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Chapter 55: A person appears
DNA and fingerprint identification results have come out, confirming that the body found in the water was indeed Zhao Shen. Even though the prime suspect in the serial murder case was dead, that didn’t mean the case could be easily closed. The toxicology report indicated that Zhao Shen’s blood contained a concentration of a hypnotic drug that exceeded normal sedation levels but was not lethal. Combined with the autopsy findings, it was proven that Du Ruanlan’s assessment was correct: Zhao Shen was drugged, rendered unconscious, and drowned in the water without being able to struggle.
“There are no signs of struggle whatsoever. It’s evident that the person who drugged and killed him was familiar with him. Moreover, they knew he went directly to Dangshui Village after arriving in Shengzhou City,” Lin Heyu pulled out a photo of Zhao Yang from the documents. “From all of this, he’s the prime suspect.”
“What do you think his motive for murder is? Was it for Qiao Ruofei?” He Wei tapped his finger on the table. “That day, they were fighting at the police station. Zhao Yang’s feelings for Qiao Ruofei didn’t seem deep at all. It appears he was simply interested in her looks.”
“I also don’t think he’s the killer,” Wen Huabei chimed in. “And Zhao Shen was already a suspect to begin with. If he was caught, he would have faced legal consequences. Why would someone want to take his life? Maybe they were afraid he wouldn’t receive the death penalty, so they took matters into their own hands?”
“R*ping and killing two innocent women with such brutality would naturally lead to a death sentence. Wanting to deliver their own form of justice indicates something more.” He Wei stroked his chin, then reopened the investigative file, turning to Lin Heyu. “I see that in the second case, Zhao Shen’s DNA was found in the victim’s vaginal swab. What about the first case? Was there no evidence?”
“No, in the first case, though the victim was also s*xually assaulted, no DNA was found. We suspect the perpetrator used a c*ndom.”
He Wei flipped to the evidence page. In the bag of the second victim, Deng Wan, there was a receipt from a certain KTV. She was a regular there and knew Zhao Shen. On the night she died, there was no alibi for Zhao Shen. According to Qiao Ruofei’s testimony, she was alone at home that night, and Zhao Shen claimed to be working the night shift, lacking an alibi. With all the evidence combined, it seemed quite logical to make him a suspect. However, just as the police were about to arrest him, they found out he had fled to Shengzhou City.
Flipping to the analysis of the first victim Luo Tingting’s case, He Wei noted that this case yielded no useful biological evidence. It was merged with Deng Wan’s case due to similarities in modus operandi. They both were r*pe-murder cases, and both victims were connected to the prime suspect.
“In the first case, the approach was clean and efficient. Why were there so many loopholes in the second case?” He Wei pointed to the victim’s photo. “And what’s the significance of leaving the letters ‘LV’?”
“We speculated at the time that it might be related to an anti-rich sentiment,” Zou Bin suggested.
“Or perhaps he had some fixation on the LV brand and targeted women who possessed it,” Wen Huabei added.
He Wei found it all puzzling. One victim was a student, the other a relatively unknown actress, and neither came from wealthy backgrounds. Could it be that they were targeted simply for owning luxury items? If it was about being anti-rich, why not target more obvious symbols of wealth? These women might have saved up for a long time to afford even a single item, so if it was about resentment towards wealth, why not take their belongings after the murders? And the letters ‘LV’ seemed to have a more emotional connection than a financial one.
Two sharp knocks echoed at the office door. Zheng Youqing stood there, holding a folder.
He Wei gestured for her to come in. Zheng Youqing handed over the folder: “The DNA from the adhesive bandage has been extracted.”
“Must have been quite challenging, right? Thank you for your hard work.”
“It wasn’t too bad. Took some effort, but not too difficult,” Zheng Youqing responded, raising her eyebrows, deliberately avoiding mentioning the extensive purification process that had kept her busy for a day and a night.
He Wei opened the folder, bypassing the diagrams to read the conclusion at the bottom: the gender was XY, indicating male DNA. The next page contained a comparison between this DNA and Zhao Shen’s DNA. The blood on the adhesive bandage wasn’t his; it belonged to another male.
“… It’s from a man? I thought it might belong to his girlfriend,” Zou Bin wondered. “Is he bisexual?”
He Wei looked at him. “Why would you think that?”
“It’s just that… adhesive bandages like these aren’t very clean. Only you or someone close to you wouldn’t mind using them. If someone else asked me to help throw it away, I’d find a way to get rid of it if I couldn’t find a trash can. Why leave it on yourself?”
Lin Heyu leaned in, his voice low near He Wei’s ear. “He has a girlfriend; they’ve been together for several years.”
No wonder he looked so nonchalant about it. Hearing that, He Wei found it reasonable. With this in mind, perhaps the real culprit was that man, or maybe the two of them were working together. That might explain their fear of Zhao Shen’s capture and the need to kill him to silence him.
“Let’s reopen the earlier cases together. What do you think?” He Wei closed the investigation file, and Lin Heyu crossed his arms. “We need to act quickly, you know.”
Of course, He Wei understood that there was pressure from higher-ups. He picked up the folder and lightly tapped Lin Heyu’s chest. “What happened to your previous toughness? Tell your superiors that we can’t close the case yet. You can’t catch the real culprit if you are impatient.”
——–
Lin Heyu had planned to wait for Qiao Ruofei to calm down before approaching her for cooperation in the investigation. Unexpectedly, Qiao Ruofei showed up herself. Her face was pale, and her eyes were swollen. It seemed like she had spent the past couple of days in tears.
“I want to see him one last time,” Qiao Ruofei said.
