Chapter 473: 444th heart-wrenching cry_1
Zhou Ning took a deep breath and, pointing to the smear marks on the window, said:
"This handprint looks like it was left by a little boy. It should be tested against the baby bottle in the living room. Fingerprint, substance, DNA—it’s likely left by the boy.
If you say that the parapet in the living room and the windowsill could barely support two kids climbing up, this mark is 1.2 meters above the windowsill. The two children couldn’t have reached it without assistance, which is why I suspect the boy didn’t fall accidentally."
Liu Yufei didn’t seem too surprised, just clenched her teeth tightly and swung her fist after a long silence.
"I’ll go downstairs and inquire with the child’s father, then check the surveillance of this unit’s elevator to see if anyone other than the old lady and Zhang Bo has come in or out. Even a tiger doesn’t eat its cubs; surely it can’t be Zhang Bo who did it?"
Zhou Ning’s heart was churning, with images of Zhang Bo’s heart-wrenching cries downstairs and the motion of him banging his head against the wall. If it was all done by the boy’s father, could he calmly look at his child’s body and then put on an act?
He took out his phone and said to Mr. Zhao.
"Mr. Zhao, contact Mr. Yang and have him bring along Mr. Wang and Sun Gaotie, and also Mr. Qu. Let him handle the surveillance search. I’ll get in touch with Mr. He. The child’s body should be sent straight to the technical department.
Have Zhu Xingxing and the others collect DNA from the surface of the body’s clothing first, and check the material of the clothing for signs of printing. There might be fingerprints left. Right now, gathering evidence is the most important thing."
Mr. Zhao, clenching his phone, had already shouted a few commands in the group chat, and sent the location successfully. He looked at Zhou Ning, then at Liu Yufei, and quickly said.
"Just now, based on that lady’s account, Zhang Bo is divorced. His eldest daughter has always been living with her mother. Should we get her contact information and ask her to come over?"
Liu Yufei nodded.
"I’ll handle it. Not just that, but I’ve already had someone detain Zhang Bo. He has no communication tools on him and is likely still in his room. Look around for him."
Zhou Ning understood what this implied.
"Go ask the old lady for her son’s phone number."
Mr. Zhao hurried out, while Zhou Ning had just finished talking to Mr. He. Soon Mr. Zhao came back holding his phone, apparently making a call, but no vibration or ringing was heard from the room.
Zhou Ning hurried to search. The apartment, a three-bedroom, two-room house, wasn’t very big. The master bedroom was dead silent. The three of them headed toward the other two bedrooms and the kitchen. As they reached the smallest bedroom on the north side, they saw flickering light from a drawer of the bedside table.
Zhou Ning quickly approached and opened the drawer to reveal a cell phone. Just as Mr. Zhao’s call ended, Zhou Ning pressed the side button of the phone, and it switched to the password entry interface.
Not a pattern, but a pure numeric password.
Mr. Zhao fiddled with it but had no idea how to proceed. He dialed again, and this time caller information appeared on the screen. Behind the translucent screen saver, which featured a photo of Zhang Bo with a woman, shone dimly through, was Mr. Zhao’s sharp-eyed exclamation as he pointed at the screen.
"That’s a picture of Zhang Bo with a woman, and she looks to be about twenty."
Zhou Ning glanced at it, and surely enough, the woman in the photo with Zhang Bo exuded a vibrant youthfulness.
They were sitting side by side, shoulders together, Zhang Bo’s arm ambiguously around the woman, positioned between her waist and shoulder. They were seated on the ground, with the sea as a backdrop, dressed lightly, even making a heart sign with their hands. Such a brilliant smile now seemed extremely jarring.
The background season was summer, and Zhang Bo had clearly gained considerable weight since the photo was taken. Poetic phrases in English adorned the top right corner, followed by a date, August 22, 2011.
If the boy was a year and a half old, then this photo was taken either just after his birth or before he was born. Perhaps this was the mistress mentioned by the downstairs neighbors.
At that moment, Liu Yufei’s phone rang. It was Mr. Bai. She quickly answered.
"How did the investigation go?"
"Mr. Qu has arrived and has retrieved the surveillance footage. After the old lady left at 10:11, nobody lingered on the 15th floor of the second unit. The only activity was at 10:29 when the homeowner, Zhang Bo, in his slippers, rushed into the elevator."
Liu Yufei narrowed her eyes.
"You’re saying, Zhang Bo took the elevator downstairs."
"Yes, he waited four minutes, reaching the first floor at 10:34."
"Then what? Does anyone know who Zhang Bo’s current girlfriend is?"
"No idea, just that they’ve seen her, knew she was pretty, tall, but her name, where she works? No one knows that. The Zhang family’s old lady seems not to approve of this relationship. People avoid it when asking her."
"Let Mr. Qu and the others come up. There’s a mobile phone here; we don’t know the password. See if he can crack it."
Mr. Zhao’s phone also rang at that moment; Mr. Yang and his team had come up by elevator. Upon entering, Mr. Zhao briefed them on the situation. Hearing Mr. Zhao’s account, Yang Xuetong and Mr. Sun seemed visibly shocked.
"Wait, you suspect the kids’ own father was involved?"
Mr. Zhao looked at Zhou Ning, who nodded slightly.
"Go to the master bedroom and carefully lift the prints from the window glass and the smeared marks. I need precise measurements. Plus, check the girl’s suitcase as well."
Without further chatter, they followed Mr. Zhao, and just as they entered the master bedroom, they heard a heart-wrenching cry from the doorway. Zhou Ning quickly went to see; the sound was more of a howl.
When humans are in extreme sorrow, they lose the ability to use language; all they can manage is an animal-like howl, heart-wrenching, and despite the grating noise, one could still sense the pain and sadness.
