Zhou Ning looked around and spoke faintly.
"Diphacinone is an anticoagulant rodenticide, a drug that acts slowly. These types of substances are lipophilic, which ans they are ineffective in water because they are completely insoluble in it. First, they require fats, and second, a prolonged period of exposure to ensure continuous contact with Zhang Guanglei."
Mr. Zhao looked around furtively. The kitchen wasn’t in use; it was impossible for the poison to be in the condints and food. He had also checked every other item in the room but found nothing out of the ordinary.
Mr. Zhao beca sowhat anxious, walking aimlessly around the room, considering there weren’t many things in it that one could ingest.
"What about its color, sll, and taste? Is there anything distinctive about them?"
"There’s no peculiar sll. I rember the description of the poison stating it has good palatability, which as bait, wouldn’t be easily refused. In other words, it doesn’t have any distinctive sll. As for the color, it’s a grayish-white powder."
Mr. Zhao paused, tilted his head to look at Zhou Ning, and seed to have an idea. He quickly walked towards the tea table in the living room and found an organizer box under it, filled with dicine bottles inside a huge box.
It was filled with a dazzling array of items. Zhou Ning also followed over. There were blister packs thrown to one side. He searched and found two white bottles without any printing or labels, with ’Zhang Guanglei 2011.7’ and ’Zhang Guanglei 2011.8’ written on them with a marker pen.
Upon opening the bottles, there was no aluminum foil sealing inside. They contained capsules with brownish-yellow powder. A piece of paper was stuffed inside, which Zhou Ning carefully extracted with tweezers and unfolded to read the printed words.
Once a day, three pills at a ti, to be taken before sleep.
Mr. Zhao compared the two, and it was evident that July’s bottle had fewer capsules than August’s. Apart from these, there wasn’t a single capsule form of dication in the box.
"Is this Diphacinone?"
Zhou Ning opened a capsule, shuffled the powder around, and indeed amid the herbal powders, there were finer grayish-white granules of a completely different material.
"It seems so. This substance is lipophilic, and if repacked, it would have to be mixed with the dicinal powder. The act of filling the capsules could easily leave residues in the fingernail crevices, which are not easily washed off. Prolonged contact with the nails could also lead to the presence of the poisonous substance inside Wang Wenjing’s body. Let’s also test Wang Wenjing’s blood for poison tomorrow."
Mr. Zhao blinked his eyes.
"Alright, we’ll only know the results after the tests."
After withdrawing from the scene, they sent a ssage to Xu Da on the way back, telling him about the suspected poison-mixed dicine powder they found and that they would need to perform a chemical test to know the results. Xu Dayuan told them to head back first and discuss it further tomorrow.
Mr. Zhao volunteered to take care of it and dropped Zhou Ning off at ho first.
...
The following day.
Upon entering the office, Zhou Ning saw Mr. Zhao slurping noodles. He glanced at the desk and noted a report already laid out there. Mr. Zhao raised his eyebrows at Zhou Ning.
His face was full of ’praise ’ expressions!
Zhou Ning couldn’t help but hide a smile. Mr. Zhao’s personality was truly good. Working with him guaranteed no negative emotions would be an issue, as he was able to dispel gloom within minutes.
"Are the test results out? Didn’t we tell Mrs. Cui last night that we wouldn’t submit any more tests? What excuse did you use?"
Mr. Zhao grinned cheekily.
"What are you implying? Am I that kind of person? We don’t need an excuse. I simply found the person on duty, brought over so snacks from Mr. Xu’s place, directly delivered them, and then made it clear to leave the toxin analysis for tomorrow as we had promised Mrs. Cui not to submit any tests today."
"That person argued with for a while, and while the machine was running the tests, we ate a couple of roast ducks and other snacks. By the ti we were done eating, the tests were finished too. See, the results are out, and even the comparison has been done."
"The poisonous substance found in the Chinese dicine powder matches exactly with the substance found in the deceased’s body, as well as on Wang Wenjing’s hand. Oh, there was also a trace amount in Wang Wenjing’s blood, just a bit less."
"Another test result was sowhat bizarre. The bloodstains found where Chen Chunxi’s car was scratched were Sun Manqing’s. The white streaks matched Sun Manqing’s Jeep. I rember the surveillance showed the Jeep being hit sideways, but we couldn’t see what hit it nor did we find any vehicle at the scene. Seems like this was Chen Chunxi’s doing."
Zhou Ning took a look at the results, let out a sigh of relief, and gestured to Mr. Zhao.
"Let’s go. Mr. Xu has been waiting all night for these results. We should head over and see. Oh, and have they brought Wang Wenjing in yet?"
Mr. Zhao shook his head.
"After I sorted out the test reports, I called Mr. Xu. His phone was busy, probably because he was in an interrogation. I didn’t call again."
As they talked, they had already arrived at the front building. Just as they entered the offices of the first squad, they heard a woman’s high-pitched screaming. It was a kind of frenzied howling.
"Ah! Let go of , I am a patient, my leg can’t be moved, ah where’s your hand touching, I am going to file a complaint, what’s your badge number?"
After a frantic outburst, many people in the corridor looked towards the source of the noise, only to see Wang Wenjing grasping a doorfra, screaming for help in the hallway.
Before Zhou Ning and the others could approach, they saw Liu Yufei take a couple of running steps and directly kick the door with a loud bang, startling Wang Wenjing who was holding the doorway.
