"Alright, Leader. I will check based on this information."
"Don’t hang up in a hurry. From now on, you all have to eat with the local bureau’s staff, you cannot go out to eat alone, and you especially cannot consu any food and drinks given away at random. We have found poisoning here. Alright, don’t dawdle, get to work quickly."
Xu Dayuan hung up the phone, guessing that He Chunyang must be completely confused at that mont.
At this ti, Mr. Liang from the cafeteria ca up with several people, carrying a large pile of hot water bottles, looking apologetically and rubbing his hands together, then clasping his hands in salute to Xu Dayuan.
"I’m sorry, Director Xu. If it wasn’t for the gas stove in the cafeteria breaking down today, there would not have been an outside order, and the poisoning incident wouldn’t have happened. It’s all my fault."
Xu Dayuan waved his hand dismissively.
"It’s fine. Send two people to accompany Mr. Liang to check the gas stove. Don’t rush to ignite it; first, open the doors and windows for ventilation, then enter with a flashlight to inspect. Do not ignite it carelessly; just check whether the pipelines have any issues. If you find anything, seal it imdiately."
A few people went out, and Mr. Zhao distributed instant noodles and sausages to everyone. Despite the hardship, they all managed to find so enjoynt in it and had no complaints, as everyone was hungry. Zhou Ning ate quickly and noticed Xia Momo poking him. Looking down, he saw Xia Momo handing him a marinated egg. Zhou Ning shook his head with a smile.
"You eat it. Finish up and go back to the hotel with Zhu Xingxing and the others. I need to interrogate throughout the night here."
Zhu Xingxing looked worried and shook her head, placing the marinated egg into Zhou Ning’s bowl.
"I won’t hold you back, but you have to eat this."
After saying this, Xia Momo sat together with Zhu Xingxing and the others while Zhu Xingxing kept comforting Zou Jialong, who naturally felt responsible for handling the boxed als that were poisoned.
Mr. Zhao gave Zhu Xingxing a aningful glance, prompting her to quickly stand up while Mr. Zhao approached and whispered:
"What’s the point of self-bla? Will it solve any problems, catch the poisoner, or push the investigation forward? If it’s helpful, I will join you in self-bla, but if you can’t even manage your emotions after such an incident, you might as well go back to Qindao."
Zou Jialong was startled and waved his hands frantically at Mr. Zhao.
"Mr. Zhao, I didn’t an anything by it..."
Zhao Xinli waved his hand dismissively.
"Enough talk. Collect samples from all the boxed als, freeze them, mark each clearly, and also collect fingerprints and DNA from the outside of the boxed als. Having soone bring us a problem is good; can you handle it?"
"We can handle it. We’ll get on it right away."
Zou Jialong jumped to his feet, pulling Pang Tianhang and a few technical staff along, and hurried to process the boxed als. Mr. Zhao smiled with satisfaction as he returned to his double serving of instant noodles, not a drop of soup left in monts.
At this ti, the sound of a car braking suddenly ca from downstairs. Many people looked down to see Tao Zhenshan had returned, followed by people carrying a wooden board with what appeared to be a body on it, its head covered by a kitchen uniform.
A chill went through Xu Dayuan as he motioned to Zhou Ning and Mr. Zhao.
"You two go take a look. I’m guessing the delivery driver has been silenced. See if you can find any clues on the body."
Zhou Ning nodded, and glanced at Mr. Qu.
"I will perform the autopsy. You use the software to make accurate predictions about the delivery driver’s height, weight, and any behavioral characteristics. Send them to later."
Mr. Qu hurriedly agreed, and Zhou Ning and Mr. Zhao quickly headed to the autopsy room. Zhu Xingxing stood up, but Zhou Ning waved his hand.
"You and Xia Momo take the bus back to the hotel. We don’t need you here. Co over early tomorrow morning to take over the work. We are going to be working around the clock tonight; we can’t have everyone staying up."
Zhu Xingxing nodded and led Xia Momo and the others away.
Zhou Ning arrived at the autopsy room, where Peng Shinian and Mr. Zhao followed, and indeed Tao Zhenshan and his team were already inside with the body on a wooden board. Seeing Zhou Ning, Tao Zhenshan spat on the ground.
"We were too late. It looks like a silencing job. The heart was stabbed with a single knife, very professional, and the knife was not even pulled out. I checked the back of the body, and the tip almost pierced through.
The car door was open, the key was in the ignition, and the body was in the driver’s seat. However, there was blood on the edge of the passenger’s seat. I suspect the victim was sitting there when he was killed. Also, his mobile phone and wallet were missing, and the glove compartnt was open. It seems like the scene was staged to look like a robbery."
Zhou Ning looked at the body for a mont and then lifted the garnt. The deceased was wearing a yellow short-sleeved T-shirt, with a jagged bloodstain no more than ten centiters in diater around the wound. The wound appeared to be as wide as the knife blade. The deceased’s legs were slightly bent, his head was tilted back, his eyelids were slightly open, his mouth slightly ajar, and his fingers were bent as if he were trying to grasp sothing but only slightly raised.
"Let take a look; I will imdiately perform an autopsy and give you the results. Does the victim have any relatives in Yunlian Port?"
"We haven’t checked yet. We’ll look it up in the household registration information soon."
Zhou Ning glanced at the ti, and Xu Dayuan gestured to him with a nod of his chin.
"Speak up if you have any thoughts."
"It’s just past eight o’clock. The victim delivered the als at 19:10 to the Public Security Bureau. He must have left even earlier since he was just across the street. He hasn’t returned for so long; didn’t the restaurant owner look for him?"
