Free Web NovelChapter 610: Chapter 610: The Missing Woman
Seeing the clothes, seeing the skeleton, everyone understood that there was indeed something inside.
Zhang Hui immediately called Qin Yong to report. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
Qin Yong, who was drinking tea in his office, was so startled upon hearing Zhang Hui say a corpse was found in North Mountain Park that he nearly spilled his tea.
As a seasoned homicide detective, he had handled countless murder cases.
If it were an ordinary murder case, for Qin Yong it would just be another task to handle as it naturally comes.
But this murder case was clearly different.
Zhang Hui had already given a rough report on the excavation situation at the scene.
The clothing on the body was significantly decayed, with the entire corpse almost completely skeletonized.
This suggests that the victim’s death was not recent.
It couldn’t have happened within one or two years.
The key point is that this case wasn’t discovered by the police, but rather reported to Qin Yong by someone through a secret phone call.
So who is this person who reported it?
Why did they choose today to call, if they had known about the body earlier, why didn’t they report it sooner?
Years of investigation experience told Qin Yong there seemed to be an extraordinary story behind this.
But overthinking was useless, the priority now was to immediately gather the team to head to North Mountain Park.
By three o’clock in the afternoon, the entire skeleton was completely cleared.
Lu Chuan was conducting the basic Skeleton Identification Analysis.
Zhang Hui was giving Qin Yong the latest case report.
"Hyoid bone is fractured, initially judged to be death by asphyxiation."
"Female, approximately 30 years old."
"Lu Chuan is conducting skeleton identification analysis, specific information will take some time to come out."
"During the excavation, some clothes worn by the deceased were found, and the team is comparing with missing persons..."
Buzz buzz!
As Zhang Hui was speaking, his phone rang.
"It’s Zhang, verifying the identity of missing persons."
Qin Yong nodded, signaling Zhang Hui to answer the call.
Zhang Hui pressed the speakerphone, and Zhang’s slightly excited voice came through: "Brother Hui, the identity is confirmed, the clothes worn by the deceased are very similar to a missing persons case from fifteen years ago."
"The missing person is named Zhang Manyu, 1.65 meters tall, age 29, I sent the specific information to your phone."
Zhang Hui opened his phone to review information on Zhang Manyu’s disappearance.
The woman in the photo was very beautiful, graceful, wearing jeans, a blue jacket, and a black-and-white spotted shirt when she disappeared.
Zhang Hui and Qin Yong frowned.
Qin Yong had just seen the skeleton, and although the clothes on the corpse were severely decayed, the colors and styles could vaguely be identified.
They matched the clothing on the missing person, Zhang Manyu, on Zhang Hui’s phone.
The deceased’s identity was highly likely confirmed.
But the time of the disappearance puzzled Qin Yong and the others even more.
Zhang Manyu had been missing for 15 years, so she was most likely murdered 15 years ago as well.
But after such a long time, why did the person who called Qin Yong’s office report it now?
Could the caller be the killer?
The burial site was extraordinarily concealed.
Between Fengbo Pavilion and the North Mountain Park gate, few people actually walk along this path.
Especially since few people visit North Mountain Park for recreation.
Moreover, the killer buried the body in a concealed and deep location.
Otherwise, Zhang Hui and the others wouldn’t have needed hours of digging to find the body.
But the killer provided such accurate information, what does that suggest?
It suggests that the person who called Qin Yong, if not the killer, must have been a witness at the crime scene.
Yet the question circles back to the original issue.
If the caller is the killer, why call the police now?
If the caller is a witness, why wait 15 years to call the police?
The examination of the skeleton was quickly completed.
"Lu, how’s it going?"
Lu Chuan took off his gloves and began reporting.
"Death occurred over ten years ago."
"No damage on the skeleton, but the hyoid bone is fractured, presumably asphyxiation caused the death."
"A rough inspection of the clothing showed no tear marks on the relatively intact parts."
Lu Chuan inferred that the cause of death was most likely asphyxiation.
"Additionally, I suspect this is the primary crime scene."
Oh?
Qin Yong was puzzled: "What’s the evidence?"
"The position and wear of the shoes."
Lu Chuan picked up a dry branch from the ground and made some rough markings on the ground.
"If this weren’t the primary crime scene, the killer would have most likely dragged the body while disposing of it."
"However, upon closely observing the wear marks on the deceased’s shoes, no indication of long-distance dragging was found."
"Also, the positions of the two shoes—one on the foot, the other by the hand, under the body."
"This indicates that the shoes entered the grave first, followed by the body covering them."
"No dragging marks, shoes having fallen suggest that a struggle might have occurred here."
"Of course, we need to collect some soil samples to analyze for any blood residue."
"Additionally, the excavation marks on the edge of the grave were very rough."
During Lu Chuan’s investigation of the skeleton, he also examined the surroundings of the grave.
"The killer was not adept with the burial tools, at the very least didn’t use standard tools like a shovel or mattock."
"Because once buried, the decomposition creates certain traces around the area."
"Although a significant amount of time has passed since the death, these traces can’t completely disappear."
"Furthermore, there is a clear demarcation between the original soil and the refilled soil at the grave’s perimeter."
"These demarcation lines are coarse and intersect haphazardly, very irregular."
"This indicates that the killer used non-professional tools to excavate the grave, possibly killing on impulse and then quickly burying the body on site."
"However, this is just a preliminary investigation; the skeleton identification analysis will require further lab tests for verification."
"Thank you for your hard work!"
Qin Yong patted Lu Chuan on the shoulder.
Despite having seen Lu Chuan conduct numerous Crime Scene Investigations, it seemed that each time Lu Chuan provided a different interpretation.
Take for example this burial site’s pit.
Qin Yong had previously seen Old Liu and others assess similar scenes.
But they couldn’t quite compare to Lu Chuan in direct detail and intricacy.
For instance, assessing the state of the perpetrator during the crime based on the interplay between the refilled soil and original soil at the grave.
This is actually very important.
There’s a big difference between premeditated murder with burial and impulsive murder with on-site concealment.
And these details can, to some extent, be reconstructed through on-site investigation.
