Chapter 19 Special Project Meeting_1

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This was purely to give Zhou Ning an opportunity to speak up, as after all Xu Dayuan set out to search within the time frame provided by Zhou Ning. The implied message was, "If there's any change on your end, speak now."

Zhou Ning collected his thoughts, noticing that He Chunyang, who had left earlier, had also returned, and then began:

"No changes. Let me share the autopsy results, since the final autopsy report still needs to be compiled."

Zhou Ning connected the camera to the computer with a USB cable, and numerous crime scene photos appeared on the projector. He clicked through them on the computer until he found the relevant ones before speaking earnestly:

"Female victim, Zhu Meifeng, was found during the autopsy to have an empty stomach with mucosal damage and bleeding points, indicating starvation for over 48 hours before death.

There were subcutaneous hemorrhages on her chest that resembled shoe prints. Additionally, it was discovered that Zhu Meifeng was approximately three months pregnant. Tissue samples have been taken from the fetus for comparison with Li Delin's DNA.

Male victim, Li Delin, was found during the autopsy to have suffered seven stab wounds, one cut to the neck that severed the carotid artery, and five abdominal wounds. The fatal injury was a stab wound to the back that pierced the heart, causing hemorrhagic death.

He had defensive wounds on his hands. Although the perpetrator attacked suddenly with a weapon, they were not as physically strong as Li Delin. Vomit samples have already been taken from Li Delin and will be compared to the food items listed on the shopping receipt.

As for the time of death, Zhu Meifeng's would be between 48-72 hours ago, which is between October 24th and 25th; Li Delin's time of death is 5-9 days ago, which would be between the evening of October 18th and October 22nd."

Having finished, Zhou Ning looked up at Xu Dayuan.

"Okay, you've heard all that Doctor Zhou had to say. Continue with your reports. Where did Mr. Wang leave off just now?"

Mr. Wang, whom Zhou Ning had met in the morning, was the chief of the Tieshan Police Station. With a head full of gray hair, he certainly wasn't young. He set down his pen and, glancing at the notebook in front of him, said:

"Liu Wangcai, 37 years old, once served as an auxiliary police officer in Linhai for a year and also worked as a clerk in the village for two years. He was dismissed due to unclear accounts without further pursuit of responsibilities. He was idle for a few years, and since 2005, he has been working odd jobs.

Liu Bingyi, his neighbor, reported that Liu Wangcai is a reticent person. He only comes home for about ten days during the New Year and not even for the wheat harvest. Zhu Meifeng managed everything at home, and this guy's intelligence is about that of an older child, but he never lies.

Liu Wangcai and Zhu Meifeng have a 12-year-old son named Liu Tianlong who attends the county Experimental Primary School as a boarding student, returning home once every half month. Their family had no known feuds with other villagers.

Liu Bingyi's wife Wang Chengjuan said that on the morning of October 21st, she saw Zhu Meifeng heading to the market and even chatted briefly. Zhu Meifeng mentioned that she was going to visit her elder brother during the slack farming season; afterwards, she never saw Zhu Meifeng again, nor did she see Li Delin visit her house that day.

On the morning of the 27th, Wang Chengjuan went to borrow a wheelbarrow from Zhu Meifeng's house and discovered something amiss. She went home to tell Liu Bingyi and then they called the police.

According to her, at the beginning of February this year, Liu Wangcai came home and fought with Zhu Meifeng, scolding her harshly and calling her a slut who always flirts around. They even went to break it up, and Zhu Meifeng's face was slapped until it swelled.

Regarding the villagers, there were many gossips, but when we went to investigate and asked if anyone saw Zhu Meifeng with someone, no one could provide details.

Before leaving, Wang Chengjuan approached me and mentioned she had seen Li Delin visiting Zhu Meifeng. However, he usually came over in the afternoon for a meal and left by seven or eight o'clock, occasionally helping to pick up the boarding child.

Zhu Meifeng has only one brother left at her parental home; her parents passed away last year. Her brother said that when Zhu Meifeng was in high school, she and Li Delin were classmates, but at that time Li Delin's family was poor, with four younger siblings to support, and his parents did not approve."

Mr. Wang rambled on, without much useful information, but it confirmed that Zhu Meifeng and Li Delin did indeed know each other, and may have been childhood sweethearts with a good relationship.

Xu Dayuan nodded and gestured with a nod to He Chunyang.

"Chunyang, continue."

"Li Delin owned a company in the city, with two storefronts selling plumbing parts and energy-saving stoves, and he even represented several brands. He had a successful business and rarely went to the company.

