??19: Chapter 19: The Simple-Minded Person Goes Out on an Errand and Stumbles Upon a Homicide Case
19: Chapter 19: The Simple-Minded Person Goes Out on an Errand and Stumbles Upon a Homicide Case
Dongfang Capital, Central Ring.
Southeast Walking Street.
This was the area Xia Qianyue was responsible for patrolling, and as a newcor to the Martial Association’s field staff, her job was actually quite relaxed.
To help newcors quickly acclimate to field work, the Martial Association paired each new mber with a seasoned ntor.
Xia Qianyue was now with her senior ntor on the main thoroughfare of the walking street, where the two of them were idling under an umbrella, engaging in what’s colloquially known as ‘slacking off’.
The senior ntor was a woman surnad Wang, in her early forties, slightly plump in stature.
She didn’t look like soone from the Martial Association; she resembled a neighborhood committee aunt more.
Sister Wang glanced at the walking street and then said to Xia Qianyue beside her, “Xia Xia, let
tell you, although it’s a bit tough for those of us on field duty, the workload isn’t that heavy.”
“However, it’s the weekend now, and there’s quite a bit of foot traffic on the walking street.
Keep your eyes peeled and see if there’s anyone acting suspiciously around us—this is peak ti for thieves to strike.”
As Sister Wang spoke, she pointed at a man in a black hoodie, “Especially people who cover their faces like that, pay extra attention.
On such a nice day, yet skulking around, who knows what they’re up to, we need to focus on them.”
Xia Qianyue diligently watched the target until he entered a nearby alley, at which point she turned her attention elsewhere.
“Sister Wang, from your tone, it seems like you’ve caught quite a few bad people, haven’t you?”
“I’ve caught quite a few bad people, mostly petty thieves.
The biggest case I rember involved a couple arguing—the husband almost stabbed his wife to death with a fruit knife.
Fortunately, the neighbors noticed, and we field agents arrived in ti to stop him from committing the act!”
Sister Wang spoke with lingering fear, “Actually, in our kind of work, it’s fine as long as you don’t make mistakes.
Even if you do catch soone, it’s best if they act out first, catching them red-handed.
People nowadays, a lot of them have gone bad.
If you don’t catch them in the act, they won’t admit to anything, and they might even falsely accuse you in return, so rember, even if you really see a thief, you must keep your cool and not act imdiately, understand?”
“Mhm, I understand!” Xia Qianyue didn’t completely grasp the concept, but she obediently nodded anyway.
She knew her ntor must have her reasons for saying so.
“Right!” Sister Wang then turned to her “little apprentice” beside her, “You ntioned earlier that soone was coming to find you, tell Sister Wang, who are they to you?”
Perhaps the task of patrolling the streets was too boring; Sister Wang’s gossiping soul began to burn fiercely.
She herself was married with a happy family life and a son in high school with sowhat poor grades, so she enrolled him in several tutoring classes and planned to have him study hard over the sumr break.
But this was all trivial.
To a middle-aged married woman, the most curious thing was Xia Qianyue, the young junior.
“It’s a friend of mine, not really anyone special to ~” Xia Qianyue’s face turned a shade of red, as she quickly denied it.
“Hehe, you don’t need to be so formal with Sister Wang.
Let
guess, your boyfriend?” Sister Wang had seen it all before; she naturally noticed Xia Qianyue was hiding sothing.
“What boyfriend?
Don’t joke like that, Sister Wang!” Xia Qianyue’s little head bowed down deeply, too shy to look up and respond, like a bashful little kangaroo.
“Co on, tell Sister Wang, where is the lad from?
What does he do?”
“Well, he’s just like , hasn’t quite graduated yet…”
Xia Qianyue had just replied when her phone rang.
She imdiately opened WeChat and quickly saw the ssage from Zhang Wei.
“He’s here!” Xia Qianyue was excited, finally escaping Sister Wang’s prying.
“The young man is here?
Where is he?” Sister Wang also quickly looked around.
Soon enough, a young fellow waved at them and briskly made his way over.
“So, this is the guy, eh?
Hmm…
he looks pretty honest and upright, not the type to be lured away by won.”
Sister Wang looked at the newcor, struggling to co up with appropriate words in her mind.
It was clearly a high EQ way of speaking; if it had been low EQ, it would have ant that the young man seed too bland and unremarkable.
Plain and inconspicuous.
That was Zhang Wei.
“Zhang Wei!”
“Simple-minded person (or silly person)!”
Zhang Wei t up with Xia Qianyue, both of their faces beaming with smiles.
