soldiers in front

The news that the body of Zhai Xiaofeng's father, Zhai Wengang, was found in Changling Mountain this morning spread like wildfire after Min Chengzhou arrived at Bailu Town Middle School. In just ten minutes, almost all the teachers and students in the school knew the bad news, and rumors spread all over the place. , People's hearts are swaying.

Many students crowded the door of the classroom and office, Zhai Xiaofeng, who was usually very inconspicuous, became a special existence at this time, and every student looked at him differently.At an age that does not yet understand sympathy, these students all looked at Zhai Xiaofeng with innocent and curious eyes that were almost cruel.

Ji Zheng closed the classroom door. In order to prevent naughty students from pushing the door open to peek inside, he stood at the door with his hands on the doorknob, and looked back at Zhai Xiaofeng who was being questioned by Min Chengzhou.

"Zhai Xiaofeng, where did your mother go?"

Min Chengzhou asked.

Zhai Xiaofeng is a thin, fair-skinned, delicate-faced boy. He stands in front of Min Chengzhou with a dazed look on his face, as if he hasn't woken up from the news that his father has died.

He looked at his class teacher and said, "My mother is her, she has gone to grandma's house."

"Where is your grandma's house?"

Zhai Xiaofeng mentioned the name of a Lin county, and Min Chengzhou immediately told his colleagues the whereabouts of Zhai Xiaofeng's mother, then looked at Zhai Xiaofeng and asked, "Do you know that your father hasn't been home for a few days?"

Zhai Xiaofeng blankly looked around between the teacher and the policeman, and said in a low voice, "Mr. Jiang said just now that my father..." In the middle of speaking, the blankness in his eyes suddenly dissipated, and his eyes gradually became clear , the voice suddenly choked up: "My father is dead."

He seems to be stating, but also seems to be asking questions.

Min Chengzhou wanted to ask him further, but seeing Zhai Xiaofeng's appearance, he really couldn't bear it, so he temporarily gave him some time to accept the reality, and said to Teacher Jiang: "Let Zhai Xiaofeng come with me, we need him to cooperate with the investigation."

Teacher Jiang was worried about his students, and proposed to accompany them, and Min Chengzhou graciously agreed.

A group of people walked out of the office one after another, and the corridor was full of students watching the excitement. Teacher Jiang held Zhai Xiaofeng in his arms and walked down the stairs. When he turned the stairs, a student shouted: "Zhai Xiaofeng, your father is dead? !"

Ji Zheng turned his head and saw the tough boy named Liu Changran who had snatched his classmate's basketball just now, lying on the side of the guardrail. There was no cruel joy or innocent curiosity on his face, only a layer of fog.

He stared blankly at Zhai Xiaofeng, his eyes eager to get an answer from him.

Zhai Xiaofeng didn't answer, just lowered his head and wiped away his tears, and walked down.

Ji Zheng walked at the end of the line, frowning tightly, and gave the boy a serious look.

Yan Shen waited in the car for nearly half an hour before he saw Ji Zheng, Min Chengzhou and others come out, accompanied by Teacher Jiang and a boy.

Min Chengzhou wanted to break up with Ji Zheng at the school gate, but Ji Zheng said: "I want to go with you to see."

Min Chengzhou asked, "What are you looking at?"

Ji Zheng glanced at Zhai Xiaofeng, who was standing beside him in a daze, and said, "Aren't you going to the scene of the crime now?"

Min Chengzhou was puzzled: "Why do you—" Before he finished speaking, another plainclothes officer said: "Captain Min, hurry up."

Min Chengzhou could only wave his hands: "Then follow my car."

Ji Zheng returned to the car, turned around and said, "There's something unexpected, I'm going to go to Penang Hill with the police car in front, if you don't want to go..."

Yan Shen touched his chin with great interest and looked at the police car leading the way ahead, interrupting him: "What happened?"

Ji Zheng was silent for a moment, then said: "Murder case."

Yan Shen raised his eyebrows slowly, the interest in his eyes deepened: "Then I'll go over and have a look."

Ji Zheng looked at him from the corner of his eye, and saw on his face the same innocent and cruel curiosity that appeared on the faces of those emotionally immature children.

The flag-raising mountain is next to the rice fields, and there is no road at the foot of the mountain. Ji Zheng parked the car on the side of the cinder-pad dirt road. When he got off the car, he looked at Yan Shen and asked, "Are you going up?"

Yan Shen looked at the muddy mountain road washed by the rain with disgust: "No, I'll wait for you in the car."

Zhai Xiaofeng and Teacher Jiang stayed in the police car, while Min Chengzhou and Ji Zheng climbed up the mountainside in the miscellaneous forest.

"Is this the crime scene?"

Ji Zheng asked.

Min Chengzhou said: "Yes, Zhai Wengang's body is in front."

"Who reported the case?"

"Several local residents who went up the mountain to pick fungus."

"How did Zhai Wengang die?"

Min Chengzhou's face was a little heavy, and he paused for a moment before saying, "You'll know it when you see the corpse."

