Chapter 66: Chapter 66: Rushed_1
Zhao Xinli’s protest was futile as he was dragged by Zhou Ning to the door of the seventh-floor eastern unit. The floor was rich with footprints; after all, only a few households had moved into this complex, and the hallways were coated with thick cement dust. Such trampling had left the ground covered with overlapping footprints.
Zhou Ning looked at the ground, feeling overwhelmed with a sense of helplessness.
There was no escape; Liu Changhai was seized by Zhou Ning for labor, along with Mr. Zhao. One took photos while the other positioned the investigation mats to protect the traces on the scene as much as possible.
Before long, Mr. Zhao and Liu Changhai stepped out of the room on the investigation mats and handed the camera over to Xu Dayuan and Zhou Ning.
"The room is extremely messy, not just searched, but many ornaments were smashed as well. All the cabinets and drawers were left open, even the mattress was moved. As for whether any valuables were missing, we’ll have to do a careful examination and then check with the family of the deceased," said Mr. Zhao.
Zhou Ning flipped through the photos and paused at the one of the master bedroom’s bed. It was one of those vintage double beds with canopies and four pillars; the canopies were open, tied at each corner.
The victim was also bound at the four corners with ropes, his body arranged in a spread-eagle position. There was rope around his neck, but it was not tightly drawn. There were bloodstains on the sheets, pillows, canopies, ceiling, and the wall above the bed.
The deceased’s eyes were wide open, his mouth slightly agape, lying supine on the bed. Due to the shooting angle, one couldn’t see the state of the wounds.
Zhou Ning picked up his investigation kit and gave Xu Dayuan a slight nod.
"Xu Da, I’ll take a look inside; could you please arrange for the hearse?"
"Go ahead, Mr. Zhao will accompany you," said Xu Dayuan.
Zhao Xinli handed the investigation kit to Liu Changhai, who was laughing as if he was enjoying the spectacle. Zhao Xinli gave him a look of disdain.
"Laugh, laugh, laugh, soon you’ll be crying."
After speaking, holding the camera, he followed Zhou Ning’s footsteps through the entrance door.
Stepping a few paces into the vestibule, the dining room and open kitchen were on the left, and the living area was on the right. The kitchen was filled with lots of unopened boxes; all the cabinet doors were open, containing nothing but dishes and pots.
Zhou Ning pointed at these boxes and Mr. Zhao hurried to take photos of them. They didn’t need to be opened to know their contents, which included cutting boards, rice cookers, ozone generators, ovens, microwaves, and so on.
The dining room and kitchen were the least disturbed areas, quite self-evident, so Zhou Ning turned around to look at the living room.
The span from the vestibule to the living area had a minimalist shelving unit; the LCD TV was mounted on the wall, which had a hand-painted 3D image. Mario clutched a large mushroom as he popped out of a damaged section of the wall with a comical and lifelike expression—one could tell it was hand-painted from a distance.
The deceased’s colleague was a designer; it appeared the homeowner had put a lot of thought into the interior design. However, other than the sofa, which remained unturned, every movable item in the living room had been searched through. The floor was littered with various fragments, but there were no footprints here.
Gazing at the fallen table lamp next to the TV stand, Zhou Ning frowned slightly. The floor lamp had a bare glass shade which was plain for all to see. Why would the perpetrator knock it over?
Glancing at the chaotic footprints under the mats, Zhou Ning didn’t linger and headed straight for the master bedroom, where indeed lay the vintage bed Mr. Zhao had mentioned. Mats had been laid on three sides beneath the bed by Mr. Zhao, and Zhou Ning approached but didn’t immediately examine the body; instead, he walked a circle around the bed.
The bedroom was spacious, with a desk by the window. Zhou Ning walked over to find a desktop computer, a laptop, and even four boxes of the latest iPad models stuffed to the side.
Zhou Ning picked up one of the boxes, shook it, and looked at it. The seals were unbroken, and all were the latest models. The computer was still powered on, displaying design drawings in CAD that Zhou Ning couldn’t comprehend.
Zhou Ning paused, and Mr. Zhao approached, not understanding why Zhou Ning was lost in thought. After all, everyone outside was waiting for their report, especially Chief Zhu, who seemed eager for the thrill of the investigation.
"What are you looking at? Don’t we need to examine the body quickly and then remove it?" Mr. Zhao inquired.
Zhou Ning wasn’t in a rush and glanced at Mr. Zhao.
"At the doorway, when Chief Zhu was introducing the situation, he suggested that the perpetrator was probably looking for money, right?" Zhou Ning said.
Mr. Zhao, not getting the point, recalled that Chief Zhu did indeed say something to that effect.
"Right."
"Looking for money, nowadays, whose home holds a lot of cash? These four iPads along with the laptop and MacBook, that’s almost thirty thousand already. Do you think that there would be more cash than that in this house? If there were, they wouldn’t live in a place like this, right?" Zhou Ning reasoned.
