Chapter 559: Chapter 529 Suspicious Laboratory_1
Liu Yongxin’s face showed excitement, and he kept waving at a junior criminal police officer next to him, signaling for him to hurry and call people over.
"Call through the intercom; tell the folks from Technical to get here."
The junior police officer nodded frantically, repeated Mr. Zhao’s words into the intercom, and in moments everyone rushed over. Liu Yongxin, panting, squatted beside Mr. Zhao.
"What did you find?"
"Footprints. Although they’re not complete, the pattern is so distinctive. I think it’s the same as the one found in Mr. Qu’s flower bed. And looking at the position, this guy has a keen eye. He said it’s a pit made from peeing, and I found it indeed looks like it. Mr. Liu, take a look. According to the position where the footprints were left, this person must have been peeing facing the slope."
Mr. Yang also squatted down, took off his mask, and sniffed closely at the spot.
"It really is urine, and this person peed with a lot of force. There were dead grasses here, and they’ve all been washed away."
Liu Yongxin, looking at the distribution of the footprints, squatted down in emulation and realized:
"This person squatted to pee to avoid making noise and to hide more easily. That’s why some of the dead grass was washed away. He didn’t notice in the dark. Regarding the footprints, after comparison with those in the residential area’s flower bed, I’m even more convinced that this person is over 180 centimeters tall. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have done so."
"Mr. Liu, should we continue the search?"
Liu Yongxin waved his hand and turned to look in the direction of Qin University Road.
From this position, you can just see a rock obstructing the view ahead. This place makes a perfect windbreak, which can reduce the spread of odor. Suppressing the excitement in his heart, Liu Yongxin waved to the people around him.
"From here to that rock, we’ll search ourselves. Look for broken branches, footprints, even cigarette butts, garbage, any and every sort of clue. I think we’re closing in on the spot where the killer was staking out. That rock makes the most perfect observation point."
Mr. Zhao nodded his head and quickly called for Sun Gaotie and the others to come over, wishing he had a magnifying glass to closely inspect everything below. Little flags were erected, and Fang Mu and his team all rushed over. Liu Yongxin, holding a magnifying glass, knelt on one knee.
There were seven footprints pressed into the ground, retaining a sense of direction and scuffing. Liu Yongxin analyzed closely.
"This person’s shoes are size 44. Based on the stride and depth of the footprints, they are estimated to be between 180 and 185 centimeters tall. The outer heel of the left foot is worn significantly, while the right foot bears the weight. Normally, most people bear weight on their right foot, but with this person’s outward-turned left foot and one-sided wear of the left shoe, we can consider that they might be left-handed.
Moreover, there is an old injury below the knee joint of the left leg, causing a valgus deformity, which limits mobility when walking quickly, resulting in compensatory gait. It may not be noticeable when walking slowly or running, but when taking quick steps or moving sideways without control, one can clearly feel the presence of the leg injury."
Mr. Zhao came over with an excited face.
"We found a urine sample. This person has a problem with his left leg; we’re getting closer to the truth. Should we keep looking to see if any other clues are left?"
He then helped Liu Yongxin to his feet, and several of them walked behind the rock, where Yang Xuetong and Mr. Wang were already climbing. Driver Mr. Wang, not far away, picked up an L-shaped cigarette butt with tweezers. The cigarette was two-thirds burnt, with the remaining head compressed into a lump.
Looking at the position of the rock and then carefully examining the markings on the cigarette butt.
"Mr. Zhao, take a look at this cigarette butt. I think someone was standing on the rock, pinched out the cigarette, and then flicked it away with their fingers. There are teeth marks on it, too; perhaps we can find fingerprints."
Mr. Zhao, who had climbed halfway up the rock, hurried down to driver Mr. Wang, put the cigarette butt in an evidence bag, and handed it to Liu Yongxin. Mr. Yang and Mr. Wang on the rock also started looking for the spot where the cigarette was put out, and soon found several scorched spots on the left edge.
"Found it. It seems the cigarette was pinched out here and then tossed away. Mr. Liu, how could a professional killer leave something like this behind?"
Liu Yongxin had already picked up the cigarette butt, looked at it closely, and his face showed a flash of realization.
"The person is professional indeed. However, I think the tobacco smoke they used had something added to it. It looks like a regular cigarette, but there’s a pinhole in the location of the marking below the cigarette butt filter. Such a decisive person, capable of lying in wait for hours without leaving a trace, if they leave something like this behind, it’s either to withstand pain or the cravings of a drug addiction, prompting them to smoke voluntarily."
Mr. Zhao nodded his head, his small eyes wide and round.
"Mr. Liu, by that logic, this person is connected to the Fang Shengping case. When we found the waitress, Zhang Meng, who Liu Liwei had hidden, she was smoking this kind of laced cigarette, with injection sites all matching."
"Not necessarily. Pack up the stuff. Let’s look for any other remnants. If there aren’t any, we’ll just circle around the rock to find the path this person took to get down."
