Waiting is a torture.
Zhou Ning glanced at his watch, it was already 5:10 PM, and the end of the workday was approaching, yet there was still no news from the lab.
On the crowbar, just as Liu Yongxin had guessed, there were indeed no fingerprints left behind. However, this wasn’t a new tool; there were so greyish-black substances lodged in its crevices, invisible to the naked eye.
At that mont, the office door opened.
Xu Dayuan walked in and, seeing Zhou Ning looking impatient, asked,
"Did you find the murder weapon?"
"Yes, a crowbar, which has been sent to the forensic departnt. Mrs. Cui said she’d give the results before the end of the day. I asked her to not only test for bloodstains but to extract every possible material from the crowbar."
Xu Dayuan nodded, took a bottle of mineral water from the desk, opened it and drank, then stood under the air conditioner. After all, the weather in Qindao these past days was extrely sultry, sticky like right before a heavy rain, making one extrely uncomfortable.
Liu Yongxin sipped his tea, swinging his leg and looking at Xu Dayuan with a look of being in haste.
"Why are you so restless? Don’t be so anxious. Sit down and tell if you found anything wrong with that young couple. Did Sun Yannian admit he had been at the scene?"
Xu Dayuan gave Mr. Zhao a kick, asking him to make room, then plopped down onto a chair.
"He admitted it. You handled the video and did a photo comparison. It’s no use for him to deny it. But he said he just wanted to go out for a drive. The fog was too thick to see there had been an accident up ahead, and after a slight collision, he quickly headed back.
He also hit a wall in the garage and thought he’d get the insurance people to fix the car in a couple of days, once his father’s affairs were sorted out. He said although the car was registered in Yu ili’s na, both the house and the car were theirs to use and were his father’s property—smashing it up didn’t affect anyone else."
"Heh, quite a foul mouth!"
"Indeed, such a rebellious young man. I really wanted to smack him. As for his relationship with Wang ngng, he says she seduced him, the kind that offers herself willingly.
Wang ngng is very good at toying with boys at school; she seems demure, but in reality, she’s very adept at these things. While they were out driving, things escalated in the car, and, in Sun Yannian’s words, she was very experienced. The adults’ relationships, according to him, have nothing to do with them."
Zhou Ning didn’t say a word, but his brow was tightly furrowed.
"His own father is dead, and he remains so indifferent, thinking only about repairing his car and inheriting property afterward. It sounds very strange, and it’s also too big a coincidence that he went for a drive from Dongtai District’s No. 102 Middle School to Jingkou. I think he is hiding sothing."
Xu Dayuan snapped his fingers and looked at Zhou Ning with satisfaction.
"Zhou Xiaozhou thinks just like . But there’s no rush. This kid has forged docunts and drives without a license; it’s no problem to lock him up for a few days. Let him cool down a bit, and then it’s not too late to interrogate him again."
Just then, Cui Lili entered the room, her face still bearing that ’keep out’ expression. She walked up to everyone, handing several sheets of paper to Zhou Ning.
"The blood of the victim was found on the crowbar you sent over. As for the crevice where the head and handle are joined, and on the handle, a lot of substances were found through analysis to be likely bearing grease, gravel, cent, and bitun.
The wooden handle of the crowbar has a crack in which a clump of fibers was stuck, which we think might be from cotton work gloves. We’ve extracted it already and are performing DNA extraction, but like the odds of winning the lottery, don’t get your hopes too high. We’ll extract it a few tis."
Zhou Ning nodded; he understood the difficulty, as Cui Lili ntioned, of finding DNA in a clump of fibers was like finding a needle in a haystack. They couldn’t rely on that alone, but they still needed to make the necessary effort.
"Thanks, Mrs. Cui; I know extraction isn’t easy, but please repeat the process a few tis. After all, we don’t have many clues in this case right now. Also, the nail samples from Wang Wenjing and Chen Chunxi that have been sent for testing – have you extracted them?"
Cui Lili shook her head, her brow furrowed.
"We’ve been too busy extracting the crowbar to get to those yet, but all of us will work overti to try to finish them tonight. Let know what other tests you need."
"Toxicology, and DNA analysis as well."
"Okay!"
Seeing Cui Lili about to leave, Mr. Zhao quickly opened the door, ushering her out courteously.
"Mrs. Cui, thanks for the hard work. It’s quite urgent for Zhou Xiaozhou, and he’s not good at comforting people, just talking about testing this and that. Please bear with us!"
Cui Lili didn’t say anything, but she walked away with a smile on her lips. Xu Dayuan slapped his leg and stood up.
"Alright, there’s no use lingering, let’s call it a day. As soon as other test results co out, let know promptly. I’ll grab a bite and then go have a word with this Sun Yannian."
Liu Yongxin and Zhou Ning stood up, and Mr. Zhao eagerly held the door open, but Xia Momo didn’t move. Seeing the three of them all poised to see off guests, Xu Dayuan was sowhat unable to hold back.
"I an, don’t you guys have any sympathy at all?"
Zhou Ning paused, montarily unable to grasp the aning behind Xu Dayuan’s words. Had he done sothing excessive?
