Free Web NovelChapter 613: Chapter 583: Leader, Can I Speak to You Alone?_1
Mrs. Cui paused.
"Don’t rush me; the inspection report and the comparison report have all come out. I’ll deliver the printed copies to you and then send the electronic version."
"Okay, thank you, Mrs. Cui."
After hanging up the phone, Mr. Zhao leaned in, feeling that Zhou Ning had something unsaid, something he had swallowed back.
"What’s up, Zhou Xiaozhou? Do you want to do some tests and feel embarrassed to say it? Whatever you need doing, I’ll go."
Zhou Ning nodded.
"Get some people to go to the cold storage, locate the body of Liu Meiling, and at the position of the contusion on the deceased’s neck, spray Luminol reagent and record the whole process."
Mr. Zhao didn’t waste words; he grabbed Fang Mu, and the two of them went together.
After they left, Xu Dayuan blinked and looked at Liu Yongxin. It took a moment for Liu Yongxin to register this before he sighed and said,
"Xiao Ning suspects that the DNA left on the bruise on the victim’s neck was smeared on by the murderer using blood, and that the blood drops inside the victim’s wounds were also deliberately left by the murderer. Of course, this makes it even more difficult to determine who the killer is."
Hu Guangjian stood up as well. Being a leader from the front lines, he was quite calm and took Xu Dayuan out with him.
Liu Yufei came over, a look of astonishment on her face.
"If the DNA was left intentionally, doesn’t that mean all our investigations are useless?"
Zhou Ning shook his head. The evidence at hand was limited. Xu Qingquan was inclined to identify the murderer as Zhong Xiaoyan, but the features he described were all debunked one by one. Scars, perfume—Zhang Fangfang had all these, so the list of suspects directly expanded to two. If the DNA matched Zhang Fangfang, then she would become the prime suspect in this case.
At that moment, Zhou Ning’s phone rang; he received a video sent by Mr. Zhao. As the Luminol was sprayed, a faint glow of the same shape appeared at the bruise on the deceased’s neck. Although it was faint, it was blood.
Zhou Ning dialed Mr. Zhao’s phone.
"Tell Mr. Yang and the others to come down and search Zhang Fangfang’s car carefully. See if there are any shoes or clothes, hidden seams in the trunk, or a space within the spare tire compartment where something is placed. Let me know if you find anything."
Zhou Ning didn’t speak further. The meaning of this instruction was clear to Liu Yongxin, Peng Da, and Liu Yufei after they exchanged glances. Since someone was being framed, there should be more conclusive evidence that hadn’t been found yet.
After a wait of more than ten minutes, neither Xu Dayuan nor Hu Guangjian had returned. Sun Gaotie arrived first, carrying a thick stack of reports with many sticky notes attached. Zhou Ning took them and glanced over.
The classification was simple. Sun Gaotie kept quiet, not trying to explain anything, as he knew Zhou Ning hated being nagged while reading reports.
As Zhou Ning reviewed and distributed them to Liu Yongxin and others for inspection, his face did not show the slightest pleasure. In the meantime, Xu Dayuan came back and immediately looked at Zhou Ning upon seeing such a thick stack of reports.
"What does the report say?"
"1. DNA from a male and a female was extracted from the skeleton. After comparison, it was identified that they have a biological father-daughter and mother-daughter relationship with Zhong Xiaoyan, which has no relation to the DNA extracted from the facial wounds of Liu Meiling;
2. Upon comparison, the DNA extracted from the wounds on Liu Meiling’s face, as well as from the bruises on her neck, matched Zhang Fangfang;
3. In the blood of Li Lixin, vitamin A, along with related impurities and metabolic products, were found to be similar to the vitamin A and related impurities and metabolic products extracted from Xu Qingquan’s blood samples, though Xu Qingquan had more impurities in his body;"
"Wait a minute, what does this mean?"
Xu Dayuan stopped Zhou Ning, who hurriedly explained,
"It means that most of the vitamin A consumed by the two individuals is the same, but the variety of vitamin A in Xu Qingquan’s body might be more complex. This also matches our initial assumption that the experiment with the dosage and poisoning amounts were tested on Xu Qingquan."
Xu Dayuan gestured towards Liu Yufei, saying,
"Call the hospital staff on standby and ask them to question Xu Qingquan if he often ate the food made by Zhong Xiaoyan during the time they spent together and whether Zhong Xiaoyan could bake. Zhou Ning, continue."
Liu Yufei stepped aside to make the call while Zhou Ning quickly flipped to the next report and continued.
"4. Regarding the brake marks, by comparing the gas chromatography of the rubber decomposition, the conclusion is that the faint brake marks found fifty meters east of the car accident scene match the brake marks of Zhang Fangfang’s BMW car tires exactly;
5. In samples No. 133 and No. 178 brought back from Qifeng City, Zhang Fangfang’s DNA was found, with sample No. 133 labeled as ’door handle swab sample from Peppa Pig Cabin’ and No. 178 being a hair strand extracted from Liu Meiling’s room."
At this point, Zhou Ning stopped speaking, and Xu Dayuan’s eyes were wide open.
He gesticulated for a while but couldn’t articulate anything. Meanwhile, Liu Yufei returned.
Seeing everyone, Liu Yufei knew that more explosive lab results had come out during her absence. She didn’t delay and immediately said,
"Xu Qingquan said that Zhong Xiaoyan never cooked; she would often order takeout, place it on plates, and claim she made it. As for baking, she can’t do that either, but among the people he knows, Zhang Fangfang has the best cooking skills."
