Free Web NovelChapter 410: Chapter 388: Am I Going After the Murderess?_2
"Exactly, that’s what I mean."
Zhou Ning said no more. After hearing two coughs from his phone, he looked at it and saw a map screenshot sent by Mr. Qu. The Menqiao Village Bridge under his feet was 8.7 kilometers from the salvage location.
Moreover, this stretch of river channel is quite straight, while to the west of Yongsheng Bridge, between there and the Menqiao Village Bridge underfoot, there is an S-shaped bend.
Understanding Mr. Qu’s point, Zhou Ning thought that if the bag were to float up, it might not remain in the middle of such an S-shaped bend but could have gotten stuck somewhere along the way.
Zhou Ning put away his phone and walked onto the bridge. Mr. Zhao and his team stood at the western edge of the railings. This bridge was indeed old-fashioned with a very simple design: a gently sloping concrete structure with railings about 1.4 meters tall on either side, painted with dark green that was peeling off in many places, making it look mottled and dilapidated.
With a powerful flashlight in hand, Zhou Ning shone it on the railings from his position at the bridge’s center. The river below was not too turbulent, and the sound of the water was faint.
As he moved slowly with the flashlight, he kicked a stone, which rolled into the river through a crack. At that moment, the beam of the flashlight swept across the outside of the railing, and Zhou Ning paused abruptly.
"Mr. Zhao, come over here!"
This shout, so abrupt in the quiet night, had Mr. Zhao, Mr. Huang by the car, and others nearly running over to Zhou Ning.
"What is it?"
Zhou Ning leaned slightly forward and pointed the flashlight toward a horizontal beam on the external side of the railing, where several mottled black marks were almost indistinguishable from the rust, but Mr. Zhao still noticed something off.
"Is this... bloodstains?"
"Diluted bloodstains. I think they are remnants on the outside of the bag that had been resting on the transport vehicle for some time, sticking to the bottom of the bag. When the killer threw the bag down, diluted blood dripped onto the outside of the railing.
However, with a height of 1.4 meters, we would have to stand on our tiptoes to throw a heavy object into the river without hitting the railing. For a shorter killer, it would have been even more strenuous, perhaps..."
Zhou Ning crouched down, and Mr. Zhao seemed to realize something. He hastily called Mr. Wang and the others not to touch anything, then leaned in close to Zhou Ning, also shining his own powerful flashlight.
The bright light cast across the bridge revealed a few faint blood spots on the road, not the dark purple you’d expect but similarly dim in color. Among them, there seemed to be tire marks, although without any distinctive pattern.
Mr. Zhao tossed his flashlight to Mr. Wang, raised his camera, and took continuous shots. Then he enlarged the images on the camera while Mr. Wang took samples decisively.
To have findings on the very first day was simply too exciting.
Mr. Huang also approached Zhou Ning from behind, knowing not to get too close as it would not be conducive to examining the scene.
Mr. Zhao did some quick calculations, muttered something about applying some formula then hurriedly turned to show the enlarged photos to the two men.
"Look at this largest blood drop, with burrs all around, and the length of the burrs is consistent. There are secondary spatter droplets on the edges. I believe this drop fell vertically, in a stationary state, from an estimated height of about 35 centimeters from the ground.
As for the bags used to wrap the body parts, I measured them before, full, from carrying straps to the bottom they are 42 centimeters. Based on these two measurements, we can estimate the height from the criminal’s pubic symphysis to foot base to be 77 centimeters. Consequently, by general standards, the killer’s height is between 168-170 centimeters. Should I go to hell?"
Zhou Ning shook his head. This height did seem likely, but it wasn’t sufficient to determine gender.
"Go on, there are many diluted blood drops, and they are directional. Combine all your findings and speak out."
Knowing Zhou Ning was impatient, Mr. Zhao did not dare to waste time. He had Zou Jialong and another use their powerful flashlights to illuminate the surroundings.
"The position of this blood drop is about fifty centimeters from the railing. I think the killer paused here as he was considering. Given his limited height, he would have found it difficult to quickly throw the bag over.
After that, you can see, along this line of diluted blood drops, there are tire marks. The wheels are narrow, not from a car, slightly wider than those of ordinary electric bikes and without distinct patterns.
I believe this is a three-wheeled vehicle, the kind that runs on fuel, and quite old at that—so worn that the tires have nearly no tread pattern left. Next to the tire marks, you can also see some oil drops. Oil leaking here definitely suggests the back wheel oil seal of the tricycle is damaged and hasn’t been repaired."
After Mr. Zhao’s spiel, he noticed Zhou Ning and Liu Yongxin were both looking at him, while Mr. Huang’s gaze was fixed on Zhou Ning, as if trying to discern from his face whether the analysis was reliable.
Feeling a bit sheepish, Mr. Zhao blinked and coughed slightly. fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
"Uh, did I say something wrong?"
Mr. Huang blinked, as he was feeling a bit lost in the technical details but was also excited. Mr. Zhao’s analysis sounded reasonable. He knew little about these matters tho and wasn’t certain they could be conclusive.
"Director Zhou, there’s nothing wrong with Mr. Zhao’s analysis, is there?"
Zhou Ning nodded.
"Regarding the analysis of the vehicle, his judgment is the most professional. However, aren’t fuel-running tricycles quite rare in the city?"
