National Forensic Doctor-Chapter 984 - 920: The Young Wife

The tender yellow Jetta VS5 raced across the vast wilderness, looking from afar like it was here for an outing.

When the car reached the village committee office, four uniformed police officers got out.

"Director Jin." The officer who got out last greeted in the local dialect before giving way to the two officers in the front seat.

"Director Jin, hello, we have a case we’d like to ask for your assistance with." The two detectives who exited first were from Ningtai County, and they spoke in Mandarin now, very politely.

"Director Jin, have a cigarette."

"Director Jin, you’ve been a director for quite some time, haven’t you? Nowadays the grassroots are really held up by experienced folks like you."

The two detectives buttered up the village director with sweet talk, and soon had him all confused.

In the village, the police are quite respected, and here these respected "Uncle Police" were offering him cigarettes in such a nice way that Director Jin’s smile was readily apparent, like a village cat that had moved to the city, gradually becoming lazy and good-for-nothing.

The two detectives exchanged a look and smoothly began their questioning.

If we talk about contrasts, the suspects who saw the detectives were definitely among the most distinctive.

Before achieving their goal, the detectives were all charm and smiles, seemingly ready to seduce you with even their overnight stubble. Once they’d achieved their goal, the sternness and anger they showed towards criminals were beyond words.

"But to tell you the truth, we don’t have such a person in our village. If we did, I would definitely remember." Director Jin was cooperative, but he couldn’t help the detectives crack the case right away.

"It’s not necessarily someone from the village, maybe someone who married into the village?" The detectives didn’t come all this way to ask one question and leave; that would defeat the purpose of the visit.

Director Jin took another look at the photo, then slowly shook his head: "I really don’t remember, nowadays the young girls all wear makeup; if it was someone who married in and then quickly went out to work, or just came back to the village to get married and then left, I wouldn’t recognize them."

"That’s true, I could hardly recognize my sister when she got married because of the makeup."

"Exactly."

"Moreover, people aren’t like before, having big banquets in the village every other day. Many brides now hide at home after getting married and you can’t necessarily even see them..."

"Indeed." Under the probing of the two detectives, Director Jin felt a connection and looked at the photo again: "You know, you’re right, we can’t really match the village lads with girls who look like this... not that it’s completely impossible..."

The detectives perked up at this point.

The truth be told, they’d visited so many villages, using similar techniques, but the absence of the suspect was the clue.

As Director Jin spoke, he seemed to recall something.

The detectives immediately became alert, and the lead one asked: "Is there anyone in your village whose wife looks somewhat like her?"

"Somewhat like her, I think, but I don’t remember clearly now, she’s not from our village but from Yuefeng Village above." Director Jin began to explain the relationship between his and Yuefeng Village. Originally, they were adjacent large villages, but over time, as more and more people from Yuefeng Village went out to work, the population of over a thousand dwindled to just dozens of regular inhabitants.

The detectives hesitated slightly: "So, this girl you mentioned, does she live in Yuefeng Village?"

"Well, she was there during the New Year, but I don’t know about now." Director Jin said.

"Did the girl not go out to work before? Or has she just been staying in the village?" From the detective’s viewpoint, if you go out to work, a second-generation ID card is almost a necessity.

Director Jin still shook his head and said, "I don’t know," then added, "I’ll ask around for you."

"We’ll need another photo." The detectives said cheerfully. Reasons were something that could be fabricated; a photo was more reliable.

While Director Jin was making the call, the younger detective took the opportunity to check his phone for updates.

The Ningtai County Bureau detectives’ group chat was quite lively.

[We’ve just taken down another arsonist over here, from 14 years ago, a juvenile offender.]

[We’re after a burglar from 10 years ago, can you believe it?]

[The statute of limitations must be up soon, right?]

[No, there’s a new case. They haven’t become monks over these 10 years.]

The young detective stretched lazily and said with a smile, "Looks like our team is expanding. Captain Jiang has been rounding up people these past few days."

"If we don’t wrap this up soon, Captain Jiang might have to call Xu Taining." The older detective shook his head knowingly: "But this is our own case."

