Chapter 412 The Detective Returns
"I didn't watch the subsequent interrogation. Only Comrade Xiang Jie and Comrade Qiao Jiali, who were in charge of the interrogation, knew about it. After all, most of the people present went to Xiao Bing's house to report on the scene."
Liang Wei signaled to switch to the next video.
Soon, the picture reappeared on the TV.
Lu Xiaoshuang's eyes were red in the camera, but her emotions had stabilized a lot.
Qiao Jiali asked: "Lu Xiaoshuang, can we continue? If you feel unwell, you can tell us at any time."
Lu Xiaoshuang sniffed and said, "It's okay, I can continue."
"Okay, let's continue. You mentioned earlier that you fainted, right?"
Lu Xiaoshuang nodded.
"Do you remember doing anything while you were being held hostage and knocked unconscious? For example, scratching his arms and body, or something falling off your body?"
Lu Xiaoshuang thought for a moment and shook her head, saying, "No, that person was wearing long sleeves, and I don't have long nails."
Suddenly she thought of something and quickly added, "Apples, apples fell. I was holding a red plastic bag with four apples in it."
"Okay, we'll check. Do you remember when you left the Ergang dormitory?"
"I don't have a watch, so I'm not sure of the exact time, but I can calculate it." Lu Xiaoshuang stretched out her finger and said, "I left school around 12:40. It must have taken nearly 20 minutes to walk to the bus stop and wait for the bus. The 14-stop ride took about 45 minutes. Then I didn't stay long at Officer Zhou's house. From the time I got off the bus to asking the woman at the stall for directions, it must have taken no more than 10 minutes. So she must have been knocked unconscious around 2:00, because there were few pedestrians on the road at the time, and it was the hottest time. I remember the woman was pushing a tricycle and standing under the shade of a tree."
Lu Xiaoshuang's clear and logical analysis of time made Zhou Yi so excited that he clenched his fists.
Xiaoshuang, well done!
Because all the content and details she confessed from the time she met Xiao Bing to his disappearance had behavioral traces and coordinates, and were all verifiable, including the fallen apples.
She did not lose control of her emotions and her mind went blank. Instead, she calmly recalled her every action and time, and determined that she was knocked unconscious at around two o'clock in the afternoon.
The time when a witness discovered the first bag of body parts in Nansha River was 8:03.
The time in between was only six hours. Referring to the experimental data provided by Song Yiming, she did not have the conditions and time to commit the crime, not to mention the time needed to dispose of the body.
Previously, we only speculated that she did not have the time to commit the crime. Now, as long as the information in her confession is proven one by one, her alibi will be established.
There are three key conditions for identifying a suspect.
1. Motive for the crime.
2. Unable to provide a valid alibi.
3. Clear witnesses or material evidence.
Criminal motive is a subjective analysis and cannot be used as direct evidence unless the person admits it.
As long as any one of the remaining alibis and physical evidence is confirmed to be ruled out, Lu Xiaoshuang's suspicion of committing a crime will no longer be established.
Because a single piece of evidence cannot be used as valid evidence at the judicial level.
"When did you regain consciousness?" Qiao Jiali asked.
Lu Xiaoshuang shook her head and said, "I... I'm not sure... I only know that when I woke up, I should be in the trunk of the car."
"Are you sure?"
"Well, it was so cramped that I couldn't move at all. I could feel and hear cars moving around, and the road was really bumpy."
"Can you see anything? Is anyone tied up?"
"My eyes were blindfolded and my mouth was stuffed. I couldn't shout or see." Lu Xiaoshuang's body trembled slightly again. "And I was tied up. My hands and feet felt like they were bound. My hands were tied behind my back, especially my thumbs, which were tied together with something."
These few sentences contain several important pieces of information.
First, the murderer had a car! This car must have been the key tool for disposing of the body and holding Lu Xiaoshuang hostage.
But Xiao Bing said he didn't have a car and hadn't even passed the driving test. Unless he was lying, this alone wouldn't make the connection.
If it is finally confirmed that Xiao Bing has no car and cannot drive at all, then the direction of the investigation will become confusing and the possibility of a gang committing the crime may have to be considered.
