Free Web NovelChapter 369: Chapter 354: Checking Out the Idle Factory Building?
Mr. Zhao blinked and raised his hand to join in.
"At the seaside of Qindao, these motorboats used to carry tourists are very advanced. We’ve had them since 2000, and I remember there’s a yacht factory right here on our Qindao that makes them. They’re absolutely world-leading. I’ve inquired about the light ones; they can carry up to 400 kilograms, and the two-person ones can carry even more than that."
Zhou Ning continued to look at the map. If the motorboat’s load capacity wasn’t a problem, then it meant Lou Sanfeng had already calculated an escape route. Furthermore, Xiaofengtai is only 2.2 kilometers away from Nan Island, where the body was dumped, a straight-line distance that could be covered in a matter of minutes by sea.
His finger pointing at Nan Island, Zhou Ning turned back to look at Xu Dayuan.
"Leader, we could check the surveillance around Nan Island to see if Lou Sanfeng’s car has been near here within the last month. Moreover, Lou Sanfeng’s daily commuting routes also need to be verified. I have a feeling that his hiding place is near this Nan Island."
With a wave of his hand, Xu Dayuan directly glared.
"Nobody is faster than Mr. Qu. Let the tech department work with Mr. Qu on this. Have Mr. Zhao go notify them, and make it quick. Without saying anything else, if we sort out his comings and goings over the past month, I refuse to believe we won’t find something off with him."
Zhou Ning glanced at the time, took out his mobile phone, and dialed Cui Lili’s number. The phone rang only a few times before she answered.
"Director Zhou, are you rushing us to death? You only sent it less than four hours ago, and I’m swamped here, but these machines need time."
"Big sister, I’m not rushing you. I know this is slow because the previous samples yielded very little information and must be fully compared. I wanted to ask if you found any DNA on that finger of Cheng Xinghui you received earlier? Didn’t even find a fragment?"
"We didn’t find a complete DNA of the second person, but we did find two fragments. I’m not sure yet if the two fragments belong to the same person. We found these materials in the fingernail crevices, not on the finger’s surface."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Ning grew interested.
"That’s good then. Once Lou Sanfeng’s DNA is extracted, please compare it with these fragments first. If they match, we can consider the evidence for the combined case solid."
After hanging up the phone, Zhou Ning glanced over at the fact that a child’s fingers are most adept at scratching. No matter who the other party is, they would subconsciously scratch it, especially strangers. As for Chen Gang, to two-year-old Cheng Xinghui, he would be a familiar person; it was unlikely he was the perpetrator.
Thinking this, Zhou Ning felt a trace of regret. Although it wasn’t too long since 2004, the technology then was vastly different from now, and the severed fingers of the deceased, which were contaminated, didn’t reveal DNA information of anyone besides the three victims.
However, Fang Yue’s fingers were somewhat damaged, appearing as if they were violently broken, with scabbed edges. Judging by the severity, the break must have happened after the kidnapping—possibly due to mistreatment.
Mr. Zhao came back holding his phone and coughed to Zhou Ning, bringing him back to the present and making him glance at Xu Dayuan.
"Director Xu, don’t be anxious. It will take at least another two hours to get the results."
Mr. Zhao came closer and gestured upstairs.
"Mr. Qu and his team have started working. I gave them Lou Sanfeng’s license plate and car photos, and they’ll reverse-engineer the search, starting from today’s work route and going backward. I expect it won’t be very fast."
Xu Dayuan nodded, and noticing Zhou Ning was still focusing on the area around Nan Island, Xu Dayuan joined him.
"The retired comrade I contacted earlier said they went to the seaside to investigate after seeing that motorboat. Since Qindao was approved to host the Olympic maritime events in 2000, factories here began manufacturing motorboats.
But these things aren’t cheap. The retired comrade said that when they went to the factory back then, the lightest models, non-export grade, started at forty to fifty thousand yuan. Those with slightly better load capacity and quality would cost about one hundred thousand yuan, and even second-hand ones in better condition would cost seventy to eighty thousand.
Between 2000 and 2004, it cost nearly the same as buying a car, and it wasn’t something you could use every day at sea. Most of the locals who bought it used it to attract customers for seaborne rides. In 2004, it cost 120 yuan per person for just five minutes."
Zhou Ning nodded, understanding that in Xu Dayuan’s view, it was a waste to spend a hundred thousand yuan eight years ago on something that could only be used for two months a year, especially since these things didn’t last more than a few years.
"Director Xu, people’s views on consumption differ. You don’t have tens of millions in savings, so naturally, you don’t have that kind of spending habit."
Xu Dayuan was instantly speechless, and Liu Yongxin couldn’t help but shake with laughter, patting Xu Dayuan on the arm.
"Ha ha ha, my apprentice might be a bit too direct. But buying a motorboat as an escape tool is no problem for him. If Lou Sanfeng is the killer, he’s quite an oddity; he’s so frugal in his daily life that his car could be abandoned on the roadside without anyone picking it up. Why would he need so much money?"
Everyone fell silent, and it was due to this that Zhou Ning felt that Lou Sanfeng might have multiple personalities, with a dominating paranoid and cold-blooded nature that could easily lead to trouble.
Focusing on the map, Zhou Ning pointed around Nan Island. fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
"Xiaofengtai couldn’t be developed due to the terrain and topography, but Nan Island is different. On the map, you can see that there’s a residential complex under construction on the way into Nan Island, and this protruding part has several factories, as well as a ring road. The area is surrounded by beaches. It would be easy to hide after riding a motorboat there."
