Chapter 159: Dongji Past

The rattan chair under Li Jianjun made a "creaking" sound. He turned his body, looking at Ye Ming in the photo on the wall, staring blankly. Unknowingly, the cigarette in his hand burned out, and the falling ash fell on his trouser leg, pulling him back to reality. He stubbed out the cigarette butt in an empty beer can on the coffee table.

"Time passes so fast, forty-two years have passed." He suddenly sighed, and the last wisp of smoke dissipated in front of him, as if crossing time and space, returning to the 1980s when he was still in his prime. "Lao Ye, this person, is famous in the bureau for being easy to get carried away. I mean, in the matter of handling cases.

According to our leaders, he is 'charge, charge, charge' when encountering things, and can't be pulled back.

In the past, when it came to the case analysis meeting, it was basically him talking alone, and sometimes even the leaders couldn't get a word in.

On July 19, 1983, we received a report that a female corpse was found in the reef area of Dongji Town. To be honest, my initial expectation was that the possibility of suicide or accidental drowning was relatively high.

Because the folk customs of Dongji Town are simple, it has always been a place with relatively good public security in Nancheng, and there has almost never been a homicide.

However, the situation at the scene greatly exceeded our expectations.

That summer was exceptionally hot. We received the report in the morning and arrived at the seaside near noon. The sun scorched the reefs so that the seaweed on them curled and became brittle like wood chips.

In the salty fishy sea breeze, you could smell the stench of meat deterioration.

Because of the scouring of the tide, the deceased was stuck between two reefs, the whole person was tied in a kneeling posture, her eyes were dug out, and the humid and high-temperature weather accelerated the decay of the corpse.

The mirror on her neck reflected the dazzling sunlight, which attracted the attention of nearby fishermen. They thought it was something valuable, but only after arriving here did they find it was a female corpse, and reported it quickly.

The deceased was wearing the uniform of the aquatic products company, and her identity was quickly determined, Chen Afeng, a 38-year-old accountant of the aquatic products company. Two days ago, Chen Afeng went missing on the way home after participating in the company's collective night school.

Chen Afeng had worked in the aquatic products company for twenty years, always diligent and uncompetitive. From company leaders to colleagues, everyone praised her, saying that she had worked for so many years and the accounts had never been wrong. The only regret was that she had been single and unmarried, living with her parents.

In 1982, Chen Afeng's parents passed away one after another. Her parents were employees who went south, and there were no relatives in the local area, which meant that only she was left in Dongji Town since then."

"Hmph, a perfect victim." Zhong Kui's voice suddenly came, "First, social relations are as simple as a straight line; second, the cumbersome financial work has been done without errors for many years. This sense of responsibility and decency perfectly covered up her moral flaws, and no motive for the killer could be found. The opening is hell difficulty."

Li Jianjun was surprised by Zhong Kui's statement again, and suddenly felt dejected: "At that time, we didn't realize these so quickly, and we wouldn't know that Chen Afeng was just the beginning. Indeed, although Chen Afeng was already 38 years old, we investigated her social relations, family background, etc., in every aspect. Chen Afeng was as simple as a blank sheet of paper. Because she was introverted, she didn't communicate with neighbors or colleagues on weekdays, and we couldn't find any suspicious people at all."

"No matter who it is, 38 years of life cannot be a blank sheet of paper." Zhong Kui said leisurely.

"From the day Chen Afeng's corpse was found on July 17, old Ye and I almost ate and lived in Dongji Town, chasing possible clues, but after a month, there was no substantial breakthrough. The only clue was the mirror hanging on Chen Afeng's chest. We found that its back coating was mercury. After liberation, most of the mirrors produced by factories used silver plating technology. The mercury coating process was at least from the Republic of China period, or even the end of the Qing Dynasty. Although this situation was relatively special, it also cut off our path to track the killer by investigating the sales channels of mirrors."

"Hmm? Old objects are easier to track?" Zhong Kui suddenly asked.

Li Jianjun was not surprised by this question: "You are right, but you have to know the history of Dongji Town. It was built by reclaiming land from the sea after liberation. Within the scope of Dongji Town, you can't find this kind of old thing. This mirror made us suspect that the killer came from outside Dongji Town.

But the situation and technical means at that time made the investigation of this group very difficult. Dongji Town only had one guesthouse at that time. We repeatedly investigated all the people who stayed in the guesthouse and found no one related to Chen Afeng's death. As for the bus, tickets didn't need real-name registration at that time, which was looking for a needle in a haystack.

Just when Chen Afeng's case had no breakthrough, the second deceased appeared, Wang Lijuan." Li Jianjun said this name word by word, "Dongji Town pier, August 25, until her corpse was found, the family didn't know she had an accident."

"I have read the file, saying that Wang Lijuan went out on August 15 and told her family that she had an appointment with her aunt Lin Suzhen, who was also from Dongji Town, to go to Nancheng to play. Because Lin Suzhen was a primary school teacher, the two planned to return before the start of school, so the family didn't find her missing." Qi Fei said.

"Yes, this is a very big doubt. According to the testimony of Wang Lijuan's parents, we asked the station staff in Dongji Town and confirmed that Wang Lijuan and Lin Suzhen didn't take the bus to Nancheng at all on August 15." Li Jianjun's gaze fell on the photo in the transparent evidence bag. In the photo, Wang Lijuan had braids and showed a bright smile to the camera, "Whether it was Wang Lijuan's parents or colleagues, they all said she was a cheerful and enthusiastic girl who never had conflicts with others.

We initially suspected that the two were hijacked on the way to the station. However, someone witnessed Wang Lijuan and Lin Suzhen appearing in the opposite direction of the station on the evening of August 15."

"Wang Lijuan lied to her parents." Zhong Kui said immediately.

Li Jianjun's face seemed to be covered with the dark clouds of forty-two years ago: "What is even more unsolvable is that the direction where Wang Lijuan and Lin Suzhen were witnessed, and further ahead, it was the sea.

This case, what made us most frustrated, was that we never found the first scene where the deceased were killed.

I think you also know that from the found corpses, the killer has a fixed ritual and must need a closed place to ensure that no one is disturbed. Dongji Town is so big, abandoned warehouses, basements, single dormitories... we thought of all the places, we checked them all, and gained nothing.

And Lin Suzhen's corpse was found when we were investigating the air-raid shelter. Unfortunately, we found that the air-raid shelter was still the scene of corpse abandonment, not the first scene of the crime." ===== CHAPTER 160 =====