Mr. Zhao shrank his neck, finding Liu Yufei’s actions excessively fierce, a far cry from her usual quiet deanor.
But on reflection, one could realize that a woman’s beauty would not be the reason for her stay in the criminal police force; that kick alone felt like it ca from a black belt.
"Mrs. Liu has trained!"
Liu Yufei glanced at Mr. Zhao, then turned to look at Wang Wenjing.
"Stop making a scene here. Without solid evidence, do you think we could bring you in? Your daughter and Chen Chunxi have both confessed. Think hard about what you’re going to say later on, take her away!"
With a wave of her hand, several criminal police officers directly pushed Wang Wenjing into the office since the interrogation room was occupied by Chen Chunxi.
Only then did Liu Yufei turn to smile slightly at Zhou Ning and Mr. Zhao.
"Let’s go to the next office. Mr. Xu will be here soon. Last night Chen Chunxi was interrogated the whole night, and he hasn’t said a word."
Zhou Ning nodded, and Mr. Zhao scurried after Zhou Ning into Xu Dayuan’s office. In a short while, Xu Dayuan sauntered in, holding a take-out container with stead buns which he ate one by one, signaling them to sit down.
After wolfing down the buns and guzzling a bottle of water, he finally pounded his chest and looked at the report in their hands.
"Hurry up and tell what’s in the toxicology results," he urged.
Zhou Ning was used to Xu Dayuan’s impatience and placed the report right in front of him.
"In the victim Zhang Guanglei’s ho, we found two bottles of self-capsuled herbal dicine. Within them, ’Diphacinone’, an anti-coagulant rodenticide, was discovered. It matches completely with the residue found in the victim’s body, under Wang Wenjing’s fingernails, and in her bloodstream.
It’s certain that Zhang Guanglei had been poisoned by Wang Wenjing over a long period. Additionally, there was an unexpected finding: the blood on Chen Chunxi’s car ca from Sun Manqing, and the white paint from the scrape matches his Jeep, indicating that he also played a role in Sun Manqing’s death."
Xu Dayuan slapped his thigh, raised his bloodshot eyes, and humd with satisfaction.
"That settles it. Now we have a complete chain of evidence. Wang Wenjing poisoned Zhang Guanglei, but although he was poisoned, his delayed death saw him seeking dical attention everywhere, which likely raised suspicion, so he staged the car accident with Chen Chunxi.
Wang Wenjing injured her own leg as an alibi for Chen Chunxi, and involved Wang ngng in leading Sun Yannian to the scene, hoping to cast suspicion on him given the history between his father and Zhang Guanglei."
Agreeing with this analysis, Zhou Ning looked at the excited Xu Dayuan and tentatively asked,
"Has Chen Chunxi confessed?"
Xu Dayuan gave a withering look and downed another cup of water.
"Confessed? Do you think I’d look like a red-eyed rabbit if he had? That guy refused to say a word all night, even with us taking turns at him. That’s why I had Liu Yufei bring Wang Wenjing in early this morning, but before I expected it, your toxicology report ca out. Just in ti! Do you want to hear the interrogation?"
Zhou Ning, seeing Xu Dayuan’s eager face, could only nod slightly. Suggesting he wanted to sleep now would ruffle Xu Dayuan’s feathers. Better to let it be, as he always maintained such propriety.
"I do."
As expected, Xu Dayuan grinned with satisfaction, took them by the shoulders, and pulled them into the adjacent office. For Wang Wenjing, having more people present during the interrogation added pressure.
Wang Wenjing was handcuffed and secured to a wheelchair.
Mr. Zhao was holding a law enforcent recorder, Xu Dayuan, Liu Yufei, and a clerk sat to one side, while Zhou Ning stood next to Mr. Zhao. With such a lineup, Wang Wenjing lost her earlier defiance.
Her hands clutched each other tightly, lips pressed firmly together, with no panicked gibberish, but she couldn’t help coughing a few tis. When she raised her hand to wipe her nose, she didn’t even realize blood was trickling from it.
From Wang ngng to Chen Chunxi, and now to Wang Wenjing, all three participants showed a similar state, aning they completely anticipated the possible scenarios and even rehearsed them.
And the woman before them, seemingly fragile, might be the actual puppet master.
Zhou Ning bent down, opened the investigation kit, and took out an evidence bag containing Wang Wenjing’s fingernails, then passed it in front of Xu Dayuan. Wang Wenjing’s head didn’t move, but her gaze followed Zhou Ning’s actions closely, showing she knew what this was with just a glance.
Xu Dayuan picked up the evidence bag and shook it, then held up two of the lab reports and walked over to Wang Wenjing.
"You’re clever, picking ’Diphacinone’ for rat poison – a slow-release agent that typically takes effect six or seven days after ingestion. I guess you did a lot of research, didn’t you?
However, you clearly haven’t studied much – you’re not a professional in this field – and you only know so much. You didn’t even wear gloves when packing the poison. Let’s have our forensic doctor enlighten you on the properties of this poison," said Xu Dayuan.
Listening to Xu Dayuan’s words, Wang Wenjing blinked continuously, her gaze locked on the report – a clear sign of extre nervousness. Zhou Ning narrowed his eyes slightly, wondering if what he had surmised had already co to pass?
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