Free Web NovelChapter 417: Chapter 394: Septic Tank_1
The village chief’s face showed worry as he quickly approached Huang Youdao.
"Officer, Mr. Yang is very stubborn, and the recent misfortunes in his family have made his temper even worse. He isn’t home yet, and if we climb over the wall and dig up his newly paved ground, he’ll surely smash up the village committee office. This really won’t do, it absolutely won’t!"
Seeing how agitated the village chief was, Huang Youdao waved his hand dismissively and pointed at the chief, saying.
"Don’t bother with useless talk, I’ve said I’ll take responsibility if anything goes wrong. If we don’t find anything, I’ll pay to have the ground restored to its original state out of my own pocket, and then apologize to him. Do you understand?
Besides, we’re investigating a fragmented corpse case. I suppose you watched the evening news and know somewhat about the body found in the moat. I can tell you with certainty that the victim is very likely Fu Chunyu. Now, tell me, shouldn’t I check Yang Liang’s house?"
The village chief was stunned; the news hit him like a bolt from the blue, and he opened his mouth but said nothing.
Just then, Zhou Ning’s phone rang—it was Cui Lili calling.
Zhou Ning quickly stepped away to answer the call.
"Hello Mrs. Cui, the samples couldn’t have come back so quickly, could they?"
Cui Lili, knowing Zhou Ning’s temper, didn’t take offense and quickly spoke.
"You’re in luck, it seems that the person had periodontitis, and there was a blood trace left on the toothbrush that was sent in, so I compared it with the blood sample previously sent for testing. The rapid comparison showed it’s from the same person. However, the DNA comparison results won’t be out until this afternoon. I just wanted to give you a heads up, and I’ll send the report to you later."
"Thanks a lot, Mrs. Cui, I won’t beat around the bush with you."
After ending the call, Zhou Ning’s heart finally settled, and he breathed a sigh of relief. This confirmed it; they could identify the victim as Fu Chunyu. Even if they didn’t find anything in the underground cellar in Yang Liang’s courtyard, they had the search warrant to justify their actions.
Zhou Ning returned to Huang Youdao’s side, where he was still talking to the village chief but had already instructed people to find a pneumatic drill and an excavator. As the beeping sound came from his phone, Zhou Ning opened the report.
"The rapid test results are in, and we can confirm the victim is Fu Chunyu. Keep digging here. After breaking the surface, we need manpower to clear the cement blocks. As for Yang Liang, we’re also going to interrogate him. I’ll have people go over the entire yard again in detail."
Mr. Huang nodded, relieved to have this nugget of assurance settle the unease in his heart.
"Good, that’s positive news. We’ll pull out for now and not interfere with your observation and investigation. I’ll take some people to the neighboring houses to see if we’ve missed any information and to understand the layout of their cellars, as the timing of this recently paved ground is just too coincidental."
Zhou Ning nodded, no time for more talk, and turned to join Liu Yongxin and Mr. Zhao.
"You all heard Mrs. Cui’s call. Now we’re sure that Fu Chunyu is the deceased. We have to check this courtyard again. It seems too coincidental that the ground was just paved. Could the victim have been killed and dismembered in the cellar?"
Mr. Zhao was anxious as well.
"We sprayed Luminol reagent on all possible work surfaces in the main house and both side rooms, including all tables, beds, and countertops, and didn’t overlook any knives or farm tools. But apart from a single fluorescent reaction on the chopping board, we didn’t find any blood at all!"
Mr. Hen nodded along, and Liu Yongxin rubbed his chin, stepping onto a flatbed cart and standing on it. This courtyard was quite different from the ones they had dealt with in cases like the Pear Orchard—just a low wall a man could climb over with a little effort.
The perimeter was on the edge of the village; to the west was a stretch of greenhouses.
Seeing those greenhouses, Liu Yongxin’s eyes brightened.
"Ask the village chief which greenhouse belongs to Yang Liang."
Zou Jialong moved quickly, immediately dashing out. He returned swiftly and asked,
"I’ve asked, and the village chief said to follow him over there. What shall we do?" free𝑤ebnovel.com
Zhou Ning looked at Liu Yongxin.
"Master, why don’t you take Da Wang’er and Zou Jialong to check it out? We’ll search here again; I feel more at ease with you overseeing things."
Liu Yongxin nodded and left with the two, and Zhou Ning scanned the courtyard before gesturing to Mr. Zhao and Mr. Pang to follow him out.
By this time, quite a crowd had gathered, watching from a distance.
Without a word, Mr. Zhao put on his mask, nudged Mr. Pang beside him, and following suit, Mr. Pang masked up and followed Zhou Ning to the outside of the southeast corner, where they could see that the toilet on the east side corner had a septic tank.
The tank was large and directly opposite the southwest corner toilet of the house to the east. Observing the situation, Zhou Ning realized that the two septic tanks were connected by precast boards and the strong odor was offensive—not just the smell of excrement, there was an additional scent like rotten eggs.
Zhou Ning’s eyes brightened, considering the dead man’s head and limbs had not been found—could it be...
He stooped down for a closer look; the exposed opening of the septic tank wasn’t large, just a rectangular slit around 40 x 80 cm. It appeared to have been washed around the edges, and this discovery ignited hope in him.
