Zhou Ning looked at Wang Chengjuan, who had already closed her eyes, seemingly resigned to her fate.
"Are both children Liu Wangcai’s?"
Wang Chengjuan nodded her head.
"Liu Bingyi knew about it. It’s common knowledge in the village that he is impotent, and it’s no secret. After all, they’re all brothers within five degrees of kinship; there’s not much difference in bloodline. His uncles all agreed to it."
This answer stunned Zhou Ning. Everyone in the village knew that her husband had been cuckolded, and it was a deliberate act, which the villagers even seed to endorse. What kind of reasoning was that?
"Don’t just respond when I ask, speaking here and at the criminal police brigade are two different concepts. If you are taken by us, you won’t be going to the police station to participate in the investigation, do you understand?"
Wang Chengjuan nodded again, wiping her nose with her sleeve, an action that caused Liu Yong to also lift his hand, reflecting his reluctance.
"How would I know anything if you don’t ask ?"
Zhou Ning was taken aback.
"Fine, then answer , after October 18th, on which days did you see Liu Wangcai?"
"I saw Zhu ifeng heading to the market on the morning of the 21st, and I knew she was going to go out with Li Delin. I called Liu Wangcai, and he ca to my place at noon. He wanted to follow and see what was happening. I made pancakes and prepared roasted at for him, and then he left.
The next ti I saw him was in the late night of the 24th, before dawn. I heard clanging noises, kicked Liu Bingyi twice, but the man slept like a dead pig. So, I took a flashlight and went out to see. Just as I reached the front gate, I heard noise from the straw stack.
Liu Wangcai crawled out from inside, his shoes hanging around his neck, and he shoved a hay fork into a pile of cardboard boxes. He told to sell the cardboard quickly and to burn the fork without leaving any traces. He gave five hundred yuan to buy so food for the children, then told that he had done sothing big and needed to lay low for a while. He asked to find an excuse to visit his place on the 27th and to call the police if I saw anything.
I was terrified at the ti, knowing for sure that sothing had happened, but no matter how I asked, Liu Wangcai wouldn’t say. I prepared so food for him, and he left in the middle of the night. Oh, right, it seed he also rode my tricycle."
Zhou Ning glanced at the electric tricycle in the courtyard. It was clear from such a clumsy person’s detection that Liu Wangcai had touched it, probably finding bloodstains on it.
He fetched the Luminol reagent, sprayed it over the tricycle’s handles, and sure enough, there was a fluorescent reaction.
Zhao Xinli gleefully went up to help Zhou Ning sample. He had seen it done enough tis to pick up so techniques, and did not forget to take the Luminol reagent and spray it inside the cargo box as well.
Just then, Zhou Ning’s phone rang. Seeing that it was Xu Dayuan’s number, Zhou Ning quickly answered and stepped out of Liu Bingyi’s yard.
"Xu Da."
"Doctor Zhou, the court has sent news. You guessed right; Zhu ifeng’s divorce petition filed last Spring Festival was rejected. This May, she submitted evidence of dostic violence and was granted a divorce. However, Liu Wangcai didn’t want to give up custody of the children and they couldn’t co to an agreent.
Latter, soone advised Liu Wangcai, and he made a request to maintain the status for a year, allowing Zhu ifeng to divorce without leaving ho, and to raise the matter with her after the children finished elentary school. He wouldn’t co back if there wasn’t an issue, and they even signed a contract for it."
Zhou Ning suddenly realized that everything made sense if that was the case.
"That’s great, Xu Da. We found bloodstained paper at Lantai Zi and evidence of dwelling. Samples have been taken and will be tested later. I suspect that’s where Liu Wangcai stayed and where Zhu ifeng was held captive.
Additionally, there are several other findings..."
In Zhou Ning’s mind, he organized the information, and one by one, the pieces of evidence appeared on the transparent display screen,
Then a beep interrupted Zhou Ning, halting his actions and locking the words in his mouth.
Beep, congratulations on the binding person’s completion of the interdiate task. Please submit the task now and verify the completion status. Convert the remaining ti for your reward. Would you like to receive the reward now or later?
Without hesitation, Zhou Ning chose to wait, thinking it was no ti to interrupt a call with his superior. Was he courting death?
On the other end of the phone, Xu Dayuan waited for a mont. Upon hearing nothing from Zhou Ning, he smiled and cursed,
"You little rascal, what’s with the suspense? If you’ve got sothing to say, just say it."
