"The deceased was female. Her name was Gong Xiuzhen. She is from Tongyang Country of Qinshan City, seventy-three-years-old this year." Miao Ying read out the report to everyone, "The deceased disappeared three years ago, apparently while shopping for groceries. Her family had been trying to find her for years." As Miao Ying spoke, the investigators looked at the information on their phone.
"No way," some investigators said in shock. "This old lady was a retired environmentalist, her salary was average. Why…why would someone kill her? Then seal her in vacuum and hide her in a security box? It makes no sense! Revenge?!"
"I’ve already seen Gong Xiuzhen’s missing persons notification!" Miao Ying said, "Her family said the deceased didn’t have any conflicts with anyone, so it shouldn’t be for revenge!"
"Then that’s even more incomprehensible!" Peng Xin shook her head. "Why would someone kill her? Could…it really be related to this bank robbery?"
"Team Leader, I’ve already looked it up!" Zhang Yaohui spoke up. "In order to put a person in a vacuum sealed bag, it requires a very large vacuum. The plastic bag came from a imported device from Korea. The vacuum packaging machine that uses this material should be very rare. I’ve already asked someone to look into it!"
"Good!" Miao Ying nodded. "Also, all the security boxes in banks are recorded, but for privacy reasons, the information is all tightly secured, so we can’t look into it from the outside. Liu, are there any results?"
"Yeah, yeah." Liu held up a document. "The box is registered to someone named Tong Yun, but this he’s been missing for 5 years!"
Ah? Hearing Liu’s words, everyone could not help but feel even more confused. How was this person missing as well? Just what was the relationship between these two?
"Tong Yun?" Miao Ying repeated his name. "Read out his information for us!"
"Okay!" Liu took out the information and started reading, "Tong Yun, female. She lived in a cotton factory dorm in Qinshan, was jobless, and according to the birthdate on her social ID, she should be twenty-eight-years-old this year. When she went missing, she was only twenty-three-years-old!"
"Mm…" Everyone fell into a deep thought. The matter just became more complicated. If Tong Yun had already been missing for five years, then who had registered the security box?
"Team Leader, I’ve already asked the business manager of the security storage." Lan Bo said, "He said that the registration is just a formality, and that the important thing is just the key and the password. Actually, the people who use the security boxes, as well as the things they store are very shady. The bank only wants to make money, so they won’t ask for details.
"The manager also told me whether it’s registering or depositing items, the bank doesn’t compare information. Even if the registrant was a male, but uses a female name, it wouldn’t matter!"
"See," Liu Xueshan could not help but shake his head and sigh, "no wonder all the large banks don’t dare to do this sort of security storage business! There’s just too many legal problems! If the key and the password are lost, then wouldn’t the bank just keep something for free?"
"Team Leader Miao!" Lan Bo continued, "Regarding the box with the corpse, the bank has already looked into the password. The box was registered three years ago. Ever since the body was put inside, the box was never opened again!"
"Three years?!" Zhang Jingfeng said. "Gong Xuezhen went missing three years ago, so…she was murdered, then stored in there?"
"God!" Liang Huang exclaimed. "Isn’t this too crazy? If it weren’t for the bank robbery, then we would’ve never found Gong Xuezhen’s body!"
"Maybe at least ten years?" Lan Bo responded. "The manager of the security storage said the box was paid for ten years in advance, so for at least ten years no one would know!"
"I’ve heard before," Peng Xin spoke, "that even if no one paid for the security box ten years later, the bank could not easily open it. There should be a late payment period too, and the time is crazy long, at least fifty years. As long as the person who stored the item comes back within fifty years and pays the late fee, the item inside the box is still theirs."
"Geez…" Zhang Jingfeng sighed. "If it’s like this, after sixty or seventy years, it wouldn’t even matter if the body was exposed, right? Actually, hiding a body like this is quite amazing!"
"Team Leader, is there a cause of death yet?" someone asked.
"No clear trauma wounds." Miao Ying shook her head. "It wasn’t poison or suffocation. The Forensics Department is still working on it. But according to Department Leader Wang Xin’s opinion, she said that the body was highly dehydrated, with signs of internal organ deterioration, and some edema due to low protein levels. So, the cause of death should be starvation!"
Ah?! Hearing this, everyone took a sharp breath. To starve someone to death? Isn’t that…too cruel? Just who was the culprit? Why would they kill an old lady?
"But, that’s just an early guess. They’re still not sure, and there are still more tests being done!" Miao Ying said, "Liu, have you alerted the family members yet?"
"I have!" Liu answered quickly. "They should already be here!"