Zhou Ning stood up and looked back towards Yang Liang’s front gate. Mr. Huang had done well; several machines, including an excavator, had been brought to the scene. Mr. Zhao came over, and following Zhou Ning’s gaze, he felt a chill of foreboding.
"Zhou Xiaozhou, you’re not planning on having the excavator lift this piece of the precast board, are you?"
Zhou Ning nodded.
"There’s no rush. I’m not sure if my judgment is correct, but the smell inside the septic tank is somewhat familiar. You must have smelled it too, right?"
Mr. Zhao had a pained expression on his face and sighed deeply after a while.
"I’ll go get the reagent and spray it around first. If we observe blood traces on the periphery, then we can lift the precast board. That should be okay, right?"
Zhou Ning patted his back. If body parts had been discarded in the septic tank, that would be the most vexing issue to tackle. He had always read about such things in the news and didn’t expect to face it himself today.
Mr. Zhao dragged Mr. Pang over, opened the box, and took out the Luminol reagent. They had brought quite an amount, but its rapid consumption left only two bottles remaining. The two began to spray along the edges of the precast board and the gaps around the septic tank.
Before long, a swath of blue-green fluorescence in the shape of brushstrokes and drips appeared. Seeing this, Mr. Zhao was both excited and distressed, his face twisting with emotion.
"Zhou Xiaozhou, we found it—blood traces, and they’re at the edges of the septic tanks of both neighboring houses."
Zhou Ning naturally saw it and waved at Mr. Pang.
"Tell Mr. Huang to bring over an excavator first, then have someone go to Yang Liang’s yard and bring out those sieves. Go up to the Iveco, take the boxes from the back seat and move them down. Call a few more people from their team to help with the sifting."
Mr. Pang gave a weak "Ah," his legs wobbling slightly. Initially unclear about the situation, with Zhou Ning’s arrangements, he understood what was happening and his face paled a bit.
Mr. Zhao patted his shoulder and gestured to Zhou Ning, saying:
"Forget it, don’t scare him. He’s never seen anything like this before. I’ll go talk to them. After all, we need to coordinate with more people. We can’t be the only ones digging through the muck." fɾēewebnσveℓ.com
After speaking, Mr. Zhao ran directly to Mr. Huang Youdao while motioning with his hands, explaining the situation here. Mr. Huang Youdao’s face broke into a smile. Now there was no task, no matter how dirty or dangerous, he wouldn’t take on—as long as there was progress, which was key. With the deadline looming, everyone was under immense pressure.
After instructing his team, Mr. Huang Youdao quickly came over with a group and all the necessary tools, as well as the boxes that Mr. Zhao had directed them to bring.
"Director Zhou, are you sure it’s in the septic tank?"
Zhou Ning shook his head.
"Not sure. But there are blood traces washed over the edges of the septic tank. They look very fresh. It’s a spot where people seldom go to clean."
This response left Mr. Huang Youdao a bit surprised, and he then realized it was as if he were asking for a confession, making him feel somewhat embarrassed.
"Let’s lift the precast board then and start sifting. I’ll find some more people and contact a vacuum truck to come over. How about we scoop a bit and suck a bit at a time?"
Zhou Ning nodded.
"Right now, there isn’t a better method. Since we’ve discovered blood traces, we have to check, don’t we?"
As he said this, Zhou Ning glanced at the time. It was already past one o’clock. Considering Mr. Huang Youdao’s earlier arrangements, it was likely that Zhang Hongwei had already been brought back. Zhou Ning continued.
"Yang Liang has been with the team for two hours already, and at this point, Zhang Hongwei is probably already brought in. Why don’t you go ahead and get busy with the interrogation? If someone starts talking, we’ll save some effort here. I’ll keep watch on this side, just assign the personnel for me."
Mr. Huang Youdao thought for a moment and then hastily called over Da Wang’er, peppering him with reminders.
"I’m going to the city bureau for the interrogation. You must collaborate well with Director Zhou’s team here. Soon, you’ll have to sift through the septic tank. If I find out you’ve made Director Zhou’s people do the dirty work, beware that I’ll deal with you later. Don’t get squeamish or lazy. At this point, we don’t have many days left, and you and I both know the impact this case has."
Da Wang’er nodded vigorously. He looked honest enough and seemed reliable enough.
"Boss, rest assured and go on. No one here dares to make a fuss. If anyone disobeys or causes trouble, I’ll be the first to lay them out."
Mr. Huang Youdao was still somewhat worried, but Zhou Ning was right—the interrogation was key. If Yang Liang confessed something at this point, then they wouldn’t have to dig every inch of the ground, drawing crowds from the three surrounding villages they had to keep in order.
"Alright, Director Zhou, I’m heading out. I’ll leave this place to you. If anyone doesn’t perform well, just give me a call."
Zhou Ning smiled at him and also asked Mr. Qu to follow, since he had software on his computer that could assist the interrogation to determine whether suspects were lying.
Mr. Huang Youdao, carrying his concerns, dragged Mr. Qu away by car.
Da Wang’er didn’t hesitate, directly instructing the driver of the excavator to come over and lift the precast board. This effort made the odor of the waste matter even more potent.
At the same time, the putrid smell of rotten eggs became even more noticeable, which bolstered Zhou Ning’s confidence.