Second, the road is bumpy.
This information needs to be combined with the time of regaining consciousness asked by Qiao Jiali.
Ether anesthesia does not actually last very long and cannot last for several hours.
Because it is metabolized very quickly in the human body, the duration can be as short as a few minutes or as long as twenty to thirty minutes.
Bumpy roads indicate that the road conditions are relatively poor, and you are most likely driving to the suburbs, because it is unlikely that roads in the city will be bumpy for a long time.
Third, blindfolding, gag covering and tying up.
Especially after tying the hands behind the back, tying the two thumbs together is too cautious.
This reminded Zhou Yi of when Lu Xiaoshuang was rescued and in the county hospital, Wu Yongcheng had someone do an injury assessment.
At that time, some slight bruises were found on the thumbs of Lu Xiaoshuang's left and right hands, but they were not very deep and it was impossible to determine how they were formed.
It now seems that this was created by tying the thumb. Because the wrist is tied, the thumb's range of motion is smaller.
This type of drawstring is mostly made of nylon plastic.
But why did the murderer make it so complicated?
Is the purpose of holding Lu Xiaoshuang hostage just to frame her?
Zhou Yi’s biggest question is, didn’t the murderer ever consider that framing Lu Xiaoshuang was full of loopholes?
Would the murderer of the grand case, the murderer of the famous unsolved case that shocked the whole country in the previous life, make such a low-level mistake?
Zhou Yi couldn't figure it out.
Lu Xiaoshuang continued, "From the time I woke up to the time the car stopped, about fifteen minutes had passed, because I was counting in my mind."
"So you were conscious during this time?"
"Yeah. After parking the car, I felt someone open the trunk, because fresh air rushed in all of a sudden. I was very scared at the time. I didn't know what they were going to do to me, so I continued to pretend to be unconscious. Until..."
"Until what?"
"It wasn't until they ripped the cloth out of my mouth and poured water into me that I couldn't continue pretending to be unconscious."
"Water? What kind of water?"
Lu Xiaoshuang shook her head. "I don't know. It should be just normal water, but a little bitter. I screamed for help at first, but after a few shouts, he grabbed my mouth. He was very strong and I couldn't break free. In the end, he forced several gulps of water into my mouth, and then he stuffed my mouth again. Then the trunk closed again, and I felt the car start again, but soon my consciousness began to blur, and then I fainted again."
Zhou Yi felt heartbroken about Lu Xiaoshuang's experience. How scared she must have been at that time.
And the murderer was terrifyingly shrewd.
The murderer seemed to know that the effect of ether inducing coma would not last long, so he stopped halfway not because he had reached his destination, but because he had driven to a secluded place that he was sure was safe and deserted.
The purpose of stopping the car was to force Lu Xiaoshuang to drink water, which was mixed with powerful sleeping pills.
In other words, the time should have been around three in the afternoon at the latest.
Only oral sleeping pills can make Lu Xiaoshuang unconscious for a long time; ether cannot do that at all.
This proves that this was a very careful premeditated criminal plan, because the murderer had prepared at least two or more control methods. The murderer not only knew that ether could not make Lu Xiaoshuang unconscious for a long time, but also took into account the subsequent handling methods.
However, what Zhou Yi couldn't understand was why, when the hospital conducted a blood test on Lu Xiaoshuang after she was rescued, no sleeping pills were found in her blood?
It is normal if ether cannot be detected because it evaporates quickly and has a short duration of action.
But under normal circumstances, after taking sleeping pills, they can be detected by blood tests within at least 24 hours.
That's a bit strange.
Either the drugs used by the murderer were uncommon, or the blood test technology these days was not very advanced.
There was another point that made Zhou Yi feel strange.
Lu Xiaoshuang mentioned twice in a row that the man who held him hostage was very strong.
Lu Xiaoshuang is of standard height and weight, 1.62 meters tall, about 100 kilograms, and has a well-proportioned figure.
