winter past

Xiaoman got out of the car, walked to the gate of the women's prison, looked up, raised her hand, smiled, waved her wrist lightly, and said hello to Zhang Huifen who came out of a small door next to the gate of the prison with a file folder.

"Miss Hui Fen." He shouted warmly, still with a nasal voice.

Zhang Huifen nodded to him, with a slightly embarrassed smile on his face.She straightened her gray hair and glanced sideways.Lu Yang who was standing by the small door bowed his head and walked away.The listless big boy walked to a white Toyota sedan.

Zhang Qiao leaned out of the car, knocked on the door, and called out, "Sister Huifen, here."

Lu Yang got into Zhang Qiao's car.

Xiaoman stepped forward and asked Zhang Huifen, "Can I have a few words with Lu Yang?"

The two also walked to the place where the white Toyota was parked.Xiao Man showed a flattering smile: "Otherwise, let's finish this semester, and the summer vacation will be soon, and it will be only a few days away. You also happen to deal with the transfer procedures of the dance hall."

Zhang Huifen said: "I plan to leave the day after tomorrow, and I asked lawyer Zhang to help me buy a train ticket, and I will go through the formalities with sister Xu after a while."

Xiao Man smiled and agreed: "It's all arranged, that's good, that's good." He put his hands in his pockets, stayed silent for a while, and asked again: "Really don't think about it anymore?"

Zhang Huifen stopped, they had already walked in front of the Toyota car, she opened the car door, stretched out her hands to hold Xiaoman's hand, with tears in her eyes, she shook his hand affectionately: "Thank you very much Officer Xiao, I know you are doing it for the good of Yang Yang, but... the college entrance examination may not be the only way out, right? I will definitely take good care of the child, and when we settle down in our hometown, you are welcome to come and play anytime."

In the middle of saying this, Zhang Huifen had already started to cry, and Xiaoman's heart was weakened by her crying, his throat became tighter and tighter, and he couldn't say anything, so he could only pat the back of her hand to comfort her.

Lu Yang sat near the door on the other side.Turn your face away and look out the window.

Zhang Huifen got into the car weeping, closed the door, Xiaoman bent down and knocked on the window, calling out to Lu Yang.The car window was lowered, Xiao Man and Lu Yang waved their hands, full of smiles: "I have saved your number, if I drink too much one day, I will call you, don't refuse to answer."

Zhang Huifen slowed down a bit, and patted Lu Yang's hand on his lap: "Yangyang, say goodbye to Uncle Xiaoman."

Lu Yang still didn't look at Xiaoman, nor anyone else.Zhang Qiao looked back from the front and asked Xiaoman, "Are you here by bus again? Let's take you back to the city."

Xiaoman said: "A friend of mine sent me here." He pointed behind him.

"Oh, oh, that girlfriend."

"No..." Xiaoman scratched her hair, "By the way, Sister Huifen, if you go to the ballroom to pack your things later and see something unfamiliar in the upstairs room, you can just throw it away, I Everything that should be taken away has been taken away." He smiled and patted his chest twice, and said loudly: "Don't worry, everyone, I have a place to live."

Lu Yang shrank his palms sharply, clenched his pants tightly, turned his head and stared at Xiaoman resentfully, and said in a vicious voice: "Don't call me, I am you, I am just for you to adjust your mood. Pet, I don't know anything about you, you just let me have unrealistic fantasies, you just want to see me being laughed at, so no one will laugh at me when I go to the countryside to repair the car!"

He crossed his arms and turned sideways, completely turning his back to Xiaoman.

Zhang Huifen gestured to Xiaoman apologetically, Zhang Qiao cleared her throat, and adjusted the wind power of the air conditioner.Xiao Man still smiled, bit her lower lip, and said, "Then I'll go first."

Zhang Qiao said goodbye to him, Zhang Huifen shook his hand again, Xiaoman watched them leave, turned around and returned to Zhao You's car, and got in the car.

Zhao You was using a yellowed takeaway menu to make a paper plane, when Xiao Man came up, put the folded plane behind the steering wheel, and released the handbrake.

Xiaoman took out his mobile phone to look at it, and sighed: "Mr. Yin said that the storyteller still didn't reply, and he ignored her level 20 account. If there were any revelations, wouldn't he have missed it..." He tapped on his mobile phone With his chin rubbed, he speculated: "Or does he believe that other people's information must not be fully grasped by him?"

