Free Web NovelChapter 702: Chapter 702: Lu Chuan’s Bold Hypothesis
Lu Chuan had already stood up and walked to the front of the projector screen.
"And we conducted fingerprint identification and analysis, finding fingerprints belonging to the deceased Wang Chuanzhi, his wife and son, as well as some people from Wang Chuanzhi’s company."
"The most overlapping fingerprints were found on the right rear door. We extracted seven fingerprints."
"However, we did not extract any fingerprints from the handle of the passenger door or the trunk lock."
"What does this imply?"
All the seasoned detectives present immediately understood Lu Chuan’s implication.
There are four door handles in total. Fingerprints were extracted from the two handles of the driver’s door and the back doors.
This indicates that the vehicle hadn’t been cleaned in a short period and that many people had been getting in and out, naturally leaving fingerprints on the door handles.
When checking a related vehicle, if one needs to extract fingerprints, areas like the steering wheel, door handles, and armrests are key places for fingerprint extraction.
However, no fingerprints were extracted from the passenger door handle and trunk lock.
This clearly means someone intentionally wiped off the fingerprints from these two locations.
Why deliberately erase them?
Who erased them?
It’s obvious, it must be the murderer.
Lu Chuan flipped through the projection, continuing to report the findings from the crime scene investigation.
"Although we didn’t extract fingerprints that could be the suspect’s at the scene, the murderer touched the passenger’s door handle and the trunk lock, why?"
"The passenger seat was ridden by the deceased Zhang Cuilian. When we found her, her body wasn’t strapped with a seatbelt, indicating that the car hadn’t been driven after she got in."
"But why did the murderer open the passenger’s car door?"
What’s in the passenger seat?
Besides the victim...
"The glove compartment?!"
Zhang Hui exclaimed suddenly, and the others quickly caught on.
In the passenger’s space, besides the makeup mirror above, there was the glove compartment below.
"Indeed, this afternoon when we questioned Wang Chuanzhi’s wife, she mentioned that Wang Chuanzhi had the habit of keeping cash in the car..."
Lu Chuan nodded toward Zhang Hui: "Upon considering the glove compartment, we checked it, and there was no cash inside."
"The crime scene team has already meticulously inspected the car, and there was no cash in any location."
"For financial gain through murder?"
Someone expressed doubt.
"No!"
Zhang Hui shook his head affirmatively: "If the assailant truly wanted money, and knew that Wang Chuanzhi would place money in the glove compartment, then one could just break the window and take the money when he wasn’t there."
"Comparatively, robbery or theft is definitely a much lesser crime than murder, isn’t it?"
"Moreover, the murderer faked a carbon monoxide poisoning scene, wasn’t that to confuse us, making us think the two died by accident?"
"The possibility of murder for money can’t be completely ruled out, but I think it’s extremely unlikely."
Lu Chuan nodded: "I agree with Zhang Hui’s assessment."
"The main reason is the discovery found in the trunk."
Lu Chuan switched the projection, and what appeared before everyone was the interior photo of the vehicle’s trunk.
"From the scene’s condition, we judge that the murderer had opened the passenger door as well as the trunk."
This is currently almost confirmed because fingerprints from both places had been wiped off, indicating the murderer left traces and then cleaned them.
"Everyone look inside the trunk; there are three bottles of Maotai, two bottles of Wuliangye, and two packs of Zhonghua cigarettes."
"If the murderer truly was after money, there was no reason not to take the valuable alcohol and cigarettes after opening the trunk."
Three bottles of Maotai, two bottles of Wuliangye, two packs of Zhonghua cigarettes, all add up to quite a sum, over ten thousand yuan.
If the murderer was truly after money, leaving these valuable items behind is indeed unreasonable.
"But if not for money, and not taking the valuable things in the trunk, why did they open it?"
Someone else questioned further.
Many people nodded in agreement.
Indeed, that’s the case.
The murderer wasn’t after money but took the cash from the glove compartment.
The murderer sought money but did not take the cigarettes and alcohol after opening the trunk.
The question then arises, why did the murderer open the trunk?
This question was well-posed.
Lu Chuan and a few at the crime scene investigation office studied this situation for quite an evening after discovering it.
"Specifically why the murderer opened the trunk, we do not know."
"The crime scene office came up with a few hypothetical possibilities after thoroughly checking the vehicle."
"Firstly, the murderer opening the trunk must have had a reason, such as taking something or placing something."
"We just don’t know what was taken or what was added."
"The crime scene team found something that might relate to the trunk being opened by the murderer."
Lu Chuan switched the projection again, showing a photo from the vehicle’s backseat.
"We found this mark in the center back seat, at the back row armrest area."
This spot is very concealed; it’s a passageway that links to the trunk behind the rear central seat.
"We discovered clear scratch marks along the edge of this passage, and the marks are very recent, quite fresh."
"We made a bold assumption here."
"The two victims died from carbon monoxide poisoning, that’s a known fact, but tests have confirmed the gas that killed them didn’t come from vehicle exhaust."
"So, where did the gas that killed the victims come from?"
Lu Chuan pointed to the back seats: "We suspect that the murderer might have hidden the gas release device in the trunk, releasing the gas into the car through this passage."
"The murderer opened the trunk to take away the gas release device after committing the crime."
That guess...
Is quite intriguing.
"Do you have evidence?"
Qin Yong also found this hypothesis intriguing, promptly asking about evidence.
Unfortunately, Lu Chuan quickly shook his head.
"The crime scene office made this assumption, mainly based on two reasons."
"Firstly, the carbon monoxide poisoning gas that killed the victims didn’t originate from vehicle exhaust; so, where did it come from?"
"Secondly, placing such a carbon monoxide-producing device in Wang Chuanzhi’s car must have been fairly discreet, as it would be easily noticed in other spots."
"Hence, putting it in the trunk, releasing gas into the car via the rear seat center hole can keep it hidden."
"As for evidence, we can only say that the scratch marks on the hole are likely left by the murderer, thus leading to this assumption."
