Chapter 300: Chapter 294 The Lesser Poor_1
Xu Dayuan didn’t pick up the thread and glanced at the time on his phone; it had already jumped to 23:27. By then, he also felt the formidable nature of Wang Hongzhan and raised his hand in his direction.
"Yufei, pour Wang Hongzhan a glass of water. I’m going to make a call, there should be news from the Municipal Bureau by now."
Accompanied by the sounds of the door closing and opening, Xu Dayuan came in quickly, grabbed the mineral water in front of Zhou Ning, twisted off the cap, and guzzled down fiercely, while Mr. Qu subconsciously moved a meter away to the side.
"This guy is a madman. Talking to him made me feel a chill down my spine. The more I talked, the more uncomfortable I felt, as if he was controlling the pace. Mr. Qu, check into it, aside from flights and trains, like driving or long-distance buses, is it possible to find information from last August?"
Mr. Qu spread his hands.
"Director Zhou just had me check. The highway records are only saved for a month. If it was the time of the crime and we were investigating, we might have been able to find information, but now it’s impossible."
At this, Mr. Qu cast surreptitious glances at Zhou Ning and then at Xu Dayuan.
"So, both Director Xu and Director Zhou suspect Wang Hongzhan?"
Xu Dayuan humphed twice and plopped down next to Zhou Ning.
"This man’s mind is extraordinary."
Mr. Qu leaned in closer.
"Just now, Director Zhou said that he didn’t mention Ho Dongmei in every single word, but every description made it possible for the owner of the password key to be Ho Dongmei, and with the child not being his, he led all the evidence towards the man related to Ho Dongmei.
However, there is one thing I don’t understand, which I wanted to ask Director Zhou about, but I didn’t dare to when I saw the look in his eye. You tell me, if according to what Wang Hongzhan says, the man involved with Ho Dongmei is the killer, why would he kill the child? Isn’t the child his?"
Xu Dayuan glanced at the interrogation room and rubbed his chin.
"Stop digressing. Had I figured it out, I wouldn’t have come out. I just interrogated Wang Hongwen, and I felt that when he heard that the child wasn’t Wang Hongzhan’s, he was very obviously stunned. Okay, Zhou Xiaozhou, hurry up and call Mrs. Cui to see if the report is out yet?"
Zhou Ning pulled out his cell phone, and before he could dial, the phone rang with Cui Lili’s name flashing. Zhou Ning answered immediately.
"Sister."
"The report is out, it has been sent to your email. The male DNA sample you submitted matches the DNA found inside the glove, and it confirms a genetic father-son relationship with Wang Jiahan. Additionally, the last analysis of the material under Wang Jiahan’s fingernails only found traces of Ho Dongmei’s blood.
I didn’t give up and changed the collection method. This time I was lucky and found Wang Hongwen’s DNA in there. Out of twenty samples, only one had it. I thought I should still call you about it."
"Okay, I’ll take a close look. You go get some rest, we’ll talk about everything tomorrow."
It seemed that Mrs. Cui didn’t have the energy to scold anyone anymore. After hanging up, Zhou Ning had Mr. Qu log into the email and look at the report. The first one showed that Wang Hongwen’s DNA matched the male DNA found inside the glove.
Moreover, the outer surface of the glove tested positive for soil, metal fragments, petroleum jelly lubricant, and some components of basic copper carbonate, which matched the composition of the rust on the safe’s combination lock exactly. As for the petroleum jelly lubricant, it was consistent with the residue found on the protective part of the dagger.
In the latter part of the report, Mrs. Cui made marks, indicating that if Wang Hongwen had always been at the Wang Family’s, or to put it another way, if he had touched the body after Wang Jiahan’s death, his DNA could be on the remains. However, now they needed to verify with the forensic doctor, Doctor Bai, whether anyone had seen the body after Wang Jiahan’s death.
Xu Dayuan also furrowed his brow as he looked at the two reports.
"I’m so confused now, but this report could prove that Wang Hongwen is the murderer of Ho Dongmei and Wang Jiahan, right?"
Zhou Ning nodded.
"Together with the surveillance, it certainly points to Wang Hongwen being a major suspect. However, I think it’s essential to see if the gold bars can be found, or evidence of fence selling. After all, the motive for the murder was stealing the gold bars. If Wang Hongwen didn’t fence the gold, then here’s where it gets interesting."
...
Mr. Zhao glanced at the time, it was already 21:17.
The leaders of Hai’an City’s No. 6 Elementary School hastened over, exchanging a few courteous words with the local detectives before opening the office where Wang Hongwen was located.
Yang Xuetong, accompanied by Sun Gaotie and other local detectives, went to Wang Hongwen’s house. Zhu Xingxing followed Mr. Zhao, and when all the lights in the office turned on, Zhu Xingxing asked.
"Excuse us, could you come out and indicate which desk and cabinet belong to Wang Hongwen? Also, this bunch of keys, what do they open? If anyone knows, please put on gloves and help us unlock them."
The English teaching research group leader who had just been introduced hurriedly stepped forward, took the gloves from Zhu Xingxing, trembling as his own hands. With so many police officers present, including two dressed in such a particular manner, it was clear that the situation was serious. However, the police hadn’t said a word about the specifics, and the more they kept silent, the more anxious everyone became.
"Just a moment, let me try!"
He adjusted his hair, fumbled for quite a while before properly fitting the gloves, and Zhu Xingxing kindly reminded.
"Teacher, once you’ve put on the gloves, try not to touch yourself, especially your hair, otherwise you’ll leave your own skin flakes."
The man nodded, walked over to a desk near the window, and pointed out:
"This desk is Wang Hongwen’s. Do I need to open the drawers?"
