Chapter 117: Chapter 116 Childhood Sweethearts_1
Mr. Zhao roared excitedly, and the two police officers came over to help hold open the large evidence bag as they placed the electric saw inside.
"First, collect the fingerprints; the saw is operated by gripping, so there’s no particular orientation for use—left or right hand are both possible—so be meticulous with both sides. Don’t miss the plug at the back either."
Zhou Ning’s face showed no signs of excitement. Mr. Zhao glanced at him, puzzled, and asked.
"Zhou Xiaozhou, you don’t seem too pleased. Do you think there’s something wrong with this case?"
Zhou Ning shook his head, a nameless emotion swirling in his heart.
"Zhang Min’an and Luo Suqin, one a widower, the other unmarried, left their hometown at such an advanced age to live here, without even a marriage certificate, far from their children, dwelling in such a dilapidated courtyard.
The joint photo in their room, dated in handwritten ink as October 1964, although colorized later, appears to be the original without any Photoshop traces. All this suggests that the two knew each other in their early twenties.
Whatever prevented them from being together back then, and why, after Zhang Min’an’s wife passed away, they didn’t end up together—perhaps the children disagreed, or maybe there were other obstacles. But according to this line of reasoning, what happened afterward doesn’t make sense."
Mr. Zhao blinked and glanced at the evidence bag.
"But judging from Luo Suqin’s behavior, even without doing DNA testing we can be certain that these bloodstains belong to the deceased, Zhang Min’an. If the fingerprints extracted match Luo Suqin’s, then we’ve completed the chain of evidence."
Zhou Ning remained silent. No antemortem injuries had been found on the deceased’s bones, and the timer counting down the cause of death was still ticking; a verdict had not yet been reached.
Thinking this, Zhou Ning left the east wing and went straight to the main house, stepping in front of the bedroom wardrobe.
He opened drawer after drawer, and in the third layer, he found a neatly arranged stack of radiological imaging diagnosis bags, along with several medical records and registration cards, all fastened with leather straps—not tossed in haphazardly, but orderly.
Taking out these bags, Zhou Ning looked through them one by one, from January 2008 to May 2010, spanning over two years and involving visits to six different hospitals.
From the rheumatology department to rehabilitation, there was even a diagnosis of giant cell bone tumor. It was puzzling that such a diagnosis would be made so readily at this age—hadn’t they considered the age factor?
The last report was a diagnosis from Lu University Hospital.
Indeed, just as he had surmised, Zhang Min’an had late-stage lung cancer with bone metastases. The conclusion of the CT report was very clear.
1. Central-type lung cancer in the right upper lung, with multiple lymph node metastases in the right hilum and mediastinum, right-sided pleural metastasis, obstructive pneumonia in the right upper and middle lung, moderate pleural effusion on the right side, and marginal atelectasis of the right lower lobe.
2. Suspected osteolytic destruction of the 3rd and 4th right ribs.
3. Consideration of bone metastases at the distal end of the femur.
Just from reviewing the reports, the state of Zhang Min’an was apparent—leg pain hampering movement, high fever, coughing, sputum production, difficulty breathing. These symptoms had prompted him to seek medical attention again; it was only that what was thought to be a mere leg issue turned out to be bone metastases from lung cancer.
Zhou Ning placed these items in a large bag, and when he turned around, he saw that Xu Dayuan had returned and was looking at him with a smile.
"How’s everything on your end, need any help over here?"
"No need, Mr. Zhao has already finished extracting samples on-site, and all the samples and evidence have been packed. What did the village committee and neighbors say?"
"The house was rented by Zhang Min’an for ten years at two thousand per year, paid every five years, so the cost was extremely low.
However, the village clerk mentioned that in January of last year, Zhang Min’an bought a property next to Dongsheng Garden Phase One in Daliu Village. The clerk had helped him get a discount of five hundred per square meter, and the property was registered in Luo Suqin’s name.
Even with the discount, the total cost of the house was over seven hundred thousand. Zhang Min’an sold his two houses in his hometown and gave the bulk of the money to his son, so whatever he could spare certainly wasn’t much. After moving here only ten years ago, and with his illness, it’s a mystery how he managed to gather enough money?"
Zhou Ning lifted his phone and scrolled to a photo. This was the manuscript found on the west side of the main house.
"Zhang Min’an’s son mentioned that his father taught English, and it looks like the two of them were working on translation projects together. I remember seeing posts related to this; regular document translation fetches 130 yuan per thousand characters, but for professional literature like this, the prices are much higher, starting at a thousand yuan per thousand characters.
