Free Web NovelChapter 67: Chapter 67 Are People Still Not Awake?_1
The body was lifted onto the vehicle, and the bedsheets were also taken away by Mr. Zhao.
Zhou Ning went to the second bedroom, which was a children’s room. All the drawers and cabinet doors were opened, and the quilts and mattresses were thrown onto the floor. Although messy, it looked more like they had been scattered there deliberately.
Mr. Zhao had already taken photos. Zhou Ning left the second bedroom and came to the bathroom between the two bedrooms. The door was wide open, and the traces of a forced entry were visible on the lock. There were many bloody handprints on the shower glass, and the floor was speckled with drops of blood.
Especially in the corner of the shower, there was a puddle of yellowish liquid on the floor with the densest scattering of blood around it, forming two pools of blood with layers.
Zhou Ning bent down, took a sample with a swab; the blood drops were dried up, but the clotted, viscous blood could still be picked up from the pools with a dry swab.
According to what Chief Zhu and the others said, they received the emergency call at 9:45, arrived at the scene within five minutes, and then called Xu Dayuan. They reached the scene at 10:25. freeweɓnovel.cøm
It was now 10:40. Under normal circumstances, blood pools can dry up within an hour, especially since the volume of blood wasn’t vast. Of course, the variable was whether the blood donor’s coagulation mechanism was sound.
As he was pondering, Xu Dayuan’s voice came from behind.
"Zhou Xiaozhou, why haven’t you gone down? Is there a problem with the scene?"
Zhou Ning snapped off the head of the swab and dropped it into the bottle, then stood up.
"I haven’t seen the survivor, so I don’t know the extent of her injuries. There was quite a lot of blood lost in this bathroom."
Zhou Ning didn’t mention his suspicions as they were just that—suspicions. Revealing them without confirmation could affect Xu Dayuan’s judgments and the direction of the investigation.
"The victim was sent to the Eighth Hospital. I don’t know how severe the injuries are, but Chief Zhu said that when found, she was unconscious, tied up with rope, and had a severe cut on her leg. It’s probably because the rope broke that she was able to escape to the bathroom and hide, surviving the ordeal."
Zhou Ning nodded; this explanation was plausible, thus suppressing his suspicion for the time being.
"Give me a direction for the investigation; don’t just have doubts!"
Zhou Ning knew Xu Dayuan was anxious. After a moment of contemplation, he said:
"The victim’s rectal temperature was 36.5 degrees Celsius, with almost no drop, so the time of death I am suggesting is about one hour ago.
As for the nature of the case, there were many signs of searching at the scene, so much so that the house was trashed. But several unopened expensive electronic devices were untouched. Their total value is around 30,000, and they are prized but hard to find on the market."
Xu Dayuan was taken aback and turned to look at Zhou Ning.
"What items?"
Zhou Ning walked to the master bedroom, picked up several iPad boxes and laptops from the table, and directly stuffed them into the evidence bag.
Xu Dayuan came over to take a look, seeming to think about something, and then realized:
"My son asked me for these things, but they were out of stock in the experience store. I guess many people don’t know the value of these gadgets, right?"
Zhou Ning nodded, Mr. Zhao had said as much.
"The victim had many coercion injuries of various types, the most unusual being that the genitals were severed, resulting in a large amount of blood loss. It’s rare to choose such a way to intimidate.
Moreover, the front door of Wen Haicheng’s house showed no signs of being forced. Given that the victim was wearing very light clothing, without having gotten out of bed, I believe the perpetrator was someone known to Wen Haicheng and Zhang Xin, and quite possibly a woman, or there was a woman among the perpetrators."
Xu Dayuan was stunned. This conclusion surprised him.
"An acquaintance committing the crime, I had that feeling too, but a female perpetrator? Is it simply because of the genital injury that you’re making this judgment?"
Zhou Ning exhaled deeply; his mind was in turmoil. There was a lot of information listed on the transparent screen, but he couldn’t link it together. Nevertheless, he couldn’t explain this judgment about a female perpetrator.
"Ignoring the stabs and cuts, I examined the blood spatter on the headboard and walls. According to the position, the perpetrator was straddling the victim when inflicting the injuries. If the perpetrator was male, the action would at least suggest he was of short stature.
Considering the cuts on the genitals and combining the two, I’m more inclined to suspect the involvement of a female perpetrator. Of course, this doesn’t rule out a slight-statured man who harbored extreme animosity towards the victim. I feel the direction of the investigation should focus on the couple’s acquaintances."
Xu Dayuan nodded.
"Alright, I’ll go and investigate the couple’s social relations. You get the autopsy done quickly. I’ve called Doctor Liu; he’s waiting for you in the autopsy room."
Zhou Ning was somewhat surprised, as his master hadn’t been to the unit for quite some time.
