Free Web NovelChapter 307: Chapter 301 A Man and a Woman_1
Zhou Ning nodded. He was familiar with the names on the two autopsy reports; both were from well-known forensic doctors in Qindao, especially the one who participated in the re-examination, who had even gone to the provincial bureau’s Forensic Identification Center, ranking among the veteran figures.
Liu Yongxin glanced at Zhou Ning’s expression and understood.
"Forensic technology is constantly developing, and many judgment methods used before differ greatly from those used today. All of us sitting here are for the sake of solving the case, not to worry about whether the conclusions of the autopsy reports are correct or not."
Upon comprehension, Xu Dayuan saw that there seemed to be aspects of the autopsy report’s findings that Zhou Ning and Liu Yongxin did not acknowledge.
"That’s right, we are here to solve the case. After all, this case has left few clues, so we naturally have to re-investigate wherever we can. As for the technical aspect, we need to re-verify the places that previously couldn’t be analyzed or weren’t allowed by the conditions, and re-determine anything that’s not reasonable."
With Xu Dayuan’s words, Zhou Ning breathed a sigh of relief and quickly scanned through the autopsy report for the third victim. This report included comprehensive toxicological testing and various blood analyses, noting that livor mortis was pale and there were multiple chop wounds on the neck.
Zhou Ning agreed with Bai Hua’s autopsy results. The third victim, Zhang Qiujiang, had died of asphyxiation, and a down feather was found in the bronchial tubes, leading to the suspicion that the item causing Zhang Qiujiang’s asphyxiation was a soft knitted fabric filled with down.
Glancing over the corresponding lab reports, one in particular surprised Zhou Ning, its unusual values puzzling.
"Why did Doctor Bai think to conduct a blood sugar test on the victim?"
Bai Hua coughed slightly, feeling a bit embarrassed.
"I had the investigator call the testing department and listed the tests I wanted to be done. I guess my accent was thick, and they misheard it as a blood sugar test. However, when the results came out, it was still surprising. The third victim, Zhang Qiujiang, was thin-limbed with a protruding belly. According to his state, his blood sugar should not have been just 2.7. I’ve never quite understood it."
Zhou Ning nodded slightly, signaling to Xu Dayuan that he had no further questions, and Xu Dayuan waved his hand.
"Alright, let’s get to work, all four groups. Any findings, report them immediately. We know the complexity of the investigation we need to do, and I don’t want to repeat it. Just one requirement—be meticulous. Meeting adjourned."
Everyone dispersed with a rustle, leaving only Zhou Ning and his group. Mr. Qu and Momo Xia approached, with Mr. Qu speaking up.
"Director Zhou, I’ll stay behind to assist with this case. After all, we still haven’t found the victim’s skull, and Mr. Xia still has to complete the final training for these newbies before they can get going. Additionally, the software updates need to be checked by Mr. Xia when he returns."
Zhou Ning nodded, knowing that Xia Momo hoped to implement a simulation calculation mode in the software based on their method of reconstructing the victim’s facial skeleton, similar to proportional replication.
However, the reconstruction would still need to be based on the remnants of the skeletal morphology, and this would require discussion with Doctor Lu.
"That would be good. If the software fixes this part, even if we find only half of a skull, we can still roughly reconstruct the original appearance. I’ll have someone send you back."
Xia Momo shook her head.
"Director Xu has made arrangements for someone. I’ll go and get things sorted, and if you need any urgent skull reconstruction, I can come over anytime."
Zhu Xingxing escorted Xia Momo out, and a few people returned to the forensic office. Bai Hua had already placed the three autopsy reports on the table, and the whiteboard was also posted with various information on the victims, but they had not found a connection between the three persons.
Hearing footsteps, Bai Hua turned around and pushed up her glasses.
"Director Zhou, during the meeting, did you have a different opinion regarding the cause of death for the first and second victims?"
Zhou Ning smiled.
"What does Doctor Bai think?"
Bai Hua paused awkwardly, not expecting Zhou Ning to throw the question back at her, though she indeed had her own doubts. However, both victims’ autopsies were conducted by authoritative figures and were considered conclusive.
Therefore, the direction of the investigation was also considered from this perspective, searching for initial crime scenes close to water sources and looking for the victims’ skulls around water bodies. Hai’an City’s Baisha River and Dagu River banks, as well as all ditches and ponds, were thoroughly searched, but to no avail.
Contrarily, the third victim she handled had a down feather found in the lungs, which almost led to excluding this victim from the serial killings.
After a moment of silence, Bai Hua sighed.
"Although the diatom test was conducted for the first and second victims, and diatoms were detected in their lungs, liver, kidney, and spleen, the corresponding body of water for comparison was not identified.
When the first victim, Zheng Chuguang, was discovered, he was on a plastic tarp. I checked with the meteorological bureau for Hai’an City’s weather from November 3 to 6, 1993. It was continuously cold and foggy those days, with humidity reaching 98%, and it even rained on the 4th, soaking the body in the water puddles on the tarp.
This diatom test didn’t hold much significance. Moreover, just based on the first victim’s pink frothy sputum, the absence of a garlic odor, and pulmonary edema, the determination of death by drowning seems inaccurate. However, I do think the second victim drowned, especially with one lung having a blunt-rounded edge.
