Hearing this, Zhou Ning subconsciously glanced at the window above his head. The window had not been closed and remained wide open.
Accompanied by a series of sirens and the sound of an ambulance, doctors and police officers rushed over; after all, in a packed area within the residential compound, ergencies were easily pinpointed. Several doctors nodded to He Shancun and the others as they arrived.
"Mr. He, how co you’re here?"
He Shancun nodded slightly without engaging in much pleasantries, gesturing for them to bring over the stretcher.
"Both children suffered multiple comminuted fractures—the skull, cervical vertebrae, thoracic spine, ribs, femur, hurus—all consistent with high-altitude fall injuries. Both pupils were dilated, their breathing and heartbeat had stopped, and there was no response to eight minutes of cardiopulmonary resuscitation."
As he said this, He Shancun glanced at the person nearby, who obviously understood what he ant.
The injuries He Shancun described were visible to the naked eye or to the touch of a finger. As for the damage to the brain and internal organs, it was likely even more severe; in essence, the two children were dead.
However, when young children die from falls, they are usually still taken to the hospital, unlike adults, who would typically be pronounced deceased at the scene, leaving the public security organs to handle the situation.
Zhang Bo, the father of one of the collapsed children, got up from the ground upon hearing this and clung desperately to the stretcher.
"Doctor, my child, is my child dead?"
The ambulance driver pulled him away. He had seen relatives beco frantic before, but never soone who clung to the stretcher, preventing the dical staff from moving and incessantly asking questions.
"Are you sick? Why are you blocking us?"
With such a shout, the police officers also gathered around. Zhang Bo instinctively let go and began to beat his head and body with his fists, crying out in self-bla.
"It’s all my fault, I’m to bla for not taking care of you, I should be the one to die, why won’t you let die!"
As he spoke, he abruptly turned and ran toward the edge of the building, smashing his head against the corner of the wall. Ironically, the spot he hit was an insulation panel, which with such force was knocked into an arc-shaped depression.
He then sat on the ground from the rebound, and at this sight, Mr. Zhao sensed sothing was wrong.
"Is this guy sick or what? What’s all this fuss about?"
Zhou Ning did not speak. The two children’s stretchers had already been loaded into the ambulance. He Shancun made a gesture, indicating that Zhou Ning understood he should follow, and also reassured Zhou Ning that he would ensure nobody disturbed the bodies.
The police were maintaining order, and several more police cars arrived with sirens wailing. Liu Yufei quickly got out of one of them.
She walked straight over to Zhou Ning and glanced at the bloodstains on the ground.
"I saw the ambulance drive away, are the children going to be okay?"
Zhou Ning shook his head and with a glance at Zhang Bo being restrained on the ground, pointed up and said:
"Just now, a neighbor reported that this Zhang Bo lives in Unit 2, Room 1502 with its windows open. The children must have fallen from there. I’m not sure of the exact circumstances of what happened, but Zhang Bo’s behavior has been odd. You might want to question him."
Liu Yufei nodded understandingly, then waved to her side.
"Maintain order at the scene, secure this area, and find out if there are any other residents from 1502."
Soon, a young police officer hurried over, supporting an elderly lady. Zhou Ning had never seen this officer before; he quickly explained:
"I was in charge of order at the compound entrance when the security staff told this is the grandmother of Zhang Bo’s children, who had just gone out to shop not half an hour ago."
The old lady looked dazed, evidently unaware of what had happened. However, seeing the blood on the ground and the pointing fingers of the bystanders, as well as her son’s disheveled state, she realized sothing was amiss.
"Officer, what exactly... what exactly happened?"
Liu Yufei waved her hand, signaling her squad to take Zhang Bo to the car. Once they were a good distance away, she then said:
"Your grandchildren just fell from the building. What ti did you leave ho? What did you do?"
The grandmother’s legs gave out, but the young officer was quick to support her, preventing a fall. Her face turned ashen and tears stread down uncontrollably as she trembled.
Looking at Liu Yufei and then the blood on the ground, and possibly recalling the sight of the ambulance in front of the door, she grabbed Liu Yufei’s arm.
"How are my grandson and granddaughter, talk to , officer! How are they?"
Zhou Ning approached at this mont. Although the grandmother appeared panicked and agitated, it was clear that she genuinely cared for the children. Zhou Ning quickly said:
"They’ve been taken away by the ambulance. Don’t worry, old lady. Please tell us the situation. Were the children the only ones at ho?"
The grandmother nodded.
"My granddaughter, it was her first day staying with yesterday. I finally coaxed her into a good mood, and today she wanted ribs. I just jogged to the supermarket at the door to buy ribs. It only took half an hour to go there and co back, just half an hour..."
At this point, the old lady let go of the bag in her hand, spilling ribs, eggs, and so vegetables all over the ground. She started to sob, and Zhou Ning quickly stepped in to help the old lady catch her breath. At her age, the way she cherished the child was no act.
"Who was watching the child when you left?"
The old lady glanced in the direction where Zhang Bo was taken away and said angrily:
"My son had just gotten up, and I asked him to keep an eye out."
