Taking the scalpel, Zhou Ning quickly opened the three body cavities, while Zhu Xingxing collected the contents of the deceased’s stomach as well as the blood from the heart.
The chy extracted, Zhou Ning took a mont to identify it closely: there were granular carrots, sliced cabbage, and C- and S-shaped pale yellow noodles—clearly, the instant noodles Liu iling had for breakfast that morning. Judging by the state of digestion, this was within an hour after the al.
As for the liver and spleen, there were no signs of swelling.
Examining the uterus and vagina carefully, Zhou Ning didn’t find any fine cuts or scratch marks. The wound above the pubic symphysis, so areas deep enough to reach the pubic bone and others injuring the peritoneum, was explored from the site of the incision, but did not penetrate. Zhou Ning was, in fact, quite puzzled by these injuries.
He couldn’t understand the purpose of the assailant doing this; was it just to increase Liu iling’s pain?
But if it were for humiliation and pain, this spot was not the most painful location. Inflicting pain both above and below could cause even more agony. Assuming Shi Yun was the killer, given that her own father committed suicide after being humiliated in such a manner, logic would suggest that Shi Yun would display the victim’s body in a severely humiliating state, but this was not the case.
Zhou Ning shook his head, perford the final step, and then waved to Zhu Xingxing, who ca forward to suture, but he did not remove his gloves or make a summary.
The others glanced at each other, and Mr. Zhao quickly stopped their actions. After Zhu Xingxing finished the final tasks, Mr. Zhao looked at Zhou Ning. Having worked with Zhou Ning for a long ti, he guessed so of Zhou Ning’s thoughts. Raising his hand, he flipped his wrist.
Zhou Ning shook his head slightly and raised his hand at a ninety-degree angle. Mr. Zhao, understanding, waved his hand, and several people ca forward to place the body in a lateral recumbent position.
Zhu Xingxing handed over a clean scalpel, and Zhou Ning cut out the area of the lumbar spine that had the needle marks, preserving plenty of the underlying muscle tissue.
"Do you know what tests need to be done with this?" Zhou Ning asked.
Zhu Xingxing nodded.
"Check for any drugs or toxins in the injection that caused the loss of sensation in the victim’s lower limbs, preventing her from resisting."
With a smile, Zhou Ning beckoned to Mr. Zhao. The body was positioned correctly, and the recording equipnt was turned off. Only then did he remove all his gear, speaking slowly.
"Let’s refine the analysis: Liu iling’s neck was suddenly seized, causing her to fall backward and hit the edge of a freezer with the back of her head, becoming unconscious. The killer then dragged Liu iling to the outside of the freezer where she was hidden, which is consistent with marks on the floor. Afterwards, the killer emptied the items in the freezer, administered spinal anesthesia or injected a toxin to Liu iling, and placed her inside.
Next, the killer cut Liu iling’s face and the wound above the pubic symphysis. The pain woke Liu iling. The killer revealed their identity, and Liu iling, in fear and agony, tried to rise. But the killer closed the lid of the freezer, listening to Liu iling’s struggle.
When the noise stopped, the killer opened the freezer, covered it with concealnt, arranged the original contents of the freezer, and cleaned the bloodstains in the room. As for the room key, I suspect it was swapped with another key or the position of the keyhole was changed, which is why it couldn’t be opened.
Avoiding surveillance and hiding a body inside the hotel— the killer must be quite familiar with the Blue Sea Hotel. Liu iling’s presence there was definitely influenced by the killer’s guidance, and they knew that between 7:00 and 8:00 AM on the 20th, no one would be entering or leaving the kitchen, so they possibly worked there."
Zhu Xingxing frowned, and seeing that Sun Gaotie and the rest had cleared the body away, he patted the autopsy report and said:
"We’ve done all we can for now. It’s up to Mr. Dui’s team to investigate. How could Liu iling just obey the killer’s arrangent, co to Yunan for a self-driving tour, and stay at the Blue Sea Hotel, which the killer is familiar with? All this was carefully planned. But really, would the killer work here and leave traces?"
Zhou Ning glanced at Zhu Xingxing, Mr. Zhao tried to hold Zhu Xingxing back, wanting to stop her, but Zhou Ning nodded.
"This point you’ve raised is very important. If the police find the body, or as is the case now, discover that Liu iling is missing, the first suspects would be the staff of the Blue Sea Hotel since that’s where the victim disappeared and was killed.
The killer would have certainly anticipated this. Based on the timing, Liu iling’s ti of death was after 7:14 on August 20, 2013. Compared to Li Li and Xu Qingquan, this was the killer’s first murder, and it had been planned for a long ti. To achieve what Zhu Xingxing just described almost perfectly is already impressive.
As for the DNA on the neck and face wounds, perhaps that was an oversight. After all, it’s difficult to attack without leaving a trace. The DNA found in those cuts is probably from when the killer held the dagger to injure Liu iling’s face. The dagger didn’t have a handguard, the hand slipped, causing injury, and blood fell into the wound—an exceedingly fortunate discovery."
Mr. Zhao grabbed a scalpel, held it vertically in both hands, and made stabbing and slashing motions in all directions.
"Female, not strong, and in the extre euphoria of revenge, she might not even have felt the cuts to her hands. Of course, she would notice during the cleanup, after all, the storage was thoroughly cleaned. But wait! Based on the killer’s murder process of Li Li and Xu Qingquan, she must have dical knowledge or understand dicine; otherwise, how could she calculate the dosage of poison so precisely? I read Mrs. Cui’s report; the toxic dose of vitamin A varies greatly from person to person.