It’s just like with the third victim. It was raining when we found him, so I conducted a diatom test too. Diatoms consistent with the rainwater were found in the lungs, but no diatoms were found in other organs during the test. I’m speaking a bit jumbled."
Bai Hua was somewhat vexed, but Zhou Ning was nodding on the side.
"I’ve understood everything after looking over three autopsy reports. Indeed, it’s easy to think that Victims No. 1 and 2 drowned, but upon meticulous comparison, the types and numbers of diatoms found in the organs of Victim No. 1 differ. This discrepancy isn’t hard to refute."
"Look here, I don’t know if you noticed, but there is a chemical composition analysis for Victim No. 2. I saw the name at the bottom, but I don’t recognize it, and the test was conducted at the provincial level. They analyzed the fluid in the victim’s lungs and found the components quite interesting."
"It includes sodium chloride, sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, citric acid, silicon dioxide, and borax. Although the concentrations of these substances are minuscule, finding them is quite baffling to me."
Bai Hua was taken aback; she indeed had seen this report. She had looked at the results at the time, but the contents were somewhat baffling, with the most abundant being sodium chloride—salt.
She had always thought that the killer had spread salt over the body, similar to the idea of using salt to drive away evil spirits so that the soul could rest in peace without clinging to the murderer—a sort of peace offering to oneself. But Zhou Ning’s words made her pause.
"I saw this analysis too, but the contents are in such small amounts, I couldn’t figure out what they’d be when combined."
Zhou Ning waved at Mr. Qu.
"Send this to Doctor Lu. He has a PhD in chemistry; I think he should be able to tell us what these ingredients make when mixed together."
Mr. Qu didn’t waste time and quickly sent it to Doctor Lu. Mr. Zhao bumped Zhou Ning’s shoulder.
"Zhou Xiaozhou, you seem so certain. Do you know what this is?"
Zhou Ning nodded. During a training in the black room, he had encountered a similar case where someone had drowned in a bathtub, but the body was dumped by the sea. Upon chemical comparison, they found differences in the water samples.
The contents found in that report were basically the same as this one, but that one also revealed the presence of aromatic phenols. Zhou Ning had guessed it to be a bath bomb, but his answer was incorrect, metaphorically punished with a smell of burnt pig hair.
Only upon seeing the correct answer did he learn it was a type of bath salt.
"It’s a kind of bath salt, which can be used for bathing or for exfoliating by application."
Mr. Qu had already hung up the phone and looked to Zhou Ning for confirmation with a nod. ƒrēewebnovel.com
"Doctor Lu says it’s bath salt. He’s done similar tests before, including precise measurements of various materials. He even remembers the brand—BATHCLIN from Sapporo Country."
"Search whether this brand entered the Hua Country market in 2000?"
Mr. Qu quickly searched and then shook his head slightly:
"This BATHCLIN brand hasn’t had official stores in Hua Country, and online sales began in 2010, all through purchasing agents. Indeed, the price is expensive; a small packet for one-time use is over a hundred Hua currency. Too pricey!"
"So, who conducted the tests?"
Mr. Qu found a sales webpage and showed it to Zhou Ning.
"It’s them, a rather large agency. They’ve already secured domestic representation, though it’s a bit more expensive than the purchasing agents’ prices."
Bai Hua subconsciously glanced at the scene photo of Victim No. 2 and a photo of Yu Guangyao himself. Among the three victims, Yu Guangyao was considered to have the best appearance and height, yet a man at 185 centimeters was drowned in a bathtub filled with luxury bath salts, and this judgment was shocking.
Zhou Ning also looked at Yu Guangyao’s photo and circled the time of death with a whiteboard marker.
"The body was discovered on July 25th, 2000, headless, kneeling, and seated in the back of a car. That was twelve years ago, indicating the murderer is someone with a high standard of living, has been to Sapporo, and likes using high-end luxury daily products. It’s very possible that the murderer is a woman.
"Moreover, Yu Guangyao was 185 centimeters tall, weighed 178 pounds, and an adult human head weighs about 4.5 to 5.5 kilograms. The deceased’s head was cut between the sixth and seventh cervical vertebrae; the cross-section was not clean-cut, so the remaining weight of the body would be about 165 pounds.
"That weight, especially since the body was bound in a kneeling position, would be difficult to move, particularly by a woman acting alone. At least one person could not have done it, given that there were no signs of abrasion or scraping on the body."
Bai Hua and Mr. Zhao both moved closer, but Zhu Xingxing was the quickest to speak.
"Boss, does that mean you think there were two killers, a man and a woman?"
This question left Zhou Ning at a loss.
"When did I say the killers were one man and one woman?"
Zhu Xingxing spread his hands, ready to elaborate, but Mr. Zhao grabbed him by the collar and threw him back. Bai Hua frowned slightly but didn’t pay attention to what was happening in front of her.
"Victim No. 1 was found at the base of the dam under the Baisha River bridge, with a slope exceeding sixty degrees. The body was placed there without any abrasions, and if done by a single person, with no climbing points nearby, how could they have gotten back up? I also think there were two murderers."
