Chapter 3 There is always someone behind your back, rushing for your fate

  Lu Zhong and Du Xiaohu had just ridden out of the county bureau's courtyard and turned a corner when a green jeep drove past them, honking its horn twice, startling Lu Zhong and Du Xiaohu.

  "Lao Gao is getting crazier and crazier! What a thing, shouting and yelling, if it were on the battlefield, I guarantee he'd be pissing his pants!" Du Xiaohu said with hatred.

  Lu Zhong smiled and said: "Let him be arrogant, the clear wind sweeps the mountain ridge." In fact, Lu Zhong had already noticed Gao Zhikai and Zhao Hongxia walking behind them when they went downstairs.

  Du Xiaohu was puzzled in his heart, it seemed that Brother Zhēng had suddenly lost his temper, and was neither hot nor cold, completely different from before.

  "Are we really going to Li Weijun's house?" Du Xiaohu asked, pedaling hard to keep up with Lu Zhong. A strong gust of wind blew directly into his face, blowing a mouthful of yellow sand into his mouth. Du Xiaohu involuntarily spat and cursed, "It's all because of Lao Gao's car stirring up the dust!"

  Lu Zhong couldn't help but laugh at his awkward state, and after laughing twice, said: "I want to get to know Li Weijun better."

  Du Xiaohu didn't understand, what was there to understand about someone being fierce, but he also didn't ask much, whatever Lu Zhong said, he would do.

  "Hu Zi, do you think Li Wei Jun looks like the real culprit?" Lu Zhong suddenly asked languidly.

  Du Xiaohu shook his head and said, "I don't know."

  Lu Zhong nodded slightly, yes, whether Li Weijun was the real murderer or not, let alone Du Xiaohu, even he himself didn't have a grasp on it. In the past life, Li Weijun would soon be sentenced to death and after his execution by firing squad, it seemed that similar cases no longer occurred in Guangning.

  It's just that I suspect the real culprit might be someone else. Although Li Weijun is a butcher at a food company, matching the characteristics of the killer described by the task force for this dismemberment case: "All victims are female, with signs of rape and murder, and some limbs were cut into pieces and cooked, the perpetrator's methods are cruel, and they have some knowledge of anatomy, suspected to be an unmarried male, possibly working in the medical or butchering industries."

  Li Weijun happened to be single and a butcher, matching the characteristics of the murderer. In his home, underwear belonging to the third victim was found, and in the gaps between the floor tiles, unidentifiable bloodstains were still visible. On the surface, the evidence seemed to be conclusive.

  However, when Li Weijun was first caught, he refused to admit that he had killed anyone. During the interrogation, he claimed that the victim's underwear was stolen by him because he was curious about women's underwear. Later on, it is unclear how he ended up confessing to murder. A few days ago, Lu Zhong went to see him and found that he was in a daze, clearly having been subjected to torture and cruel mistreatment.

  Lu Zhong actually has some admiration for his 20-year-old self. After all, his current self should be an uncultured roughneck, and his knowledge was self-taught after he went into business later on. But even now, he insists that the case has too many suspicious points, and he is not being unreasonable or picking a fight with Gao Zhikai.

  Torture to extract confessions, because nowadays the detective techniques are monotonous, and it seems that torture is an indispensable process. Moreover, many cases were solved and cannot be denied that this ancient but barbaric method played a huge role.

  So, although the confession obtained through torture is not very credible, it's not the fundamental reason why Lu Zhen doubts this case.

  More than 20 years ago, I just vaguely felt that the case was closed too hastily. Now that I've been reborn and come back to look at it again, this case has too many suspicious points.

  Firstly, the characteristics of the murderer are not scientific, the circle is too small, and it does not take into account the diversity of modern people's mental states. Secondly, with current technical means, even after many days have passed, it is impossible to detect whether there is mixed blood in the bloodstains found at Li Weijun's home, let alone whose blood it is. Thirdly, although the family members of the third victim firmly deny that the victim had lost their underwear, it cannot be ruled out that the victim may have had a traditional mindset and not told others about losing their underwear, which would be a normal thing to do.

  So these evidences can't be called evidences at all.

  But to overturn a case that is about to be settled, the impact of this case is so bad, the county's main leaders are urging for progress every day, it's too difficult to overturn such a case.