Zhao You shrugged and drove without answering the question.Xiaoman asked him: "Xiao Zhao, how do you think this storyteller knows so much about the details of those cases back then?"

Zhao You said: "Which reporter's account is it? I collected a lot of information and wrote a press release, but failed to issue it. Ten years have passed. It is estimated that he will stop working as a reporter and have no restrictions. Taking advantage of this case It’s posted online, maybe we’ll see him publish a book after a while.”

"Xiao Hui showed you the draft?"

Zhao You said, "Do you suspect that the storyteller is Xing Tianxiang from Evening News?"

Xiaoman shook his head, not sure: "I doubted him, but based on what I know about him, he doesn't seem like someone who would put this information on the Internet to gain attention and popularity, and if this storyteller is really It's for the sake of popularity, so why doesn't he analyze recent cases?"

Zhao You glanced at Xiaoman, and said with a smile: "Ten years ago, Xing Tianxiang was pestering you and Dai Rou, as well as those colleagues from the task force at that time, right?"

Xiao Man also smiled slightly, and changed the topic: "You just finished the night shift, you really don't need to sleep for a while?"

"Just squinted for a while."

"Just now? When I got off the car?" Xiaoman smiled happily: "Which god are you? You don't even need to sleep?"

Zhao You scratched his cheek, hesitating: "I slept for a while during the meeting..." He said softly, "Then you are also a god, you don't even need to eat."

Xiaoman nodded: "That's right, we are two gods investigating the case. If we don't solve the case within a week, we will be laughed out of our teeth when we go back to Heaven."

Zhao You said with a bitter face: "Bao Gong is the king of Hades in the underworld."

Xiaoman laughed and shook his head again and again. He looked out the window, raised his arms, propped his cheek with one hand, and yawned.Zhao You said: "If you are sleepy, go to sleep for a while, and I will call you when you arrive."

Xiao Man hurriedly widened his eyes: "No, I have to watch you drive. If something goes wrong with your tired driving, and we both explain it on the road, then I will die unjustly. Then I really want to go to hell to see you. Master Bao, I don't want to die now."

Hearing this, Zhao You seemed relieved.Xiaoman stretched out his arms, grabbed the paper airplane he had placed behind the steering wheel, opened the window, breathed twice on the pointed head of the paper airplane, and threw it, and the paper airplane flew out of the window.His eyes followed the arc of the plane's flight, and the daylight was blinding, and he soon lost sight of the yellowish plane.

Zhao You said: "Go to heaven to report."

Xiaoman made a gesture of beating gongs and drums: "Dangdangdang, the case will be solved soon!"

He smiled and stretched his hand out the window to catch the wind.Zhao You said again: "Actually, running away from the past is not a bad thing."

Xiaoman lay down by the window.They were driving past a row of shops selling Guiyang beef noodles, each with "authentic" and "authentic" signs, Xiao Man slammed the car door and said, "Doctor Zhao, I'm starving to death, let's eat something."

The two picked a small shop with a red lantern hanging at the door that also sold potato patties. One of them ordered a bowl of beef noodles, and Zhao You also ordered a potato patty.Xiao Man drank iced Coke.He ate half a bowl and drank half a bottle of Coke before he started smoking.Zhao You looked at him, and Xiao Man picked out the beef in the bowl and gave it to him.Zhao You finished the noodle soup in his own bowl, and ate the remaining half of Xiaoman's bowl.He drank his unfinished Coke.

After eating and drinking, Zhao You took out a handkerchief and wiped his mouth.Xiao Man handed him the cigarette, Zhao You took it, took two puffs, and handed him the handkerchief.Xiaoman also wiped his hands and mouth, and the two got up and left.

When they arrived at Redwood Street, it was the morning rush hour. People going to school, going to work, riding bicycles, battery cars, and driving were crowded on the narrow Redwood Street.There was no way to park on the side of the road, so Zhao You had to park his car in the underground parking lot of Wanda Plaza two streets away.He and Xiaoman walked back and reached the intersection of Hongmu Street and Wenming Road. Xiaoman pointed to the house number of No. 1 Hongmu Street hanging under the eaves of a dried fruit shop, and introduced: "Both sides of Hongmu Street are buildings from the Republic of China. , single line, No. 1 is the newspaper office, No. 12 opposite is Wannianhao Silk Village, and No. 30 is Hongmu Primary School, which moved last year.

