Chapter 679: Chapter 647 The murderer might be him_1
As he thought, Zhou Ning’s hands didn’t stop moving. After separating the parts, he directly removed the rib and sternum. Seeing the state inside the chest cavity, Zhou Ning paused.
Inside the chest cavity there was nothing but blood clots, black and purple, already coagulated, completely obscuring the organs.
Looking at the blood clots inside the chest cavity, Zhou Ning immediately began to clean them. After the cleaning, he could clearly see the damage inside the chest cavity. The knife had penetrated straight into the heart and then was pushed sideways to the right. After partially withdrawing, it was thrust upward at a 15-degree angle.
The murderer’s knife work was too professional. Such a technique of thrusting, lateral movement, and withdrawing before stabbing again caused damage to the victim’s heart, both lungs, as well as the aorta and part of the trachea and esophagus—it was unknown how many had died under this skilled tactic.
Zhou Ning collected organ samples and opened the stomach, which was in a state of emptying, aligning with Zhou Ning’s analysis. The victim likely died four to five hours after eating. Considering most restaurants serve their staff meals after the dining rush, that would be between 1:30 and 2 o’clock, after all, this wasn’t any high-end restaurant.
Four to five hours after eating would indeed be around 6 o’clock.
After completing the final suturing, Zhou Ning pulled off his gloves and checked the labels Peng Shinian had made on each sample, then signaled to Mr. Zhao to turn off the recording equipment.
Everyone sighed in relief, and at that moment the door was pushed open, and Tao Zhenshan hurried in.
"How were the autopsy results?"
"I deduce that the time of death was around 6:20. The murderer knew of our meal ordering plan, chose the victim mainly because the height and weight were very similar to their own. Wearing a mask and hat, at a glance, even those who work together every day wouldn’t suspect anything.
Moreover, from the wound, the murderer killed with one strike, and the victim didn’t struggle or shout because after the knife penetrated and swept across, and a part was withdrawn and then stabbed upwards at an angle, the trachea, esophagus, lungs, heart, and aorta were all damaged—he couldn’t possibly make a sound.
Therefore, our assessment is that the murderer’s height is around 182 cm, weight around 70-74 kg, because from the surveillance footage, the driver’s build was much thinner than Zou Jialong’s. Also, the murderer is left-handed."
At this point, Zhou Ning paused.
In his mind, he replayed the surveillance footage he had seen before. The driver got out of the driver’s seat, holding a clipboard, one foot on the car and the other on the ground, then unloaded the boxed meals. Zou Jialong took them over. Throughout this process, he had his legs crossed.
After signing and closing the car door, he walked towards the driver’s seat, seemingly swaying. Zhou Ning hadn’t paid attention at the time, but now, thinking about it, it wasn’t swaying—it was a leg issue.
Mr. Zhao approached, seeing Zhou Ning pondering something, and reassured Tao Zhenshan.
After waiting for quite some time, Zhou Ning finally looked at the others and said:
"The murderer is left-handed, has a swaying walk, and on closer examination, it seems that there is an issue with the left leg. All of his actions are deliberately concealing something, like the way he only stepped on the car with one foot. Considering the height, weight, dominant hand, and leg issue, this person could very well be the same murderer who tried to assassinate me."
Everyone was stunned, and Zhou Ning thought for a moment before continuing.
"After the victim was killed, there was no long-distance movement of the body. The knife wasn’t removed, which also prevented blood from splattering. The murderer is quite experienced. As for moving the body, it must have been inconvenient for him, so I need to check out the vicinity of this hotel. Have you guys checked it out?"
Tao Zhenshan nodded.
"We’ve got control over the hotel staff; they’re all gathered inside and haven’t been allowed to leave. Director Xu is interrogating that Doctor Zhang. I questioned the owner and the people in the restaurant.
According to the owner, their business is usually busy in the morning and at noon, and there are not many customers in the evening. The boxed meal orders were made by phone, and checking the records, the time was 16:22. The owner then rallied the staff.
One box meal cost twenty, so fifty boxes were a thousand yuan—more than a day’s revenue. Since our task force arrived, we’ve almost been ordering meals there every day, so the restaurant has been making a tidy profit. The staff took it very seriously and worked hard together.
Around 18:10, the dishes were ready, but there was still a pot of rice that wasn’t ready. Zhang Chunping was in a hurry to use the restroom, so he went. About ten minutes later, he returned, clutching his stomach and coughing continuously. The owner asked him what was wrong, and he gestured to his throat.
By then, they had begun packing the boxed meals. The owner paid him no mind; everyone pitched in to help. Once everything was sorted, the restaurant’s phone rang. The owner answered, thinking it was a call urging for the boxed meals, but instead, they were asked to delay a bit.
The staff went back to the kitchen, placed all the boxed meals on the table, and covered them with blankets. Close to 19:00, with the help of the blankets, all the boxed meals were loaded into the car. The distance wasn’t far, but carrying them by hand would have been quite a hassle.
After sending off the meals, the remaining staff started to have their dinner. After all, there were no customers before, and when the last table left, they began cleaning. They did ask why Zhang Chunping hadn’t come back, and a youngster said he had gone to deliver the meals and had been waiting almost an hour without being allowed to unload. The owner didn’t pay much attention.