"Okay, I’ll head back for the autopsy now. Once I find something, I’ll report to you immediately. By the way, Mr. Xu, could you please ask the emergency room to photograph Zhang Xin’s wounds before treating them? I’d like to compare them with the coercion injuries on the victim to see if they were caused by the same person."
"No problem, I’ll let the emergency room know. If the injuries aren’t serious, they can wait for you to take photos before stitching up."
Zhou Ning nodded.
"Additionally, the person who called the police said when they dialed the victim’s phone, there was no answer. It appeared they even tried to locate it, and the phone should have been at home, but both Mr. Zhao and I didn’t find the cell phone."
Xu Dayuan was taken aback.
"I’ll have someone search thoroughly once more, and of course, we should also expand the search area around the vicinity. It’s possible it was thrown away."
"Moreover, when I was going upstairs, I heard the person who reported the crime say something. While he was knocking on the door, he seemed to hear a sound from inside the room, right?"
"Yes, I just talked to him. He said he heard a sound from inside the room, but the victim’s mother who was standing at the door with him didn’t hear anything. I don’t think it’s necessarily true that there were sounds from inside. It could be an illusion due to excessive worry. After all, from the time he called the police, no one has left the entrance to the apartment unit. If the murderer was really trapped in the room at the time, how could they have escaped? Nevertheless, I’ll have everyone check each floor shortly to see if it’s possible someone was hiding on another floor."
"Alright, then I’ll take my leave first, Xu Da."
Without any further ado, Zhou Ning went downstairs, got into Mr. Zhao’s car, with Mr. Liu following behind, driving the funeral home vehicle, and they quickly headed towards the Eighth Hospital.
In less than half an hour, they arrived at the Eighth Hospital and got out of the car. Elder Cui was already waiting at the back of the vehicle with the stretcher.
"Uncle Cui, thank you for your hard work!"
Elder Cui smiled at Zhou Ning. Good-looking and well-spoken naturally made him likable.
"You guys go ahead. I’ll take the body to the autopsy room. Your master arrived early. Over the new year, they added quite a few things to the autopsy room. Your master has been quite emotional about it."
Zhou Ning was somewhat surprised. Although they used the place, the equipment was all from the Eighth Hospital’s. Was this the new equipment the Eighth Hospital added?
"Oh, they’ve added a lot of equipment?"
Elder Cui quickly nodded in confirmation.
Mr. Zhao and others wanted to go over to help, but Zhou Ning gestured for Liu Yong to follow them and pulled Mr. Zhao aside, leaving him a bit puzzled.
"What’s up?"
"Come with me to the emergency department. The victim’s wife, Zhang Xin, was taken for emergency treatment, wasn’t she? Xu Da spoke with the emergency department to take photos for us, or wait for us to take photos before they proceed. I need to compare the shape of the wounds with the victim’s."
Mr. Zhao uttered a couple of acknowledgments and followed Zhou Ning towards the outpatient building on the southern side of the Eighth Hospital. The emergency department was located at the western entrance. Upon entering, they saw the hustle and bustle of doctors and nurses.
Just as they moved forward, they saw a woman with three bars on her nurse’s cap turn around. Zhou Ning recognized her as a familiar face, the head nurse of the nursing department, Chen Xiaohong.
"Nurse Chen, are you busy?"
Chen Xiaohong’s face broke into a smile as she enthusiastically greeted the two men, as if they were very good friends.
"Forensic Doctor Zhou, what brings you here? Is there anything we can help you with?"
Zhou Ning felt a bit embarrassed since their visits usually never boded well.
He leaned in to tell Chen Xiaohong their purpose for coming to the emergency department. Chen Xiaohong kept nodding, patting Zhou Ning’s arm while her face remained smiling.
"Wait here, I’ll go find someone to ask."
Saying so, Chen Xiaohong headed to the emergency department office, and Mr. Zhao came closer, bumping Zhou Ning’s shoulder.
"There you go, being so unabashed just because you’re good-looking. Did you hear that? She even calls herself your ’sister.’ Talk about favorable treatment!"
Zhou Ning gave him a sidelong glance. With people constantly coming and going, it wasn’t a place for extended conversation, but sorting things out quickly was definitely for the best, especially since the autopsy was rather urgent.
After a moment, Chen Xiaohong came out quickly, waving at Zhou Ning.
The two men hurried after her, and as they entered the emergency department office, they saw a doctor in his early thirties standing in front of Chen Xiaohong. His name badge read "Head of Emergency Department — He Shancun."
"This is Mr. He, the one who treated Zhang Xin. We received a call from your superiors with instructions; the wound hasn’t been treated yet, just infusion and monitoring."
Zhou Ning paused. Untreated meant that the injuries weren’t serious or in an urgent state. Could it be she hadn’t woken up yet?
"Mr. He, is the patient still unconscious?"
