Strange Case (Part 3)
The staff dormitory of the Nanhai Road Soy Sauce Factory was built in the 1970s. The electrical wires were stretched all over the place, and the corridor was dark. Some lights were on, while others were broken. There were a lot of debris piled up in the corridor. Shen Xingyan and Gu Fang walked through the empty spaces.
There was a cordon at the door of Room 303 and there were policemen guarding the door. When they saw them, they lifted the cordon and let them in.
There was a strong fishy smell in the room. The deceased was a woman, wearing pajamas, lying on her back on the living room floor. There is a wound on the right abdomen, and the blood in the wound has coagulated. The deceased was holding the wound on his abdomen, and his hands were stained red. Her eyes were wide open, her mouth slightly open, and she had an expression of disbelief.
There was a wedding photo hanging on the wall. The man in the photo was taking a statement. He was trembling and looked terrified.
An Xin squatted in front of the body to examine it. Bao Wu had not come to the scene. An Xin glanced at Shen Xingyan and said, "The rigor mortis has begun to ease. Combined with the livor mortis, it can be inferred that the deceased has been dead for more than 30 hours. The wound was caused by a sharp weapon, stabbing diagonally downwards."
Shen Xingyan quickly took notes, and An Xin continued, "No murder weapon was found at the scene. The victim was killed with a single knife. The murderer was steady, accurate and ruthless. Judging from the victim's expression, it seemed that she did not expect the murderer to kill her."
Shen Xingyan nodded. "The deceased knew the murderer and should have had a good relationship, or the deceased unilaterally believed that they had a good relationship. There were no signs of a fight in the room, and the door lock had not been pried open, which indirectly confirmed that the deceased knew the murderer. The deceased was wearing pajamas. Under what circumstances would a woman open the door for someone in her pajamas? Either they were very close, or she was a woman."
Gu Fang took over the conversation, "If it was a woman, this person would be taller and stronger than the deceased, making it impossible for her to resist."
Shen Xingyan's eyes flashed, and he squatted down to check the dead man's arm. "Let's go back and do an autopsy to confirm. We haven't found any other injuries so far."
Gu Fang nodded and asked his colleagues in the trace inspection department whether they had finished collecting the data.
The colleague who checked the traces said, "The murderer cleaned up the scene and found no fingerprints, nor the murder weapon."
"It seems that the murderer has a certain anti-reconnaissance awareness."
Jiang Shengyu came over and handed the transcript to Gu Fang. "The deceased's name is Du Juan, and her husband's name is Fang Xinghua. Fang Xinghua said that he had been working the night shift for the past two days and had been living in the factory. When he returned from the factory after the night shift today, he opened the door and saw his wife dead. He was so scared that he didn't dare to go into the house, so he asked the neighbors to call the police."
Gu Fang flipped through the transcript and asked, "Which neighbor?"
"I asked the resident of 301, Fang Xinghua did call the police to him."
"Go to the factory and ask if Fang Xinghua is really working the night shift. Then visit the neighbors and check Du Juan's social connections."
"good."
Gu Fang walked around the room and looked very carefully, including the wardrobe, drawers, and even under the bed.
Fang Xinghua stood at the door, seemed very scared and did not dare to go into the house.
Shen Xingyan was asking him for his autopsy signature. Fang Xinghua clenched his fists tightly and said in a trembling voice, "Is an autopsy necessary? It's too cruel to Xiaojuan."
"This is a legal procedure. Don't you want to catch the murderer as soon as possible?"
Fang Xinghua swallowed his saliva, picked up the pen, and wrote the word "Fang" with trembling hands. Suddenly, he broke down and burst into tears.
Jiang Shengyu pinched Fang Xinghua's shoulders and said to Shen Xingyan, "Take it easy first."
Shen Xingyan stared at Fang Xinghua, nodded, and together with An Xin, carried the body into the body bag. Fang Xinghua didn't even look at the body until it was taken away.
Gu Fang did not return to the municipal bureau, but visited the neighbors with Jiang Shengyu. Neighbors said that Fang Xinghua and Du Juan got married the year before last. Du Juan works in a garment factory. She is pretty but has a bad temper. The couple often quarrel. They have been married for two years but have no children.
Fang Xinghua is an honest and kind person. He will help anyone in need. Once, the sewer on the first floor was blocked and he helped to clear it. The neighbors all had a high opinion of Fang Xinghua.
Everyone had a lot of complaints about Du Juan, saying that she was too arrogant, looked down on her neighbors, was unwilling to live in the old house, always wanted to buy a new house, and despised Fang Xinghua for not making money and often scolded him. Once, he cursed in the corridor. He cursed very fiercely and used very harsh words.
Jiang Shengyu asked: "Fang Xinghua just let her scold?"
"Xinghua has a good temper and never talks back."
"But didn't you just say that they often quarreled?"
"Yeah, I can't keep talking back."
Jiang Shengyu looked at Gu Fang helplessly and recorded it truthfully.
The two rushed to the factory where Fang Xinghua worked. Fang Xinghua was still working at the soy sauce factory and had taken over his father's job.
Colleagues' evaluation of Fang Xinghua is similar to that of their neighbors: he is an honest and responsible person who works diligently and responsibly.
Gu Fang listened, his brows still furrowed, "Has he ever been transferred to another position after working for so long?"
"No, I've always been a scumbag. The factory has not been doing well in recent years, and many people have resigned. Xiao Fang said his wife has been nagging him to resign, but he refused. To be honest, if I wasn't about to retire, I would have wanted to quit. With this little salary, I can't support my wife and children."
