Chapter 22 Green Grasslands_1

With a shout, the two men quickened their pace and, seeing the chain lock, Mr. Liu dashed down without Zhao Xinli having to gesture.

Moments later, he returned with a large pair of pliers and snapped the chain.

Zhao Xinli placed the chain into an evidence bag and stared with small, tense, yet excited eyes at Zhou Ning.

"Shall we go in?"

Zhou Ning nodded.

"Mr. Liu, hold the high-powered flashlight at the door to light it up. Zhao Xinli, hand me the camera. I'll go in first to take a look, since the house isn't very big."

With the camera in hand, as he approached the room, a foul, rank odor assaulted his nostrils as soon as he entered.

Holding his breath, Zhou Ning's high-powered flashlight continuously swept across the room.

The room wasn't large, only about eleven or twelve square meters. It lacked ventilation due to a single slit-like window.

In the far corner of the room, there was a single straw mat, beside which stood an empty dirty water bucket— the source of the foul smell. Near the door and under the window, there was a relatively cleaner red plastic bucket, half-filled with water, along with a plastic dipper.

Zhou Ning gently moved the bucket aside; two crumpled pieces of toilet paper were wedged between it and the wall, bearing conspicuous bloodstains. Zhou Ning observed the area around the red bucket, and according to the water stains, something like a trash bag might have been placed there, leaving flowing traces.

Straw mat, cleaning water, toilet, trash, bloodstains, toilet paper— these all hinted at something, which, even without Zhou Ning's explanation, Zhao Xinli had realized.

"Someone has lived here, or rather, the killer lived here. The stinking smell would have bred God knows what kind of flies if this rock area wasn't so vast."

Zhou Ning nodded, took photos, and then sampled the blood-stained toilet paper. The straw mat was also rolled up and placed in an evidence bag. Only then did he straighten up.

"Let's keep looking to see if we can find something else."

This time, the two men were more enthusiastic, but after half an hour of checking every stone house on the terrace, without finding any other recent signs of human activity, they returned to the car.

"Doctor Zhou, are we still going to the village?"

"Yes."

Zhou Ning nodded. Before he went to sleep last night, he had thought through the day's investigation and autopsy processes and felt something was missing, but he couldn't figure out exactly what it was.

Up to this point in the case, it was already possible to determine that Liu Wangcai was the murderer. Although Liu Wangcai was meticulous and had even been an auxiliary policeman, thus understanding internal procedures, Zhou Ning did not believe in the perfect crime.

Zhao Xinli moved swiftly, driving quickly to Jiushanggou Village. Coming from the sea, they didn't need to take the newly built road, a much easier route.

The police car stopped in front of Liu Wangcai's house, and instantly people began peering around curiously. Zhou Ning got out of the car and carefully observed the Liu family's front gate.

At that moment, a noise came from the door of the sole neighbor next door, Liu Bingyi's house. Zhou Ning looked over to see an eye peering through the lock hole. When Zhou Ning's gaze met the eye, the person quickly withdrew.

Zhou Ning glanced at Zhao Xinli, who immediately understood Zhou Ning's intention, swaggered over, and pushed the door open. Zhou Ning and Mr. Liu followed to the door.

Next door to a homicide, tipping off the murderer, interrogated by the police in the middle of the night, and after all the trouble, not even having the sense to stay away for a while.

As soon as the police car arrived, she had been peering through the door, this person definitely had a secret.

After all, prior interrogations had been done by the Tieshan Police Station, and Mr. Wang, upon meeting, had primarily driven the self-sufficient narrative, which, while seemingly experienced, was also a bit presumptuous and assumptive.

As Zhao Xinli pushed the door open, Wang Chengjuan, clad in a floral shirt, had already backed into the center of the courtyard, clutching two ears of corn and trying to suppress her trembling lips. However, her eyes were bruised and the left side of her cheek was swollen, clearly from a beating.

"What... what do you want? I... I don't know anything anymore. If the police ask me again, my husband will kick me out! Please just go, I beg you!"

By the end, Wang Chengjuan's voice was choked with sobs.

Zhou Ning didn't look at her, his gaze continuously sweeping across their courtyard.

Although about the same size as Liu Wangcai's home, this yard was considerably more cluttered, with toys, washbasins, electric tricycles, tables, chairs, chopped wood, and a corner piled with lots of cardboard.

