Just after four in the afternoon.
Xia Momo processed the simulation animation, showing a brick shattering the window followed by the throwing of a Molotov cocktail. In an overclothes-filled cloakroom without a glass door, it took only five to six minutes for the fire to engulf the master bedroom’s bed.
Xu Dayuan heard the news and ca over, then watched the animation again.
Afterwards, they viewed the surveillance footage from around the ti of the fire on June 29th.
Comparing the tis on the surveillance, you could see faint smoke from 23:17 and by 23:22, flas were continuously flying out of the window; it really was just a five-minute span.
And Dong Chengwen left the house at 23:03. The ti he drove back was 23:22. He hadn’t even turned off the car when he dashed into the villa. Less than five minutes later, he had carried Dong Xiaomi and Fang Hua down the stairs in succession, and onlookers began to gather.
Of course, when Fang Hua was brought down, he was still on fire.
At 23:27, firefighters took over at the door, Dong Chengwen collapsed on the ground, seemingly crying and continuously trembling. Two ambulances took away the three of them; Dong Xiaomi and Fang Hua were on the first one, Dong Chengwen on the one behind.
It wasn’t until 23:40 that police cars arrived at the scene, evacuating all onlookers, controlling the order on site, and by then the fire was essentially under control. At 00:28, the firefighters withdrew, and the crowd dispersed, leaving only personnel from the Jingkou Branch Bureau securing the scene.
"I never thought that just one Molotov cocktail could cause such a fire. According to Jingkou Branch Bureau’s assessnt, the detection of the chemical compound aromatic hydrocarbons in the room is definitely correct."
Liu Yongxin nodded in agreent.
"A 750ml bottle filled with gasoline, when lit and thrown in, is surely powerful enough. The forensic lab found glass fragnts on the brick, proving that the brick was used to break the window."
Xu Dayuan opened his phone, found several photos, and handed them to Zhou Ning and Liu Yongxin for viewing.
"We just asked Jingkou District’s fire brigade and they gave us so photos from when they first entered the scene. They also confird our judgnt: in a fire, window glass typically shatters outward or falls near its original position, not splatter inward over two ters. Even if so did, it would be just slag. With temperature reaching a certain point, these would have lted long ago."
Xia Momo leaned over.
"What about the housekeeper, have they found her?"
"Not found. Jingkou Branch Bureau hasn’t looked into this. However, according to neighbors, Dong Chengwen’s family had a housekeeper who had worked for many years, a woman in her forties, slightly overweight with a Yuntai accent.
When picking up and dropping off children, they heard the housekeeper speak English. The pronunciation was very standard. We still need to check the surveillance footage to identify this person’s physical features before we can investigate further."
Zhou Ning wasn’t too surprised; after all, in Shanghai, there were housekeepers who were international students, and they were paid very well, cultured enough to tutor children and act as nutritionists at ho. Dong Chengwen’s family certainly wasn’t short on money.
Just then, Xu Dayuan’s phone rang. It was Tao Zhenshan on the line. After a brief conversation, he hung up.
"On June 29th at 13:22, Dong Chengwen went to the Black Swan Cake Shop to pick up a cake. This was ordered four days prior by his assistant, Yi Xiaou, who specifically requested not to include mango or mango sauce, ntioning that a child was allergic to mango—this they have on record.
Oh, the shop staff also said that when Dong Chengwen ca, he was holding flowers picked up from next door. Of course, the flowers were also ordered by Yi Xiaou. He seed very rushed. However, parking in front of their shop is scarce, so he had to pull over temporarily. There was soone honking in the car, but he was very polite."
Liu Yongxin blinked.
"That’s very attentive; I don’t even know what my spouse is allergic to. I’m ashad. It seems he took this mory day very seriously."
Xu Dayuan nodded.
At that mont, the door was pushed open and Mr. Zhao rushed in, holding a lab report in his hand. He ran up to Zhou Ning, handed her the report, and with round, bulging eyes, it was clear he had discovered sothing particularly notable.
"The cake box that Zhou Xiaozhou found had so residue on it; after testing, they found it contained components like chocolate, cream, strawberries, and more. But there’s sothing else you guys wouldn’t guess. What is it?"
Xu Dayuan lifted his leg and kicked Mr. Zhao in the back, glaring at him, "We’re in an urgent situation here and you’re still in the mood to play guessing gas? What’s in the cake box, Zhou Xiaozhou?"
Zhou Ning flipped through the report, shocked as well.
"Diazepam, the ingredient in Valium."
"Sleeping pills?"
Liu Yongxin moved closer, glanced at the concentration on the report, then looked at the on-site photos taken by Zhou Ning.
"Such a high concentration... it appears the drug was injected into the cake from the side. The surface is all piped with cream; a hole would be easily noticed. I think the diazepam was injected from the side, and the quantity is significant. It was done so hastily that much of it remained on the cake plate."
Zhou Ning approved of the analysis.
"The maximum pediatric dose of diazepam shouldn’t exceed 10ml. For adults, more than 25ml can also lead to poisoning, cause respiratory depression, and induce respiratory arrest. Finding this concentration on the cake plate ans a large quantity must have been injected into the cake itself."
