A contradiction arises here.
According to the description of the villagers of Xibaozhuang, the Flower Goddess maid will be chosen from girls under the age of 16 in the village. But since Jasmine was chosen as the Maid of the Flower Goddess that year, why was the age recorded in her interrogation file always 18?
However, after all, the Flower Festival is just a local folk custom. The agreed rules and methods generally have a relatively large room for negotiation and space. It is not an iron law that cannot be changed. As long as the villagers have no objections, or that year There happened to be no girls of the right age, so it was not unreasonable to break the 16-year-old limit.
More importantly, according to some clues recorded in the files, Liu Mengwei is almost certain that this girl named Jasmine is somewhat different from other ordinary children. This does not mean that she has extraordinary talents in some aspects, but that she just happens to be. on the contrary. She has an intellectual disability, which may be the real reason why her father, Bai Yuyang, never sent her to school.
In those lengthy interrogation transcripts, she became a response machine. She would only say "I don't know" when others asked her. But if you are more patient and ask a second or third time, she will get what you want. Answer "yes", "ok".
The transcript may be misinterpreted, but the physical evidence will not lie, at least it is much more objective. There were Jasmine's fingerprints on the candlestick, and the clothes she wore were stained with the blood of the deceased Li Youlin. Witnesses saw her hurriedly running out of the Flower Temple that night, and the scene almost burned the Flower Temple. The fire was extinguished in time precisely because these witnesses happened to be around.
It seems that even without a confession, it seems to be an ironclad case.
The three villagers involved in the massacre confessed that they had had improper relations with Jasmine. Of course, they tried their best to shirk responsibility, and unanimously blamed their faults on the girl's misbehavior and deliberate seduction.
However, does a girl with the intelligence of only about seven or eight years old really understand this?
Where is Jasmine’s father Bai Yuyang? There is only one page about him in the case file. It was the period of questioning after Jasmine escaped home from the Flower Temple on the night of March 21st. In the face of irrefutable facts, he had to admit that the panicked girl covered in blood was his daughter.
But he is Jasmine's nominal father after all. Why did something like this happen? He only made a symbolic appearance in the whole case, and then seemed to be completely invisible? Or maybe, after discovering that Jasmine was mentally retarded, he had actually wanted to abandon her for a long time, so he took this opportunity to successfully get rid of this burden.
Liu Mengwei knew that there was a time in the last century when some serious crimes would be dealt with more severely and quickly, but when she looked at the girl in the photo, she was instantly caught up in the torrent contained in those eyes. Although the isolated and helpless girl kept silent, the bloody hole on her forehead opened wide, spouting endless grievances.
Although the parties involved are all dead, there are still many people involved in this case. Even if it is to be re-investigated now, it will not be impossible to start.
Liu Mengwei decided to start with Bai Yuyang first. What she was most curious about was how he, as a father, viewed this case.
She copied the name of the person she wanted to check and all the ID numbers she could find on a piece of paper, and gave it to Ma Xiaochao.
"What are these?" Ma Xiaochao looked at her with some confusion.
"They are some of the parties involved in the Huashen Temple case." Liu Mengwei pointed at Bai Yuyang's name and said to him: "Check this person first and see if you can find his current contact information or address."
Ma Xiaochao turned his head and operated on the computer, and the system quickly popped up the results.
"This person's native place is City Y. From 1980 to 2000, he worked as a Chinese teacher in a private primary school in Xibaozhuang, our city. He died in a car accident in April 2004." Ma Xiaochao's three concise sentences This summarizes Bai Yuyang's life.
What? He died six years after that case? Liu Mengwei was a little stunned. She didn't expect that the first clue was cut off so decisively, which caught her off guard.
She had no choice but to point to the names of the three people who participated in the scandal and asked Ma Xiaochao to continue searching in the system.
"Wang Jinlong, a native of this city and a villager in Xibaozhuang, died of drowning in August 2001."
