Free Web NovelChapter 539: Chapter 509: Beneath the Cliff_1
Mr. Zhao hurried over, holding up his camera and said,
"We’ve collected quite a few fingerprints, and we’ve been comparing them as we go. On the armrest of this loop chair, we found two incomplete fingerprints that belong to Shen Shuyi; she must have sat here. Fortunately, the armrests weren’t thoroughly wiped clean. As for other places, there were too many fingerprints found."
"Did you check the sheets and the duvet covers?"
Mr. Zhao nodded and grabbed a pillow without a pillowcase.
"All the bedding has been replaced with new ones, but the pillow core wasn’t changed. I’ve found a pale yellow area on it, with the middle slightly reddish, which seems to be lipstick. There are also traces that look like bodily fluids. They don’t show color when wet, but become visible once dry." freewebnøvel.com
Zhou Ning scrutinized it and fully agreed with Mr. Zhao’s judgment.
"Send the pillow core directly for examination. For the ivy outside the poet’s window, can you confirm that it matches the one in the video?"
Peng Shinian nodded firmly.
"I just compared it carefully. From the same angle, the photo I took closely matches the position of most of the ivy leaves in the video screenshot. What makes me certain is that on this swaying branch, there is half a leaf that is identical to the one in the video. I can confirm it’s the same window."
Zhou Ning nodded his head in satisfaction. The clear and perfect answer was very comforting to him. Now he just had to wait for the search results from Liang Honggang’s side. However, since they had gone to Huajin Group, would Liu Sina tip them off?
Zhou Ning gestured to Mr. Zhao and handed over the phone, showing a picture of a burly man to Mr. Zhao.
"Go find Li Mubai, let him take a look at this burly man and confirm if he is the same Mr. Liu’s assistant he spoke with over the phone."
Mr. Zhao quickly sent screenshots of the three men to Zhang Ping, then sent a voice message, and soon received a voice reply.
"Mr. Zhao, tell Director Xu, Li Mubai just said, this burly man is Mr. Liu’s assistant Ma Decai. The one with the big belly is Liu Tiesong himself, and as for the person with Liu Tiesong, he looks familiar but isn’t sure; he seems to be a director from Huajin Film and Television Company."
The response was quite detailed. Zhou Xiaozhou had already logged into Huajin Group’s system and found detailed personnel records. As the identity information was searched, everyone gathered around.
This Liu Tiesong had a friendly expression, his suit was sharp, and he looked the part of a successful man, aged 41. As for his assistant, Ma Decai, he was 30, and his home address seemed familiar to Zhou Ning at a glance.
Mr. Zhao, holding his police device, searched on his own and, surprised by what he found, exclaimed,
"Wow, is this group a family business of Liu Tiesong? I feel this guy, despite being rough around the edges, has a look similar to Liu Tiesong. On checking, I find that Ma Decai’s mother is Liu Tiesong’s aunt.
What a tangled web of relationships, it’s enough to make my head spin. Let’s recap, Mr. Fang’s assistant Liu Sina is his cousin, the manager of the 24th, Liu Liwei, is his cousin as well, and his assistant Ma Decai is also his cousin. I wonder if there are any more of their people in Huajin Group. Not to mention the arrangement of so many people just for the sake of salaries?"
Zhao Xinli’s implication was clear to everyone, and Xu Dayuan had already stood up, beckoning to Liu Yufei.
"Look into Liu Tiesong and his assistant Ma Decai. Fang Mu was left in Huajin Group’s building, ask him to find out where these two people are. Send him their personnel information and go ahead with the arrest. Once you have them, bring them back to the station for interrogation. Take Liu Sina into custody as well, I don’t have time for fishing right now."
Liu Yufei quickly went to make a phone call. Clearly, Xu Dayuan was in a hurry. He glanced at Zhou Xiaozhou and saw he was still searching on the computer. Xu Dayuan moved closer.
"Have you found the person seen with Liu Tiesong?"
Zhou Xiaozhou shook his head.
"I’ve found four directors from Huajin Film and Television Company. I am about to search for their residential records, just not sure how to compare them."
Zhou Ning was silent for a moment before suddenly lifiting his head, surprising Xu Dayuan, who immediately halted his actions.
"Zhou Xiaozhou, speak directly about whatever comes to mind. I don’t need proof, just give me a direction, speak about whatever you are thinking of."
Without hesitation, Zhou Ning promptly said,
"When Li Mubai was being questioned, he said just after he went up to room 288 on the second floor of Stone Building, he received a call from Mr. Liu’s assistant, Ma Decai. This man was chatty, asking to borrow the villa and also looking for three young actresses to accompany someone important. At the time, they mentioned a place."
Xu Dayuan had a eureka moment, pondered for a few seconds, and then his eyes lit up.
"The villas near Mashan Scenic Area are all named under Mr. Fang, as collecting various old villas is one of his hobbies. I remember when we were at the group’s building, Liu Sina took out a file box that was left in the meeting room, which contained photos and property information of all of Mr. Fang’s villas."
As Xu Dayuan spoke, he called Fang Mu and quickly instructed him to check that file box to see if there was a villa near Mashan Scenic Area.
Fang Mu soon found it and sent Xu Dayuan the location and some photos. The photos showed several villas with an exotic feel, tiered among the trees on a cliffside by the sea. Seeing the location, Xu Dayuan clenched his teeth.