"This stuff must be bitter, right? Wouldn’t they notice sothing off when they ate it?"
Zhou Ning shook his head.
"A chocolate cake made with natural cocoa butter generally has a bitter taste, so the bitterness of the drug would be masked."
Xu Dayuan rubbed his chin. These discoveries had changed the nature of the case.
"Let’s sort this out. On the afternoon of June 29, Dong Chengwen went to pick up flowers and cake. Obviously, it wasn’t ant to be eaten at noon. After having the cake in the evening, Fang Hua and Dong Xiaomi were anesthetized, and their awareness wasn’t very clear, so even when the window was smashed and a Molotov cocktail thrown in, they didn’t react."
It seems that we will have to wait for the investigation results from Liu Yufei. All the evidence provided in the files retrieved from Jingkou Branch Bureau has to be re-verified. Mr. Zeng, arrange for soone to go to the Shanhai Building in Jingkou District imdiately, and visit all the villas surrounding the Dong family.
The investigation should focus on two aspects, one is to ask the neighbors’ maids if any of them are familiar with the Dong family’s maid, including contact details. The other is whether Dong Chengwen was taken away by the police or by an ambulance after he rescued people."
Zhou Ning glanced at the files, which recorded that Dong Chengwen was taken to the hospital.
However, according to He Shancun, the hospital only admitted Fang Hua and her daughter, and didn’t treat Dong Chengwen. When he woke up, he found himself at the hospital, with no recollection of the ti from the rescue to the mont he regained consciousness.
Indeed, there were so discrepancies in the records, but there was another issue. Zhou Ning called to Xu Dayuan.
"Xu Da, the files don’t ntion the cell phones. The phones of the victim, Fang Hua, and Dong Chengwen, were not found at the scene, and Dong Chengwen’s car still hasn’t been delivered."
Xu Dayuan nodded.
"I know. They said they couldn’t find the phones. I’ll have Zhenshan retrieve the call records. Before I ca here, I urged Xu Kejiang again. He said the tow truck is already on its way, but it can’t go through the tunnel and has to co via Huanwan Expressway. However, according to the timing he ntioned, the car should have arrived by now."
Mr. Qu raised his hand, though he usually spoke little. When it ca to his expertise, he was quite proactive.
"Don’t raise your hand, just speak."
Encouraged by Xu Dayuan’s words, Mr. Qu took a step forward, pointing to the computer as he spoke.
"Can you give the phone numbers first? I can use them to check for various social dia accounts they may have registered, like QQ chat software, to hack the passwords, extract the chat content, and even find any transferred files. Oh, and of course, shopping records on platforms like Taobao."
Xu Dayuan smiled, moved closer to Mr. Qu, and patted his shoulder.
"I have the phone numbers. I was just thinking of asking those guys from the information departnt, but it seems that’s unnecessary now. You’re right, they take too much ti to crack these things."
Mr. Qu nodded.
"It’s quite botherso, but I’ll try to stay up late and work on it tonight, aiming to crack it by tomorrow."
"Mr. Liu, it looks like I owe you guys a good al. Mr. Qu, take note of the phone numbers. Alright, enough talk. I need to get busy. We’ll discuss everything at the special case eting tomorrow."
Xu Dayuan left the phone numbers and departed with his team. Mr. Zhao blinked and looked at Mr. Qu.
"Are you stupid? Let the information departnt handle it; if they can’t do it, then we’ll talk. Can’t we dump all the work on our lab, can we?"
Mr. Qu chuckled and shook his head.
"It’s not that troubleso. But didn’t you find any burnt phone parts at the scene?"
Mr. Zhao waved his hand and grabbed a bottle of mineral water, gulping it down.
"Find what? The scene was sifted through so thoroughly, we only found those things either trapped under the floor or splattered in the corners, and it seems like only a cake box was on the surface. Cases like this are harder to manage."
Liu Yongxin nodded in agreent from the side, appreciating Mr. Zhao’s comnt.
"Half-baked rice is hard to cook. Based on what you’ve said, the investigation in Jingkou District was done, but their capabilities are limited. Even so, they’ve tampered with the cri scene, adding lots of difficulties to the subsequent investigation. But when you went to the detention center, didn’t Dong Chengwen ntion anything about the cake?"
Zhou Ning shook his head and let out a sigh as he looked out the window.
"I have a feeling that Mr. Dong isn’t telling the truth."
Mr. Zhao rolled his eyes, fingers fiddling as he spoke:
"I’m not into conspiracy theories, but one’s status determines their lifestyle. It’s certain he’s hiding sothing. He has to put on a facade of a good husband and a good father in front of us to win our sympathy, to work hard on solving this case, and to unconsciously make us want to prove his innocence.
With his assets—I looked up his net worth online—his conservative annual inco is in the millions. As for those famous economic cases he’s handled, the prices are undisclosed. Do you think they lack won?
It’s just that they need to create such an identity, to appear as a person who balances career and family in the eyes of clients and peers, which benefits his image. With his thods, if he weren’t ruthless enough, would there be no one among his peers speaking out?"
User Comments
0 comments from readers