"Okay, then continue that line of investigation. Make sure to find the family quickly and get a detailed description of the deceased. Remember, don’t let any details slip out!" Miao Ying commanded.
"Understood!" Liu immediately turned and left the office. Since the family members of the deceased might have already arrived, he must start his investigation immediately.
"Also," Miao Ying spoke to Zhang Jingfeng, "Zhang has experience locating people, so please try and find out what happened to Tong Yun. See if there’s any news regarding her! Or if she’s still alive?"
"Okay!" Zhang Jingfeng answered promptly.
"Based on the current situation," Miao Ying said, "there’s no direct evidence to connect this corpse to the bank robbery. The body was taken out of the box and then thrown aside, meaning the robbers probably saw the body and were shocked! It could be that the body even interrupted the robber’s, and that they had wanted to open more security boxes, but upon seeing the body, they immediately stopped in fear!"
"Team Leader Miao!" At this time, Zhao Yu suddenly remembered and asked, "Even though the security storage room doesn’t have any surveillance cameras, shouldn’t there be some in the lobby? Pull the surveillance video from three years ago, maybe we can see who stored the body?"
"I’ve already asked!" Lan Bo immediately raised his hand. "Qinshan Bank isn’t a big bank, so the security information from three years ago is gone!"
"That’s fine!" Zhao Yu waved his hand. "Ask people! Look for the workers who worked that year. If I recall, there shouldn’t be many people working at the security desks. To have someone come in with a suitcase big enough to fit a body, then renting the biggest security box, even an idiot would remember that, right?"
"Yu, someone already asked!" Lan Bo answered. "The employee has already been transferred! Right now they’re working somewhere else. I think we’d have to call to ask!"
Yet, just as Lan Bo finished talking, Liu suddenly rushed back as he yelled at Miao Ying, "Team Leader Miao, Team Leader Miao, you guys, quick, head to the Forensics Department! Bureau Chief Tang…Bureau Chief Tang…he…"
Bureau Chief Tang? Everyone furrowed their brows.
"Liu, speak clearly. What about Bureau Chief Tang?" Miao Ying asked.
"It’s…it’s quite a coincidence." Liu sighed. "The vacuum-sealed female corpse, she’s…she’s…Bureau Chief Tang’s aunt!!"
"The deceased was female. Her name was Gong Xiuzhen. She is from Tongyang Country of Qinshan City, seventy-three-years-old this year." Miao Ying read out the report to everyone, "The deceased disappeared three years ago, apparently while shopping for groceries. Her family had been trying to find her for years." As Miao Ying spoke, the investigators looked at the information on their phone.
"No way," some investigators said in shock. "This old lady was a retired environmentalist, her salary was average. Why…why would someone kill her? Then seal her in vacuum and hide her in a security box? It makes no sense! Revenge?!"
"I’ve already seen Gong Xiuzhen’s missing persons notification!" Miao Ying said, "Her family said the deceased didn’t have any conflicts with anyone, so it shouldn’t be for revenge!"
"Then that’s even more incomprehensible!" Peng Xin shook her head. "Why would someone kill her? Could…it really be related to this bank robbery?"
"Team Leader, I’ve already looked it up!" Zhang Yaohui spoke up. "In order to put a person in a vacuum sealed bag, it requires a very large vacuum. The plastic bag came from a imported device from Korea. The vacuum packaging machine that uses this material should be very rare. I’ve already asked someone to look into it!"
"Good!" Miao Ying nodded. "Also, all the security boxes in banks are recorded, but for privacy reasons, the information is all tightly secured, so we can’t look into it from the outside. Liu, are there any results?"
"Yeah, yeah." Liu held up a document. "The box is registered to someone named Tong Yun, but this he’s been missing for 5 years!"
Ah? Hearing Liu’s words, everyone could not help but feel even more confused. How was this person missing as well? Just what was the relationship between these two?
"Tong Yun?" Miao Ying repeated his name. "Read out his information for us!"
"Okay!" Liu took out the information and started reading, "Tong Yun, female. She lived in a cotton factory dorm in Qinshan, was jobless, and according to the birthdate on her social ID, she should be twenty-eight-years-old this year. When she went missing, she was only twenty-three-years-old!"
"Mm…" Everyone fell into a deep thought. The matter just became more complicated. If Tong Yun had already been missing for five years, then who had registered the security box?
"Team Leader, I’ve already asked the business manager of the security storage." Lan Bo said, "He said that the registration is just a formality, and that the important thing is just the key and the password. Actually, the people who use the security boxes, as well as the things they store are very shady. The bank only wants to make money, so they won’t ask for details.
