FBH Chapter 15

Due to the severity of the Chen Qian murder case and the “7.18” cyanide poisoning case, which have had a significant negative impact on society, the Municipal Public Security Bureau attaches great importance to them. Both cases have been listed as key cases under supervision, requiring the Golden Sea Tang Public Security Bureau to quickly organize police forces to solve the cases, provide justice for the victims, and eliminate the negative social impact.

Li Haiyang, the director of the Golden Sea Tang Public Security Bureau, personally took charge, listened to the opinions and suggestions of front-line police officers such as Wu Shuqi and Wu Zhi, and decided to investigate these two cases together. Then, he quickly organized a special task force to pursue and arrest the criminal suspect Cao Huailiang.

The tracking process was quite tortuous. The suspect’s mobile phone signal disappeared near the residential area where Chen Qian was killed, making it impossible to pinpoint the suspect’s location through electronic devices. The police could only repeatedly review and analyze the surveillance videos, tracing the suspect’s movements: after leaving the crime scene, the suspect repeatedly walked through several streets and alleys, and then entered a park, disappearing behind a dense thicket of dwarf bamboo.

The suspect’s choice to travel long distances and hide in this village suggests that he may have relatives or friends here.

It can be determined that the suspect went to “great lengths” in an attempt to evade police investigation.

In the village where the suspect is hiding, locals and outsiders live together, the population density is high, and the situation is relatively complex. If the police conduct a large-scale search, it will inevitably alert the suspect. The suspect is extremely dangerous, and if he finds himself with no way out, he is likely to take actions that seriously endanger the safety of others.

Slowly, the investigators figured out the buildings and surrounding conditions in the area where the suspect disappeared from the surveillance footage.

Although they have figured out the situation in this area, but without knowing exactly which house the suspect is hiding in, the investigators are still waiting patiently, deciding to wait for the suspect to appear and then find an opportunity to control him.

The investigators “do business” during the day and squeeze into the car at night to wait and observe, without sleep, just to arrest the suspect as soon as possible.

After nightfall, the number of pedestrians on the street gradually increased.

It was already past eleven o’clock in the evening, the street lights were dim, and the street was deserted. Wu Shuqi and several colleagues were sitting in a private car. They were all full of energy, paying attention to the dimly lit intersection not far away, because they suspected that the suspect Cao Huailiang was likely hiding in a building behind the intersection; in addition, pedestrians on nearby streets were also within their “attention” range.

Not far from the intersection on the other side of that intersection, Wu Zhi and several colleagues were also squeezed into a car, and just as diligently, they were also keeping an eye on the other intersection, hoping to catch the suspect as soon as possible.

The task force members had breakfast, and when it was almost noon, they began to “do business” again.

Another day passed, and the suspect still did not show up.

Could it be that the suspect has already fled the village?

However, she felt that it was almost impossible for the suspect to escape under her nose, because she had already memorized the suspect’s physical characteristics. As long as the suspect appeared in front of her, the physical characteristics of the two would be easily distinguished in her mind and she would react in time; in addition, she observed every passerby who appeared in front of her very carefully, especially those who were tall and whose physical condition was similar or close to that of the suspect, because she was worried that the suspect would disguise himself to escape.

She believed that her other colleagues were as meticulous and observant as she was and would not let the suspect become a fugitive.

Wu Shuqi looked at the woman’s moving back and said to herself in her heart: “I am deliberately selling such apples, letting customers look at them and dislike them and walk away, so as not to hinder my investigation work.”

In fact, in the past two and a half days, many customers have visited Wu Shuqi’s stall, but they were either turned away by the apples’ unsightly appearance or by the high prices. Some people even asked her to throw them in the trash, saying that such apples were inferior goods and no one would buy them.

She just smiled good-temperedly and did not respond.

Although such a hypothesis may not become reality, Wu Shuqi had no way of knowing who the suspect’s relatives or friends were, so she believed that such a hypothesis had little significance.

However, a later incident changed her mind.

The situation was this: a middle-aged woman in a white embroidered dress grumbled as she passed by her stall, saying something like “Doesn’t brush his teeth, doesn’t wash his face, stays at home all day long, I don’t know what he’s going to become,” then the woman entered a store, and after a while came out with a towel and a toothbrush, and then returned the same way.

Wu Shuqi suddenly thought of the hypothesis she had made a few hours earlier about the suspect needing to buy cigarettes, and made an analogy: toothbrushes and towels are daily necessities. The reason why the person the woman in black was grumbling about “doesn’t brush his teeth, doesn’t wash his face” was because he lacked these necessities. The toothbrush and towel in her hand might have been bought for that person. That person was “staying at home all day long” because he was afraid of exposing himself and did not dare to go out. From this, it could be seen that that person was very likely to be Cao Huailiang, the criminal suspect the police were looking for.

In addition, the woman in white was speaking in a dialect, and it was a dialect close to Sichuanese. Wu Shuqi naturally thought of the Bijie dialect. Cao Huailiang was from Bijie, and this woman was likely to have grown up in Bijie.

Wu Shuqi thought, if the woman in white was Cao Huailiang’s relative or friend, then judging from her complaints, she might not know that Cao Huailiang had committed a murder case.

Very quickly, the woman in black walked to the iron gate. Just as she was about to push the door open, she subconsciously turned her head and saw Wu Shuqi not far away from her. She quickly recognized that Wu Shuqi was the man selling fruit by the main road on the other side of the village.

The woman in black didn’t think much, and quickly entered the courtyard.

Wu Shuqi felt that her performance was flawless, but what she didn’t expect was that behind the curtains on the second floor of this bungalow, there was a pair of eyes showing a sinister look, watching her every move vigilantly through the glass.

That’s right, the owner of this pair of eyes was none other than Cao Huailiang, the criminal suspect the police were pursuing!

“I think too much, she’s just passing by.” The sister suddenly looked at her uneasy younger brother vigilantly, “What are you asking this for?”

“No… nothing, just asking casually.” Cao Huailiang not only spoke vaguely, but his eyes also flickered uncertainly.

Cao Huailiang lowered his head and remained silent for a while, then said in a low voice, “Sister, I killed someone.”

“It’s a long story, I’ll tell you in detail later when I’m in a better mood.” Cao Huailiang shook his head and sighed.

“That’s good too.” The sister said this sentence almost without hesitation.

The sister was startled, and stammered, “I… how could I… say such a thing? I think staying here is… also okay, but this place… I’m afraid it’s not safe…”

Suddenly, a fiery, sharp look burst out in his eyes, and he said, “In the process of escaping in the future, if I see anyone who is not pleasing to my eye, I will kill him!”

The sister squatted on the ground, already in tears, and didn’t know what to say to her brother.

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