Chapter 384: Chapter 367 Unexpected Call_1
Mr. Zhao’s smile, which showed his teeth, faded as he saw Zhou Ning and the others wearing serious expressions, knowing his own smile was somewhat inappropriate. He hastily composed himself and put an arm around Zhu Zuozhang’s shoulder.
"Forensic Doctor Zhu, calm down a bit. You haven’t spent much time with Zhou Xiaozhou; he knows some metaphysics. Guessing all this isn’t much for him, we’re used to it."
Zhu Zuozhang swatted away Mr. Zhao’s plump hand and smiled along.
"Alright, I won’t dwell on it anymore. I’m convinced of Director Zhou’s capability. These four were caught without much effort, and they confessed straightaway. The process was quite brutal, with one of the youngsters even recording a video, probably to document his ’glorious achievements.’ However, one of them is under eighteen."
Upon hearing these words, everyone fell silent.
This meant that, despite the heinous nature of the case, the three adults were certainly facing the death penalty, but the one who was under eighteen would escape death, receiving at most life imprisonment. With good behavior, that could be reduced to a fixed term of 15-25 years, though in practice, the longest term served for fixed-term imprisonment is typically 15 years. This meant that the individual could be back out by the age of 33.
Seeing that no one else spoke, Zhu Zuozhang continued,
"Don’t dwell on the sentencing. That’s not within our purview or under our control. Catching the perpetrators and bringing them to justice is what we should focus on. Also, determining who is most culpable among these few and who the ringleader is requires further analysis.
Let me tell you about the process. On the evening of July 5th, at 18:21, after scouting the area, the four of them snuck into Wang Zhaocai’s home. After killing the dog and stealing property, they saw a wedding dress hanging inside and found Pan Jinghong to be particularly beautiful. After discussing it, they decided not to leave and hid in the Wang Family home.
At 19:44, after having dinner at his mother’s home, Wang Zhaocai and his wife drove back home. Once inside and the door locked, the four emerged and overpowered Wang Zhaocai who tried to resist. Then they restrained him in the living room, while two pairs of them violently assaulted Pan Jinghong.
During the process, Pan Jinghong resisted continuously, and the four men tortured her, causing burns, bite wounds, fractures, and soft tissue contusions, mostly inflicted at that time. Wang Zhaocai begged them, especially since Pan Jinghong was pregnant, but the four men didn’t spare either of them.
After brutally beating Wang Zhaocai until two o’clock in the morning, the group became hungry and forced him to cook for them, specifically requesting braised pork. Wang Zhaocai, thinking they were about to leave, cooked the meat according to their demand. After the meal, the four threatened the couple to hand over their bank cards and the PINs.
Around 4 a.m., the four men brutally murdered the couple. However, during the process of strangling Pan Jinghong, Ho Changdong was bitten. Enraged, he grabbed a fruit knife, sliced open Pan Jinghong’s chest and abdomen, intending to chop her up. However, he was stopped by Zhang Xiaochui. Ho Changdong, furious and humiliated, bit into what was apparently an organ.
Afterward, they used bedding to drag the bodies into the car, but they then thought better of leaving any bloodstained clothing, including their own outerwear, and decided to get rid of it. During the process, Zhang Xiaochui attempted to put on Wang Zhaocai’s trousers, which looked expensive.
He placed his own card in the pocket and after putting on the trousers, found a hole and bloodstains on them. He stripped them off and changed back, and the others added Wang Zhaocai’s trousers to the bag. Zhang Xiaochui then forgot that his card was still in them.
Next, they drove to the back of Xi Anzi Village’s pond at 5:33, where they attempted to dispose of both bags, but realized the bags wouldn’t sink. Ho Changdong once again got into the water to retrieve the bags, and after some discussion, they recalled a deserted hole near Xihe Cliff they had scouted earlier.
They then transported the bodies to that hole, dumped them inside, and covered them with bundles of cornstalks, thinking the bodies would decompose unnoticed in a few days, especially since the area was remote and not close to any densely populated villages or towns where they might be discovered.
Finally, they transported four big bags to the next cave, dug a pit with a shovel, and buried the items before hastily departing. They arrived in Quanshan District and found a public restroom to clean themselves up before collectively heading to the bank to withdraw a total of 19,700 yuan from the cards in six different transactions.
In the afternoon, Ma Da’s team accessed the surveillance footage and subsequently apprehended the four at a restaurant. They were all considerably drunk and during the initial interrogation, none held back, confessing everything. The car had been rented by Ho Changdong, as he was the only one with a driver’s license.
They had originally planned to have fun in Qindao for a couple of days and then return to Yunan Province. It was just while driving around for fun that they developed their malicious intentions. They were all clamoring that they hadn’t set out to commit a crime, nor were they some syndicate committing premeditated acts—just a momentary lapse."
Zhou Ning snorted, his expression darkening. These were all excuses.
"Justifications. We don’t know what their true intent was in coming to Qindao, but to scout around Xi Anzi Village three times in the car, while not targeting the more populated East Anzi, to meticulously select a newly married family, and then to dispose of the bodies in an abandoned cave above Xihe Cliff—it’s clearly not a spur-of-the-moment decision; it was a carefully planned act."
Zhu Zuozhang also sighed.
