winter past

He took out a stack of coupons in his pocket, read them over and over several times, fumbled in his pocket for a long time, found two coins, and walked to the bus stop outside the hospital, which happened to be a night bus heading towards Yanzigou. 3 into the station, Xiao Man got on the bus.There was no one in the car, the lights were on brightly, and the car smelled like plastic raincoats.He found a seat in the back row, and just after he sat down, his phone started ringing, and it was Dai Rou who called.Xiaoman didn't answer, turned the phone to silent and turned on airplane mode.After waiting for about ten minutes, he turned off the airplane mode, called Yaochi, and the call was connected quickly. A boy lazily said "Hello", and then said without any ups and downs: "Yaochi Grand Ballroom, all Open all year round, from [-]:[-] a.m. to [-]:[-] p.m., with professional band and live accompaniment.”

The background sound is loud.

Xiaoman asked loudly: "Lu Yang? Why are you still awake? Let Louise answer the phone."

The noise on the other end of the phone became even worse, as if many people were singing different songs together. It had been so noisy for a long time, a woman picked up the phone and asked, "Boss Xiao, are you looking for me for supper?"

"Louis, I didn't come back so early tonight." Xiaoman said, "Please close the shop for me, please."

Louise smiled lightly and asked, "Which little brother asked you to go somewhere chic?"

When the bus arrived at the stop, no one got on the bus, someone got off, and Xiaoman was the only passenger left on the bus.He opened some windows for ventilation, lowered his head, propped his cheeks and said, "Tell Lu Yang to go to bed early."

Louise responded, let out two short breaths, and then said, "I'm going to Beijing next month, haven't you forgotten?"

"I know." Xiaoman propped his forehead, sat on the seat of the bus with his waist bent and his stomach covered, and laughed dryly: "I invite you to dinner some other day, I wish you great success in Beijing."

Louise sighed and hung up the phone.

Xiaoman opened the window a little wider, and the announcement sounded in the car: "Please don't stick your hands out of the window."

The bus is passing through the lush commercial center. The wind outside the window is warm, the neon color is moist, and the air is filled with sweet fragrance. Young people walk in twos and threes, laughing and walking on the road. The world outside the bus is extremely lively, and the air is even more stuffy. , even more breathless.

Xiaoman closed the window, lowered her head again, and swiped her phone.He opened the search engine, his finger rested on the screen without moving, and when the screen gradually dimmed, he tapped the phone a few times and entered keywords tremblingly: Huangguozi Village, murder.

The results that popped up included both news reports and a lot of discussion posts posted on a question-and-answer forum called Must Answer.The earliest report was posted on an online platform around 20:64 this morning. The headline was sensational: [-] years later, a murder case reappeared at No. [-] East Street, Huangguozi Village!Reappear the horror female corpse!Be careful!

The report was accompanied by a photo of the gate of No. 64.

The news wrote: "The deceased, Xiaoqing (pseudonym), was a female worker in a jewelry processing factory in the open area before her death. After she left the factory due to theft, her whereabouts were unknown. Xiaoqing had a son who was still in elementary school. She was a single mother and had a child out of wedlock. It is reported that her life style is extravagant and she likes comparisons. It was Xiaoqing's son who found the body. The most terrifying thing is that Xiaoqing's body was painted blue, and all the internal organs were taken out. The murderer even stitched up her wounds. , the body didn't show any signs of decay in the abnormally hot June, and the forensic doctor couldn't easily draw a conclusion on the time of death..."

Seeing this, Xiaoman went back to the search page, clicked on the must-answer post, and someone posted a question: How do you evaluate the Qingshi Aegean Sea killer who was shot to death ten years ago?

A person whose online name is "Qingshi Storyteller_89" received the highest replies and the most likes.He wrote: "As soon as the Huangguozi Village murder case came out, many people liked it, so let me add some details about the past and present life of the Aegean killer.

