Free Web NovelChapter 501: Chapter 472 Similarity of 25%_1
Zhou Ning led his team downstairs and encountered Deputy Director Zhong on the way. Zhou Ning didn’t take the initiative to greet him, and that person also turned his head away, pretending not to see, thus they perfectly missed each other.
Downstairs, Mr. Wang had already parked the car at the front door, holding a bucket. Seeing people coming out, he hurried over.
"Here, wash your hands. I just went in there; the smell in the bathroom was quite eye-watering. I’m guessing you couldn’t go wash your hands either."
Mr. Zhao raised a finger in appreciation and said:
"Mr. Wang, your observational skills are unmatched. Even if anyone disagrees, I can’t deny it. Truly worthy of working at the Technical Department, you’re more sensitive than the average officer and even catered to Zhou Xiaozhou’s preference."
"You talk too much. Wash up and go rest."
Zhou Ning pushed him and was the first to stretch out his hands. Mr. Wang poured water for him to wash, and he immediately felt revived. After all, the entire corridor smelled like a toilet—it really got to your head. If the management of the Municipal Bureau’s office building was like this, then there was no need to talk about other aspects.
They all got into the car, with Mr. Zhao sitting next to Zhou Ning, speaking in a lowered voice:
"Not only are the locals uncooperative, but it looks like Deputy Director Zhong from Xinghua Municipal Bureau doesn’t think much of it either. He seems not to be afraid of our meticulous investigation. Is it confidence in their handling of the case, or confidence in their ability to erase traces?"
Zhou Ning didn’t contradict him because ever since they arrived in Xinghua City, not to mention cooperation, they were met with obstacles all around. Moreover, after the crime scene investigation, it wasn’t hard to see that the scene had been professionally cleaned, deliberately erasing all traces.
Zhou Ning closed his eyes, feeling parched, tired, and hungry, all the uncomfortable sensations rushing at him all at once, and even the motion of the car made him feel nauseous.
Of course, today’s experiences had also disgusted him. Since entering the Public Security Bureau, the people he knew, like Liu Yongxin, Xu Dayuan, Mr. Sun, Mr. Hu, and others, all worked diligently. Even people like Mr. Zeng and Mr. Bai, who had average abilities, were innately kind and had a sense of justice, knowing what they should and shouldn’t do.
Only Cui Haibin was an exception. Of course, Mr. Ren, who was suspended, was a different case altogether.
Besides these, this was the first time he had encountered a place where everyone in the bureau, from top to bottom, had issues. It shouldn’t be because of the distance as Rudong City was even further from Qindao City District than Xinghua City.
It appeared that the people in the black sedan were very likely the murderers in this case. The relationships of their family members could sway the forensic doctor, could instruct Chief Zheng, could find professionals to clean up the scene, and even a deputy director was helping with the cover-up and tipping them off. The position of such a person was not hard to guess.
They soon arrived at a hotel. Mr. Wang went down to check in, apparently without any arrangements from the local police bureau. By now, even if they had made arrangements, it wouldn’t be possible to accept, so Mr. Zhao ordered takeout.
...
The morning of April 28th.
As soon as Zhou Ning opened his eyes, he grabbed his phone and checked his email. There were several test reports received. The blood found on the brick discovered on the top floor of the Salt Company Community was confirmed through DNA testing to belong to the victim.
There were also samples of blood traces found at the scene, but the various test results from the body of the deceased had not all come back yet.
After Zhou Ning finished washing up, Mr. Zhao also got up, rubbing his eyes and checking the time.
"I’m saying, there’s no need for us to get ready at six a.m., right? And don’t rush Mrs. Cui. They were probably busy all night. I reckon they will send over the test reports in a bit."
Zhou Ning nodded.
"Get up. Let’s prepare a bit. In a while, let’s see how Liu Yufei and her team are doing. Furthermore, if Zhang Qiuju’s condition has stabilized, I want to take a look at her home."
Mr. Zhao was somewhat puzzled.
"Her hometown?"
Zhou Ning nodded.
"According to what Tang Jianghai said, He Jiahong knew the people in the black sedan. We have to start with their social relations. Going to her hometown might yield some results. We need to find the car first to find those suspects, otherwise, even if we find DNA on the body, we can’t confirm their identities."
Mr. Zhao nodded, understanding the crux of the issue as outlined by Zhou Ning.
"I’ll go see if Liu Da and the others are at the hotel. You go down and have breakfast first, and bring me a portion. I’ll eat on the way; remember to get enough for two people."
Without waiting for a response, as if afraid Zhou Ning might change his mind, he quickly dashed into the bathroom, and after finishing, he grabbed his police uniform and ran off.
Zhou Ning organized his things, opened the door to his room, and Mr. Wang entered just as he was leaving.
"Director Zhou, will you have breakfast in your room, or shall we go to the dining area?"
Zhou Ning, carrying his bag, followed Mr. Wang out.
"Is everyone up?"
"Yeah, Mr. Zhao knocked on everyone’s doors. Liu Da and the others left even earlier. They didn’t get back until after midnight last night."
Zhou Ning was a little surprised. Thinking of Mr. Qu, he asked hastily:
"Did Mr. Qu also return late at night?"
Mr. Wang nodded.
"He’s washing up now. Let’s head down first."
Without any further talk, they quickly reached the dining area, where everyone from their Municipal Bureau task force was present. The waitstaff had been asked to leave, given that it essentially served as an early meeting. Liu Yufei waved at Zhou Ning from across the room.
"Come over and sit down."