The scene of the crime was on the hillside of Penang Hill. It rained heavily the day before yesterday, and the vegetation in the mountain was damaged by strong wind and showers. The wet ground was full of scattered leaves and branches, and those man-made traces had long been wiped out under the ravages of wind and rain. not see.A heavy rain the day before yesterday brought great inconvenience to the investigation and evidence collection work of the criminal police on the scene.

Ji Zheng saw more than a dozen criminal police scattered or crouched in the grass groping or taking pictures with cameras.Due to the remote location of the crime scene, the forensic doctor was not accompanying him, and Zhai Wengang's body was lying alone on a stretcher, surrounded by flies.

A criminal policeman was taking notes for the local residents who reported the crime. When he saw Min Chengzhou who had gone and returned, he greeted him: "Team Min."

Min Chengzhou raised his hand to him, and went straight to the stretcher where the corpse was parked on the grass. Ji Zheng followed him closely and stopped in front of the stretcher.Before he got close to the corpse, Ji Zheng could smell the decaying smell of the corpse. When he got closer, he saw that the corpse was already showing putrid emphysema, his whole body was bluish white, bloody and bloody, and it was horrible.

It was the first time for Ji Zheng to face the bloody corpse, and he immediately felt nauseated. He took two steps back and swallowed two breaths before asking Min Chengzhou: "How did he die?"

Min Chengzhou calmly pointed to a two-meter-deep pit next to the corpse, and said, "Look."

Ji Zheng walked to the edge of the pit and looked inside, and saw that the bottom of the pit was covered with a whole plank, with sharp wooden thorns standing on the plank, if someone accidentally fell in, the flesh and blood would definitely pass through the plank Thorns, nailed firmly to the plank.

However, such a sinister trap is obviously not prepared for 'people'.

Min Chengzhou pointed to the surrounding forest and said, "There are wild boars on this mountain, and the locals set up such traps to hunt them."

Ji Zheng suddenly saw obvious torn wounds on the right ankle of the corpse, almost bare bones, broken flesh, and a blood-stained trap was put in a transparent evidence bag and placed on the grass.

"Did the deceased step on the trap first and then fall into the trap?"

Ji Zheng asked.

Min Chengzhou did not answer directly: "The deceased was found in a trap, face down, with multiple blood holes pierced all over his body, and his right foot was caught in a trap." He spoke very strictly, and he would not It is easy to speculate on the course of the incident.

But Ji Zheng felt a little strange from his cautiousness and a series of words and deeds. He walked up to Min Chengzhou and asked after deliberation: "Is it an accidental death?"

Min Chengzhou didn't seem to expect him to ask this question. After all, the deceased was found in a hunting trap. Judging from the scene of the crime, most people would think that the cause of death was that he accidentally stepped on a trap and fell into the trap.But since Ji Zheng asked this question, it means that Ji Zheng may have noticed clues other than abnormal death, otherwise Ji Zheng would not ask him extravagantly.

Min Chengzhou looked at him with interest: "Do you think so?"

Ji Zheng pushed the flat-framed glasses on his face very measuredly, and said with a smile: "Of course I don't know, that's why I asked you."

Ji Zheng treats everyone so gracefully, modestly and politely, so perfect that no one can fault him. Min Chengzhou is also treated like this. At first he felt a little uncomfortable, thinking that Ji Zheng treated him with distance, but later he You know, Ji Zheng treats everyone with a distance.Regardless of whether the relationship is close or distant, Ji Zheng treats them equally, so there is no difference in treatment.So Min Chengzhou has gotten used to Ji Zheng's indifference and defensiveness hidden under his gentleman's appearance.

Ji Zheng had some considerations in his heart. If the deceased died in an accident, then Min Chengzhou would not go to the school to find the deceased's son with such fanfare. There must be something strange about it.

Sure enough, Min Chengzhou waved to him, beckoning him to come closer, then squatted down and turned Zhai Wengang's head to the side, revealing the back of his head: "Did you see it?"

Zhai Wengang's face was badly pierced, blood and thick water dripped all over his head, like a gourd of blood.Ji Zheng resisted the pungent corpse smell, held down the frame of his glasses and took a closer look, only to find a round hole the size of a thumb in the back of Zhai Wengang's head.

He was secretly taken aback, looked at Min Chengzhou and asked in a low voice, "Bullet holes?"

Min Chengzhou straightened Zhai Wengang's head, not wanting to look directly at his too tragic face, so he covered him with a white cloth, and said: "The bullets have been taken out, but there are no guns around. So, you understood?"

Ji Zheng still had doubts: "What happened to the wound on the corpse?"

The smell next to the corpse was very exciting. Min Chengzhou took Ji Zheng's shoulder and walked a few steps to the side: "Since the deceased was shot in the back of the head, he didn't run away. There are two guesses at present, or the deceased accidentally stepped on it while fleeing." until the traps fall into the trap, or the dead are shot and thrown into the trap by the murderer."

Ji Zheng pondered for a moment, shook his head lightly, and said: "It's not right."

"What's wrong?"

he asks.

