Criminal Psychology 46
Three Graves 09
Inside the room came the soft sound of rustled paper.
Lin Chen flipped over and thought that the head of his bed was rather dark. Xing Cong Lian was sitting in the shadow, illuminated by a bit of light. He seemed to be reading something, so Lin Chen woke up.
There was another person in the room. Jiang Chao sat in the chair across from Xing Cong Lian, brows furrowed deeply.
He flipped open his cover a bit and sat up.
“Awake?”
Xing Cong Lian’s gaze landed on him, his expression hard to read.
“What time is it?”
“Just past 12.”
Hearting that, Lin Chen did some calculations. They only slept for an hour and a half, Xing Cong Lian might have slept for shorter. Seeing Jiang Chao’s expression, it seems like he had discovered important information, and that’s why he was forced to interrupt their sleep.
“What happened?” He asked.
“Captain Jiang has determined the identities of the three victims.”
“That was fast.”
“One of the victims’ fingerprints were already in the police database, the other two are a student and a worker from Yong Chuan College, so the results came out quickly.” Xing Cong Lian passed two papers from his file to Lin Chen, “Take a look.”
Lin Chen was a bit shocked. This case was under the jurisdiction of a different police team, from a procedural standpoint, it should be improper for them to intervene. However, Xing Cong Lian wasn’t ignorant of the severity of the situation. Seeing Jiang Chao’s appearance, it seems like he really needed their help.
Why?
He lowered his head and began to read the two pages he had.
This case had three victims. In his hands were the profiles of two of them.
Li Sa, male, 28 years old, an only child. After graduating middle school, he left his village to work. Before his death, he was a painter in the Yong Chuan College Logistics Department.
Wang Shi Shi, female, 19 years old, a math major at Yong Chuan College. She was the oldest daughter in her family, with a younger brother. Her family status was high, both parents were lawyers.
Just from looking at their profiles, Li Sa and Wang Shi Shi were far apart in both age and social class. The man was too plain and ordinary, while the woman was as brilliant as jewels. How did these two people cross paths, and what did they do to result in both of them buried under that banyan tree?
Stopping his thoughts there, Lin Chen gently pinched the corner of the paper and turned to look at what was in Xing Cong Lian’s hands.
Then, what’s up with the third victim?
“Just now, you said one of the victims’ fingerprints was in the police database. Whose was it?” Lin Chen asked.
Xing Cong Lian specifically mentioned that the prints were in the police database instead of the citizen files, this point was weird.
“The last victim’s.” Jiang Chao rushed to answer first.
Lin Chen thought back to the last body removed from under the tree. It seemed like it was a 40-something female, and so he asked, “Why were her fingerprints recorded?”
“Because of a robbery.”
Xing Cong Lian’s gaze paused slightly, as if reading something unbelievable. He lifted his head to look at Jiang Chao and said with disbelief, “Cheng Wei Wei… Ya Qin Jewelry?”
T/N: Ya Qin Jewelry is a jewelry retailer
“Yes.”
“What’s up?” Asked Lin Chen.
“I think I’ve seen this name before, somewhere!”
As he spoke, Xing Cong Lian passed the final victim profile to Lin Chen, while he reached back to flip through Yang Dian Feng’s case file that Hong Jing brought.
Lin Chen lowered his head. The woman in the picture wore a professional outfit, her hair was curled, and her eyes gleamed with charm.
Cheng Wei Wei, female, 38 years old. A graduate of An Yang Academy, she was the assistant of the CEO of Ya Qin Jewelry. Her parents were ordinary, retired employees.
He laid the three files down in front of him. Naturally, Cheng Wei Wei, Li Sa, and Wang Shi Shi were all very different.
“The Extraordinary 723 Highway Robbery?” Xing Cong Lian asked Jiang Chao, as he drew a set of papers from the file.
“That’s right. Ol’ Xing, you know of it as well?” Jiang Chao sniffled, “It’s an open case from last year. We couldn’t crack it. At the end of the year, everyone in the station got their bonus deducted. Don’t you think we have it so hard?!”
Xing Cong Lian wasn’t listening to Jiang Chao complain, he was rapidly scanning through the file, and of course, the three words, “Cheng Wei Wei” appeared.
On July 23, Ya Qin Jewelry bought a batch of diamonds from South Africa, worth nearly a hundred million dollars. Falcon Security Company was hired to escort the shipment. On the morning of July 23, Yi Qin Jewelry CEO and his assistant, along with two security guards, took the plane from Johannesburg, South Africa back to Yong Chuan. The plane arrived at 10 PM on the 23rd, and Falcon Security sent two armored vehicles and eight security guards to pick them up and bring the shipment to Yi Qin headquarters. However, the security vehicles were robbed on the highway.
Nine people inside the car unfortunately met their doom, and the millions of dollars of diamonds disappeared into thin air. Only one person was fortunate enough to escape.
That person was Cheng Wei Wei.
“Nine people died, with only Cheng Wei Wei surviving. Did you guys not suspect her?” Xing Cong Lian asked Jiang Chao, while handing the papers to Lin Chen.
