Chapter 358: Chapter 345: The Cut on the Palm_1
Following Zhou Ning’s gaze, the two of them looked over as well.
Indeed, on the inner side of the top of the doghouse, there was a dark brown trace with four fingerprint marks along the edge.
Without being told, Sun Gaotie hurried to collect the fingerprints. The angle was just right on the inside of the metal sheet, completely sheltered from wind and rain erosion, preserving the fingerprints quite intact.
Yang Xuetong compared the cement footprint and said to Zhou Ning excitedly,
"The shoe print left in the cement matches Chen Gang’s footprint, and the pressure points are exactly the same. As for this bloodstain, I wonder if it matches the blood found on the broken ceramic shards in his house. If they match up, we can confirm it’s Chen Gang’s DNA."
Zhou Ning said nothing, but looked up at the top of the wall.
On top of the wall, just like during the earlier investigation at Wang Hongzhan’s home, there were glass shards embedded on the top, making it almost impossible to climb over the wall without leaving traces. It was necessary to check it out.
However, the amount of blood left on the inside of the doghouse’s top seemed to be quite a lot. Considering the number of broken ceramic shards and the blood inside the old house, the cut couldn’t have been too severe. Could Chen Gang have had another injury when he fled?
Unable to figure it out, Zhou Ning didn’t dwell on it any longer. Seeing that the two had finished their collection, and since a ladder had already been brought over, Yang Xuetong climbed up and inspected the wall top thoroughly, taking several samples before looking back at Zhou Ning.
"There are very few traces left on the wall top. I found four spots that might be bloodstains. We’ll need the lab to compare them. But boss, Chen Gang was killed when he was climbing over the wall; how did the other kidnapper leave?"
Zhou Ning scanned the wall. Although the house had been vacant for twelve years, the walls were well preserved, about two meters high with no signs of collapse. When he had arrived, he had even seen mobile company advertisements painted on the side of the wall facing the road.
"I remember Mr. Sun saying that when they were preparing to encircle the place, someone seemed to have seen a dark figure climb over the wall and leave. But they hadn’t thought much of it then, since at the time they were only after Chen Gang. It wasn’t until they couldn’t find the ransom money that they considered the possibility of a second person’s involvement."
Yang Xuetong motioned to Sun Gaotie.
"Boss, why don’t you check on Mr. Zhao and the others? We’ll borrow a couple more ladders. Since someone climbed over the wall, we should screen the whole area no matter what. I’ll take a few more samples. At worst, Mrs. Cui will scold me a bit—not such a big deal. With this wall, it’s simply impossible to climb over without getting hurt."
Zhou Ning nodded, knowing that although this was a tedious method, it was indeed effective.
"Alright, you two be careful. Have Director Xu dispatch someone to walk around the exterior of the wall and collect any glass shards scattered on the ground. Since we’re searching high and low, we might as well not overlook this detail."
Sun Gaotie was quite decisive, waving to Xu Dayuan and relaying Zhou Ning’s instructions verbatim. Zhou Ning rubbed his nose and quickly entered the second room where Mr. Zhao and the others were.
Upon entering, he found the room was very dim, with a small blue glass window on the east wall that was still intact. The room contained a bed, a table, a wardrobe—all complete except for a single chair that was missing a leg. Mr. Zhao was peering into the wardrobe, while Liu Yongxin and Zhu Xingxing stood by the bed, seemingly fixated on something.
Zhou Ning quickly walked over and inspected the room. On the table, he noticed two deep scratches with what seemed like traces of blood along the edges. This discovery immediately connected in his mind with the blood on top of the doghouse.
Could it be that Chen Gang and the kidnapper had a falling out, resulting in an injury during the dispute? But, according to Cheng Xinghui’s memory, the kidnapper had left alone, and as the police surrounded the place, Chen Gang had hidden him and fled.
Wait a minute, based on the kidnapper’s behavior in the April 14, 2004 kidnapping case, the first step after getting the ransom was always to kill the victim; in fact, based on the time of death, it was possible that the victim had been killed before the ransom was even collected.
So then, in the February 3, 2000 kidnapping case, when carrying the ransom money over, he intended to kill the victim but the process was perhaps interrupted either because Chen Gang had a change of heart or because he heard the noise of the approaching police, which disrupted his plan and caused him to flee in haste.
The more he thought about it, the more Zhou Ning felt this was likely.
The bloodstains inside Chen Gang’s old house were quite complete with clear spatter patterns; any sweeping would have disturbed the clarity, suggesting the bloodstains may not have been unintentional. That place might just be the site of the first dispute between Chen Gang and the kidnapper.
After the child was moved to Pear Orchard and the ransom received, the kidnapper could not persuade Chen Gang. Despite a second dispute, the kidnapper did not kill Chen Gang but instead left with the ransom. Had he attacked then, he might not have been able to escape.
Seeing Zhou Ning motionless, Mr. Zhao gestured a "shush" to Zhu Xingxing, knowing that Zhou Ning must have thought of something.
Zhou Ning put on his gloves and pointed at the two marks on the table.
"Have the photos been taken and samples collected?"
Mr. Zhao nodded, and Liu Yongxin approached.
"Initially, an investigator heard the child crying, came in, and found Cheng Xinghui. When the man was shot dead, we didn’t inspect the scene further. We only realized there were traces left here when we couldn’t find the ransom money."
Zhou Ning examined the two marks. They didn’t seem to be cut by a knife but were two deep gouges, with damage to the wood of the table that looked like they were made by fingernails scraping it.