Liu Yufei leaned in and, seeing Xu Dayuan’s expression, hurriedly said:
"Someone reported that Liu Tiesong and Zhu Li and Ma Decai were rushing back from the film and television city in Jingkou District. Someone just tried to get him to sign something, saying they were about to go through the tunnel, and they estimated it would take an hour to get to the film and television company. I’m going right now with some people. I’ll have Fang Mu join me for the arrest, but about this search warrant..."
"Go now. I’ll have someone prepare the search warrant. As for the villa over there, as well as Liu Tiesong and Ma Decai, we need to search all those people’s homes. I feel like we might find something. Of course, this ’home’ might not necessarily be their residence; we can check any property under their names."
After hanging up the phone, Xu Dayuan quickly made arrangements. The search warrant was ready to be issued at any moment, there was no need to worry about that, just arrange for someone to deliver it directly. As for the location, it could be a bit vague. As long as they took along the names of the personnel, that would be sufficient.
Once all was arranged, Xu Dayuan waved his hand.
"Alright, Fang Mu and Liu Yufei will make the arrest. I’ll take these people back for interrogation. Zhang Ping will lead people to follow Director Zhou to the villa in Mashan Scenic Area. Just go straight there. I’m applying for a police dog now and will send it to you later. Mr. Qu, on the road, check the relevant surveillance, you’ve already got a handle on the license plate numbers.
Listen to Director Zhou for the rest, on the way I’ll call your master and the others for support in the search after the arrest. I think you should leave a few of the newbies behind. Alert them in advance by phone so they’re prepared. I’ll send them the location directly."
Zhou Ning did not object. If Liu Da and the others were here, these words wouldn’t be spoken to him, but now everything was too chaotic, and there were too many places that needed arresting and searching.
"Okay, I’ll make the calls right away. Director Xu, we’re heading out."
In an instant, everyone dispersed. Liu Liwei was led away with his hands cuffed behind his back, and Li Mubai, though not handcuffed, got into the police car with Liu Yufei. After all, he knew these people; bringing them in would make the job half as difficult.
Ma Liang was temporarily assigned to meet with Liang Honggang. They were off to find Zhang Meng and had learned from other waitstaff that she had a rental place in Dongtai District. Though this matter could earn her some money, it didn’t justify a sudden move.
After all, without the guidance of this waiter, Li Mubai would not have believed that Shen Shuyi had left. She must have been instructed, and only by finding her could they find out who had directed her.
Zhou Ning and the others boarded the Iveco. Zhang Ping seemed to contact the canine unit, Mr. Zhao gave Mr. Wang the address, and the Iveco, leading the way, headed north toward Tongshan. Two police cars followed, their sirens blaring, and thus many vehicles gave way, their speed very fast.
Along the way, Mr. Qu’s search never stopped. His fingers tapped rapidly, and Zhou Ning didn’t disturb him, instead resting with closed eyes, because he knew the upcoming work would be extremely tiring.
Choosing such a location, the likelihood of a body being dumped in the wilderness was high. The victim had been dead for at least five days. In this weather, decay had already started. They didn’t have any personal items of Shen Shuyi either. Reliance on the police dogs alone would be difficult. The sooner they found the body, the more traces they could discover.
Seeing Zhou Ning resting with closed eyes, no one spoke; the only sound was Mr. Qu’s typing. After an unknown amount of time, Zhou Ning’s arm was tapped, and Mr. Zhao’s chubby face came close.
"Zhou Xiaozhou, wake up. Mr. Qu has found something. Also, we’re almost near the villa. Once we cross this mountain, it will be right there."
Zhou Ning put on his glasses and looked at Mr. Qu, who turned the laptop around to show several screenshots of surveillance footage. In the dim morning light with a faint mist, they could see the license plate numbers and the time on the surveillance footage.
"Is this the car of that assistant, Ma Decai’s car?"
Mr. Qu nodded.
"Yes, the surveillance footage shows it was captured at 7:17 am, but the time they left 24th villa was at 5:37 am. That’s a 100-minute difference in time. It only took us 70 minutes to get out from 24th during the peak hour. There is a discrepancy here."
Mr. Zhao brought his chubby face closer and said seriously:
"Are you suggesting that all the way here, he was thinking about where to properly discard the body?"
Mr. Qu nodded again.
"The surveillance is densely spaced along the way, with fewer cameras only at the entrance to Mashan Scenic Area. Moreover, the terrain here is quite complicated. To reach that villa, one needs to cross three mountains, and there’s even a cliffside stretch with giant boulders beneath by the seaside. I believe this location is the perfect spot for dumping a body and destroying evidence.
Plus, look here. From this bend in the road before the entrance, to the second mountain’s road entrance, the distance is only 1700 meters, but it took Ma Decai’s car 12 minutes between the two surveillance sightings. So, I have reason to suspect that he disposed of the case right here."
Zhou Ning nodded, highly approving of Mr. Qu’s deduction.
"Then let’s stop by the cliff edge for a moment, take a look at the scene, and see if there is any path that goes down. If they threw it directly into the sea, then the difficulty of the search, as well as the possibility of recovery, would be very low."
Mr. Zhao rubbed his chin.
"Mr. Qu, check the direction of the current, will you? I can’t recall the professional term for that thing."
Sun Gaotie came over, raising his hand excitedly:
"Mr. Wang brought a set of diving equipment. Can we use it now?"