Zhou Ning went over, and Mr. Zhao had already placed a breakfast plate for him, filled with items he could stomach. Mr. Qu also hurried over at this time, and Mr. Wang helped him grab a plate, too. Mr. Qu seemed a bit embarrassed, but Mr. Wang just waved it off.
"You all work so hard. Go ahead and eat. I can provide logistics support. That’s quite enough, as we can’t have any waiters listening in. Hurry up and eat."
Mr. Zhao grinned with a show of teeth.
"Mr. Wang is really something, a true soldier at heart. He has a work ethic my old man would have adored: meticulous, thoughtful of everyone’s feelings, and a man of true ability—not just talk."
Zhou Ning didn’t bite and turned to look at Mr. Qu, who was sporting two dark circles worthy of national treasures, yawning continuously. Clearly, they hadn’t made any real breakthroughs in their busy night.
"So, there was no information on the vehicle?"
Mr. Qu weakly nodded.
"I tracked it all the way. Once it left Xinghua City and headed east, I lost it. I could only find its general location, but this car definitely appeared in front of Jiulaofeng Park at 23:54 that night. This park is free and has vehicle access.
The black car drove straight southward, and after about twenty minutes, left the park, continuing eastward. At 23:19, it appeared on the side of the road east of the high school, with its headlights off, in a blind spot of the surveillance, so we couldn’t see if anyone got out, just the front of the car.
After analyzing it, based on how the car moved, someone indeed got out at 23:19, and the first departure was at 0:22."
Zhou Ning heard the key point, raised his head, and stopped chewing.
"The first time? You mean the cars came back afterwards?"
Mr. Qu nodded.
"About an hour after they left, on March 29 at 1:37, the car stopped again at the same spot, though a bit further back. The car shook even more this time, leaving at 3:18."
Zhou Ning furrowed his brow and noted down these times in his notebook.
Considering this timeline, He Jiahong returned home at 23:12 to retrieve her keys and personal items. It seems that these people pretended to leave, only to go straight to He Jiahong’s house to lie in wait for her return. freēwēbηovel.c૦m
After all, the time He Jiahong ran into the community was 23:35, and the time her shoes were seen falling in the surveillance footage was 23:37. This indicated that at that time, He Jiahong was not yet dead; maybe she was struggling, maybe being threatened on the rooftop, or even injured. However, with no blood found in the stairwell, Zhou Ning was even more puzzled.
What exactly happened?
Liu Yufei sighed at this point, took a bite of a boiled egg, and said forcefully:
"In the second unit of building three, except for the two households on the fifth floor, whose owners we didn’t find, we’ve checked the others, and the homes are quite old with no signs of deliberate cleaning. Do you think the primary crime scene could have been on the rooftop?"
Zhou Ning remained silent. He wasn’t sure, but considering the temperature on the rooftop and the completely non-soundproof environment, it seemed unlikely such an act could take place there. Recalling the fracture on the victim’s temporal bone, Zhou Ning waved at Mr. Zhao.
"Let me see the scan of the victim’s skull again."
Mr. Zhao quickly opened his laptop, found the relevant image, and Zhou Ning stared at it for a moment before saying:
"The strike to the right side of the temporal area was powerful, judging by the fracture pattern caused by a single strike. Such a heavy blow would immediately cause the victim to lose consciousness, but she would not die instantly. Intracranial bleeding would occur gradually, and I estimate the time of death to be around three hours after."
Liu Yufei was stunned, finding it hard to believe.
"Are you saying that after He Jiahong was struck on the head and knocked unconscious, the brain hemorrhage didn’t kill her instantly, but developed over time? At this point, the murderer may have thought she had just passed out, committed the assault, and when realizing the victim was not breathing, out of fear, staged the scene as a suicide?"
Zhou Ning nodded and pointed to the times he had just recorded, narrowing his eyes slightly.
"According to the stop times of this black car, when they returned the second time, the victim was not dead. The victim’s intracranial hemorrhage would initially cause unconsciousness from the blow, but seizures or delirium would gradually follow, and that wouldn’t be quiet."
Liu Yufei caught the implications—if what Zhou Ning said was accurate, when these people left, they found He Jiahong in a bad state, panicked, but by the time they came back, they had already planned their response, staging the suicide scene upon finding the person dead or barely alive.
Of course, arrangements for who would respond to the scene after dawn had also been put in place, further suggesting that the murderer was someone of no ordinary status.
At that moment, Mr. Zhao’s laptop kept pinging non-stop, and Zhou Ning’s phone also received an email notification at the same time. Without saying much, Mr. Zhao began downloading the email and passed the laptop to Zhou Ning.
Zhou Ning quickly skimmed through it. Some of the information could be overlooked, but forensic analysis found the DNA of four men in residues from under the victim’s fingernails, in her mouth, on her wrists, and in her vaginal cavity. Of course, the male DNA from under the nails matched that of Tang Jianghai.
Among the remaining three sets of male DNA, two showed a 25% similarity. Seeing this, Zhou Ning was taken aback.
Liu Yufei came over to have a look, but couldn’t make heads or tails of what it all meant.
"What’s going on, Director Zhou?"
Zhou Ning hurriedly responded:
"It’s no surprise to find Tang Jianghai’s DNA under the victim’s nails, as they had contact that day, especially since we found deliberate scraping inside the nails during sampling. What surprised me is that among the three men who violated He Jiahong, two are blood-related, likely immediate brothers or cousins."
Mr. Zhao cleared his throat, and everyone looked at him, the attention making him somewhat nervous.
"I don’t mean anything else, I’m just asking what’s the next step. We won’t be doing a city-wide DNA match, right? If it comes to that, Mrs. Cui will hunt down Zhou Xiaozhou, so how do we narrow the scope?"