“Ol’ Xing, how could you say that? How could we not suspect her? But us police need what? Evidence!” Jiang Chao picked up a bottle of water from his feet and furiously took a gulp, “We tried attacking from different points. There were ten interrogations, and she still wouldn’t let anything slip. We looked through her communication records, contacts, we even searched her house three times and couldn’t find a single piece of evidence! What could we do but let her go?”
“Did she say why the robbers didn’t kill her?” Lin Chen asked, suddenly.
“She said the robbers didn’t touch her because she was a woman…”
“What a gentleman.” Xing Cong Rong laughed dryly.
“That explanation shouldn’t have been enough for you guys to let her go.” Lin Chen said.
“Of course. But did you guys know, in the two cars, the other nine people were all dead, bodies beaten to a pulp, yet she didn’t have a scratch on her. When the police got there, she was just sitting in a bloody car, not saying a word.” Jiang Chao clenched his jaw, “The first few days, we couldn’t get her to say anything. Later, she only said that the robbers just didn’t touch her, there was no reason. Then she also said, if she was a plant, how did she get away scot free? Wouldn’t having her beaten half to death let her seem less suspicious?” Jiang Chao pat his thigh, “She really made some fucking sense!”
“Then did you send people to trail her?” Xing Cong Lian asked.
“Of course. How could I not trail her? We trailed her for a whole three months, but we still couldn’t find any leads. Even the boss was starting to think this woman was innocent!” Jiang Chao said angrily. He took another swig of water. Maybe the cold water helped him calm down. He then looked at Xing Cong Lian, stunned, “Wait, you just pulled something out of your file. Fuck, this doesn’t have anything to do with Yang Dian Feng’s case, does it?”
Xing Cong Lian lifted his head, his eyes revealed a rarely seen helplessness, “How unlucky, it really does.”
“Did Falcon Security’s cars have road safety classification warning systems installed?” Jiang Chao’s jaw almost dropped off of his face.
Lin Chen scanned the papers and said, “Not only were they installed, but after Wang Chao’s system investigation, they found that Falcon Security’s travel history on July 23rd had been altered.”
“Shit, then doesn’t that mean…”
“There’s no evidence of the deaths.” Lin Chen finished coldly.
The room sank into an uncomfortable silence once again.
Jiang Chao squeezed his water bottle, making a squeeze that made everyone’s skin crawl, again and again. “Then, did Cheng Wei Wei get killed to silence her…?” Jiang Chao paused, as if looking for the right wording, “Because, you guys came… so…”
Lin Chen’s eyes met Xing Cong Lian’s.
“We can’t rule that possibility out.” Lin Chen said.
Hearing that, Jiang Chao’s low mood instantly lifted. “Then doesn’t that mean we can investigate the cases together?” He sprang up, taking wide strides across the room. He opened the door, turning back to shout towards the two people on the bed, “You guys are not allowed to leave! You guys caused this. I’m going to report to the director, hear that? You are not allowed to move until I get back!”
After he said that, he took off, leaving the two people in the room to stare at each other.
“We can’t leave?” Lin Chen asked.
“I’m afraid not.”
“That reasoning is too far-fetched. How can he say that we caused trouble?”
“Captain Jiang is… easily excitable.” Xing Cong Lian paused, then asked, “But, do you really think this reasoning is far-fetched? I’m talking about… the connection between the death of Cheng Wei Wei and us bringing this dossier to Yong Chuan.”
“It’s hard to say.” Lin Chen shook his head, “First, we need to find the cause of death. If it’s murder…”
“No need.”
A voice from the door interrupted Lin Chen.
Lin Chen looked up to find the forensic expert. He was standing by the door, holding a small stack of reports.
“It’s not murder.”
“What does that mean?” Lin Chen asked.
“Dirt particles were found in the three victims’ lungs. At the same time, there were no sedatives, hallucinogens, nor tranquilizers found in their system. Other than on their hands, there were no other wounds found on their body, no head trauma, no strangulation marks, not even scratches on their skin…” The forensic expert slowly walked into the room, gazing downwards at Lin Chen, “That is to say, the three people were awake and aware when being buried, plus…”
“There was no struggle.” Lin Chen finished bleakly.
“You are correct.” The forensic expert handed over the autopsy report and said, “They were buried alive.”
Even though his hypothesis was confirmed, Lin Chen did not feel an ounce of joy.
If Cheng Wei Wei, Li Sa, and Wang Shi Shi were alert when being buried, and there was no struggle, then that means these three people might have done this voluntarily.
Recalling the calm, yet satisfied expressions on the three people’s faces, Lin Chen couldn’t help but feel a chill down his back.
Then, under what circumstances would three people willingly lay down in a cold, wet grave, and get covered by layers and layers of dirt until their breathing stopped, ending their lives?
Why did these three victims, whose age and family backgrounds differed so much, accompany each other to their deaths? And does Cheng Wei Wei’s death have anything to do with the cruel robbery that happened months ago?
“Did you…” Lin Chen lifted his head to look at Xing Cong Lian.
“Hm?”
“Tell me to sleep earlier means that you knew, from the start, that we wouldn’t be sleeping tonight?” He said.
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