Chapter 21 Chapter 20 Perfume

Zhang Haisheng took a few steps back, adjusted the position of the writing board, stepped forward again, and hammered the last few nails into the wall. "Is this okay?" "Okay, that's it." Ji Qiankun filled the cup in front of Wei Jiong with boiling water, and ordered, "Fix the crossbar as well." Zhang Haisheng looked at Ji Qiankun with a gloomy face, leaned over to pick up a stainless steel towel bar without saying a word, removed the outer packaging, put it on top of the whiteboard and began to install it. After finishing installing one side, he said to Yue Xiaohui who was sitting on the bed in a rough voice: "You, are you done?"

"Right now." Yue Xiaohui bit off the end of the thread, and handed Zhang Haisheng a piece of white cloth that had been sewn. Zhang Haisheng threaded the white cloth into the towel bar, installed the other side, pulled it a few times, and threw the hammer into the toolbox. "It's finished." "Well, you go out first." Ji Qiankun sorted out a large stack of photos in his hand, without looking at him, "I'll call you again if something happens." Zhang Haisheng clattered away the toolbox, walked out, and slammed the door loudly. Yue Xiaohui watched him go out, then turned her head and stuck out her tongue at Wei Jiong.

Wei Jiong smiled helplessly.Yue Xiaohui didn't know why Ji Qiankun was able to dictate to Zhang Haisheng so much, and it was inconvenient to explain the reason to her. Ji Qiankun shook the wheelchair and greeted them: "Come, paste the photos on the whiteboard." Two people started to fight, and Ji Qiankun came to direct.Soon, half of the whiteboard was covered with dense photos.The small dormitory looks like the meeting room of the Public Security Bureau. The photos are divided into four columns, all of which are scenes and autopsy pictures, arranged in chronological order of the four murders.Wei Jiong looked at it for a while, then turned around and asked Ji Qiankun: "Do you want to paste the schematic diagram of the scene?"

Ji Qiankun didn't answer him immediately, but stared blankly at the fourth column of on-site photos.The body of his wife Feng Nan was pieced together and lying on the stainless steel dissection table in a weird posture. Wei Jiong and Yue Xiaohui looked at each other, then silently looked at Ji Qiankun. The old man came back to his senses, realized his gaffe, smiled hurriedly, and raised his finger to the whiteboard. "It's so nice and intuitive." Before the words finished, Du Cheng opened the door and came in. He was also surprised to see three people gathered around the wall, staring at the whiteboard covered with photos.

"What is this for?" "Oh, you came just in time." Ji Qiankun beckoned him to sit down, "How is it, isn't it good?" "It's quite plausible." Du Cheng looked at the whiteboard, "Is it your idea?" "Well, it's convenient to watch the analysis. And—" Ji Qiankun shook the wheelchair, walked to the wall, grabbed a corner of the white cloth, and pulled it over to cover the whiteboard. "It can still be covered at ordinary times, so as not to scare others." "You have considered it quite comprehensively." Du Cheng smiled, "Did you find anything?"

The three looked at each other but didn't speak. The information provided by Du Cheng is only for Ji Qiankun and others to understand the whole picture of the case.As for extracting clues or ideas from it, they are still beyond their capabilities, and more are just conjectures and unfounded speculations. "Officer Du," Ji Qiankun said after thinking for a while, "The reason why we can stand aside is because we all believe that Xu Mingliang is not the murderer, right?" "Yes." Du Cheng admitted directly, "otherwise I wouldn't have been unable to let go of this case for so many years."

"Well, then our starting point is the same." Ji Qiankun nodded, "But our progress is obviously different. Moreover, you should go further than us." "That's not necessarily true." Du Cheng pointed at the whiteboard, "It has been more than 20 years since the incident happened. I interviewed some relevant people from that year, but the information I obtained may not be accurate. It may be a memory error, or it may be my own subjective speculation." "So, what is the focus of your investigation now?" Du Cheng looked at Ji Qiankun for a few seconds: "Talk about yours first."

Ji Qiankun smiled: "You can't trust me completely, can you?" "Yes." Du Cheng had no intention of hiding his point of view, "Because I'm not sure what help you can give me." "I am the victim's husband." Ji Qiankun's tone suddenly became sharp, "I have the right to know the truth." "You don't need to know the truth." Du Cheng also confronted, "I just need to tell you the conclusion." "Then why did you hand over the dossier to me?" "Because besides me, you are the only one who wants to find the murderer." Du Cheng emphasized, "The only one. So maybe you can provide me with information that I don't know."

