It was another beautiful Sunday, and Lü Qingqing had only three things to do today.
The first was to go to the Municipal Criminal Investigation Department to find Gao Liang and ask him to help find Mou Jixuan. Before leaving, she specifically instructed Gao Liang not to let Tong Meng know about this matter.
The second task was to find Li Yang and have him interrogate the minor members of the "Blade Man" organization again, to see if they could discover Lian Xianhai's whereabouts.
The third and most important task was to pick up Hu Jia, as tomorrow would be Monday again.
After all the arrangements were made, Lü Qingqing went to the market and bought various ingredients for a feast, preparing to showcase her culinary skills that evening and nourish Hu Jia.
Just as Lü Qingqing was busy in the kitchen, Gao Liang arrived, saying that Mou Jixuan had been found.
Lü Qingqing was surprised by Gao Liang's speed and praised him profusely.
"Let's go, we'll go meet him."
"Well, we can't meet him."
Seeing Gao Liang's constipated expression, Lü Qingqing was astonished. "What? He's not in Chongqing?"
Gao Liang shook his head. "He's dead. Five years ago."
Dead?
Lü Qingqing was very surprised. "Is it related to the Blade Men?"
"No!" Gao Liang shook his head, then nodded again. "Maybe."
Lü Qingqing was dizzy.
Is it or isn't it?
"Five years ago, he was burned to death right in front of Captain Hu."
Hearing this, Lü Qingqing suddenly remembered.
Ouyang Wen had once said that five years ago, Hu Jia went alone to pursue a culprit and was counter-attacked. When they found Hu Jia, he was unconscious, his hands bound, his head bleeding, and in front of him was a charred corpse.
Because of this, Hu Jia suffered from amnesia and developed a phobia of fire.
Just two days ago in Huayan, with the raging fire, Hu Jia couldn't go forward.
"So, Mou Jixuan was the witness who was burned to death?"
"Yes, I found the case file from back then. Based on the information you provided, it's this Mou Jixuan. And I also went to Taipingmen to see Mou Jixuan's elder sister, who confirmed that he was the one who was burned to death."
Lü Qingqing sat on the sofa in disappointment.
She had finally found a clue, only to have it dead-end five years ago.
However, holding onto the slightest hope, she decided to meet Mou Jixuan's elder sister, in case she knew anything.
Mou Jixuan's elder sister lived in a small flat in Taipingmen. Upon Lü Qingqing's arrival, she had a blank expression, neither inviting Lü Qingqing in nor actively driving her away.
It was as if she hadn't seen her.
"Sister Mou," Lü Qingqing stepped forward to greet her.
Sister Mou still didn't look at her, just finished drying the freshly washed clothes, and turned to go inside.
Lü Qingqing quickly followed.
"Sister Mou, I'm a police officer from the Special Operations Team. I've come to ask about your brother." Lü Qingqing didn't understand why Sister Mou was so cold to her.
"Identification!" Finally, Sister Mou spoke. Her tone was stiff and devoid of emotion.
Uh.
Lü Qingqing quickly handed over her police ID. Before coming, she had heard from Gao Liang that this woman was very peculiar. She could chat and laugh with you, but as soon as you asked about Mou Jixuan, she would turn hostile, and wouldn't say a word without identification.
Sister Mou took the ID and carefully compared it with Lü Qingqing. "Can my brother's case be solved?"
Lü Qingqing replied awkwardly, "Well, we don't have any leads at the moment."
"Heh! Ten years, and still no leads. If the case can't be solved, I have nothing to help you with." Sister Mou then tried to usher her out.
"I say, why bother? It's not that we aren't solving the case, but that we lack useful clues. If you don't cooperate, how can we solve it?" Gao Liang, having been ushered out of the Mou residence for the second time, carried a hint of resentment.
"Xiao Liang!" Lü Qingqing stopped him, then turned back to Sister Mou. "Sister Mou, the case has been dragging on for so long, it is indeed our incompetence, and we apologize. But please believe that we have never given up on pursuing the real killer."
Sister Mou's action of ushering them out paused. This was the first time in a long while that she had heard a police officer apologize for her brother's case.
Every time she went to the police station to inquire about her brother's case in the past, she was either constantly put off or met with sarcasm. Therefore, she was truly fed up with these people.
"You are a polite girl, you must have some education," Sister Mou said.
Although Lü Qingqing didn't know how this matter was related to education, she saw that Sister Mou was no longer trying to drive them away and decided to play along. "I wouldn't claim to have education, but I do know a few characters."
"Then have you ever heard of 'Pearl Prefect is also foolish'?"
"Who? Which prefect?"
Lü Qingqing was a bit puzzled. The term "prefect" was something from hundreds of years ago. Why was it being brought up now?
"Heh heh. Miss, please take your leave." Sister Mou's eyes dimmed. This person was still not the one she was waiting for.
Uh...
Lü Qingqing was utterly confused by Sister Mou's behavior. Her attitude had just softened, and now she was continuing to usher them out.
"I just want to ask a few questions about Mou Jixuan." She was getting anxious.
"I've answered all her questions. The police station should have the records." Sister Mou made another gesture of 'please leave'.
Helpless, Lü Qingqing had to leave.
"This person is not cooperative at all. Does she want us to uncover the truth and bring the killer to justice or not?" All the way, Gao Liang kept complaining.
"Who can we blame? It's because those seniors didn't try hard enough," Lü Qingqing felt that Sister Mou had simply lost faith in the police.
"Alas, it's all the fault of the chaotic times in previous years," Gao Liang could only sigh.
After separating from Gao Liang, Lü Qingqing kept replaying everything that had happened. What did Sister Mou mean by "Pearl Prefect is also foolish"?
Pearl or real pig?
Was it jewelry, or a place name, or some object?
"Also foolish"? It sounded like a person's name. Could it be related to this case?
Lü Qingqing had a hunch. If she had answered Sister Mou's question correctly back then, perhaps she would have been able to find out how old Mou Jixuan was when he was still wearing split pants.
Tsk tsk.
Perhaps Hu Jia would have known the answer. What a pity!
That brainless fool!
"Sister-in-law!" Lost in thought, she heard Li Yang's voice from a distance.
"Why are you here?" Could it be that you've already found Lian Xianhai so quickly?
Li Yang ran over in a few steps. "Sister-in-law, I've been waiting for you for a long time. Those few guys from the Blade Man organization are gone."
What do you mean gone?
"Gone, meaning they are no longer with our Special Operations Team. They were taken away by the Criminal Investigation team," Li Yang said.
Lü Qingqing really wanted to curse. Why was everything going wrong today?
No progress on Mou Jixuan's case, and the Blade Men who were in their grasp were taken away by others.
"Who took them? Why?"
"Tong Meng!"
"Damn it! You can't even handle Tong Meng? You're really getting worse with age." Lü Qingqing turned and headed towards the Municipal Bureau.
Li Yang sheepishly scratched his head. "Tong Meng is just a little girl. The key is that she came with an official document from higher up."
"Ouyang Wen isn't here, where did she get that from?"
"Team Ren!"
Lü Qingqing stopped in her tracks. Ren Xianli? Head of the Judicial Affairs Section.
Lü Qingqing suddenly had a bad premonition. Tong Meng was clearly prepared.
When they were arresting those Blade Men, Tong Meng clearly didn't recognize them, and her reaction even suggested she didn't know what the Blade Man organization was.
But now she had obtained an official document in advance to take them away. This meant one thing: the person behind her had made a move.