Free Web NovelChapter 251: Chapter 248: A Sigh_1
Seeing Zhou Ning pointing at the surveillance, Mr. Qu hurriedly went full screen with the video, rewound a few seconds, and determined the location.
"You’re right, this is the camera outside unit one of the building in front. From this angle, it perfectly captures the direction of the second floor of Qin Xuejin’s home."
"Cut the crap and play it!"
As he spoke, Mr. Qu had already clicked play. The living room design was sunken by a meter, and although it was staggered from the building in front, the camera could still see the window. A man in a hooded jacket walked up to the window and opened it.
He then lit a cigarette and started smoking. After finishing the cigarette, he snuffed out the butt on the windowsill and tossed it downstairs, then closed the window.
For the final action, Mr. Qu rewound and slowed down the video. At the moment the man turned his head, Mr. Qu captured the frame, then adjusted the clarity of the image and threw the screenshot into the comparison box to compare with photos taken after Wang Guanli’s death.
The screen flickered, and a comparison result appeared.
A 98.5% match—Zhou Ning paused. It was not 100%?
Mr. Zhao poked Mr. Qu’s arm, looking disdainful as he spoke:
"Are you an idiot? Didn’t you have a surveillance screenshot before? Why compare it to a photo of the dead? This person’s been flattened, and naturally, the bone structure’s position has changed."
Slapping his forehead, Mr. Qu didn’t argue with Mr. Zhao’s words and replaced the picture with the prior screenshot of Wang Guanli. He compared the images again, and this time a 100% match result appeared directly.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Zhou Ning patted Yang Xuetong’s shoulder, pointing towards the south window:
"Take those two and search the underbrush downstairs for cigarette butts. The murder was only four days ago, and it hasn’t snowed in these past few days. Find fresh ones to bring back for DNA comparison; that evidence will be more convincing."
Mr. Qu stopped Yang Xuetong and calculated a parabolic trajectory for the location where Wang Guanli discarded the cigarette butt in the surveillance video. Then he marked the estimated position on an enlarged map of the neighborhood.
"It should be within these two square meters."
Yang Xuetong clapped Mr. Qu on the shoulder, grinning as he said:
"Thanks, mate!"
Yang Xuetong went downstairs with his team as Mr. Qu took screenshots of the necessary parts of the surveillance, then saved the content and turned to look at Zhou Ning.
"Group Leader Zhou, are you going to another scene for inspection later? If so, I’ll come with you. That way I won’t have to get called in from home later."
Zhou Ning felt somewhat embarrassed. Not to mention the others, he himself was emotionally invested in this case. Mr. Zhao was breaking his back to help out of concern for him, and Xu Dayuan also felt guilty for not keeping Wang Guanli alive, so everyone was working like mad without considering how others felt.
Zhou Ning knew all this, but he indeed needed to keep his spirits up. Once he had downtime, he feared his thoughts might wander.
"Go back. Once we finish inspecting here, we’re leaving too. As for Fang Wenjie’s home and the primary crime scene, we’ll go there tomorrow. It’s the city bureau guarding it, not the local station, so it’s somewhat reliable."
Mr. Qu closed the computer with a smile and stood up.
"Alright, I’ll head out then. Just now I glanced at that memory card, and it’s of a higher security level. I’ll go to the lab to crack it early tomorrow, and I’ll have it done before you all arrive at the station, no setbacks to your work."
"Thanks for the hard work!"
After Mr. Qu left, only Mr. Zhao and Zhou Ning remained in the room. Zhou Ning pulled up a chair, sat down, and slightly tilted his head back, closing his eyes. Mr. Zhao wisely didn’t speak. At times like these, comfort was pointless. Quiet companionship was the best approach.
He held a flashlight in his hand and walked towards the window. Wang Guanli had smoked at the window and had opened it. Although from the surveillance he wore gloves, Mr. Zhao still decided to check it out.
After looking around, Mr. Zhao gave up hope. There were only prints from leather gloves on the window. Luminol tested positive, clearly left by Wang Guanli. As for any other complete fingerprints, those were probably Qin Xuejin’s. After taking the samples, he returned to the dining table.
Just then, the door sounded; Yang Xuetong rushed in with two officers, excitement evident as he held up an evidence bag containing over twenty cigarette butts.
"I expanded the search area a bit and found over twenty fresh butts. We didn’t know if anyone was keeping watch at Mrs. Cui’s place. Should we send these to forensics now?"
Before Zhou Ning could speak, Mr. Zhao was already on his phone.
"Are you on duty today, mate? Are you? Then wait, don’t go to the canteen for food. Our team is also working overtime. I’ll bring you something to eat in a while... Why are you being polite with me, just wait... Sending for examination isn’t urgent; everything is for tomorrow. Work is never-ending, but mates come first. Hang on!"
With that, he hung up and gestured to Yang Xuetong, taking the evidence bag from him.
"Let’s go, I’ve checked the window; the prints are from leather gloves, and spraying luminol showed a fluorescent reaction. Put your stuff in the car, Mr. Yang, go ahead and take a cab. I’ll drive Zhou Xiaozhou home."
Yang Xuetong didn’t waste any words and went downstairs with the case. He was aware of the close relationship between Mr. Zhao and Zhou Ning, after all, both had come over from Qidong Sub-bureau. He promptly left in a taxi.
Mr. Zhao drove Zhou Ning home and dropped him off at the building entrance.
As they got out of the car, both men almost simultaneously glanced towards the Xia family’s home, the windows still dark at this hour past nine, which was unusually early for them to rest, suggesting no one was home.
Mr. Zhao patted Zhou Ning on the shoulder, giving him a smile.