Ji Qiankun raised his eyebrows: "Huh?" "Most people will choose to forget this tragedy. I have interviewed all the parties, including Xu Mingliang's mother." Du Cheng looked straight into Ji Qiankun's eyes, "But you are not, you have no choice to continue living , but stay in the memory of twenty-three years ago—maybe it’s cruel to you, but I need you to do it. Because only in this way can I dig out what I want.” Ji Qiankun stared at him blankly, unable to speak for a while. "So, I think your choice is right." Suddenly, Yue Xiaohui said, "I might as well tell you directly, what we have been discussing before is why the murderer chose those women to kill."

"Well, this is indeed an idea." Du Cheng turned to Yue Xiaohui, looked her up and down, "What's the conclusion?" Yue Xiaohui looked at Wei Jiong.The latter scratched his head and said awkwardly: "There is no conclusion." Du Cheng pouted, but there was no disappointed expression on his face. "Indeed, we can't find a pattern." Ji Qiankun pointed at the whiteboard, "The first victim is Zhang Lan, 33 years old, wearing a black woolen coat, rose red turtleneck sweater, blue jeans, and short leather boots at the time of the crime. , black long curly hair; the second victim is Li Lihua, 27 years old, wearing a dark blue cotton jacket, black sweater, black pants, brown leather boots, and short black hair at the time of the crime; the third victim is Huang Yu, 29 years old, at the time of the crime Wearing a red short-sleeved T-shirt, black shorts, white sneakers, and long straight brown hair." Du Cheng went on, obviously knowing the situation of all the victims, "The fourth victim is Feng Nan, blue and white broken. Floral dress, silver gray high heels, long curly black hair."