"The street is not long, and it takes half an hour to walk. The Wanguo Road is next to it. The unified building is five floors high, with shops on the first floor, and residential buildings on the top floor. In 06, an illegal building on the top floor was demolished. In 07, the exterior walls of the entire street were maintained, and several old houses were listed as historical and cultural buildings.”

Zhao Youbi gave way to a battery car that was driving on the sidewalk and was driving in the opposite direction, and said, "Half an hour's drive to the east is the financial business district, and two stops to the west is the old city. There are cinemas, art galleries, and cafes nearby. , It’s very clean, most of the old houses have been refurbished inside, white-collar workers working in the business district, foreigners like to rent here.”

Xiaoman pointed around and said, "That's now. In 08, the hand-made coffee, milk tea shop, and light food shop downstairs hadn't opened yet, and the two buildings in the financial district hadn't been built yet. Downstairs are still selling ten yuan a pair of cloth shoes, there are roasted goods shops, woolen shops, grocery stores, old houses, no independent bathrooms inside, the residents are either old Qingshi people or some in the old city pedestrian street Young men who work in shops cook vegetables on the corridors, hang clothes on the roof, and grow vegetables next to pigeon cages. When we visited the residents, we found that it is very common to have five rooms separated by one house. There are many people and miscellaneous. Female residents The proportion is only 5.00%."

Zhao You looked up, and Xiaoman pointed to the direction he was looking at. It was an independent bookstore, and two surveillance cameras could be seen at the door, one facing the street and the other facing the store.Xiao Man said: "There were not so many probes before. There were only probes under the traffic lights at the intersections."

He went on to say: "No. 25, 304 is an old couple. The old man is this autumn, his wife Zhang Guifang, both of them are high school teachers. When they were killed, one was 66 and the other was 65. They had a son who worked in marketing for a technology company in Shanghai. Yes, the bodies of the two were found on June 08, 6, but the death time should be much earlier than the 17th.

"On June 6, the old couple was going to attend their niece's wedding. The dinner started at 8:06, but the two didn't show up. However, because of the financial disputes between the old couple and the niece It's a bit contradictory. I haven't seen each other for about two years. That time my niece sent them an invitation card, which was kind of a sign of goodwill. The old couple didn't go, so she didn't think much about it, thinking that the old man was still angry that she borrowed money and didn't pay back.

"As for their son, the relationship with this niece was very tense because of the non-repayment of the borrowed money. He also received an invitation to the wedding banquet. At that time, he told other relatives that it would be fine if he didn't repay the money. He doesn’t go. Moreover, he has been working in Shanghai, only returns home once a month, and talks with his parents on the phone once a week. According to him, after his parents retired, he often went out to visit mountains and rivers. He is a relatively carefree person. They went out to climb the mountain a few times without telling him in advance that there was no signal in the mountain, and he could not contact anyone. They even reported to the police once. We checked and found that there was indeed such a report. So he called home on the weekend, and his parents He didn’t answer, he called their mobile phone, but he couldn’t contact anyone, thinking they were out to play again, he didn’t take it seriously.”

Zhao You listened without saying a word, looked at the no-parking sign on the roadside, and Xiaoman said: "Now the roadside can only park from ten o'clock in the evening to five o'clock in the morning of the next day. There were not so many residents here before. Cars are not so lively. You can park anywhere on the side of the road. There is no designated parking space. No one collects money. First come, first served. Many people who go shopping in the old city also like to park their cars here for a whole day. There are a lot of cases.”

Zhao You nodded, and Xiaoman continued: "We infer that Mr. and Mrs. Shijin and his wife were killed on the 8th. Since the owner of the fruit shop downstairs on the 8th met Aunt Zhang at 10 am on the 28th, we infer that the murderer committed the crime at noon. After 11 o'clock, June 08, 6 happened to be Sunday, we visited the neighbors, the sports station replayed the European Cup group match in the morning, and then almost the whole day replayed the World Cup, the wonderful events of the European Cup, and the weather was hot. Many people stayed at home, closed doors, those who knew each other, those who didn’t know each other, and those who rented together all watched the game together, and no one noticed any movement upstairs or downstairs.”