"Yes, I was telling Ma Da the same thing. This whole ordeal look’s like the work of seasoned criminals. This intersection’s surveillance camera was installed only ten days ago. Just imagine, if this had happened ten days earlier, it’s quite possible that we wouldn’t have been able to find any information on them. And the caves above Xihe Cliff have been abandoned for decades and aren’t tourist spots. Who would think that it would be a place to dispose of bodies?"
Zhou Ning nodded in agreement, then looked towards Zhu Xingxing, who, at that moment, thoughtfully handed over the autopsy reports. Zhou Ning glanced at the time.
"Ask Mrs. Cui if the test reports from there are out yet. Pan Jinghong’s autopsy report is already prepared. Take it with you."
Before he could finish speaking, the door burst open. Cui Lili stood at the entrance, glanced at Zhu Zuozhang.
"I went to your office and didn’t find you, but I guessed you’d be here with him. The autopsy reports for both victims are ready. Who should I give them to?"
Zhou Ning, Mr. Zhao, Zhu Xingxing, Mr. Yang, and Sun Gaotie all reached out simultaneously, pointing at Zhu Zuozhang. Zhu Zuozhang couldn’t help but laugh, admiring the unity and cooperation within Zhou Ning’s team.
"Give it all to me, this is the case I took over. I pulled Director Zhou in for the autopsy, I can’t bother him any further, but I’ll still need Mr. Cui’s help when the blood samples from the four suspects arrive later."
Xia Momo nodded.
"Just send them over, I’ve already arranged the manpower."
Xia Momo looked at Zhou Ning without the intention of leaving. Zhu Zuozhang quickly brought his hands together in gratitude, thanked her again, and hastily left. Mr. Zhao, dragging a few people off work, all noticed that Xia Momo had something to say.
In an instant, the room was empty. Xia Momo sat down at Zhou Ning’s gesture and finally smiled and said,
"I wanted to ask you, now that it’s not July anymore, is your team recruiting new interns? I heard Li Wen say they organized practical activities, and during the summer break, you can choose to join any group. I want to pull some strings and have Li Wen train with you for a bit, even just to help with odds and ends."
Zhou Ning laughed.
"You’re most welcome. But my team has a lot of intense work and takes on many cases; it’s truly a training ground. To have her for just a summer vacation, I couldn’t ask for more. Gao Tie’s internship period has just ended, and I would like to keep him, but I also need to see if there’s any other good new blood."
Xia Momo nodded.
"Then, thank you very much. Mr. Peng said that this year, both forensic departments will significantly expand their staff, and each team should try to add a few more people. But we still have to hold on for two more months."
"I know, so for the help Mrs. Cui just mentioned, I should be the one thanking you. If it weren’t for my mentor coming over to help, plus the lab’s participation, we would indeed be stretched thin here."
Xia Momo stood up.
"Don’t cry poverty to me, go complain to Mr. Peng if you must. My department is even more short-staffed. After all, it’s rare for young people to choose a career in testing. The work is too repetitive, and the analytical aspect requires people with high education and capabilities, which are indeed hard to find. Alright, I won’t bother you anymore. Hurry off work now. It’s not easy when you finish the cases on hand, and you can take a rest."
Zhou Ning saw Xia Momo out and then got into his car. It was Sunday, and he was considering whether to have dinner with his grandfather when his phone rang with a call from an unknown landline number.
Zhou Ning didn’t think much of it and answered the call directly.
"Hello, who is this?"
"Ah, hello. I’m Xia Shouchang."
Zhou Ning paused a moment, still trying to recall if he knew anyone with the surname Xia other than Momo, then it hit him, this was Momo’s father.
For a moment, Zhou Ning grew nervous. Glancing at the phone number again, he noticed the first four digits were indeed the city government’s number. He quickly straightened up and hastily replied,
"Mayor Xia, hello."
"I got your number from the department. Do you have some time? You don’t need to use my official title. I’m not calling you for work. I’m contacting you as Xia Momo’s father; I want to talk to you."
Zhou Ning was somewhat puzzled by Xia Shouchang’s words and was at a loss, but since he had put it that way, Zhou Ning couldn’t refuse.
"Sure, where would you like to meet? Should I come to your office, or shall we meet somewhere else?"
"You know the Fu Xin Building north of the city government, right? Just come directly to the Tea Room 201 on the second floor. I’d like you not to contact Momo about this. Let’s discuss everything when we meet. Is that okay?"
"No problem, I’m on my way now. It will take about twenty minutes by car."
Xia Shouchang hung up the phone without saying goodbye or any further instructions. This whole operation left Zhou Ning perplexed. Their previous encounter was just a brief greeting, and although he had known Momo for nearly two years, he had never had a proper conversation with her father. He had no clue what this was really about.
Nevertheless, since he had agreed, he had to hurry over. Zhou Ning started the car and swiftly headed towards the Fu Xin Building. On the way, he dialed Mr. Zhao’s mobile phone, but it was busy. He then tried calling Zhu Xingxing; hers was busy too. It seemed the two were in a conversation.
Zhou Ning sighed, steeled himself, got out of the car, and headed straight to the Fu Xin Building. Guided by the staff, he arrived at Tea Room 201 on the second floor and knocked. Mayor Xia’s voice called out from inside.
"Come in!"
