Chapter 36 Arson (I) Unnatural Death
At 10:15 am on July 6, the 8th floor of Building 12 in Minzhu Community was suddenly shrouded in the shadow of a fire.
In an emergency, firefighters who received the alarm quickly gathered and rushed to the scene of the accident.
Thick smoke rolled out from the balcony like huge waves, like a snarling monster trying to devour everything.
At this life-and-death moment, the two little girls in the house were terrified. They clung to each other and curled up at the edge of the balcony. Their tears and cries intertwined into a scene of despair.
At this critical moment, some brave neighbors ignored their personal safety. They held water pipes and tried their best to spray water on the two sisters on the balcony, trying to cool them down, while also buying precious rescue time for the incoming firefighters.
Fortunately, the firefighters arrived in time. They were brave and fearless, broke into the house and quickly put out the raging flames.
Thanks to their heroic rescue, the two sisters in the house were finally able to escape safely, and this thrilling fire was finally averted.
...
Han Jianye had just come out of the leader's office, holding some documents in his hand and preparing to go find Mai Shaozhen.
The thought that he had slept in Ye Bai's bed last night without realizing it.
When he woke up, he noticed that Ye Bai's face did not look good, with obvious dark circles under his eyes.
Han Jianye tidied up his short hair and asked with a hint of confusion: "Didn't you get enough rest last night?"
Ye Bai did not answer directly, but asked back: "What do you think?"
Han Jianye shrugged, indicating that he was not clear about the situation.
"You slept well last night..."
Ye Bai wanted to complain that Han Jianye slept like a pig and even rolled away the quilt in the middle of the night, but he stopped himself in time.
Han Jianye turned his head to look at the place where Ye Bai slept last night, and found that Ye Bai simply used clothes as a pillow. He said apologetically: "You should have woken me up last night."
Ye Bai remained silent. Of course he tried to wake Han Jianye up, but the problem was that Han Jianye was sleeping too deeply and could not be woken up at all.
Han Jianye walked up to Ye Bai and asked softly, "Are you angry? Why are you acting like a girl?"
Ye Bai retorted unhappily: "You are the girl."
Han Jianye chuckled and teased, "Is there a girl as pretty as me?"
Ye Bai was so angry that he laughed. He was always right.
…
Han Jianye quickly scanned the office area, "Where is Ye Bai?"
Su Wan looked up and answered him calmly: "He might have gone to the bathroom."
Han Jianye nodded gently and said, "I have to go to the autopsy room. Don't leave until I come back for the meeting."
As soon as he finished speaking, he turned and walked away quickly.
However, in the corridor, he unexpectedly met Ye Bai who was shaking his hands.
Han Jianye strode forward, grabbed Ye Bai's arm, and said in an unquestionable tone: "Come with me to the autopsy room."
Before Ye Bai could react, Han Jianye had already taken him away from the scene.
"Is there any new information in the case? Why haven't we heard about it?" There was a hint of doubt in Ye Bai's voice.
"Well, it's a case that has just been transferred to us. We initially thought it was a natural fire causing the casualties, but after the forensic doctor performed an autopsy on the deceased, it was discovered that the deceased did not die naturally. So it was transferred to us for processing, and our leader asked us to take over and solve the case." Han Jianye explained the situation concisely.
Mai Shaozhen took off his mask, took a deep breath, and seemed much more relaxed.
"Why are you here just now?" she asked.
Han Jianye's eyes fell on the charred body and he answered casually, "I was delayed on the way."
Mai Shaozhen turned to the body and continued, "The deceased was a 35-year-old woman named Mi Chuchu. When we arrived at the scene, we found her lying on the bed in the bedroom, severely burned."
As she spoke, she turned to Han Jianye and Ye Bai and handed them the photos taken on the spot.
"Captain Han, you should have seen the deceased's information, so you should be able to see the abnormality of the body from these photos, right?"
Han Jianye examined the deceased in the photo, pondered for a moment and said, "Normally, in the face of a fire, the deceased should call for help and show a strong desire to survive, rather than lying motionless in bed. This is a big doubt. In addition, the flexor muscles of the limbs of the deceased who died of normal causes will shorten under the influence of high temperatures, and the body may form a fist-like posture."
Ye Bai took over the conversation and continued to analyze: "Although we haven't arrived at the scene yet, judging from these photos, the bedroom is very clean, and there is no sign of the deceased struggling for help or walking, especially the mark of her lying on the bed is the most obvious."
Mai Shaozhen nodded in agreement, then added: "That's right, but this is only a superficial phenomenon. The most convincing evidence that the deceased had been killed is that her mouth, nose, throat, trachea and bronchial grooves did not inhale the soot and carbon dust from the flames. And there was no carbon monoxide in her blood due to the inhalation of burning."
Ye Bai raised another question: "Is it possible that the deceased took an overdose of sleeping pills and passed out in advance?"
Mai Shaozhen answered firmly: "No."
Han Jianye asked: "What was the cause of her death?"
"Death from lack of oxygen due to suffocation." Mai Shaozhen replied.
"Lack of oxygen caused by suffocation?" Han Jianye raised his eyebrows slightly and repeated the sentence.
Mai Shaozhen explained: "Yes, although the deceased's appearance was severely burned, we found through autopsy that the deceased had pulmonary edema, bleeding in the serous membranes, mucous membranes, and internal organs such as the right heart, liver, and kidneys. These are all evidence of death by suffocation. So I can be sure that the deceased may have been suffocated to death by the murderer first, and then set fire to destroy the body."
After Han Jianye and Ye Bai left the autopsy room, they quickly brought the autopsy and deceased's report materials and convened a case analysis meeting.
"Mi Chuchu, 35, is a housewife. Her husband Yu Si, 40, is the marketing director of a company. Mi Chuchu is his second wife. Yu Si has a 14-year-old daughter, Yu Xixi, with his ex-wife, and an 8-year-old daughter, Yu Mengmeng, with Mi Chuchu. According to Yu Xixi, she and her sister were doing homework in the room at the time and had no idea what was happening outside."
Han Jianye explained the circumstances of the fire in detail: “The fire started from the trash can in the bedroom, which caused the fire to spread and burn the curtains.
The flame spreads rapidly, and when the temperature in the confined space reaches a certain threshold, sudden and comprehensive combustion will occur, and objects will begin to burn even if the flame is not in direct contact. The smoke gradually settled, and within a few seconds the entire room was engulfed in flames.
Fortunately, the two sisters escaped in time after smelling the smoke, but suspiciously, the door was locked, forcing them to climb onto the balcony for help. ”
Han Jianye wrote down the name of the deceased's husband, Yu Si, on the whiteboard and continued to analyze: "The fire occurred half an hour after he went to work, and he locked the door before leaving, preventing the two sisters from escaping. This makes him the biggest suspect."