"What they have in common is that they are all in good shape, and they were all killed when they were walking alone late at night." Wei Jiong also came over, "However, other than that, they have no similarities in terms of clothing and appearance." "He drives around late at night, and he should meet many single women who come home late." Ji Qiankun lowered his head, his voice was sad, "I don't know why he chose my wife." "This is what I've been thinking about too." Du Cheng stepped forward and patted Ji Qiankun on the shoulder, "The time of the crime spanned winter, spring, and summer. The heights of the victims were different, and the hair length and color were also different—whether it was What stimulated him?" "Sexual desire?" Wei Jiong interjected, and at the same time looked at Yue Xiaohui with some embarrassment, "When the desire is unbearable, go out to find prey, and then choose a random target?" "It's not that simple." Du Cheng shook his head, "This guy's financial conditions should not be too bad. If it's just to vent his animal desires, there are plenty of street girls." He walked up to the whiteboard and pointed to some of the photos: "Rape must be related to sex. Killing and dismembering the body, of course, has the intention of silence, but it can be seen that he hated the victim from the bottom of his heart—for some kind of rape. Women, he both wants to possess and has a deep hatred." Yue Xiaohui, who had been silent all this time, suddenly asked, "Officer Du, the police officers who investigated this case were all men, right?" "Huh?" Du Cheng was quite surprised by her question, "Yeah, what's the matter?" "No wonder." Yue Xiaohui smiled, "You've all overlooked one point. Aside from clothes, appearance, and hair, women also have an invisible thing that can also stimulate men." The three of them were stunned, and then asked at the same time: "What?" Yue Xiaohui pointed to her clothes: "Smell." Du Cheng was the first to react: "Perfume?" "Yes." Yue Xiaohui nodded, "I've checked some information. For some men, women's perfume is an aphrodisiac. Maybe it's a special smell that stimulates his impulse." Du Cheng immediately turned his head to Ji Qiankun, who gave an affirmative answer after thinking for a while: "That's right, when Feng Nan went out that day, she did wear perfume—Madame Butterfly." perfume.Du Cheng's brain was running fast, and the scene of talking with the husband of the first victim, Zhang Lan, appeared in front of his eyes: Wen Jianliang was holding a cigarette, his eyes were always staring out of the window, and he spoke slowly: "Black woolen coat, rose red high Collared sweater, jeans, short leather boots, all smelling good. I even made fun of her..." He walked quickly to the small wooden table, picked up the thick file, and quickly rummaged through it. In the first case, the victim Zhang Lan went to a class reunion and was killed on the way home. In the second case, the victim, Li Lihua, returned from shopping, argued with her husband for buying expensive jewelry, and was killed after running away in anger. In the third case, the victim Huang Yu was killed while running at night. In the fourth case, the victim Feng Nan attended a colleague's wedding appreciation banquet and was killed on the way home. Then, Feng Nan and Zhang Lan may drink alcohol while eating; Huang Yu sweats profusely when running at night.Elevated body temperature will make the scent of the perfume more pronounced.As for Li Lihua, she may have bought the perfume while shopping in the mall, or tried it out. Could it be that they both wear the same perfume? The situation of Huang Yu and Li Lihua needs further verification.However, if this inference is true, then a conclusion can almost be drawn. "I still need to check." Du Cheng turned around ponderingly, looking at Ji Qiankun with piercing eyes, "If the source of stimulating the murderer is really perfume, then Xu Mingliang must have been wronged." Ji Qiankun looked back at him nervously: "Why?" "Xu Mingliang suffers from chronic ethmoid sinusitis and decreased sense of smell." Du Cheng's tone became more excited, "Whether the deceased was wearing perfume or toilet water is meaningless to him." "Look!" Ji Qiankun patted the wheelchair excitedly, "I'm not wrong!" "Don't rush to be proud." Du Cheng waved his hand, "I still have to find out whether Huang Yu and Li Lihua use perfume, and what brand it is. But..." He pointed to Yue Xiaohui: "This little girl is quite powerful." "Thank you." Yue Xiaohui smiled, but her gaze became aggressive, "Now, it's your turn." "Oh?" Du Cheng was taken aback, and then realized that what she was asking was the focus of his investigation, "I'm concerned about that fingerprint." "In the fourth case?" Wei Jiong asked. "Well." Du Cheng pointed to the fourth column of photos, "The murderer did not leave any physical evidence during the previous three crimes. We found nothing at the body throwing site and the plastic bag that wrapped the body parts. But , in the fourth case, he showed his flaws." Ji Qiankun immediately continued: "Pig hair and fingerprints." "Yes." Du Cheng nodded, "Xu Mingliang's fingerprints are on the plastic bag, and he sells pork, so the police are convinced that he is the murderer." "Maybe the murderer is one of his customers?" Ji Qiankun said, "Your inference may not be..." "There are only his fingerprints on the plastic bag." Du Cheng stretched out a hand, "It was midsummer when the crime happened. Wouldn't it be strange if you saw a man wearing gloves to buy meat?" "Well, that's true." Ji Qiankun admitted honestly. "Moreover, a shoe was found in the body bag." Du Cheng frowned, "This is the only time we found the victim's clothes. What I can't figure out is that such a patient and meticulous person, the method of dismembering the body is getting worse and worse." Proficient, and the mentality of committing crimes is getting calmer and calmer, why did you make such a stupid mistake?" "There were some unexpected situations when dismembering the body." Yue Xiaohui interjected, "So he panicked." "It's possible." Du Cheng rubbed his chin, "But it also can't explain the fingerprint." "Not necessarily." Wei Jiong pondered, and said slowly, "What if he is not Xu Mingliang's customer?" "Huh? What do you mean?" "The current situation is like this." Wei Jiong said while thinking, "We don't think Xu Mingliang is the murderer, but his fingerprints are on the plastic bag where the body was dumped, which means that he has touched the bag, right?" "That's right." Du