The Aegean killer didn't actually kill anyone at the Aegean Hotel. Anyone who lives near the Ping'an Gate should know about that hotel.There used to be a Ping'an Park near Ping'an Gate, but it was demolished during the city renovation in 10, so even the locals in Qingshi, the younger ones probably seldom know about that place. What kind of good things can people who are accepted by society and can't stand loneliness get together?So the law and order there has not been very good. (I don't mean to discriminate against gay friends here, there are black sheep in any group.)

The Aegean Sea Hotel took advantage of its location, and some unscrupulous people often went there to open a room.It’s different now, don’t talk about what happened 20 years ago, let’s say ten years ago, the kind of guest houses and dormitories were very dark, no ID registration was required, and there was no surveillance.In fact, it is still the case in some places now. In order to make money, minors can open a house without registering an ID card. My brother had a case before. Two 14-year-old children had an appointment in a hotel, just in time for the police to crack down on pornography. That boy I was so frightened that I turned over the window and jumped from the third floor, let alone the third floor, what could be a big deal?It was so unfortunate that his head hit the ground and he was gone.

It's a bit far-fetched. In fact, people who have read the resume of the Aegean Sea Killer must find it very strange. He has never killed anyone in the Aegean Sea Hotel. Why is he called the Aegean Sea Killer?Anyone who followed the news back then must have had an impression. At that time, there was no uniform name for him. At the beginning, the morning paper called him "the butcher who destroys flowers". Flowers refer to women, and the evening paper called him "the butcher at midnight". , Said that this person always acts at night, follows the victim, and looks for opportunities to attack in hidden places, but later, everyone finds out that this person not only kills women, but also kills men, teenagers, tens of years old Yes, people of any age are killed. (This aspect will be discussed in the section about criminal profiling below. Criminal profiling, if you say it is science, it has some scientific elements, and if you say it is metaphysics, it also has this meaning, it is a very complicated science.)

There are also eyewitnesses who said that they saw a suspicious person attacking the deceased in the afternoon, so his name was changed again, something like 'bloodthirsty madman', something like 'mummy killer', for a while it was suspected that the murderer was a woman , Said that women are more likely to let people relax their vigilance, and some people call him 'Black Widow'.And because the time span of his crimes is very long, the police usually use the time of the first case to name the series of cases. It turns out that because of the Aegean killer, he did a good job of embalming after killing people. It is the kind of person who lives alone, and no one cares about it for a long time after his death. The person who is found first may not be the one who died first. I remember that the police issued several editions of reward announcements, called For a period of time, he was "the murderer of the [-] major case in Qingshi".

It's getting further away, let's get down to business, later unified called him the Aegean Sea killer because he was shot to death in the Aegean Sea, it feels like the dust has settled..."

Xiaoman's hand trembled, and he pressed back, but the page couldn't be swiped out.He received a text message that he was shutting down due to arrears, and the battery of his mobile phone was only 30.00% left.Xiao Man put away his cell phone, he looked out, the bus was slowly coming into the station, and there was a 24-hour supermarket behind the station, brightly lit.He hurriedly got out of the car and went straight to the supermarket.After entering the supermarket, he asked the cashier inside: "Do you have 502 glue here?"

"All-purpose glue?" The cashier glanced at an aisle, "It seems to be there, you can go to the stationery side to have a look."

There are really several types of glue on the stationery shelf. Xiaoman looked it up and down several times, took a tube of 502 glue, a pair of scissors, and a roll of tape. A flashlight, a pack of candles, and a box of hard candies in a tin box.When checking out, he specifically asked the cashier for a transparent plastic bag.

Carrying these things back to the bus platform, Xiaoman hailed a taxi and said to the driver, "Go to Huangguozi Village in Heishan."

"No. 64 East Street." Xiao Man added.

When the driver was setting up the navigation, he opened the box of fruit candies, poured all the candies out of the window, wiped the inside of the box clean with the hem of his clothes, put it back in the iron box, and stuffed it back into the plastic bag.

The driver glanced at him in the rearview mirror, Xiaoman folded his arms tightly and dozed off by the window.

From time to time, there was a voice of guidance in the navigation. The car left the urban area, entered Yanzigou, passed Heishan Avenue, and arrived at Huangguozi Village.Xiao Man opened his eyes, and when he saw a grocery store by the side of the road, he patted the driver: "Just stop here."

