CH 34

On the morning of December 13, 3020, in the meeting room of the Criminal Investigation Team, Jiang Chengyan organized a case analysis meeting. Seeing that everyone was there, Jiang Chengyan said directly, “Everyone is here, let’s start meeting.”

Jiang Chenyan paused for a moment to wait until everyone was focused then said, “Yao Min, you explain the result of visiting yesterday.”

Yao Min nodded, stood up, and came to the whiteboard. She pinned two photos on it then started explaining, “these two photos were of the deceased, Shen Xin. The one on the left is before the plastic surgery, and the one on the right is after the plastic surgery. As Su Ke said, there is almost a complete change before and after cosmetic surgery.”

Li Tong couldn’t help but say out loud, “she was pretty before. Why does she need to do plastic surgery?”

Zhang Liang followed, “that’s right, why do I feel that after plastic surgery, it’s not as good as before. ”

Liu Ran sighed, “it’s not the current public’s aesthetic view standard. The chin must be pointed, the eyes must be large, the nose must be straight, and the body figure must be good. As a result, many women now go to plastic surgery to follow the standard. And the top one can’t even be distinguished, look the same, as if they’re sisters.”

“That’s right, those little sisters who do live broadcasts on the Internet, don’t they all have this kind of face? Where you men see it as exciting, tch tch.” Yao Min looked down at a circle of male animals present.

“No, we are usually so busy with our feet not even touching the ground1, who has the time to watch that? ”

“Cut it, I saw some people watching the live broadcast while eating yesterday. The little sister on the live broadcast seemed to be called Cherry. ”

Zhang Liang blushed and said embarrassedly, “It just happened to watch that video.”

“All right, all right, are you guys getting off-topic? Please take it seriously.” Jiang Chengyan glared at Yao Min, “Talk about the visit, not discussing the public’s aesthetics.”

Yao Min curled her lips then continued, “yesterday, Captain and I went to the Jiamei Villa Area, which is Shen Xin’s home. According to her housekeeper, Shen Xin was picked up by a man around 10 o’clock in the morning on the 1st of this month to have a maternity check-up but never came back. We checked the surveillance camera outside the villa and found the man. But he was wearing a mask and too far away, so we couldn’t recognize his facial features. The good thing is that the surveillance camera captured his license plate number, and we retrieved the car’s owner information through the traffic control bureau.”

Yao Min pasted another photo on the whiteboard and said, “His name is Gao Ming, 23 years old, born on March 9, 2997. Graduated from the Dance Department of Huacheng Art Institute. He is Shen Xin’s boyfriend. Relying on Shen Xin’s financial support, he opened his own live broadcast studio, and now he is a little famous internet celebrity. According to the physical characteristics, the man who picked up Shen Xin for the maternity check-up is him. But yesterday Captain and I went to look for him but did not find anyone.”

Jiang Chengyan looked at Li Tong and asked, “what about the investigation at East Lake Park?”

“After Zhang Liang and I borrowed the diving suits, we went to East Lake Park again. After we got into the water, we found that there was a big hole in the net about three or four meters away from the east coast, there’s a possibility that the body was drifting into the fishing area. I think the place where the murderer dumped the body is definitely not in the fishing area. Zhang Liang and I walked around the shore of East Lake yesterday and found a few cigarette butts and a few footprints in a dense forest on the east shore. People from the trace examination department have already extracted them, and they are now undergoing testing.

Wang Bin added, “East Lake is a tourist attraction, and there are usually many tourists come by. With the cautious temperament of the murderer, he should not leave anything that reveals his identity, so nine out of ten of those clues are invalid information.”

“Whether it is invalid information or not, we can only know once it’s verified. Now the case has just begun to investigate, and we can’t lose any suspicious places.” Jiang Chengyan paused, and then continued, “The murderer will definitely choose night time to throw the body, a very late at night. At that time, although it’s suspicious enough to avoid people’s eyes and ears it’s also very abrupt. After retrieving the surveillance video in the parking lot of East Lake Park, there were vehicles that entered the parking lot no. 3, but there was no vehicle that left on the same day.”

Li Tong’s eyes lit up and said, “our captain is brilliant, why didn’t I think of that.”

Zhang Liang said with amusement, “If you can think of that, then you can be the captain too.”

Ignoring the singing and harmony between the two, Jiang Chengyan looked at Guo Hai and asked, “Have Shen Xin’s parents been notified? When will they be back?”

“I was informed that their flight was this morning and will arrive at about noon.”

Yao Min frowned, “I notified them yesterday, but they came back today. The parents are too big-hearted, right?”

Liu Ran continued, “As long as they treat Shen Xin with snacks2, they will not leave her to the housekeeper to take her care of.”

Jiang Chengyan interrupted the conversation between the two and said, “Now I will assign tasks. Liu Ran and Wang Bin, you are responsible for checking Shen Xin’s communication records, as well as the usage records of the accounts under her name, to find out where she last appeared. Li Tong, Zhang Liang, you are still in charge of East Lake Park, find the vehicles that did not leave that day, and check them one by one. Yao Min, you are responsible for receiving the family of the deceased to identify the body. Guo Hai, you stay on the team. If there is a result from the Trace Inspection Department, notify me immediately. Chen Miao, you go with me to find Gao Ming. Is the task all clear?”

