With a shout, the two n quickened their pace and, seeing the chain lock, Mr. Liu dashed down without Zhao Xinli having to gesture.
Monts later, he returned with a large pair of pliers and snapped the chain.
Zhao Xinli placed the chain into an evidence bag and stared with small, tense, yet excited eyes at Zhou Ning.
"Shall we go in?"
Zhou Ning nodded.
"Mr. Liu, hold the high-powered flashlight at the door to light it up. Zhao Xinli, hand the cara. I’ll go in first to take a look, since the house isn’t very big."
With the cara in hand, as he approached the room, a foul, rank odor assaulted his nostrils as soon as he entered.
Holding his breath, Zhou Ning’s high-powered flashlight continuously swept across the room.
The room wasn’t large, only about eleven or twelve square ters. It lacked ventilation due to a single slit-like window.
In the far corner of the room, there was a single straw mat, beside which stood an empty dirty water bucket— the source of the foul sll. Near the door and under the window, there was a relatively cleaner red plastic bucket, half-filled with water, along with a plastic dipper.
Zhou Ning gently moved the bucket aside; two crumpled pieces of toilet paper were wedged between it and the wall, bearing conspicuous bloodstains. Zhou Ning observed the area around the red bucket, and according to the water stains, sothing like a trash bag might have been placed there, leaving flowing traces.
Straw mat, cleaning water, toilet, trash, bloodstains, toilet paper— these all hinted at sothing, which, even without Zhou Ning’s explanation, Zhao Xinli had realized.
"Soone has lived here, or rather, the killer lived here. The stinking sll would have bred God knows what kind of flies if this rock area wasn’t so vast."
Zhou Ning nodded, took photos, and then sampled the blood-stained toilet paper. The straw mat was also rolled up and placed in an evidence bag. Only then did he straighten up.
"Let’s keep looking to see if we can find sothing else."
This ti, the two n were more enthusiastic, but after half an hour of checking every stone house on the terrace, without finding any other recent signs of human activity, they returned to the car.
"Doctor Zhou, are we still going to the village?"
"Yes."
Zhou Ning nodded. Before he went to sleep last night, he had thought through the day’s investigation and autopsy processes and felt sothing was missing, but he couldn’t figure out exactly what it was.
Up to this point in the case, it was already possible to determine that Liu Wangcai was the murderer. Although Liu Wangcai was ticulous and had even been an auxiliary policeman, thus understanding internal procedures, Zhou Ning did not believe in the perfect cri.
Zhao Xinli moved swiftly, driving quickly to Jiushanggou Village. Coming from the sea, they didn’t need to take the newly built road, a much easier route.
The police car stopped in front of Liu Wangcai’s house, and instantly people began peering around curiously. Zhou Ning got out of the car and carefully observed the Liu family’s front gate.
At that mont, a noise ca from the door of the sole neighbor next door, Liu Bingyi’s house. Zhou Ning looked over to see an eye peering through the lock hole. When Zhou Ning’s gaze t the eye, the person quickly withdrew.
Zhou Ning glanced at Zhao Xinli, who imdiately understood Zhou Ning’s intention, swaggered over, and pushed the door open. Zhou Ning and Mr. Liu followed to the door.
Next door to a homicide, tipping off the murderer, interrogated by the police in the middle of the night, and after all the trouble, not even having the sense to stay away for a while.
As soon as the police car arrived, she had been peering through the door, this person definitely had a secret.
After all, prior interrogations had been done by the Tieshan Police Station, and Mr. Wang, upon eting, had primarily driven the self-sufficient narrative, which, while seemingly experienced, was also a bit presumptuous and assumptive.
As Zhao Xinli pushed the door open, Wang Chengjuan, clad in a floral shirt, had already backed into the center of the courtyard, clutching two ears of corn and trying to suppress her trembling lips. However, her eyes were bruised and the left side of her cheek was swollen, clearly from a beating.
"What... what do you want? I... I don’t know anything anymore. If the police ask again, my husband will kick out! Please just go, I beg you!"
By the end, Wang Chengjuan’s voice was choked with sobs.
Zhou Ning didn’t look at her, his gaze continuously sweeping across their courtyard.
Although about the sa size as Liu Wangcai’s ho, this yard was considerably more cluttered, with toys, washbasins, electric tricycles, tables, chairs, chopped wood, and a corner piled with lots of cardboard.