Without needing any further instruction, everyone was on the move. Fang Mu called out for everyone to hold their positions, as such a meticulous inspection is better done by professionals. Just having a direction was already a major lead.
Before long, the search was complete, and following the trail blazed by Yang Xuetong and Sun Gaotie, they found a descending path on the eastern slope of Mount Fu. The area, shaped like a gulley, had sparse weeds and was mostly composed of broken stones and gravel. There weren’t many footprints, but this was the closest path between the two residential areas.
After reaching the bottom of the mountain, they took photographs of the newly found footprints and collected traces. Mr. Zhao shouted from above, asking everyone to step aside. He picked up the investigation kit and hit the timer, running down the path as fast as he could, rushing to the parking strip between the two residential areas and glancing at the time; it had only taken him a little over ninety seconds.
Panting, Mr. Zhao turned to Liu Yongxin.
"Mr. Liu, the time it took to get down here was shorter than we had anticipated. Without carrying the box, I reckon even with a backpack, it would only take a minute to get down. Circling around to the south side of the villa, climbing over the railing, and reaching the flowerbed would take at most three minutes.
Zhou Xiaozhou didn’t drive fast. It took him ten minutes just to drive up from the intersection on Qin University Road, find a parking spot, and then get back home. It seems the murderer had thoroughly figured out Zhou Xiaozhou’s routine and had ample time to prepare."
Liu Yongxin nodded.
"It seems we’ve found where the suspect was lying in wait, but that’s not enough. After attacking, he didn’t appear on the surveillance, so could it be possible that he went back up the mountain the same way, avoiding the crowd and the cameras, and then found transportation to leave?"
Liu Yongxin’s guess was bold, yet Zhao Xinli and the others, after hearing it, all nodded in agreement.
"Indeed, to leave campus would be impossible, I think. Moreover, after Mr. He found Zhou Ning, he sent him to the hospital, and called Director Xu to inform him; people arrived here to take charge immediately. To escape unnoticed and without being caught on camera...
The only path left to him was to return to his hiding spot and then go uphill in the opposite direction. By crossing Mount Fu to the north, with strong physical stamina, one could walk directly to Jinsong Third Road. If a vehicle was parked somewhere nearby, a quick getaway would be possible."
Liu Yongxin nodded again.
"Share your thoughts with Mr. Qu. We can look for surveillance footage in the surrounding areas, and not just limit it to the roads close by. Mr. Zhao’s idea is indeed a possibility. However, don’t forget one thing—the culprit had an injured foot, which didn’t hinder lying in wait, but climbing the mountain might have been difficult."
Mr. Zhao fell silent, and Liu Yongxin patted him on the shoulder. This was not the time to dampen everyone’s spirit. Quickly exhaling, he said:
"The traces left by the arrows on Zhou Ning’s door—have all samples been collected?"
"Yes, they have been collected, but I haven’t seen the test results yet."
"Good, let’s pull out."
...
Inside the fourth-floor laboratory of the technical division.
Peng Shinian ceaselessly tapped away at the computer, while Mr. Qu watched his inputs and stared at his own notebook.
Liu Yongxin and the others entered the room. The two inside didn’t notice until Peng Shinian finally realized someone was approaching, startling him so much that he shuddered and a stack of papers next to him fell to the floor.
Liu Yongxin picked them up and glanced over them—they were all in English, including a figure annotated entirely in English.
"Any progress on that PSP issue?"
Mr. Qu approached with a smile, clearly very excited.
"Skip the process, because it’s quite tedious, but through several reports, and after comparison with the Fisheries and Health Departments, we’ve found a marine biology lab in Xinghua. This lab used to be a branch of Qindao Marine University Biological Laboratory.
Over the past year or so, they’ve collected a large number of scallop samples, and the collection sites were the same as those mentioned in previous reports, which had high PSP content. The amount they purchased was a staggering 23 tons.
Moreover, 99% of the materials they bought were the glandular sections of the scallops, with just a few whole scallops, only kept as samples. Analyzing the equipment listed in their lab’s reports, it was possible to extract PSP."
Mr. Zhao blinked, mentally estimating weights.
"23 tons, 23,000 kilograms, that’s a lot for one lab to use. To transport scallops like that, how many trips would they need with a small cart? They’d have to shuck them, right? Processing so much scallop meat, can one lab handle it?"
Peng Shinian shook his head, his face alight with excitement.
"It sounds like a lot, but actually, among those 23 tons, scallop meat accounts for less than a tenth. We’ve estimated it to be about 2,300 kilograms. These aren’t all used for extraction, since PSP is mainly found in the scallop glands.
The glands make up about one-twelfth of the meat, so that’s about 191 kilograms. A typical lab can perform extractions, and this purchase wasn’t done at one time, as this isn’t cultivated artificially. The collection period was between June and December last year."
Liu Yongxin interrupted Peng Shinian, knowing that the latter, being an academic, was thrilled by his findings, whereas Liu wanted to know something else.
"Mr. Qu, did you check who is in charge of that lab? Are they considered a branch of Qindao Marine University, or what is their status?"
