Free Web NovelChapter 372: Chapter 356 What do you think this is?_1
Zhou Ning hurried over, interlocked his fingers to ensure his gloves were properly fitted, and then cautiously took the tweezers, peering through the magnifying glass for a careful inspection.
The fingernail was crescent-shaped, larger at one end than the other. Half of it seemed to have been constantly exposed on the outer edge of the doorframe’s weatherstrip, already showing some dark layering. The other side must have been stuck inside the weatherstrip and thus appeared rather fresh, with faint traces of red nail polish. Of course, there was also a bit of something black at the bottom edge.
Zhou Ning turned back to Xu Dayuan and said urgently,
"Get my phone out for me. I have photos from the crime scene investigation of the April 14 kidnapping case stored there. Find the picture of Fang Yue’s severed finger for me."
Xu Dayuan hurried over, took out the phone, scrolled through the album, and before long, found a photo of a severed finger with red nail polish.
Holding the nail fragment, Zhou Ning compared it for a moment. The broken edges matched perfectly, and at this sight, Mr. Zhao was so excited he almost shouted out.
"Damn, a perfect match!"
Zhou Ning nodded, carefully placed the fingernail into the evidence box handed to him by Liu Yongxin, and then gave Mr. Zhao a thumbs up.
"Mr. Zhao, you have sharp eyes and good intuition; that’s awesome!"
Mr. Zhao, now grinning and squinting, suddenly turned shy and yelled back.
"Mr. Zeng, stop gawking and come pick the lock."
Mr. Zeng, carrying the bolt cutters, walked to the front and snipped, breaking off the padlock as well. Yang Xuetong collected the lock, carefully opened the door, and then motioned to Zhu Xingxing.
"Leader, we’ll go in first to clear a path. If everyone goes in together, footprints will get mixed up."
Xu Dayuan nodded and pushed the police officer holding the law enforcement recorder to the doorstep.
"We won’t enter yet. You stay here and keep recording. Don’t miss anything—go ahead."
Zhou Ning thought for a moment, then pulled Xu Dayuan closer and whispered,
"Director Xu, we should still get in touch with the Land Registry. The documents Mr. Wang pulled are just land records. It’s best to check how this land fell into Yu Xiulian’s hands, or who funded her, whether it was through bidding, auction, and listing, or allocation.
According to the records, this land was sold by the government in September 2000. At that time, Chen Gang was already dead, and Lou Sanfeng had already transferred out of his position. Although the land isn’t large and wasn’t expensive at the time, it is now worth its weight in gold.
Back then, Yu Xiulian was still a university student. She could know Lou Sanfeng’s father, and while their relationship hadn’t been established, she went to him with a child in arms, and after being rejected, she left the child behind and quickly left Qindao to live elsewhere with a new identity. Would such a person buy property in Qindao?" freewёbnoνel.com
"Are you saying someone used Yu Xiulian’s name to buy the land and property, and Yu Xiulian may not even be aware of it?"
Xu Dayuan had an epiphany from this remark. After a moment of silence, he took out his phone and called Mr. Hu. This time, he needed to step in personally to get more detailed information.
Mr. Zhao and the others, fast in their movements, had already entered the two-story building.
In fact, as soon as the door was opened, one could feel that it probably wasn’t inhabited, as there was a strong musty smell within—distinctly salty from the sea. There were a lot of salt-like crystals, resembling white fuzz, in the tile gaps on the walls, floors, and window sills. The floor seemed wiped but was covered with a thick layer of dust.
"I say, Mr. Yang, judging by the level of dust, it looks like no one’s been here for a month or two, right?"
Yang Xuetong nodded.
"Pretty much. It’s windy by the sea, and although there isn’t much dust, an empty room like this accumulates it more easily. I also feel like no one’s been here for about a month or two. Shall we check the rooms one by one?"
The two coordinated well. Aside from the main hall and the kitchen on the first floor, there were just two small rooms; one was a storage room piled with tools. After rummaging through, they found items like hammers, screwdrivers, saws, etc.—severely rusted, some completely corroded, suggesting they hadn’t been touched in years.
They found many footprints, all of the same type—size 43 men’s shoes, though the tread patterns were somewhat worn down.
They proceeded to the second floor, which had six rooms; starting from the left, the rooms appeared virtually empty. There were no bloodstains on the walls or the floor. After inspecting four rooms in succession, Mr. Zhao was getting discouraged.
"I mean, we saw the victim’s nail at the entrance; how come it’s so empty up here, not like anyone’s lived here? Could such a fine house really just be left vacant?"
Zhu Xingxing kicked Mr. Zhao from behind and glared at him, signaling that they were recording. Mr. Zhao sighed and walked straight to the fifth room.
As he reached to turn the doorknob, there was a click, but it didn’t budge. Considering that when they first entered, the other rooms opened with a twist, Mr. Zhao’s eyes lit up.
"It’s locked? We don’t need to find someone to unlock it, do we?"
Yang Xuetong hesitated, but Zhu Xingxing nudged Mr. Zhao aside with his foot and turned the camera to face the hallway. Then he kicked at the door, and with a loud thud, the door burst open.
Mr. Zhao was quick to react and promptly supported the wooden door. The decor here hadn’t been updated in years, and the decay had accelerated since the house had been empty. Zhu Xingxing’s kick had left two of the hinges teetering on the brink of collapse. With the door stabilized, the three men then turned their attention to the interior of the room.