Seeing Zhou Ning looking over and then turning to head that way, Wang Chengjuan rushed over and blocked Zhou Ning, grabbing his arm.

"You know, if you have any questions, let's talk inside the house. Otherwise, if someone hears us as they come and go, I'll get beaten again."

Zhou Ning raised his hand and dodged Wang Chengjuan's grasp.

Zhao Xinli grabbed Wang Chengjuan by the collar, shaking his head with an unfriendly tone.

"Weren't you called to Tieshan Station yesterday? How come you still don't know the procedure? We don't need your direction in our investigation, stand back immediately."

Wang Chengjuan shrank her neck and obediently stood aside. In fact, inside their yard, there was still a faint smell of a corpse, even though the windows and doors in the front of Liu Wangcai's house were closed tight; the north window had a crack, and the smell of death could penetrate anywhere.

Zhou Ning didn't believe she couldn't smell it.

Zhou Ning turned sideways, looking at the pile of cardboard he had just been eyeing. This seemed to be the neatest spot in the entire yard. What could be hidden inside?

As he thought this, Zhou Ning's steps didn't halt. He walked up to the pile of cardboard, each bundle tied with cloth strips, and something round protruded from a gap on the side, looking like a wooden handle.

Zhou Ning reached out to touch it, then immediately turned to look at Wang Chengjuan, who was already biting her lip, her face turning pale, her legs giving way as she knelt on the ground, bringing her hands together in a pleading gesture before Zhou Ning.

"Don't touch that, please!"

Zhou Ning applied some force to the wood handle and pulled it out partway, then couldn't pull any further.

Mr. Liu stepped forward, picked up Wang Chengjuan, and then handcuffed one of her hands, fastening the other cuff to his own hand.

Zhao Xinli came over and forcefully toppled the stacks of cardboard towards the door, revealing a fork with a wooden handle in Zhou Ning's hand, bearing two dark-purple stained handprints.

"Control your emotions, okay? What is your relationship with Liu Wangcai? If you don't speak now, you'll really lose your chance."

Wang Chengjuan kept waving her hands, with tears and snot running down her face, wiping it with her sleeve. She knew her crying was of no use to the handsome policeman in front of her, in fact, it seemed to produce extreme aversion.

She finally stood up with Liu Yong's support to contain her emotions.

"I'll tell the truth. The pitchfork is ours; Liu Wangcai came in and took it himself. I heard the noise and came out just in time to see him returning it. He even threatened me to burn it."

Zhou Ning squatted down and took photos of the pitchfork, then of the two handprints. The handprints were left in the middle of the fork, 67 cm from the fork's head. Given that Liu Wangcai's height is 160 cm, and with his hands raised, about 180 cm or so, he could reach the north window.

Moreover, the state of these handprints was very well preserved, with the fingerprints exceptionally clear. Opening the camera, Zhou Ning found the photos of Liu Wangcai's fingerprints, compared them for a while, and knew without using the comparison equipment that these were Liu Wangcai's fingerprints.

However, Liu Wangcai was such a meticulous person, why would he trust Wang Chengjuan who obviously wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed?

Throughout the entire crime scene, not a single fingerprint of Liu Wangcai was found, not even on the murder weapon except for a residual palm print. But if Liu Wangcai were smart and claimed that the knife belonged to their family, then this palm print would also become invalid evidence.

Zhou Ning squatted there, looking at Wang Chengjuan.

"Tell me, what is your relationship with Liu Wangcai? Don't tell me that you're just neighbors, and don't try to fob me off with some story about being hired for three thousand yuan to keep an eye on Zhu Meifeng."

At this moment, Zhao Xin stood by the window, apparently seeing something. He pushed open the door and entered Wang Chengjuan's house. Soon after, he came out holding a photo frame, with a smirk on his face as he handed it to Zhou Ning.

"Take a look. I really don't know if her man is blind or just pretending to be!"

Zhou Ning took the photo, which was a family portrait of four. Liu Bingyi, who they had seen yesterday, was a hunchbacked man, looking honest and in his forties with a wide eye distance, thick lips, and his hands and feet twisted into an odd posture—a typical appearance of cerebral palsy, though his case seemed mild.

The two boys looked strikingly like Liu Wangcai at first glance, their features almost seemed to have been peeled off from Liu Wangcai's face.

Zhou Ning looked up, and Zhao Xin raised an eyebrow.

"Hehe, it's a vast grassland out there!"