Chapter 47: Thirty-six Yuan Eighty-nine Mao
Qin Hengzhi glanced impassively at Lu Qiaoge, then said in a deep voice: “Although the households whose chickens and ducks were stolen are somewhat scattered, you see…”
Qin Hengzhi raised his hand and pointed one by one to those households they had just mentioned.
Then he pointed to the small alley straight ahead: “Whether it’s a single person or multiple people, as long as they run into this small alley, they basically lose their tracks.”
Lu Qiaoge looked at Qin Hengzhi with some surprise.
Entering this alley, passing through the household at the very back that has main doors on both north and south sides, leads to Chen Xiangqian’s home as Grey Pigeon said.
Qin Hengzhi is really smart.
She learned the information from Grey Pigeon and took a shortcut, but Qin Hengzhi figured it out himself through analysis.
Officer Li nodded and said: “That’s right, we just went to check. Although the footprints are messy, as long as they run into the alley, no one can catch up to them.”
That alley twists and turns seven or eight times, it’s disorienting just looking at it.
Qin Hengzhi said again: “There must be a household in the alley with doors at both front and back. That door should be on the other side, and going out from the north door likely leads to the area where stolen goods are fenced…”
Jiangcheng is a northern city. Initially, there were few people here. More than a hundred years ago, settlers who came to reclaim the land gradually formed irregular street layouts.
After the railway was built, roads and buildings followed the railway. From above, they look radial. Except for the apartment buildings built after the founding of the country, which have a standard south-facing layout, the old houses face all directions.
Qin Hengzhi was right; going out the north door leads to a road heading to East Forty-One.
And at this time, Qin Hengzhi had already gone to catch up with the team.
For some reason, Qin Hengzhi had an intuition that with Lu Qiaoge there, they should be able to accurately find the fence stolen goods location.
This chicken and duck theft case would be solved very smoothly!
And that’s exactly what happened.
Lu Qiaoge stood by the wall, pointing to the chicken feathers stuck on the wall: “Look here. The bag must not have been tied tightly, and the chicken ran out. But after catching it back in the bag, the thief didn’t care. Last night’s heavy rain was so big that whether it was human footprints or chicken claw prints, they were all washed clean by the rain. But actually, that’s not the case. Many things, once done, will definitely leave traces.”
Officer Li nodded in agreement and praised Lu Qiaoge: “Comrade Lu observes meticulously, very good.”
He also wanted to say she was a good prospect for criminal investigation, but now…
Saying it wouldn’t help.
Soon, several people arrived at the area where Chen Xiangqian lived.
Although Lu Qiaoge didn’t know which household he lived in, Grey Pigeon had just told her that Chen Xiangqian’s house was at the northernmost side, against the wall, with a cherry tree in the courtyard.
This season was when northern cherries ripened, and Lu Qiaoge was distracted thinking she should go to Guzi Village for a visit.
She remembered many households in Guzi Village had cherry trees.
The clues seemed to disappear here.
This area was relatively high in elevation, so any traces had been washed away by rainwater.
But Lu Qiaoge pointed to the Chen Family courtyard: “Look at that cherry tree. Isn’t there a patch of chicken feathers on it?”
Officer Li squinted his eyes. From this distance, how did Comrade Lu see it?
Her eyesight was too good.
Shao Le took a few steps forward and boldly said: “Whether there are or not, it’s fine to knock on the door and ask about the situation, right?”
Definitely no problem; they had asked several households along the way.
They all said they hadn’t heard any strange noises last night.
Nor had they seen any strange people in the morning.
So, the group headed to Chen Xiangqian’s home.
Just then, the Chen Family door opened, and two young men came out arm in arm.
Seeing Cadre Liu and Shao Le, they didn’t react much, but upon seeing Officer Li, they screamed in fright, one panicking and running into the courtyard, the other running east along the road.
No need to ask now; people who turn tail and run at the sight of public security officers are definitely guilty.
Cadre Liu was a retired soldier; to work at the public security office, he must have good skills. He lunged forward in one stride and grabbed the young man running east. Officer Li kicked open the courtyard door that had been shut again, and he said to Lu Qiaoge: “You go call Officer Zhu and the others.”
Lu Qiaoge didn’t show off her strength; she just glanced and felt reassured.
No desperate criminals here; Officer Li and the others wouldn’t be in danger. Besides, Officer Li had, that dark weapon gleaming; a dozen or so thugs hugged their heads and squatted down in panic.
Shao Le’s face flushed with excitement. Standing beside Cadre Liu, he shouted fox-borrowing-tiger-might: “No one move!”
Lu Qiaoge, in the shortest time, called over the other two public security officers who were still investigating the scene.
Then, more than a hundred chickens and ducks were found in the Chen Family cellar.
These people were even more timid than Lu Qiaoge thought; they hadn’t dared to eat a single one.
Lu Qiaoge analyzed that since they didn’t dare eat them, they probably wanted to sell them on the black market.
The legendary black market of this era; she should find an opportunity to check it out.
After all, it was within her area of responsibility.
With things settled here, Cadre Liu had to go to the police station, so she and Shao Le naturally returned to the work unit.
They also notified the residents on the way that they could now go to the police station to claim their lost chickens and ducks.
The residents were happy, but some grumbled. This area of bungalows wasn’t small; people could raise three or five chickens and ducks to improve their lives.
An old man who kept laying hens for elderly care said that after such a fright, the old hens might not lay eggs anymore.
These bastards should all go back to the countryside to farm and not harm the city.
Saying that was fine.
But now, the number of registered unemployed youths had exceeded a thousand. Even in this era, the employment situation was very severe.
This problem basically had no solution without expanding job posts.
The morning’s work was considered successfully completed, but when Lu Qiaoge and Shao Le returned to the work unit, they couldn’t report on the work.
It was almost time to get off work. The street cadres who had gone out to investigate and screen had returned, and several from the neighborhood committees had also come to report to the director.
There were more people than usual.
But at this time, everyone was not in the office but gathered in the courtyard.
A woman in her thirties with tear-streaked face stood in front of a man about her age but with a sullen expression, hysterically shouting.
“Thirty-six yuan and eighty fen nine, eighteen jin of grain ration tickets, one jin of meat ticket. Ding Zichuan, not only did you beat me but you also cursed me for a month. I swear to you, I never saw this salary. You never gave it to me, let alone a single fen to my mom. On the contrary, when my mom knew that month’s salary was lost, she gave me ten yuan. But you went to my home making a big fuss, saying my mom spent your salary, and even said ‘the wool comes from the sheep.’ My mom wasn’t well to begin with, and you made her bedridden with anger. Yet you told people that my mom felt guilty, was acting out of a bad conscience, felt she had wronged you, and that’s why she fell ill…”
Lu Qiaoge immediately understood; the owner of the money and tickets tucked in that book How the Steel Was Tempered had come.
Logically, lost and found should make one overjoyed.
But what was this situation?