"Captain Jiang and Xu Taining are close; it shouldn’t be too much trouble, right?"

"Xu Taining isn’t out for your money; he’s the type who doesn’t spend but can’t close a case." The older detective said earnestly: "If even Captain Jiang can’t solve it, just imagine how much money Xu Taining would have to spend. It’s unthinkable."

The young detective was startled: "The way you put it, it sounds a bit like the healer who cannot heal himself."

While they were talking, Director Jin hurried down with his phone, calling from a distance, "I’ve got a picture, and it looks somewhat similar to what you guys have."

"Let me see!" Not only the two detectives from the Ningtai County Bureau but also the local policemen who came with them stood up in excitement.

This case had wide-ranging implications, and it would be more than great if it could be resolved in their hands.

Director Jin directly showed the detectives the photo on his phone.

The picture was a life snapshot, and although it was taken with a beauty camera, you could still make out some similarities from the facial features.

"Are there more?" The detectives flipped through their phones and Director Jin’s as well.

"About a dozen, I got the pictures from her mother-in-law," Director Jin answered cheerfully.

The two detectives browsed quickly, their expressions growing more serious:

"Where is her mother-in-law?"

"Did you mention what the photos are for?"

Director Jin waved his hand: "I said that the superiors are working on the most beautiful villages project, and they wanted photos of a few young brides, so she just gave them to me."

The two detectives breathed a sigh of relief; at least their cover wasn’t blown immediately.

The first suspect when a wife dies is usually the husband, and if the situation here is compromised, there is a chance of startling the snake in the grass.

However, this thought was fleeting in their minds.

The older detective immediately said, "No good. Our conspicuous approach is bound to have leaked some information. The mother-in-law is likely uninformed, but saying that about her son would be a stretch."

"Ah? What should we do?" The young detective seemed a bit nervous.

"If possible, we should just make arrests." The older detective turned his head and said to Director Jin, "Director Jin, can you please give us a detailed introduction to this family?"

"This... there isn’t much to introduce, actually. The girl is from Lisave, her family is quite poor, so she was married off here. A bride price of 288,000 yuan, plus the three golds, name change, and the car fee and such, it totaled up to 500,000 yuan for Jin Bu’s family spent, borrowing all over the village," explained Director Jin as he shook his head and continued, "But it’s almost the same now everywhere. The bride is pretty, not considered expensive."

"She’s 21 this year, got married the year before last, isn’t she underage?"

Director Jin chuckled: "Even with the marriage certificate, it’s useless, they can divorce if they want to."

"After that, did she always live in the village?"

"How could that be? The guy went to work not long after they got married, and his dad has always been out working. The new bride stayed with the mother-in-law at home for a while, then she went out to work too."

At this point, the four detectives had already used the police communication system to scan the woman’s photo, and indeed, they gained no relevant information.

The young detective asked, "What is the girl’s name?"

Director Jin looked at his phone and said, "Her name is Chen Nuan. But whether that’s the name on her ID card, I have no idea."

The detectives then searched with her name, age, and household registration, and finally found her. True enough, she had not applied for a second-generation ID card; she also had no phone number to her name, likely using that of a family member or someone from the village.

This situation is not uncommon. Those who buy and sell ID cards and bank cards ultimately collect them from similar sources.

The detectives continued to inquire: "Do you know where she went to work?"

"I didn’t ask that. Should I ask?"

"No need for that. Where is her husband? Is Jin Bu the son’s name or the father’s?"

"It’s her dad’s name; the son’s name is... I forgot, we all call each other by nicknames."

The detectives waved their hands; this information was already enough.

The older policeman went to report the situation, and when he looked back, he saw his partner had already found the relevant information about Jin Bu’s son Jin Quan, including his mobile number and last known location.

As expected, Jin Quan had not registered a marriage certificate, and the information about his wife Chen Nuan had not been updated in a long time.

"What do we do?" The young detective asked for the next course of action.

"We go find Chen Nuan’s mother-in-law. She should know a lot of information," said the older policewoman before succinctly adding, "Everyone else is in place; let’s find the person first."

A large dowry, a missing young wife, and no missing person report – these elements had already given the investigators plenty of room for imagination.