"That’s right, the two children from Liu Bingyi’s family next door, by the look of their faces, seem to be Liu Wangcai’s. We pressed Wang Chengjuan, and she admitted it. Moreover, we found a pitchfork in their house, with Liu Wangcai’s bloody handprint on it, and I have already compared the fingerprints."
"We asked Wang Chengjuan a few questions, and unexpectedly, she confessed directly... So, that’s what happened. We’re bringing the person back now, but as for the physical evidence, I’m afraid we’ll need to take another trip to the city for the examination."
Xu Dayuan looked up and laughed, a sound completely unlike soone who had been tornted for a full day and night.
"Good job, Doctor Zhou. You just went for a secondary cri scene investigation and managed to find such crucial evidence. You guys hurry back, I’ll have soone send the evidence for examination later."
Zhou Ning thought for a mont. Since the system could confirm this piece of evidence, that ant there must still be traces of the pitchfork on the window, only he hadn’t noticed them. Either way, he had to find that trace.
"Xu Da, we’ll head back soon. I want to take a look at the north window. If I find traces of the pitchfork, all the evidence will be rock solid."
"Alright!"
Xu Dayuan hung up the phone, satisfied. Zhou Ning turned around and saw Zhao Xinli standing behind him, holding an aluminum telescopic ladder and gesturing to Zhou Ning.
"Let’s go. It’s my fate to be a grunt, sa old rules—I’ll hold it steady for you, and you look for evidence."
Zhou Ning smiled. The ladder was still in its packaging, clearly sothing Zhao Xinli had requested to be added to the vehicle after the last case, and unexpectedly, it was being used today.
The two went to the back of the house. Zhou Ning, familiar with the procedure, found the window. Zhao Xinli extended the ladder, and Zhou Ning climbed up, standing firm and imdiately noticing two small pits on the side of the window.
asuring the distance, Zhou Ning was sure these were the marks of the pitchfork. He took photos, collected samples, and finished the set before climbing down.
Zhou Ning let out a breath.
"That’s it. We can head back to the station now."
Mr. Liu was escorting Wang Chengjuan in the back, Zhou Ning sat in the passenger seat, and Zhao Xinli started the car, driving along the seaside towards the small road they had found earlier.
Zhou Ning closed his eyes. He really felt tired, but now was the best ti to "sleep" and reap the rewards.
The recent task submission had been too abrupt; he didn’t feel he had summarized everything comprehensively. How could it have been submitted already? Moreover, those samples sent for examination hadn’t returned results yet, had they?
Looking at the information organized on the large screen, he suddenly opened his eyes, reached for the new phone Zhao Xin had replaced for him, no longer caring about data usage, and logged into the forensic departnt’s work email directly. Sure enough, he had received several emails.
He clicked to open one and realized that while he was on the phone, the lab results had co in.
1. DNA results: Fetal sample is biologically related to the male sample as father and son;
2. Grease collected from the edge of the weapon is rich in content, containing beef, pork, chicken, and various vegetables. The lab inferred that this grease had accumulated in the gap between the handle and the blade of the knife and had been squeezed out due to the force used to stab;
3. Among the 124 blood samples, in sample 34 (marked as: bloodstain sample extracted from the weapon), DNA of two males was found, one from the male victim and the other from suspect no. 1 who was sent for examination in the early hours;
4. Vomit sample contained components of beef, broccoli, carrots, and red wine;
5. Alcohol content in the dead man’s heart blood was 140mg/100ml.
Zhou Ning was extrely excited upon seeing these results. Finding the blood traces of the victim and the suspect Liu Wangcai in sample 34 was nothing short of a miracle. Considering the bloodshed all over the scene, to have taken 124 samples and to find one from the killer was more thrilling than winning the lottery.
Seeing Zhou Ning’s actions, Zhao Xinli knew it must be good news, but with Wang Chengjuan present, saying too much would alert her. He still understood these principles.
"Doctor Zhou, you rest for a bit. Yours is the kind of work that strains the mind. I’ll call you when we arrive. Afterwards, we’ll have a joyous celebration with Xu Da."
Zhou Ning nodded and continued to shut his eyes without speaking.
With such news, Zhou Ning could hardly contain his excitent. This was definitive evidence. If the blood traces found on the pitchfork and the blotter also matched, that would establish multiple pieces of evidence. Zhou Ning wasn’t worried about this; after all, the fingerprints matched, and the system recognized that as well.
Zhou Ning took a deep breath and clicked to collect his reward.
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