The grocery store was closed, and there was a street lamp at the door. There were street lamps on both sides of this small road, which illuminated a dirt road yellow.

Xiaoman walked eastward along the dirt road for a while, and turned into a small street. There were no lights on this street, and it was very dark all at once.He looked left and right, and the earthen walls on both sides were built very high, both of which looked like farm houses.The iron gate was closed.

Only the soil wall of No. 64 is very low, and old wooden doors are still used. There is a seal on the door of number 64.The two faded door gods looked listlessly at Xiao Man.

Xiaoman went around the side, climbed over the wall and entered No. 64. Behind the wall was a small sandy courtyard, and some messy footprints could be seen on the ground. He turned on the flashlight, walked to the edge of those footprints, and used his own feet as the The reference object is compared.It seems to be the same person who left the footprints, and the texture of the soles is the same.The man's feet were half a size bigger than his.

These footprints all spread from the same position at the base of the wall, and the earthen wall obviously showed signs of being trampled on.The footprints gathered at the door of the room.The yard was empty.

The door was closed and unsealed, and a bouquet of wild flowers stood in front of it.

Xiaoman put on his gloves, pushed open the door and entered the room, closed the door behind his back, and took a flashlight to see that the room was empty, with only a wooden table and a bench in front of him, and there seemed to be a room used as a kitchen beside it. , Looking at the past, I can't see any decorations and furnishings, it can be described as a barren house.A roll of cloth curtain could be seen behind the wooden table, Xiao Man lifted the cloth curtain and looked inside.Behind the curtain is a bedroom-like room with a wooden bed frame and a simple cloth wardrobe.There is a window next to the bed.The windows are closed.

The room smelled faintly of sour lemons.

At this time, there was a "click" sound from the yard, and Xiao Man immediately turned off the flashlight, walked to the window, and looked out.He saw a dark shadow slinking into the courtyard.

Xiao Man cat groped out of the bedroom, leaned against the wall and walked behind the closed door.Someone stretched out his hand and pushed the door open, Xiaoman grabbed the wrist of the hand that came in, clasped it hard, twisted behind the person, kicked him again, and pressed the person to the ground three times and five times. .

"Who? Why the hell are you arresting me!!" A male voice yelled angrily.

The moonlight came in, and it was a man with disheveled hair who was pinned to the ground by Xiao Man. He twisted his neck and tried to look behind him, his face turned liver-colored, his neck was also red, and he kicked his feet on the ground.A bouquet of wild flowers fell beside him.

Xiaoman knelt down on the man's back. The man's feet didn't move, but his neck was still twisted back hard, cursing: "You fucking let me go! What's wrong with me?? It's against the law to send flowers ??! Who the hell are you!"

Xiao Man asked, "Why did you come to the murder scene in the middle of the night?"

"I just want to ask you?! Where the hell did you come from? Are you a policeman? What is the police number? You, you are attacking innocent citizens! You fucking let me go!" the man roared: "This is not a murder scene! This is Xiaoqin's home!"

"You knew the dead man?"

"Her name is Xiaoqin!"

Xiaoman loosened the strength on his hands and legs a little, the man took the opportunity to break free, rolled over with a grunt, and was about to kick Xiaoman.Xiao Man stepped aside quickly, and wanted to catch the man again. The man blinked, and suddenly shouted: "Officer Xiao? You don't know me? It's me, fifth child!"

Xiaoman's hands froze in the air, and he blinked at the man, took the flashlight, turned it on, and took a picture of the man: "Five?"

The man wiped his face, combed his hair, and nodded repeatedly.Xiaoman waved his hand, turned off the flashlight, and laughed: "Stop calling the police officer, I've quit."

The fifth child sat on the ground and rubbed his left hand, complaining, "You're not a policeman anymore, isn't your skill in vain?"

Xiao Man made a gesture to show off his muscles: "I exercise every day."

The fifth child laughed, Xiaoman got up from the ground, pulled the fifth child up too, grabbed his feet and looked at the soles of his shoes, pointed to the many footprints outside the door and said, "Is it all you?"