"Zhao Qiang, a native of this city and a villager in Xibaozhuang, died of electric shock in June 2002."
"Chen Weidong, a native of this city and a villager in Xibaozhuang, died of food poisoning in March 2003."
After reading out the information about these people one by one, even Ma Xiaochao was stunned: "These people are all dead!"
Liu Meng bit her lip slightly, this was really a shocking discovery. Not only were the three direct parties dead, but Jasmine's father Bai Yuyang was also dead. Moreover, the time of death of these four people was also so strange. From 2001 to 2004, they were like a group of people lining up on the road to the underworld, one by one, entering the gate of hell one after another.
"What was the nature of the deaths of these three people? Murder? Or accidental?"
"What is written in the case file is an accident." Ma Xiaochao confirmed again: "Wang Jinlong accidentally drowned while swimming in the reservoir; Zhao Qiang was electrocuted while changing a light bulb at night; Chen Weidong died from eating unprocessed pufferfish. Dropped."
"As for Bai Yuyang, after his daughter was sentenced, he resigned from his position as a teacher at Xibaozhuang Primary School, and he probably suffered a big blow. Therefore, he drank a lot on the day of the car accident. During the forensic autopsy afterwards, A high concentration of alcohol was detected in his blood. At that time, he was probably driving on a mountain road. The car was in disrepair. The weather seemed to be too bad in those days, and then he rolled down the mountain, causing the vehicle to catch fire. , and almost burned the surrounding trees. Fortunately, it rained later, so it did not spread to a large area."
Everyone related to Jasmine died, and they all died in a seemingly unexpected way. This made people suspicious, thinking that someone was behind her back to avenge her. But she was an orphan. Apart from her adoptive father Bai Yuyang, who else was so close to her, and who was even willing to sacrifice his life to pay tribute to her injustice after her death? Among these people, Bai Yuyang is also among them. Is he also involved in this unknown conspiracy?
The mystery is getting more and more confusing.
"Can you retrieve the information of all the villagers in Xibaozhuang?" Jasmine is a child with intellectual disabilities. Her social circle should be very small and will not extend beyond the village where she lives.
"This..." Ma Xiaochao suddenly felt confused: "Professor Liu, can I ask the reason? What exactly are we checking?"
Liu Meng was slightly stunned. She did not expect that although Ma Xiaochao was young and seemed inexperienced, he still maintained the vigilance of a police officer.
She gave him a relaxed smile, but her words were not relaxed: "You're not doubting me, are you?"
"No, no!" Ma Xiaochao was really frightened by the big hat she put on her, and quickly waved his hands and said: "I just remembered the information security and confidentiality regulations we talked about in the meeting a few days ago..."
Liu Mengwei was convinced, and became more interested in this little policeman. He praised: "Officer Xiaoma has principles and obeys the rules. He will definitely be a good policeman in the future."
Ma Xiaochao was a little embarrassed by her praise and said with a silly smile: "Where...I'm still far behind."
"Towering trees all grow from small saplings."
Ma Xiaochao seemed to suddenly think of something: "Professor Liu, why don't you come to our police force as a consultant. As long as you tell our captain Ling Feng, he will definitely agree."
"Consultant?" Liu Mengwei raised her eyes and thought for a few seconds: "Are there any benefits to being a consultant to your police force?"
Ma Xiaochao was stunned by her question and couldn't answer. He could only scratch his head in embarrassment. Seeing his appearance, Liu Mengwei thought he was very cute. He smiled sweetly and said: "Your suggestion is not bad. I should seriously consider it." .”
"We who study psychology are most afraid of talking about military affairs on paper. I just read a few volumes of files in the archives and found that there are many cases in them that are very helpful to my research and study. As the saying goes, the battlefield is the best parade ground. , if it cannot be put into action, then no matter how good our research is, it is just paper data. Therefore, you reminded me that if I can become a consultant to the police force, I can not only obtain first-line data to support and verify my research, but also Helping you solve the case is simply killing two birds with one stone!"
