Chapter 601: Chapter 571 Skeleton_1
Mr. Qu said in a hurry:
"Boss, wait a moment, I’ll start looking now. I’ve copied these surveillance videos, just never searched like this before. Let me give it a try."
After hanging up, Liu Yongxin leaned over.
"What’s up, does this differ from earlier assumptions?"
Zhou Ning nodded.
"Previously Mr. Qu and I thought alike, that the murderer must have left the kitchen rapidly before the staff began working, since staying hidden beneath might cause exposure. However, I underestimated the killer’s psychological mettle. At 9:44 that day, there was a power outage, and I think she arranged it in advance.
It was orchestrated to create chaos between the basement and the third floor, so she could take the chance to leave amid the confusion, even clad in staff’s uniform, without raising suspicion—after all, the surveillance system includes lighting. Therefore, Mr. Qu found nothing in the hotel’s surveillance; this person’s mind is extraordinarily astute."
Liu Yongxin sighed.
"If the killer really is this Shi Yun, she endured family destruction and death at thirteen. Over the fifteen years that followed, she probably had just one goal, which was to seek revenge on the three who falsely accused her father of lewd behavior and the person who took that photograph.
Naturally, she must have rehearsed all conceivable aspects; even that Peppa Pig Cabin you mentioned could have been rented by someone she hired. We’ll have to see what Fang Mu’s investigation yields.
Last night, I spoke at length with Director Xu. Yesterday, he had people check the social relations of five individuals, Li Li, Xu Qingquan, Xu Qingshu, Kong Wanshan, and Liu Meiling, for all females born in 1985, aged 28 years old.
While we were checking, Mr. Xia mentioned that Xu Qingquan’s fiancée happens to be that age too, so we investigated Zhong Xiaoyan as well. None of them appeared suspicious; they all have both parents, or in cases where their parents are divorced, they still keep in contact.
As for Zhong Xiaoyan, her parents are professors at Lu University. She really comes from an educated family. She lived in Ludong City from her birth till high school, only attending university in Pu Country. After graduating, she traveled within the country, feeling that Qindao is more suitable for living and starting her investment and career there."
Zhou Ning was somewhat surprised; it seemed that Xu Dayuan too had not overlooked the fiancée, also twenty-eight years old, after all, she had been in contact with Xu Qingquan and Xu Qingshu, and was the eyewitness of Li Li’s fall. The first to be ruled out was her.
Momo leaned over, bringing a computer in front of Zhou Ning. It was filled with photos—some from a mobile phone, others clearly from photo albums. Momo scrolled down, explaining:
"Director Xu contacted people in the province’s capital. They went to Zhong Xiaoyan’s parents’ home to investigate. Her parents warmly welcomed them, and when they heard a few childhood photos were needed, they simply brought out their photo albums. They have several albums for each period of her life, a full meter high stack.
Our colleagues from the capital selected a few photos from each album to photograph; it’s already so many. Other than that, it is evident from the photos that Zhong Xiaoyan, being so tender and gentle, probably due to a loving original family. If we say the number of photos decreased, it’s after university graduation; there aren’t many."
Zhou Ning didn’t speak but looked carefully through the photos. Although they were copies, you could tell they were well preserved. Each photo was inserted at the corners into the album pages, with beaming smiles from childhood to adulthood, healing to look at.
Zhou Ning took a deep breath. In fact, last night in the car, he had wanted to call Xu Dayuan to ask him to check this Zhong Xiaoyan out, since she was the one most entangled with the victim. But seeing all these photos also dispelled some of the doubts in Zhou Ning’s mind.
"Any progress on your end?"
Momo shook her head.
"I’ve found the photos, and after merging them, I did some comparisons. However, among those of the appropriate age, I haven’t found any similar ones. I think there might still be errors in the analysis."
Zhou Ning patted Momo’s leg, comforting her:
"Let me have a look, and see what the problem might be. Both Shi Mingchen and Yun Yi are good-looking, so their child wouldn’t be bad-looking either. But the more this is the case, the harder it is to find distinctive features."
With these simple words, Momo felt consoled. Liu Yongxin covered his mouth with a hand while Momo found the merged image. Zhou Ning had a glance; the girl in it could be described as very pretty. Momo had chosen to give her shoulder-length hair, with features combined from both of her parents. Yet on closer inspection, there seemed a sense of déjà vu.
But after staring for a while, he found that it was indeed just a very pretty girl; there was no one with such looks among his acquaintances.
Zhou Ning examined the photos of Yun Yi and Shi Mingchen. Shi Mingchen had the typical Ludong appearance: sharply defined facial structure, straight nose, square mouth, thick brows, big eyes, with somewhat pronounced cheekbones and brow ridges.
On the other hand, Doctor Yun’s features were very gentle. Momo had made the composite face shape more similar to that of Doctor Yun, while the facial features leaned more towards Shi Mingchen. Zhou Ning thought for a moment and said:
"I feel the image you’ve merged should be very close to the original. This Shi Yun should be a spirited young lady, considering her classmate described her as an exceptionally cheerful and lively girl. They say appearance reflects the heart; this direction isn’t wrong.
