Free Web NovelChapter 319: Chapter 312 Old Stories_1
March 13, 2012, 8:00 AM
A notification beeped; Zhou Ning hurried to the computer and clicked to receive the email, while Liu Yongxin leaned in closer. Mr. Qu went to the printer, taking the printed report into his hands.
Zhou Ning stared at the computer screen, skimming through the contents. When she reached the end, she leaned toward the screen and held her breath.
The fingerprints collected from three axes belonged to Ai Qingsong. Surprisingly, residual DNA was found on two of the axes, which after comparison, matched that of Zhu Yufen.
Seeing this result, Zhou Ning was stunned. She had indeed suspected that either Li Hua or Zhu Yufen was involved, but she never expected Li Hua to leave fingerprints on the plastic sheet and even less that Zhu Yufen’s DNA would be found on the murder weapon. Could it have been a collaboration between three people?
For a moment, Zhou Ning was somewhat confused.
Just then, the mailbox flickered several times, signaling the arrival of new emails. Zhou Ning glanced at them and saw that the items sent for examination were all sample numbers, obviously sent by Mr. Zhao and his team after their investigation at the scene. Regardless, Zhou Ning clicked print.
"I wonder what time Mr. Zhao and his team finished."
Before the words settled, the office door swung open, Mr. Zhao and the others entered, Bai Hua trailing behind. Their eyes were bloodshot from fatigue, yet their spirits were irrefutably high.
"Missed me already after just a short while?"
"I saw Mrs. Cui sent over some stuff that you have checked in. I was asleep by midnight, and you hadn’t come back. What time did you finish up?"
"At eleven, we had someone send things for examination. We completely cleared the scene around one o’clock. Doctor Bai was with us the whole time. I realized that the forensic doctors in the county are all quite extraordinary, nearly all-rounders. During our investigation, Doctor Bai’s sampling methods were simpler and opened my eyes," Mr. Zhao said.
Liu Yongxin chuckled twice, casting a smile toward Bai Hua.
"Well, of course. We don’t have a trace evidence department here, so I have to do everything myself – at least I get some help running errands."
Bai Hua said with slight embarrassment, knowing full well her capabilities. After all, she had been investigating this headless serial murder case every day without noticing so many details. When Zhou Ning and the others arrived, in less than a week, they were close to cracking the case completely. That’s professionalism.
"Stop it, I’m too embarrassed to hear any more praises," she protested.
Zhou Ning smiled and moved away from the computer to let Mr. Zhao and his team have a look.
"Alright, come over here and take a look. Mrs. Cui sent over the reports; you didn’t label them in detail, just numbers. What are these items?"
Mr. Zhao’s eyes lit up. He tossed his bag to Zhu Xingxing and hurried to the computer, clicking the print button while carefully examining the results and waving Bai Hua and Yang Xuetong over.
After taking a glance, Mr. Yang appeared utterly astonished, while Bai Hua was incredulous, and Liu Yongxin coughed.
"Picking on an old man, are you? Hurry up and tell us what all this stuff is," he asked.
Mr. Zhao grinned, tossing a USB drive to Yang Xuetong. He and Mr. Qu fiddled with something and then projected images on the screen. Stunned by the ’collection’ that filled one wall, Zhou Ning froze.
Turning back subconsciously, she looked toward Mr. Zhao.
"Tell me, did you get it wrong?"
With his smiling face frozen, Mr. Zhao crossed his arms and huffed at Zhou Ning.
"Zhou Xiaozhou, don’t you bully me. What’s with that look in your eye? Do I seem so depraved in your eyes? This was found in a room at Hongqi Road No.29, in the largest office, which included a resting room. Several doors were locked, but the key to the resting room was hidden under a doormat. It looks like no one has been there for a long time," he explained.
As he spoke, Mr. Zhao looked at the examination results and pointed with a laser pointer, continuing, "Who would have thought? On these ’collectibles,’ we found mostly DNA belonging to Zhu Yufen and Zhu Kelin. This uncle Zhu Yufen is really something else.
As for the bathtub, floor crevices, steps, headboard molding gaps, the top of the desk lamp, and other places, we found various splashed or smeared blood traces. Although they had been cleaned, DNA from the three victims was still extracted."
Zhou Ning dialed Cui Lili’s cell phone; the report just received lacked the DNA comparison results for Zhu Yunping and Zhu Yunhai. Cui Lili would certainly not have forgotten – could there be a problem?
"Sis, you at the office?"
"Yes, just a moment. Two more comparisons just finished. I’ll send them to you right away. It’s Zhu Yunhai and Zhu Yunping, right?"
"Right, did you compare their DNA with Zhu Kelin and Zhu Yufen’s?"
"I wanted to ask you the same thing, do both of them have the last name Zhu?"
"Zhu Yufen is the daughter of Zhu Kelin’s auntie. After her father died and her mother disappeared, she was adopted by Zhu Kelin. She’s considered a foster daughter of the Zhu Family, but Zhu Yufen’s aunt has been deceased for twenty years."
"Oh, what a tangled relationship. The report’s been sent over, and both children are indeed the biological offspring of Zhu Kelin and Zhu Yufen."
’Click’ the phone hung up, and at the same time, an email arrived in the inbox. Mr. Qu went to open the email while Zhou Ning gestured to Mr. Zhao.
"Call Director Xu to the conference room. We’ve finished our investigation on this end. We’ll go over the findings with him. The relationships are so messy, I don’t even know how to begin to explain."
