Serial crimes are often premeditated crimes, and murderers generally like to commit crimes in areas they are familiar with while adhering to the "three no's" principle.
Not far, not near, not repeated.
Not far away means that the murderer generally does not go to relatively far places to commit crimes, especially places he is not familiar with. This is a kind of psychological security.
It’s easy to understand if you’re not close. The risk of committing a crime at home is high, and it’s easy to bump into acquaintances when you go in and out. As the saying goes, “rabbits don’t eat grass beside their nests.”
Non-repetition means that the crime will not occur in the same place. In places where murders have occurred, vigilance will be stepped up, and people will be more vigilant, increasing the risk of committing crimes.
The five crime spots on the map were connected to form a five-pointed star. Zhao Lin saw a familiar name in the blank area of the intersection: Yunlai Inn.
"Isn't this the inn where the locked room murder occurred?"
Zhao Lin opened his mouth in surprise, recalling this bizarre case.
Earlier this year, a businessman with a foreign accent stayed at the Yunlai Inn near the pier.
The merchant claimed to be a jade seller and came from Wanli Jade Shop in Zhoucheng.
He stayed in the inn for half a month and went around the city doing business with his jade every day.
One morning, the waiter came to the merchant's room to deliver hot water, but no one opened the door after calling for a long time.
The guy was a little strange: This businessman gets up very early every day. What's going on today?
The clerk thought the merchant was sleeping in and didn't take it seriously. However, at night, there was still no answer when he knocked on the door.
Now the clerk felt something was wrong, so he went to the shopkeeper and said, "I don't know what happened to the guest in room nine. He hasn't gone out all day and locked himself in. Would you like to go and take a look?"
When the shopkeeper heard this, he quickly came to room No. 9 and shouted loudly to open the door.
There was no movement inside the door, and it was locked and couldn't be pushed open from the outside.
The shopkeeper then set up a ladder, climbed to a high place, pierced the window paper on the top of the door, and looked inside.
I saw a person lying on the floor, and there was a pool of blood around him.
The shopkeeper screamed in fright and almost fell down.
When other guests in the inn heard the news, they gathered around and started speculating.
Some people said that the merchant had not sold a piece of jade for half a month and committed suicide because of the thought; others said that Room 9 was haunted and killed the merchant in the middle of the night; still others said that the shopkeeper and his clerk were trying to make money and kill...
The more the shopkeeper listened, the more wrong he became. If he continued talking, he would almost become a murderer. He quickly said: "Everyone, if something happens to a customer in the shop, I, the shop owner, must be responsible."
"But until we find out the truth, please don't make wild guesses. The door is locked from behind, and we don't know what's going on inside."
"Since everyone is here, I would like to ask you to be witnesses. I want to open the door and go in to take a look."
When everyone heard what the shopkeeper said, they stopped talking and helped him open the door together.
After entering the house, everyone took a closer look and saw that the merchant had been stabbed in many places on his chest and lower abdomen, with blood splattering everywhere.
Someone died in the store, and the shopkeeper immediately reported it to the official.
After Sun Zhang arrived with his people, the guests all testified that the doors and windows of the room were closed before entering.
The same was true for the on-site inspection: there was a small hole in the window paper on the top of the door, and the door bolt was disconnected from the middle. It was obviously just opened.
There is a square earthen kang in the room, and the quilts on the kang are neatly folded, with no sign of being turned over.
There is a square table against the west wall, with a package spread out on the table, containing tea, cigarette bags and other trivial items.
Turning the package over, there was a mark from Wanli Jade Shop.
Sun Zhang wondered: If it was murder, how did the murderer lock the door from the inside when he escaped?
If it was suicide, how could anyone stab himself so many times? Besides, there are no sharp weapons anywhere in the house.
Another thing is that the merchant's jade is missing.
He asked around, but no one saw anyone entering or leaving room nine.
Room No. 10 was unoccupied and the door was locked, so Sun Zhang called the guest in Room 8 and asked him if he heard anything special last night.
