Free Web NovelChapter 543: Chapter 513: Mysterious Man_1
Zhao Xinli stated the facts swiftly. Skilled in articulation, he had a general understanding of the entire case. Having reported, Zhou Ning began to perform the external examination of the body.
The deceased, Shen Shuyi, bore the same serene expression as in the videos, with her mouth slightly open, the color around her lips pale and slightly different from the other parts of her cheeks. Her eyelids were not closed, and the cornea peeking out had already become cloudy and opaque.
The lividity on the body was primarily distributed on the back and the heels.
After surveying the body, samples were collected from around the lips, and content was extracted from the deceased’s lower body, mouth, and fingernails for testing. Zhou Ning, holding the scalpel, nodded towards Sun Gaotie, signaling him to make records. He then summarized,
"From the external examination, we can see that the lividity around the deceased’s mouth and nostrils is pale, with petechial hemorrhages around the neck. Three fibrous strands were found inside the nostrils. It is preliminarily determined that the deceased died from asphyxiation.
Skin flakes were found under the deceased’s fingernails. One nail on each hand was partially broken, indicating clear signs of struggle. There was significant hair loss due to external forceful tearing. There are scratch marks on the deceased’s vaginal area but no bleeding, indicating postmortem violation. There are multiple bite marks on the waist and chest area, the left R tooth is missing, and the lower R halo is torn without bleeding. We’re now starting the dissection."
After opening the three body cavities, Zhou Ning started with the esophagus, the digestive tract, and then the trachea and major organs, thoroughly examining and sampling each, especially scrapping the cervix area, before proceeding to clean and suture the body.
With the recording equipment turned off, Zhou Ning slightly shook his neck.
"Has Director Xu contacted the deceased’s family?"
Mr. Zhao twitched his mouth, hanging the camera around his neck, lifting up a WeChat conversation on his phone, and waved it in front of Zhou Ning.
"Yes, they were contacted this morning. Each of the deceased’s parents deferred to let the other come over. However, when Director Xu contacted the parents this morning, they still hadn’t set out. It was only after asking the local police to inquire that we found out.
Shen Shuyi’s parents never married legally due to their ages at the time of her birth. Upon seeing that the child was a girl, Shen Shuyi’s grandmother disagreed with her mother being married into the family. Both families had a severe dispute, and soon after, her father married another woman.
Feeling deceived, Shen Shuyi’s mother made a scene at the Women’s Federation and her father’s workplace. In the end, nothing came of it, and, in frustration, she left for the South to work, leaving the child to be sent away by the grandmother or abandoned at her father’s ancestral home.
Out of sympathy for the child, the grandparents -- having only one daughter -- couldn’t bear to abandon her as the mother did. They struggled to raise Shen Shuyi, who was given her mother’s surname.
After the grandparents died four years ago, Shen Shuyi relied on herself, working for Sichuan Airlines. It was only then that she reached out to her biological parents. Each had their own families and feared that Shen Shuyi would claim their property; neither met with her. So, Shen Shuyi sold the old house and bought an apartment near the airport to live alone.
Upon hearing the news of Shen Shuyi’s potential death, her biological father first asked if Shen Shuyi had any debts. Shen Shuyi’s mother was even more concerned about the old house, questioning how Shen Shuyi had the right to sell it, asserting that she was the rightful heir. After finishing the call, Director Xu also felt aggrieved. He had never seen such parents. Even without affection, shouldn’t they see their daughter one last time after her death?"
Zhou Ning sighed, gestured for Sun Gaotie to take the body away, took off his gear, and glanced at the indignant Zhao Xinli.
"A child cannot choose their parents. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen such a case. Let’s not dwell on it. What we can do for Shen Shuyi now is find her killer, clarify the motive and process, and uncover the truth of the case. She had been talking to Li Mubai for so long; she must have believed in love to come meet him. Let’s look at her personal belongings."
Zhao Xinli sighed. On another autopsy table, a suitcase had been opened, and various items had been categorized and displayed. Zhou Ning scanned them.
Beyond clothes, wallet, driver’s license, makeup bag, toiletries, charger, and other essentials, there were also two Gnomish blockers and an envelope. Zhou Ning put on a new pair of gloves and picked up the envelope labeled "Personal from Li Mubai."
He glanced at Mr. Yang, who simply shook his head.
"We have collected fingerprints from all the items, including this envelope. They all belong to Shen Shuyi. It seems that Liu Liwei did not open this suitcase. As for the envelope, I haven’t opened it."
Zhou Ning pulled out the letter and read it. The letter was lengthy, spanning four to five pages, and was full of sincere language, detailing all her hardships and life experiences. There wasn’t much about Li Mubai, just a little at the beginning and end.
The gist of it was, "I do not have a comfortable life and my family background is very complex. Although we’ve only met once or twice, after half a year of getting to know you, I’ve developed affection for you. You are so bright, so excellent, and so insightful, all of which make me feel very insecure.
"I can’t control these feelings. Before meeting you, I thought about staying single forever, donating all my assets to society upon my death, and not acknowledging my biological parents. Whether they live or die is none of my concern.
"Moreover, my real name is Shen Shuyi, not Shen Caijun. I was covering for a colleague then; that’s why I couldn’t explain. After knowing all this about me, I wonder if you’ll still like me.