“Zhang Wei, why do you sll like perfu?”
But suddenly, Xia Qianyue’s nose twitched, detecting a scent that made her uneasy.
Zhang Wei quickly sniffed his arm, calmly explaining, “Oh, that?
It might be from the psychologist.
I went to see the doctor today, and she’s a woman.”
Even though Jessica was very pretty and had a big chest, Zhang Wei had only t her once; there was no way anything could happen between them.
“Oh, I see,” Xia Qianyue accepted the explanation without much suspicion.
“Co on, Xia Xia, introduce this young man to Sister Wang.
What’s his story?” Sister Wang imdiately leaned in, ready to dig into every detail about Zhang Wei’s ancestry.
“Sister Wang, what are you talking about?
Zhang Wei and I are just ordinary friends!” Xia Qianyue hastily waved her hands, signaling a misunderstanding.
“Humph, Xia Xia, you really know how to keep things from Sister Wang.
As if I would steal your man!” Sister Wang gave her a look and then turned to Zhang Wei: “Young man, are you and Xia Xia in that kind of relationship?
Don’t deny it; Sister Wang can see through you.
There’s sothing about the way you two look at each other.
You might fool others, but you can’t fool !”
“Sister Wang?” Looking at the extrely gossipy woman in front of him, Zhang Wei felt sowhat uncomfortable.
“Sister Wang, aren’t you supposed to be on duty?
Is it appropriate to keep surrounding
like this?” He quickly changed the subject, seeing Sister Wang’s determined attitude.
“Ha-ha, young man, still playing coy with , Sister Wang?” Sister Wang didn’t care in the slightest and pointed around: “Besides, the street is so peaceful, what big events could possibly happen?
At most, there might be so petty theft.”
“The public security in Dongfang Capital is great; I’m not bragging about it!”
“That’s right, Zhang Wei.
Although I also hope to fight evil and promote justice, the public security in Dongfang Capital is so good that I’ve been on patrol for several days now, and it’s like taking a walk every day,” Sister Wang boasted, and Xia Qianyue imdiately agreed.
Dongfang Capital, as an international tropolis with a population surpassing twenty million, is top-tier.
Yet, despite its size, cri is scarce.
For the field operatives of the Martial Association, it’s hard to say whether this is good or bad.
The upside is, they don’t have to deal with exhausting tasks, and their everyday patrols are as relaxed as Xia Qianyue described—just like taking a stroll every day on the streets.
The downside is, they lack opportunities for achievents.
With no cases to solve, there are no rits to earn, and without rits, there’s no chance for promotion.
Many might end up like Sister Wang, spending their entire careers in field operations.
But for soone like Sister Wang, who lacks ambition, living a stable life and retiring in peace would be quite satisfying.
“Young man, co on and tell
more about you two young people.
There’s nothing much going on right now, and I can snoop around for Old Xia.”
The Old Xia ntioned by Sister Wang is Xia Qianyue’s father.
Xia Qianyue joined the Martial Association largely under his influence.
However, Xia Qianyue’s father is just a grassroots field operative of the Martial Association, much like Sister Wang.
“Sister Wang, what’s there to snoop about?
It’s quite embarrassing…” Xia Qianyue was sowhat overwheld by Sister Wang’s enthusiasm.
Her cheeks were hot and flushed.
“When there’s nothing to do, it gets boring.
Without chatting about sothing, how are we going to get through the day?” Sister Wang sighed repeatedly.
Sotis, the lack of things to do in a safe area can be sad.
“Ah, I really wish we could encounter so situation so we’d have sothing to do!” Xia Qianyue added.
Zhang Wei looked at the two of them and twitched the corner of his mouth, wanting to say sothing.
But just as he was about to speak, sothing unexpected happened.
Bang!
From a building along the walking street ca a strange noise, like the shattering of glass.
Zhang Wei, Xia Qianyue, and Sister Wang turned their attention to the noise and saw a window shatter on an upper floor and a dark figure fall from it.
Thud!
The figure landed on a sunshade of a snack shop below, destroying the chairs underneath, causing a loud commotion.
“Ah, there’s blood!”
“Sobody’s dead, help!”
“Call the Martial Association, quick, call the Martial Association!”
Then, from that spot, screams rose up as people scattered in every direction, and the passersby on the entire street were thrown into chaos.
“Xia Xia, co with !” Sister Wang rushed towards the scene as soon as she saw the commotion.
“Hey, hey, hey, we’re the field operations team.
