Reborn in 1995, Criminal Investigation Records

The team called back quickly. The other party was at work as usual today and had not asked for leave. They also gave the two of them their address.

Zhou Yang and Wang Chao then drove straight to the address that Lao Liu had registered with the sanitation department.

This was a place resembling a rural-urban fringe area. The two parked their car outside and followed the address to a courtyard.

"Look there!" Following Wang Chao's gaze, Zhou Yang saw the metal garbage truck parked next to the dilapidated courtyard wall.

As Zhou Yang approached the courtyard wall, he heard some noises inside, indicating that someone was home.

Wang Chao gave Zhou Yang a look, then stepped forward and knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" a young voice came from the courtyard.

Are there others?

"Is Grandpa Liu here? We need to talk to him about something!" Zhou Yang replied.

"They're here!" Two large gray doors opened, and a young man who looked to be in his early twenties stood in the doorway, sizing up the two of them.

"Are you Grandpa Liu's?" Zhou Yang asked, looking at the other person.

"He's my dad!" the young man said with a shy smile.

"Hey kid, who are you talking to?" A white-haired, dark-skinned old man wearing a robe walked out of the house, looking to be about sixty years old.

"I'm looking for you. Also, don't call me that anymore, I have a name!" After saying that, the young man went back into the house.

"Hehe..." The old man scratched his head with his dark hands: "The child has grown up and has his own ideas, but I'm used to calling him that. I have to change it, I absolutely have to change it."

"Uncle Liu, you haven't finished get off work yet, why are you pushing your cart back?" Zhou Yang found a small stool and placed it behind the old man, asking with a smile.

"Are you from the sanitation department?" Old Liu asked, his face showing both wariness and nervousness.

"No, don't worry, sir, that's not why we're here. What time did you come back from Xiangjiang Square today?" Zhou Yang shook his head and continued to ask.

"It's...it's about that..." the old man said, a look of fear in his eyes. "I saw a dead body, I was scared, so I came back early. What happened? Was the place crowded and dirty? I'll clean it up right away. Actually, thinking about it after coming back, there's nothing to be afraid of. I'll go now..."

As he spoke, Old Liu put on the clothes he was wearing and prepared to go back into the house to get his things.

"Grandpa, we know you're not afraid, but don't worry, that place is cordoned off by the police. Even if you go there now, you can't clean it up. We're just here to ask you a few questions!" Zhou Yang reassured the old man.

A soft sound rang out in the room where the man had just entered. Zhou Yang gave Wang Chao a wink.

"Sir, have you encountered any strange people or things in the square these past few days?" Zhou Yang didn't immediately ask if the other person had seen the person who dumped the body today.

It's obvious that the old man was frightened by what happened today. If you ask him directly right away, it's easy to get some inaccurate information.

"Strange things and people?" Old Liu frowned, recalling for a long time. "How did you find my land? Will the sanitation department give me trouble and deduct my wages?"

Wang Chao walked back and shook his head at Zhou Yang.

"Sir, you're assisting the police. If you provide us with valuable information, we'll send a banner to your sanitation department, and maybe even a bonus. Think back to that!" It has to be admitted that Wang Chao's words were more effective than Zhou Yang's.

After listening, Old Liu pondered for a moment, and a look of reminiscence appeared in his eyes.

"What constitutes a valuable clue? Does it mean there are more cigarette butts?" Old Liu scratched his head, genuinely unsure what a valuable clue was.

"How much more? How much more?" Zhou Yang encouraged the other party to continue.

"Normally, for someone like me who works a full-day shift, I usually do a final check before leaving get off work at 8 pm. Then, before 8 am, I go to the square. It's just some leaves and things that have been blown in by the wind at night, so it's usually not that dirty."

But these past few days, every morning when I go there, there's a huge pile of cigarette butts. I'd guess at least one or two packs.

As Lao Liu spoke, he looked at the two of them with anticipation, his eyes clearly asking, "Is this a valuable clue?"

"Sir, do you remember what brand of cigarettes they were? Did you pick up a few?" Currently, DNA technology is probably only used by the provincial department. However, if fingerprints can be extracted from them, they can be preserved as evidence first. If all else fails, we can try to find help from the provincial department as a last resort.

Old Liu blushed and said, "It's all gone. I even smoked it all up in my mouth, so I just swept it away and threw it away! It's the kind of Baicheng cigarettes I usually smoke."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yang knew that Old Liu was lying. If they had simply swept them all up and thrown them away, then there would have been no need for the earlier emphasis.

So it's highly likely that yes, I picked up some that weren't completely cleaned.

"Grandpa, we won't laugh at you. This is a very common matter. If your evidence is accepted in the end, the bonus is definitely in order!" Zhou Yang put his newly learned approach to the test, using Wang Chao's method, which immediately excited the old man.

"Wait here, you all wait here, I'll go look for it... see if I can find it!" Old Liu said, quickly got up, and headed straight for the house.

Zhou and Yang exchanged a glance. They both thought it was a sure thing, but nearly two minutes passed and the other party still hadn't come out.

There must have been some problems.

as predicted.

"Brother Bie, Brother Bie... did you touch those cigarette butts I picked up? I can't find them." Old Liu's voice was muffled, as if he was searching somewhere.

"I told you not to call me that anymore. I threw it away. Smoking is bad. Besides, do you know if they have any infectious diseases..." Upon hearing this voice, Zhou Yang's expression changed. He couldn't care less about anything else and rushed into the house.

......

"Where did you throw it?" Wang Chao asked the young man, his face showing some anxiety.

Although Wang Chao didn't know if the cigarette butt clue was useful, judging from Zhou Yang's expression, he felt it was probably useful; otherwise, the other party wouldn't be so nervous.

"It's in that garbage dump at the village entrance..." The young man didn't think he had done anything wrong, but he was still a little nervous under the other party's intimidation.

"Take us there!" Wang Chao grabbed the other man, but Old Liu quickly stepped in between them: "I'll take you there. The kid is doing this for my own good."

......

Looking at the empty garbage pit, Zhou Yang turned to Old Liu beside him: "Grandpa, do you know where all the garbage from here goes?"

"I know!" Old Liu nodded. "Old Wang, who cleans up the garbage, is also from our sanitation department. He takes it to the south side of the city and burns one batch in the morning and one in the afternoon."

"Both furnaces for today should be finished burning by now!"

"Sir, how long do you usually leave when you pick up cigarette butts?"

Finally, Zhou Yang directly instructed Wang Chao to contact the Municipal Bureau and ask them to inquire whether the garbage hauled away from here today had been burned. If it hadn't been burned, they were told not to burn it yet.

If Wang Chao and I can't find any cigarette butts near the scene, we'll probably search for them.

Wang Chao felt that Zhou Yang was making a mountain out of a molehill.

Because there is currently absolutely no evidence to suggest that the person who smoked that cigarette was the murderer.

But Zhou Yang didn't take it to heart. Because of his past life, he unconsciously viewed this case as an unsolved mystery.

He actually has an understanding of his own abilities, but he can't necessarily do it in practice just by looking at the case files.

But he knew that more than a decade later, DNA and big data would be developed.

Therefore, he had prepared for the worst; even if the case was not solved, he needed to leave as many clues as possible for future generations.

Perhaps one day in the future, a "match successful" message will suddenly appear on the monitor, and then everything I've done will have been worthwhile.

Now, he and Wang Chao are going to take Grandpa Liu to the square to see if they can find any leftover cigarette butts.