Coming out of the factory, Gu Fang said, "Although Fang Xinghua is honest, he is inflexible. He has been doing scumbag work since he entered the factory and has been doing it until now. If he had any intention, he would have been transferred out of this place long ago. Scumbag work is the hardest and most tiring job in the soy sauce factory, and the salary should not be high."
Jiang Shengyu disagreed, "Some people just stick to their path and stick to it until the end. I think Fang Xinghua is doing a good job."
Gu Fang smiled and said nothing, "Let's go to Du Juan's factory and take a look."
The news of Du Juan's murder has spread to the factory, and colleagues in the workshop are discussing the matter.
One of them said, "I noticed something was wrong with her these days. She never made mistakes when working, but it's like she took the wrong medicine these days. She either made a mistake in sewing or used the wrong thread. She even mumbled to herself, as if something had blinded her."
"Her complexion is not good either. She used to be quite pretty, with rosy cheeks. But in the past few days, her complexion has turned yellow and her eyes are dull. It seems that the ghost has been following her for a long time."
"I left with her the night before yesterday. She said her right eye had been twitching recently and she felt like something bad was going to happen. And it really did happen."
"I heard that there are signs when people die. I guess she understands it more or less."
Gu Fang didn't expect that he would hear a piece of gossip before the visit even started.
Jiang Shengyu's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he was more excited than when he was investigating the case. He came closer and asked, "Is it really so evil?"
When several women saw a man approaching them, they looked even more gossipy than they were, and they all looked at him curiously, "Who are you?"
Jiang Shengyu took out his ID and asked, "Did anything special happen to Du Juan on May 3rd?" It was initially speculated that Du Juan died between 9:30 and 11:00 p.m. on May 3rd.
Several people looked at each other, and an older woman said, "She made the mistake in sewing two sets of clothes that day. The monitor saw that she was distracted and asked her to leave work early, but she refused and ran to move the cloth, so she left work with us."
"Did she tell me what happened at home? Or did she have a grudge against anyone?"
"No, Du Juan looks very fierce, but actually has a soft heart. She scolds her husband for being a coward and not making money every day, but she still follows him wholeheartedly and even plans to have children."
"How is their relationship as a couple?"
"It's OK. Before they got married, her husband would come to pick her up whenever he didn't have to work the night shift, rain or shine. At that time, we envied her for finding a good husband."
Jiang Shengyu looked at Gu Fang, who nodded. "Thank you for your cooperation. We'll leave first. Contact us if you remember anything."
When they got in the car, Jiang Shengyu said while fastening his seat belt: "It seems that their relationship is still good. I wonder how Xiao Shen is doing and whether Fang Xinghua has signed."
…
In the meeting room of the Municipal Bureau, Shen Xingyan comforted Fang Xinghua. Fang Xinghua's emotions were very unstable and he couldn't help crying every time he signed. Shen Xingyan had no choice but to comfort him, "We are also thinking about you. Your wife died in an unclear way, you have to catch the murderer for her."
"I don't understand why an autopsy is needed. The cause of her death is clear, she was stabbed to death. I don't want her to be dissected after she dies."
"If we don't do an autopsy, if there are other hidden causes of death, we won't be able to find them. Don't you want to catch the murderer as soon as possible?"
"Does an autopsy have to be done?"
Shen Xingyan nodded, and Fang Xinghua closed his eyes sadly, "Okay, I'll sign."
Shen Xingyan handed him the pen. Fang Xinghua held the pen in his right hand, clenched his left hand into a fist, put it in his mouth and bit it, then signed the remaining two words.
Shen Xingyan breathed a sigh of relief, took the signed consent form and prepared to leave.
Fang Xinghua said: "We can sew it up after the autopsy, right?"
"Yes, don't worry."
Fang Xinghua sighed and walked away with a staggering step.
Upon learning that Fang Xinghua had signed, Bao Wu immediately arranged for an autopsy on An Xin.
An Xin picked up the scalpel and cut it all the way through. The deceased's liver was ruptured with a hole-like wound, his kidneys were damaged, his abdominal cavity was severely congested, his stomach contents contained undigested tomatoes and a small amount of minced meat, and tomatoes were also found in his esophagus. Some internal organs were removed for toxicology and pharmacology testing, and all results were negative.
The cause of death of the deceased was confirmed to be liver rupture caused by sharp object penetration and death due to hemorrhagic shock.
The murder weapon was a single-edged sharp weapon, about 8 cm long and 2 cm wide. The murderer rotated the weapon when killing the victim, so the liver has holes in it. The deceased had eaten tomatoes before his death.
Gu Fang looked at the autopsy report and said, "Assuming that the deceased heard the knock on the door, opened the door, and chatted with the murderer while eating tomatoes, the murderer then killed her when she was not paying attention, erased the traces of the crime and fled the scene, taking the murder weapon with him."
Shen Xingyan: "But the soy sauce factory dormitory is an old building, and the neighbors all know each other. If a stranger comes, it will definitely attract attention."
"The crime was committed by an acquaintance who frequently comes and goes in the neighborhood."
"When the murderer was killing the victim, he stabbed the victim's right abdomen and then turned the weapon around. He had a desire for revenge. I don't know if it was intentional or a spur of the moment decision."
Gu Fang picked up the pen and faced Shen Xingyan, "If the deceased held the knife in his right hand, it should have stabbed into the left abdomen of the deceased."
"The murderer is left-handed?"
"It's possible." Gu Fang closed his eyes and recalled, "But when I visited, I didn't find anyone with a left hand."
"Maybe not in this group."
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