The Novelist Forced to Become Famous

Chapter 391

From November 2002 to February 2003, over a period of 5 months, Peace City witnessed 4 extremely similar cases of burned corpses.

All victims were young women who had never given birth. The bodies were abandoned in secluded locations: abandoned factories, temporarily closed construction sites, suburban wilderness, and unfinished buildings. All corpses were burned, making it impossible to identify faces or fingerprints.

After investigation, the police obtained the following clues:

November 2, 2002 - First case: Size 40 rubber shoe print

November 8, 2002 - Second case: Diesel fuel used

December 29, 2002 - Third case: Light snow fell that day, tire tracks left by the killer's car

February 18, 2003 - Fourth case: Victim's identity discovered

This was purely coincidental.

The fourth case occurred in February of the following year.

By then, a month and a half had passed since the third case, and the police still hadn't uncovered the killer's true identity. They even wondered if he had stopped.

Everyone was under immense pressure, especially after news reports of the first three cases caused public panic. During those months, as soon as it got dark, young women were nowhere to be seen on the streets.

Streets and communities were mobilized to remind residents not to go out at night, and lone women were advised to be especially careful and to call the police station if anything happened.

For a time, tension was high. The police station received several emergency calls, with women tearfully begging for help. However, when they arrived at the scene, eight out of ten cases turned out to be burglaries or robberies.

On February 18th, around 2 PM, several middle school students called 110 (emergency number), saying they had found a dead body in a haunted house, which was very scary.

The police rushed to the reported location, which was an unfinished villa by the river, as dark as a haunted house.

Inside the house lay a similar blackened, charred corpse. The difference was that this body's bones had been fractured and had several steel pins in them. The police immediately contacted the hospital and showed the autopsy photos to orthopedic doctors.

Finally, one doctor recognized the body as his former patient.

The police finally confirmed the victim's identity.

Her name was Wang Zihui, 24 years old, working as a hall manager in a restaurant. A few months ago, she had accidentally fallen down the stairs, breaking her leg, and had been in a cast for several months before recovering.

When inquiring at her workplace, everyone said she had been missing for almost a week.

The boss said, "I heard she was dating a rich boyfriend, so I thought she had quit."

A colleague said, "She said she was going back to her hometown for a few days. Who knew she would end up dead? Sigh!"

Her roommate said, "Xiao Hui is dead? Oh my God, I didn't know. I've been busy packing to move these past few days, so I wasn't aware of her situation."

This was the only victim whose identity could be confirmed. The police investigated very carefully and quickly uncovered her social relationships.

Wang Zihui wasn't a local of Peace City; she had come from elsewhere to work. She didn't know many people, mainly just her boss and colleagues at the restaurant. Her roommate wasn't her friend; they only knew each other because they shared an apartment and didn't care about or understand each other's lives.

According to a colleague, Wang Zihui had been seen getting into a man's car, which they guessed belonged to her boyfriend. However, her close female friend denied this, saying she had never mentioned dating anyone.

The suspicion surrounding this mysterious man suddenly increased.

After a detailed investigation, the police finally uncovered the identity of this mysterious car owner.

His name was Wu Bing, from the same hometown as Wang Zihui. He had made some money in the building materials business over the past two years and immediately bought a car, intending to drive it back to his hometown during the New Year to show off his success.

When asked about his relationship with Wang Zihui, he said, "We're from the same village. This girl didn't go home last year, and her parents were very worried, so they asked me to look after her."

The police asked, "Did you ever drive to see her?"

"Just once, to treat her to a meal and give her some advice. Nothing else," Wu Bing was quite nervous at the time. "Officer, this girl hasn't done anything wrong, has she? I'm not close to her, we don't have much contact usually."

The police, of course, didn't believe him.

With just this one suspect, they naturally investigated him thoroughly.

As a result, they uncovered bribery, hiring someone to commit murder, and using substandard materials in place of good ones. However, no matter how they investigated, it seemed unrelated to the previous three cases.

