Serial crimes are often premeditated crimes, and murderers generally prefer to commit crimes in areas they are familiar with, while abiding by the "three noes" principle.

Not far, not close, not repeated.

Not far means that the murderer generally does not go to a relatively distant place to commit a crime, especially a place that he is not familiar with, which is a kind of psychological security.

It's easy to understand if it's not close, the risk of committing a crime at the door of the house is high, and it's easy to run into acquaintances when you go in and out, as the saying goes, "rabbits don't eat the grass by the nest".

Non-duplication means that the crime does not occur in the same place. Wherever murders have occurred, vigilance will be strengthened, and the vigilance of the public will also be high, increasing the risk of committing crimes.

The five crime points on the map were connected into a five-pointed star, and Zhao Lin saw a familiar name in the blank area of the intersection line: Yunlai Inn.

"Isn't this the inn where the murder in the locked room is located?"

Zhao Lin opened his mouth in surprise, recalling this bizarre case.

At the beginning of this year, a merchant with a foreign accent stayed at the Yunlai Inn near the pier.

The merchant claimed to be selling jade, from Wanli Jade Shop in the state city.

He lived in the inn for half a month, and carried jade everywhere in the city every day to run business.

One morning, the man came to the merchant's room to deliver hot water, and no one opened the door after shouting for a long time.

The guy is a little strange: this merchant gets up early every day, what's going on today?

The man thought that the merchant was sleeping lazily and didn't pay attention to it, but in the evening, there was still no answer to the knock on the door.

Now the guy felt that something was wrong, so he found the shopkeeper and said: "The guests in room nine don't know what's going on, they haven't gone out for a day, and they still lock themselves inside, do you want to go over and take a look?" ”

When the shopkeeper heard this, he hurriedly came to room nine and shouted loudly.

There was no movement in the door, and the deadbolt was on, and it could not be pushed open from the outside.

The shopkeeper set up a ladder, climbed to a high place, pierced the window paper on the top of the door, and looked inside.

I saw a person lying on the floor, and there was a pool of blood around him.

The shopkeeper screamed in fright and almost fell.

The other guests in the inn heard the news and gathered around and speculated.

Some people say that the merchant has not sold a piece of jade for half a month, and he can't think of committing suicide; It is also said that Room 9 is haunted and kills merchants in the middle of the night; Others say that the shopkeeper and his men murdered him for money......

The more the shopkeeper listened, the more wrong he became, and if he continued to talk about it, he was about to become a murderer, so he hurriedly said: "Everyone, if something happens to a customer in the store, I must be responsible for opening the store." ”

"But before finding out the truth, don't guess, the door is locked, and it's not clear what's going on inside."

"Now that you're all here, please bear witness, and I'm going to open the door and go in."

When the shopkeeper heard this, they stopped saying more and helped him to knock the door open.

When they entered the house, everyone took a closer look at the lamp, and saw that the merchant was stabbed in many places in the chest and lower abdomen, and blood was splashed everywhere.

Someone died in the store, and the shopkeeper immediately reported to the official.

After Sun Zhang arrived with people, the guests all testified that the doors and windows of the room were closed before entering.

The same is true for the site survey: there is a small hole in the window paper at the top of the door, and the deadbolt is broken in the middle, apparently just knocked open.

There is a square clay kang in the room, and the bedding on the kang is neatly folded, and there is no trace of turning.

There is a square table against the west wall, and on the table is a package containing trivial items such as tea leaves and tobacco pouches.

Turn the package over, and there is the mark of Wanli Jade Shop.

Sun Zhang pondered: If it was murder, how did the murderer lock the door from the inside when he was killing and escaping?

If it was suicide, how could anyone stab themselves so much? Besides, there was no sharp weapon in the room.

Another point, the merchant's jade is gone.

He asked, but no one was seen entering or leaving room nine.

Room 10 was unoccupied, and the door was locked, so Sun Zhang called the guest in room 8 and asked him if he had heard anything special last night.

The guests in room eight said they hadn't heard anything.