For so, 500,000 units can cause poisoning, while others might need 1.5 million units to get poisoned. To calculate so accurately, this person must know dicine. Then why in that storage didn’t I use a chlorine-containing disinfectant for cleaning? That would have made it even harder for us to find the body, wouldn’t it?"
Zhu Xingxing gave Mr. Zhao an exasperated look and snatched the scalpel away.
"Are you silly? What’s the point of cleaning that storage? The door was locked, swapping the key was just to prevent people from finding the body for a short ti. She well knew that from mid-September they would be using the supplent, to brew various dicinal soups and whatnot..."
As Zhu Xingxing ca to a halt, Mr. Zhao knew she must have thought of sothing. He didn’t rush her and, along with Zhou Ning, leaned in closer. Zhu Xingxing pulled off her gloves, found her mobile phone, and opened the photo gallery.
After searching for a bit, she flipped to a picture of the hotel’s main entrance and handed it to Zhou Ning.
"This is a photo of the Blue Sea Hotel. Though this entire building is the Blue Sea Hotel, right here at the entrance, you can tell it used to be rented out. There are traces where a trademark sign was removed."
Zhou Ning called over Mr. Qu, who quickly took the phone, forwarded the picture, and began processing it. After adjustnts, several words appeared: Peppa Pig Cottage Museum Souvenir Shop.
"Mr. Zhao, call Mr. Dui and ask how the investigation is going on their end. Also, find out from the hotel when the Peppa Pig Cottage Museum Souvenir Shop’s lease ended, who the lessee was, and get their contact information. Explain to them what we’ve discovered and our suspicions."
Mr. Zhao hurried off to make the call while Zhou Ning looked at Zhu Xingxing and Mr. Qu.
"Zhu Xingxing, compile the autopsy report. Leave soone to wait for the test results. I want to know the type of anesthetic or poison used. Mr. Qu, contact Mr. Xia and see if he’s finished the image of Shi Yun as an adult."
Mr. Qu pushed up his glasses and, unlike Mr. Zhao, didn’t dare to quip that he could just ask his own wife; instead, he quickly went off to make contact.
Mr. Zhao spoke rapidly, providing a barrage of information about the autopsy and their deductions. He also relayed Zhou Ning’s recent questions to Mr. Dui, ensuring nothing was missed. Fang Mu swiftly instructed his team to make inquiries.
"I’ve sent soone to ask—pass the phone to Director Zhou, I need to speak with him."
Mr. Zhao quickly held the phone up to Zhou Ning, but Zhou Ning didn’t take it, simply switching to speaker mode.
"What is it, Mr. Dui?" Zhou Ning asked.
"It’s like this: I found out that the hotel’s managent hasn’t changed much. Though it’s called the Blue Sea Hotel, it has nothing to do with our Qindao. The chain stores are all in Yunan Province. The breakfast is served in the Western restaurant on the second floor, east side. It has separate staff and utensils. The Chinese kitchen in the basent doesn’t start work until 9 a.m. The procurent staff purchase ingredients at 7 a.m. and temporarily store them in the second-floor Western kitchen until they tally them up after starting work.
Liu iling disappeared on August 20 at 7:14 a.m. At that ti, there were no staff coming and going through the north door leading to the basent kitchen, which was also ajar. All the ingredients are stored there, and the kitchen is never locked.
The kitchen hours start at 9:00 a.m., so the killer surely wouldn’t wait until people arrived to leave. I think the killer must’ve left before that ti. We need Mr. Qu to check the surveillance to trace the vehicles on the road at that ti.
The only thing I’m concerned about is, I just made the Blue Sea Hotel provide various records, and one of the maintenance records shows that on August 20 at 9:44 a.m., there was a lighting power failure from the basent level to the third floor. The maintenance staff took more than ten minutes to fix it. I’m not sure if it’s related to the case."
Mr. Qu nodded urgently.
"No problem, but concerning the location of the Peppa Pig Cottage, judging from the photo taken by Zhu Xingxing, it doesn’t seem to have been rented out again. Can we go take a look over there?"
Fang Mu seed to consult soone nearby—likely he was in the hotel managent’s office. With a murder occurring in the hotel, the managent would undoubtedly take it very seriously. The sooner the issue was resolved, the smaller the impact on the hotel. Otherwise, if word got out, not only would their business be dood, but it could also affect the chain stores.
"They’ve checked, and the contract has not expired yet. Initially, it was assud they were renovating, but after the removal, there was no imdiate refurbishnt. They also can’t get in touch with the lessee. Why don’t you co over and take a look? I told them to open it up so we can all go in together. Do you suspect the murderer is the lessee?"
Fang Mu was quick to respond, obviously also considering that soone who knew the layout of the hotel and was familiar with the environnt and departnt schedules had to be an insider or soone who had stayed there for an extended ti.
"Yes, and it will probably be difficult to find any trace of the killer on the contract or contact details. We’ll have to rely on eyewitness testimony. Do you know when they said the business was vacated? Has anyone from the hotel t the owner?
If it’s been within a month, we might still pull the surveillance footage. But if much ti has passed, it’s unlikely it was preserved. So now we need to see if any hotel staff took any photos."
After asking further, Fang Mu added:
"They took down the sign suddenly on July 14 but didn’t open the next day. No one could get in touch with them via phone, although the rent hadn’t expired yet."
"Alright, we’ll head over now. We’ll discuss everything in person."
Without wasting words, Zhou Ning hung up the phone.
"Pang Tianhang, stay behind to wait for the test results. Everyone else, gather your equipnt. We’re leaving now."
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