Chapter 192: Chapter 191: Blood fingerprints on the wire gloves_1
Zhou Ning went with Zhuang Chunlan to the dormitory in Unit 201 of Building No. 4 in Enbo Residential Area. The room was very messy, consisting of two bedrooms and a living room, with each person having their own room; both bedrooms faced south, and the bathroom had an east-facing window.
"Which one is Tan Ran’s room?"
Zhuang Chunlan opened the slightly larger room on the west side. This room was obviously much tidier, but the wardrobe was open as if someone had rummaged through it.
"This is Tan Ran’s room. They usually don’t lock it."
Zhou Ning nodded, found several long hairs on the bed, an electric toothbrush on the table, and a contact lens case. When he opened it, there was a pair of contact lenses inside.
Zhou Ning packed these items and looked at Zhuang Chunlan.
"Can you open Xing Xiaoli’s room? Since I’m here, it’s best to collect samples at once."
Zhuang Chunlan nodded.
"Just across the door. Here we don’t separate the living areas by gender, so we let them live close to each other. I occasionally come over to clean up for them; after all, they originally lived at my place."
At this point, Zhuang Chunlan almost cried, quickly turned her head away, and opened the opposite security door. As soon as the door opened, a faint smell of blood rushed over.
Zhou Ning reached out and grabbed Zhuang Chunlan’s arm, stopping her.
He then fully opened the door and looked inside. There were no signs of a struggle in the room, but on the inside of the door, there was a very conspicuous bloody handprint with the texture of lined gloves.
Zhuang Chunlan was somewhat stunned. She didn’t know what the forensic doctor had found, but his actions made her very uneasy.
"What’s wrong?"
"Stand still and don’t move."
As he spoke, Zhou Ning took out his phone and called Xu Dayuan.
"Hello, I’ve finished asking around here. Tan Ran gave a red envelope to Doctor Zhang, which is why he gave her the sick leave note. Where did you go?"
"Xu Da, listen, I’m in Xing Xiaoli’s dorm right now. I found a bloody fingerprint from lined gloves on the door, and there’s a faint smell of blood in the room. Zhuang Chunlan is with me; send someone over to help. I’ll call the second team to come over."
"Wait up, I’ll be there right away!"
After hanging up the phone, Zhou Ning told Zhuang Chunlan to wait in Wang Ying’s dorm. She had heard the recent phone call and was already frightened, now complying obediently with Zhou Ning’s instructions.
Then, Zhou Ning made a call to Mr. Zhao to give them instructions.
After saying all this, he heard footsteps from downstairs; Xu Dayuan had already rushed over, panting heavily.
"Did you examine the scene?"
Zhou Ning shook his head.
"Zhuang Chunlan was here, so it wasn’t convenient for me to look around. Besides, we still have to wait for Mr. Zhao and the others to come over. I don’t have all the necessary equipment with me. I’ll stay here for now. But have you got the Tongshan District address from Liu Yufei where Xing Xiaoli was?"
Xu Dayuan nodded, having finally caught his breath.
"I’ll leave Mr. Zeng with you. I’ll take Zhuang Chunlan, and we’ll temporarily detain her. Let’s wait for your team’s investigation results before we say more. I’ll take someone to find Xing Xiaoli. If this turns out to be the primary crime scene, it would be a significant breakthrough in the case."
Zhou Ning wasn’t so optimistic since the place hadn’t been inspected, he thought for a moment and said:
"Detain all the people from the figure skating team for now. I’ll have Zhu Xingxing come over later to draw blood and collect fingerprints for comparison. Just because bloodstains were found in Xing Xiaoli’s room doesn’t mean he’s the murderer."
Xu Dayuan waved his hand.
"That’s for later to worry about. Mr. Zeng will stay here, and no one is allowed to come in or out until Zhou Xiaozhou and the others have completed the investigation."
As he spoke, Xu Dayuan walked away, dialing his phone as he left.
"Zhenshan? Look up a few phone numbers for me, I sent them to you by text. Make it quick!"
...
In front of Unit 1 in Building No. 3, Shanshui Mingyuan Phase I.
Xu Dayuan waved at Liu Yufei, and everyone dispersed. Liu Yufei approached him.
"Boss, I just asked the security person. Only one young person lives in 301. I showed him the photo, and he confirmed that the resident was Xing Xiaoli. Moreover, this person went for a run by the sea this morning and has not gone out since."
Xu Dayuan nodded, lowering his voice.
"Take two people with you and follow me up there."
Once the personnel were confirmed, a few of them went straight up to 301. Xu Dayuan stood on the stairs facing the door while the other two squatted in front of 302. Liu Yufei covered the peephole with one hand and began to ring the doorbell with the other, but no one came to open the door as the ringing continued.
"Hello, gas company here, is anyone home?"
Liu Yufei pressed her ear against the door and shook her head slightly at Xu Dayuan. Xu Dayuan’s brow furrowed, and he knocked thrice on the door with his middle finger, very loudly, raising his voice on purpose.
"Anyone in 301? Gas company here to install gas alarms. If you miss it, you’ll need to pay for the installation yourself."
As he said this, he gestured for those blocking the entrance to 302 to knock as well. They responded quickly and tapped on the door of 302.
They had already checked with the property management, and there was no one living in this unit. Liu Yufei cooperated, calling out.