Cheng looked at him, "Go on." "Xu Mingliang took a bag containing pork and handed it to someone, but the other person didn't touch it—or didn't touch the bag with his bare hands." Wei Jiong made a hand gesture, "Is there such a possibility? ——Not for sale, but for gift?” Du Cheng frowned, Ji Qiankun and Yue Xiaohui were also confused. "I don't understand what you mean." "Hey!" Wei Jiong couldn't explain clearly, so he simply acted out, "For example, Xu Mingliang took a bag, went to someone's house, entered the door, said so-and-so, I will send you some pork, after putting it down, chatted a few words and left- ——Whether the other party picked up the bag with gloves on afterwards, he doesn't know at all." Wei Jiong's performance was funny and funny, and everyone couldn't help laughing.Du Cheng was also amused, but a thought suddenly appeared in his mind like lightning, as if a certain memory was dug up by Wei Jiong's speculation.However, this feeling was fleeting, and when he wanted to grab it, it just disappeared without a trace. Du Cheng concentrated his energy, trying to find the idea of ​​slipping away. Suddenly, he heard the phone in his pocket ringing. He took out his cell phone and saw it was Gao Liang, who answered it hastily. "Old Du, there is news about the thing you asked me to do." The three watched Du Cheng answer the phone, seeing his expression change from surprise, doubt to thoughtfulness.He didn't have too much conversation with the other party, he just responded with ah, and finally asked: "Where is it?" Then he hung up the phone. "Sorry, everyone." Du Cheng stood up and picked up his backpack, "I have to leave first." Sitting opposite Chen Xiao, Lin Guodong watched the girl count a stack of banknotes with her slender fingers.Her hands are smooth and fair, with pale blue veins clearly visible. Lin Guodong adjusted his sitting posture and exhaled lightly. Chen Xiao noticed Lin Guodong's eyes and smiled. "Don't worry, Mr. Lin, you can't go wrong." She handed the banknotes to Lin Guodong, "You order some." "Oh? No need." Lin Guodong was a little embarrassed, and stuffed the money into his pocket carelessly. Chen Xiao rummaged around on the table, took out a kraft paper portfolio, and handed it to Lin Guodong. "Three papers, two advertising copy. How about ten days?" "Well, let me take a look first." Lin Guodong took out the manuscript and looked at it, "This is an economics paper, and there are many professional vocabulary to look up." "Two weeks then." "Okay, it's not a big problem." Chen Xiao stood up, began to put on his coat, and tidied up his bag. After tidying up, he found that Lin Guodong was still sitting where he was, flipping through the manuscript in his hand. "Ms. Lin, I'm going to have lunch." Chen Xiao asked tentatively, "Would you... want to come together?" "Huh?" Lin Guodong came back to his senses, and hurriedly put away the manuscript, "Okay." Chen Xiao felt a little surprised, but the words had already been spoken, and it was too late to take them back.After thinking about it, it's just a meal, it's no big deal. The two walked out of the office one after the other.Chen Xiao locked the door and walked straight to the elevator.While waiting for the elevator, the two chatted casually. Lin Guodong looked a little nervous, with his back straightened, and he kept his eyes on the ever-changing numbers on the LCD panel. Chen Xiao secretly laughed in his heart, unexpectedly this old gentleman was quite innocent. Soon, the elevator came to their floor.There are a lot of people in the car, basically people rushing to have lunch.Two people squeezed in.Chen Xiao stood at the door, and Lin Guodong stood behind her. The elevator goes down.Chen Xiao was debating whether to eat a bowl of wonton or Malatang, when suddenly she felt a gentle air flow on the back of her neck, as if someone was panting heavily behind her. She frowned and subconsciously moved forward half a step.At the same time, she heard an almost imperceptible sound. Both a sigh and a moan. Five minutes later, Lin Guodong and Chen Xiao were standing in an alley downstairs.There are various signs on both sides of the street, all of which are small restaurants with relatively cheap prices. "Wonton, Malatang, or beef noodles?" Chen Xiao turned around to ask Lin Guodong's opinion, "I invite you." "Come on, how can there be a reason for a lady to treat guests?" Lin Guodong glanced around, "Let's eat something good—you choose." "That's so embarrassing." "You're welcome." Lin Guodong patted his pocket, "Didn't you just get paid?" Finally, the two agreed to eat grouper hot pot.Entering the store, Chen Xiao chose a seat by the window. Chen Xiao took off his coat, revealing the light yellow sweater he was wearing underneath. Lin Guodong sat across from her, looked her up and down a few times, and waved to the waiter to bring the menu. "Come and order." Lin Guodong handed the menu to Chen Xiao, "Choose what you like." "Then it will cost you." Chen Xiao picked out a few moderately priced dishes carefully, and specially ordered a bottle of beer for Lin Guodong. The food and wine were quickly served, and the two began to eat and drink.The hot pot was steaming among them, the girl's face was covered with sweat, and her cheeks turned red. "It tastes really good." Chen Xiao picked up the collar of his sweater and fanned it, "I'm just afraid that I'll smell all over - I have to go for a walk later and let the wind blow." Lin Guodong ate very little, sipped his beer, his nose fluttered lightly. "Ms. Lin, please register an e-mail address." Chen Xiao picked up a piece of fish fillet, "In the future, I will upload manuscripts online to save you from running back and forth." "It's okay. When you get older, it's time to exercise." "Hey, you're not old." Chen Xiao concentrated on the food in front of him, "Your style of uncle is very popular now." "Haha, is it true or not?" Lin Guodong laughed, "Is it very hot, do you want a glass of beer?" "Okay." Chen Xiao handed over the glass readily, but suddenly found that Lin Guodong's hand holding the wine bottle was wrapped with gauze, "Oh, what's wrong with you, are you injured?" "It's okay." Lin Guodong filled Chen Xiao's glass with wine, and looked at his palm again, "I caught a praying mantis by accident." "Mantis?" Chen Xiao felt both puzzled and amused, "How can there be mantises in this season?" Lin Guodong looked at the girl's staring round eyes and ruddy face, took a deep breath, narrowed his eyes, and said with a smile: "Yes, Mantis."