Mr. Zhao hurried out, and Zhou Ning, along with his team carrying all the reports, also arrived at the conference room. Before long, Xu Dayuan, along with Tao Zhenshan, Zhang Chunbo, and a host of other personnel, arrived as well.
"Are all the various tests and surveys from your side done?"
Zhou Ning nodded.
"Let me introduce the findings one by one. First, let’s talk about the test results. On the three axes found at Cui Yushang’s grave, we found Ai Qingsong’s fingerprints and Zhu Yufen’s DNA. Previously, in the plastic tarp layers used to dispose of the bodies, we discovered glove prints shaped like fingers made from latex, as well as Li Hua’s fingerprints.
In addition, at Hongqi Road No.29, we found a specially decorated room with many special hobby collectibles, which bore the DNA of both Zhu Yufen and Zhu Kelin. In the cracks of the floor at the scene, we found DNA from the residual bloodstains of the three deceased.
Based on these remains, we believe that this room is the primary crime scene where the three victims were killed and also where Zhu Yufen was abused by Zhu Kelin. Moreover, Zhu Yunping, the son of Zhu Kelin, and Zhu Yunhai, Zhu Yufen’s son, are both sons of Zhu Kelin and Zhu Yufen."
After Zhou Ning finished, the look of shock on Zhang Chunbo’s face lingered for quite some time. Xu Dayuan, however, remained composed, glancing at Zhou Ning and everyone else before nodding emphatically.
"You’ve worked hard. Zhenshan, please discuss the findings from your side. Now that everyone is present, we can summarize. The relevant individuals are also on their way here."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Ning glanced at Xu Dayuan. Both Li Hua and Zhu Yufen were local, and Xu Dayuan had people watching them since last night—neither could escape.
"We looked into Zhu Yufen’s ex-husband, Fang Guoli. He and Fang Guoying, who came here for questioning earlier, are twins. The reason he married Zhu Yufen was that she was pregnant and asked for his help. Thus, after a brief marriage, they divorced to give the child a legitimate status.
As for the investigation into Ai Qingsong, we found out that he was also an employee of the planning bureau and was classmates and colleagues with Li Fang. After Li Fang was harmed, he took over her job and was targeted at work, even poisoned. In 2000, after several unheeded whistleblowing attempts, he was forcibly dismissed from his position.
The 270,000 Yuan bribe received by Zheng Chuguang was for assisting Yu Guangyao and Zhang Qiujiang’s company in fabricating relevant design drawings, company qualifications, and bidding matters. Before the county switched to city governance, Zheng Chuguang’s uncle was the deputy county magistrate in charge of construction projects and bidding pilot work.
The municipal engineering fraud that was uncovered after Yu Guangyao’s death had already been reported by Ai Qingsong in 1999, but it was not accepted. The issues of cutting corners and reducing materials in Zhang Qiujiang’s Liuyuan Community Building No. 7 had also received a whistleblower letter before Zhang Qiujiang’s murder, but it was also suppressed.
That’s the situation from my investigation. Liu Yufei reached Hushang City and talked with both the doctor and Ai Qingsong himself. Liu Yufei and Mr. Zeng are accompanying Ai Qingsong on his return flight, expected to arrive around nine. I’ve arranged for a car to pick them up."
Xu Dayuan nodded and looked around the room.
"Alright, now that everyone understands the situation, and the investigation has borne fruit, Li Hua and Zhu Yufen have been brought in. In a moment, we’ll interrogate them separately.
Li Hua, Zhu Yufen, and Ai Qingsong all left their fingerprints and DNA at both the primary crime scene and the body-dumping site—this serves as irrefutable evidence. My principle is to clarify the details of the case without omissions. Zhenshan and Chunbo will take charge of the interrogation. Dismissed."
There was an immediate buzz of conversation as everyone tried to unravel the intricate relationships after so much effort had been put in over many days. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm
However, Zhou Ning’s face showed no sign of relief. His work here was essentially done; the rest was up to the capabilities of Xu Dayuan and his team. At that moment, Zhou Ning couldn’t shake the feeling
that these three individuals coming together to take revenge on the three victims wasn’t simply because of their corruption or because the whistleblowing was unsuccessful. There had to be some hidden reasons behind it.
As for what these reasons were, Zhou Ning couldn’t say. Perhaps they had something to do with Cui Yushang, or perhaps they were similar to Cui Yushang’s situation but even more severe, with the potential to impact the lives of the three individuals.
Zhou Ning remembered a passage he once read in a lawyer’s memoir, which told a story.
In the north, a girl was ’abused’ by a man in a very severe way—not only was her value system irreparably damaged, but her face was disfigured, one eye went blind, and the other was left with only a sense of light. ƒгeewёbnovel.com
The man who abused the girl thought she had died and fled. The girl, who was tenacious, managed to crawl out of the coal pit and call the police for help. She survived and aimed her whole life at making the man pay with his life for the grievous harm he caused her.
The man was arrested and the court sentenced him to prison, not the death penalty, as he was under eighteen when he committed the atrocity.
But the girl, unable to escape the shadow of the ordeal, exhausted her entire life seeking retribution. She contacted all kinds of people for help in pushing for a heavier sentence: lawyers, local leaders, exhausting every avenue she could think of. Trapped in her trauma, she couldn’t escape.
Years later, on the same day the man was released from prison after a sentence reduction, the girl committed suicide by jumping off a building.
Zhou Ning closed his eyes. In this case, if someone had been abused in their youth, they would live a life dominated by hatred, unable to escape it.
For a lifetime, such a person would only think of revenge. Therefore, it may not be only Zhu Yufen who had been abused in the past.