This bedroom was a master suite with an en suite bathroom. It contained a bed and very basic furniture, all arranged neatly. Next to the doormat by the entrance were a pair of slippers. Mr. Zhao crouched down to examine them closely and noticed there was hardly any dust on them, a discovery that piqued his interest.
"Hey Mr. Yang, someone’s been living here, there’s almost no dust. But why is the rest of the building so dirty?"
Yang Xuetong shook his head and followed inside. There were four old-fashioned leather trunks and a wardrobe in the room. Although Zhu Xingxing was recording, Yang Xuetong never stopped taking photos, capturing all the trunks. After all, under the bed was empty, and the bed linens were folded neatly like tofu blocks, making everything clear at a glance.
Without saying a word, Mr. Zhao squatted down and unlatched the belt buckles on the two vintage-looking leather trunks and then opened them.
The anticipated collection of valuables was absent. Instead, both trunks contained clothing, all of which were women’s attire—sandals, floral dresses, false collars, short-sleeve shirts, and so on.
"These seem to be fashionable clothes from the late 70s and early 80s. By age, Lou Sanfeng was born in 1974, and his mom died before he started primary school. Could these be his mother’s clothes?"
Hearing Mr. Zhao’s analysis, Yang Xuetong nodded in agreement.
"Lou Sanfeng’s mother passed away early. It’s understandable he’d cherish her memory like this. But his father was widowed, raising a kid alone. He managed to have a child with a college graduate; why couldn’t he find another wife?"
Mr. Zhao shook his head.
"I don’t have a strong memory of this family, but I remember that when he was in junior high, there were always people at their house—first servicemen, then cultural troupe members, and later even staff from the 411 Hospital. All sorts of women would visit Lou Sanfeng’s home, and with no one to watch over him, he would eat at whoever’s house was serving a meal.
Anyway, relationships were a mess, and, being young then, I didn’t understand what it meant, but I knew they weren’t saying anything good. Let’s not talk about this now; open those other two and see what’s in there."
After moving the top two trunks aside, they untied the belts and jointly lifted the lids of the two trunks below. There weren’t many items inside. An album lay in the one closer to Mr. Zhao, while the other contained a red scarf, the hand-knitted kind.
Mr. Zhao picked up the album, and upon opening it, he saw a primary school graduation picture annotated with the year 1985 from Tongshan Primary School’s fifth grade, class one.
Mr. Zhao easily found Lou Sanfeng and Fang Yue in the photo. Fang Yue indeed looked beautiful, a budding beauty from a young age. Mr. Zhao turned the page and was stunned by the pictures inside. He flipped through them again as if to confirm his analysis.
"Damn, all these are pictures related to Fang Yue, group photos, individual shots, and even clipped newspaper and magazine images. I’ll be damned! It seems Zhou Xiaozhou analyzed it correctly—this guy’s been crushing on Fang Yue since the beginning!"
Zhu Xingxing leaned over to look.
"With this kind of unrequited love, often the objects of affection don’t even know about it. It feels a bit perverted to me; maybe he acted very distant on the surface, but secretly he would cherish their belongings and might even be indecent with those things."
Yang Xuetong also crowded in, looking puzzled as he pulled down his face mask a little. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com
"If Lou Sanfeng liked Fang Yue, wouldn’t Fang Qing know anything about it?"
Mr. Zhao snorted disdainfully.
"That guy ain’t worth a damn. His sister gets into trouble, and his first instinct is not to help but to see what he can gain from it. There’s no genuine concern there. And it’s not just him; Fang Yue’s twin brother, Fang Duo, didn’t even come back when she was in trouble. Maybe their bonds were weak since their parents were gone."
Yang Xuetong shook his head.
"It’s hard to say, and it’s not our business to worry about. Come on, let’s see if there’s anything else underneath."
Mr. Zhao didn’t waste any more time; he rearranged the items in the trunks. Clearly, these belongings were all related to Fang Yue. After taking photographs, Yang Xuetong checked both the wardrobe and the bedside table, but there was nothing but ordinary clothes and daily necessities inside, no special keepsakes.
Seeing this, Yang Xuetong sighed and put his hands on his hips.
"There’s not much here, only the items in the trunks are of some value. Could it be that Lou Sanfeng never kept that family of three here after all?"
Mr. Zhao shook his head as he had no answer, but the fingernails marks on the back door frame were solid evidence that Fang Yue had definitely been brought here.
"Stop analyzing; we’re not good at this. Let’s quickly spray everywhere with Luminol reagent to see if there’s any blood residue. Don’t open the curtains either, so we can get it done faster."
Without any hesitation, Yang Xuetong went to apply the reagent. Zhu Xingxing stood behind Mr. Zhao, and as Mr. Zhao got up, they bumped into each other. Due to his considerable weight and still being in a crouched position, Mr. Zhao lost his balance and crashed into the four trunks.
With a loud thud, Mr. Zhao’s backside hit the side of the trunk, causing both the trunk and the wardrobe to shift with the impact.
"I didn’t mean to, are you okay? Get up quickly!"
Zhu Xingxing’s eyes widened as he quickly went to help Mr. Zhao, but the man who had fallen on his side was quick to wave him off.
"Don’t move, do you see this?"