  Lu Zhong had no leads for the time being, so he thought of going to the suspect's home to take a look and see if there were any clues.

  Li Weijun is an employee of the county business bureau's food company, living in the family quarters of the food company, a row of bungalows. However, Li Weijun's small single room has been sealed off. Lu Zheng and Du Xiaohu arrived at No. 3 house, where Li Weijun's parents live.

  Li Weijun's parents were both employees of a food company. His father died early, and Li Weijun took over his father's job. His mother, surnamed Zhang, looked like she was in her 40s but had a worn-out face.

  When Lu Zhong and Xiao Du took out their police badges, Zhang Danni didn't react at all, still sitting on the bed with her legs crossed, staring blankly. The person sitting next to her poked her and whispered a few words in her ear, and she suddenly jolted awake, looked at Lu Zhong, then struggled off the bed and knelt down in front of him, actually wanting to kowtow to him, repeating over and over: "Please save my son, please save my son, he wouldn't kill anyone, he's a good kid, he wouldn't kill anyone..."

  The house was packed with people, all of whom were Zhang Dama's relatives who came to keep her company. For the past few days, Zhang Dama had not eaten or drunk anything and had not slept a wink, which made her relatives very worried.

  The young woman who was whispering to Mrs. Zhang's ear is her sister-in-law, Deng Cuifen. She said to Mrs. Zhang, "If you think Xiaojun is innocent, quickly tell the others." But unexpectedly, Mrs. Zhang put on such an act that Deng Cuifen was both supporting Mrs. Zhang and wiping away tears, thinking that her sister-in-law's fate was truly too bitter. Her sister-in-law was not old, but a few years ago, her husband had suddenly passed away, and now she had to send off their only son, and it was a case of "black-haired person sending off black-haired person". Fate was indeed cruel.

  Deng Cuifen's lover, Li Weijun's uncle Li Xiangyang, was by her side, sighing and lamenting the fate of his brother's family. Although he had some status in Guangning, he couldn't help at all with this matter.

  Zhang's wife knelt down, looking at Zhang's dazed expression, Lu Zhong also felt a bit uncomfortable in his heart. If it was really a miscarriage of justice, then it would be a life lost, and many people would be worried about the fate of this person who might be executed by firing squad. This person who might be executed is not an isolated individual. If this trial was a mistake, then the one who suffered harm would not just be Li Weijun alone.

  Lu Zhong couldn't help but think of his past life, when he was imprisoned and had family, friends, and brothers who shed tears and blood for him on the outside.

  Lu Zhong suddenly thought of his adoptive parents, his past self was too extreme, now he should know what it means to be magnanimous, although they were not good to him, every day he had to go hungry and work like an adult to earn work points, but after all, they still raised him, once this case is over, he will go visit them.

  Especially the stepmother, in fact, she still loves her own, but at home, she has no right to speak.

  Lu Zhong and Li Weijun's relatives chatted briefly, of course, without finding any results with clues. Li Weijun's relatives all said that he was sensible, timid, and not fond of speaking out, even if he suffered losses, he would always hold it in his heart.

  But Lu Zhong couldn't help but feel even more disappointed, these personality traits were precisely the common characteristics of many abnormal murderers in history.

  Lu Zhong and Du Xiaohu bid farewell, Li Weijun's uncle Li Xiangyang sent them out. Li Xiangyang was the deputy director of the county propaganda department and the director of the county radio and television bureau, wearing a gray Lenin suit with a pen in his breast pocket, his hair combed neatly, looking very dignified.

  Lu Zhong had also heard of Li Xiangyang before, because the county TV station was a big deal and Li Xiangyang was the leader.

  However, the current officialdom relationship is not so complicated. In his nephew's case, he has no special privileges. Even some small news about the progress of his nephew's case will not be revealed to him.

  Lu Zhong also thought that if it were 10 or 20 years later, not to mention other things, just based on the relationship of Gao Zhi Kai's lover Zhao Hongxia working at the TV station, as the highest leader of the county TV station, Li Xiangyang would have known something about his nephew's situation, and wouldn't be so lost and helpless like now, without even knowing whether his nephew was alive or dead.

  Moreover, Li Xiangyang might be worried that his nephew's case would affect his career advancement. Currently, the promotion of cadres still places great emphasis on family background. Having a nephew who is a murderer would have a very bad influence.

