The police increased manpower to search the surrounding area of the crime scene and brought in six police dogs from the county, but they still couldn't find the child's heart.

Subsequently, the case was handed over to the Criminal Police Brigade of Guangyuan County. However, after three months of investigation without any progress, they had to ask for help from the city level.

The case was then taken over by their police team, led by Lu Jianfei. Upon receiving the request for help, he immediately led the team to Guangyuan County to learn about the situation.

They visited Zhou Kaieri's family, as well as the surrounding neighbors and people from the same village.

At first, they also believed it was a revenge murder case, so they focused on villagers who had conflicts with the Zhou family.

After investigation, they successfully identified a few villagers who had disagreements with the Zhou family, but all were trivial matters and not serious enough to lead to murder.

Moreover, through visits and investigations of these families, it was either that they didn't have the opportunity to commit the crime or they had alibis.

After a few months of investigation, they still couldn't find any clues related to the case, turning it into a cold case.

Later, Luo Fei explained his reasons for choosing this case.

"Firstly, this case happened three years ago, which isn't too long ago, so it's relatively easier to investigate."

"Secondly, Zhao Hai's analysis makes sense: the victimized child was only three years old, and at this age, a child couldn't have wandered far from home alone without adult accompaniment."

"This only proves that the victim was likely taken from home by the perpetrator, but according to village residents' accounts, no one saw outsiders entering the village that day, nor were there any external vehicles."

"I suspect there's a high probability that a villager committed this crime, so we just need to conduct a detailed and comprehensive follow-up with those who were in the village at the time, and I believe there will definitely be a discovery."

Zhao Donglai naturally trusted his judgment, "Alright, then let's start investigating this case."

"Let's do it this way, groups one and two will handle the follow-ups, while groups three and four will analyze and integrate the relevant evidence and testimonies, with the K9 and technical teams assisting."

After assigning tasks, they went to their respective duties.

Since there was some distance from their location to Qingshan Town, Luo Fei and Liao Xingyu discussed it and decided to set out immediately to save time.

This way, they would have time to visit two more villagers in the afternoon.

In the car.

Luo Fei and Liao Xingyu continued discussing the case.

"The case has been cold for so long, the perpetrator probably thought the police had given up. Us visiting again might make them nervous."

"So, Team Leader Liao, remember to alert everyone to pay extra attention to the expressions and behaviors of those we visit."

"Also, when questioning, ensure to be thorough, and don't limit targets to those who had conflicts with the Zhou family. Inquire if there were major incidents or abnormal behavior from anyone during that time frame."

"Okay, I will remind them shortly."

Liao Xingyu nodded in agreement, then paused and asked in confusion, "Luo Fei, are you suggesting this case might not be revenge-based?"

"I'm not sure for now. The perpetrator's method does appear to be revenge-driven, but the investigative records show the police couldn't find a suspect even among Zhou family's enemies."

"This suggests either we missed some clues or indeed, it wasn't revenge-driven, so we must prepare for both possibilities."

Saying this, Luo Fei suddenly continued, "Team Leader Liao, let's boldly assume for a moment, if this case wasn't about revenge, who do you think could have committed the crime?"

"Aside from revenge killing…" Liao Xingyu furrowed his brows, thought seriously for a while, and shook his head.

"Without a deep hatred or grievance, I can't fathom who would do something so cruel and bloody to a child. A normal adult wouldn't do something so perverse."

"Exactly, a normal person wouldn't do such a perverse thing, so can we boldly speculate that the perpetrator wasn't a normal person?"

"You mean... the perpetrator had a mental illness? That's possible, but the perpetrator of this case clearly planned the abduction and murder, which doesn't align with criminal behavior of mental patients."

Typically, mentally ill individuals commit crimes impulsively when they flare up, rarely with such premeditation.

"You misunderstood me. I wasn't saying the perpetrator had a mental illness, but maybe due to some reasons, they became psychologically abnormal, which compelled them to kill Zhou Kaieri?"

"You know, the victim lived in a rural area, mostly inhabited by left-behind elderly, who tend to be superstitious, ignorant, and stubborn."

"For instance, there was a similar case..."

Luo Fei's conjecture wasn't without basis but was supported by facts.

Some days ago, while reading, he came across a similar case where both victim and perpetrator were villagers from the same village and even neighbors.

The victim's family was well-off, while the perpetrator's family was financially struggling, and even after fifty, he was still alone.

Due to unsatisfactory life circumstances, the perpetrator became obsessed with feng shui and superstitions, spending all his money on these pursuits.

But despite spending substantial money, his life didn't improve, instead, he fell deeper into superstition until one day he encountered a guru. The guru explained that his lack of wealth was due to his neighbor suppressing him.

Anyone with a bit of common sense would see this claim as nonsense, yet the perpetrator genuinely believed it. That night, he took a kitchen knife to his neighbor's house and killed a neighbor of the same age.

Luo Fei briefly recounted this case and continued to analyze, "In this case, prior to the incident, there was no enmity between the perpetrator and the victim; on the contrary, the families had good relations, with the victim's family taking good care of the perpetrator."

"He genuinely had no reason to kill, yet one word from the master was enough for him to kill. And facing police interrogation, he confidently claimed the murder was to change his fate."

"Based on this case, could we boldly hypothesize that maybe some elder in the village became superstitious about something like feng shui, believing that the victim was a curse or something, thus leading to murder."

"Brilliant, Team Leader Luo, this conjecture indeed makes a lot of sense!" Liao Xingyu nodded repeatedly, excited.

Zhang Wei and the others suddenly felt enlightened.

At this time, He Xin, beside Luo Fei, pondered and said, "Leader, based on your analysis, could the child's missing heart be explained as taken by the perpetrator for some other use, like a ritual or something?"

Previously, all police investigating this case believed that the perpetrator took the child's heart for revenge to cause pain to the family.

However, this reason seemed somewhat forced, as there are many ways to cause distress to the family, like dismemberment or mutilating other body parts.

But the perpetrator specifically chose the heart, which suggests there might be another purpose, and Luo Fei's hypothesis provides an explanation for this purpose.

"That's a possible reason… Also, there's another detail, not sure if you've noticed?"

"What detail?"

"The child's chest was cut open and the heart was removed. Normally, to do this, the child's clothes would need to be cut open, or at least removed for convenience."

"However, when the child's body was discovered, the clothes were intact, with only blood on the chest area. This indicates that the perpetrator removed the clothes before removing the heart and then dressed the body again before discarding it."

Luo Fei paused before continuing, "Don't you think this is strange? A ruthless perpetrator, who wouldn't even spare a three-year-old, yet still took the time to dress the child appropriately after such a heinous act. This in itself is a very contradictory action."

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