The next day.
The three of them had bean curd for breakfast and even packed additional food before quickly arriving at the substation. Upon entering, they saw Sun Gaotie with his hair standing on end, bending over in front of the computer, looking at sothing intently.
Mr. Zhao approached, gave Sun Gaotie a slap on his rear, which produced a loud smack.
Sun Gaotie jumped up as if his tail had been stepped on, his glasses flying off, while Zhu Xingxing glared at Mr. Zhao with an expression full of dissatisfaction.
"All you know is how to ss around. Can’t you see we have serious matters to deal with over here?"
Mr. Zhao rubbed his nose. Despite Zhu Xingxing’s reprimand, he wasn’t upset, but instead brought the breakfast bags to them.
"Don’t tell you’ve eaten. This is freshly packed for you guys from Mr. He’s favorite shop. Eat it while it’s hot."
Zhu Xingxing tucked her hair behind her ear, softening her voice considerably.
"Thank you!"
It turned out that Sun Gaotie, an honest kid, was already sitting in front of the coffee table, wolfing down his food. While eating, he said,
"Team leader, take a look. We’ve received a lot of emails in the inbox. I’ve downloaded a part, and I guess we really got on Mrs. Cui’s bad side. One email contained samples, and I’ve been clicking all morning, but haven’t finished downloading much."
Zhou Ning could not help but laugh as he leaned over to look at the computer. Indeed, every page was filled with emails from the forensics departnt. He imdiately called Cui Lili on her mobile phone.
"Sister, have you had breakfast yet? Let send so over for you. How many people are there in total?"
The person on the other end coughed twice. As the saying goes, no one strikes a smiling face. The way Zhou Ning started the conversation made it difficult for Cui Lili to continue.
"We’ve had soone send breakfast. Don’t play the sympathy card with . There are eight of us here. During the day, Mr. Pang and the others received a serial car accident case. More than a dozen people are dead, with over thirty cars colliding, bodies shattered everywhere. We have been incredibly busy.
You guys, on the other hand, went to Qidong and sohow gathered almost two thousand samples. What is this, a ga? Even with superhuman strength, it takes ti to process. Xu Da is just hovering at the door, pressing us. Always pressing!"
Zhou Ning rubbed his nose. Xu Dayuan was indeed capable of such a thing.
"This case involves body dumping in a well, nine fresh corpses, and the skeletal remains of ten others have all turned to bones. It’s an exceedingly heinous case. They are all piled together. In order to piece together the skeletons, we at least need to separate them, don’t we?
That’s why there are so many samples. I’m truly sorry for making you guys work overti. But don’t worry, I am waiting. Sister, you have your al first and then work. It’s okay if we are a bit late here, don’t mind Xu Da waiting at the door; that’s just his temperant. Sister, I’ll hang up now!"
Zhou Ning didn’t rush her at all, but on the other end, Cui Lili’s tone softened sowhat after humming a couple of tis, seemingly calming down before she said,
"Wait then, I’ll do it as quickly as possible. Don’t open the emails yet. I’ll have soone resend them to you."
After hanging up the phone, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. At that mont, the computer received an email with a compressed file. Mr. Zhao took a look and couldn’t help laughing.
"Gao Tie was busy all morning, but Zhou Xiaozhou fixed everything with just one phone call. Okay, these samples seem to be from those ten skeletons. Finish your food quick, then we’ll sort by number and start piecing the bones together."
Zhou Ning leaned in to look at the contents of the compressed file. Mr. Zhao was right, and it seed that Cui Lili did indeed have experience in these matters; after all, this was the most urgent.
Once they finished eating, each person received a piece of paper with a code and the test results, which of course were just another set of numbers. By noon, the reports gradually started to arrive, and the tests on the thousand-plus bone samples were completed.
Looking at the organized boxes on the floor, it was sowhat difficult to find ten stations, but ten tables were manageable, especially since there was a temporary conference room across the hallway, containing long conference tables.
Zhou Ning waved his hand, instructing everyone to get ready. Soon, ten workstations were set up in the autopsy room, and all bones were laid out for reassembly. Naturally, the skulls were the most urgent to piece together, as Xia Momo would need them for reconstruction.
By evening, all ten skeletons had been pieced together, skulls repaired, and after scanning, restoration images were created. Zhou Ning also checked the pubic symphysis of the ten skeletons, provided age ranges for the deceased, and conducted analyses of the causes of death.
Staring at the whiteboard recording all the information, Zhou Ning narrowed his eyes, searching for similarities.
The cause of death for all nineteen victims was the sa: traumatic brain injuries inflicted by strikes to the head. Eighteen of the victims’ facial bones were smashed beyond recognition, not just collapsed, but pulverized fractures, indicating trendous force.
Xia Momo used software to simulate, and the shocking result showed that the impact force of a wrench smash reached 284 kilograms—was the perpetrator a bull?
It was evident that the killer was extrely strong and well-built.
However, now there were nine fresh bodies. Based on the killer’s pattern, this didn’t fit his aesthetic sense, considering that the previous bones had been neatly organized in groups of ten.
This ti, wasn’t one missing?