By the way, the hotel is in the front and the living quarters are in a spacious backyard. Usually, two people share a room. Zhang Chunping’s foot odor is so bad that nobody wants to share a room with him. His room’s door wasn’t locked, and I looked inside from the doorway—it was basically a pile of trash with a bed in it.
As for the storefront and the kitchen and dormitory in the back, I’ve personally inspected them all. Mr. Yang made me take him to the crime scene. There was a faint Luminol reaction in the kitchen, but it was a very small spot; no other abnormalities were found elsewhere."
Upon hearing that Mr. Yang had been to the scene, Zhou Ning slightly furrowed his brows.
"Let’s go take a look, and call the staff from the restaurant too. I need to know where the car usually parks and whether they’ve ever noticed if someone was lying in the passenger seat when loading the vehicle."
Zhenshan nodded.
"It’s fine for you to go, but I dare not send anyone else now. No one can say for sure what’s safe and what isn’t. To think that someone could be poisoned while eating a boxed lunch at the police station, it’s unheard of. If it weren’t for this young doctor noticing something was off, the lot of us would have been done for today."
Mr. Zhao nodded.
"Exactly. But I think these people are desperate, jumping over the wall in their anxiety. They couldn’t break into the Public Security Bureau; after all, Director Xu had set up defenses early. On top of the main building, and at the top of the smaller second building, he arranged for armed police to observe the surroundings at all times. It’s impossible for them to break in and rescue anyone.
After all, they have their moles inside our ranks, keeping tabs on our movements at all times. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have poisoned the boxed lunches. Also, I feel that Bai Qishan’s capture was something they didn’t expect.
I guess the persona they set up for Cao Wenyu was meant to cover for Bai Qishan. If anyone looked into it, at worst it would seem like a misconduct issue, and even after a DNA test, it wouldn’t be much of an issue—Cao Wenyu was Bai Qishan’s bulletproof vest.
They just didn’t expect that we would find the break in the case from the archives, nor did they expect Cao Wenyu to cooperate to such an extent, providing concrete evidence against Bai Qishan and allowing us to capture their ringleader here."
However, as is their usual way, with Bai Qishan’s capture, they would attempt a rescue within the golden window, which could also be called a silencing operation. No matter how high the official rank, once captured, they were most likely to be silenced, which would ensure the safety of the remaining members."
Zhenshan was somewhat surprised and looked at Mr. Zhao with a thumbs up.
"I say, you’re quite something, your analysis is spot on. I also think they never expected Bai Qishan could be caught. Enough analysis, let’s hurry up and go take a look."
Without delay, Peng Shinian was left behind as he wanted to study the soles of the deceased’s shoes. Zhou Ning’s principle was not to interfere; whatever one wished to study was fine, but do not ask these people for help, as there was no time for that now.
Hurrying to the restaurant, Mr. Zhao jogged inside and saw Mr. Yang’s figure as soon as he entered the backyard.
"Do they park the car at the front when loading goods?"
Mr. Yang shook his head, pointing towards the western wall:
"There’s a door here that leads to another road on the other side. Their Wuling Hongguang van is usually parked outside this gate. The car’s so beaten up that parking it in front would take up space, so they just open this gate and load from the side, facing this small side door."
The boss stood aside, not overly nervous, and approached with a smile.
"Dear leaders, our hygiene standards are quite decent. To ensure the boxed lunches for you aren’t affected, we didn’t take any other orders last night. I just don’t know where that kid Zhang Chunping has run off to. He always tells me he’s offloading goods, but I know he just likes to play games. He’s always at the internet café. Probably went there after delivering the evening meals.
I’ve been calling him several times, but his phone’s off. I reckon he’ll be back tomorrow morning. He never bothers to groom himself and sometimes skips meals just for gaming."
Zhou Ning glanced over, the boss clearly unaware that the driver Zhang Chunping was dead, and Zhenshan offered no further explanation.
The boss seemed about to say more, but Zhenshan raised his hand, and he hastily shut up.
At that moment, Mr. Zhao ran out from the dormitory, leaning against the wall and retching. Everyone looked over.
"First thing tomorrow morning, I’ll be calling the health bureau. You say your hygiene is alright? Do you say that without feeling guilty? That row of bottles in the dormitory corridor, can you tell me what that is?
So many bottles filled with urine and not thrown away, and you tell me it’s clean, with bedbugs jumping around on the beds in several rooms."
Mr. Yang approached, lifting his camera and pointing inside to a few frames.
"In the freezer, some meat has blackened and spoiled, and there’s other meat wrapped in cling film that’s unrecognizable. I’ve taken samples for testing which we can conduct later. To me, it looks like fox meat."
The boss remained silent, no longer daring to talk. Zhou Ning pushed open the door and walked straight out. Tyre tracks were still visible on the ground, with much of the concrete surface broken and various things like garlic peelings scattered around.
As Zhou Ning squatted down with a flashlight in hand, a few dark spots nearby caught his attention.
Stepping closer, Zhou Ning bent down. The spots were radially distributed like a dandelion, trailing off in a direction, but the spots were very small, the largest less than 4 millimeters in length.
"Mr. Zhao, come take pictures and collect samples. It looks like this is the primary crime scene."
