Chapter 207 Valentine's Day Murder (Part 1)
At 11:30 p.m. on February 14, a tense atmosphere permeated room 404 on the 4th floor of Hongnan Theme Hotel.
Mai Shaozhen stood at the scene and said calmly and seriously: "The deceased is a woman. There is a clearly visible mark of artificial pinching on her neck, bleeding on the mucous membranes of her upper and lower lips, flake bleeding on the skin of her neck, and bleeding in the conjunctiva of her eyes..."
She paused, turned her gaze to Han Jianye, and continued, "Preliminary judgment is that the murderer strangled the victim's neck with his hands, causing her breathing to be blocked and eventually strangled to death. I just checked the corpse spots, which have just begun to appear, and I just measured the body surface temperature. It is estimated that the victim was killed between 2 and 4 hours ago."
Han Jianye looked down at his watch and said in a deep voice, "That means the murder time was around 8 to 10 o'clock tonight."
"That's right."
Mai Shaozhen nodded, "As for the more detailed situation, we need to wait until the autopsy to confirm it."
"OK."
Han Jianye's eyes fell on the backs of Mai Shaozhen's team as they slowly carried the deceased into the body bag.
Qi Xiaolei and Ye Bai had just returned from the lobby on the first floor. Her eyes were shining with determination, and she said confidently, "Xiaobai, think about it, today is Valentine's Day. In my opinion, this is most likely a murder of passion."
"Yeah, that makes sense."
Ye Bai nodded slightly. In fact, he had already realized this in his heart.
When he was in Qiyang City, he heard the forensic doctor of the criminal police team say that Valentine's Day every year was like a "peak season" for them, and cases caused by various emotional disputes emerged one after another.
It seems that this statement is indeed based on certain empirical experience.
Fortunately, the first people to come across the murder scene were a group of public security police who were carrying out an anti-pornography mission. They responded quickly and properly protected the murder scene at the first opportunity, laying a solid foundation for subsequent investigations.
Ye Bai looked at Han Jianye and reported, "Captain Han, we have just checked the computer registration in the lobby on the first floor. We have confirmed that the deceased is Xue Xinshu, only 23 years old, from Mingyue Village, Datang Town, Zhunan City. She checked into the hotel at 7 o'clock tonight and planned to check out at 12 o'clock tomorrow morning. Only her information was registered at that time."
Han Jianye frowned slightly and asked, "She's the only one?"
Ye Bai nodded vigorously, "Yes, it's her."
"Just now, the trace investigators found several size 42 shoe prints in the room. We highly suspect that they were left by the murderer. The deceased's mobile phone, money and other personal belongings are all there, so we can rule out murder for money."
Han Jianye continued, "Si Yue, Su Wan, and Liao Wei are still checking the hotel surveillance and haven't returned yet. Let's go find them now."
When Si Yue saw them coming, he quickly said, "You came at the right time. We have found the suspect. It is a man who entered the hotel from the northwest at 9:12 tonight and took the elevator to the 4th floor alone."
Han Jianye also noticed that the suspect was wearing a mask and a black windbreaker. He was estimated to be between 176 and 178 cm tall and weighed about 125 to 130 catties. He entered the room at 9:15 and came out at 10:20, a gap of 65 minutes in between.
Over the course of several hours, no third person entered or left the room.
The security team's anti-pornography raid on the entire hotel was at 11 o'clock in the evening, which means that the suspect had just left half an hour before the anti-pornography police arrived.
Qi Xiaolei asked the girl in the hall, "Did you see the face of this man?"
The girl shook her head in embarrassment. She said, "When no one came to check in, I was always looking down at my phone. There are people coming in and out here every day, and I really didn't pay attention to their appearance."
Han Jianye checked the time. It was already 12:20 in the middle of the night. He said, "We can only expand the video range to search. We must catch him as soon as possible and never let him escape from Zhunan City."
Ye Bai had an idea, "Today is Valentine's Day. The deceased and the suspect did not check into the hotel together. Instead, they arrived two hours and twelve minutes apart..."
Han Jianye asked him, "And then? Keep talking."
Ye Bai thought about it and expressed his opinion: "Are they a real couple?"
This question made Qi Xiaolei think, "That's not necessarily the case. Maybe they were a real couple, but they didn't go out to celebrate the holiday like other couples. Maybe whoever got off work first would go to the hotel to wait for the other person, and then because of some disagreements, the man strangled the woman to death."
"It could also be a long-distance relationship." Liao Wei said: "The girl is local and the murderer is from another place. The two quarreled over something and the man strangled the girl to death."
Han Jianye was about to go back to the meeting. He said, "What you analyzed is all possible. In short, the possibility of murder caused by emotional entanglement is higher. I will go back to find Mai Shaozhen first, and you stay to check the surveillance."
Qi Xiaolei and Liao Wei walked and talked, "Why didn't you switch shifts with others to celebrate Valentine's Day?"
"This..." Liao Wei touched his nose embarrassedly, "I haven't confessed yet."
"You're so slow." Qi Xiaolei slapped Liao Wei on the shoulder. "You haven't confessed, which means you haven't given the scarf away yet. If you don't give it away, summer will be here. At your speed, you've been talking from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. It's already February of the new year and you haven't confessed yet. No wonder you can't make it to Valentine's Day this year."
( ) …
Liao Wei rubbed his aching shoulder and said calmly: "You were a little too heavy-handed."
“Hahaha…ヾ(⌒⌒*) Sorry.”
Liao Wei sighed and just shook his head silently, "She's a bit fierce. I'm afraid she'll beat me up if I confess my feelings."
Qi Xiaolei continued to encourage him, "What are you afraid of? A strong woman is afraid of men. If you really like him, what's wrong with getting beaten? Maybe he likes you too. She may appear fierce, but it may just be a way for her to protect herself. She is actually very gentle at heart."
"Really?" Liao Wei looked at her and said.
"Yes, it is necessary." Qi Xiaolei said very affirmatively.
At this time, Han Jianye and Ye Bai hurried to Mai Shaozhen's office.
Mai Shaozhen raised her head, her eyes showing a hint of seriousness. She was flipping through the documents she had just prepared, and her tone was a bit solemn: "You came at the right time. I have a very important discovery."
Han Jianye frowned and asked anxiously, "What important discovery?"
Mai Shaozhen said: "Except for the marks on the neck, there are no other obvious external injuries on the deceased..."
She paused, a complex emotion flashing in her eyes, and then said, "We found semen left by the murderer in the body of the deceased."