The fifth child asked again: "Isn't it illegal to send flowers? Besides, haven't you all obtained your certificates?"

"You have a heart." Xiao Man said, he and Lao Wu sat on the same bench, he lit a cigarette, and emphasized again: "I really don't want to be a policeman anymore."

He handed the cigarette to the fifth child and asked, "Are you good?"

The fifth child picked up the flowers on the ground, patted them, put them on the table, lowered his head to smoke, and said in a low voice, "Let me take a look."

He glanced at Xiaoman and said, "You are no longer a policeman, so what are you doing now?" He pointed to the room, puzzled and said, "Then why are you here?"

Xiaoman said: "When I saw the news, I wanted to see it."

The fifth child rubbed his knees: "This No. 64 is a bit evil." He said, "It's nothing to look at. It is said that everything was packed and taken away by the note."

"Where are you from?"

"Don't mention it, I found a place to live well, but something happened to Xiaoqin..." Lao Wu choked up for a while, rubbed the sand marks on his knees, and said after a long time: "When the note comes, grab it and run away." Let’s run, Xue Zuoshou is still in the police station, and there are several others who can’t give an alibi are also locked up.”

"Xue left hand?"

"One of our workers who used to work on the construction site and built a derrick had an accident with his right hand and lost it, leaving only his left hand."

"Why arrest him? Do you suspect that he killed Xiaoqin?"

"No, it doesn't seem to have anything to do with Xiaoqin's matter. I don't know if he is suspected of stealing things. How dare I ask Tiaozi carefully."

Xiaoman asked: "Does she have many people here usually?"

"She seldom comes back here to live here. She actually rented this place for her son. The old Wang at the grocery store rented it to her cheaply. You know this place. It's vacant. It's taboo in the village, and his wife is even more taboo." Let alone living here, I don’t even want to pick up wheat here during the busy farming season. Xiaoqin’s child usually lives in a boarding school. She and her son live here for a while when there is a big holiday. She lives in the open area. A room where I usually do..."

"Doing business?"

The fifth child smiled: "Didn't their factory open her up recently? The houses in the open area couldn't afford to rent, so she came back."

Xiaoman asked: "Is there any new face in this area recently?"

"Fuck, you are asking exactly the same questions as those notes." Lao Wu smiled and spewed out a cloud of blue smoke.Xiaoman also smiled, and asked, "Xiaoqin used to work in a jewelry processing factory?"

"That's right, Jenny in the open area," the fifth child sighed, looking at Xiaoman, with the corners of his mouth hanging upside down, and shaking his legs: "You say it's not easy for a woman with a child, right? ?”

Xiaoman nodded, and also looked at the fifth child.The fifth child continued with a bitter face: "She was deceived when she was young, and she came to Qingshi with a man, who turned around and ran away. As for her, her stomach was enlarged, and her family also cut off contact with her." , she seems to have some kind of illness, she can't have an abortion, well, you said that it's not easy for this woman to meet a good man, don't you think so?"

Xiaoman nodded again, still looking at Lao Wu.The fifth child trembled, turned his head, waved the cigarette in his hand, and said softly, "I have explained everything to the police... I have explained everything to the police. It's a face. I met one this morning. Listen to me. The accent is not local, it seems to have been going around in the mountains."

"Meet in the mountains?"

"Didn't I go for a walk under the Hongqi Bridge in the morning? I bumped into him there. At first I thought he was following me and trying to trick me, so I went to Montenegro. I wanted to enter the mountain. Give him some color, that kid." Sure enough, he followed up the mountain, but..." Old Wu paused, shook his head and said, "I was wrong, that kid is a bit stupid, I think he just ran away from home."

Lao Wu said with emotion: "Yanzigou, Heishan, it's really not peaceful recently. A few days ago, there was a little hooligan who was caught stealing a car from the Prince's place. He was arrested and sent directly to the city bureau. It is estimated that the higher-ups are going to be ruthless, otherwise you said that usually, in Yanzigou, they rob people when they see them, steal cars when they see them, and they are very arrogant. Is anyone in charge? Let it go, this time I heard that the kid seemed to be caught by some car owner. When he was found, his hand was broken. It must have been a hard turn. Some people said that the people from Li's side were involved. Hey, Police Officer Xiao, have you heard about this thing? You don’t work as a policeman anymore, do you still have contacts? "

Xiaoman smiled and smoked a cigarette, and asked the fifth child, "Which way is Jenny on?"