Ji Zheng said: "The deceased was shot in the back of the head, which means that the murderer shot behind him, or shot from a condescending angle. The second situation you just mentioned; the murderer shot the deceased and threw the body into the trap. The method is nothing more than trying to pretend that the deceased died of an accidental fall, but how can the deceased be shot in the back of the head? If the body is found, the police will definitely find that the deceased was shot in the back of the head. Broke, did the killer overlook that? I don't think it's very likely."

Min Chengzhou thought it made sense, nodded and asked again: "Then what's wrong with the first situation?"

Ji Zheng turned around and pointed to the corpse covered in white cloth, and said: "The deceased's right foot was caught in the trap, and he was nailed face down on the wooden board in the trap. These two points are in line with the fact that the deceased was threatened with death. I accidentally stepped on the trap and fell into the trap." As he said that, Ji Zheng's face darkened, and he frowned: "However, since the deceased has fallen into the trap, his right foot is caught, and there are many places on the front of his body. In such a situation, the deceased cannot save himself, his mouth is pierced by the wooden thorn, and he cannot call for help. If this continues, he will lose blood and die sooner or later."

Ji Zheng paused for a while, and his low tone was like a ray of wind blowing from somewhere in the forest where he couldn't tell the direction: "If I were a murderer, the target I wanted to kill fell into a trap, and I couldn't save myself or call for help. , I will not choose to continue shooting at him, but stand by the pit and wait for his blood to drain from his body before dying. This is a perfect 'accidental death' scene."

He looked at Min Chengzhou and said, "Isn't the reason why you found out that the deceased did not die by accident because the deceased was shot in the back of the head? If the murderer hadn't shot the deceased, would you have closed the case with accidental death? I I suppose it's possible. But the killer shot, don't you think it's superfluous?"

Min Chengzhou looked into his calm and deep eyes and felt chilly in his heart. He paused for a while and said, "Perhaps the murderer didn't think too much about it. He chose to shoot because he wanted to escape from the scene as soon as possible and didn't have time to wait for the deceased to die. shot at the dead."

Ji Zheng thought for a while, but he still didn't quite agree with it, but he didn't continue to argue with Min Chengzhou, and said with a smile: "You still have a point, I just said it casually, and I didn't think comprehensively."

Min Chengzhou looked at him helplessly and shook his head and smiled: "You have thought comprehensively enough, and your analysis is sound. Fortunately, the murderer I am looking for today is not you."

The last sentence, he said unintentionally, but it was resounding in Ji Zheng's ears.

Ji Zheng's heart sank suddenly, with a faint smile still on his face, he changed the topic lightly: "Then why did you start investigating from Zhai Xiaofeng's mother?"

Min Chengzhou first yelled at the criminal police: "The team will be closed soon, and the body will be sent to the town police station first."

The detectives answered him sparsely.

Min Chengzhou and Ji Zheng went back along the road up the mountain, and said on the way: "The bullet in the back of Zhai Wengang's head has been taken out, it is a shotgun bullet. We checked with the local police station, and there are only three shotguns in this town. The other two people had alibi, so the suspicion fell on Zhai Wengang’s own home. And when we found Zhai Wengang, we found a rose in his coat pocket.”

Ji Zheng also felt suspicious: "Rose? What else is there besides roses?"

"There is a branch of flowers in the left pocket, and a tuft of ginger hair in the right pocket. It is not yet known whether it is artificial fiber hair or animal hair."

The last doubt was back to the rose, Ji Zheng thought for a moment, and said: "The flower may be for giving away."

Min Chengzhou said: "Since it is for sending someone away, there are two kinds of people, one is sending his own wife, or the other is giving away a woman. I am currently more inclined to the latter, because we have learned that Zhai Wengang and his wife Chen Jiazhi have a very close relationship. Not good, and Zhai Wengang's reputation is not good, rumors that he is looking for women outside have been circulating in the town for a long time."

"So you suspect that Zhai Wengang died of love?"

"It's possible, it's an investigation direction."

Ji Zheng doesn't need to ask any more questions. The murderer who caused Zhai Wengang's death in love may be Chen Jiazhi, Zhai Wengang's wife, who left home without reason on the day of Zhai Wengang's death.

Zhai Wengang's son, Zhai Xiaofeng, was still waiting in the police car accompanied by his teacher, but Ji Zheng was unable to be present when he questioned the victim's family, so he returned to his car.

Yan Shen who said he was waiting for him in the car just now was not in the car, Ji Zheng closed the car door and was hesitating whether to call Yan Shen, Yan Shen’s message arrived one step ahead, only a few words - I am going back to the hotel .

After reading it, Ji Zheng didn't reply. He put his phone aside and looked at the police car ahead.

About ten minutes later, Min Chengzhou got out of the police car, went to Ji Zheng's car and knocked on the window.

Ji Zheng lowered the car window and asked him: "What's the matter?"

Min Chengzhou laughed: "You still ask me, what else do you need? Why don't you leave?"

Ji Zheng smiled and said, "Aren't you going to visit the deceased's house?"

"What? You still want to go with me?"

"I won't get in your way."

"Okay, okay, it seems that I can't get rid of you today."