Mr. Zhao approached, holding a swab.
"Zhou Xiaozhou, maybe I should take the table back with me. These traces are from twelve years ago, and I’m afraid the sampling won’t be accurate."
Liu Yongxin waved his hand and used a scalpel to pry off a piece of debris from a corner.
"This should be enough, but don’t you think this mark is a bit strange? It looks to me like the trace left by a notched blade."
Zhou Ning glanced up at Liu Yongxin and paused slightly.
"Could a triangular bayonet do that?"
"Stop guessing, I’ve already asked someone to get a triangular bayonet. Afterward, we’ll just conduct an experiment. This table’s wood is indeed very soft. Look, even pressing with a fingernail leaves a mark. We’ll go back and do an experiment to see if a military dagger could make a mark like this."
Zhou Ning nodded.
"Take the table back with us. Are there any other findings in the room?"
Mr. Zhao pointed to the investigation box, lifted a layer, and revealed several evidence bags.
"Some things were turned out from the wardrobe, including an L-size spring and autumn work jacket embroidered with the words ’rainbow fireworks.’ Based on what Cheng Zhi described, Chen Gang is very thin; this should be his clothing. It’s just unclear why it was left inside here."
Liu Yongxin crossed his arms and squinted slightly.
"Do you remember, on the other side of the wall, we found the kidnapper’s footprint, identical to Chen Gang’s. Mr. Zhao even deduced the height and weight of the person. Since they could wear the same shoes, I feel the clothes are also Chen Gang’s. Maybe it was by changing into the same clothes that they managed to take the child out."
Mr. Zhao had a look of realization and kept gesturing with his fingers.
"That makes sense now. Two people creating a diversion, pretending to be one, took the child out and first went to the old Chen Family house. Maybe the kidnapper intended to kill at that point, but was stopped by Chen Gang. Perhaps Chen Gang even regretted collaborating, but the kidnapper threatened Chen Gang and had him wait here at Pear Orchard.
The kidnapper went to get the ransom and then returned to Pear Orchard to try to harm the child again. As for the blood... during the argument, Chen Gang’s wounds burst open, the kidnapper took the money and ran. When the police were getting close, that’s when Chen Gang thought of escaping. Wait, Mr. Liu, did Chen Gang have injuries on his hands at the time?"
Liu Yongxin slapped Mr. Zhao on the back and gave him a look.
"Do I look like a computer to you? The files have been delivered, and you’ve also scanned them. Can’t you just look to know?"
By now, Zhou Ning had already pulled up the case file images on his phone. There weren’t many photos of the deceased’s body, but the angles were decent. After flipping through a few, he found one where the hand was spread out. The palm of the right hand had gauze, which had come loose, revealing two deep cuts in the palm.
Next to it was a scale. Mr. Zhao quickly converted and gave the measurement between the two cuts as 0.95 centimeters. Seeing this result, his eyes lit up.
"We checked before, the diameter of this Type 56 triangular bayonet is 1.8 centimeters. Dividing by 2, the radius is 0.9 centimeters, and the circumference is 2.826. The distance between the three edges is approximately 0.942 centimeters. If the skin on the hand was in a relaxed state, then it’s completely possible for such a spacing to appear. Chen Gang must’ve grabbed the triangular bayonet and got cut."
Liu Yongxin smiled and patted Mr. Zhao’s arm.
"Not bad, you did the elementary math well. Send it for testing. We now know quite a lot about the conditions we’re aware of. It’s just unclear what the relationship between Chen Gang and the kidnapper really is. If we find unknown male DNA in these samples, then we’ve struck gold."
Mr. Zhao blinked and raised his hand, counting on his fingers.
"Indeed, we already have many known conditions. The kidnapper is between 175-178 cm tall, of medium build, weighing between 140-150 pounds, with counter-surveillance capabilities, and completely able to escape the police cordon. This isn’t something an ordinary soldier can accomplish.
Right, there’s also the point about contact with ship-specific lubricants, which points to an unusual relationship with Chen Gang. Considering the ruthlessness in slaughtering the Zhu Family, the kidnapper is cruel and vicious.
However, he didn’t harm Chen Gang and only escaped with the ransom. Logically, leaving Chen Gang alive posed the greatest threat to his safety."
Liu Yongxin nodded while Zhou Ning ran his fingers over the scratches on the table.
"Your analysis makes sense. The kidnapper must be very familiar with Chen Gang, and even willing to indulge Chen Gang’s excessive demands, even those that crossed the kidnapper’s lines, after all, leaving alone was the greatest trust he could show in Chen Gang.
As for who this kidnapper is, whether the Chen Family or the Sun Family is aware, that’s up to Director Xu and his interrogation. Before, when no one knew that Chen Gang was adopted, these two families could still feign ignorance. Now, there’s no need for them to hide. Let’s head back for testing and to conduct the relevant experiments."
Zhou Ning touched the table again and then looked towards the wardrobe.
"Take the table back. The cut on Chen Gang’s hand indicates there was a fierce argument here. Maybe the kidnapper’s hands are also injured. Whatever could be extracted from the wall outside has been taken, and everything in the wardrobe has been packed back."
Mr. Zhao nodded and opened the drawer below the wardrobe, when a dark green bag suddenly came into view, with a striking red star on it. Seeing this bag, Zhou Ning paused sharply.
"Wait, Cheng Xinghui said that the man with the hood had a bag like this, didn’t he say that it was used to carry the ransom away?"
