"Let's expand our search perimeter!" I commanded, and the others continued to look while I charged ahead. Unfortunately, it started pouring rain. Even so, I didn't give up. My police uniform was thoroughly soaked, but everyone else had already abandoned the search. Only I was still out there, searching everywhere. No matter how heavy the wind and rain, I pressed on.
At that moment, all I could think about was catching that despicable killer and avenging Liu Yuning, her family, and those children.
My entire body was drenched in the heavy rain. My hair was plastered with water, and my shoes were waterlogged. Even lifting my feet to walk felt incredibly heavy.
Perhaps it was because my mind was still racing, but the rain intensified, flooding the streets. I kept going, running now. Suddenly, someone grabbed my arm from behind!
A strange man, a scruffy fellow in tattered clothes, was gripping my hand tightly!
"He Sheng, listen to me, go back quickly! Don't be impulsive! You'll get sick searching like this, in such heavy rain!"
"Who are you? Why are you interfering with me?"
I forcefully shook off the man's hand and turned to leave. Unexpectedly, the man grabbed me again from behind. "He Sheng, don't get agitated! We'll definitely find the killer, but there's no need to rush! Your health comes first!"
"How do you know my name?"
"I know you!"
"But I haven't seen you before!"
The man's expression was very peculiar. He wore a tattered gray jacket and his pants had several large holes. His face was sharp, gaunt, and his ears were like large fans. His hair was disheveled, but his bean-sized eyes were filled with a wise, radiant light.
I looked at the man before me with curiosity. "Who exactly are you?"
"I can't tell you! I'm here to take you away from here!"
At the same moment, I was struck hard on the back of my head. I immediately lost consciousness.
It seemed the other person was dragging me somewhere. Earlier, I had vaguely noticed a familiar purple figure standing on the rooftop of a building, but she didn't intervene when she saw how the man was treating me.
I felt like he had taken me to some place. It was a very small wooden house. He stripped off my clothes, turned on the heater, and washed my clothes.
When I woke up, the man was gone. I found myself lying naked on a bed. It was a small room, about ten square meters. Besides the bed, there was only a nightstand. I cautiously sat up on the bed, then opened the room door and went into the living area. The house was empty. It looked like some kind of rented place, and the man had disappeared.
Why did he save me?
How did he know my name?
Hadn't he seen me for the first time?
Why did he look so strange, like a beggar?
Where was this house? Did he rent it temporarily?
I rummaged around and found a lot of documents inside a TV cabinet. But they were just utility bills, along with a property deed. I opened it to find it was for two unknown people. This house didn't seem to be rented; someone had bought it. The photo on the deed was completely different from the man's, meaning this house wasn't his.
Had he broken into someone's home?
And dragged me in.
Thinking about this, I let out a curse and immediately opened the door to leave. Although as a police officer, I could always find an excuse about investigating a case, this was still not right.
Leaving the house, I found myself on a very old street. I was curious; it looked somewhat familiar, as if I had been here before.
It was an underdeveloped small town. I opened my phone and used GPS, discovering it was southwest of Fuming City.
I ran desperately. After leaving the town, I saw countless cars passing by on the street. I hailed a random taxi. I didn't know until I got in that the drive back to the police station would take three hours.
I asked the driver to speed up. The driver tried his best, and we made it back to the police station in about two and a half hours.
After paying with my phone, I rushed into the criminal investigation department office. Perhaps seeing me return, the members of the Punishment Squad were all invigorated. He Xin was the first to stand up and rush over. "Dad, where were you last night?"
"I had a situation, but I'm fine. Haven't they found Zhuge Kangle yet?"
"No, that guy definitely escaped and is in hiding. I wonder why he would expose himself at the station; it must have been deliberate! I even suspect he never went to Fuming City!"
"Then how do you explain the phone signal?"
"That's simple. Anyone could have found someone and made a call using a phone card registered with his ID."
"Are you suggesting that Zhuge Kangle has accomplices?"
"It's also possible they're his friends or relatives. We just have to keep expanding our search."
Everyone got back to work. Xie Chuchu and Zhang Keying came to my side, offered some comfort, and then led me to the forensic department.
We still had to examine the bodies of Liu Dahai and Huang Yaxian. We could indeed look for suspects, but many people were already doing that. Since I was back, and the bodies had been transported here, I decided to conduct a re-examination.
Xiao Dong handed me the report. I looked it over; it seemed quite thorough. The cause of death for both was a ruptured heart. Liu Dahai died while lying on the ground, and Huang Yaxian died while standing. Both had ruptured hearts. There were also spray patterns of blood on the walls and cabinets. The murder weapon was a fruit knife.
"Regarding the weapon used to attack Liu Yuning, I compared it with the photos. Although the wound might have been affected during treatment, I managed to determine it was a wrench."
"Understood!" I had personally seen the wound on Yuning's side, and it matched the photo in the report. For now, I needed to re-examine Liu Dahai's body. After completing the basic work, I found that most of the circumstances were as stated in Xiao Dong's report.
However, when I re-examined using the shadowless reflection tube, I discovered a faint infant's handprint in the center of Liu Dahai's chest. I had initially thought there was no handprint on him, but it turned out to be hidden in this spot.
I informed everyone of my discovery. Xiao Dong didn't believe it at first, but when he picked up my shadowless reflection tube to look, he exclaimed in surprise, "How is this possible? It seems ordinary techniques couldn't detect it. Team leader, it's fortunate we have your coroner's tools!"