"The manager also told me whether it’s registering or depositing items, the bank doesn’t compare information. Even if the registrant was a male, but uses a female name, it wouldn’t matter!"
"See," Liu Xueshan could not help but shake his head and sigh, "no wonder all the large banks don’t dare to do this sort of security storage business! There’s just too many legal problems! If the key and the password are lost, then wouldn’t the bank just keep something for free?"
"Team Leader Miao!" Lan Bo continued, "Regarding the box with the corpse, the bank has already looked into the password. The box was registered three years ago. Ever since the body was put inside, the box was never opened again!"
"Three years?!" Zhang Jingfeng said. "Gong Xuezhen went missing three years ago, so…she was murdered, then stored in there?"
"God!" Liang Huang exclaimed. "Isn’t this too crazy? If it weren’t for the bank robbery, then we would’ve never found Gong Xuezhen’s body!"
"Maybe at least ten years?" Lan Bo responded. "The manager of the security storage said the box was paid for ten years in advance, so for at least ten years no one would know!"
"I’ve heard before," Peng Xin spoke, "that even if no one paid for the security box ten years later, the bank could not easily open it. There should be a late payment period too, and the time is crazy long, at least fifty years. As long as the person who stored the item comes back within fifty years and pays the late fee, the item inside the box is still theirs."
"Geez…" Zhang Jingfeng sighed. "If it’s like this, after sixty or seventy years, it wouldn’t even matter if the body was exposed, right? Actually, hiding a body like this is quite amazing!"
"Team Leader, is there a cause of death yet?" someone asked.
"No clear trauma wounds." Miao Ying shook her head. "It wasn’t poison or suffocation. The Forensics Department is still working on it. But according to Department Leader Wang Xin’s opinion, she said that the body was highly dehydrated, with signs of internal organ deterioration, and some edema due to low protein levels. So, the cause of death should be starvation!"
Ah?! Hearing this, everyone took a sharp breath. To starve someone to death? Isn’t that…too cruel? Just who was the culprit? Why would they kill an old lady?
"But, that’s just an early guess. They’re still not sure, and there are still more tests being done!" Miao Ying said, "Liu, have you alerted the family members yet?"
"I have!" Liu answered quickly. "They should already be here!"
"Okay, then continue that line of investigation. Make sure to find the family quickly and get a detailed description of the deceased. Remember, don’t let any details slip out!" Miao Ying commanded.
"Understood!" Liu immediately turned and left the office. Since the family members of the deceased might have already arrived, he must start his investigation immediately.
"Also," Miao Ying spoke to Zhang Jingfeng, "Zhang has experience locating people, so please try and find out what happened to Tong Yun. See if there’s any news regarding her! Or if she’s still alive?"
"Okay!" Zhang Jingfeng answered promptly.
"Based on the current situation," Miao Ying said, "there’s no direct evidence to connect this corpse to the bank robbery. The body was taken out of the box and then thrown aside, meaning the robbers probably saw the body and were shocked! It could be that the body even interrupted the robber’s, and that they had wanted to open more security boxes, but upon seeing the body, they immediately stopped in fear!"
"Team Leader Miao!" At this time, Zhao Yu suddenly remembered and asked, "Even though the security storage room doesn’t have any surveillance cameras, shouldn’t there be some in the lobby? Pull the surveillance video from three years ago, maybe we can see who stored the body?"
"I’ve already asked!" Lan Bo immediately raised his hand. "Qinshan Bank isn’t a big bank, so the security information from three years ago is gone!"
"That’s fine!" Zhao Yu waved his hand. "Ask people! Look for the workers who worked that year. If I recall, there shouldn’t be many people working at the security desks. To have someone come in with a suitcase big enough to fit a body, then renting the biggest security box, even an idiot would remember that, right?"
"Yu, someone already asked!" Lan Bo answered. "The employee has already been transferred! Right now they’re working somewhere else. I think we’d have to call to ask!"
Yet, just as Lan Bo finished talking, Liu suddenly rushed back as he yelled at Miao Ying, "Team Leader Miao, Team Leader Miao, you guys, quick, head to the Forensics Department! Bureau Chief Tang…Bureau Chief Tang…he…"
Bureau Chief Tang? Everyone furrowed their brows.
"Liu, speak clearly. What about Bureau Chief Tang?" Miao Ying asked.
"It’s…it’s quite a coincidence." Liu sighed. "The vacuum-sealed female corpse, she’s…she’s…Bureau Chief Tang’s aunt!!"
