But unfortunately, he was feeling anxious at the moment, so he didn't notice.

"It's nothing, you must have misheard."

With a hasty response, Wang Tao lost his appetite for the meal as well and quickly turned and left the cafeteria.

Thus, he didn't see Old Wu standing there, staring at his back. Unusually, he didn't show his usual smile but had a somber expression, deep in thought...

4 PM.

Luo Fei and Liao Xingyu, who went out to conduct interviews, finally came back one after another.

However, before everyone could catch their breath, Zhao Donglai called them to the meeting room.

"Everyone, share your findings."

Following Zhao Donglai's prompt, Liao Xingyu was the first to speak.

"Captain Zhao, we visited Old Wu's hometown. According to the neighbors, Old Wu's father died of illness when he was five, and he was raised by his mother."

"Due to the lack of a breadwinner, their lives were difficult. The villagers sympathized with them and often helped them out. They had a good relationship with the villagers and generally no conflicts."

"Later, the month after Old Wu was rejected from college entrance exams, his mother also died of illness. Since then, Old Wu has worked away from home and only returned once a year on his mother's death anniversary."

"We also confirmed with the local police that his mother's exact time of death was 3 AM on August 11th of that year!"

Even though a year had passed, Zhou Fan immediately recalled a detail.

He exclaimed, "Captain Zhao, according to the autopsy report, the time of death for the three victims was around this time!"

Zhao Donglai looked serious, "This is indeed a clue... Zhou Fan, what about your findings?"

"Captain Zhao, we visited several schools Old Wu attended and a few of his former classmates."

"According to them, due to family reasons, Old Wu studied diligently from elementary to high school and was always at the top of his class, but..."

"Possibly due to his physical defects, Old Wu long suffered from campus bullying, with several incidents where he was injured and hospitalized."

"Wasn't the school supposed to intervene in such severe cases?"

"No, it's said that Old Wu had a very timid personality, even when a doctor reported it to the police, he didn't dare to identify the culprits, making it hard for the school to intervene."

"However, one of his former high school classmates said that after that, Old Wu developed the idea of becoming a police officer because he believed police could uphold justice and protect the weak."

"So later, he applied to the police academy for college entrance exams, but ultimately couldn't get in due to his physical condition. This was a huge blow to him, compounded by the trauma of his mother's death, making him somewhat unstable."

After Zhou Fan finished, Luo Fei also began to share his findings.

"We also inquired about Old Wu's workplaces over the years."

"According to descriptions, Old Wu frequently faced discrimination or unfair treatment at work, leading to dissatisfaction and, although he wasn't as timid as Director Zhou described in society, he wasn't as enthusiastic and proactive as he was in our police team."

"Additionally, the head of Tianfu Middle School was out on a business trip, so we haven't obtained their information yet, but I've arranged to be contacted as soon as she returns this afternoon."

After they finished their reports, Zhao Donglai said, "Alright, now share your opinions on this."

"Considering Director Zhou's information, Old Wu appears to be someone with typical traits of low self-esteem and timidity, naturally shy and afraid of trouble, thus not daring to resist even when bullied."

"Such people can easily develop a twisted mindset after prolonged bullying and eventually go to the other extreme. Given the brutality and perversion of the 3.11 dismemberment case, Old Wu's life experiences do fit this trend."

"I agree with your analysis, but don't forget, Old Wu's dream was to rely on the police, but the perpetrator in this case is clearly targeting the police, which doesn't add up."

"It's simple, in a word, it's 'turning love into hate.'"

"Turning love into hate? What do you mean by that, Director Luo?"

"Think about it, Old Wu wanted to be a police officer due to his experiences, so subconsciously he might believe that only by becoming a police officer would no one dare to bully him anymore."

"So, to him, being a police officer was not just a job but his life's salvation. But when he determinedly pursued this salvation, he was kept out due to his physical condition. Do you think he could accept this as any ordinary person would?"

"Of course, this love-hate mindset wouldn't form immediately but gradually accumulated over many trivial misfortunes in life and setbacks at work."

Everyone nodded repeatedly as they listened.

Liao Xingyu exclaimed in amazement, "That's impressive, Director Luo, you're almost like a criminal psychology expert!"

It's safe to say Old Wu's mindset was thoroughly analyzed.

Based on the current situation, his analysis was indeed quite accurate.

Faced with the praise, Luo Fei just smiled modestly and continued, "Besides, is there another issue you've noticed?"

"What issue?"

"Except for Zheng Bei, the other two victims are related to schools... I'm wondering if their behavior in some way might have reminded Old Wu of unpleasant past memories, leading him to target them?"

Previously, Luo Fei thought Old Wu chose his targets randomly, but after learning he had worked in logistics at Tianfu Middle School, he wasn't so sure anymore.

If it was truly random targeting, he could have chosen someone outside as the first victim; there was no reason to go through the effort of infiltrating the school.

Everyone began to realize what he was suggesting.

"After you mentioned it, that does seem possible!"

"That's right, I remember when I inquired about the victim Zheng Lin's social relations, her classmates said she did have a history of bullying, but that was during middle school."

Zheng Lin was the first victim in the 3.11 case.

Since Zhou Fan's team investigated the case initially, he had some impressions of the matter.

"That matches up, Old Wu worked as a cleaner at Tianfu Middle School three years ago, and Zhou Lin was in first-year high school before her death, so she would have been a middle schooler around that time."

"Now we just need to confirm if Wang Lin attended Tianfu Middle School in middle school!"

"No need to confirm, we also suspected a connection between the two victims back then, so we did background checks, and Zheng Lin was indeed a former student of Tianfu Middle School."

"What about that classmate Zheng Lin bullied, have you investigated this lead?"

"We inquired about the situation, but subsequent clues indicated it wasn't significantly related, so we didn't delve deeper."

Just as Luo Fei was about to say something, his phone suddenly rang.

Seeing the caller ID, he quickly answered the call.

A moment later, he hung up the phone, "Captain Zhao, the person in charge of logistics at Tianfu Middle School is back. We need to head there right away."

"Regarding the female teacher's situation, Zhang Wei and I will investigate it. As for Wang Lin, it's up to you to question her about bullying classmates, with as much detail as possible."

"Alright, we understand."

Luo Fei, along with Zhang Wei and two other officers, quickly headed downstairs straight for Tianfu Middle School.

Just as they left the police station and hadn't even reached Yongjiang Bridge yet, Luo Fei received a call from an unfamiliar number.

He answered, puzzled.

Immediately, an unexpected voice came through the phone.

"Officer Luo, it's Old Wu."

Luo Fei instantly became alert, maintaining a calm tone, "Old Wu? How did you get my phone number?"

"Oh, I asked a colleague from your police team."

Old Wu's voice was as normal as ever, without any noticeable oddity.

Yet Luo Fei's intuition told him there was something off about this call.

"Do you need something from me?"

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