Zhou Ning knew the mother of the children must have arrived.
He took a deep breath, the work of a forensic doctor was something he really enjoyed, but facing the relatives was truly painful.
When he arrived at the entrance door, sure enough, a woman was being held by Liu Yufei, already kneeling on the ground, having apparently just tried to rush into the room for confirmation.
And the old lady crying against a wall on one side was now crying even harder, beating her chest continuously as if accompanied by regret and self-blame.
The woman tried to rush into the room again, and Liu Yufei almost fell over from being pulled, so she sternly made the woman sit down in a chair.
"How many times do I need to tell you, we’re surveying the scene here, you sit here quietly and wait, once everything is over I’ll take you back to the police station, assist us with the investigation," Liu Yufei said.
Zhou Ning walked over. The woman’s eyes reminded him of his own mother; in such a critical moment, she actually thought to hide him away while she drew the attention of the criminal. Perhaps that’s just how mothers are, unflinchingly devoted.
"What’s your name, do you have any ID with you?" Zhou Ning asked.
The woman looked up, glanced at her empty hands, and just shook her head slightly.
"I came up in such a hurry, I didn’t bring any identification. My name is Chen Meilin, my daughter’s name is Zhang Ruixue, my son’s name is Zhang Yangrui. My daughter is two and a half years old, my son is one and a half," the woman, Chen Meilin, said.
Chen Meilin became slightly emotional as she spoke, grabbing hold of Liu Yufei’s hand; after all, among those in uniform here, she was the one with the highest rank.
"Where are my two children? I want to see them, please! " she pleaded.
Liu Yufei looked towards Zhou Ning, unsure how to handle such a mother’s plea. Liu Yufei could go street racing after a suspect or tackle someone without a second thought, but she didn’t know how to respond to this.
Zhou Ning walked over and dialed Xu Dayuan’s number on his phone.
"Where are you guys?" Zhou Ning asked.
"Didn’t you tell me to take the bodies to your forensic lab? I’m already at your back yard. What’s the meaning of this, do you have other arrangements?" He Shancun’s voice was loud, and the word "bodies," as well as the term "forensic," which Chen Meilin could clearly hear, indicated all too well what they meant.
Zhou Ning hummed a response and helped Chen Meilin to her feet.
"This is where the children fell. We need to conduct a thorough investigation to at least determine if the children fell accidentally. Being here won’t help, you might as well come with me to the city bureau and tell us everything you know. It could help our investigation, and you’d learn the truth," Zhou Ning said.
Chen Meilin nodded. Not a single one of Zhou Ning’s words was meant to soothe her emotions, but each one directed her.
"Okay, I’ll cooperate. I’ll go with you, but can I just see my children for a moment?" she asked.
Zhou Ning nodded.
"Yes, but only if you can control your emotions. Also, think about whether there are any other close relatives you need to notify," he advised.
Chen Meilin shook her head.
"I can’t tell. My mother has just been discharged from the hospital not long ago, her blood pressure isn’t well-controlled. I’m afraid she can’t take the news," Chen Meilin admitted.
Zhou Ning glanced at Mr. Zhao, who quickly raised his hand and said,
"Don’t worry about here, we’re surveying the scene, Mr. Qu is already up here, and he’s begun to copy the surveillance footage. As for unlocking the phones, we will send them back immediately. You can go with peace of mind. Should we also take the old lady?"
Following Mr. Zhao’s gaze, Liu Yufei glanced at the equally grieving old lady outside the door and nodded slightly.
"Mr. Bai, take the old lady in one car, watch your mouth, and go directly to the first team. I’ve talked to Director Xu, he’ll be there soon. Chen Meilin will ride with me and Director Zhou, while Zhang Bo and Zhang Ping will take another car. Ma Liang will stay at the scene, let’s go!" she instructed.
Speaking thus, the group hurried downstairs. The old lady seemed to want to say something to Chen Meilin, but Chen Meilin kept staring at the door. The old lady hesitated several times but couldn’t bring herself to speak.
Outside the unit, the bloodstains on the stairs were still glaring. The area around was cordoned off by police tape. Liu Yufei pulled Chen Meilin to the car quickly, but Chen Meilin’s eyes remained fixed on the two pools of blood, tears streaming uncontrollably.
"Officer, was it an accident that my two children fell?" Chen Meilin asked.
Liu Yufei shook her head.
"Without investigation, everything is speculation. We police deal with evidence. I know what it means for a mother to lose her children. I don’t expect you to control your emotions, but take a sip of water, rest a little, and then try to recall everything from these last two days or even since your divorce," Liu Yufei said.
Chen Meilin nodded, wiped away her tears, held the water bottle without speaking, as the police sirens wailed, and they quickly arrived at the city bureau’s backyard.
Zhou Ning, in fact, hoped that there were other family members in Chen Meilin’s family who could come and sign, as it was rather cruel to let a mother see this.
As for the old lady, he had already met her; according to what Mr. Zhao had heard, the custody of the two children was split between two families, so signatures from both were necessary.
Zhou Ning stepped forward, and as soon as he entered the technical department, he saw Zhu Xingxing standing at the door. Zhu Xingxing glanced at the people behind and leaned close to Zhou Ning.
"The two bodies are already here, in the second autopsy room. Their outer clothes have been sent to the lab for examination. After sampling the blood from the children’s faces, I’ve wiped them clean. You can have a look," Zhu Xingxing reported.
Zhou Ning nodded, turned around to face Chen Meilin.
"If you can control your emotions, you can come with me to see your children one last time. If you can’t control your emotions, then it’s better not to see them for now," he said.
"I can, I can control my emotions!" Chen Meilin affirmed.
