Original Sin (II)

Shen Xingyan carefully examined the strangulation marks on the deceased's neck. The marks near the bottom of the neck were the deepest. There was no rupture or bleeding in the neck muscles. There was a transverse laceration in the intima of the carotid artery, and there was no obvious congestion in the brain tissue and meninges. These are all characteristics of suicide.

But if it was a normal suicide by hanging, the face of the deceased would be pale, the bleeding spots on the conjunctiva would not be obvious, and given the current position of the strangulation marks, the tip of the tongue would not be exposed. The victim's face was blue and swollen, his eyelids were bleeding, and the tip of his tongue was exposed, all of which were signs of strangulation.

The results are contradictory.

The deceased's blood contained a large amount of alcohol, but no wine bottle with the same dosage was found at the scene. So there are two possibilities. One is that the deceased drank the wine outside, and the other is that someone else went to the scene and took the wine bottle away.

Shen Xingyan is more inclined to the second option. With the alcohol content in the deceased's blood, there is no way he could come back to life on his own. She believes that there is no way the deceased could complete the steps of suicide.

An autopsy of the deceased's heart revealed early stages of atherosclerosis. Toxicology testing of the deceased's heart blood showed that lysergic acid diethylamide was present in his body, a type of hallucinogen.

After taking lysergic acid diethylamide, the pupils will dilate, the face will flush, the conjunctiva will be congested, the eyes will tear and salivate, and the limbs will tremble, which are exactly the same symptoms as those shown by the corpse.

Shen Xingyan immediately gave the autopsy report to Jiang Shengyu, who was shocked. "How could it be a hallucinogen? This thing hasn't appeared in Nanfu for a long time! Chang Tian is just a welder in the foundry, how could he be exposed to hallucinogens? Did he take it voluntarily or was he forced? And when did he take it?"

"The landlord said he gambles a lot. Could that be related?"

"Dawei asked another tenant of the landlord, and that tenant said Chang Tian liked playing poker and could lose thousands of dollars in one night."

"so much?!"

"He would win this much if he won, but he loses more often than he wins. Every time he loses, he goes home and throws things and swears."

"Where did he go to gamble?"

"I don't know yet. But the tenant said he once saw a man with a big blue dragon tattooed on his arm. He came with two younger brothers to ask Chang Tian for money and beat him up. ... This matter is very serious. I have to report it to Director Zhang."

Zhang Changming was also surprised and ordered Jiang Shengyu to solve the case and trace the source of the hallucinogens. At the same time, he called Gu Fang and asked him to come back quickly.

No one expected that what was thought to be a suicide case would become complicated by the appearance of hallucinogens.

Shen Xingyan told Chang Tian’s wife that the case was complicated and that Chang Tian was most likely murdered rather than committing suicide. However, the result would take some time to come out, so they could go back to their hometown first and be notified when the result was out.

Chang Tian's wife and cousin were stunned when they heard this. They never thought that Chang Tian might have been murdered.

Chang Tian’s wife grinned and started crying again, “You were working hard outside, how could you be killed?!”

My cousin looked very unhappy and whispered to her to stop crying.

Shen Xingyan asked: "Does Chang Tian have any special hobbies when he is at home?"

My cousin paused and shook his head, "No."

Shen Xingyan's eyes became darker, "Think about it again, even a small one will do."

The cousin glanced at Chang Tian's wife and said, "He likes to drink. Sometimes he can't control himself and often gets drunk."

"Anything else?"

"...I like playing cards, especially poker. I can play for a whole day."

"Is it just for fun or for gambling?"

"This..." The cousin hesitated.

Chang Tian's wife wiped her tears and said, "He's dead, why are you still hiding it for him? Let's put it this way, Chang Tian was not a good man, he drank, gambled, played with women, except for smoking, he did everything else. When he was at home, he had an affair with a woman from the neighboring village, and when he went out, it was even more unknown how many women he had fooled around with."

My cousin's expression became uglier and his words became more severe, "These are just rumors, and you still believe them."

"I saw it with my own eyes, how could it be false! If we didn't have two children, I would have divorced him long ago!" Chang Tian's wife's eyes were full of viciousness when she talked about the past. "Even so, his parents still think he is a good son and put all the blame on me. His father even said he would bring that woman home!"

"Uncle is also confused!" The cousin felt ashamed for them, "Anyway, the person is dead, these things are in the past, and you don't have to mention them all the time."

Chang Tian's wife started to cry again when she thought about the future.

Shen Xingyan told Jiang Shengyu about the situation. Jiang Shengyu said, "It seems that Chang Tian has complicated social connections. I have asked Qiu Ming and Lao Wen to investigate. You should go back and have a rest. You must be tired after dissecting corpses all day."

Shen Xingyan nodded, went to the forensic room to rest for a while, bought some food from the cafeteria, and took it home. Gu Fang has not returned yet, and Gu Qiuqiu is being kept at Shen Xingyan's home.

After dinner, she took Gu Qiuqiu out. The weather is getting cooler and you need to wear a coat in the morning and evening.

Shen Xingyan was walking her dog along the outskirts of the community when she saw a pair of night mandarin ducks. I couldn't help but look up at the sky. Why should I stay outside? Why not go home? She was moved. Since he was outside, there must be special circumstances and the family conditions did not allow it.

She suddenly thought of Chang Tian. The tenant only mentioned that Chang Tian gambled, but did not mention that he brought women back home. So he might have gone to the woman's home, or a hotel or something like that, or he might have gone to a prostitute.

