"Never seen it."

"No impression."

"I really can't remember this! There are too many people coming to our store to buy milk every day, including dozens of young women. If there are photos, maybe I can remember who they are."

This is a large-scale dairy specialty store. There is one store manager and three clerks, all of whom are women.

Asking one-on-one is useless.

Hu Pingtao and Xing Le looked at each other and saw the disappointment in each other's eyes.

Still nothing.

If no clues are found, the eucalyptus will turn into a hanging eucalyptus. This is the result that Hu Pingtao least wants to see.

Later, Hu Pingtao called the clerk and store manager together: "Let's do it! Please give me a list of customers in the store. I also want the shopping records in the store last month."

Since the relevant person cannot be found, we can only start with the customers who have been to the store.

Compared with the past, there is an advantage to searching for clues now - with the popularity of smart phones, many people have formed the habit of online payment. Especially when buying milk, you only need to take out your mobile phone and scan the code. More importantly, milk

The product company will collect customer information and make production adjustments based on daily product sales. In other words, as long as you search the relevant information on the store computer, you may be able to find out the identity information of the deceased.

Hu Pingtao showed her ID, and the store manager also called the company's phone number. After both parties confirmed, she opened the computer and inserted the USB flash drive handed over by Xing Le to transfer data.

This is a normal behavior.

Just as he reached out to pull out the USB flash drive, the expression on the store manager's face suddenly became a little hesitant.

Hu Pingtao stood outside the counter. From his angle, he could see the store manager's emotional changes. Seeing this, Hu Pingtao felt a little strange and asked, "What's wrong with you?"

The store manager's name is Zhou Zhixin, who is about thirty years old. She raised her hand to adjust her glasses and said uncertainly: "Um...can you show me the photo of the pajamas again?"

When Xing Le heard this, he quickly took out his phone, opened it, and handed it over.

An unprecedented expectation instantly filled Hu Pingtao's mind.

He stared at Zhou Zhixin closely and asked impatiently: "Why, have you seen this dress?"

Zhou Zhixin looked at the photos on her phone and hesitated. After half a minute, she frowned and said: "I'm not sure... I mean, I have a friend, she has something similar to

Pajamas with the exact same color and style in the photo.”

Hu Pingtao instantly understood what Zhou Zhixin wanted to express: "You mean, there are many identical clothes, so you can't be sure?"

"...Yes." Zhou Zhixin was a little embarrassed and explained: "I really want to help you because you are the police! It is my duty to provide clues. But...but...it's not entirely a matter of the style of the clothes.

, the key point is... Oops, this matter is a bit complicated to talk about, and I don’t know how to put it."

Seeing this, Hu Pingtao slowed down his speech and smiled gently: "Don't be anxious, think about it carefully and speak slowly."

Zhou Zhixin pondered for a moment and said seriously: "I have a friend, I have a very good relationship with her, we should be considered best friends."

Hu Pingtao asked: "What is the name of this friend you are talking about?"

"Her name is Chu Ruoying." Zhou Zhixin said: "Xiaoying used to work here and was a colleague of mine. Later she resigned and stopped working."

Xing Le asked: "When did this Chu Ruoying leave?"

"It's been more than half a year." Zhou Zhixin explained: "Because Xiaoying and I have a very good relationship, so even after she left, we still kept in touch."

Hu Pingtao asked: "You mean you have seen Chu Ruoying wearing this style of pajamas?"

He didn't say it was the same one, only that it was the same model.

"Yes." Zhou Zhixin answered in the affirmative at first, and then his expression became a little strange: "But... when you came in, you said you were investigating the corpse. I also heard about the corpse being picked up from the river yesterday.

.If the dress in the photo really belongs to Xiaoying, then she..."

At this point, Zhou Zhixin shook his head vigorously, frowned, and said to himself: "It's impossible, it can't be Xiaoying, I must have made a mistake."

Xing Le was impatient. Seeing Zhou Zhixin talking about it over and over again, but there was no follow-up, she suddenly became anxious and urged: "Oh, what on earth are you doing? Since you said you have seen Chu Ruoying wear this

A piece of clothing, then you should hurry up and continue talking!"

"Wait a minute." Hu Pingtao interrupted Xing Le unexpectedly, and asked Zhou Zhixin: "Xiao Zhou, are you sure you have seen this dress?"

Zhou Zhixin suddenly became a little hesitant: "I... that..."

Hu Pingtao comforted: "I don't mean to force you. I just want you to recall it carefully. After all, human life is at stake! In addition, the thing in the photo is not ordinary clothes, but a women's pajamas. So.

I have to figure out the relationship between you and Chu Ruoying. Because under normal circumstances, no one would run around in pajamas. Unless you have a very good relationship with this Chu Ruoying and have lived together. "

Zhou Zhixin understood the meaning of Hu Pingtao's words and nodded: "Xiaoying is a gentle person. She was very well-behaved when she was in the store. I always treated her as a younger sister. At that time, she just came to the store.

Although I don’t understand many things when I go to work, Xiaoying is a sweet-talking person. When she meets someone older than her, she calls her brother or sister, and everyone likes her.”

Next to him, a shop assistant interjected: "Speaking of Chu Ruoying, I have a good impression of her. She is very good-looking. She has a good appearance and a good figure. It was summer, and we usually like to wear hot pants and short skirts, but the store

Of all the people here, only Xiaoying looks the best in it."