"Anyone in 302? Gas company, we’re here to install gas alarms. Please open the door."
Right after the shouting, Liu Yufei suddenly stopped, pointed at Xing Xiaoli’s door, indicating that there seemed to be some movement inside, the sound of the safety lock being turned. The door then opened a crack and Liu Yufei pulled it forcefully outward.
Xu Dayuan had already charged in, tackling a young man to the ground. The man’s arm was twisted behind his back, and he wore an expression of panicked alarm.
"Who are you guys? Is this a robbery?"
Click, click. As others followed in, Liu Yufei leaped forward, handcuffed the man with his arms behind his back, and lifted him up.
Feeling the cold touch of the handcuffs on his wrists, the man’s panic subsided, and was replaced by a hint of anger.
"Are you cops? What’s this all about, and what have I done that you barge into my home like this?"
Xu Dayuan glanced at the man, then back at the photo on his phone, confirming that this person was indeed Xing Xiaoli. He then holstered his gun and gestured to the two people behind him. They searched the rooms.
Xu Dayuan sat down on a chair, and Xing Xiaoli, pressed by Liu Yufei, squatted next to the dining table.
The two finished inspecting each room and then came out, shaking their heads at Xu Dayuan. There was no one else in the rooms, and they hadn’t found anything suspicious, like bloodstains, for instance.
Xu Dayuan flashed his badge, then looked intently at Xing Xiaoli and asked,
"We are from the Qindao Criminal Police Brigade. What’s your name?"
"Xing Xiaoli."
"Occupation?"
"Athlete. I’m not a criminal, why are you interrogating me like this? What’s actually happened?"
Liu Yufei suddenly yanked on the handcuffs on Xing Xiaoli’s hands, an action that caused him pain, even as an athlete with his arms handcuffed behind his back.
"Just answer the questions; it’s not your turn to ask. If there’s nothing amiss, we’d like to know your address, is that possible?"
Xing Xiaoli fell silent, staring at Xu Dayuan.
"When did you start renovating after taking time off?"
"The sixth, I took a vacation on the sixth, and came here on the seventh. But the renovation was already finished, I was just having a clean-up done."
"Wang Ying said that you were renovating, when did she come to find you?"
Xing Xiaoli seemed to be genuinely trying to recall.
"She came the day before August 15th. I don’t really remember the exact date, but on the day she came, I was getting the locks changed, and all the furniture in here had just been delivered. You can check the delivery notes if you don’t believe me. They have my signature and the delivery dates. Also, there are records on my phone."
Xing Xiaoli answered smoothly, looking towards the dining table, and sure enough, there was a mobile phone on it.
Xu Dayuan picked up the phone and scrolled through it; indeed, there were calls logged with several furniture companies and cleaning services, as well as with Wang Ying. Tan Ran only appeared in the call logs on the sixth and seventh, and only for a few minutes each.
After setting the phone down, Xu Dayuan didn’t directly ask about Tan Ran but looked around the room.
"The money for the house, was it all provided by you?"
Xing Xiaoli hesitated for a moment, not looking at Xu Dayuan.
"Yeah."
"Let me remind you that we can check your bank statements. If we find anything contradicting, it’s going to be a different matter."
Xing Xiaoli pursed his lips and exhaled.
"I borrowed one million from Tan Ran. The down payment and the renovation cost me a total of about 2.92 million. That’s about it."
"Do you have a loan agreement?"
"No, what do you really want to know?"
Xing Xiaoli grew anxious; he was clearly confused by the police’s erratic line of questioning and uncertain of their motives.
"I legitimately bought the house through a real estate agent. I signed the contract last year, it’s in the drawer of the coffee table. You can check if you don’t believe me."
Liu Yufei looked at one of the male detectives, who quickly went to the coffee table and found a stack of documents that contained renovation contracts and a loan agreement, and of course, the trust contract that Xing Xiaoli mentioned, which cost thirty thousand yuan.
"What’s your relationship with Tan Ran?"
"We’re from the same hometown and also came here together from Liaodong Province; we’ve been partners for years, so naturally, our relationship is very close, more than just friends."
Xu Dayuan tilted his head, scrutinizing Xing Xiaoli, his gesture clearly indicating dissatisfaction with Xing Xiaoli’s answer.
"Okay, fine, we used to date, but we were too young at the time to understand our feelings properly. But ever since we stopped being team partners, we broke up. Still, we remained on good terms and didn’t part on bad terms; otherwise, she wouldn’t have lent me the money, right?"
"When did you break up?"
"Over two years ago, around March or April of 2009. I don’t remember the exact date."
"After that, she never tried to get back together with you, or did anything?"
Xing Xiaoli hung his head and let out a long sigh.
"She thought I broke up with her because of her figure, so she insisted on getting implants. I’ve tried to talk her out of it, but the more I explained, the more she got fixated on the idea, so I stopped trying. After all, it’s her own pursuit."
"What about after the breakup?"
"I didn’t find out until the end of July when she rejoined the team that she had secretly undergone the surgery. It was the summertime, so we were only doing physical training with no extensive spinning or jumping, so I helped cover for her."
"And Wang Ying? Don’t tell me that you see her as just a little sister or as the coach’s relative and that you have no other motives?"
