Free Web NovelChapter 263: Chapter 260: 5.11 Yue Lake Drowning Case_1
March 1, 2012
In the small conference room of the city bureau.
Hu Guangjian and Xu Dayuan sat in the middle, with Zhou Ning and Mr. Peng on their left, accompanied by their team members and laboratory personnel. On the right were Tao Zhenshan, Liu Yufei, Zeng Liang, and Bai Ruixin, with a few others that Zhou Ning recognized but couldn’t name.
Zhou Ning glanced at Hu Guangjian and Xu Dayuan, noting the major shake-up at the city bureau—of the original team members, Ren Fangliang had been sentenced, others had been transferred or had taken early retirement.
The newcomers, all personally selected by Hu Guangjian, were skilled in their field. Liang Honggang from Qidong Sub-bureau had also been transferred to the city bureau; although he wasn’t appointed as deputy director, he’d become the head of the Public Security Brigade, clearly at the suggestion of Xu Dayuan.
Hu Guangjian made sweeping reforms, helping to quell some rumors. However, changing the bureau’s culture wasn’t going to happen overnight. The current task of clearing up the backlog of cases provided an excellent opportunity. Consequently, which cases to select and whether they could be solved quickly was a key point as the work team began.
The opening remarks were straightforward, getting right to the point with more than a dozen files laid out before them.
Xu Dayuan picked up a file and, looking around, introduced it:
"These are over a dozen cases, all of which need investigating without cherry-picking. Having looked at them with Mr. Hu these past few days, I think we should start with this one—it happened last May, making it one of the more recent cases.
Pass the file around for a look while I give a brief overview: this incident took place in Rudong City. The person who reported it was an old man out for his morning exercise. At around 6 a.m. on May 11, 2011, under the east side bridge of Yue Lake Park in Rudong City, he discovered a floating body and called the police.
The victim was a twenty-something female with no visible external injuries and no missing belongings, though no items like a phone that could confirm her identity were found. An autopsy determined that the victim had drowned, but whether it was an accidental drowning or due to some other cause was unclear.
On the afternoon of May 11, a man named Zhang Wei reported his wife, Xia Lirnin, missing to the police. She hadn’t returned since cycling out the night before, and despite his search, he couldn’t find her and was seeking police help.
After Zhang Wei’s identification and further DNA testing, it was confirmed that the female body found under Yue Lake bridge was indeed Zhang Wei’s wife, Xia Lirnin, to whom he had been married for only six months.
The police record indicated that a few days earlier, Zhang Wei bought Xia Lirnin a new electric scooter. On the evening of May 10, Xia Lirnin told Zhang Wei she wanted to go out to practice riding it, but she never returned. He searched for her all night in his van but found nothing.
On May 13, police began dredging Yue Lake, and by May 15 found the electric scooter Xia Lirnin had been riding. After checking surveillance from the community and the roads around Yue Lake, they confirmed that Xia Lirnin did ride all the way there, although Yue Lake was 16 kilometers from her home.
According to Zhang Wei’s statement, the new electric scooter he bought for Xia Lirnin was hard to control and he suspected that she might have accidentally fallen into the lake and drowned. During the investigation, Zhang Wei also cried bitterly and expressed great guilt. Surveillance around his home showed that he indeed went out multiple times that night in his car.
However, the Rudong Criminal Police Brigade couldn’t confirm if the drowning was an accident. There were many doubts in the case, and they proceeded with the investigation.
Firstly, Yue Lake was undergoing construction, so some street lights weren’t functioning. The area around the bridge where the body was found was full of steps, making it difficult to ride a scooter there. Moreover, the water was about 1.4 meters deep, while the victim was 1.60 meters tall and wearing high heels, which would make it hard for her to drown.
During follow-up interviews, it was discovered that a friend and former coworker of Xia Lirnin reported that on the day of the incident at around 7:40 p.m., Xia Lirnin received a call before leaving the hair salon. The number that called Xia Lirnin was registered under her sister’s ID. There were several calls between this number and Xia Lirnin that night.
After confirming with Xia Lirnin’s sister, this number was supposed to be used after Xia Lirnin’s marriage, but she didn’t know to whom it was given. Following Xia Lirnin’s incident, the phone associated with this number never turned on again, and Xia Lirnin’s phone was also never found, leading the investigation into a deadlock."
As Zhou Ning listened to Xu Dayuan’s summary, she had already browsed the autopsy report, which was comprehensive, going from external inspection to internal organ analysis and associated tests. The handwriting was neat, indicating it was performed by an experienced forensic doctor.
Members of the task force began discussing, with Liu Yufei asking directly:
"Leader, part of Yue Lake was under construction, which means there was no surveillance there, right? What about the surrounding roads? I presume, as a park in the center of the city, the roads leading into the park should have some surveillance, right?"
Xu Dayuan nodded, lifting a hard drive.
"During the time of the incident at Yue Lake, the surveillance wasn’t in operation because the cables were being laid. However, the footage from the four entrances to the park has been copied, and Mr. Qu can process it."
Tao Zhenshan was silent for a moment before looking at Xu Dayuan. Now the head of the first brigade of the Criminal Investigation team, taking over Xu Dayuan’s work, Xu Dayuan had had a drink with him privately, explaining why he had been ’avoided’ at the time, which cleared the air.
Impressed by Xu Dayuan and Hu Guangjian after previous cases, Tao Zhenshan readily volunteered to join the task force.
Glancing at the file, his brows furrowed.