Just as he pondered this, Xia Momo ca up with a result. With the computer continuously issuing notification sounds, Zhou Ning hurried over to find that all ten victims had new identities, hailing from De City, Ling City, Wucheng, and Qihe in the western part of Ludong Province.
Regarding their ages, most of the ten were born between 1985 and 1990, and were generally quite young.
Zhou Ning raised his hand to rub his chin, facing the limited items discovered on the scene: just corpses, skeletons, larval casings, and so nail clippings. Zhou Ning turned to Xia Momo and said,
"These nail clippings, do you think they were done at a manicure salon or are they pre-made products?"
Momo Xia looked at the enlarged nail piece and zood in the picture to the maximum. Only then could she discover that there were brushstrokes over the position of the petals.
"It’s painted, but it’s indeed done very well. Look at the details, all handled superbly, with beads and butterflies added. There’s also a gradient color effect. I think this salon must be quite expensive."
Zhou Ning nodded. He didn’t understand these things, but he thought Momo Xia’s words made sense, as she was the professional and had more authority to speak.
Momo Xia switched to a few other photos. These were nail pieces left at the bottom of the well, seemingly from the ten previous victims. As for the photos of the nails taken afterwards, Momo Xia went through them and said,
"This first victim and the ones who were skeletonized all had their nails done at the sa place; they are of very high quality. The nails’ edges were also maintained. As for the others, they all had cheap manicures."
Zhou Ning pointed at the photos and the patterns on the nail pieces and said,
"If we take the victims’ photos and these nail pieces there, would the shop owner be able to recognize them?"
Momo Xia thought for a mont and gave a slight nod.
"I guess they could almost recognize them, but how does this help catch the murderer?"
Zhou Ning smiled and patted Momo Xia’s arm.
"You’ll find out in a bit. Help send these pictures and the corresponding victims’ photo information to Xu Da, then I’ll give him a call."
After Momo Xia did as instructed, Zhou Ning dialed Xu Dayuan’s cell phone.
"Leader, have you received the photos sent by Momo Xia?"
"Just got them, but I haven’t looked yet. What photos are they?"
"I’ve just analyzed the nineteen victims, trying to find what they have in common, and Mr. Xia found additional information on ten of the other victims’ identities. They were mostly from small towns in the western part of Ludong Province, and sixteen out of these nineteen people had manicures.
Mr. Xia and I analyzed these manicures, and eleven of them are extrely exquisite. We believe that they are made by the sa person. Is it possible to search in places where manicures are done to see if they’ve seen these people?
After all, the last victim is also among them. If we find her surveillance video information, could we analyze her activity trajectory?"
"Very reasonable. We can search for the murderer’s trail based on the victims’ activity patterns, as the victims’ clothing and things like cellphones were taken. It’s either to obstruct the police investigation or simply for robbery."
"Robbery?"
Xu Dayuan humd affirmatively, seemingly exhaling a puff of smoke.
"Those in this line deal with cash paynts. If they take on more jobs at night, they do carry so money with them. A few years ago, we cracked a case of robbery, where a few guys specifically robbed the hostesses walking on their routes at night."
Zhou Ning glanced at the map, but this case was different; there were no dense ’red-light districts’ around.
"Xu Da, do you know if there is an area within this twenty-kiloter radius of Jiulong Town and the developnt zone that specifically involves this?"
"Yesterday, I asked Mr. Liang the sa thing. Before the Spring Festival, there was a crackdown, and there used to be a bar street here in Jiulong. They also closed after New Year’s Day, saying they will reopen after the year."
Zhou Ning frowned tightly; the timing of this crackdown seed too coincidental.
Beside him, Momo Xia leaned over and said sowhat unintentionally,
"When there are policies above, there are counterasures below. Like on New Year’s Day, I went to Mackay Le. It was past ten at night, and by all accounts, they should have closed. But I hadn’t finished trying on clothes, and the shop owner simply locked the front door, letting try on clothes in peace. Afterward, I bought a few items and left with them through a side staff exit."
Zhou Ning paused, then quickly said to Xu Dayuan,
"Xu Da, did you hear what Mr. Xia said?"
"Got it. I’ll go check right away. Can’t rely on Mr. Liang, let’s handle it ourselves. I rember that one side of the bar street faces the main road, and the other side has a small path, but that exit has an internet café."
Xu Dayuan hung up, and Momo Xia tilted her head to look at Zhou Ning.
"Did I say too much? I just thought of it, so I ntioned it."
Zhou Ning shook his head with a smile.
"What you said makes a lot of sense. Businessn prioritize profits, especially in this trade. They study thoroughly when it is crackdown ti and when to sneak around. Police can only monitor them for so long."
Momo Xia breathed a sigh of relief and looked at the large screen filled with photos and information—everything Xu Dayuan and He Chunyang needed to check. She had done nearly everything she could.
At this ti, Zhou Ning put on gloves and walked up to ten tables. Mr. Zhao ca over with a stack of reports in his hand.
"The reports are out. Zhou Xiaozhou, what are you planning to do next?"
"Even though I know the cause of death, I still want to examine the skeletons one more ti. I always feel like I’ve missed sothing. Is there any issue with the report?"
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