the moment when he turned around, Jiang Bei noticed a hand hanging down from the thin blanket, which was clearly the hand of an adult man.The fingers were long and slender, and the skin seemed to be soaked in milk, showing a sickly white color, with dark red blood vessels under the thin skin faintly visible.

Jiang Bei watched the nursing bed enter the elevator, his eyelashes fluttered: "... isn't the patient in room 5 a child?"

"Little friend..." Lin An wiped his cold sweat, "Maybe it's a friend named Xiaoming."

Wang Zhipeng immediately gave him an approving look.

After a brief absence, Jiang Bei regained his composure and walked into the empty Room 5.This room is obviously much larger than the one next door, and it even has a fresh air system. Even so, there are air purifiers and humidifiers in the room.

"Does the patient in room 5 have a respiratory disease?"

"That's right, everyone has entered the emergency room." Wang Zhipeng covered the easel in the corner lightly, while Lin An was collecting brushes and paints.

Jiang Bei was attracted by the bouquet of flowers on the bedside, completely oblivious to the small movements of the two behind him.

"It's impossible for the nursing home not to know the patient's physical condition, so why are there flowers here? It's kapok, Lin An," Jiang Bei turned his head, and Lin Wang and Lin Wang immediately set it into a sculpture, "What are you two doing?"

"No reason," Wang Zhipeng patted his clothes, "Just take a look, the room in this nursing home is really nice, more comfortable than my home."

Lin An echoed: "Yes."

Jiang Bei looked at the two of them singing and singing together, whether they cooperated tacitly or not, and doubts arose in his heart, but right now the business has not been finished, so it is not easy to ask other questions. "Lin An, go and ask who sent this kapok. The nursing home has installed a fresh air system and an air purifier in the ward for ventilation. Obviously, it knows the patient's physical condition. The patient suffered from respiratory failure twice. The flowers may be an inducement to create an alibi, where is the nurse?"

"I don't know," Lin An said, "Go to the emergency room."

"The nurse was very suspicious. The excuse of 'telling a story' was just her one-sidedness. If the patient was asleep at that time, she slipped to the next door to commit the crime, and when the patient came back, she just fell ill, and she followed to the emergency room, and the alibi would be there. Lao Wang, see if you can extract fingerprints or something on the bouquet wrapping paper, and let me know if there is any news." After finishing speaking, Jiang Bei was about to leave the room, and when he walked to the door, he accidentally caught a glimpse of the easel in the corner, although he covered it with a cloth You can tell from the outline that it is an easel.

Jiang Bei stood against the light, his whole body covered with a soft golden glow.He thought he was okay, but there was always something that could open his emotional valve, such as apples, milk, oil paintings and so on.

Jiangnan is everywhere, just like the bite mark he left on Jiang Bei's neck, which never disappears.Jiang Bei even felt that the height of the easel matched Jiang Nan's height just right.

Jiang Bei was dragged and moved his steps.Lin An and Wang Zhipeng on the side had their hearts in their throats, and were about to stop them when the phone rang, and it was Jiang Bei's.

It was Xu Zhengyuan who called. He didn't say anything else, he just said that there was something urgent and asked Jiang Bei to go back to the office as soon as possible.

"I have to leave first, Lin An, pay attention to that nurse." Lin An is not a child, Jiang Bei didn't say much, and hurried downstairs after a few simple explanations.

The weather was muggy, and Jiang Bei sweated a lot from the building to the parking lot. He plunged into the car, turned on the air conditioner, and unbuttoned the first and second buttons of his shirt to dissipate heat.From this angle, the interior rearview mirror can just reflect the teeth marks on the side neck.

At the beginning, the wound was not well protected, Jiang Bei couldn't help but want to scratch it, the scab fell and grew, grew and fell again, and finally formed a raised scab, lying on the side of Jiang Bei's neck.

Annoyed, he turned the rearview mirror aside, lit a cigarette, and thoughtfully bit the popping beads on the top.The cool mint flavor swept through the mouth and slid into the throat, but it couldn't calm down the stale air churning in the chest cavity.

Menthol popping pearl cigarettes are so common that a display window can be filled with all kinds of brands, and a pack can be bought for more than ten yuan.Jiang Bei was really not interested in this thing, so he took two puffs and then extinguished it in the ashtray.

He wanted the cream popping cigarettes that were scarce on the market.

he wants……

Jiang Bei felt that he might be crazy, he was infected by Jiang Nan, that lunatic quenched the neuropathy virus into his blood through his lips and teeth, his metabolism couldn't be changed, and finally he went crazy with him.

"...!" Jiang Bei cursed secretly, knocking his head on the steering wheel.It was raining and wet in my mind, so that the messy memories were also covered with a layer of moisture.

After taking a deep breath, Jiang Bei kicked the car door fiercely with the strong man gone forever, and sent a text message to Xu Zhengyuan while running, saying that he would go back later.

He rushed to the consultation desk at a speed of 70 miles, and without waiting for the nurse to respond, he asked directly: "What is the name of the patient in Room 6 on the 05th floor? When did you live in it?"

That patient is obviously the focus of the nursing home, and the nurse didn't even need to look through the files, just said: "Ah, you said that kid, he came in March, and he didn't leave any files. As for the reason, I don't know." Woolen cloth."

Jiang Bei lay on the counter and leaned slightly: "Why do you call him a kid? Isn't he an adult?"

Speaking of this, the nurse smiled idiotically, and silently compared Jiang Bei, feeling that the temperament of the child was completely different from that of the man in front of him.Compared with mature men, she still prefers puppies. "Because he is so sweet, and because he didn't leave any information, we don't know his name, so everyone calls him kid."

Jiang Bei frowned. He was in his early thirties and couldn't understand the words used by the second-year girl, and was upset by the girl's nympho expression.

He said coldly: "Where is that patient now? Which floor is the emergency room on?"

"This..." The nurse seemed a little difficult to handle, "Eh...patients in room 05 are not allowed to visit, please leave your information, I will ask the guardian for you."

Jiang Bei thought about it, and hurriedly said: "No need, don't tell the guardian that I have been here."

After finishing speaking, Jiang Bei rushed up to the sixth floor and broke open the door with a bang.The ward was empty, the air purifier had been removed, and the easel in the corner was gone.

——The patient has been moved.

Without time to think about it, Jiang Bei went to the emergency room. The nurse who was cleaning said that the patient had been sent back to the room. She didn't know which ward it was.Jiang Bei frowned, his lowered brows seemed to be suppressing some deeper emotion.

Everyone kept it from him, and he had already accepted the result in his heart. In other words, he hoped that the matter would end on that rainy night, but thinking about it now, the matter was not over yet.

He searched from ward to ward, and the sound of hurried footsteps echoed in the corridor for a long time. From the first floor to the sixth floor, every corner of the bathroom storage room was spared.When he opened the door, his heart hung high, and when he saw that it wasn't him, it fell down heavily. After repeating this, Jiang Bei became a little numb.

He withdrew from a woman's ward and gently closed the door.He touched the cigarette case in his trouser pocket, saw a smoking area ahead, and walked over with heavy steps.

pat-

The slight sound of the door opening was magnified by the long corridor, and instantly caught Jiang Bei's heartbeat and footsteps.

"A Bei,"

He heard someone behind him say:

"I heard your voice, are you looking for me?"