Chapter 2 The Crime Scene

  Director Zhao nodded after listening to Yu Xin Yuan's report and turned to Zheng Wei, "Does Leijiang County have anything to say?"

  County Magistrate Tan Gui Shui scanned the room with a serious gaze: "Comrades, on the first day of the new year, I've gathered everyone to hold this meeting because this case is one of the most significant in our county's history since its founding!"

  First, the case is extremely sensitive: the time of occurrence is special, it's on New Year's Eve; the location of occurrence is also special, it happened in our county committee's guesthouse; and the person involved is even more special, a Japanese tycoon who came to our county for inspection. According to the schedule, if everything goes smoothly, today there is a high possibility of formally signing a contract with this Japanese businessman, investing 100 million RMB in our county to build a modern air-jet spinning factory, and all products will be purchased by Japan.

  Comrades, this should be the largest foreign investment project in our county and even in our province at present. Many places are vying for it, and the provincial government has decided to put it in our county, which is a great trust and support for our county! If it can proceed smoothly, it will play a huge role in increasing our county's fiscal revenue and alleviating employment pressure! We feel deeply grieved and indignant about this incident!

  Premier Zhou said: Diplomacy is not a trivial matter! I can tell you that this case has attracted the attention of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Public Security. If this case cannot be solved in time, it may not only lead to diplomatic disputes but also seriously affect the opening-up policy of our county, province, and even the country - this is a counter-revolutionary incident!

  Tan County's tone became higher and higher, his voice also became more and more severe, it can be seen that he was filled with anger and anxiety. Maybe he himself also realized the inappropriateness, his tone softened a bit: "Of course, comrades worked hard during the Spring Festival period, did a lot of work, I represent the county party committee and government to express condolences. According to the provincial party committee's instructions, immediately establish a special case team. Please ask Secretary Xie to announce the list of members of the special case team."

  Xing Shu Zheng Fa Secretary Xie Yuquan took out a red-headed document and stood up: "After research, it was decided to establish the '2.15' special case group, with Comrade Xie Yuquan, Secretary of the Xing Shu Zheng Fa Committee, as the group leader, and Comrades Tan Gui Shui, County Magistrate of Lei Jiang County, and Yu Xin Yuan, Head of the Criminal Investigation Division of the Xing Shu Public Security Bureau, as deputy group leaders. Comrade Yu Xin Yuan is fully responsible for the investigation work of the case.

  During the investigation of the case, Yu Xin Yuan concurrently served as the Director of Leijiang County Public Security Bureau, with the power to mobilize all police forces in Leijiang. Comrade Wang Changming, the original Director of Leijiang County Public Security Bureau, served as a member of the special case group, assisting Comrade Yu Xin Yuan's work and providing all conveniences for the special case group's work, and was responsible for handling affairs outside of the '2.15' special case. The original work of Yu Xin Yuan will be arranged by the Public Security Bureau of Yijiang Administrative Office. Communist Party Committee of Yijiang Administrative Office.

  After Xie Yuquan finished giving orders, everyone's eyes in the room were fixed on Xin Yuan.

  This is a middle-aged man in his fifties, of medium build, with sparse hair mixed with a few strands of silver hair, a "national" character-shaped face, and a pair of eyes full of heroic spirit embedded under thick eyebrows. Due to the recent exhaustion, the eye sockets are deeply sunken, but still sharp and bright, as if they can see through people's hearts.

  He was an orphan, adopted by an old Red Army commander on the march, and grew up in the army camp from a young age. He had a straight figure, neat clothes, and although there were many documents in front of him, they were arranged in an orderly manner. Due to his long-term work in criminal investigation, he had already developed a calm and composed personality. After investigating countless cases of deceit and cunning, he became the silent and taciturn person he is today; after experiencing numerous storms and waves, he became the unflappable person he is now.

  Yu Xinru responded to the gaze of the entire audience, in these gazes, he read out expectation, trust and worry, he knew that another severe test was waiting for him.

  Secretary Xie continued, "As for Comrade Yu Xin Yuan, I won't introduce him much, I'm sure everyone is familiar with him. He's an old detective who has cracked many bizarre cases and was even received by Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou in person. I hope he can make new achievements this time and provide a strong backing for the reform and opening-up! Comrades, don't be burdened, I believe that under the guidance of our superiors, relying on the masses, and deeply investigating the clues, we will surely catch the real culprit soon!"

  He took a sip of water, "Later we'll go to the scene and take another look. I'm announcing one more rule: all participants must keep the case strictly confidential, don't tell your parents or your wife and children, otherwise, it will be handled by military law!" Although he had been retired for 30 years, Secretary Xie still spoke with a military tone.

