Chapter 395: Chapter 375 I’m Going to Kill You_1
Tao Zhenshan was taken aback.
"Good, that is to say, our previous judgment was not wrong."
Zhou Ning nodded.
"Bring the police dogs over. There might be many caves on the mountain. Once close, the dogs should easily pick up the scent. Right, bring the vomit that Gao Tie just found; the smell will be easy to distinguish."
Tao Zhenshan hurriedly made arrangements. Zhu Weihua was placed in the last police car, while Mrs. Zhu was taken to a car at the front. After getting everyone into the cars, he personally went to inquire.
Zhou Ning glanced back at Mr. Qu and Sun Gaotie with anxious looks on their faces, Mr. Qu kept checking the time.
"You two go to the Zhu Family and look for any signs of beatings. Of course, pay attention to any vomit as well. The stuff smells strong, and a child might have a strong reaction to it after drinking, considering some people die from asphyxiation on the vomit after consuming Paraquat."
The two of them quickly went inside. As time ticked by, Tao Zhenshan got out of the car and immediately made a phone call.
Seeing this action, Zhou Ning breathed a sigh of relief. It was good they responded to the call!
Then, from the remaining criminal investigators, a team was dispatched with stretchers from their cars, rapidly heading up the mountain according to Tao Zhenshan’s instructions. Tao Zhenshan finally approached.
Wiping sweat from his brow, he handed Zhou Ning a bottle of mineral water. The remaining police force had already started to disperse the onlookers at the scene.
"Your analysis was spot-on. This morning, Zhu Weihua brought the half-dead child here who vomited as soon as he was put down. Mrs. Zhu was startled, and Zhu Weihua told her to throw the child up on the mountain. Mrs. Zhu disagreed, and they had a quarrel.
Zhu Weihua said if his mother wouldn’t do it, he would tell the police that she was the one who poisoned the child. Hearing this, Mrs. Zhu was terrified. After Zhu Weihua left, seeing that it wasn’t fully light yet, she hurriedly rode a bicycle and took a shortcut up the mountain, leaving the child in a cave on the southwest side of the mountain with a huge drop. I’ve asked locals from the village committee to lead the way, so let’s wait for the news."
Zhou Ning let out a long sigh but immediately became serious again.
"Director Tao, let’s have someone look around the Chen Family’s trash for Paraquat bottles, and don’t overlook any drink or milk bottles that came with it. The stuff smells strong and is hard to swallow on its own.
Finding the bottle is to confirm Zhu Weihua’s fingerprints, and once we find that, we have solid evidence. If the child is alive, we can also determine the brand and components, which will be helpful for medical treatment. I’ll get in touch with the hospital now to prepare for treatment."
Tao Zhenshan hurried to muster the people. He had brought quite a few officers, and many were searching the mountain. After dispatching some just now, there weren’t many left, but he quickly arranged for it anyway.
Zhou Ning dialed Mr. He’s phone. The other party didn’t respond with hostility but asked carefully what Zhou Ning needed.
"You know Liu Yufei, right? Her cousin’s child was poisoned with Paraquat by the stepmother; we suspect it was given to him around four in the morning. He’ll be sent to you for emergency treatment shortly. Prepare whatever you need to. We don’t know yet how much he swallowed or vomited—the child hasn’t been found."
Mr. He was stunned, then cursed out loud.
"Damn bitch, who are these people? How old is the patient?"
"Eight years old."
...
Soon after, Sun Gaotie and his team came out quickly, with Sun Gaotie holding several evidence bags.
"I don’t have a camera, so I had to use Mr. Qu’s phone to take pictures. The photos are clear enough. We found vomit and some rope fibers. Oh, and a clump of hair which seems like it was pulled out–it’s very yellowish, soft, and fine. I remember from the photos that Chen Xiangyu has yellowish, soft, and fine hair."
Zhou Ning took a look at the evidence and the photos taken, some substances mixed with sand that indeed looked like vomit, prominently blue-green in color. Seeing this, Zhou Ning was even more convinced of his own judgment.
However, it was mixed with some jelly-like chunks of milk.
"It seems it really is Paraquat, and the white chunks are likely milk. Milk turns into these solid chunks when it meets Paraquat. Gao Tie, you’ve made great progress–your attention to detail is excellent, well done!"
Sun Gaotie didn’t feel thrilled being praised by Zhou Ning and still wore a worried expression.
"How did it go, did they confess? If we wait any longer, that child might really die. I know that Paraquat poisoning ultimately leads to fibrosis of the lungs, suffocating bit by bit. Such a thing is too cruel for an eight-year-old child–how could the family live with that?"
Mr. Qu patted Sun Gaotie on the shoulder, signaling him to control his emotions.
Zhou Ning didn’t say anything. This wasn’t the time to offer comfort as he wasn’t sure whether they could find the child. If Mrs. Zhu was lying at this moment, it would only make their hope of rescuing the child even more elusive.
Just then, Zhou Ning’s phone rang. It was Mr. Zhao calling. He was with Liu Yufei’s group, and a call likely meant they found something.
"Hello, Mr. Zhao, have you found him?"
"We found him, but he doesn’t look good. Locals from the village committee found the cave with the help of police dogs. The child is unconscious and has no awareness, with a lot of vomit nearby. The drop inside the cave is significant, and it seems his arm is also broken. I collected samples, and we’re carrying the child down now. Has the ambulance arrived on your side?"