Everyone responded, “clear!”

Yao Min said with a bitter face, “Captain, why do you give me the job of receiving the family members of the deceased? Can’t you change it to someone else?”

Jiang Chengyan smiles, “Can’t, what makes you more experienced? Those who can do more work. Guo Hai is also on the team. If you can’t deal with something, ask him for help.”

Everyone gave Yao Min a sympathetic look and got up then left one after another. Fear that Jiang Chengyan will change his mind and let them replace Yao Min. The job of receiving family members is really not something that ordinary people can do. They would rather go out in the field. Although they have worked a little hard, at least they won’t feel uneasy.

Jiang Chengyan took Chen Miao and drove to the Guangfu Community where Gao Ming’s house was located. They took the elevator directly to the door of Gao Ming’s house. Chen Miao stepped forward and knocked on the door. After waiting for a while, no one answered.

Then Jiang Chengyan took out his mobile phone and dialed Gao Ming’s number directly. After waiting for a while, the phone was connected, and a man’s vague voice came from inside, “Who is it?”

“Hello, I’m a police officer, you’re Gao Ming, right?”

“Police? What are you looking for me for? ” The man’s voice sounded a lot clearer.

“You are at home, right? Please open the door, there is a case that needs your cooperation in the investigation.”

“Oh, then wait a minute.”

The two waited outside the door for five minutes before the door was opened. Gao Ming in pajamas appeared at the door, looked at Jiang Chengyan and Chen Miao and said, “Are you the police?”

Jiang Chengyan took out his ID, and said, “we are from the Huacheng Criminal Investigation Team. Because you have something to do with a case we are investigating, we are here for a routine visit for investigation.”

“Case? What case? I don’t even go out very often. How could I be involved in any case? Did you make a mistake?”

“Can we go in and talk?”

Gao Ming hesitated, but he opened the door and said, “Come in.”

Just as the two entered, a sleepy-eyed woman in a sexy nightgown came out of the bedroom. She was not surprised to see two strange men, and said slowly, “A-ming, who are they?”

“They are the police.”

“Police? What did the police come to you for?” The woman asked strangely as her sleepiness disappeared.

“Nothing, routine investigation, you go back to your room to sleep.” Gao Ming frowned and walked toward the woman, pulling her back into the bedroom.

Gao Ming closed the bedroom door and returned to the living room. Then he said with a smile, “Please sit down, both of you. Please don’t say anything about what happened just now. After all, we have to protect some privacy in this business.”

“Don’t worry, we’re police officers, not gossip reporters.” Chen Miao spoke rather nonchalantly.

Chen Miao’s words made Gao Ming’s face stiffen, and Jiang Chengyan quickly smoothed things out and said, “Our police department has a rule that any information about the case will not be disclosed to the public. Mr. Gao can rest assured.”

Jiang Chengyan asked bluntly, “Do you know Shen Xin?”

“Shen Xin? Gao Ming’s eyes flickered and he said, “I know, what’s wrong with her?” 

Jiang Chengyan didn’t answer but asked, “What’s your relationship with her?”

Gao Ming glanced away. He looked a little struggling then silent for a moment before saying,  “She is my ex-girlfriend.”

“Ex-girlfriend? And when did you break up and when did you last see her?”

“It’s been more than half a year since we broke up. The last time I saw her was probably when I accompanied her for a maternity check-up. Well, the time is… on 1st…I can’t remember exactly.

“Is the child in her womb yours?”

Gao Ming shook his head and said, “No, the child in her womb is not mine.”

“If it is not yours, then how did you accompany her for the maternity check-up?”

“We broke up, but we can still be friends…”

“Friend? What kind of friend, I think you are inseparable from her.”

The woman came out of the bedroom, she had changed her clothes and said aggressively, “Okay, Gao Ming. Now, I know how you are more and more indifferent to me. It turned out that you have rekindled your old love with her.”

Gao Ming said with an ugly face, “Sun Li, you have to separate the situation, do you have any brains?”

Sun Li said angrily, “Gao Ming, you are really not a fucking man! Yes, I have no brains, that’s why you are carrying me on two boats.3”

“Sun Li, that’s enough. Shen Xin and I are just friends now. Not as dirty as you think! If you don’t believe me, then we don’t have to continue, let’s break up.”

“Break up? Okay, Gao Ming, you finally showed your true face. I tell you, you can break up if you want. You must compensate me for the loss of youth, otherwise, there is no way!” Sun Li’s sharp voice was unusually harsh.

“You…” Gao Ming stood up and looked at Sun Li angrily.

Chen Miao interrupted the quarrel between the two and said loudly, “Okay, have you two quarreled enough? If you haven’t quarreled enough, follow us back to the bureau and keep arguing.”

As soon as they heard that they were going to the police station, the two finally stopped, each snorted coldly, and sat down.

Jiang Chengyan looked at Gao Ming and then asked, “Shen Xin is eight months pregnant, and it’s only been half a year since you broke up with her. Did she cheat during the relationship?”

Without waiting for Gao Ming to answer, Sun Li sarcastically said, “Isn’t it? He has long known that Shen Xin has someone. She also put a cuckold on him. Instead of blaming her, he wanted to be a receiver4. Really a loving saint!”

“Sun Li, if you say one more word, get out of my house immediately!”

~~~