Free Web NovelChapter 273: Chapter 270 Acquaintance as the Perpetrator_1
Xu Dayuan rubbed his forehead and, seeing the worried expression on Zhang Sannian’s face, could not bring himself to say anything else.
He thought about it and realized that his situation back in Qidong had been similar, lacking both personnel and equipment. Thankfully, Liu Yongxin had been quite supportive; otherwise, he truly would have been unable to accomplish anything.
Glimpsing at Liu Yongxin, Xu Dayuan then said:
"Since there is no missing person in Rudong that matches our case, let’s broaden our comparison range to see if there is any relevant DNA information among the missing persons within the province or even the whole country. Do we have an estimate of the victim’s age and height?"
Xu Guanhai sighed.
"To be frank, Director Xu, skeletal identification is not my forte. The victim was dismembered and placed in woven bags, then wrapped in blankets, with the clothes put at the very bottom before being placed into a basket.
I’ve assembled the skeleton that Director Zhou has also seen. It looks odd; I know something is not right in many places, but I truly can’t manage this.
Furthermore, there are bone defects in the damaged areas of the victim’s face. I presume the victim’s face was smashed, and then gnawed on by rats, so I’m not sure whether the skull can be restored using your method."
Xu Dayuan looked towards Zhou Ning, confident in the software’s reconstructive capabilities, but that assumed the availability of a complete skull. With such a large piece missing from the face, how would they piece it together?
Zhou Ning glanced at Mr. Qu, who shook his head.
Clearly, he was unable to accomplish it, and the software couldn’t recognize the extent of the missing part either—a design issue indeed.
"No need to rush this part. Later on, I’ll invite Mr. Xia over, and we’ll try to reconstruct it using the most primitive methods. I believe our current priority should be to inspect the scene.
It’s possible that the rats gnawed on the victim’s shattered face, but they probably couldn’t have carried the bones away. I’ve seen the video of the attic scene; there’s only a small ventilating window that’s a certain height above the ground. With the door below locked, the scattered bones may have ended up in the corners of the attic."
Xu Dayuan nodded, looking at the photo that the criminal police had found. Indeed, the window was about twenty centimeters from the ground, not a difficult climb for the rats.
Zhou Ning paused, then asked with a puzzled expression:
"I have a question. Based on the observations from the scene photos, the victim’s dismembered body was hidden in the attic and has completely skeletonized, with even the clothing partially decomposed. By the looks of it, it has been there for at least seven or eight years.
Moreover, given how tightly it was wrapped, the decomposition of the body would have been slowed. But the smell of a decaying body is incredibly pungent and lingers for a long time. Did the nearby residents not notice anything?"
Xu Guanhai nodded repeatedly, enlarging a picture and pointing at the big screen as he said:
"Let me be honest, I had the same question when I inspected the scene. Director Zhou, look, this is the location of the Xu Family, situated in the southeast corner of Renjiazhuang Village, not far from a pig farm.
Upon inquiry, the locals did indeed complain about a foul stench from the south of the village, which has lessened in the past two years. In previous summers, it was impossible to open the windows at home. Initially assuming it to be the pig farm’s drainage ditch, the village invested in digging a new ditch, yet the odor persisted without further management.
The pig farm is collectively funded by the village, and it pays the villagers annually. Complaining would cut their own source of income, so despite the stench, everyone tolerated it—choosing to simply keep the windows closed during summer. The pig farm has also become more hygienic over the years, so no one really considered this aspect." freēwēbnovel.com
Zhou Ning had a realization; that explained a lot. Although the stench of decay had been diminishing year by year, how could the people dwelling in the remote Xu Family home not sense it? After all, this was the source!
But then, considering the satellite image seen earlier, this north room was separated from the front yard. Zhang Sannian also mentioned that the back house was originally inhabited by an elderly person who decided to tidy it up after passing away.
It seemed that the elder who previously lived there was a very inarticulate and obstinate person.
Xu Dayuan glanced at the time; it was nearing five o’clock. He then looked at the location of Renjiazhuang Village and gestured:
"Sannian, you guys start organizing the report for the 5.11 drowning case. As for the second inspection of the 2.28 skeleton case, we’ll go first thing tomorrow morning. It has been sealed off, right?"
Zhang Sannian nodded.
"The Xu couple were horrified to discover the bones. Mrs. Xu’s blood pressure shot up to 220, and she’s now hospitalized at Rudong People’s Hospital. Mr. Xu is taking care of his wife, and with that, their home has been locked up directly. Our people are staying at the village committee to watch the scene."
Zhou Ning stood up.
"Director Xu, Zhang Da, I’d like to first have a look at the skeleton—to see if it can be reassembled to provide some information about the victim and also to study the victim’s skull."
Xu Dayuan knew Zhou Ning didn’t want to delay the work group’s time; they needed to gather relevant characteristics to proceed with the investigation.
After all, a forensic examination of skeletal remains demands even more time, just like the Xiaolong Mountain archeological dismemberment case, where, fortunately, the skull was intact. Yet, this case presented a difficulty much greater than that one.
"Alright, Sannian, arrange it. Have someone send something to eat for Zhou Ning and the others in a bit, and don’t disturb them."
Zhang Sannian felt a bit embarrassed and quickly nodded.
"Don’t worry, I’ll have someone prepare a special meal just for Director Zhou and the team, guaranteed to be nutritious and tasty."
Mr. Zhao flashed a grin.
"I’ve been here all day, and that’s the line I love to hear the most."