According to our investigation, the last time the company's finance department called him was at 16:22 on October 21st, concerning a payment that needed to be made after consulting Li Delin. Subsequent calls made on October 25th failed to connect.

Li Delin divorced five years ago and his ex-wife and son moved to Maolin City in Luxi Province, mainly due to mother-in-law and daughter-in-law conflicts. We checked with her; Li Delin would pick up the child during the winter and summer vacations and regularly called and paid child support punctually.

The ex-wife also revealed that the last time Li Delin called in September, he hinted at preparing for marriage. From the tone of the conversation, he seemed to have a rather amicable relationship with his ex-wife.

The call record for Li Delin stops at 16:22 on October 21st, and there are none thereafter. Liu Wangcai's call record, however, shows one or two calls each day, but all within the provincial city.

This afternoon, we reached out to Liu Wangcai and asked him to hurry back to Qidong. He said the earliest he could return by bus would be this evening as he had worked half a day and the construction site did not grant him leave immediately."

"What time will he arrive in Qidong? Have you arranged for someone to wait at the bus station?"

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He Chunyang nodded and glanced at his watch.

"Someone has already been dispatched to wait at the train station. He's on the 6281 train, boarding at Ludong City at 18:16 and arriving at Qidong County at 23:37."

Zhou Ning paused, his wife had died, and he was still taking a slow train back, not in a hurry?

Xu Dayuan didn't say anything else, but wrote something in his notebook before putting down his pen and looking around.

"So to sum up, based on the current investigation, Liu Wangcai and Zhu Meifeng don't have any known enemies, their marital relationship was poor, Liu Wangcai rarely came home, and Zhu Meifeng is suspected of having an affair.

Moreover, Li Delin and Zhu Meifeng knew each other for a long time, and the child she was carrying might also be Li Delin's, so that being said, Liu Wangcai's suspicions just increased."

Xu Dayuan's statement made everyone raise their heads, with Zhou Ning staring excitedly at him, as this was also his suspicion, but according to He Chunyang's investigation, Liu Wangcai seemed not to have had the opportunity to commit the crime, right?

He Chunyang quickly spoke up:

"Boss, I thought that too at first, so after I hung up with Liu Wangcai, I contacted our colleagues in Ludong City and specifically went to the construction site to ask around. Liu Wangcai has been at the construction site these past few days, someone can vouch for him, after all, they fingerprint clock in every morning."

Xu Dayuan's face darkened.

"Why didn't you say that just now?"

He Chunyang's face showed embarrassment.

"Sorry, I forgot to mention that."

Xu Dayuan's brows were tightly knit, and he glanced at the clock on the wall.

"The 10.27 case is very serious, I know everyone is working hard, but a case is of utmost importance, don't complain to me. As soon as Liu Wangcai gets off the train, take him directly to the station for interrogation.

Then, Liu Changhai should take a team to the provincial city, drive overnight, those punch clocks don't count for anything, as numbers could be entered with someone else's help to get through the checkpoint, so I want to see surveillance, if not, then check with all his coworkers.

From October 20th to October 26th, I want the most concrete evidence from the convenience stores around the area, the people who get food from the canteen, and not to forget the surveillance footage from the Ludong train station ticketing window, send someone to verify each one."

He Chunyang and that Liu Changhai both nodded vigorously.

"Rest assured, boss, we'll get right on it."

Xu Dayuan waved his hand.

"Alright, meeting's over, everyone go home and rest, those who aren't assigned tasks aren't off the hook, there's even more to do tomorrow. Zhou Ning, stay back."

At his command, everyone began to move, Zhou Ning wasn't sure why he was asked to stay, and just sat there obediently, but Mr. Wang disagreed.

"I say, Xu Da, you haven't assigned us any tasks. The case is in our jurisdiction, how can we sleep peacefully without being involved?"

Xu Dayuan smiled.

"Don't worry, old brother, you won't be left idle. I've saved a good job for you, which I couldn't discuss in detail during the meeting."

Mr. Wang put away his glasses and leaned in close to Xu Dayuan, lowering his voice to ask:

"Tell me more, what's the good job?"

Xu Dayuan's smile faded as he rubbed his nose.

"Take Wang Chengjuan to your station and interrogate her, scare her if you must. It would be best to go at night, with the police lights and sirens blaring so that the whole village can come out to see, especially when it's deep into the night."

Mr. Wang was stunned, his face full of confusion.

"Why?"