Chapter 276: Chapter 273 Half a Blood Fingerprint_1
Zhou Ning rubbed his chin, forcing himself to calm down.
"If we follow this line of thought, the bag was used up and immediately put away. The murderer found the bag and used it to hold the body."
Does this mean the victim’s time of death was very close to the production date of this urea, and not about seven years ago as I originally analyzed?
The production date on the bag is January 10, 2002. Such items are rarely stockpiled in large quantities only to be sold over the course of one or two years; they are typically sold as needed, with at most a half-year’s supply in stock. That’s already the limit.
So the time of death must have been after January 10, 2002.
The victim was dressed in a dark gray Jagour wool suit with a white shirt underneath. Zhou Ning flipped over the victim’s shoes, which were black leather oxfords tied with laces. Even though there were bloodstains, there were no sweat stains from long-term wear on the insoles; they were ninety percent new.
With such an outfit, there was something... reminiscent of a groom. However, the victim’s age didn’t match the attire, and Zhou Ning sighed deeply; the mismatch between the outfit and age was puzzling.
Just then, the door opened, and Mr. Zhao and the others rushed in, each setting down their things, some reaching for water, others heading to the restroom. Liu Yongxin plopped into a chair, looking extremely tired.
Zhou Ning hurried over and poured Liu Yongxin a cup of warm tea.
"Are you tired, Master?"
Liu Yongxin waved his hand.
"Not very tired, it’s just that the attic’s low ceiling limits movement. The basket was placed near the window, but the shortest spot there is only 1.4 meters high, so you can’t stand up, and squatting down is difficult too; you have to kneel."
Zhou Ning felt somewhat embarrassed for having Liu Yongxin follow him to the scene, not expecting him to actually climb up there as well.
He lifted Liu Yongxin’s pant leg, and Liu Yongxin gave a start, hitting Zhou Ning several times. He knew his disciple was concerned for him and kept waving his hand, saying:
"Look how worried you are. I’m wearing thermal leggings and knee pads. It doesn’t chafe at all. Mr. Zhao and Mr. Yang really suffered though. By the way, we owe a lot to Doctor Zhu this time. That girl can really endure hardship."
Zhou Ning nodded. Since working with him on the Guanghai Pharmaceuticals case, Zhu Xingxing had changed significantly. She was no longer petulant, willing to learn whatever she was asked and able to focus. She always gave Zhou Ning some pleasant surprises, and her proficiency in autopsies kept improving.
"Mmm, Doctor Zhu has made progress. Did you find anything at the scene?"
At this question, Mr. Zhao, who had just washed his face, came running over, drying his face while speaking pridefully:
"We have pretty much cleaned out the attic for the Xu Family. There were years of accumulated stuff up there, and we even found a box of grain and cloth coupons, which might be worth something."
Seeing that Zhou Ning’s face remained unamused, Mr. Zhao quickly restrained his casual demeanor, stood up straight, picked up a camera, and began to explain:
"It’s very similar to your analysis. We found some bone fragments and short hairs near the window gap. We also found some fragments scattered around in the corners of the attic. I don’t know if they can be pieced together, as the fragments are already crushed to dust."
Zhu Xingxing had already come over, opening the investigation box to reveal a dozen evidence bags. There were quite a few bone fragments, but as Mr. Zhao had said, they were shattered to bits, making assembly not an easy task.
Mr. Qu also came over, glanced at it, covered his mouth, and couldn’t help but retch several times.
"This is even more brutal than when Mr. Xia treated Fang Wenjie’s smashed face last time. After we scan it, let’s see if the software can help."
Zhou Ning did not reply, while Xia Momo nodded in agreement on the side.
At that moment, Mr. Zhao noticed the reconstructed head sculpture placed nearby and rushed over, his mouth agape in shock.
"My God, have you managed to reconstruct it?"
Zhou Ning hummed in affirmation.
"Mr. Xia suggested using the axis symmetry method for the skeletal repair, as the victim’s right facial bones were the least damaged. We repaired the skeleton on the 3D printed replica skull, then based on age and physique, we filled in the facial muscles.
Mr. Xia has already scanned the sculpture. The complexion, hair color, and eye color have been newly filled in. As for the hairstyle, we also took inspiration from popular styles post-2000. I wonder if with such an image, someone could recognize who the victim is."
Liu Yongxin glanced at the plaster face. It was a significantly more detailed rendition than what Zhou Ning’s team had done before, evidently depicting a young man with an adolescent’s lingering boyishness on his face. His eyes weren’t large, and his features could only be described as ordinary.
However, his prominent brow bones, squared face, and jaw, coupled with a straight nose bridge, caught Liu Yongxin’s attention, dispelling his prior fatigue as he stood up.
"Has the system found this person’s information based on the photo?"
Zhou Ning and Xia Momo both shook their heads, a slight frown between their brows.
As if Liu Yongxin hadn’t noticed Zhou Ning’s confusion, he walked around the statue before speaking:
"The layout of the victim’s facial features seems indicative of Ludong people’s characteristics, especially the protruding brow ridge, the receding hairline, the flat forehead, the brow ridge higher than the cheekbones, and the pronounced yet narrow nose bridge. These are unique facial traits of people from the Peninsula Region of Ludong Province. I think you shouldn’t be discouraged. If the registry information doesn’t match, it doesn’t necessarily mean your search is wrong."
