Chapter 373: Chapter 357 Coffin Board_1
Following Mr. Zhao’s gaze, the two squatted down and joined him.
Dimly, they could see a metal strip fitted snugly into the floor under the wardrobe, almost seamless, making it difficult to tell whether it was mere decoration or some kind of setting—though it looked more like a trapdoor for a maintenance hatch. But a trapdoor on the floor?
Yang Xuetong kicked Mr. Zhao’s foot and threw his camera to the side.
"Doctor Zhu, could you hold the video camera for me and then help us move this? The knock from Mr. Zhao just now was quite strong, and it only moved the wardrobe slightly. This time, let’s both try lifting it, so we can expose the whole thing and have a better look," he said.
Zhu Xingxing was eager to try, but Mr. Zhao stopped her with a look.
She pouted, took the camera, and Mr. Zhao also got up, seemingly no longer in pain due to the discovery. The two together pushed the wardrobe sideways toward the window by a meter, fully exposing the hidden area.
It turned out to be a sliding door, devoid of any handles. After inspecting it, Yang Xuetong tried to pry it open with a knife, but the tightly fitted secret door wouldn’t budge.
Mr. Zhao waved his hand to stop Yang Xuetong’s action.
"Don’t force it open. I think this thing isn’t meant to be opened with brute force. Look at the edges of the metal strip; there aren’t any scratch marks. But there are fingerprints, so we should collect those first," he said.
Yang Xuetong hurried to collect the fingerprints while Mr. Zhao lay down on the ground, his face close to the floor. From this angle, he could see that the trapdoor seemed to be lower than the floor itself, and the fingerprints were left on two corners near the window.
Mr. Zhao matched the size with his hands—it was the imprints of two thumbs. Once Yang Xuetong finished collecting the fingerprints, Mr. Zhao gestured to the others.
"You both stand back and record from there; I’ll give it a try," he said.
They stood and stepped back, and Mr. Zhao looked at Zhu Xingxing; upon receiving her nod, he mirrored the position of the fingerprints and pushed down on both corners with his thumbs. Just as he applied pressure, a click was heard. Mr. Zhao didn’t let go, shaking his head towards Yang Xuetong and Zhu Xingxing.
"I just remembered, Lou Sanfeng is a retired military man. It’s not impossible for this to be a bomb. Zhu Xingxing, move the nightstand over here, put the video camera on it, then both of you leave the room. Record my face—if something happens to me, tell my parents, and I will have died a hero," he said.
Yang Xuetong became instantly anxious. He heard the click and felt unease at Mr. Zhao’s words, waving his hands frantically.
"Mr. Zhao, don’t move. I’ll call for help right now, let Director Xu contact a bomb disposal expert. Hang in there, and Doctor Zhu, follow me," he said.
Zhu Xingxing almost burst into tears, shaking her head vigorously.
"No, I’m staying right here. You fat idiot, after bullying me for over twenty years, I haven’t had my revenge yet. You can’t die like this, I won’t allow it," she said.
Zhu Xingxing hugged Mr. Zhao, and the camera slipped from her hand. Caught off guard, Mr. Zhao lost his balance and fell towards the wall; his hands instinctively let go, and at the same moment, the trapdoor below snapped open.
Yang Xuetong shuddered with fright, stepping back instinctively, while Mr. Zhao rolled over, pinning Zhu Xingxing to the ground.
After waiting for a while and hearing no further sound, Mr. Zhao turned to look at the trapdoor, now revealing a long, wooden box below. He awkwardly got up and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"Damn it, that was a false alarm; it scared me to death. What’s with this place? Who makes a doorway like that—it’s terrifying," he said.
Zhu Xingxing and Yang Xuetong leaned in too, examining the wooden box. It was very old, with metal trim on its corners, obviously antique. But it was the length of the box that Zhu Xingxing gestured at.
"Quit freaking out on us, scaring us half to death; do you plan to frighten people without consequences? Hurry up and take pictures, open the box and let’s see. I have a feeling that its length resembles that of the murder weapon," she said.
Yang Xuetong nodded and cleared his throat.
"I suggest you both get on with the job at hand instead of feeding me a face full of PDA. It’s too much; we might as well have brought Sun Gaotie in with us," he said.
Mr. Zhao chuckled and helped Zhu Xingxing to her feet.
"Business before pleasure," he said.
With that, he lifted the box out of the recess in the floor—it wasn’t very deep, just about ten centimeters, and though the box was thin, it was elongated. After a long look, they found a tiny latch at the side. Mr. Zhao fumbled with it, then opened the box.
A black, tri-edge bayonet appeared before them, its tip obviously broken off. The bayonet was still over thirty centimeters long, with dark traces on it that even without the use of Luminol were obviously bloodstains.
Upon seeing this, all three of them held their breath, then became uncontrollably excited.
"Quick, call Zhou Xiaozhou, tell them we’ve found the murder weapon. Zhu Xingxing, take the box downstairs and have them expedite analysis," Mr. Zhao said.
No sooner had Mr. Zhao closed the box than he handed it to Zhu Xingxing. She ran downstairs with it, disappearing in a flash. Yang Xuetong pulled Mr. Zhao to his feet and exhaled deeply.
"Pal, get up. We need to check the next room. We haven’t found the primary crime scene yet, but I suspect it’s in that room. Had we known, we could have started our check from the west side," he said.
Mr. Zhao waved his hand.
"No point crying over spilt milk, let’s head to the next room. And bring along the video camera and the regular camera. Zhu Xingxing left them all on the floor in her hurry," he said.
