Chapter 67 Red Spider Lily 06
After two consecutive interrogations, Luo Siwei walked back to the office.
She sat at her desk, sorting out the clues in the case so far.
Tang Xi had also sorted out the detailed information of the accidental poisoning incident in the villa fourteen years ago and placed it on Luo Siwei's desk.
The man who died at that time was named Ding Zhaomo, 25 years old, and he was a foreman in a construction team.
In January of that year, the construction of the villa was at the carpentry stage. In order to meet the deadline, the workers lived inside at night. Ding Zhaomo slept in a room downstairs, which is now the guest bedroom of the villa.
It was snowing heavily when the incident happened, and the temperature in Donglan City dropped sharply. He might have lit a charcoal brazier to keep warm before going to bed, which resulted in carbon monoxide poisoning.
What happened next was just as Zheng Wanshan said.
Ding Zhaomo's death also turned this villa into a haunted house.
Luo Siwei carefully read Ding Zhaomo's information.
She found several photos of the deceased, showing an ordinary young man with a healthy appearance. The police ruled the death an accident, and the family did not appeal, and the matter was left as it was.
Luo Siwei thought that maybe this matter had nothing to do with the current case, and she was just overthinking it.
Time passed quickly, and it was already time to get off work in the afternoon. The forensic doctor had made some progress, and Lan Anan finally sent over the preliminary autopsy report and a reproduction of the talisman paper.
Luo Siwei asked, "How did the hair test go?"
Lan Anan said, "It was sent to the best laboratory in the city. The results are expected in about a week."
There is very little DNA left on the hair, so the city bureau cannot conduct an examination. You have to wait in line to do the DNA test in the laboratory, which is already an expedited result.
Luo Siwei thanked her and looked down at the information below: "The fingerprints are a little incomplete, and there are old scars on the body."
Lan Anan said, "Yes, it's probably the scars from the car accident that year."
Attached at the end was a replica of the talisman paper. Luo Siwei lowered his head and glanced at the talisman paper. There were patterns drawn on it with red cinnabar. The patterns and words were very strange, and it was difficult to recognize what was written.
Luo Siwei put the talisman paper aside and went to look at the autopsy report. The cause of death was consistent with what she expected.
Both people died from stabbing with a sharp knife. The murderer dismembered the bodies as if he wanted to move them, but for some reason, he gave up halfway and left the body parts in the bathtub.
It seemed that the case had reached a bottleneck, but Luo Siwei was a person who became more and more courageous and unwilling to admit defeat. She went to the bathroom to wash her face with cold water. After coming back, she tied her long hair into a bun again and put it behind her head.
Then she stood at the whiteboard and summarized the clues in the case so far.
Photos of the two victims were posted in the center, with the husband Zheng Wanshan written as the suspect next to him.
There are currently three main pieces of evidence in the case: a strand of hair, half a shoe print, and the talisman.
The clues seemed complicated, but upon closer inspection, there weren't many that could be followed. Just as she was getting to this point, someone walked up to her and picked up the stack of information.
Luo Siwei was lost in thought and didn't notice someone coming. She hurriedly raised her head and saw Chi Li standing in front of her.
Chi Li wore a dark blue shirt and black trousers today, appearing calm and reserved in the somewhat messy office.
Luo Siwei hurriedly stood up and called out, "Captain Chi."
Chi Li was very concerned about this case. After reading the document, he lowered his head and looked at the copy of the talisman paper.
Luo Siwei said, "We found some abnormalities on the talisman paper. Here, and here, it looks like it has been bitten." As she spoke, she pointed to Chi Li.
Chi Li nodded and moved the copy paper towards a direction with better light. The talisman paper was inevitably damaged, with a few holes on it, which looked like teeth marks, or even traces left by chewing.
Chi Li said, "There's a spot on the bottom corner of this talisman that looks like a flower."
Luo Siwei looked carefully and saw that they were several small dots arranged in a regular pattern, a bit like the shape of a flower, but because of damage, they were incomplete.
Chi Li said: "Also, there is a detail I think we should pay attention to. So far, we have only found this talisman paper in Zhou Zitu's body. It is not in Zheng Congcong's mouth."
Luo Si frowned and thought, this was also something that was unreasonable.
Chi Li further analyzed: "If the talisman paper was brought by the murderer, he was premeditated to kill, and it is impossible that he did not notice Zheng Congcong's existence. The murderer would use talisman paper, which means he must be extremely superstitious. Then why did he kill two people but only prepared one talisman? This logic does not make sense."
At this point he concluded, "Also, this talisman doesn't look like it's for a curse as Old Huo said. Instead, it looks like a talisman to ward off evil spirits."
After hearing what Chi Li said, Luo Siwei suddenly understood.
"Then..." Luo Siwei tried to analyze, "Could it be that the talisman paper was not placed in Zhou Zitu's mouth by the murderer, but that she was going to eat it herself?"
Only in this way can it be reasonably explained why the talisman was stuck in her throat - she was trying desperately to swallow the talisman, but because she was stabbed at that time, the talisman was eventually stuck in her throat. Because of this, she left teeth marks on the talisman during the swallowing process.