"I’ve still got to go to forensics; I won’t be dropping by your place to scrounge for food. But make sure you eat something before you sleep, don’t think too much. Tomorrow we still need to visit the first crime scene of Fang Wenjie’s death; you need to be in good shape."
Zhou Ning nodded.
"Go on, be careful on the road."
Mr. Zhao stepped on the gas and left, while Zhou Ning stood in place, lighting a cigarette.
He then trudged upstairs, his legs heavy as if they were filled with lead, fatigue, weakness, helplessness—all emotions surged toward him like a tsunami.
After opening the door, Zhou Ning took a quick shower and swallowed two sedative pills; he had to get some rest.
As he closed his eyes, the events of the day did not flash before him. It was while he was regulating his breath that everything went dark, and an autopsy table appeared before him.
Zhou Ning sighed deeply...
...
February 2, 2012
Early in the morning, upon arriving at the office, Zhou Ning opened the door to find Mr. Zhao on the couch. Hearing the door open, he quickly sat up with his hair all disheveled. Seeing the breakfast in Zhou Ning’s hand, his eyes lit up, and he hurried to wash up.
"Zhou Xiaozhou, you’re really thoughtful, knowing what I like. Wait for me to finish washing; I’ll come eat!"
Ten minutes later, Mr. Zhao, shaking the water from his hair, hurried back and grabbed a pancake stuffed with egg, stuffing it into his mouth. Just then, his phone rang.
Mr. Zhao nudged Zhou Ning’s foot, signaling him to help answer the call on speakerphone. Zhou Ning pressed the answer button and brought the phone close to Mr. Zhao.
"Morning, buddy, have you had breakfast?"
Zhou Ning glanced over and realized this guy’s emotional intelligence was really high. With just a greeting, he recognized the voice on the other end. It was that kid from the lab—Mr. Zhao had sold him out, and he would probably even help Mr. Zhao count the money. freewebnøvel.com
"I’ve finished eating, just had some porridge from the cafeteria. Mr. Zhao, are you in the office? The report is out; shall I send it to your team’s email?"
"Perfect, thanks, buddy. Next week when the tickets are out, I’ll give you two. Rest assured they are for the evening of the 12th, and it’s not your shift on the weekend."
"Thanks a lot, Mr. Zhao!"
After hanging up, Zhou Ning was somewhat suspicious, but still opened the email, and surely enough, the report was there. Scrolling to the bottom, he saw the comparison results, clear as day—the DNA collected from one of the cigarette butts matched Wang Guanli perfectly.
Seeing this evidence, Zhou Ning breathed a sigh of relief; the case involving Qin Xuejin was taken care of.
"What tickets?"
"The city’s theater troupe premiered a new play last year called ’The Land of Men by the Sea.’ It won awards last year, and it’s said to be hard to get tickets. But my family received quite a few tickets before. I can’t possibly go watch it every month, right? I asked my mom, and she was thrilled to give away four tickets; it really made me happy and solved a problem for me."
Zhou Ning knew that Mr. Zhao’s family was well-off, and his parents were certainly capable. To them, such things were trivial, while others might not be able to get them.
Still, Zhou Ning appreciated the gesture; it was all for him. After all, he promised Mrs. Cui yesterday that he would not send in any more samples, and Mr. Zhao indeed took care of it.
"Thanks, it’s all for my sake!"
Mr. Zhao grinned with his teeth bared.
"How will you thank me? Find me a cousin just like Xiaoyu, that would really move me."
Zhou Ning laughed, knowing Mr. Zhao was joking. Xiaoyu and Mr. He had been mutually interested, and Zhu Xingxing had always been quite fond of Mr. Zhao.
"Cut it out, what about your Zhu Xingxing?"
Mr. Zhao pursed his lips and, unusually, did not retort, causing Zhou Ning to look down at him with some surprise. This was odd behavior for Mr. Zhao; could there be something going on?
Remembering a previous occasion when he and Zhu Xingxing rushed to a scene, both still wearing the clothes from the previous day, Zhou Ning paused briefly as if he had discovered a new continent and nudged Mr. Zhao.
"What does this mean? Have you two taken the next step? Did you sleep together?"
Mr. Zhao rolled his eyes and coughed, feigning calmness.
"Cut it out, my family is always trying to matchmake. I haven’t given it much thought, but I know so few women. I’m not content, I can’t let a flourishing young man like me fall so easily into her hands."
Zhou Ning twitched the corner of his eye. This guy was really cheeky, wasn’t he? Zhu Xingxing was attractive and she hadn’t minded his weight.
"I’m saying, Zhao Xinli..."
"Don’t use my full name; same as my mom. Every time I hear it, it’s never good, and I instinctively feel a chill in my liver."
Zhou Ning got choked up and speechless instantly, his raised hand lingering before finally dropping, taking away the remaining pancake and porridge. Mr. Zhao’s eyes widened, ready to snatch them back.
"How quickly you turn, faster than flipping a book. I was wrong, okay? Just let whatever you say go. The truth is, I haven’t had my fill yet."
Zhou Ning slapped away Mr. Zhao’s hand.
"Quit it, starting today you need to control your carbohydrate intake. You must slim down to the standard when I first knew you within half a year. Do you want your wedding photo at home to feature a plump bun, or do you like being called ’chubbster’ by Mr. Hu?"
Mr. Zhao panicked, reaching for the pancake, but at that moment the door opened, and Zhu Xingxing stood at the entrance. freeωebnovēl.c૦m
Seeing the expression on Zhu Xingxing’s face, it was obvious she hadn’t been standing there just for a moment.