Xiaoman added: "On the 10th, some neighbors reported that there was a strange smell in the building, but because it is an old house, the water pipes often have a strange smell in summer, and no one cares about it. On the 17th, Mr. Jin's son came from When Shanghai returned home and found the corpse, he also smelled a strange smell, but it didn't come from the corpse, but from the rotted internal organs piled up in the toilet. The murderer closed the toilet lid before leaving. "

Zhao Youdao: "This time, the method used by the murderer to embalm the corpse will make the corpse have a special smell, which is very sour."

Xiao Man said, "Maybe there is too much vinegar."

The two of them walked to No. 25, facing a dark corridor.Xiaoman pointed to the concrete frame in front of him and said: "There is only this entrance and exit, there is no back door. After the accident in 08, the neighborhood committee came to install a security door. Later, a resident felt that it was inconvenient to park the battery car, so he took it down on his own initiative."

Zhao You touched the rust marks on the concrete wall, walked to the street, looked up, and wiped his face suddenly.Xiaoman said: "Every household has an air conditioner, and the frequency of maintenance of electrical appliances in the summer is very high. Pretending to be repairing the air conditioner, refrigerator, or repairing the circuit, you can go in and out casually without attracting others' attention."

Zhao You went back in, entered the aisle, found the stairs, and walked up one floor.Xiao Man followed him, and from time to time someone hurried past them, and no one took a second look at them.Xiaoman called Zhao You: "I love my little Zhao, where are you going? Are you looking at the house on the third floor?"

He pointed downstairs and said, "The storytellers in Qingshi like to take pictures of the exterior of buildings."

Zhao You turned around and said, "Xiao Zhang from Aiwu, let's go down first."

The two went to a coffee shop across the road, found a seat by the window and sat down.Xiao Man ordered a cup of iced coffee, Zhao You carefully studied the menu, and asked the waiter to come back later.

Xiaoman said: "The house has been sold, and my son has now settled down in Shanghai." He pointed outside, looked up, and counted: "There, behind the anti-theft window, the one with the purple window cellophane."

Zhao You glanced at it, called the waiter, and asked suspiciously: "What's the difference between blueberry cheesecake and blueberry cheesecake? The pictures look the same, and the English writing is also the same."

"Oh, that's right, the cheesecake. It's more Japanese-style cheesecake, with a softer texture."

"Oh, then..." Zhao You thought for a while, "I want both, and add a glass of Darjeeling."

Xiao Man looked at Zhao You, and Zhao You raised his head and looked at him too.He smiled, and Xiaoman wanted to laugh for no reason. The drinks and cakes were on the table, and Zhao You ate the cakes and drank tea slowly, looking out from time to time.Xiao Man sat sideways, staring at No. 25.

As the morning peak passed, many couriers frequently entered and exited the 25th.

Zhao You suddenly asked: "Is there no trace of fighting in the room?"

Xiaoman continued to talk about the case: "The murderer completely suppressed the old couple in terms of physique. At that time, he judged that he must be an adult male, and the possibility of committing the crime in a group was not ruled out. In the Fuxing Academy case in 01, when the file was established, it was even suspected that it was a human organ. The possibility of smuggling was ruled out only after a forensic comparison and the organs found at the scene were determined to belong to the deceased.

"We found splattered blood on a wall near the refrigerator in the kitchen of 304. We also detected Mr. Jin's blood sample on a fruit knife in the kitchen. There were no fingerprints on the knife. The corpses of Mr. and Mrs. Lying on the bed with no clothes on, Aunt Zhang’s body was dissected, and the forensic doctor judged that she had drowned and suffocated.”

Zhao You ate the cake and asked, "Does the deceased woman show signs of struggling? Do you remember?"

Xiao Man said: "The nails seem to be newly trimmed."

He glanced at the no-smoking sign on the wall, took a big sip of iced coffee, and Zhao You said, "Go and sit outside."

The two sat on the wooden bench outside with food and drinks, a huge red umbrella was propped beside the chair, Xiaoman lit a cigarette, and said: "Lin Midong's characteristic of killing people, one, The body is embalmed, the internal organs are exhumed and the organs are left on site."

"In order to mislead the forensic doctor, by covering up the time of death of the corpse to achieve the purpose of hiding his whereabouts or is he mentally ill?"

Xiao Man looked at Zhao You: "Second, the scene where the body was found was either the victim's home or a place they rented. The victim had no co-tenant, and the scene where the body was found was usually the first scene."

"Except for the murder of Kong Ting."