"The key issue now is to whom this phone card of the victim’s sister was given. I think Xia Lirmin went to Yue Lake late at night to meet someone. We should start by investigating her friends and acquaintances to find the user of this phone card. Once we do, this case will start to unravel."
Xu Dayuan nodded emphatically, fully agreeing with Tao Zhenshan’s assessment.
"I agree with Mr. Tao. Xia Lirnin left the hair salon late at night, rode her new scooter to Yue Lake sixteen kilometers away—I think there’s a romantic entanglement involved. Therefore, the investigation into her husband Zhang Wei must continue, and we cannot rule out the possibility of a crime of passion."
At this point, Xu Dayuan glanced at Zhou Ning, who had been focused on the autopsy report and had yet to offer her opinion.
After a couple of coughs and seeing Zhou Ning look up, Xu Dayuan asked:
"Director Zhou, how do you see this case?"
Zhou Ning, surprised at being suddenly called upon, paused for a moment before raising the autopsy report and saying:
"Is the body of the deceased still preserved?"
Xu Dayuan nodded.
"The victim’s husband, Zhang Wei, has visited many times, hoping to take his wife’s body back for cremation and burial, since the parents of the deceased have approached him several times, putting considerable pressure on him. However, the Rudong Criminal Police Brigade hasn’t agreed, so this case is also submitted on this occasion."
Zhou Ning realized, it’s not to say that the Rudong Criminal Investigation Team can’t withstand pressure, the examination was sent to the Municipal Bureau’s Forensic Department, Zhou Ning had no objection to that, but the body couldn’t be clarified by just having a meeting—it was something he must see for himself. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
"I’ve seen the test results. The liquid extracted from the victim’s lungs was compared with the water samples from Yue Lake. The diatom test showed that the victim did indeed drown in Yue Lake. However, there’s not much description of the details on the body. Although there are photos, I didn’t find any video records. I want to do a second autopsy; it’s the most direct."
Xu Dayuan smiled, exchanging a glance with Hu Guangjian. Clearly, both of them were not surprised by Zhou Ning’s reaction.
"Then it’s settled. First stop Rudong. Aside from this 5.11 Yue Lake drowning case, there’s another from Rudong City; we will investigate them together afterward. Is it okay if we go to Rudong City tonight and inform them to defrost the body when we arrive?"
Zhou Ning was somewhat surprised. Good lord, even while selecting cases in the meeting, Xu Dayuan had already thought about the autopsy for tomorrow. Sure enough, his impulsive nature prevailed. Considering the autopsy, Zhou Ning nodded slightly.
"Defrosting tonight, an autopsy first thing tomorrow morning would be suitable. However, I request to bring the laboratory equipment along. Not to mention anything else, the spiral scanner is a must."
Hu Guangjian smiled, propping his elbow on the table, leaning forward slightly.
"Director Zhou, no need to rush. You haven’t had a discussion with Doctor Lu, but the city bureau has already decided to equip all sub-bureau and county-level city forensic rooms with the relevant equipment according to the standards you set. The installation began in full force today."
Zhou Ning was stunned, looking towards Liu Yongxin and Xia Momo to his side, seeing them nodding, evidently, this was true. He thought about it and indeed, he had been busy with Zhou Xiaoyu’s wedding recently, and even more so, he had been engaged in a battle of wits with Mr. Peng and Mr. Pang, not paying much attention to the Qin University side.
He wondered how Qidong would handle it and what would happen with the donation from Qin University, but these were afterthoughts that Zhou Ning dared not ask.
"That’s good, then. I have no other requests."
Mr. Hu looked around the room, speaking earnestly:
"They say a new official makes three fires upon taking office, but I’m not looking to make a show for anybody. I just hope to improve the public safety environment in Qindao. Clearing these backlogged cases is the best opportunity for that. I hope that all present here will make me proud, so that when I visit the provincial office, I can stand tall and firm. Can we do this?"
"Yes!"
...
17:22
Rudong City Forensic Autopsy Room.
The technician who installed the machinery wiped the sweat from his brow, checked the machine again, and smiled at Liu Yongxin.
"Teacher, the machine installation is complete and the adjustment is done, we’re going to withdraw."
Liu Yongxin waved his hand.
"Thanks for the hard work!"
Just then, the door to the autopsy room opened, and Xu Dayuan walked in with two people. They had greeted each other when they arrived earlier; one was the forensic doctor from Rudong City Criminal Investigation Brigade, Xu Guanhai, and the other was the captain of the brigade, Zhang Sannian.
Zhang Sannian’s face was all smiles, constantly engaging Xu Dayuan, obviously the two were familiar with each other, while Xu Guanhai shook hands with Liu Yongxin, giving off the impression that Xu Guanhai was close to retirement age too.
Liu Yongxin pulled Zhou Ning aside to introduce him to Xu Guanhai:
"There were a lot of people earlier, so I didn’t have the chance to introduce properly. This is my disciple Zhou Ning, currently the director of the second forensic department at the municipal bureau. They are in charge of all the autopsies for this task force. I’m just here to help out."
Xu Guanhai grasped Zhou Ning’s hand firmly, his face showing some excitement as he patted Zhou Ning’s arm and said:
"I can’t believe it, you’re Liu Yongxin’s disciple. I’ve known about Director Zhou’s cases for a while now; those cases you handled were really sensational. I was wondering at the time where such an expert had come from, someone even better than your master."
Liu Yongxin coughed and nudged Xu Guanhai aside a little.
"Why compliment one and put down another? I’m happiest to see my disciple make progress. Although he’s now Li Chengbin’s student, he was still brought into the field by me, and you all can’t envy that!"