  Looking at Li Xiangyang's sighs and groans, perhaps it's not just because of his nephew.

  When Lu Zhong and Du Xiaohu arrived at the entrance of the alley, Li Xiangyang looked around and hesitated, then asked Lu Zhong tentatively: "Comrade Lu, has it been decided that my younger brother is to be executed?"

  Lu Zhong made an expression of being at a loss for words.

  Li Xiangyang immediately said in a row: "I know, I know, I shouldn't ask, it's my fault." He was very regretful and had a faint sense of unease. Since his nephew was arrested, this feeling of insecurity has been lingering in his mind every day, as if disaster is about to befall him.

  After shaking hands with Li Xiangyang, Lu Zhong went to the homes of those three girls who were killed one after another. However, he didn't knock on the doors or enter the houses, but just observed the environment. After all, if he wanted to ask the families of the victims, it was already recorded in detail in the written records. Moreover, as time passed, going to ask now would not be first-hand information, and it's not as accurate as what's written in the records.

  Du Xiaohu didn't know what Lu Zhong was busy with, he just quietly followed Lu Zhong and didn't dare to disturb his train of thought.

  Back at the county bureau, Lu Zhong didn't sleep all night, took out a map and made marks on it, sometimes thinking deeply, sometimes pacing back and forth in the room.

  The next day, when Ma Yuewu entered the office, he was almost suffocated by the thick cigarette smoke and coughed repeatedly. He saw Lu Zheng still puffing away on his cigarette while studying a thick stack of documents on his desk. Ma Yuewu frowned and said: "Deputy Director Lu, what are you doing? Can people even enter this room?"

  Lu Zhong, who was immersed in the case, did not respond to him, which made Ma Yuewu feel a wave of annoyance.

  At a little past nine o'clock, Du Xiaohu wandered into the house. He knew that Lu Zhong had been busy all night and was somewhat worried.

  On Lu Zhong's desk, Du Xiaohu saw a huge map, with various marks on it, such as the residence of the first victim, marked "Appendix 1, Appendix 2, Appendix 3..." and so on. Correspondingly, there were thick stacks of materials, "Appendix 1" was located on the same floor as the first victim's neighbor, and the file "Appendix 1" contained the family situation, members, and transcripts of interviews with the members of that neighbor's household.

  Du Xiaohu was also a member of the task force, he flipped through a few pages, his eyes were wide with surprise, "Did you do all this in one night?"

  Lu Zhong has actually been busy for a long time. From ten days ago when he was reborn, Lu Zhong began to complete this massive project. Now without a computer, he can only do it manually.

  Lu Zhong smiled and said, "This is called three-dimensional thinking method, which can stimulate inspiration."

  In his previous life, after leaving the public security team, Lu Zhong would sometimes think of this case. After having access to the internet, he even went to search for similar cases to look at, but still couldn't find any clues. He wasn't a graduate of the public security academy and didn't dare call himself a godly detective. Under the current limited technical conditions, he could only use his brain, hoping to find a breakthrough.

  Du Xiaohu stared at Lu Zhong's results with his eyes wide and mouth agape, saying: "Good guy, awesome, really awesome."

  Lu Zhong said: "I now have some ideas, I'll go back and discuss with Gao Ju."

  At this time, footsteps came from outside, and Old Zhao of the criminal investigation team knocked on the door and walked in, smiling at Lu Zhen: "Deputy Director Lu, the special case group had a meeting this morning and confirmed that there was enough evidence. They are ready to send Li Weijun for trial. Chief Gao asked me to inform you."

  Lu Zhong was taken aback. The task force meeting was held without even notifying him, the deputy leader. But this wasn't the time to think about that. He hastily asked: "Where's Director Gao?"

  Lao Zhao accompanied him with a smile and said, "Go to the county committee, after all, this is a big case. Our public security side has concluded the case, and we must make a report to the county leaders."

  Lu Zhong furrowed his brow. This Gao Zhi Kai was still so reckless and impulsive, didn't he know that this was a matter of human life and should be handled with caution?

  Li Weijun, was he really executed so hastily? Then what's the point of his rebirth? Perhaps, he wasn't reborn in the first place, and the experiences of the past twenty years were just a fleeting dream. Fate is hard to change, Li Weijun would eventually be shot, and I would also be squeezed out of the public security team by Gao Zhikai, and he would make my family fall apart.