"Third, except for the Kong Ting case, the murder weapons were all items in the victim's home. The fruit knife at No. 25 and 304 was confirmed by Mr. Jin's son to be an item in the home, and he would not deliberately clean these murder weapons."

"Four..." Xiaoman's throat was so dry, he drank the coffee in the cup, drank half a glass of water, took a puff of cigarette, bit his nails, looked around, and said: "He can repair... ..."

Zhao You said, "You mean..."

Xiaoman suddenly caught a glimpse of a familiar figure appearing in front of No. 25. It was a young man wearing a long-sleeved sweater and knee-length pants. He was holding up his mobile phone to take pictures of the upstairs of No. 25. Xiaoman took a picture of the table :"it's him!"

Zhao You turned his head and looked, Xiao Man had already jumped up from his seat: "I saw him in Yaoting on the 11th! He was taking pictures of 604 under the flower stand!"

Zhao You hurriedly called the waiter to pay the bill, and walked down the street with the unfinished piece of blueberry cheesecake.Xiaoman glanced at him, Zhao You blinked and bit the cake: "Don't waste it."

The cheesecake was too soft, and a piece fell off when he was talking. Xiaoman caught it, stuffed it into his mouth, wiped his mouth, and said with a tight voice, "Follow."

The young man had already put away his cell phone at this moment, and walked eastward with his hands in his sweater pockets.

Xiao Man and Zhao You followed him across the road.

Xiao Man was puzzled: "Looking at him, he is only in his twenties. Ten years ago, he should have been very young. If he was a storyteller in Qingshi, he should not be an accomplice, and he has no relatives. It is impossible. It's a relative's child, so where does this person know so much..."

"Maybe he's running errands."

"It's possible that the Qingshi storyteller was born in 89."

Zhao You pushed his chin forward, Xiaoman followed his gaze and looked around, the young man entered a dessert shop.Xiaoman was about to cross the road, but Zhao You grabbed him, turned around and stood against a tree, and whispered, "Xing Tianxiang."

Xiao Man immediately hid behind the tree, leaned out half of his body carefully, and really saw Xing Tianxiang coming from the other side of the street, crossing the road, and entering the dessert shop.

Xiaoman said: "Could it be that Xing Tianxiang really gave him the news? They know each other? Then what is Xing Tianxiang's purpose..."

Xing Tianxiang came out of the dessert shop soon, Xiaoman's eyes followed him all the time, Xing Tianxiang was in a hurry, and he didn't seem to notice him and Zhao You.He didn't go far, crossed the road, and got into a convenience store.Xiaoman took Zhao You and hid in a flower shop behind him.He paid close attention to the movement in the dessert shop opposite, and looked in the direction of the convenience store that Xing Tianxiang entered from time to time.Through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows of the dessert shop, one can see that the young man is still in the shop, and seems to be negotiating with the waiter at the counter.Xing Tianxiang no longer appeared on the street.

"You two... do you want to buy flowers?" A female voice asked timidly.

Xiaoman was still staring outside, and said perfunctorily: "Ah, um, let's take a look."

Zhao You asked him, "What kind of flowers do you like?"

Xiao Man said: "He came out."

The young man came out of the dessert shop with a big envelope in his hand. He stood by the side of the road looking at the contents of the envelope and took out his mobile phone to type.Zhao You said, "It's a rose."

"Is it a rose? This is our new musk rose. It smells very good. Do you smell it for your girlfriend? Do you need a blessing card? What style do you like? This pink and the color of this rose Very good."

The young man seemed satisfied with the contents of the envelope, smiled, hailed a taxi, got in, and the taxi drove west.Xiaoman looked towards the convenience store, and saw that Xing Tianxiang ran out of the convenience store in a hurry and ran eastward.

After a while, Xing Tianxiang's car drove past the entrance of the flower shop from east to west.

Xiao Man said: "Let's go." Turning around, Zhao You was paying at the counter of the flower shop.Xiaoman laughed angrily, so she ran out by herself and stopped the car.He got into the car, and Zhao You squeezed up holding a large bouquet of pink and white roses.

The driver asked them, "Where are you going?"

Zhao You stuffed the flower to Xiaoman, the fragrance of the flower was overwhelming, Xiaoman sneezed, stretched out his hand from the rose with difficulty, pointed to the front, and was about to speak, and sneezed again.

Zhao You and the driver showed their police IDs and said, "The police are handling the case. Please follow the Santana taxi with the suffix number 789 in front."