  After the meeting, a group of people went to the scene where the case was discovered. The scene where the case was discovered is on the second floor of Building 3 of the Municipal Party Committee Guest House.

  The municipal guest house is a three-story small building with three ancient and simple buildings, built in the garden connected to the two big families of Leijiang at that time - Lu Fu and Mei Fu. There are large lawns and tall camphor trees in the garden, and the three dark red villas are hidden among the lush flowers and trees. The winding paths lead to secluded places, the bamboo is dense, and the flowers are like brocade.

  The building is surrounded by a winding short wall, with holes and doors leading to the garden, which has another cave heaven. The three buildings have the same exterior and interior structure, with a protruding middle section, an upper layer of balcony, originally used as a reception hall for leaders at all levels, after the reform and opening up, after comprehensive renovation and decoration, it became the most perfect foreign-related hotel in Leizhou County, open to the outside world.

  The body of the deceased had already been sent to the morgue, but the scene of the crime was still shocking: on the white bed sheet, a large patch of dark red bloodstain, which was very inconsistent with the warm and cozy atmosphere of the whole room. On the bed and beside it, there was a human figure drawn with white chalk, undoubtedly indicating the position of the deceased.

  There was also a bloodstain on the carpet in the room. There were no obvious signs of struggle in the entire room, and there was still vomit in the bathroom. On the table in the room, two wine glasses were placed, each with half a cup of wine left. The wine bottle was placed next to it, printed with Japanese characters: Kikumasamune, Junmaidaiginjo.

  "All of these have undergone fingerprint testing and toxicology tests. There are only the deceased's fingerprints on the wine bottles and glasses." Yu Xin Yuan explained.

  The window was still half open, the velvet curtains swaying back and forth in the cold wind. From the half-open window, you could see that just below the windowsill was a low wall, which was where the murderer had entered the room and escaped from.

  The door next to it opened, and a young and beautiful woman came out. About 30 years old, elegant and refined, with wavy long hair like a waterfall, wearing bright and shiny clothes, completely different from the main color tone of Chinese people's clothing in the early 1980s "black, yellow, gray". She bowed deeply to the crowd at a 90-degree angle, "Arigatou gozaimasu", but no one understood what she said. Seeing that everyone didn't react, the woman spoke again in stiff Mandarin: "Thank you!"

  "Who is she?" Xie Yuquan asked. Tan Gui Shui introduced: "She is the secretary who accompanied Mr. Yamada, a Japanese name called Oshima Michiko".

  "Oh? Captain Yu, have you asked her about the situation?" Xie Yuquan turned to Yu Xin Yuan.

  "Not yet! Because Secretary Oshima doesn't understand Chinese, the Japanese translator of the agency just went back to her hometown for New Year's and is being notified to rush back." Yu Xin Yuan explained.

  "No need to wait!" County Magistrate Tan waved his hand, "We have a ready-made talent here," he looked back and beckoned to the crowd behind him, "Vice County Magistrate Lu, please take on the temporary task of interpreting."

  Deputy County Magistrate Lu walked up upon hearing the noise. He had a clear and gaunt face, was refined and courteous, and stood out from the crowd of officials with his scholarly demeanor. Despite being a scholar, he had taken on a very bold name - Lu Sixia. With a rich family background and innate intelligence, he entered the Western Literature Department of Central University at the age of 16, and before liberation, was the principal of Leijiang Middle School, a well-known figure in Leijiang County. During the "**" period, he also suffered greatly, being sent to the "cowshed" and undergoing labor reform, barely surviving.

  After the 11th Third Plenary Session, he was rehabilitated and reappointed as the principal of Leijiang Middle School. Due to the requirements of "intellectualization, revolutionization, and youthification" of cadres and the purpose of united front work, many departments in the province and city wanted to appoint him to important positions, but he politely declined them all. Finally, as a non-party person and an intellectual, he entered the county government to serve as the deputy county head in charge of culture, education, and health, while also serving as the principal of Leijiang Middle School.

  "Lu County Magistrate, I can only put you in a difficult position!" said Wang Changming, Director of the Leijiang Public Security Bureau with a smile.

  Ruth smiled faintly: "It's okay, fortunately the school is still on winter break and the county government work isn't very busy at the beginning of the year, so I'll fill in temporarily. It's just that I haven't used Japanese for a long time, I don't know if I can handle it. Moreover, Yu and I are 'shed friends', both publicly and privately, I should fully support him!"

  When Lu Sihao mentioned "Sheng You", he emphasized it, and Yu Xin Yuan smiled knowingly. Others might think they were just friends with the county head, but in fact, what Lu Sihao said was about their special experience and friendship of 2 years together in the "cowshed" and 6 years in the labor reform farm.