Zhou Ning glanced over, having already called for an ambulance on the way over from Yingtaogou Valley, which was now parked behind the convoy. He signaled for Sun Gaotie to summon the medical staff, then said to Mr. Zhao:
"Don’t worry, it has arrived. I’ve already coordinated with Mr. He to organize a rescue team; just head over directly."
Mr. Zhao breathed a sigh of relief as Sun Gaotie ran toward the ambulance to call for help.
A large group of people rushed down, carrying the child hastily. Seeing Zhou Ning, Liu Yufei nodded at him.
"I won’t waste time thanking you, I need to get the child to the hospital first. You can help Director Tao with the investigation here. But with such a delay, can they still save him?"
"Mrs. Fei, don’t panic. I’ve already contacted Mr. He; the investigation here is nearly done, only the interrogation is left. Of course, we need to bring the suspect in. Mr. Yang and Mr. Sun will stay behind to continue inspecting the cave and the two houses. After all, we haven’t found the Paraquat bottle nearby. I’ll go with Mr. Zhao to the hospital with you and explain everything on the way."
Liu Yufei nodded at Zhou Ning, her face showing gratitude.
At that moment, Chen Xiaodong and his mother also ran over, but Liu Yufei stopped her aunt.
"You have high blood pressure, so just stay home and take your medication. Let my cousin come with me to the hospital. The doctors have been contacted, and your crying won’t help with the rescue. If you get agitated, who should we save, you or the child? We are racing against time; your one minute delay could be life-threatening for the child, you know?"
This time, the old lady actually complied and didn’t push forward. Chen Xiaodong followed the ambulance, while the others got into the police cars. Two police cars cleared the way, with Mr. Zhao driving the Iveco closely behind the ambulance, and a few vehicles headed for the central hospital.
As the convoy disappeared from view, Tao Zhenshan looked at Mr. Yang and the others, let out a long sigh, and glanced at his watch. It was almost nine o’clock, but they found the person, although everyone was exhausted.
"Let’s get to work quickly. I’ll send more people to search. As Zhou Ning said, we must find the Paraquat bottle. I’ll go to urgently interrogate Zhu Weihua. If she can talk, this matter will be easier to handle."
Sun Gaotie hesitated for a moment, raising his hand. Tao Zhenshan gestured for him to speak.
"Speak up, I’m not Director Xu."
At those words, they all laughed, guessing that Xu Dayuan was probably sneezing right now.
"Director Tao, I’ve already searched the Zhu Family’s place once and gathered all evidence that should be collected. According to Mrs. Zhu, after Zhu Weihua brought the child here, he started vomiting in the courtyard. I’ve found the vomit, which indeed contains blue-green Paraquat.
However, mixed with the vomit were jelly-like chunks of milk. I suspect she mixed Paraquat with the milk and gave it to the child to drink. From the Chen Family in Yingtaogou Valley to the Zhu Family in Hanjia Village, it’s less than a kilometer, just a few minutes by bike.
For such a reaction to happen, he must have drunk it at home, so I think we should search the Chen Family’s place thoroughly. Perhaps it wasn’t discarded in a garbage can or by the side of the road but hidden somewhere in the Chen Family’s house."
Tao Zhenshan patted Sun Gaotie’s arm and laughed, seemingly relieved that they had found the person.
"Then let’s do as you suggest, but still keep searching along the way. Let’s go check out the Chen Family’s place."
As they got into the cars, onlookers continued to point and gossip, while a little boy came out of the Zhu Family’s courtyard, wearing a light yellow T-shirt and shorts, eyeing the police with fear. Someone noticed him and hurried to inform the village committee members to take care of it.
The Zhu mother and daughter’s actions of poisoning someone and abandoning them in a cave shouldn’t bring trouble to their family. It seemed there was no one else at home, and today was the first day of school; this little boy probably didn’t even go to class.
The village committee director and a female director came over, trying to embrace the boy, but he pushed them away fiercely, glaring at the police and shouting desperately:
"You are the bad guys, give me back my mom and grandma, give them back! I will kill you all!"
Such a reaction prompted a wave of murmurs and louder gossip among the onlookers, with one woman spitting in disgust.
"This kid is really vicious, wanting to kill police officers. His mom is a murderer. It looks like her ex-husband’s incident from the past wasn’t so simple either."
Mr. Zeng, standing not far away, paused at these words as the people around him began to discuss it spiritedly.
"For sure, Zhu Weihua was beaten so bad by her son-in-law that she ended up in the hospital. Afterwards, she went back without a word. Then the son-in-law was rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment, nearly lost his life, and that was when they agreed to the divorce, with a substantial sum of money given."
A slightly younger woman shook her head.
"You only know half the story. How close was he to losing his life? The second ’little brother’ was cut right off. He called the emergency number himself after waking up, otherwise, he would have died. Living with such a wife was like strapping one’s head to a belt. He wouldn’t dare not divorce, sparing wealth to save his life was more important."
"Really, cut it off? Didn’t that turn him into a eunuch?"
The village women didn’t hold back their crude remarks, talking unblinkingly, with one even taking out a bag of sunflower seeds and cracking them open, shrugging and sighing.
"I heard he managed to save it, but it ended up a bit shorter. He gave all his savings to those two women and went to the south to work. If he hesitated for a moment longer, perhaps what would be cut off next wouldn’t be that ’head.’ At the time, I thought his complaint was about money, but now, he obviously did it to save his life."
Mr. Zeng moved closer to the conversation.
"Was Zhu Weihua’s ex-husband also from a nearby village?"
