Zhang Mingli said, "When I was six years old, I had a high fever that damaged my brain, so I don't remember many things. My mother developed schizophrenia because of this incident - she thought I had died from the fever, and the shock affected her mentally."
Fang Rui and Zhang exchanged glances. They increasingly felt that the murder case might have occurred during Zhang Mingli's childhood. The reason for her memory loss was probably not due to the fever - if her brain had been damaged by the fever, Zhang Mingli should have had intellectual problems, not just memory loss. It was more likely that she lost her memory because she witnessed the murder.
"Everything from before you were six was told to you by your uncle?" Fang Rui asked.
"My aunt told me. But she probably heard it from my uncle, as she rarely came back since she lived far away. Before my mother got sick, she and my mother didn't get along well. After my mother became ill, my aunt put aside their past grievances and reconciled with her."
"After your mother got sick, did you stay with your aunt?"
"Initially, I lived with my uncle, but my aunt-in-law and cousin didn't like me. After six months, they sent me to my aunt's house. My aunt was divorced, financially well-off, and had no children, so she treated me like her daughter - it was like a semi-adoption. My aunt would bring me back every few months to see my mother, but mother's condition was severe. She didn't believe I was her daughter and would chase me away every time she saw me. Eventually, I visited less frequently."
"Do you know where your father went?"
"My uncle said that beast abandoned my mother and me, running away abroad with his mistress. Twenty years ago, our house was scheduled for demolition, and we suddenly had a lot of money. He took all the assets and left the country. I can't contact him, but his relatives on his side can reach him." Zhang Mingli's expression showed disgust when mentioning her father.
"That apartment is so old, and the location isn't great. Why did you buy it?" Fang Rui asked.
"After my mother passed away, I wanted to stay and develop my career in Jiangzhou City. I planned to buy a house and looked at many properties but wasn't satisfied with any of them. However, when I saw this apartment, I fell in love with it immediately. I contacted the owner, and they were very cooperative - we completed the transfer procedures within days. I paid for the apartment in full."
Zhang Mingli also found it strange - the apartment seemed to have some magical pull on her. As soon as she saw it, she inexplicably fell in love with it, feeling that it gave her a sense of home.
Zhang couldn't help but think sarcastically - of course the owner would be cooperative, it was a haunted house after all. They must have been overjoyed to find someone willing to take it off their hands.
"Have you met the owner? Do you have their contact information?"
"Yes."
The phone number Zhang Mingli provided was the same as the one from the property management office, but they had called many times without getting through.
"Can we see the purchase contract?"
"Sure, I can show you right now. I have scanned copies on my phone."
From the contract, Fang Rui and his team learned the owner's home address. The attached property deed copy showed that the owner was Wang Dadong, and the deed was issued eight years ago.
Fang Rui asked Zhang Mingli for a hair sample for DNA testing. If the DNA matched, the body was likely her father's.
"You suspect the deceased is that beast?" Zhang Mingli said in shock. "That's impossible, right? My cousin said he sent money to my grandmother from abroad just last year."
"Has he ever returned from abroad?"
"No. My cousin said he hasn't come back once in all these years. He didn't even return when my grandfather died, claiming he couldn't get his passport sorted out."
After Zhang Mingli left, Zhang suddenly thought of something: "Boss, if the deceased is Zhang Mingli's father, and her father disappeared more than twenty years ago, could the victim have been dead for over twenty years? If so, we won't be able to prosecute the killer!"
Criminal cases have a statute of limitations, with murder cases having a maximum prosecution period of twenty years. If the victim's death occurred more than twenty years ago and no case had been filed previously, the prosecutor's office would not pursue charges. This meant that even if they discovered the truth and found the killer, they couldn't do anything about it.
The time of death for this unidentified male corpse was difficult to determine. The technical department had collected samples of cement blocks, rotted wood, and latex pieces to analyze and estimate the approximate time the body had been buried.
Mu Mian extracted DNA from the deceased's cartilage. After comparing it with Zhang Mingli's hair sample, the results showed no blood relation between them.
Chen Xue exclaimed, "So the deceased isn't Zhang Mingli's father? Doesn't that mean all our previous deductions were wrong?"
"Not necessarily. This only proves that the deceased has no blood relation to Zhang Mingli - he's not her biological father," Mu Mian said. "I don't share blood relations with my parents either, but they're still my mom and dad."
"But Zhang Mingli's parents were both in their first marriage, and she was registered in the household registration system a year after their marriage," Chen Xue analyzed. "This possibility seems unlikely. Unless Zhang Mingli's mother had an affair."
Mu Mian compared the deceased's DNA with samples in the police missing persons database but found no matches.
Through examining the deceased's bone age, Mu Mian determined that the victim was approximately 33-37 years old at the time of death. However, among the filed missing persons cases, there were no male victims in this age range, though there were several females.
This meant that after the victim's disappearance, their family never reported it to the police.
"It's strange that a middle-aged man disappeared without a trace, and his family didn't report it," Chen Xue pondered.
"That's actually quite normal. Most filed missing persons cases involve women and children. Middle-aged men rarely go missing," Mu Mian explained.
"That makes sense. When they disappear, it's usually to escape debts or elope with someone. Their families probably wouldn't want to report it out of shame."
During lunch, Mu Mian and Chen Xue found seats first. Shortly after, Zhang arrived with his tray. When Chen Xue saw Zhang approaching, she immediately picked up her tray and left, deliberately choosing a seat as far from Zhang as possible.
Zhang was bewildered, completely unaware of what had happened. He looked at Mu Mian, but she was also at a loss, unsure whether to follow Chen Xue - if she left, Officer Zhang might think they were isolating him.
"Mu Mian, what's wrong with Chen Xue today? Why is she ignoring me and walking away when she sees me?"
"You really don't know why?" Mu Mian thought Zhang was quite dense not to figure it out.
"No idea!"
"Officer Zhang, you might end up dying alone," Mu Mian sighed, looking at him. She then picked up her tray and ran to join Chen Xue.
Zhang was completely confused. When Fang Rui sat down beside him, Zhang asked, "Boss, Mu Mian said I'll die alone - what does that mean? Has she taken up fortune-telling?"
"Chen Xue wants to break up with you."
"Break up... that's impossible, our relationship is so good... wait, why does Chen Xue want to break up with me?" Zhang suddenly panicked. Why break up out of nowhere?
"What have you done recently?"
"Nothing special. I even took her to meet my parents, we had dinner together, and they quite liked her."
Fang Rui asked, "Did you leave during the meal?"
Zhang suddenly remembered something. During the meal, his mother had sent him out to buy milk tea.
"Now you know the reason?" Fang Rui picked up his tray and left too.
"..."
Chen Xue left after barely eating anything. Only Mu Mian was left eating, but soon Fang Rui sat down across from her.
"Fang Rui, the deceased isn't Zhang Mingli's biological father - they have no blood relation," Mu Mian paused, then continued, "But it's possible her mother had an affair. We need to rule out this possibility. Can you find any close relatives of the father listed on Zhang Mingli's household registration?"
"Zhang Mingli's grandmother is still alive."
"That's great. But if he really isn't Zhang Mingli's father, then we'll be looking for a needle in a haystack."