Just as she was thinking, she heard footsteps. Out of instinct, Shen Xingyan turned around to look. A tall figure quickly walked over. The corners of her mouth slightly raised, "You're back?"

"Well, I just finished dealing with the matter, and then I received a call from Director Zhang. The reappearance of hallucinogens is not a good sign." Gu Fang looked exhausted, and he must have just come out after arriving home. He took the dog leash and said, "Thank you for taking care of Qiuqiu."

"Don't be polite with me. Now that you're back, Jiang Shengyu will be under less pressure."

"He's been a detective for quite some time now, it's time for him to step up. By the way, tell me about the case."

As they walked and talked, Gu Fang said, "It seems that we need to re-investigate the scene. You treated it as a suicide case at the beginning, so you overlooked a lot of details."

"Well, at first we just thought the deceased's posture was strange. We suspected it, but we weren't sure."

"Not bad. If it were someone else, they might have treated it as a suicide case."

"How's it going over there?"

"In a romantic case, a third party intervened. The original wife was so angry that she hired someone to beat up the mistress, causing her to miscarry. The mistress was unwilling to accept this and hired someone to kill her, resulting in both parties suffering."

Shen Xingyan was indignant, "It was obviously the man who was wrong, why are women the ones who bear the consequences? Just like in this case, Chang Tian died, leaving behind a family of orphans, how are they going to live in the future?!"

"Maybe he doesn't want to either."

"Anyway, I think he is not a good husband, a good father, or a good son. If he comes out to work, he should earn money honestly. But he gambles and visits prostitutes."

"Prostitution has not been verified yet."

"I'll check it out tomorrow!"

Gu Fang laughed, "Don't be angry, it's not worth it. I brought you a gift."

Shen Xingyan smiled again, "Thank you, Captain Gu."

…

The next day, Gu Fang led a team to re-inspect the scene, and Shen Xingyan also went.

The appearance of hallucinogens is a serious matter. The bureau attaches great importance to it and has issued a strict order that the source must be found out. The entire Second Detachment is on high alert.

Fingerprints and shoe prints were extracted from the deceased's residence. Since the door lock was violently destroyed and could not be locked, the only way to prove whether anyone else had entered the house before the deceased's death was to rely on other methods.

Gu Fang examined the area very carefully, not leaving out any corner. He found a small hole about two millimeters in size on the wall opposite the bed. He looked at the position and it was exactly at the level of the deceased's line of sight.

There was a powdery substance around the small hole. Gu Fang picked up some and smelled it, then called the trace investigator to come and collect evidence.

Shen Xingyan took some of the soup on the bedside table and prepared to take it for testing. She glanced at the closet and saw something red in a corner. She walked over and took it out. It turned out to be a dress, body-hugging and low-cut.

Gu Fang clicked his tongue twice, "This is definitely not for his wife."

Shen Xingyan put it in the evidence bag and said, "I took it back for testing. Have I visited Chang Tian's social connections?"

"Wen Ke went to the foundry, Jiang Shengyu is looking for Chang Tian's mistress, and Qiu Ming went to find the tattooed debt collector." Gu Fang lay down and checked under the bed. There was a thick layer of dust under the bed, with two wine bottles and a worn-out shoe box lying inside.

Gu Fang pulled out the shoe box. There was no dust on it. There were IOUs inside. The most common creditor was a man named Ma Ge, and the total amount of debt owed was almost 20,000.

Qi Jiabao looked at the IOU and his eyes popped out. "He actually owes so much money?! No wonder he has no money to pay the rent."

"It seems that there is a high possibility that he was forced to death by his creditors." Gu Fang walked to the bathroom and looked almost through the crack in the wall. He found a long light brown hair on the shower head.

He held it with tweezers. "This is a woman's hair." His name was Qi Jiabao. "Come with me to the other side and take another look."

Gu Fang knocked on the door hard and it took a long time for the door to open. The tenant was sleepy and looked impatient. "What's the matter?"

"You're sleeping in the afternoon?"

The tenant had a bad attitude, "I stayed up all night last night, I can't rest today."

When Gu Fang took out his ID, the tenant was stunned for a moment, and his arrogance immediately subsided a little.

Gu Fang said: "At 8 o'clock in the evening on September 26, did you hear any movement?"

The tenant shook his head, "No."

Qi Jiabao: "You don't even want to?"

Tenant: “You’ve already asked once.”

"Think about it again. Even the slightest sound will do."

"Small noises?" The tenant tilted his head and thought, "I think I heard the sound of knocking something?"

"What exactly?"

"I can't really put my finger on it, but there's something nailed to the wall. I'm preparing for an exam lately, so I have to study at night, so I can hear any noise."

"Were you studying last night too?"

The tenant blushed, "No, I went out to surf the Internet last night."

Gu Fang smiled knowingly. Recently, several Internet cafes have opened in Nanfu City, and many young people are playing there. "Have you ever seen Chang Tian bring a woman home?"

"I haven't seen it, but I've heard it." The tenant laughed with a bit of evil in his voice.

Qi Jiabao asked, "Why didn't you tell me last time?"

The tenant rolled his eyes, "You didn't even ask."

Gu Fang continued to ask: "Does it come frequently?"

"Only a few times."

"Okay, thank you for your cooperation."

The tenant closed the door and went back to sleep.

Gu Fang returned to the scene, stared at the hole in the wall, and wondered why the hole was drilled that night.

At this time, Jiang Shengyu sent news that Chang Tian’s mistress had been found!