Free Web NovelChapter 335: Chapter 324 Boss, We Should Buy Lottery Tickets [Thanks to the Club President for the Reward]_1
Mr. Zhao’s eyes bulged as he leaned in closer.
"It’s that explosive? Bai Xiangrong doesn’t even try to avoid it, doesn’t hide it, and even takes pride in it, relishing the fact?"
Zhou Ning nudged him, this guy was spurting idioms nonstop; he told him to shut up and be honest, after all, Xu Dayuan was itching to find a scapegoat right now, and it wasn’t wise to talk back at this moment.
Moreover, having seen Bai Xiangrong’s posture in the restroom just now, he was certain that the guy was definitely a bottom; of course, he didn’t discriminate against sexual orientation, as long as it didn’t disrupt social order, it was a personal choice, irrelevant to others, but this case was different.
Xu Dayuan swept a glance over Mr. Zhao and then his gaze settled back on Zhou Ning.
"You guessed it without me saying?"
Zhou Ning nodded.
"That’s not the key point, what did he confess? He can’t possibly say he was handcuffed in the bathroom by Zhu Yunping all morning and didn’t move an inch? Even without eating or drinking for seven or eight hours, the volume of excretion would be off.
Right, didn’t you get a test kit from Mrs. Cui, Mr. Zhao? Do a quick test on Bai Xiangrong’s urine sample to see if he’s taken any D, and also the male just escorted out, didn’t we collect his saliva and blood samples? Test those quickly too."
Mr. Zhao hurriedly got to work—although he was gabby, over the past year he had picked up some skills thanks to Zhou Ning’s training, and these tests were not difficult for him.
The results came out momentarily.
"HLY and Ice D positive, looks like we’ve got a double whammy."
Xu Dayuan gestured with his hand.
"Go check Bai Xiangrong’s injuries, if it’s nothing serious, take him away directly."
Zhou Ning wasted no words and quickly went next door. Meanwhile, Yang Xuetong and the others were wrapping up, as many items from the scene needed to be packed up and brought back. Mr. Lu, the manager, wanted to say something, but seeing Xu Dayuan’s expression, he smartly kept his mouth shut.
Mr. Zeng was thrown out to accompany Mr. Qu and Mr. Lu in checking all the surveillance footage.
Upon entering next door, Bai Xiangrong sat in a chair, wearing a bathrobe with his feet bare and his eyes tightly shut. Sensing they had come in, he glanced their way; he swiftly and subconsciously lowered his head, because, after all, it was this man who had entered the restroom earlier and told everyone to leave him alone.
Zhou Ning looked at his hands and torso—there were numerous scars but mostly were bruises and marks, not wounds from whipping or belts—only a few places were broken skin.
The most severe injuries seemed to be on his fingers, but the wounds were no longer bleeding; Zhou Ning didn’t focus too much on them.
Unable to discern anything else after inspecting him, Zhou Ning stood up.
"Find him some clothes to wear; he can’t go to the Criminal Police detachment like this. We’ve got enough to do at the station without having to look at him."
Mr. Zhao grinned, handing a camera to Bai Xiangrong.
"You have clothes in the wardrobe, right? Take a look at these photos and tell me which ones are yours."
Bai Xiangrong glanced awkwardly at the camera and nodded to Mr. Zhao.
"These here are mine."
Mr. Zhao put away the camera, glanced at Bai Xiangrong’s feet, and quickly left. Soon he brought back a set of clothes and a bunch of sample boxes.
"Come on, take off the bathrobe, I need to sample your wounds first. Don’t dawdle, and don’t be shy; hurry up. If you’re slow, you’ll get cold, and it’s exhausting for a big guy like me to squat here. Let’s cooperate to suffer less."
Zhou Ning turned and walked out, letting two officers enter to assist since this kind of sampling required at least three people present.
Xu Dayuan caught a glimpse of Zhou Ning. With a look, the two moved to the corner at the end of the hallway to meet with Liu Yongxin. Each of them lit a cigarette and Xu Dayuan already had a worried look on his face.
"Mr. Hu just called. Barely had we found Bai Xiangrong when people in the city reached out to Mr. Hu to inquire about this case. Seems like neither Zhu Kelin nor Bai Xiangrong’s father, Bai Xinfeng, are easy to deal with.
And about the scene, I’ve had a look myself and didn’t feel this place was the site of a murder. What do you think? Tell me your opinion."
Zhou Ning thought for a moment and glanced in the direction of the backyard. freeweɓnovel.cøm
"They’ve completed the investigation at the scene; the only thing missing is a mobile phone. I don’t think this was an accident. We can search the area later; maybe it was thrown from upstairs or hidden somewhere.
Also, I observed on arrival that there’s a parking lot in front of the hotel, though it’s not big. VIP guests would likely have fixed parking spots in the backyard. Just not sure if there’s surveillance back there.
The process of the victim’s abuse might have been done in the hotel, and the murder took place in a car. The pool of blood and splash marks are all found inside a car. Bai Xiangrong’s fingers have cuts, and although he’s clenching his fists, from what I’ve seen, they’re likely caused by fishing line, with several slashes.
The binding wounds on Bai Xiangrong’s wrists seem a couple of hours old. He’s not stupid; he didn’t ask about Zhu Yunping once we arrived at the scene, but as soon as something happens to Zhu Yunping, the school would make contact with him since they came out together."
Xu Dayuan nodded, took a hard drag on his cigarette, then stubbed it out."
"You’re right, Bai Xiangrong is playing dumb. When I just asked him some questions, he was either evasive or complaining about feeling unwell, claiming he needed to go to the hospital for a check-up, and he was rambling on and on, saying he’s from the main family and such. All of this is clearly trying to cover something up."