Apparently, Zhang Min’an and Luo Suqin were making money this way, and to save on expenses, that’s why they chose to live in such a place, even skimping on medical care."
Xu Dayuan sighed.
"They saved money, but what’s the use if you’re gone? Alright, since we’ve found the evidence and collected the physical evidence, let’s leave someone to guard the place and head back."
Mr. Zhao at this moment came running in, out of breath, the boxes and the evidence seemingly all packed into the vehicle.
"Boss, should we leave Luo Suqin at Xinghua?"
"Wait until her condition stabilizes, then we’ll take her back to the city bureau for interrogation after that. Have you completed the crime scene investigation? Let’s head back."
Mr. Zhao felt somewhat embarrassed.
"The investigation is done, but regarding the murder weapon, we only found an electric saw, nothing else."
Xu Dayuan waved his hand and glanced at the sky.
"Let’s leave it at that for today."
Zhou Ning didn’t say anything more and followed everyone into the car.
When they got back to the city bureau, it was already past one in the afternoon. Xu Dayuan called all members of the 2.21 special case team to the technical department.
They had been investigating for nearly a month without any substantial progress, but now that the physical evidence was in place, they all went eagerly to conduct the tests.
Mr. Pang arrived, bringing food for everyone. Seeing Zhou Ning’s weary face, he punched Xu Dayuan playfully.
"So, you’re bossing Zhou Ning around just because he used to be under you, huh? Even though Zhou Ning was your subordinate, now that he’s here, you can’t push my people around like that."
Xu Dayuan bared his teeth with a smile; Mr. Pang sure had a way with words. That comment was clearly backing Zhou Ning and also showing strong support for Xu’s investigation of the case. Xu was no fool; he just wasn’t interested in playing political games.
He said with a smile:
"Exactly, Mr. Pang knows how to care for people. Zhou Xiaozhou, you go rest first. The results of these tests won’t be available until tomorrow anyway, considering all the chemical and DNA comparisons that need to be done. We’ll discuss all the findings at the meeting tomorrow."
Zhou Ning looked at the two men and put the evidence bag on the table, spreading it out one by one.
Inside, he was extremely anxious, but he couldn’t let it show on his face. Waiting until tomorrow would mean it’s all over—was he supposed to get struck by lightning?
That was out of the question!
"Let’s not rush. I’ll mention some relevant findings. These were not within Mr. Zhao’s scope of evidence collection, after all, so far the evidence we’ve found only pertains to the dismemberment. However, how the victim, Zhang Min’an died and the cause of death are still unknown."
Xu Dayuan was taken aback.
Mr. Pang’s smile also faded. He understood the implications of Zhou Ning’s words, but everyone present knew the magnitude of this case’s impact. Was there controversy over the cause of death?
"Are you suggesting that Luo Suqin is not the murderer?"
Zhou Ning shook his head.
"Without finding the cause of death, we cannot determine who the murderer is. Luo Suqin is only a suspect in the dismemberment. Look, this is the medical record of the victim that I found."
With a few words, everyone in the room crowded closer, but they couldn’t understand the professional jargon at first glance. Mr. Pang was the acting director of the forensic department for a reason; he understood as soon as he took a look.
"This only proves that the victim was ill. Is it related to the cause of death?"
"The victim visited numerous hospitals over two and a half years, initially for simple check-ups. It was only during his last visit to Lu University Hospital last May that he was diagnosed with late-stage lung cancer, and the condition on his leg was merely a bone metastasis.
According to the CT scans and various reports, his illness was severe, with metastasis to the lymph nodes, ribs, and femur. If he had undergone aggressive chemotherapy, he might have survived longer, but without treatment, his physical condition meant he wouldn’t have lived more than three months."
Xu Dayuan and Mr. Pang were stunned, looking back and forth between the medical images and Zhou Ning. Mr. Pang’s face showed disbelief.
"Wait, are you saying that Zhang Min’an died of cancer?"
Xu Dayuan stood up from his chair, pounding the table and shaking his head.
It seemed this action made him more certain of his previous judgment.
"Impossible, just because Luo Suqin had a heart attack doesn’t mean she’s innocent. She had a motive to commit the crime. After all, from the perspective of profit, she’s the primary beneficiary of the house they purchased together; her suspicion is the greatest based on what we know now.
If we say that we’re unable to determine the victim’s cause of death for the moment, let’s go back to the body dumping site for a comprehensive search, and the rental place in Daliu Village as well. Since you guys found the electric saw, I think the primary crime scene is also there. How about we go through it again?"
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