"Right, Officer, a lot of discarded items in this area can be sold for some money. I like to pick up bottles and cans after work to help supplement the household expenses!"
I observed the elderly woman's features. She was dressed rather shabbily, her face thin and dry, her hair brittle. Her fingers were calloused. This person was certainly from a low-income group, her face etched with the hardships of long years of labor.
I didn't say much more and let the woman leave. We drove back to the Public Security Bureau.
Upon arrival, the body parts were first sent to the morgue. Zhang Keying and Xie Chuchu had to use a suturing device to connect the body parts. He Xin would use facial recognition to confirm the victim's identity.
Liu Yuning and I were by her side. Although this wasn't the provincial department, the technical police, under Director Huang's orders, were still cooperating with our investigation. Some of the technical officers knew us, and a casual word was enough to get someone to help.
By the time we confirmed the girl's identity, several hours had passed. Since such a young girl wouldn't have an ID card, we had to cross-reference with household registration records. With the help of the household registration department, her information was eventually obtained.
Fan Tianyun, 11 years old, a student at Jianyun Primary School in Fuming City. I suddenly noticed the files of the previous victims. Upon reviewing them, I realized they all came from the same primary school. I rested my chin on my hand, a furrow in my brow. "This certainly isn't a coincidence. But why would the killer target this particular school? What's the reason behind it?"
"Let's go visit the school first. The sudden disappearance of so many people must have caused a stir. I just consulted the missing persons investigation department; they said someone has reported it recently. Knowing their child is dead, several parents want to claim the bodies," Liu Yuning said.
"No rush. Let's wait until the case is solved. Many things are still unresolved," I replied.
"I understand. Captain Li there will coordinate. It's for their own good too."
We left the Public Security Bureau. Under He Xin's direction, we located Jianyun Primary School. Although we had spent a considerable amount of time in Fuming City, we had never been to this school before, as it was quite remote, mainly attended by students from a few smaller towns.
We drove a police car and after about an hour and a half, we arrived at Jianyun Primary School. This was a provincial-level primary school, quite renowned. I hadn't expected that such a campus would be the site of so many disappearances. I suspected it must have been targeted by the criminals.
Even more eerily, when we arrived, the primary school was eerily silent. Although the main gate wasn't locked, it seemed as though no one was inside. We entered cautiously, guns drawn, sweeping our flashlights through the darkness, from the teaching building to the student dormitories. The school was very strict; at such a young age, they already had dormitories. I assumed students here were subject to rigorous management.
I recall only moving into a dormitory when I reached university. At first, I found it quite difficult to adjust.
Liu Yuning and I, in a team with several detectives, headed upstairs in the teaching building. In a school this large, there was naturally more than one teaching building. We went to the one on the left. This area looked quite clean. Judging by the freshness of the traces, people were here yesterday. For some reason, they had all left suddenly.
We divided into several groups and proceeded from the first floor upwards, clearing each level. Many classrooms were empty, devoid of desks and chairs, not even a lectern. It was as if everything had been removed.
If the items were removed, it meant they didn't leave on a whim; it was planned. I messaged He Xin to investigate if Jianyun Primary School had undergone any recent relocation. We continued upstairs. After searching the entire teaching building, we found every floor was the same. Liu Yuning said to me, "This place must have been relocated. But we didn't receive any news about it recently!"
"We haven't been to Fuming City in a long time, so it's normal that we wouldn't know."
"That's true. Could it be due to the consecutive missing person cases?"
"I don't know about that."
As we discussed, everyone came down. Gao Mingqiang and the other colleagues reported their findings, which were the same as ours.
I told everyone to stand down for the time being. Then, around one o'clock the next afternoon, He Xin sent us a notification. We finally found the principal of Jianyun Primary School. A new campus was under construction, but it would open soon. We couldn't find anyone at the new school for the time being, so we contacted the principal and arranged to meet him.
He did not evade us and readily agreed, inviting us to Jianhua Western Restaurant in Fuming City. Once seated, Principal Guo said to Liu Yuning and me, "Detectives, have there been any results regarding the missing persons from our school?"
"Principal Guo, you're quite direct. Do you remember when the disappearances occurred?"
"The first report was from a parent who even came to the school to retrieve surveillance footage, but no trace was found. You might be thinking that the school's relocation is related to the case, but that's not the case..."
Principal Guo took a sip of coffee at this point. Liu Yuning and I waited patiently. He put down his cup and then said, "Our school was actually undergoing demolition and relocation recently, so please don't overcomplicate things."
"Is that true? As the principal, did you notice any unusual behavior from those children before they disappeared, or did they say anything strange to you?" I asked.
"I'm not very familiar with that. The missing children were from different classes. If you really need detailed information, perhaps you could send more people to visit? It would be even better to interview the victims' families, wouldn't it?"
In fact, we had already spoken with the victims' families. We just hadn't interviewed their teachers.
Liu Yuning asked the principal for the details of those teachers. Gao Mingqiang and Xia Hou were brought in, and they conducted a detailed interview with these individuals. Unfortunately, nothing was discovered.
This was reality, not a novel. Simply visiting wouldn't yield clues, and revisiting the crime scene would be futile.
The investigation into the case at Jianyun Primary School had reached a stalemate.
Criminal Case Discussion Meeting.
Gao Mingqiang spoke first, "Could it be an internal issue with the school? Didn't we handle a missing person case before?"
"This isn't a disappearance anymore; the people are dead, and there were infant handprints left behind. The nature of the case is completely different. It's much more complex than that previous case. We can't investigate using the same approach."