Another female clerk couldn't help but joke: "That's because your legs are thick and look like carrots."

This statement immediately made everyone laugh.

Taking advantage of the lively atmosphere, Hu Pingtao asked Zhou Zhixin: "You mean you and Chu Ruoying used to live together?"

Zhou Zhixin nodded: "Xiaoying and I both came to the provincial capital to work. At that time, she just came to work and asked me if I had a place to live in the store. I saw that she didn't have much money, so I took her to the house I rented.

I'm staying here temporarily. In fact, the house I rent is not big. It's in a village in the city.

Inside, there was a single room with a bathroom, and the rent was 500 yuan a month. Later, when Xiaoying got her first month's salary, she took the initiative to give me 300 yuan, saying it was her share of the rent. I said this was not possible.

, at most two hundred, but she is very stubborn and must give it to me."

Hu Pingtao nodded slightly: "Looking at it this way, Chu Ruoying's character is quite good."

He then asked: "How much is your monthly salary when you work here?"

Zhou Zhixin replied: "I am a veteran employee and have worked in Xuelan for more than ten years. I can now earn more than 6,000 a month. In our industry, the difference in salary and benefits is still very big. Although the official recruitment advertisement says that newcomers

, that is, an ordinary salesperson’s monthly salary is three to five thousand, but in fact very few can get five thousand.”

Xing Le asked puzzledly: "Why?"

"Because there are many components of salary." Zhou Zhixin explained: "For example, overtime is unavoidable. Employees who are willing to work overtime will definitely get more than those who are unwilling to work overtime. The other aspect is the number of years of service. All units look at seniority.

The employees are definitely not as good as the older employees.”

Next to him, a female clerk sighed: "There is really no way to work overtime. Just like me! When I first came to work, I negotiated a basic salary of 3,000. But I have to eat at noon! There are two situations when we eat.

One is company catering, that is, the company cooperates with a fixed restaurant, and each person pays ten yuan for each meal.

Yuan, food delivery. Another way is to look at the situation of the store. For example, our store has a large area, a lounge in the back, and an induction cooker. As long as everyone pools money to buy rice and vegetables, and take turns cooking at noon...

But despite this, it still costs one to two hundred yuan a month."

Hu Pingtao nodded slightly: "In other words, you can't actually get three thousand a month, which is more than two thousand?"

"Yes." Zhou Zhixin said seriously: "So Xiaoying took the initiative to give me the money and said that the rent would be shared between the two of us. I was still very touched. At least it means that Xiaoying is not willing to take advantage of me."

Hu Pingtao smiled and continued the topic: "You and Chu Ruoying live together, so you saw her wearing the same style of pajamas?"

Zhou Zhixin was silent for a few seconds, then raised his head, with a complicated expression on his face: "I don't think it's as simple as the same style, it should be... the same dress."

As soon as these words came out, Hu Pingtao narrowed his eyes subconsciously.

Xing Le felt his heart tighten.

Hu Pingtao controlled the rhythm of the conversation and asked seriously: "Why are you so sure?"

Zhou Zhixin said: "Please open the photo on your phone."

Hu Pingtao obeyed and handed over the phone. Zhou Zhixin looked at the photo of pajamas carefully, pointed with his hand, and replied: "I don't know if you have paid attention to this position. There should be traces of sewing."

The position of her fingers was where the right shoulder strap of her pajamas connected to the front.

Hu Pingtao and Xing Le took a closer look and saw that there was indeed a white flower there. It was only the size of an adult's fingertip.

It's normal for women's pajamas to have this kind of pattern decoration on them.

Unless there are special reasons, highly decayed corpses are usually not dissected during autopsy.

The body of the deceased was wrapped in a black plastic bag with bricks stuffed inside to gain weight and sink to the bottom of the water. If part of the plastic bag had not been damaged, Wang Zhenjiang and Luo Kai happened to be fishing by the river, and the plastic bag hung on the body of the deceased with a fishing hook.

I'm afraid it will take a long time for the body to float up and be discovered.

Under such circumstances, when the woman's pajamas on the deceased was picked up, the surface was covered with mud, dirty and smelly. Even a careful forensic doctor like Ding Jian ignored the flowers on the surface of the clothes.

Little Baihua.

Because the stitching is so delicate, it doesn't look like it's trying to cover up the broken shoulder strap.

Zhou Zhixin said seriously: "When I got home from get off work that night, Xiaoying went to take a shower first. Because she and I were the only two people in the room, and she loved to laugh and make trouble, she put on her pajamas and reached out to dig out my crotch. The two of us had a fight on the bed for a while, and then I got tired and when I got up to take a shower, Xiaoying's clothes were just underneath me, and with a little force, the shoulder straps broke."

"I learned my sewing skills from my mother. I happened to have an old piece of clothing that I planned to throw away, so I cut off the small white flowers on it and sewed them on my pajamas as a decoration. Xiaoying liked it very much and praised me for my skill.

"

Hu Pingtao waited patiently for her to finish, took the phone, walked quickly to the corner of the room, and dialed Ding Jian's number.

He simply and quickly explained what he had just learned, and asked: "Look at the pajamas on the deceased, where the shoulder straps and the skirt are connected. Is there a small flower? If so, take a new close-up picture."

Send us photos with better distance and clarity.”
To be continued...