Mr. Zhao was taken aback, quickly searched online on his phone, and then tapped continuously on the calculator. When he saw the final price, he swallowed hard.
"Maybe they mistook them for empty boxes. Moreover, many who don’t know better might not realize these things are valuable," Mr. Zhao suggested.
Raising a hand as if struck by a thought, Mr. Zhao hurriedly continued.
"Oh, and the deceased and his wife’s phones are missing; I’ve looked everywhere."
Zhou Ning nodded; he had also thought of that earlier. He shelved his inner doubts and looked towards the bed.
The fabric used to bind the victim’s limbs were scraps of cloth, commonly sold around the textile industrial park for ten yuan a bundle. Zhou Ning had noticed a large bundle of it in the corner of the living room when he first entered.
The strips of cloth on the limbs were tightly wound, especially around the wrists where they had dug into the flesh, leaving many marks above and below; it was evident the victim struggled fiercely and the stalemate wasn’t brief.
The quilt was tossed at the foot of the bed, and the victim was wearing only a pair of boxer briefs, which were black and damp against the body, lying upon a pool of blood.
The torture wounds on the body were obvious, including punctures, slices, scratches, and blows from a blunt object. Zhou Ning beckoned Mr. Zhao with a finger, who approached and, following Zhou Ning’s directions, took photos of the injuries with a scale for measurement.
Zhou Ning heard the clicking of the camera stop before he picked up the boxer briefs, his fingers twisting slightly, stained with blood on both tips.
At a pause, he pulled down the victim’s boxer briefs, prompting Mr. Zhao to exclaim in shock, then he clamped his legs together tightly.
"Damn, even the private parts have a cut!"
Zhou Ning’s brow furrowed deeply, noting the cut wasn’t large, but had bled profusely. Looking at the wet shorts, it was clear it was the first injury inflicted on the victim.
What kind of grudge could this be, and to slash there – the pain was unimaginable. Zhou Ning tossed a blood-soaked pillow to Mr. Zhao.
"Enough with the sentiment, help me measure the anal temperature, then take this pillow back; the victim likely suffocated to death with it."
Mr. Zhao was startled, pointing at the multitude of wounds on the victim and the blood spatter on the wall by the bedhead, at a loss for words for a moment.
"All these... and still suffocated to death?"
Zhou Ning examined the wounds and carefully inspected the bed, where a sharp wallpaper knife and a horn hammer appeared in his sight.
"These are coercive injuries, they look severe but aren’t fatal. Bag that wallpaper knife and horn hammer on the right side of the body, and remember to place them in separate evidence bags."
Mr. Zhao nodded and hurried to do as instructed, while Zhou Ning stared at the blood droplets on the wall. The cuts hadn’t hit any arteries, so there were just droplets of blood around the body.
Regarding the wall droplets, they weren’t from spatter but from swinging the horn hammer against the victim; the blood flew up when it was lifted.
Zhou Ning raised his hand, repeatedly making swinging motions. He imagined himself as the assailant, standing on the north side of the bed, achieving these coercive wounds, but that wouldn’t have created the same splatter trajectory.
Zhou Ning squinted his eyes, realizing one could cause such a blood distribution only by kneeling next to the victim or straddling them, given their bound position was fixed.
Opening his eyes, a thought flashed through his mind, but he shook his head, dismissing it.
He stared at the sheet beside the victim for a long time but found no impressions from kneeling. Lifting the sheet with one foot, he discovered a latex mattress on top of the spring mattress.
"What’s up?"
"Nothing, cut the strips of cloth, then bag the body to move it, and take the sheet separately."
"Okay, I’ll call for help."
Mr. Zhao quickly left, and Zhou Ning then extended his hand towards the body. As his fingers clad in latex gloves touched the victim’s leg, the familiar task selection interface appeared.
Ding, the system has issued a task. Please select the difficulty level for the bound individual: A. Junior Task; B. Intermediate Task; C. Senior Task.
Without a second thought, Zhou Ning clicked on the Intermediate Task.
He had a feeling this case wouldn’t be easy to crack; it was better to be moderate.
The transparent screen continued to change, confirming the bound individual had selected the Intermediate Task, and the system proceeded to announce it.
Intermediate Task content:
1. Determine the cause of death within 60 minutes.
2. Find the killer and all evidence within 96 hours.
As another ding sounded, both countdowns began to tick, but the first immediately jumped one second and then stopped on its own, subsequently being moved to the corner. Zhou Ning was taken aback.
Ding, congratulations to the bound individual for ascertaining the cause of death, earning an additional reward of 5 accumulation points.
Zhou Ning was stunned.
Damn, that was hasty. Is there an extra reward because no countdown time was used?
But why did I just wimp out? Why didn’t I choose the Senior Task, which might have a larger reward?