However, Shi Yun has faced life’s upheavals. Her parents died overnight, and she was whisked away by someone unknown. If it had been just any relative, I don’t think she would have disappeared like this. Neither the parents’ household registration was canceled, nor were their names carved into their tombstones. Everything was done in a rush.
From a personality perspective, a girl who was once lively and cheerful could become silent and reserved, devoid of smiles. Abandoning her past life goals to focus solely on vengeance, it’s possible that her facial features might have changed as well. Of course, we cannot discard the possibility that she might have had plastic surgery, fearing recognition."
Momo fell silent, not because she resisted Zhou Ning’s interpretation, but quite the opposite; she very much agreed with his assessment. The image she had created was that of a naïve, older unmarried girl.
"I’ll go make some adjustments; I have some ideas now."
Xia Momo said, clutching her notebook as she walked away. Liu Yongxin laughed and shook his head.
"Ah, you always find a way, don’t you? My palms are sweating here. Mr. Xia really wants to help, but analyzing a child’s appearance through their parents doesn’t sound reliable to me. They say that couples living together for years start to resemble each other, so it’s hard to predict the child’s current appearance after they’ve changed environments."
Zhou Ning smiled, unconcerned, and glanced towards the door.
"I think Xia Momo is very passionate. What she’s thinking about is indeed an unexplored field. If it works out, great; if not, it won’t affect the investigation anyhow. Why not go for it?"
Liu Yongxin chuckled.
Just as he was about to speak, Zhou Ning’s phone rang. Seeing the name Xu Dayuan, Zhou Ning quickly answered.
"You’re not sleeping?"
Zhou Ning had no strength for sarcasm—what could you say about your own superior? There was concern, but not much; it was the kind that seemed fleeting, fleeting as the thought of whether you were asleep when they called.
"Haha, leader, if I were sleeping, who would take your call? It looks like both grave sites have been excavated, and Peng Shinian has made his assessment—there are human bones, right?"
Xu Dayuan paused, choking on his breath, almost breathless with frustration.
Looking at everything before him, it was as if Zhou Xiaozhou was right beside him, watching him digging graves with a determined effort. At that moment, Peng Shinian was squatting next to Xu Dayuan, almost wishing he could snatch the phone away. Xu Dayuan sighed and said,
"Fine, you always have a knack for this, not the first time either. Peng Shinian is sure that one of the buried dates back between fifteen to twenty years ago. Moreover, the area is covered with those bronze hammer grasses, all over the place. There are indeed skeletons in the grave.
We still need to sort out some details with the village committee. The dead must be respected. Zhu Zuozhang’s team only extracted a portion, taking samples suitable for DNA collection, and the rest were reburied. Later on, you can compare this DNA with what you found in the victim’s wounds."
Relieved, Zhou Ning pursued further,
"And the other grave contained an urn of ashes, right?"
"Mm-hmm, you guessed right. Not just the other one; all the others had urns of ashes. Zhu Zuozhang measured the femur length—the coffin contained two skeletons, male and female, the male estimated to be around 177cm and the female around 162cm, calculated by some formula, of course."
"Got it. Oh, leader, I was about to call you actually. Have there been any developments with Kong Wanshan and Xu Qingshu in the past few days? And at the hospital, have Xu Qingquan and Qiu Chunbo remembered anything?"
Xu Dayuan sighed again, this time with a noticeable tinge of dissatisfaction.
"If only I could reach through the phone and give you a couple of smacks. Why do I feel like I’m your hired hand, hustling in the background more urgently than Mr. Hu? That couple hasn’t made a move; we’ve got someone watching them. As for those two in the hospital, one still can’t speak. He doesn’t remember anything from the night of the accident, and the other one’s memory hasn’t recovered either."
"Alright then, I’ll hang up now."
"Hey, don’t hang up. You asked me a bunch of things, and I haven’t gotten to my part yet."
Zhou Ning glanced at Liu Yongxin, who was standing beside him, hand on forehead, and couldn’t help but laugh.
"What’s up, leader? Whatever you want me to do, just give the word. I was planning to visit the hospital to discuss the treatment plans with Mr. He. Actually, the most direct and effective way would be to find out what exactly happened in the car accident that night. I always feel like there was a third vehicle at the scene."
Xu Dayuan fell silent for a long time before finally saying,
"Mr. Qu has gone with your team to Qifeng City. I’ve sent people to retrieve surveillance footage from nearby shops, hoping to find something in the areas that weren’t captured. Let’s wait and see; they’ve spread out to look.
Let me put it this way, a large truck wouldn’t come to an abrupt stop unless absolutely necessary. I think it tried to avoid the small car in front of it, but after swerving to avoid it, there was no way to maneuver it clear of the police car, and that’s when it slammed on the brakes. Go ahead to the hospital."
Zhou Ning hung up and Liu Yongxin walked over.
"Extracting DNA from bones is not easy; it really depends on luck. But finding unique bones, and based on the shapes of their skulls, we can also determine their identities. Let’s go, I’ll join you at the hospital. Actually, I think it’s not hard to catch the killer in this case. The key is whether or not we want to catch her."
Zhou Ning paused, looking at Liu Yongxin with some confusion.
"What do you mean, Master?"
