Seeing the crime scene flashbacks made me the darling of the police station.

Chapter 97 The Same Modus Operandi

"Team Leader Zhuang." Ji Sheng stepped forward and greeted him.

Zhuang Yanzheng glanced at him: "President Ji is here too."

"I'm here to visit relatives." Ji Sheng handed him a cigarette.

"I've quit," Zhuang Yanzheng said.

"It's good that you quit. There's no benefit to smoking too much anyway." Ji Sheng put the cigarette away.

Su Miaoyi walked behind them, and Ge Yu held her arm and whispered, "Isn't this the one from the Municipal Bureau?"

Su Miaoyi nodded: "Yes."

"Why is he here?" Ge Yu whispered. "Could it be a big case?"

Zhuang Yanzheng heard them talking and glanced back.

Ge Yu immediately fell silent.

Su Miaoyi and he exchanged a glance.

Zhuang Yanzheng didn't say anything and turned his head away again.

Ji Sheng glanced at them from the side, a question lingering in his mind.

Cai Qinglian kept saying that the Cai family's affairs were related to Su Miaoyi, and that after she took Cai Xi to see Su Miaoyi at the pet hospital, her brother and nephew were arrested.

Do Su Miaoyi and Zhuang Yanzheng really know each other?
The relationship seems to be more than just ordinary.

"Captain Zhuang?" Cai Qinglian, who had been in the room the whole time, was surprised to see Zhuang Yanzheng come in.

"Madam Ji," Zhuang Yanzheng greeted her.

"Please sit down, please sit down." Auntie San offered her a seat.

"It's alright, we won't sit down. We'll just ask some questions," said the policeman behind them.

“Then sit down and ask,” Auntie said. “We don’t have anything to do, so why can’t we sit down? You’ll all be busy in a little while, so please sit down.”

"Here's some hot tea. If you don't like tea, here's some hot water." My aunt brought in the tea. "Warm yourself up."

"Thank you," Zhuang Yanzheng said. "Don't bother, we just have a few questions."

"Okay, our whole family is here, go ahead and ask."

"Who is the homeowner?" the police officer asked.

Cheng Yong said, "It's me. This house belonged to my parents. After they passed away, the house was transferred to me."

Are you usually at home?

“No, we just came back for the Chinese New Year,” Cheng Yong said.

"The house next door has been abandoned for many years. Do you know who lived there before?"

"We were very familiar with home when we were little, but we don't come back much anymore after we grew up, so we can't really call ourselves familiar with it anymore."

As the two policemen questioned him, Zhuang Yanzheng drank the tea his aunt had poured for him in one gulp, said a few words to the two policemen, and then left.

Su Miaoyi pulled Cheng Jue, a tall man, towards the door to block the view from inside, and then followed him out.

Ji Sheng looked over.

Cheng Jue straightened his body and stood in the doorway, blocking his view.

Ji Sheng looked at him: "."

Once outside, Zhuang Yanzheng gave Su Miaoyi the gloves and shoe covers.

As Su Miaoyi put on her gloves and walked out with him, she asked, "Why did you come here?"

“This modus operandi is very similar to the case from five years ago,” Zhuang Yanzheng said.

“Five years.” Su Miaoyi exclaimed in surprise.

Five years ago, that's been so long.

“There used to be a bachelor living next door, but he’s been gone for seven or eight years, and the house has been abandoned ever since.” Su Miaoyi put on a mask and walked to the door next door. “People in the village are all moving to the city, and there are fewer and fewer people in the village. Many houses are empty and no one is buying them.”

The entrance was also cordoned off.

As time passed and the weather grew colder, the onlookers gradually went home.

There were only a few people around.

The police are asking questions.

Su Miaoyi went directly into the neighboring courtyard.

Yan Cheng and Qi Feng were in the cellar. Zhuang Yanzheng asked Qi Feng to come up, while he and Su Miaoyi went down.

Yan Cheng is inspecting.

Su Miaoyi looked at the pelvis of the white bones on the ground; it was male.

It was completely skeletal, making it difficult to determine how many years it had been dead.

The number of bones is incomplete.

Moreover, the environment inside the cellar was not very good.

When it's hot, it must have been soaked in water. Although the cellar is covered, it's no longer airtight, and snowflakes have drifted in, let alone during the rainy season.

Year after year, some bones have broken off, and the DNA may have even become invalid.

It must have been partially buried by soil, which Yan Cheng has cleared away.

Some have more soil on top, while others have less.

Aside from those nailed to the ground, the rest are probably scattered everywhere.

Yan Cheng laid them all out.

Zhuang Yanzheng stood to the side with the survey light on.

Su Miaoyi also squatted down to take a look.

The skeletal hands were nailed to the ground with iron nails.

A nail was also driven into the center of the forehead on the skull.

"There's a notch in his ribs," Yan Cheng measured. "He must have been stabbed here. The cause of death is currently undetermined. This notch in the ribs is right where the heart was, and there were also nails in the skull; both could have been fatal."

However, in general, one would first be stabbed in the chest, and then nails would be driven into the chest.

However, so much time has passed that many traces have disappeared, and the information we have now is quite limited.

"And your age?" Zhuang Yanzheng asked.

Su Miaoyi took a liking to the teeth on the skull.

Some parts have broken off and disappeared. Only half of the top remains.

Zhuang Yanzheng brought the survey lamp closer, and Yan Cheng observed it carefully: "He was between forty-six and fifty years old when he died."

Su Miaoyi touched the notch in her ribcage, lingered there for a moment, and then touched the nail on her skull.

Zhuang Yanzheng and Yan Cheng both held their breath and stared at her.

Su Miaoyi shook her head: "I didn't see anything."

Zhuang Yanzheng and Yan Cheng then looked at the skeleton.

Su Miaoyi got up and looked around. No one had been here for a long time. Even if there were some traces from back then, they had long since disappeared.

"Is there any superstition surrounding nailing a corpse?" Su Miaoyi asked.

Zhuang Yanzheng held an investigation lamp in one hand and shone it on the skeleton, while shining a flashlight around in the other: "There is a folk saying that if you nail two three-inch-long black nails to your hands and another longer black nail to your forehead, you can bind the ghost."

Su Miaoyi looked at Zhuang Yanzheng.

Zhuang Yanzheng said, "In this way, those wronged souls will not come to seek revenge, nor will they be reincarnated. They may even be scattered and never be able to be reborn."

Su Miaoyi frowned: "What kind of deep-seated hatred is this, killing someone and then wanting to nail their soul?"

Yan Cheng said, "Perhaps they have something to hide and are afraid of being confronted."

Su Miaoyi nodded: "Was the case five years ago similar?"

"Mmm." Zhuang Yanzheng and Yan Cheng both hummed in agreement.

After the other person agreed, they waited for the other person to continue, and then neither of them spoke.

Su Miaoyi looked at the two of them: "You two have been together for five years."

"What are you saying?" Zhuang Yanzheng frowned.

Yan Cheng: "."

Su Miaoyi opened her mouth: "What I mean is, you two started working together five years ago?"

"Mm." Yan Cheng nodded.

Zhuang Yanzheng said, "There were two cases five years ago, one three years ago, and this one was discovered today. They all used the same modus operandi. And with today's case, they were buried in the four directions of Jinghai: east, west, south, and north."

(End of this chapter)