Free Web NovelChapter 34: Chapter 34 First Scene_1
Zhou Ning finally managed to extricate himself from the onslaught of several old ladies, and he too began to walk towards the direction of the gatehouse, after all, Zhao Xinli had gone for quite a while and had not come back.
Just as he approached the property management office entrance, he ran into Zhao Xinli head-on. Zhao Xinli’s face was filled with joy as he held up his mobile phone to Zhou Ning.
"Doctor Zhou, take a look at this, is this the deceased?"
Zhou Ning took it and saw that it was an ID photo, very high in definition, and the person looked a few years younger than the restored image of the deceased. However, the fact that they had found a photo meant that they had already verified the identity.
"It’s the deceased."
Zhao Xinli slapped his own face.
"Right, it does look like the deceased. We’ve identified him and contacted his workplace to retrieve relevant evidence. The boss is on his way, and we’ll go to his house to take a look soon.
His name is Chen Zhenya, 61 years old, retired for three years; he used to be a section chief at the finance bureau. His daughter lives abroad, and his spouse has been dead for nearly twenty years. The folks at the finance bureau said that this guy was forced into retirement due to health reasons because he harassed a female colleague."
Zhou Ning breathed a sigh of relief. To confirm that the deceased was Chen Zhenya, these clues alone weren’t enough; a DNA comparison would be needed, and he wasn’t sure if there was enough time.
After waiting for ten minutes, a police car with its siren blaring stopped at the entrance of the neighborhood. Zhou Ning and the others quickly walked out.
Xu Dayuan’s eyes sparkled with excitement when he saw Zhou Ning, his smile impossible to conceal.
"You’ve done well, I didn’t expect that the restored model would be so powerful in leading us directly to a clue."
Zhou Ning didn’t dare to take full credit, as nothing was conclusive yet.
"It’s still not certain, but we are going to check out the deceased’s home."
Xu Dayuan nodded.
"That’s necessary. Let’s go take a look. I’ve brought the lock picker."
Everyone got into the car and headed straight for building eighteen. Upon reaching unit 202 of the first block, Zhou Ning moved to the front of the door and noticed a dark purple smear on the inside of the fingerprint lock handle, which made him happy.
He quickly took out his camera to take photos and then collected samples. Zhao Xinli came over and carefully collected fingerprints from the lock on the door, but as the brush swept over it, the presence of some linear traces made Zhou Ning’s heart rise with concern again.
Wipe marks indicated that someone had deliberately cleaned up the area; however, two remaining fingerprints were still found on the fingerprint lock.
Only then did Xu Dayuan gesture for the lock picker to step forward. The door wasn’t forced open as one might imagine, but after fiddling with it for ten seconds, there was a click, and the lock opened.
As the door opened, a strong smell of blood rushed to their noses.
Zhou Ning was the first to enter the room. Wearing gloves and a mask, he carefully observed the ground in front of the door. There were two traces, evenly spaced, coming from the direction of the bedroom and ending at the doorway.
These were either luggage or a two-wheeled cart, measured to be 46 centimeters apart. Zhou Ning turned back to look at Xu Dayuan.
"Search the web for this 46-centimeter spacing, is it a suitcase or a two-wheeled cart?"
Without waiting for Xu Dayuan to give the order, Zhao Xinli began the search. frёeweɓηovel.coɱ
"On the market, 26-inch and 28-inch suitcases are the closest to this measurement, but their wheel spacing is either 42 or 49 centimeters, so this isn’t a suitcase."
Zhou Ning nodded. The deceased wasn’t thin, and shoving a body wrapped in bed linen into a suitcase would indeed be laborious. It seemed like a small two-wheeled cart, something often favored by the elderly.
He continued going forward, placing number plates and heading towards the master bedroom. The layout of this room was exactly the same as that of 102, where they had found the body. Standing in front of the bedroom door, Zhou Ning’s hair stood on end.
The bed was in complete disarray, a kitchen knife lay on the bedside table, and the wall near the head of the bed was covered with bloodstains. These were not the kind of splattered droplets, but rather trailing splatter marks with clear trajectories—the murderer had chopped up the victim’s face right there.
The act was carried out immediately after death, showing how much the killer hated the victim.
The wardrobe doors were open with many sheets and covers strewn across the floor, among which lay a two-wheeled trolley. Zhou Ning took a deep breath, hurriedly took photographs to secure the scene, and then collected blood samples.