The guest in Room 8 said he heard nothing.
Now Sun Zhang was stumped. A police officer reminded him: "Is there a secret passage in the house through which the murderer escaped?"
Sun Zhang was right. He ordered the whole house to be turned upside down, and the earthen bed and floor were all removed.
In the end, not even a mouse hole was found.
At this time, someone gave him an idea: "Since the murderer has robbed the jade, he must find a place to sell the stolen goods. He can secretly monitor the shops selling jade in the city."
"As long as someone sells jade from Wanli Jade Shop, arrest him first."
Sun Zhang knew that this method was actually a needle in a haystack. Wanli Jade Shop was quite famous throughout Yingzhou, and it would be difficult to find the real culprit through jade.
Besides, the murderer is not a fool, he just takes action after grabbing the stolen goods.
But he had no other choice but to notify the city gate guards to strengthen the search and secretly send people to monitor. After more than half a year, nothing was found.
"It can't be such a coincidence, right? Could it be that the two cases were committed by the same person?"
Zhao Lin recalled the files and found it very strange. The serial rape and murder cases were for sex, and the secret room murder cases were for money, but there was no connection between them.
…
Since the places where the two murders occurred pointed to the Yunlai Inn, Zhao Lin decided to conduct an on-the-spot investigation.
After midnight in the morning, I changed into casual clothes, slightly changed my appearance, and walked into Yunlai Inn.
"Sir, are you staying in a hotel or working in a hotel?"
The shopkeeper is about fifty years old, with a kind face, most of his gray hair is bald, and his voice is deep and round, and he has the demeanor of an announcer in his previous life.
Zhao Lin had just taken over the area and he didn't know him yet. He thought he was an ordinary guest and greeted him with a smile.
"Stay in the hotel."
Zhao Lin replied simply, while glancing at the hall.
In addition to accommodation, Yunlai Inn also operates restaurants. Many people were drinking tea and chatting in the lobby.
"May I ask if your guest will live in the upper room, the middle room or the lower room? How many days do you plan to stay?" the shopkeeper asked again.
"Let's get married. It may be three to five days, or it may be seven or eight days. It's hard to say for the time being."
Zhao Lin had stayed at an inn when he was selling bear gallbladder and Shehao's mane, so he knew the inside story quite well.
The upper room is the best room in the inn. It is mostly on the second floor and has good lighting, ventilation and quietness.
Housing prices are low, but the conditions are very poor. One room can accommodate seven, eight or even a dozen people.
The middle room is between the two, with single and double rooms.
Room No. 9, where the merchant died, is on the first floor and belongs to the middle room.
The shopkeeper looked back at the sign on the wall and read: "There are ten rooms in the middle room. Rooms 1 to 6 are occupied. Rooms 7, 8 and 10 are vacant. Guests can choose one."
Zhao Lin asked deliberately: "Can't people live in room nine?"
The shopkeeper glanced towards the hall and whispered: "To be honest with you, sir, there was a murder in Room 9 this year. The guest died in the room. It has not been solved yet."
"And this, have you seen it with your own eyes?"
"Of course, it's not just me, many people have met."
Zhao Lin said "Oh" and said, "Thank you for telling the truth."
The shopkeeper smiled and said: "Our store opens its doors and welcomes customers, and what matters is credibility. If I deliberately conceal it, sooner or later the customer will know about it, and won't he want to cause trouble for me?"
"How about I choose room 7? Rooms 8 and 10 are next to room 9, which is unlucky."
Zhao Lin thought for a while and said, "I like purity. Which room is closest to the inside?"
"Room 10."
"Then let's go to number ten."
Since we want to investigate a case, we must be as close to the crime scene as possible.
The guests in Room 8 heard no movement at that time, so Zhao Lin wanted to stay in Room 10 to see if he could find anything.
When the shopkeeper saw that his suggestion had not been adopted, it didn't matter. Anyway, he had fulfilled his duty of reminding him, so he agreed: "Then I will live in room ten as per the guest officer's wishes."