Wu Bing's car ran on gasoline, his shoe size was 42, and he had been socializing and drinking heavily almost every day for the past few months. How could he have had time to kill and dispose of bodies?

The case reached a deadlock.

After the Wang Zihui case, although the killer wasn't caught, he also ceased his activities and didn't strike again.

The police locked onto a suspect.

Wu Honglin, male, 35 years old, a truck driver. In early January, he had taken on a job transporting wood and returned to Peace City around the 15th.

He and his wife rented a small apartment of 30-40 square meters in the west of the city, living in tight financial circumstances. Usually, Wu Honglin drove long-distance trucks, while his wife operated an electric tricycle to transport passengers. Back in 2007, the transportation market was still quite unregulated, with many such unlicensed vehicles visible everywhere on the streets.

When the police came to their door, his wife thought it was a crackdown on illegal taxis. She smiled apologetically, saying she had a license, while offering them a cigarette, hoping they would let her off.

"Officers, we're just trying to make a living," the woman in her thirties said, wringing her hands nervously, afraid they would take away her tricycle.

This was something she had bought for seven or eight hundred yuan, having used it for less than two years. It was still quite new.

But the police paid no attention to her concerns and asked, "Where's your husband?"

"He's out earning money," the woman said, growing increasingly uneasy. She tentatively asked, "Officers, did he hit someone? We'll pay compensation, definitely."

The officer in charge said, "Sit down first, we have some questions for you."

The woman asked anxiously, "What's this about?"

"Where was your husband on the evening of January 17th?"

"The 17th... he was out picking up passengers."

"But the transportation company said he returned on the 15th."

"Yes, yes, that was for long-distance trips. It's different. When there's no work, he tells me to rest and takes my tricycle to pick up passengers."

"Was he out all night on the 17th?"

"Yes."

"Were you with him?"

"No, I remember it was very cold those days. I'm not in good health, so he told me to stay home and rest." At this point, a happy smile appeared on the woman's face.

The police asked a couple more questions and then left.

Next, they found Wu Honglin picking up passengers on the street and brought him to the police station for questioning.

Wu Honglin admitted that he was out on the night of the 17th and didn't return home, but he denied picking up Li Xiaonuan, let alone killing her.

However, the situation looked unfavorable for him.

Near the shop where Li Xiaonuan had been painting, there was a mid-range tobacco and liquor store. The owner, worried about thieves, had installed a surveillance camera at the entrance.

The camera captured Wu Honglin's electric tricycle passing by around 5 PM.

The police asked him where he was between 7 PM and 9 PM on the 17th.

Wu Honglin said that because traffic police were strict in the city center, he usually just circled around the factories in the west of the city, and that day was probably the same.

"Tell us honestly, did you pick up a young woman that day?"

"No, really no. Young girls don't ride these kinds of vehicles. On the 17th... I think the weather was bad. I picked up a woman who was going to school to pick up her child. It was still light out then, definitely not the one you're asking about."

"No business after dark?"

"Yes, but just one fare, quite late, probably around 8 or 9 o'clock."

This was a crucial time point, and the police asked, "Do you remember the location?"

"Yes, I've been picking up passengers in that area these past couple of days. It was a woman with long hair, wearing a suit. I think she was a real estate agent. I saw she was carrying a large handbag full of documents. She was very polite. I said 15 yuan, and she didn't have change, so she gave me 20 and wouldn't let me give her change."

The lead was quite clear, and since it was a newly developed area with only two or three real estate agencies, they quickly found the passenger after asking around.

She said, "Yes, I worked overtime on the night of the 17th. It was too late for the bus, so I called an unlicensed tricycle. What did the driver look like? How would I remember that? I think he wasn't very tall and had a bit of an accent."

The police showed her a photo of Wu Honglin. She couldn't be certain, but she recognized the tricycle.

"It was this vehicle, I'm sure. It had green curtains and was quite clean inside."

The police asked, "Do you remember what time it was?"

"I got home around 9:20 PM, so I probably got on the vehicle around 8:50 PM."