The autopsy had concluded, and Zhao Shen’s body had been neatly sewn up. Seeing Qiao Ruofei’s frail and exhausted appearance, Lin Heyu raised his finger, indicating for Zou Bin to take her to the morgue to see Zhao Shen.
In less than five minutes, Qiao Ruofei emerged. Her emotions were calm, perhaps numb from the shock. Not a single tear fell from her eyes, which were now hollow and lifeless. She thanked Lin Heyu and revealed her plan to return to Haijing in the near future, no longer staying in Shengzhou.
“It’s good to go back early and start anew,” Lin Heyu advised. “Did Zhao Shen have any close male friends?”
Qiao Ruofei thought for a moment and provided a few names. These individuals were Zhao Shen’s colleagues, and they had already been investigated in Haijing. However, their DNA had not been examined, and they all had solid alibis at the time of the incidents. Therefore, they were initially excluded as suspects.
Lin Heyu asked her to think further and see if there were any others. After a long while, Qiao Ruofei gently shook her head. She truly didn’t know of anyone else. Zhao Shen’s social circle wasn’t that extensive, and she was acquainted with everyone he knew. She had no more leads to offer.
Upon hearing that she was leaving, Yun Xiaoxiao let out a sigh of relief. Qiao Ruofei held Yun Xiaoxiao’s hand. “Xiaoxiao, thank you for being with me during this time. I don’t have any friends here, and it’s been nice knowing you.”
“As long as you return safely, I’ll be happy,” Yun Xiaoxiao looked towards the morgue, comforting her, “People can’t come back to life. Your journey is long, so keep pushing forward.”
Qiao Ruofei nodded, her lips curving into a smile—the first one she had shown in these past few days.
He Wei and Lin Heyu drove to Dangshui Village. Since the discovery of the body here, there have been even fewer villagers around. They would choose another road to bypass Dangshui Lake, obviously avoiding it due to the fear of encountering the “water ghost.”
Zhao Shen’s phone had still not been found. It wasn’t in his luggage, and there was no trace of it in the lake where his body was found. Dangshui Lake was not small, and draining it would be quite difficult. Plus, they couldn’t guarantee that the phone was even in the lake. If they drained it and still didn’t find the phone, it would complicate matters further.
The car came to a halt at the entrance to Dangshui Village. This was where Zhao Shen’s presence seemed to disappear. There was only one road leading to Dangshui Village, and they planned to scrutinize this road carefully to see if they could find any useful clues.
Lin Heyu focused on examining the bushes along the shore, while He Wei paid attention to the ground and the litter. This was a dirt road, and the yellow soil was mixed with stones, plastic bags, twigs, and pieces of wood—typical litter. He Wei used tweezers to pick up small bags that resembled candy wrappers and place them into evidence bags.
“What are you looking for with these?” Lin Heyu asked, holding a flashlight.
“I specifically searched online for single-use face mask packaging. Many of them resemble candy wrappers. If he accidentally consumed them thinking they were candy, he might have casually tossed the packaging on the ground,” He Wei explained.
Lin Heyu pushed aside the grass by the lakeside and saw a small, translucent green package. He handed it to He Wei. “Here, take a look.”
He Wei placed it in an evidence bag. Lin Heyu shook his head with a smile. “You’re still the same as before, even though you’re a Captain now. Why do you still make things so difficult for yourself?”
“Anyone can provide guidance, but not everyone can investigate a case.” He Wei shrugged off the comment. “Being a Captain just gives me the authority to allocate resources openly. When it comes to a case, I can only be at ease if I investigate it myself.”
They walked along the riverbank, but they didn’t find Zhao Shen’s phone. Instead, they collected a bag of trash. Back at the station, He Wei went to the tech team, where Zheng Youqing was having coffee. Seeing him return with a bag, she asked, “What kind of examination are you planning?”
“Just some trash I picked up. I’m not sure if any of it will be useful.” He Wei poured out the contents, which were various sizes of small packaging bags. “Could you check to see if any of these might be from single-use face masks?”
Zheng Youqing sighed helplessly, “There are so many different types of single-use face masks on the market, most of them are sold as complete packages. The product descriptions also don’t mention individual packaging. How should I check?”
He Wei paused for a moment, then said, “I’m sorry, I’m not familiar with cosmetics.”
Observing his expression, Zheng Youqing couldn’t help but smile. While his handsome face remained serene and calm, there was a hint of embarrassment in his eyes. She rarely saw Captain He, who seemed capable of anything, at a loss. She secretly moved closer to him and whispered, “How about this? I’ll pick out the packaging that might be from single-use face masks. Then you can have Xiaoxiao and the others investigate physical stores and also compare them on online shopping sites. How does that sound?”
He Wei turned to look at her and nodded gently. “That sounds good, thank you.”
“I’ve been wondering when you’ll stop being so polite with me.” Zheng Youqing lowered her gaze, biting her lip. “My father admires you a lot, but he also advised me to give up on you. He said, you find it very difficult to develop feelings for someone, and I shouldn’t waste my efforts.”
Difficult to develop feelings for someone – He Wei thought Chief Zheng’s assessment wasn’t entirely off the mark, but an image of Cheng Zesheng popped into his mind.
“But I’ve noticed that you’ve changed a bit recently. You’re working less overtime, and you’ve been going home more often. Is your ‘friend’ still staying at your place?”
“…Yes.”
Zheng Youqing’s expression seemed to darken with disappointment. She nodded lightly, picked up her coffee cup, and held it in her hands, leaning against a lab table without saying anything.
“He Wei,” Zheng Youqing whispered, “has someone already appeared in your life, making it unnecessary for me to wait?”
He Wei unusually remained silent for a while before he let out a slow sigh.
“Maybe, I’m not really sure if he counts or not.”
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