This stumped Sun Zhang, and some catchers reminded him: "Could it be that there is a secret passage in the house, and the murderer escaped from the secret passage?" ”

Sun Zhang was right when he thought about it, and ordered the whole house to be turned upside down, and the soil kang and floor were cleaned.

As a result, I didn't even find a rat hole.

At this time, someone gave him another idea: "Since the murderer has stolen the jade, he must find a place to sell the stolen goods, and he can secretly monitor the shops selling jade in the city." ”

"As long as someone sells the jade of Wanli Jade Shop, they will be arrested first."

Sun Zhang knew that this method was actually looking for a needle in a haystack, and Wanli Jade was quite famous in Yingzhou, and it was difficult to find out the real culprit through jade.

Besides, the murderer is not a fool, he just grabbed the stolen goods and shot them.

But he had no other choice but to notify the guards at the city gate to strengthen the search and secretly send people to monitor, but for more than half a year, nothing was found.

"It can't be such a coincidence, right? Could it be that the same person was the same person in both cases? ”

Zhao Lin recalled the file and felt very strange, the serial rape and murder case for lust, the closed room murder case for money, how could they not be contacted.

……

Since the places of the two murders both pointed to the Yunlai Inn, Zhao Lin decided to investigate on the spot.

After o'clock in the morning, I changed into casual clothes, changed my appearance slightly, and walked into the Yunlai Inn.

"Guest officer, do you live in a hotel or do you want to be sharpened?"

The shopkeeper is about fifty years old, with a kind face, gray hair is mostly bald, and his voice is low and mellow, very like the announcer of his previous life.

Zhao Lin just took over the area, he didn't know it yet, he thought it was an ordinary guest, and greeted with a smile.

"Stay in the hotel."

Zhao Lin replied dryly, glancing at the hall at the same time.

In addition to accommodation, Yunlai Inn also operates a restaurant business, and many people in the hall are drinking tea and chatting.

"May I ask if the guest officer lives in the upper room, the middle room, or the lower room? Planning to stay for a few days? The shopkeeper asked again.

"Zhongfang, maybe three or five days, or seven or eight days, it's hard to say for the time being."

Zhao Lin had stayed in an inn when he was selling bear gall and Yu Hao's mane before, so he knew the inside story better.

The upper room is the best room in the inn, mostly on the second floor, with good lighting, ventilation and quiet.

The price of the next room is low, but the conditions are very poor, and one room can accommodate seven or eight or even a dozen people.

The mid-room is somewhere in between, with single and double rooms.

Room No. 9, where the merchant died, is on the first floor and belongs to the middle room.

The shopkeeper glanced back at the sign on the wall and read: "There are ten rooms in the middle room, rooms 1 to 6 are occupied, rooms 7, 8 and 10 are empty, so the guest officer should choose one." ”

Zhao Lin deliberately asked, "Can't Room Nine be inhabited?" ”

The shopkeeper glanced at the hall and said in a low voice: "Don't hide it from the guest officer, there was a murder in room nine this year, and the guest died in the room, and it has not been solved yet." ”

"And what did you see with your own eyes?"

"Of course, it's not just me, it's a lot of people."

Zhao Lin let out an "oh" and said, "Thank you for telling me the truth." ”

The shopkeeper smiled: "Our store is open to welcome customers, and we pay attention to reputation. If I deliberately conceal it, the guest officer will know sooner or later, and won't he want to trouble me then? ”

"Do you want to choose room seven? Room 8 and Room 10 are next to Room 9, which is not very auspicious. ”

Zhao Lin thought for a while and said, "I like to be clean, which room is the innerth?" ”

"Room 10."

"Then number ten."

Since you want to investigate the case, you must be as close to the place where the crime occurred, the better.

At that time, the guests in room 8 didn't hear any movement, so Zhao Lin wanted to stay in room 10 to see if he could find anything.

The shopkeeper saw that his suggestion was not adopted, but it didn't matter, anyway, he had fulfilled his responsibility to remind, and Ying admitted: "Then according to the guest's wishes, live in room No. 10." ”