Mr. Zhao waved his hand and pointed to a row of coat cabinets against the wall.
"Does this include Wang Hongwen’s locker?"
The teacher fiddled with the keys for a long time, even dropping them on the floor once, but finally got the locker open. Mr. Zhao stepped forward while Zhu Xingxing had already asked everyone to step out, signaling the investigator to chat with the head of the teaching and research office before returning to Mr. Zhao’s side.
With a UV light in hand, Mr. Zhao carefully examined the inside of the locker. It wasn’t large; the top was for hanging clothes, with two drawers in the middle and two layers of shoes at the bottom. It was the very faint brown trace on the last layer that caught Mr. Zhao’s attention.
"Hand me the Luminol Spray."
Zhu Xingxing quickly passed it to Mr. Zhao, who sprayed evenly onto the bottom compartment. Sure enough, the very faint brown trace glowed, and an even more startling footprint appeared beneath it, exciting both Zhu Xingxing and Mr. Zhao.
"Blood trace!"
Mr. Zhao nodded, his gaze silencing Zhu Xingxing’s excitement. He took out a photograph of a footprint from the scene for comparison. The size and pattern matched perfectly, and Mr. Zhao breathed a sigh of relief.
"Why are you getting so excited? I’ll collect the samples first; give me an evidence bag."
Mr. Zhao took out two pairs of shoes from the bottom and placed them on top of the evidence bag. Zhu Xingxing drew closer to assist Mr. Zhao, spraying the shoes with Luminol, but this time, they weren’t so lucky; upon closer inspection, there was no glowing reaction.
"Huh? There’s no blood on the shoes?"
"Are you dumb? In the surveillance footage, he knew to take off his blood-stained T-shirt and use it as a mask to cover his face. It’s unlikely he’d keep the shoes. Although they might be expensive, destroying these things is key to saving yourself. Look at these traces, they’re at the top of the divider; he must have accidentally rubbed against it while putting the shoes in.
Even though he wiped the bottom of the divider and treated the shoes, the bloodstains were still left behind. Such faint traces would have been even harder to detect at the time. Let’s check the drawers above."
As he spoke, Mr. Zhao stood up, pulled the key out of the locker door, and, after trying a few times, finally found the key for the drawers. Upon opening them, one contained various credentials, teacher certification, and certificates for various exams.
In another, there were all sorts of miscellaneous items, such as chargers and fans, and two envelopes. Mr. Zhao pinched the envelopes open—one contained three thousand in cash, and the other held four or five supermarket gift cards, each with a thousand-dollar value.
Mr. Zhao turned and looked towards the door, calling out loudly:
"Call the head of the teaching and research office and ask if the school gave out shopping cards or gifts for the New Year, and if there have been any cash bonuses?"
The head poked his head towards Mr. Zhao and waved his hands hastily.
"No, our school’s funds are tight. For the New Year, we only distributed rice, flour, and oil. There were never any shopping cards or bonuses. However... some teachers voluntarily tutor children who struggle with their studies, and many parents express their gratitude. We just don’t advocate it, and the Education Committee hasn’t expressly banned it."
Mr. Zhao nodded, took evidence photos, and then checked the desk drawers. They appeared to be rarely touched, and after a quick search, he found no gold bars, large sums of cash, or bank cards.
Zhu Xingxing helped Mr. Zhao restore everything to its original state, and they then left the office.
"Thank you for your cooperation; we’ll be leaving now."
The head extended his hand towards Mr. Zhao to halt their departure, brought his hands together in an awkward smile, and asked:
"Officer, I’d like to know, has something happened to Teacher Wang Hongwen?"
Mr. Zhao shook his head.
"Don’t overthink it. We are just conducting a routine investigation."
As he said this, Mr. Zhao paused briefly. None of the local investigators had taken the initiative to come forward and ask, which also made Mr. Zhao scratch his head. Zhang Chunbo seemed capable enough, but why were the people he brought along so passive?
"I’d like to ask about Teacher Ho Dongmei. Is she also a part of the English teaching research group?"
The head nodded.
"Yes, she’s also from our office, just like Teacher Wang Hongwen. They both teach English to fourth and fifth graders."
"Please recall, in the course of your work before, how was the relationship between Mr. Ho and Wang Hongwen? For instance, help each other with substitute teaching, giving rides home, having meals together, and so on. Were they particularly close?"
Upon hearing this, the head glanced subconsciously at the vice-principal behind him. Mr. Zhao coughed, pulled down his mask, and smiled at the head and the vice-principal.
"Folks, it’s already past eleven at night. We don’t want to keep everyone much longer; we just want to get to the truth of the matter. Surely we don’t need to ask for permission from the leadership for this?"
The head’s cheeks trembled embarrassingly, as though he wanted to smile but genuinely couldn’t. Gritting his teeth, he spoke very quickly:
"Let me put it this way, I moved here from No. 3 Middle School at the beginning of 2009. At first, I thought these two were a couple because they came and went together, even ate lunch together, and got along as if they were one person. They didn’t avoid anyone.
I later found out that Mr. Ho was already married, and her husband wasn’t local. Mr. Ho told us that Wang was her husband’s cousin, and since they had started working on the same day, they were close. We didn’t think much of it; after all, her husband had asked Wang to look after her."
Mr. Zhao raised an eyebrow at this explanation, which left him speechless for a moment, as he hadn’t heard this when they found Wang Hongwen before.
After exchanging a few polite words, Mr. Zhao and Zhu Xingxing headed downstairs to leave when Xu Dayuan’s phone call came through.
"Boss, you miss me already when you can’t see me for a moment?"
"Quit your nonsense. How’s the investigation going?"