Xu Dayuan waved his hand.
"Alright, you guys go ahead and get busy. We will stay and discuss in more detail the findings at the scene and the situation with the Xu Family. Mr. Qu, follow Director Zhou and the others."
Granted clemency, Mr. Qu hugged his computer and hurriedly caught up with Zhou Ning and the rest.
They arrived at the room next to the autopsy room, which was quite spacious. In the middle was a large table with all the bones laid out. Zhou Ning glanced over and saw that Xu Guanhai had already numbered each bone. His attention to detail was even greater than Zhou Ning’s own.
The lights in the room were on, but the brightness was not very high. Sun Gaotie dashed out and soon returned with the LED magnifying lamp that was exclusively used by Zhou Ning.
Zhou Ning almost laughed out loud; this guy understood him quite well.
"Okay, Mr. Sun was involved in the Xiaolong Mountain archaeological dismemberment case on February 21st. Think about how I categorized them back then. You remember, right? Now you and Zhu Xingxing put all the bones back in place and piece them together, and do it quickly."
Having said that, Zhou Ning grabbed the LED light and went to look at the skull, no longer paying attention to the two of them while Mr. Zhao and Yang Xuetong kept taking photos, which saved a lot of effort due to the numbered bones.
Xu Guanhai was somewhat at a loss, but the name Xiaolong Mountain sounded familiar to him. He didn’t know where he had heard it before, so he quickly dragged Liu Yongxin to the side for a detailed inquiry.
After hearing Liu Yongxin’s introduction, Xu Guanhai looked at Zhou Ning with admiration. It was no longer just envy for Liu Yongxin having such a good disciple, but astonishment at Zhou Ning’s capabilities.
After holding back for a while, Xu Guanhai whispered into Liu Yongxin’s ear:
"I say, you’re really lucky. His skills were honed following Li Chengbin. From now on, don’t just talk about your disciple, okay?"
Liu Yongxin grinned and slapped Xu Guanhai’s arm.
"Cut it out. My disciple became Li Chengbin’s doctoral student just this last September. When this case was cracked, he had just gone to the city bureau. This was cleaning up Cui Haibin’s mess, you know. My disciple’s ability to self-teach is incomparable to ordinary people. Don’t be sour just because you can’t eat the grapes."
Xu Guanhai shut his mouth, feeling even more gloomy.
The two did not chat anymore but joined Zhou Ning, watching him observe the bones. However, soon Xu Guanhai was distracted by the actions of Sun Gaotie and Zhu Xingxing.
The two of them moved the bone fragments around like they were playing a jigsaw puzzle. In less than ten minutes, they checked everything and raised their hands to Zhou Ning.
"Boss, we’ve finished piecing it together, but there’s a piece missing from the left femur, a 3*2 centimeter irregular triangular piece."
Xu Guanhai jumped up and rushed toward the organizing box, startling Liu Yongxin.
"Old Xu, what are you doing? You scared me!"
Xu Guanhai didn’t speak but frantically searched, quickly coming back with a small bag.
"The missing piece is here; I found this when I was up in the attic. I thought it must be part of the skeleton, but I forgot about it when piecing them together."
Zhu Xingxing took it and placed the fragment where the piece was missing and clapped his hands.
"Perfect, it’s just a pity that we didn’t find the facial bones that were missing from the body."
Zhou Ning put down the skull and glanced over, nodding at them.
"Not bad, but be quicker next time. Zhu Xingxing is too slow. After you go back, pay close attention to the characteristics of the shin bone. You made a mistake just now, and it was Sun Gaotie who spotted it."
Zhu Xingxing’s face turned red with embarrassment, but he nodded vigorously nonetheless.
"Don’t worry, boss. I’ll get right to practicing this when I get back."
Xu Guanhai smacked his lips, feeling somewhat out of sorts. Here an intern and a newly appointed forensic doctor showed more familiarity with bones than he did.
Alas!
Zhou Ning walked around the skeleton, constantly instructing Sun Gaotie to measure and asking Yang Xuetong to take photos. He even picked up the pubic symphysis for a glance. Ultimately, Zhou Ning returned to the position of the skull and lifted it up to look at it again.
"The victim was a male, aged between 18 and 20. His height was between 176 and 178 centimeters and he had a slender build. Based on Doctor Xu’s weighing, I estimate that the victim’s weight was between 120 and 130 pounds. The fatal injury was on the neck, and the weapon was an axe. However, the force used by the murderer was not strong.
There were three actions of chopping on the neck, with two of the blows only leaving scratches on the third and fourth cervical vertebrae. Only one blow cut into the space between the third and fourth vertebrae, as you can see there is a lesion on the edge of the fourth cervical vertebra. It seems the axe got stuck and the murderer broke it by shaking and twisting it multiple times.
The murderer was not skilled in using an axe and did not know how to cut along the joint surfaces for dismemberment. The tool was also not fit for the task; hence the victim’s limbs were chopped off while there was no chopping injury on the torso.
As for the injuries on the victim’s face, I believe they were caused by the other side of the axe, as two places showed square shaped trauma, and there is an embedded bone on the brow bone. The murderer probably knew the victim—a crime committed by an acquaintance—so he wanted to destroy the face."
Zhou Ning spoke slowly, and Zhu Xingxing continuously recorded on the side. After Zhou Ning finished speaking, Zhu Xingxing also completed his notes.
"Boss, why was the victim hidden in the Xu Family’s home?"