"This possibility cannot be ruled out." Chi Li answered very seriously.
He looked at the whiteboard beside him, walked over and drew a circle on the talisman paper. "No matter who this talisman paper belongs to, whether it was left by the murderer or Zhou Zitu bought it and chewed it himself, this is the most unique aspect of this case and the most direct clue we currently have. I suggest we follow this line of investigation."
Luo Siwei nodded in agreement.
Zhou Zitu's living circle was too simple, and they did not find any other clues from it.
Both DNA and shoe prints require a suspect to be compared. Currently, only this talisman paper has a direct connection with the deceased, which makes this homicide case special.
Who bought the talisman paper, why did they buy it, and how did this talisman paper end up in Zhou Zitu's mouth?
Luo Siwei had a hunch that the answers to these questions might be the key to solving the case.
Guo Zhengyao listened to their discussion and patted Huo Cunsheng in the front row. "Old Huo, how are your inquiries with the seller of the talisman going?"
Huo Cunsheng raised his head and put on a bitter face. "I did find it. There are only a few big businesses in Donglan City that are doing this business. You can count them on one hand, and there are only two or three willing to sell talismans. One of them has a style very similar to this one. But they only provide talismans to their own customers and won't show them to me. And now, there's a small problem..."
Chi Li asked: "What's going on?"
"That's right. That master has a lot of problems. He says he won't open until 8 p.m., and it has to be late at night when everyone is asleep. Plus, he's very busy and only takes one order a day. The next few days are all booked out. I talked to customer service, and there's no queue..."
"Is the business of shaman dance so busy?" Guo Zhengyao took Huo Cunsheng's special fishing phone and flipped through the chat history between him and the customer service.
Huo Cunsheng chuckled and said, "If you don't have a temper now, how can you have the nerve to call yourself a master?"
Guo Zhengyao quickly discovered the problem and pointed at the customer service's reply and said, "You're not that busy, are you? Doesn't this mean that apart from tonight, we can only make an appointment for next week? Let's go over there tonight!" Having found the clue, his voice was full of excitement and his eyes were shining.
"Tonight... isn't it almost time to get off work..." As a social animal, Huo Cunsheng's face showed that he didn't want to work overtime.
Looking at the gazes of the crowd, Huo Cunsheng's voice gradually became quieter. "Well, it's okay to work overtime to solve the case, but I just think it's too hasty and we're not well prepared... You know, mobilizing manpower and arranging things...it will take some time."
After hearing what he said, Luo Siwei looked at Chi Li standing beside him.
As the leader, Chi Li made the decision: "It's better to do it sooner rather than later. Let's do it tonight. I'll go with you guys. Please work overtime."
The leader had spoken, and Huo Cunsheng finally stopped refusing. He asked Chi Li: "So is this an open investigation or a secret investigation tonight?"
Overt investigations involve revealing police identification and directly questioning the person, while undercover investigations involve pretending to be a client and extracting information from the other party. Both methods have their pros and cons.
Luo Siwei said: "It's better to conduct a secret investigation so as not to alert the enemy."
Huo Cunsheng immediately agreed: "Captain Luo is very thoughtful, and they are full of nonsense. When they heard that the police came to their door, they definitely didn't tell the truth."
"First secretly and then openly. At least trick the other party into drawing the talisman so that we can check it." Chi Li said here and looked at the time, "Everyone get ready, see you later in the evening."
Hearing this, Huo Cunsheng raised another key question: "If this is a secret visit, I've been trying to trick the customer service staff into believing that my boss needs to see a fortune teller for a fortune-teller. Does that mean we have to bring the boss out? Who will be the boss?"
Having said this, several people looked at each other.
Guo Zhengyao looks strong and powerful, Luo Siwei looks like an elite female boss, and Chi Li has a majestic temperament even without saying a word.
Everyone hesitated for a moment. Luo Siwei and Chi Li looked at each other and quickly looked away. Finally, their eyes fell on Huo Cunsheng and they said in unison: "You."
While the two were talking, Guo Zhengyao just stretched out a finger and pointed in the direction of Huo Cunsheng.
Everyone agreed and the problem was quickly solved.
Huo Cunsheng rubbed his beer belly with a smile: "Oh, since all the leaders think I am more like the boss, then I will take the responsibility. I will prepare well tonight."
Afterwards, several people discussed the detailed plan. Huo Cunsheng pretended to be the boss who wanted fortune-telling, Luo Siwei pretended to be his female companion, Chi Li played the secretary, and Guo Zhengyao was the driver and bodyguard. Everyone's identity was clearly arranged.
They agreed to meet near the Municipal Bureau at 8 o'clock, and then went off work to rest.
Huo Cunsheng borrowed a designer belt from a colleague, went to the bathroom, tried it on, and instantly felt his worth had changed. He straightened his dwindling hair in the mirror. Seeing Guo Zhengyao walk in, he said cheerfully, "Hey, Deputy Captain Guo, do I really look like a rich man?"
Guo Zhengyao patted his shoulder and said sympathetically, "Because among us, you're the only one who looks easy to fool."
The author has something to say:
Please comment. If there are many comments, I will update more.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
