Reborn in 1995, Criminal Investigation Records

Zhou Yang stared blankly for a moment as he looked at the body that had been carried out of the water tank.

What the hell!

It's July 10, 1995. The model case is still in its final stages, and now there's a new murder case. Most importantly, after searching my memory, I can't find any trace of this case in my previous life.

Zhou Yang couldn't help but wonder if his rebirth was just a joke.

The Deng Fangfang case has taken a turn for the worse.

He wouldn't have remembered the case of the human body model if he hadn't been there in person.

Now, it's strange that I have absolutely no recollection of such a case that should have caused widespread panic.

Unless it was a past life, this case probably never happened!

Seeing that no one was on the water tank shelf, Zhou Yang put on his shoe covers and stepped onto it.

The water tank is very large, much like an enlarged version of the wheat circle that used to be found in rural areas, and is surrounded by painted steel curved ladders.

"Around 500 households, more than 200, less than 300 cubic meters!" Wang Chao, standing to one side, exclaimed.

Zhou Yang peeked inside, then quickly pulled away, feeling a chill run down his spine—it was dark, deep, and cold!

"Is this killer crazy?!" Wang Chao slowly squatted down. "Other people's bodies are afraid of being discovered, but he's afraid of not being discovered, so he dumped it in a spot like this!"

No wonder he was angry. Compared to the case, they now have an extra task: to appease the residents of the community. It's okay now, but I estimate that the whole community will be in an uproar in less than half a day.

If about 500 households used water in the morning, they would have essentially been drinking water that had been used to soak corpses. You can imagine how much of an impact this news would have on the residents. At that point, all the pressure would fall back on the police.

Zhou Yang gave a wry smile. He knew he was in a difficult situation. He seemed to be channeling Conan. He had only been back for a few days, and this was already the third case in Ning'an.

Shaking his head to dismiss those useless thoughts, he focused his attention on the water reservoir lid next to him.

This type of water tank is relatively large and is not a single, integral cover. Instead, it consists of an 80*80cm steel plate cover and two round covers with a diameter of 60mm.

The purpose is to facilitate opening and inspecting the interior in sections, rather than requiring the entire top cover of the water tank to be moved.

An 80cm steel plate is called the main inspection hole, and two 60cm holes are called spare holes.

The square steel cover weighs about 120 kilograms, and the two spare covers weigh about 40-50 kilograms each.

"Excuse me!" As the two were talking, the tracers came over and began to extract traces from the three lids. Zhou Yang's eyes followed their movements, moving across the lids.

Logically speaking, whether it was suicide or homicide, whether it was voluntary or the body was dumped, there would inevitably be some traces left on the lid, making it almost impossible to completely hollow out the water tank.

If he jumped while still alive, that's one thing; but if he was thrown away after death, there should be more clues.

Some people think that a person weighs only a hundred or so pounds, so whether they are alive or dead, it doesn't matter how they are treated. In fact, this idea is wrong, and very wrong.

Dealing with a corpse of the same weight is far more complicated than moving a 120-kilogram living person.

First, the body is stiff and the joints are loose, which is what we often call drooping.

Secondly, it is prone to tearing or peeling because the skin and muscles become brittle.

Finally, there are natural orifices such as the mouth, nose, and anus, from which liquids and feces will flow. If they decompose, they will also produce putrid liquids and gases that are unbearable.

These are already extremely difficult, not to mention the psychological and legal pressures, as well as the exponentially increasing human and time costs.

Therefore, killing someone and then disposing of the body is very troublesome.

These circumstances mean that unless the murderer lingered there for an extended period to clean up the scene and remove all traces, they would inevitably leave clues, which would play a crucial role in solving the case.

After glancing at the still-busy technical team, Zhou Yang and Wang Chao decided to conduct a brief interview with the person who reported the case first.

The bodies were discovered by two plumbers and electricians in the residential complex. In 95, there was no concept of property management, and these people were employees of the complex's developer or homeowners.

Thus, the scene at the beginning where the electrician went up to the roof to inspect the building came about.

"Is he alright?" Zhou Yang asked, looking at the young man who was still shivering.

"It's alright, he was just scared. To be honest, I was startled too, but I'm okay. I saw him trembling and unable to speak, so I was somewhat prepared!" another plumber said, also feeling quite shaken, and let out a few long breaths.

"Do you have security guards patrolling at night?" Zhou Yang had barely asked the question when he realized something was wrong. Sure enough, before the two young men could reply, Wang Chao nudged him with his elbow.

"What security guards? Before, we also had some active members of the public security force, and occasionally members of the joint defense team would pass by on the main road..."

"How long have you two been working here? Is there anyone else who can get close to that water storage tank?" Wang Chao asked, looking up as he held his notebook.

"It's been almost half a year, and that passage has been locked. Last week, when we were cleaning it, the lock broke, so we were thinking of getting a replacement in the next couple of days..." the plumber said with a sigh.

Who knew that after just three days of not locking the door, a corpse would be found inside? How can anyone explain this?

"Where is the lock?" Zhou Yang interrupted the other person.

The man glanced at Wang Chao, then at Zhou Yang, before replying, "We took it back to the tool shed and repaired it, but found it completely unusable before buying a new one!"

The group rushed to the tool shed, a small room of less than ten square meters, somewhat like a storage room, but they couldn't find the lock no matter what they did.

"That's strange. It was clearly placed here. Look, the key is still here, so why is the lock gone?" The plumber pointed to the three keys hanging to the side, strung on a red string.

"Besides the two of you, who else can come in here and has the key?" Wang Chao realized something was wrong and opened his notebook to ask.

"Ah!" The plumber's mouth gaped slightly. "Anyone working for our community can come in, including if a resident comes in to borrow tools or something. If no one's around, they can take it themselves and put it back when they're done!"

This is problematic; the personnel are too diverse.

"Do you remember when you last saw this lock?"

Seeing the expectant looks in their eyes, the plumber slowly shook his head: "I don't remember, I didn't notice!"

"You just said you fixed that lock, so tell us how it broke?" Zhou Yang stopped the plumber who was about to search again.

"Oh, it was fine when we opened it, but after cleaning it and trying to lock it, we found that it wouldn't lock no matter what we did, so I took it back. It must be a problem with the retaining spring; it's not locking properly."

......

"By the way, could you give me a list of your staff? I need to take it back to the station!" Zhou Yang finished asking his questions and, seeing that Wang Chao didn't seem to have anything else in mind, prepared to leave.

"Ah, this..."

"What's wrong? Is there a problem?" Wang Chao looked at the other person scratching his head repeatedly, a hint of confusion on his face.

"No problem, of course, no difficulty!" A hoarse voice rang out, and a man in his thirties or forties, wearing a white shirt, stood at the door of the tool shed: "Xiao Ding, get the two officers a copy of our list!"

"Huh?" The young man named Xiao Ding, who had been answering questions from Zhou Yang and the other man, looked up with a surprised expression.