Zhou Ning’s face was filled with confusion, not quite understanding what Liu Yongxin meant.
"Master, are you suggesting..."
Liu Yongxin waved his hand and sat down on a chair with a plop, sipping tea as he said,
"You see, nowadays many people go out to work or live elsewhere. Those who do well often return home in their finery, letting their families share their joy. Those who do okay also come back for holidays and festivals, at least to spend time with family.
Then there are those who do poorly or extremely poorly, with identities that make it inconvenient to return, or even some who have been caught and are serving time in various places, and those missing persons not listed as missing."
Xia Momo somewhat disagreed and glanced at the software.
"But even for such special people, their household registration should still exist, right? We’ve conducted several population censuses. Could there still be oversights? Their identity information shouldn’t be a problem, should it?"
Liu Yongxin shook his head.
"Girl, you’re thinking too simply. The stories written in books all make sense, but in reality, there are far more incomprehensible yet genuine occurrences. There are cases where people die and their household isn’t canceled, and they even keep the body at home. I’ve encountered this several times."
Xia Momo shivered, and Zhou Ning reached out to support her, holding back a smile as he looked at Liu Yongxin. His master was clearly trying to spook Xia Momo, but what he said made a lot of sense.
"Let’s wait for Director Xu to come back and show him this restored portrait. Conduct a comprehensive search in Rudong City for those who have been away for many years, born between 1980 and 1982."
Before anyone else could react, Liu Yongxin was clearly taken aback.
"Eh? Did your analysis of the victim’s age change?"
Zhou Ning nodded and pointed at the stainless-steel cart beside him with a woven bag on it.
"I just found the most intact woven bag. In addition to bloodstains, I discovered a certification label. Aside from the contaminated parts, the bag appears quite new.
I think we can narrow the gap between the victim’s time of death and the fertilizer’s production date, to around 2002. That’s three years earlier than our previous estimation, making the time of death approximately ten years ago."
Xu Guanhai came over and unfolded the previous investigation information.
"In that case, we need to re-examine everyone in the Xu Family for the year 2002 to see if anything happened. Was there anyone who visited the Xu Family and then never left? And where was each person in 2002, and do they have an alibi for the time of the crime?"
Zhou Ning nodded. After all, this work was very complicated and had to wait for Xu Dayuan to return and take a close look.
Just then, the office door was pushed open, and Xu Dayuan and his team came in, their gaze immediately landing on the sculpted portrait, their faces beaming.
"I heard you mentioning me outside the door. Tell me, what have you discovered?"
Mr. Zhao, quick to speak, recited their findings from the scene investigation and all of Zhou Ning’s analyses.
Xu Dayuan opened his notebook, recording continuously, and then waved to Mr. Tao and others standing nearby.
"You all heard that. Let’s not disturb Director Zhou here. Let’s go to the meeting room, have a meeting, and then distribute the work tasks. As for tomorrow’s canvassing, Director Zhou, can your people also be dispersed amongst the various teams?"
Zhou Ning had no objections. After all, he was here to work on the case. Waiting for news here was less helpful than going along. As for the Xu Family, he was indeed eager to visit the scene himself.
"Fine, Director Xu, you arrange it. I really need to go see the Xu Family’s scene."
Xu Dayuan, satisfied, led the way out, and Zhou Ning exhaled deeply, looking at the axe stained with blood. The handle of the axe was full of dark brown bloodstains, but despite repeated checks, there were no fingerprints or glove markings on it.
"What surprises me most is that no fingerprints or glove patterns were left on the weapon. This is quite unusual."
Xu Guanhai smiled as he came closer, his face slightly embarrassed.
"Director Zhou, I didn’t mention before, but when we found the axe, it was tied up with a woven bag. I took off the bag to see the full view of the axe before taking pictures. This is the bag."
Following the direction of Xu Guanhai’s pointing, Zhou Ning looked over to see Xu Guanhai grabbing an evidence bag and pulling out a folded woven bag from inside. It was covered with bloodstains, with a leather buckle next to it. However, the leather had aged and was broken into several pieces, sticking to the surface and retaining some of its original shape.
Liu Yongxin’s face darkened as he glanced at Xu Guanhai.
"Old Xu, weren’t you all wearing body cameras throughout?"
Xu Guanhai shook his head.
"We were only filming a part of it with the cameras held up when we entered the scene. I didn’t wear it during the actual investigation. After all, it’s not convenient with the isolation suit on."
Zhang Da hurried over to smooth things over, laughing as he wrapped his arm around Liu Yongxin’s shoulder.
"Uncle, we understand there are few hands here. I see that Zhang Da over there also rarely dispatches people to help out."
Liu Yongxin didn’t speak further; he understood that as a retired person now considered part of the lab team, he had no stance to be enraged. After all, it was still up to Zhou Ning to make decisions. But Zhou Ning couldn’t say anything since Xu Guanhai was his friend.
Zhou Ning had already put on gloves and picked up the bag, near the edge of the aging leather buckle on the outside, it seemed there was half a blood fingerprint.