"Evidence doesn’t lie. As for the DNA and blood on the fishing line, I believe it’s Bai Xiangrong’s. So, what we need to do now is to cut off Bai Xiangrong’s contact with the outside world and wait for the DNA test results. As long as it matches, we’ll have a solid case. Let’s go and have a look in the backyard."
Liu Yongxin glanced out the window and pointed at a circle of greenery and said:
"We’re on the eighth floor. Anything thrown out the window from here would be smashed to pieces on the ground. There’s not much traffic on the road, and the nearby Mr. Qu’s place and the kindergarten aren’t densely populated, so it’s unlikely anyone would notice. Of course, if someone were to smash a phone in the backyard and throw it in a garbage can, that’s also possible, depending on when they take out the trash."
Xu Dayuan nodded, and the three of them, as they talked, walked towards the direction of the room. Mr. Zhao poked his head out and pointed inside the room, but Xu Dayuan gestured with his hand.
"Let Yufei escort the suspect back, and cover his face so no one sees him getting into the police car."
Zhou Ning beckoned with his finger, and Mr. Zhao quickly leaned in.
"You and Mr. Yang bring all the equipment and follow me downstairs. As for upstairs, have Sun Gaotie and Zhu Xingxing stay here, to check again if the evidence we collected is all there. Then take photographs from the window towards the outside, capture any places that can be reached by throwing objects from a height, and then come down to meet us."
Mr. Zhao gave an OK gesture and hurried off to call people. Zhou Ning gave such orders naturally because he didn’t want people outside the forensic department to know, needless to say. He understood that their actions had been leaked, though they didn’t know if it was an insider. It was better to be cautious.
Zhou Ning and Liu Yongxin followed Xu Dayuan down the stairs.
Upon reaching the bottom, they saw Mr. Zeng, who was standing in the backyard, drenched in sweat, running up to Xu Dayuan.
"The manager Mr. Qu checked the surveillance footage. They found images of Zhu Yunping and the victim going down the elevator, but nothing in the hallway. In the backyard, there’s only surveillance of entrances and exits to the courtyard, but no panoramic surveillance. It’s one of those systems where each car is logged."
Zhou Ning wasn’t surprised by this result. He stood on the steps, looking over the whole courtyard, which wasn’t a perfect square. Due to the irregular walls of the hotel’s perimeter, there were several protrusions, blocking a full view from this position.
Xu Dayuan stared at Mr. Zeng and asked:
"Where’s the manager Mr. Lu of the hotel? Don’t they have VIP parking? Or did you forget what I told you? What’s the meaning of this, do I have to write down the tasks I give you, or you won’t remember them?"
Mr. Zeng looked embarrassed, Zhou Ning didn’t look at him, and instead walked towards the parking spaces between the two protruding walls.
The parking lot’s spots here were the most spacious, with no other spaces marked on either side, and the protruding walls effectively blocked everyone’s view. If a car was parked far into the spot, only part of the back of the car would be visible.
Liu Yongxin followed, and the sight of a few drops of blood on the ground made the old man’s eyes light up, and he quickly took out his phone.
"Are you saying you’ve climbed down yet? Hurry up, we’ve found bloodstains."
"We’ll be right there, just three more floors."
After hanging up, Liu Yongxin sighed and glanced at Mr. Zeng, who was still getting scolded.
"This kid should go down and exercise more. He’s capable, but he doesn’t fill his mind with work, and he doesn’t have a clue. The way he operates is so single-minded, how can he do a good job? And he’s always thinking about Liu Yufei, completely oblivious to her disdain for him. I don’t know which idiot gave him such bad advice; persistent pestering doesn’t work on Liu Yufei, it only backfires." frёeweɓηovel.coɱ
Zhou Ning turned his head in surprise and stared at Liu Yongxin for a while.
"Mr. Zeng likes Liu Yufei? How come I didn’t know that?"
Liu Yongxin rolled his eyes; his apprentice was good at many things but had a seriously low EQ, which no amount of prodding could help improve.
"You’re clueless about matters of the heart. It’s a good thing that Mr. Xia is persistent; anyone else would have been driven mad by now. I could tell upon my arrival that Mr. Zeng likes Liu Yufei. He’s always hanging around her, either setting her up for jokes or chiming in. Have you seen any task he’s done to Liu Yufei’s satisfaction? Didn’t he just make her mad last time?"
Zhou Ning slapped his forehead, suddenly remembering that Liu Yufei had smashed a chair last time, giving Mr. Zeng a demonstration of what violence looks like, and continually saying Liu Yufei was hot-headed, which indeed was a bit annoying. He hadn’t realized it was because of this.
"It was done by a rival, right?"
Liu Yongxin paused, then gave a thumbs up, fully approving Zhou Ning’s conjecture.
"You might be right. However, the kid is not bad at heart. He just lacks the practice to stand on his own. Like He Chunyang before, who used to just follow Xu Dayuan and never think for himself. Now, see how well he’s doing."
While they were talking, Mr. Zhao and Mr. Yang had already come over with a carrying case, followed by a crowd. As they approached the parking space, Xu Dayuan stopped everyone.
Xu Dayuan handed out the printed photographs to everyone, instructing them to start a thorough search. Actually, even without the phone, they could still retrieve call logs, but they wouldn’t know the content of the texts.
Mr. Zhao approached Zhou Ning, looking expectant of praise. Zhou Ning couldn’t help but smile.
"Well done, and fast too. Hurry up and collect any traces around this parking space, take photographs to secure the scene, and the ground has a few spots of blood."
They both quickly moved forward, and just as Yang Xuetong reached a spot close to the wall, he squatted down behind a yellow and black parking barrier and picked up a bundle of something with tweezers.
"Boss, maybe we should go buy lottery tickets. We’ve found a glove!"