Seeing Zhou Ning looking over and then turning to head that way, Wang Chengjuan rushed over and blocked Zhou Ning, grabbing his arm.
"You know, if you have any questions, let’s talk inside the house. Otherwise, if soone hears us as they co and go, I’ll get beaten again."
Zhou Ning raised his hand and dodged Wang Chengjuan’s grasp.
Zhao Xinli grabbed Wang Chengjuan by the collar, shaking his head with an unfriendly tone.
"Weren’t you called to Tieshan Station yesterday? How co you still don’t know the procedure? We don’t need your direction in our investigation, stand back imdiately."
Wang Chengjuan shrank her neck and obediently stood aside. In fact, inside their yard, there was still a faint sll of a corpse, even though the windows and doors in the front of Liu Wangcai’s house were closed tight; the north window had a crack, and the sll of death could penetrate anywhere.
Zhou Ning didn’t believe she couldn’t sll it.
Zhou Ning turned sideways, looking at the pile of cardboard he had just been eyeing. This seed to be the neatest spot in the entire yard. What could be hidden inside?
As he thought this, Zhou Ning’s steps didn’t halt. He walked up to the pile of cardboard, each bundle tied with cloth strips, and sothing round protruded from a gap on the side, looking like a wooden handle.
Zhou Ning reached out to touch it, then imdiately turned to look at Wang Chengjuan, who was already biting her lip, her face turning pale, her legs giving way as she knelt on the ground, bringing her hands together in a pleading gesture before Zhou Ning.
"Don’t touch that, please!"
Zhou Ning applied so force to the wood handle and pulled it out partway, then couldn’t pull any further.
Mr. Liu stepped forward, picked up Wang Chengjuan, and then handcuffed one of her hands, fastening the other cuff to his own hand.
Zhao Xinli ca over and forcefully toppled the stacks of cardboard towards the door, revealing a fork with a wooden handle in Zhou Ning’s hand, bearing two dark-purple stained handprints.
"Control your emotions, okay? What is your relationship with Liu Wangcai? If you don’t speak now, you’ll really lose your chance."
Wang Chengjuan kept waving her hands, with tears and snot running down her face, wiping it with her sleeve. She knew her crying was of no use to the handso policeman in front of her, in fact, it seed to produce extre aversion.
She finally stood up with Liu Yong’s support to contain her emotions.
"I’ll tell the truth. The pitchfork is ours; Liu Wangcai ca in and took it himself. I heard the noise and ca out just in ti to see him returning it. He even threatened to burn it."
Zhou Ning squatted down and took photos of the pitchfork, then of the two handprints. The handprints were left in the middle of the fork, 67 cm from the fork’s head. Given that Liu Wangcai’s height is 160 cm, and with his hands raised, about 180 cm or so, he could reach the north window.
Moreover, the state of these handprints was very well preserved, with the fingerprints exceptionally clear. Opening the cara, Zhou Ning found the photos of Liu Wangcai’s fingerprints, compared them for a while, and knew without using the comparison equipnt that these were Liu Wangcai’s fingerprints.
However, Liu Wangcai was such a ticulous person, why would he trust Wang Chengjuan who obviously wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed?
Throughout the entire cri scene, not a single fingerprint of Liu Wangcai was found, not even on the murder weapon except for a residual palm print. But if Liu Wangcai were smart and claid that the knife belonged to their family, then this palm print would also beco invalid evidence.
Zhou Ning squatted there, looking at Wang Chengjuan.
"Tell , what is your relationship with Liu Wangcai? Don’t tell that you’re just neighbors, and don’t try to fob off with so story about being hired for three thousand yuan to keep an eye on Zhu ifeng."
At this mont, Zhao Xin stood by the window, apparently seeing sothing. He pushed open the door and entered Wang Chengjuan’s house. Soon after, he ca out holding a photo fra, with a smirk on his face as he handed it to Zhou Ning.
"Take a look. I really don’t know if her man is blind or just pretending to be!"
Zhou Ning took the photo, which was a family portrait of four. Liu Bingyi, who they had seen yesterday, was a hunchbacked man, looking honest and in his forties with a wide eye distance, thick lips, and his hands and feet twisted into an odd posture—a typical appearance of cerebral palsy, though his case seed mild.
The two boys looked strikingly like Liu Wangcai at first glance, their features almost seed to have been peeled off from Liu Wangcai’s face.
Zhou Ning looked up, and Zhao Xin raised an eyebrow.
"Hehe, it’s a vast grassland out there!"
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