Mr. Zhao approached Xu Dayuan with a grin, hands on his hips, and said,
"I’m telling you, Xu Da, what do you want us to do? Are we supposed to take the initiative to apply to accompany you to the trial? Mr. Liu has retired and now he’s with the lab at Qindao University, and Mr. Xia even more so."
"As for and Zhou Xiaozhou, we’ve been following you around all morning, going to Wang Wenjing’s place and then to Chai Ruhua’s, from sampling to checking out the vehicles, and Zhou Xiaozhou even went to check Chen Chunxi’s car in the afternoon. Aren’t you going to give us a little sympathy?"
Xu Dayuan lifted his leg to kick, but Mr. Zhao was well prepared and dodged quickly.
This was where Mr. Zhao showed his high EQ, clearly speaking up for Zhou Ning while also subtly making it clear to Xu Dayuan that he was absolutely important and needed his help, and that this wasn’t a case of a typical leader giving out orders.
"It’s always you who talks too much. Zhou Xiaozhou has a very unique perspective when it cos to observing problems, and he always brings surprises. You expect to say so cheesy lines to a big guy like you? Co on, let’s go for a boxed al."
Everyone laughed, and Liu Yongxin crossed his arms.
"You guys go ahead, my wife is picking up to look at a house."
Zhou Ning paused, his master and his wife were both retired, currently living in the dormitories of Qindao University which wasn’t bad. Their inco was much higher than before, so were they checking out houses for their son?
"Is your son getting married?"
Liu Yongxin shook his head.
"A friend is moving down south with the whole family and needs to handle their house. After all, the price is very attractive. If I find it suitable, I might take it. Anyway, I don’t want to prepare a house for him in Qidong."
Xu Dayuan waved his hand.
"Then you should go, it’s a big event. Do you need to find soone to give you a ride?"
Liu Yongxin shook his head again.
"Don’t accommodate . You’ve already got my apprentice working for you, so don’t pretend to be polite with , I’m off!"
After finishing speaking, Liu Yongxin left first, and Xu Dayuan rubbed his nose with a sigh.
"I’m finding that everyone’s a touchy subject now. Mr. Liu and I used to work well together back in Qidong, but now that he’s a lab mber on the side at Qindao University, he suddenly turned into a big shot. As for the Technical Division, I only have you two that I can boss around, sigh, life is tough!"
Zhao Xinli draped an arm around Xu Dayuan’s shoulder and patted it, saying,
"Leader, just keep working hard. We’re waiting for you to beco the bureau chief. Then you can boss around whoever you want."
Xu Dayuan dodged Zhao Xinli’s "claws" and went downstairs side by side with Zhou Ning.
"Tell about your sixth sense, who put this ram’s-head hamr there?"
Zhou Ning looked troubled.
"Xu Da, I’m not a fortune-teller. Where am I supposed to guess from? But I think there’s a connection between the victim being poisoned over a long period and this car accident. Have you checked Zhang Guanglei’s accounts? Any recent fund transfers?"
"We checked that a while ago, not just Zhang Guanglei’s but also Sun Manqing’s. Zhang Guanglei’s account has over one hundred and seventy thousand and there hasn’t been any activity. There’s also no sign of selling any property. As for his colleagues, they don’t know much about his girlfriend, it seems like he wasn’t the type to talk about personal matters."
Mr. Zhao ca over, stretching his neck and saying,
"I don’t understand it either. What was he after with Wang Wenjing? Was he after an older woman with a daughter, or was it because he was impotent? Plus, even after finding her, he didn’t talk about it with his colleagues, and she treated him like an ex-boyfriend, having moved on to soone new.
As for him, his savings remain untouched, nobody’s eyeing up his house – just a regular guy from the Water Conservancy Bureau, not even a big leader, no apparent beneficiaries around him, so why kill him? Oh, right, and with long-term poisoning no less, what’s the motive?"
Xu Dayuan stopped in his tracks, and Mr. Zhao instinctively jumped to the side of Zhou Ning, his face full of caution.
"Leader, let’s talk this out nicely, you’re a bit frightening with all these sudden moves."
Xu Dayuan didn’t move to strike, but he gave Mr. Zhao a glance.
"You’re making sense. This is also sothing that has always puzzled – average looks, average job, average relationships, and with only an aged mother who isn’t even local. The ex-wife, even more attractive and wealthy. He doesn’t seem like a typical victim. It looks like we need to dig deeper into Wang Wenjing."
Zhou Ning nodded slightly. The timing of Wang Wenjing’s injury was crucial, and this injury had effectively cleared her of suspicion. It was possible that in their relationship with such an ordinary man, sothing was overlooked during the more than two years, which coincided with the period when Zhang Guanglei was being poisoned.
"Zhou Xiaozhou, what are you thinking?"
Xu Dayuan looked hopefully at Zhou Ning, who glanced back.
"They’ve been together for over two years. Zhang Guanglei would have crossed paths with Wang Wenjing’s daughter, too, right? Didn’t you say that Sun Yannian ntioned it was Wang ngng who seduced him?"
Xu Dayuan paused and took out his phone.
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