We’ve found a situation on Southeast Walking Street and request backup…
repeat, we’ve found a situation on Southeast Walking Street and request backup, backup!”
As she sprinted, she pulled out her walkie-talkie and reported to the Martial Association dispatch center.
Zhang Wei hadn’t expected that what they had just called boring would actually turn into a real incident.
Could his words have been a jinx?
Since Xia Qianyue had taken action, he had no choice but to follow.
After running all the way, he followed Xia Qianyue to the snack shop and saw the following scene.
The woman lying on the destroyed parasol and wooden tables and chairs was covered in blood.
Her clothes were already soaked red, she lay facing the sky, eyes wide and face twisted in a ferocious and terrified expression, but it was forever frozen in that mont, because she was dead!
“There’s no wound on the chest, the injury is on the back, so much blood ans she was stabbed in the back while fleeing, and finally broke the apartnt’s glass above…”
Zhang Wei looked up at the shattered glass the woman had hit.
“Simple-minded person, the killer might still be upstairs, it’s been less than 30 seconds since the victim fell, they definitely haven’t gone far!”
Upon hearing this, Xia Qianyue imdiately understood and rushed into the apartnt building.
But soon, she was flummoxed.
Because out of the elevator in the apartnt building, more than a dozen people burst out, and people kept running out from the stairs next to it as well.
Xia Qianyue watched one passerby after another run past her, but she didn’t know what to do.
“Simple-minded person, what are you doing, quickly secure the scene, don’t let these people move, the killer might be mixed in among them!” Zhang Wei, who rushed in, hurriedly reminded.
But it was too late, many people had already dashed out of the apartnt and ran off to God knows where.
Xia Qianyue actually stood there stunned, without saying a word.
“Zhang Wei, I, I think I did sothing wrong…”
It took a while for Xia Qianyue to co to her senses, looking sowhat lost at the entrance to the apartnt.
“Simple-minded person, anyone would panic in this situation!” Zhang Wei could only pat her shoulder as a gesture of comfort.
“Then why didn’t you panic?”
“Uh…”
Zhang Wei didn’t expect Simple-minded person’s focus to be so different, and he was at a loss for words.
It’s not like he could say he had been through every conceivable scenario, could he?
5 minutes later, the people from the Martial Association hurried over and began to seal off the scene.
They set up barricades at the scene and began a thorough search of the entire apartnt, while the forensic identification team began processing the body.
Xia Qianyue, following Sister Wang, stood outside of the scene, responsible for maintaining order.
“Sister Wang, this is a murder case, aren’t we allowed to participate in solving it?!”
“Xia Xia, I know this is a murder case, but we are field agents, and our task is just to maintain the scene, the Serious Cri Team will handle murder cases.”
Xia Qianyue’s eyes kept stealthily glancing at the body, eager to find out what happened, but was stopped by Sister Wang next to her.
She understood the young person’s desire to distinguish herself, but murder cases were not child’s play; they required professionals.
A few more minutes passed, and finally, the Serious Cri Team arrived.
“It’s actually Captain Wu from Team Seven!” Sister Wang, seeing the people from the Serious Cri Team, looked surprised.
“Sister Wang, what about Captain Wu?” Xia Qianyue hurriedly asked.
Sister Wang naturally couldn’t say much, and just chuckled: “Oh, nothing, I just thought it would be soone from Team One or Two, didn’t expect it to be Team Seven…”
This Captain Wu, nad Wu Yong, was from the Martial Association Investigation Departnt Serious Cri Team, leading the seventh squad, composed of four mbers.
In addition to Captain Wu, the other three mbers had also arrived.
They were a gaunt, middle-aged man with a mustache at the corner of his mouth, a dark-skinned girl, and a man with a leopard’s head and fierce appearance.
“So, this is the victim, what’s the situation?”
“The victim was stabbed in the back, with wounds all over the left ribs, lungs, and other vital areas, all fatal injuries, and falling from such a height, there are multiple fractures and contusions throughout the body…”
Captain Wu inquired with the dical examiner and obtained preliminary forensic results.
“Where’s the eye-witness?”
Then, Captain Wu asked the field agents on site.
All eyes turned to Sister Wang and Xia Qianyue, who were in charge of guarding the scene, as well as Zhang Wei who was nearby—they were the first to arrive at the scene and naturally were also the eye-witnesses.
“Take them to the headquarters for registration!” Captain Wu Yong gestured with a sweep of his hand, ordering people to lead Zhang Wei and the others away.
“Old Xing, Ah Ni, Tamu, the three of you co with
upstairs, let’s see what the scene looks like, and if we can find any clues!”