Zhou Ning said nothing more, glanced at the open window upstairs, and Liu Yufei naturally understood what he ant.
"Auntie, we need to go up and see what exactly caused the child to fall. It will help us issue the relevant certification for you."
The old lady nodded and, supported by a young police officer, staggered toward the entrance door. The onlookers quickly made way, the sound of their chatter was not quite. Zhao Xinli followed behind, listening intentionally.
A soft-spoken old lady said:
"Poor Mrs. Zhang has been through enough. After her son’s divorce, her forr daughter-in-law finally sent the eldest granddaughter back to stay for one night, and in less than a day, such a thing happens. The biological mother doesn’t even know yet, ah, it’s truly pitiful!"
A woman holding a child joined the conversation:
"Didn’t that man take up with another young girl? They’ve been an item for a while now. Just the other day, I saw them arguing while I was buying sothing at the supermarket at the gate of the community with my child in tow. That young girl is quite young, but she had Zhang Bo wrapped around her finger, that’s certain. She doesn’t look the accommodating type. Tall with legs like chopsticks, no breasts, no behind. I really don’t see what he sees in her."
Mr. Zhao turned his head for a look. The woman holding the child had a mole between her eyebrows, was plump, wearing a red down jacket, and continued to pat the child’s back, keeping the child very tidy.
Seeing that they weren’t saying anything more, Mr. Zhao hurriedly picked up the pace and caught up to Zhou Ning and the others.
Entering the elevator, he handed the scene investigation box to Zhou Ning, pulled out his phone, and quickly typed a bunch of characters, then showed it to Liu Yufei. Liu Yufei glanced at it and gave a slight nod.
At that mont, the elevator dinged upon reaching the fifteenth floor. The old lady rushed to the door, fumbling with the keys for quite a while before getting the door open. Liu Yufei spoke in a soft voice to reassure her:
"Auntie, no need to rush. Give the keys, I’ll open it. You stand at the doorway, and wait here with our colleague. We’ll go inside and take a look."
The old lady nodded, clearly trusting the police quite a bit and not overthinking it, handing her keys to Liu Yufei.
Opening the door, the room was very clean. However, an area in the living room was cordoned off with many toys inside, including a baby bottle. The protective barrier around it was eighty centiters high, a height not just any toddler, especially a girl older than a year, could easily climb over.
The living room window was closed. To get an understanding of where the wind was coming from, Zhou Ning saw that it was probably the window in the room on the right-hand side that was opened.
Zhou Ning wasn’t in a hurry; Mr. Zhao began inspecting the door. It had been shut tightly upon their arrival, with no signs of forced entry. Mr. Zhao used a UV light on the floor where footprint marks left by slippers could be seen.
Zhou Ning handed the investigation box to Mr. Zhao, who opened it and distributed shoe covers to everyone. Liu Yufei slipped them on and walked to the living room window, with Zhou Ning following suit.
Zhou Ning had seen the content of the earlier ssage too. The neighbors’ observations could reveal more issues. Such an investigation was necessary, after all, to determine if it was accidental or deliberate.
"Hey, find a woman in her thirties wearing a red down jacket holding a child, with a mole between her eyebrows. Don’t scare her. Take her to a secluded place and ask about this family’s situation. If there are others around who know sothing, question them too. Be careful with your approach and attitude. If I find out you’ve intimidated anyone, watch out—I’ll deal with you!"
Without waiting for a response, he hung up. Zhou Ning rubbed his nose, guessing imdiately whom he had just instructed. It was obviously Mr. Bai, and such a pointed reminder was necessary for him.
At that point, Mr. Zhao had returned, holding the investigation box and several bags, with a cara slung over his neck, and a rare look of anger on his face.
"Found sothing?"
Mr. Zhao nodded.
"Let’s go check out the west side master bedroom."
Seeing that Mr. Zhao didn’t elaborate, Zhou Ning and Liu Yufei quickly headed to the master bedroom on the west side. The room was cluttered with items not typically found in a child’s bedroom, like a stack of storage boxes full of children’s toys, and of course, a pink Hello Kitty suitcase.
The bed was covered with a blue and white checkered sheet, not a trendy set, clearly reflecting the taste of soone older. A toddler pad and a child’s pillow were against the headboard.
The window was broad, unlike typical bay windows, as the ledge was seventy centiters above the floor. The part that could be opened was a notch above the ledge, fifty centiters in height. To the left, a window was open with no safety bars, the magnetic screen rolled up, leaving only a cord fluttering.
Zhou Ning walked over. On the sill was a small, distinct pale handprint, seemingly from soone grabbing milk and smudging it on there. Closer to the window, he saw the sa on the glass, though the handprints were sared sideways. From the sill, the height was over one ter twenty.
If a child tried to climb up on their own, they couldn’t reach such a height, and with the grandma out shopping, only the father and the two children were left in the house.
At this thought, Zhou Ning shivered.
Liu Yufei looked towards Zhou Ning.
"Director Zhou, what’s wrong? Did you find sothing?"
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