Ma Xiaochao was also excited by what she said: "If you can come, all of us are welcome."
"I can hear your calculations from downstairs."
Wen Qiao didn't know when he appeared at the door, looking at the two of them calmly.
Liu Mengwei pretended to be sorry: "Officer Xiao Ma, you just said that everyone welcomes me, but it seems that is not the case."
Ma Xiaochao stood up, looked at Wen Qiao secretly, and called weakly: "Director Wen."
As soon as the two of them reached a deserted corner, Wen Qiao couldn't wait to ask: "What do you want to do?"
"That's a strange question to ask. I'm trying my best to help you investigate the case." Liu Mengwei looked at him with big innocent eyes.
Wen Qiao suddenly changed the subject: "I checked on Caltech's official website, and there is no admission record for you, not for undergraduate, master's, or doctoral degrees."
Liu Mengwei's face turned cold instantly: "Are you investigating me?"
"Even your identity information does not exist in our system. Are you not a Chinese national? Now I ask you to show your identity document according to the law to verify your identity." Wen Qiao said seriously.
Liu Mengwei's eyes widened in disbelief: "You are using power for personal gain!"
“How can the reasonable and legal use of power be called using power for personal gain?”
"You!" Liu Mengwei was so angry that she couldn't speak. After a long time, she calmed down: "I said you are really strange. There are still two murder cases in your bureau that have not been solved. Instead of investigating the case, you found someone else. If you don't let me go, are you putting the cart before the horse?"
"I'm just a forensic scientist, not responsible for solving cases."
Liu Mengwei snorted: "Then you are good at tracking, investigating, lurking, and fighting."
Wen Qiao didn't speak anymore. Liu Mengwei saw the opportunity and was about to sneak away quietly, but heard him say again: "What have you found out about these two cases?"
Seeing that he was no longer obsessed with the question of her identity, Liu Mengwei breathed a sigh of relief and told him everything she and Ma Xiaochao had discovered.
"Is there any connection between the two?"
"I just followed the prompts Lin Xuerou gave me to check. As for whether it is related, it's hard to say yet." Liu Mengwei said truthfully.
"Lin Xuerou gave you a tip?" Wen Qiao didn't know what happened to her in the 314 Research Institute. "What hint did she give you?"
"It's those paintings." Although Wen Qiao had seen those paintings, he didn't see anything special about them.
"Those paintings were painted by Lin Xuerou in a special state of consciousness."
"Special...state of consciousness?"
"Normal people have a stable consciousness space, or one personality. Some mentally ill patients who have been severely stimulated may suffer from dissociative personality split, and they may give birth to two, three or even more multiple personalities. At this time, the spirit Surgeons will find ways to help them rebuild their identity, achieve the elimination or fusion of personality, and achieve spiritual unity, so that three becomes two and two becomes one."
"But have you ever thought about whether this kind of dissolution can continue? Can one become zero?"
"You know about black holes, right? When a star is about to be destroyed, it collapses toward the center, where it becomes a black hole, swallowing all light and any matter in the adjacent region of the universe. If a person's only and constant consciousness also collapses , will it also absorb the discrete consciousnesses around it like a black hole?"
Even Wen Qiao found her words a bit unbelievable: "You mean... this is what happened to Lin Xuerou? Her consciousness collapsed? And she attracted a ghost from 20 years ago?"
But at this time, Liu Mengwei seemed a little upset: "Maybe."
Wen Qiao noticed her abnormality: "What are you worried about?"
"I..." Liu Mengwei didn't know how to answer his question, but was surprised by his calmness: "You seem to be too calm. Is there nothing in this world that you particularly care about? For a person Aren't you a little surprised, curious or questioning that living people can sense the dead?"
Wen Qiao couldn't understand the faint sadness in her eyes, and still said calmly: "I hope it's true."
Liu Mengwei frowned slightly: "But I hope this is false."