Additionally, I’ve just received news that from noon on August 31 to the afternoon of September 2, Zhang Fangfang was in Qindao. She attended a wedding, that of her cousin to be exact, though her parents didn’t return for it. The wedding took place on September 1, and the photos show that she drove that BMW back to Qindao for the occasion."
Everyone was a bit dumbfounded. After all the twists and turns, Zhang Fangfang was now a prime suspect. Just then, Zhou Ning’s cellphone rang with a video call request from Mr. Zhao. Zhou Ning tapped to answer.
"Zhou Xiaozhou, we’ve dismantled Zhang Fangfang’s BMW. All the stones and sand from the wheel crevices were collected by Mr. Wang, and upon removing the trunk’s spare tire panel, we found no spare tire — just two huge trash bags. Let me show you, these bags have everything: shoes, a gray janitorial uniform, latex gloves, an ignition blowtorch, and even a dagger." ƒгeewёbnovel.com
As he spoke, Mr. Zhao lifted the dagger with a long pair of tweezers. The black and purple bloodstains on it were too conspicuous to ignore. Without any introductions, one could tell what these items signified.
"Label everything properly and send it for analysis. I’ll come down to have a look now. Make sure the samples from the steering wheel in the driver’s seat are collected carefully, with no oversights."
"Understood. The steering wheel, gear shift, seats, keys, door handles—I’ve instructed everyone to use adhesive tape to collect samples from these spots. I’m determined not to miss anything this time. They say where there’s contact, there’s always a trace, and I’m sticking to that."
Zhou Ning hung up the phone and glanced at Xu Dayuan.
"Leader, may I have a word with you in private?"
"Let’s go. We should take a closer look at Zhang Fangfang’s car. We’ve indeed been negligent in our inspection of that vehicle."
The two walked downstairs to the backyard and, without approaching Mr. Zhao and his busy team, Zhou Ning offered a cigarette to Xu Dayuan. They lit their smokes and remained silent for a long while.
After some time, Xu Dayuan sighed.
"Does it upset you?"
"Yes. Learning about Shi Yun’s experiences and the cause of Shi Mingchen’s family’s death, I was filled with indignation. I pondered how I would have acted in her shoes. I thought about it for a long time, from a girl’s perspective. I realized I might not have handled things as well as Shi Yun did.
But now, with all the evidence pointing toward Zhang Fangfang, I’m at a loss. Maybe Shi Yun also harbors hatred towards the police. If someone had intervened back then, if a single officer had taken interest, perhaps the outcome would have been different. But even after the news came out, no one from the police came forward.
You’ve seen the video Mr. Zhao just sent. The stuff found in the trunk, I’m sure there are fingerprints and DNA from Zhang Fangfang on them. Now that she’s the prime suspect, what should we do?"
Xu Dayuan took a few deep puffs and flicked the cigarette away, smiling at Zhou Ning.
"Remember, we’re just police officers, not judges or lone heroes. We investigate to the best of our abilities, remain objective, and present the facts. That’s our job. How the case is judged isn’t our concern. Let me ask you, when you found out about Shi Yun’s past, did you feel a reluctance to investigate?"
Zhou Ning remained silent, then slowly nodded his head toward Xu Dayuan.
"Yes, at that moment I didn’t want to pursue the investigation. I didn’t want Shi Yun to be caught, didn’t want her to leave any traces. But..."
Xu Dayuan patted Zhou Ning on the shoulder.
"There’s no ’but’. Investigate as we must. Go see how Mr. Zhao and his team are doing. I’ll go upstairs and talk to Zhang Fangfang. Since we’ve found new evidence, there’s no need for a long talk with Zhong Xiaoyan. Finish the investigation soon and clock out early. We’ll wait for the results."
A few words seemed to channel Zhou Ning’s resolve. Without further ado, he headed straight for Mr. Zhao and his team.
"Is the investigation complete?"
Mr. Zhao nodded.
"This car, we’d already surveyed it once, but not with such thoroughness. Initially, we only found Zhang Fangfang’s fingerprints on the steering wheel and driver’s seat. DNA comparisons were sent for processing, but because it wasn’t deemed crucial, it wasn’t rushed, so we haven’t gotten the results yet.
But honestly, I didn’t expect the murder weapon and gear, like gloves and clothes, to be hidden in the spare tire compartment. Tell me, if these items weren’t worn by Zhang Fangfang, how could her DNA end up on them?"
Zhou Ning shook his head.
"I don’t know. Right now, I still can’t piece together the process. I’ll go find Mr. Qu and see if the video analysis has uncovered anything new. After you send the items for analysis, you can call it a day."
Mr. Zhao grabbed Zhou Ning’s arm and whispered, looking in the direction Xu Dayuan had left:
"What does the leader mean by that? Does he want us to be certain we find DNA from Zhong Xiaoyan?"
Zhou Ning shook his head.
"The leader said we should do what we need to. Judgments and convictions are the court’s business. I think he’s right. We shouldn’t let our subjective desires influence the investigation; that would be biased. Stop talking and get back to work."
Mr. Zhao shrugged and released Zhou Ning’s arm. Zhou Ning then strode to the lab, where a portion of the samples had already been delivered, given that analyses of gravel and seeds were Peng Shinian’s expertise.
Seeing Mr. Qu hard at work, Zhou Ning approached him.
"How’s it going? Any new findings from the surveillance footage?"
Mr. Qu looked up with a face as bitter as a gourd, clearly agitated.
"Boss, I’ve only managed to track Zhang Fangfang’s car after the accident heading west in the opposite direction, taking the Huanwan Expressway. After exiting at the Shuangbu Highway Exit, the car was tracked heading south for a few kilometers before losing its trail."