Wu Yong led three team mbers into the first cri scene on the upper floor to begin the investigation.
As for Zhang Wei, since he beca a witness, he could only enter the headquarters with the Martial Association staff.
To tell the truth, it was his first ti at the Martial Association Headquarters, but he’d never imagined it would be because of a murder case.
…
Martial Association, Dongfang Capital Investigation Headquarters.
The Martial Association Building, located in the Inner Ring City Center of Dongfang Capital, was a building that seed inconspicuous but couldn’t be ignored.
The people coming and going here often carried a sharp aura, sothing ordinary people did not possess.
Zhang Wei was taken to the Serious Cri Team of the Investigation Departnt to give his statent.
The one responsible for recording his statent was Old Xing, the assistant captain under Wu Yong, a man whose appearance was also unremarkable, even sowhat sleazy.
“Young man, are you saying that you saw the victim fall from the building?”
“Yes, the cri scene was less than 100 ters away from us, just across a pedestrian path.
At that ti, we heard the sound of glass breaking, then we rushed to the scene imdiately, but unfortunately, there were too many people running out of the apartnt building, and we couldn’t identify the culprit.”
“You’re not a mber of the Martial Association.
Why would you rush to the scene?
Shouldn’t you have escaped as soon as possible when faced with such an incident?”
“Because of Silly…
Oh, I ant my friend wanted to hurry over, and naturally, I could only follow her!”
Zhang Wei said this as he glanced at Xia Qianyue, who was beside him making a statent, “She is an intern field agent of your Martial Association and needed to get to the scene.”
“Hmm, a fine young lady.
It’s her first ti seeing a corpse, yet she was not afraid,” Old Xing nodded and continued, “Then did you see anyone suspicious, or soone with blood on them?”
“There were too many people at the ti; I didn’t notice anything,” Zhang Wei shook his head.
His gaze moved across the Serious Cri Team’s office area and fixated on a clipboard in the corner, where many photographs from the scene were posted.
“Have you found the murder weapon?
It must have been a dagger, right?”
“Yes, it was at the scene, but unfortunately, there were no fingerprints.
The murderer must have been wearing gloves.”
“Then you should be able to retrieve footage from the surveillance caras to see, with so many people at that ti, there should be many caras around the streets.”
“Our people are looking at it now, and if any clues are found, we will be the first to know.”
“That’s good, but have you investigated the victim’s background?
Since this is a murder case, you naturally start with the identity of the victim.”
“You don’t need to tell us that; we’ve already thought of it.
We’ve already contacted the victim’s boyfriend, and he is on his way here.
We…”
As Old Xing spoke, he suddenly felt that sothing wasn’t right.
Am I from the Serious Cri Team or are you the one from the Serious Cri Team?
This kid ca here to make a statent.
Why is he suddenly asking
about the case?
Moreover, the way he inquired reminded him of so prosecutors, causing him to instinctively respond.
Old Xing got annoyed and imdiately warned Zhang Wei, “Kid, stop making trouble here.
I ask, you answer.
Do you understand the rules?”
“Sorry, professional habit,” Zhang Wei hastily apologized, realizing he had asked too much.
He had no choice; when he was defending criminal cases in the past, this was how he interacted with the investigation departnt, and such habits took a while to change.
Zhang Wei’s statent was soon completed; after all, he was just an ordinary civilian, and the Martial Association personnel wouldn’t make things difficult for him.
On the other hand, Xia Qianyue, after completing her statent, was pulled aside by Wu Yong for questioning.
Zhang Wei could only wait nearby, his eyes occasionally stealing glances towards the “clue board” to see how much evidence the Serious Cri Team had collected.
The clues consisted mainly of wounds on the victim’s body, for which the dical examiner had taken many photos that were now posted here.
Besides these, there were very few other clues.
After Xia Qianyue finished being questioned, she ca over to Zhang Wei, her face filled with excitent.
“That was so cool, was that the Serious Cri Team just now?”
Xia Qianyue’s dream was to join the Serious Cri Team as an investigator.
Having had a close encounter with her “idol,” she was extrely thrilled.
“Do you want to solve the case?” Zhang Wei asked subconsciously.
“Of course!
Captain Wu Yong just gave
his contact information.
If I can rember any clues, he asked
to contact him imdiately!”
As Xia Qianyue spoke, her eyes sparkled, clearly harboring so thoughts.
But Zhang Wei knew, having been exposed to the Serious Cri Team, this girl definitely wouldn’t go back to patrolling the streets obediently.
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