The fifth child said: "Hailan Avenue, I went there to pick up the qin a few times." He sucked on a cigarette and closed his eyes, "I met Officer Dai today, if she comes to me to ask, you two are still on good terms Bar?"

Xiaoman lowered his head and shook the cigarette ash, and asked, "Isn't it your part to sell the stolen goods?"

The fifth child suddenly choked up again, rubbed his knees a few times, stood up with difficulty, turned around and picked up the bunch of wild flowers, walked slowly outside the house, and said: "Xiaoqin is miserable, it is really miserable, and her son , think about it, what does my son feel when he sees his mother lying there like that? How old is he, does he understand what 'death' means? Oh, you said, it can't really be the pervert from before Have you come out of the rivers and lakes again?"

Xiaoman didn't say a word, Lao Wu went outside the house, bent down and put down the bouquet of wild flowers in front of the door, looked up at Xiaoman, and said, "Then I won't disturb your nostalgia, I'll go first."

He turned around, walked away quickly, and climbed over the wall out of the yard.

Xiaoman sat silently, finished smoking the cigarette in his hand silently, picked up the flashlight again, and checked the earthen house.

There is an earthen stove in the room, and there is a cupboard behind the earthen stove, and the blue paint has faded a lot.There are only some chopsticks and spoons on the stove and in the cabinet.

He went back to the bedroom and opened the simple closet to look. There were only a few revealing dresses in it.A bathroom was set up in the bedroom. There was no door, and the floor was tiled. In a square inch, a flush toilet was installed, and a sink was placed, so there was not much space left.There is a hook for hanging the shower on the wall near the toilet, and there is a faucet more than half a meter below the hook.There is a fist-sized drainage hole in the ground under the faucet.

There was nothing on the countertop of the sink except a circle of water stains.

Xiao Man touched the wall of the bathroom, taking care of every inch. After walking around the bathroom like this, he knelt down on the ground, taking pictures of every inch of the floor.

In the bathroom, there was only an obvious blood stain on the wall facing the toilet, two palms away from the ground.

Xiaoman thought for a while, sat on the ground, and lay back against the blood-stained wall. He looked behind him from time to time, trying to keep the back of his head facing the blood-stained.When the back of his head was completely covered by the blood, he found himself lying on the ground with his head tilted against the wall.

His right hand touched the toilet seat, and the drain hole in the floor was not far from his right side.A foul smell permeated the air.

Xiaoman muttered, "How tall is Xiaoqin?"

He retracted his neck and hands and feet, and now, his neck was just next to the drain hole.He just lay there, looking at the ceiling, and then at the direction of the door.He could see the plank bed in the bedroom, and he could see the little window.

Huangguozi Village was unusually quiet.The smell in the drain hole was so bad that Xiaoman felt sore in his stomach, got up and hugged the toilet and vomited.All he spit out was yellow bile, and after he vomited, it was just retching. Xiaoman lit a cigarette, and the cigarette burned, and the smell of the smoke barely covered the peculiar smell in the drain hole. After a while, he rubbed his stomach and stood up. , walked out of the dirt house, closed the door, and dug out No. 64.

His mobile phone was out of battery, and there was no one in Huangguozi Village, so he walked along the village road onto the Panshan Highway, tried to stop the car several times but failed, so he had to continue walking towards Qingshi. When I was tired, I sat on the guardrail to rest for a while. I didn’t know how long I walked and how far I walked. A car honked its horn and pulled up beside him.

The driver put down the window and said, "Where are you going? One hundred and twenty in the urban area, one price."

"Jenny's jewelry processing factory on Hailan Avenue in the open area," Xiaoman looked at a mobile phone charging cable on the car, and asked, "Can I borrow and charge my mobile phone? The money is in the mobile phone."