Tao Zhenshan and Xu Dayuan looked at each other and quickly said,
"You’re right. I’ll take soone to the restaurant shortly. Guan Jian has already gone over there; I’ll have him secure the scene."
Xu Dayuan nodded.
"Then let’s split up. You go check the restaurant, and I’ll et with Doctor Zhang here. Later I’ll have a chat with Sun Pengfei. Since they won’t let us eat in peace, no one should think about sleeping. We’ll interrogate Bai Qishan at dawn; I believe everything stems from his capture."
Without any objections, everyone sprang into action. Zhou Ning called Mr. Zhao and Peng Shinian to join him in the autopsy room.
The body was already laid out on the autopsy table. The deceased’s arms were slightly raised, fingers spread and curved, and legs curled, indicating the onset of rigor mortis.
"Let’s divide the tasks. Peng Shinian will record the autopsy, Mr. Zhao is in charge of photography and will assist . First, go check the current outdoor temperature, and Peng Shinian, asure the rectal temperature of the deceased."
They imdiately got to work, with Mr. Zhao quickly finding the information.
"Outdoor temperature is currently six degrees above zero, which could drop to zero at dawn."
"The rectal temperature of the deceased is 36.1 degrees."
Zhou Ning nodded.
"Remove the deceased’s clothes, being careful with the knife in the chest."
The three worked together to cut and remove the deceased’s clothing. Zhou Ning closely inspected the chest wound, which appeared as a straight line. The knife clung tightly to the wound, but the angle was peculiar; the grip pointed downwards, penetrating obliquely towards the upper chest cavity.
The deceased’s teeth were very yellow, with considerable soft plaque and food debris between them. There was a pierced ear on the left side, and black dirt filled the three creases in the neck. Zhou Ning was sowhat surprised by this scene; such dirtiness was rarely seen on vagrants.
The nail creases were filled with black oily stains, and an intense foul odor emanated from between the legs.
Mr. Zhao quickly put on another mask.
"Ugh, how many years has it been since this person took a bath? That bento we used to eat every day, was it delivered by their family? Just look at these black oils under the fingernails, oh my, I think I have a stomachache."
Peng Shinian dry-heaved in agreent. Zhou Ning glanced at the two.
"Collect samples from the oral cavity, nails, and rectum. If you really can’t handle it, step out now. Your dry-heaving is making it hard for to bear."
Mr. Zhao raised his hands, making a surrender gesture with an apologetic expression.
"My mistake. I’ll start sampling now. But, the rectal temperature isn’t low, suggesting the death was recent."
Zhou Ning’s brow furrowed intensely.
"The rectal temperature does not align with the rigor mortis. Theoretically, rigidity can begin half an hour after death; however, the preservation of this posture indicates it has begun to set in firmly.
I believe, whether the deceased was murdered or died naturally, the position was sitting. There was no change in position, and even if there was any movent, it was minimal. Being continuously exposed to low temperatures outdoors would have accelerated the rigor mortis.
Particularly with a stab in the heart without significant bleeding, it’s either a non-traumatic hemopericardium or internal bleeding in the chest and lungs, which would further accelerate the onset of rigor mortis. Based on the timing of your asurent, subtracting two hours, I estimate the ti of death to be around 18:20, or even slightly earlier."
Mr. Zhao’s eyes widened.
"So you an, the victim was dead before delivering the al? No, he was already dead by the ti he did not erge from the restaurant. Didn’t the restaurant staff notice?"
Peng Shinian rubbed his chin, hurrying over to join the conversation.
"We just looked at the surveillance footage. The delivery person wore a hat and a mask, tall and thin. At a glance, the figure looks very similar to the victim. Without speaking, even an acquaintance might not recognize him. Perhaps the person was chosen in advance, soone already known, reserved for just such an ergency.
On this end, they heard about Bai Qishan’s arrest and the many people from Ganzhou getting involved, and one by one, they panicked. They learned from inside our special investigation team that we ordered als, and that triggered the hasty plan. I think with such tight timing for such a quick response, these people must be formidable."
Mr. Zhao looked at Peng Shinian, nodding in agreent.
"Not to say the poet’s analysis isn’t spot-on. If it weren’t for the poet spotting the issue today, our whole bunch would’ve been laid out here. That’s cyanide. Just thinking about it gives the chills."
Zhou Ning let out a long sigh, waving a hand at the two.
"Enough, disrupt the rigor mortis, position the body properly, turn on the recording device, Peng Shinian get ready to log, and Mr. Zhao hand the scalpel."
Mr. Zhao activated the recording button. Zhou Ning briefly introduced the deceased’s information, the findings from the external examination, and his deduction of the ti of death, then proceeded to open up the three body cavities.
The scalpel was carefully extracted. Mr. Zhao asured the length and width of the knife; the wound was almost exactly as wide as the blade. The knife closely resembled the boning knives used in restaurants, only it was longer.
The handle was wrapped in tape. The blade showed clear signs of sharpening, and at the junction of blade and handle, there was a thick layer of black grease. There were no brand markings, and so of the tape was cracked; it hadn’t been removed, but simply patched over with another layer. Such repair seed more in line with the deceased’s habits, considering his lack of concern for hygiene.
However, Zhou Ning remained puzzled about the stabbing angle.
Typically, a person of equal height stabbing into the chest would do so horizontally or vertically if the victim was lying down, to exert the most force. Such an oblique angle usually appears when the heights don’t match and the perpetrator is shorter than the victim.
Why, then, was this the case?
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