"I didn’t have the courage to tell you this face-to-face. I grew up amidst ridicule, unwanted by my own parents. I want to find someone who can love all of me. If you don’t mind, let’s keep dating."
After reading the letter, Zhou Ning felt as if a boulder were pressing on his chest. The girl’s life had been too tragic. She finally found someone she liked, only for this disaster to occur. However, remembering Shen Shuyi nodding at someone at the stairway of the villa on the 24th, Zhou Ning paused slightly.
He had felt that perhaps she recognized Liu Tiesong or Ma Decai. Thinking of the identity exchange with Shen Caijun, a bold idea surfaced in Zhou Ning’s mind. Could it be that Liu Tiesong and others had also mistaken the identity?
Could they have confused Shen Shuyi for Shen Caijun?
So, Shen Caijun must have lied then, since Liu Tiesong and Ma Decai weren’t included in the list of acquaintances in Qindao she provided, right?
Thinking of this, Zhou Ning took off his gloves and turned around to instruct Mr. Yang and the others: freewebnσvel.cøm
"Take all the evidence to the evidence department for registration and preservation. Everything else here is intact, except the victim’s cell phone is missing. It seems the murderer has destroyed it. By the way, where’s Mr. Qu?"
Liu Yongxin raised a hand and pointed upstairs, saying:
"When you guys came to do the autopsy, Mr. Qu went straight up. He said he wanted to check some phone records, probably orders from Director Xu."
Zhou Ning nodded, pushed the door open, and left. Mr. Zhao and Liu Yongxin followed closely, while Mr. Yang sighed. ƒгeewebnovёl.com
"Don’t just stand there stunned. Check everything again, to see if it’s ready to be sent for inspection. Pack these evidence items as they are, untouched. After the case is closed and when the victim’s family comes to claim the body, hand it all over to them."
Zhu Xingxing shook her head.
"The family? Ha, they all shun it like the plague. Would anyone come to claim Shen Shuyi’s body? Wait, perhaps if they knew about her property, they might just scramble for it."
At this remark, everyone was stunned and fell silent, not saying another word.
...
Zhou Ning pushed the door and entered the office, where several people surrounded Mr. Qu, including Fang Mu, Zhang Ping, and Ma Liang. Seeing these three there, Zhou Ning paused momentarily, but they quickly stood up and greeted him as soon as they spotted him.
"Director Zhou, is the autopsy done? Was the cause of death asphyxiation?"
Zhou Ning nodded.
"Shen Shuyi died of asphyxiation, and there was a struggle during the process of her death — two of her artificial nails were broken off. Mr. Zhao and the others didn’t find the broken nails in room 218 on the 24th, so I think the room must have been cleaned carefully. Moreover, the murderer might have scratches on his body, although we’ll have to wait for the final forensic report."
Fang Mu’s eyes were a bit red, and his face wore a tired expression.
"The earlier interrogation made no progress. Liu Tiesong simply wasn’t cooperative. He didn’t utter a single word in the interrogation room, not even his name. The only thing he said when they were bringing them in was to tell us not to falsely accuse him, and that his lawyer would be arriving soon."
Zhou Ning frowned slightly, and Fang Mu continued:
"As for that assistant Ma Decai, he’s even tougher than Liu Tiesong, sticking his neck out and claiming that the vehicle went out of control. He wasn’t being stubborn on purpose and certainly had no intention of hitting a cop. He’s not stupid, after all. However, the injury doesn’t matter, he can contact the insurance company, and as long as he pays the right amount of money, that’s it."
His words were tough indeed; at that time, we almost rushed up and beat him, but Director Xu told us to control our emotions and asked Mrs. Sun, who is in charge of political and pedagogical work, to go and give them some ideological education. Liu Liwei is personally reviewing the case with Director Xu. Everything now depends on the outcome from your side, and of course, there’s also the phone records of these few individuals."
Zhou Ning glanced at Mr. Qu. Previously, when Tao Da was here, he was the one who went to the various telecom companies to inquire, but it looks like that’s no longer necessary now.
"It will take some time for Mrs. Cui and her team. I estimate getting the results by 22:00 would be quick. How’s the search for the phone records going?"
Mr. Qu pointed in the direction of the printer, speaking with a world-weary countenance:
"Right now, I’ve pulled up the phone and WeChat records for four individuals. The records for Zhang Meng and Liu Liwei are relatively simple and much fewer in number, matching with our previous analysis of the various time periods.
The one who contacted Ma Decai most was Liu Liwei, with at least five calls a day. The rest were from various departments or branch offices of Huajin Group; there’s nothing else.
As for Liu Tiesong, I just can’t manage it. He has over fifty call logs starting point every day, with phone numbers from all over the country. For those under real-name registration, some identities can be checked, but there are quite a few numbers that aren’t real-name registered."
Mr. Dui was just saying that we could verify each phone number one by one, but I don’t think it’s feasible. After all, according to the video analysis, there was another man in room 218 with Liu Tiesong, who’s about the same height but a bit slimmer than Liu Tiesong."
Fang Mu sighed deeply.
"I’m a bit at a loss now. Mrs. Fei is hurt; everyone’s acting like a bunch of headless flies. I know I’m getting anxious, but who is this mysterious man? We don’t have any direction at all. The longer we drag our feet, the harder the investigation becomes. If he’s fled abroad, what are we supposed to do?"