As he kneeled down, a row of characters suddenly appeared on the transparent screen in front of him.
Is the bound person submitting the second item of the advanced mission?
Zhou Ning quickly chose to submit. Although no blood type analysis had been performed, as long as the evidence chain was intact, the system would recognize it. Zhou Ning was satisfied with this, as it at least saved him time.
Indeed, after submitting the task, the time above immediately froze at 21:02.
Then this number settled into the top-right corner, leaving only a 213:02 in the middle of the screen, still ticking away. Zhou Ning let out a small sigh of relief, put the kitchen knife into an evidence bag, picked up the investigation box, and walked out.
"Xu Da, the scene has been sampled. We need to do blood type analysis and comparison, which can be done at the county hospital. If there’s a match, we can confirm this as the primary crime scene. As for this knife, it has a rolled edge, I’ll go back to extract fingerprints and then do the comparison."
The stress instantly left Xu Dayuan’s face. Identifying the victim was the most pressing issue, as it would be a major breakthrough for the next steps in the investigation.
"The round trip is too far. Try extracting fingerprints here. If we need to enter them into the system for comparison, then go to the port police station."
Zhou Ning didn’t waste any words. On the living room table, with an evidence bag as a liner, he placed the kitchen knife on top. Zhao Xinli, already wearing gloves, leaned over to help Zhou Ning start the fingerprint extraction.
Fingerprints were found on the blade and handle, two of them complete, two blood fingerprints on latex gloves. This discovery gave him an ominous feeling.
After all, these fingerprints were on top of others, clearly indicating that the murderer had worn gloves.
They were arranged in order on the table, comparing them with the previously extracted fingerprints of the victim. Zhou Ning observed them for a while, becoming increasingly discouraged—the two complete fingerprints were both the victim’s, Chen Zhenya’s.
Zhou Ning stood up and shook his head slightly.
"The two complete fingerprints belong to the victim, and the other two are from latex gloves. It seems the murderer had thought of this, after all, the door outside has been meticulously cleaned."
Xu Dayuan nodded.
"No rush, finding the primary crime scene and identifying the victim are big steps. Who did Doctor Zhou speak to in the community to identify the victim?"
"A chubby auntie on the community square, holding a boy about one year old. These aunties were all busily introducing the victim, Chen Zhenya, who had found four partners in the past year, none lasting long."
Xu Dayuan paused.
"Four partners in a year?"
"Apparently the longest lasted three or four months, and he was medically retired from the finance bureau. It’s said he harassed female colleagues. Mr. He, shouldn’t we go to the finance bureau for some inquiries? I think we’ll find something."
Zhao Xinli chimed in one after another.
"He Chunyang, take people to the finance bureau, investigate this Chen Zhenya. I want the real story, don’t bring me back a simple biography, understand?"
Mr. He responded from the doorway and hurried off with his team. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
Xu Dayuan rubbed his chin, looking at Zhou Ning and Zhao Xinli.
"You two, dressed in plain clothes, are less intimidating. Besides, those old ladies are already familiar with you. You two go and have a chat with them. Keep the earpiece on; we can communicate at any time."
Zhao Xinli was visibly excited; such active fieldwork was rare for him within the team. He grinned and grabbed Zhou Ning’s hand.
"Doctor Zhou, hurry up and come with me. With you around, it’s like winning the lottery every time. If we’re slow, those aunties will have gone home to put the kids to sleep."
Zhou Ning did not refuse. After all, he was also eager—if he finished earlier, the reward for the task exchange would correspondingly increase, like the facial reconstruction technology he had acquired last time, which had been put to use in this case.
The two went downstairs and made a round, but didn’t see the aunties. Glancing at the time, Zhao Xinli sighed.
"Oh well, let’s wait. It’s almost twelve; they must have gone home. Who knows what time they’ll come out in the afternoon with the kids?"
The pair headed towards the security guard, and Xu Dayuan was there gesturing to them, so they approached.
"It’s fine if they’re not here. I’ve already left people at the east and south gates to check surveillance. We’ll switch shifts to have lunch and then go door-to-door for the investigation. Given the time of the victim’s death, there’s an overwhelming amount of surveillance footage to sift through."
Zhao Xinli was somewhat apprehensive.
"Boss, aren’t you afraid that our high-profile investigation will alert the murderer?"
Xu Dayuan shook his head.
"I want to scare the snake by beating the grass!"
