Phi-Fic Chapter 1017 A Turning Point Arrives, Identity Confirmed!
Chapter 1017 A Turning Point Arrives, Identity Confirmed!
Xiao Wang's fingers tapped unconsciously on the desk, the investigation records spread out in front of him already curled up from repeated readings. The note "cousin Zhang Baohai" on Zhang Dahai's resignation form and the information about the deceased's old fractures in the forensic report intertwined in his mind like two tangled vines.
“Xiao Chen, don’t you find this strange?” Xiao Wang suddenly spoke up, startling Xiao Chen, who was organizing documents. “Zhang Dahai’s son said his father came home to build a house, but when we went there last time, the yard was covered in dust from the cement mixer, and building materials were piled up haphazardly. It didn’t look like construction was going on at all.” He got up and walked to the whiteboard, circled the names “Zhang Dahai” and “Zhang Baohai” in red pen, and drew a thick line under them. “Moreover, Zhang Baohai is his closest cousin, but when we asked, Zhang Dahai’s family didn’t mention him at all.”
Xiao Chen leaned closer to the whiteboard, his gaze sweeping over the messy clue markings: "You mean they're deliberately hiding something? But hasn't it already been confirmed that Zhang Dahai went back to his hometown to build a house?"
“This is the problem with the confirmation.” Xiao Wang pulled up the call log and pointed heavily at the call duration between Zhang Dahai’s son and father. “On the third day after the incident, his son suddenly received a 23-minute phone call, and then changed his story to say that his father was at home. What’s even more suspicious is that when we asked to video call Zhang Dahai to confirm, his son always made excuses about the bad signal.”
As dusk deepened outside the window, Xiao Wang turned on the desk lamp, the light illuminating his furrowed brow: "There's also the time of Zhang Baohai's disappearance. When we were investigating missing persons, Zhang Dahai's family clearly reported it, but the record says 'he has returned home on his own'—but there's no case withdrawal receipt in the system." He pulled out photos he had taken during previous visits. In the photos, behind the slightly ajar door of Zhang Dahai's house, half of a rubber shoe covered in mud was vaguely visible. "The mud composition on those shoes is 87% similar to the soil test results from the Qinglanshan crime scene."
Xiao Chen gasped: "So you suspect that Zhang Dahai didn't go back to his hometown at all, or that he went back to deal with something related to Zhang Baohai?"
“Not only that.” Xiao Wang pulled up Zhang Dahai’s bank statements, the blue light of the screen reflecting on his face. “A week before the incident, his account suddenly received a transfer of 5 yuan from an anonymous account. And the last time Zhang Baohai appeared on surveillance footage was on a street near the bank.” He grabbed his car keys, the wind lifting the hem of his coat. “Let’s go, to Zhang Dahai’s hometown again. This time we’ll search every inch of his house, find everything that can prove Zhang Baohai’s existence—photos, letters, even a single hair.”
The police car sped along the winding mountain road. Xiao Wang gripped the steering wheel tightly, fragments of the case flashing before his eyes: industrial ceramic particles on the victim's clothing, the size 40 shoe prints at the scene, Zhang Dahai's sudden change in testimony… These seemingly scattered clues were gradually piecing together a blurry picture in his mind. When the headlights illuminated the old locust tree at the village entrance, he had already silently listed more than ten suspicious points to be investigated—and the key to solving these mysteries might lie hidden in that courtyard filled with red bricks.
Two hours later, the police car bumped its way into a village nestled against the mountainside. Under an old locust tree at the village entrance, several villagers were chatting and fanning themselves in the cool air. "Excuse me, where does Zhang Dahai live?" Xiao Wang got out of the car, took out a pack of cigarettes, and offered them to each of them.
"Hai Zi's house? Just follow this road to the end, there's a pile of red bricks at the door." An old man took a cigarette, squinted at them, and said, "But he left again recently, saying he was going to the provincial capital to find work."
Xiao Wang's heart skipped a beat. During the last visit, Zhang Dahai's son, Mingming, said that his father was building a house at home. He and Xiao Chen exchanged a glance and quickened their pace toward the village.
In the Zhang family's courtyard, bricks and cement bags were piled up haphazardly, and an old cement mixer was covered in dust, clearly having not been used for a long time. After knocking on the door for a while, the aunt next door poked her head out: "Stop knocking, Haizi's family left half a month ago, saying they weren't going to build the house."
"Why are you leaving in such a hurry?" Xiao Wang asked, frowning.
"That's right!" the aunt said in a low voice. "His cousin Zhang Baohai got into trouble. It's said he committed a crime outside. Haizi's family was afraid of being implicated, so they left overnight."
Xiao Wang's alarm bells rang. He immediately pulled out his phone and pulled up a facial reconstruction of the deceased: "Auntie, take a look, doesn't this person look like Zhang Baohai?"
The woman leaned closer for a look, and her face suddenly turned deathly pale: "Oh my! You know what, it really does look a bit like him! Especially the nose and mouth. Bao Hai fell when he was little, and his nose is a little crooked, just like in this portrait!"
This discovery thrilled Xiao Wang. He quickly contacted the bureau and requested access to Zhang Baohai's identity information. Soon, the information arrived: Zhang Baohai, 41 years old, unemployed, with a prior theft conviction, and a fracture of his right ulna three years prior due to a fight—a perfect match for the deceased's old fracture!
"Let's go check out Zhang Baohai's old place!" Xiao Wang led his team straight to the county town. Zhang Baohai's rented house was located in a shantytown on the outskirts of the town. The iron gate was rusty, and the lock was covered in dust. With the assistance of the local police, they opened the door.
The room reeked of mildew. The bedding on the bed was piled haphazardly, and a small mountain of instant noodle containers lay in the corner. Xiao Wang put on gloves and began to search carefully. In the bedside drawer, he found a worn-out address book with the name "Zhang Dahai" and his phone number scrawled crookedly on the title page.
"Xiao Chen, contact the technical department immediately and extract the fingerprints from the address book." As Xiao Wang spoke, his gaze was drawn to a yellowed photograph on the wall. In the photo, two men stood arm in arm at the entrance of the steel plant. The one on the left was Zhang Dahai, and the man on the right had a clear face—although he looked slightly younger than the reconstructed image of the deceased, his facial features were completely identical.
Just then, news came from the technical department: the DNA from the trace amount of hair extracted from the deceased's clothing matched that from the hair extracted from the comb in Zhang Baohai's rented room! Thus, the deceased's identity was finally confirmed—he was Zhang Dahai's cousin, Zhang Baohai!
Xiao Wang immediately convened a meeting with his team to analyze the next steps. "The sudden departure of Zhang Dahai's family must be related to Zhang Baohai's death." Xiao Wang wrote the two names on the whiteboard and circled them heavily in red. "Check Zhang Dahai's call records immediately to see who he has been in close contact with recently. Also, investigate Zhang Baohai's social relationships before his death, especially his prior theft conviction; there might be some conflicts of interest behind it."
The autumn sun slanted across the rooftops of Qingshi Village, where the houses were arranged at varying heights. Xiao Wang and his team member Xiao Chen once again stepped into this village, which was filled with the smell of firewood.