Moreover, she has been helping with housework at her uncle's house since she was a child. After the college entrance examination, she actively worked to earn money for tuition and living expenses. She has a very good physical fitness and is not the kind of weak girl who will fall down at the slightest breeze.
If she was still unable to do anything about the murderer's hold in a desperate situation, it meant that the murderer was completely superior to her in terms of power.
Then it is basically impossible to be a female, and the probability of it being a male is very high.
But Xiao Bing's height and weight are considered very thin among men, and he doesn't have any sports hobbies. He basically prefers literary and artistic interests.
If Xiao Bing held Lu Xiaoshuang hostage, Lu Xiaoshuang would struggle violently before the ether took effect in 30 seconds, and Xiao Bing might not be able to control her.
At least it should be impossible to pull the person into the grass nearby in a short time.
But if it wasn't Xiao Bing, why would he trick Lu Xiaoshuang out of school?
Lu Xiaoshuang was knocked unconscious and abducted in an alley next to her home. It was obvious that kidnapping Lu Xiaoshuang was a premeditated and clear purpose of the murderer.
But if it wasn't Xiao Bing, why would he run?
Is it really a gang crime?
In the video, Qiao Jiali continued to ask: "Lu Xiaoshuang, after this coma, how long do you think it took you to wake up? And what happened?"
Lu Xiaoshuang frowned slightly and said, "I'm not sure. I feel like I woke up once, but not completely. I was half asleep when I felt someone offer me some water. I was so thirsty, so I drank it instinctively."
Zhou Yi took a deep breath. From the first time Lu Xiaoshuang was force-fed with water on the 30th to the evening of May 1st when the little boy heard the noise in the mine, more than 24 hours had passed.
It is true that normal sleeping pills will not make people sleep for a whole day and night, and feeding water in the middle should be to make Lu Xiaoshuang continue to sleep.
Still the same question, why make things so complicated?
What is the purpose?
Complex criminal methods must have a clear purpose, unless the murderer is an extremely narcissistic and perverted person. However, such murderers will not throw people into abandoned mines. They like to let people "appreciate" their masterpieces in public and watch the police being fooled by them.
Zhou Yi bit his fingernails and pondered.
Suddenly, a possibility occurred to him.
It is certain that the murderer wants to frame Lu Xiaoshuang.
There was a hair tie in front of the body, stained with blood, placed with the body parts.
Based on this clue, the police could easily suspect that the deceased was Lu Xiaoshuang, or that the case was related to Lu Xiaoshuang.
Later, Lu Xiaoshuang's fingerprints appeared on Xu Liu's student ID, the zipper of the travel bag containing the human head, and the murder weapon.
Moreover, the murderer not only provided various physical evidence.
An abandoned mine is also provided as a corpse disposal environment.
What's in this mine?
The presence of harmful gases inside led the police to suspect that Lu Xiaoshuang collapsed in the mine and could not come out because she accidentally inhaled the harmful gases when she went down to the mine to dump the body.
The murderer is providing reasonable logic for the police investigation.
Suppose Lu Xiaoshuang was not rescued in time and died in the mine, what would be the possible outcomes?
The first one is that Lu Xiaoshuang's body and Xu Liu's head were discovered within a short period of time for some reason, but the police could only obtain physical evidence that was clearly indicative of the situation.
Since Lu Xiaoshuang was dead, she could not recount what happened on the afternoon of the 30th, and the police naturally had no way to verify Lu Xiaoshuang's whereabouts that day.
Then the alibi would become vague, unlike now where it can be verified and excluded through the multiple pieces of information provided by Lu Xiaoshuang.
Although there are still many doubts, the police will definitely make Lu Xiaoshuang the criminal suspect as the primary investigative direction of this case.
As for the suspicious points, after the investigation is fruitless, they may be extended to analyze as "gang crime".
This involves the question of why the murderer did not kill Lu Xiaoshuang and then abandon the body, but instead continued to use drugs to knock her unconscious and then threw her into the cave.
Because only if the cause of death according to the forensic autopsy is "poisoning due to inhalation of excessive methane, carbon monoxide and other harmful gases" can it be consistent with the indication that "Lu Xiaoshuang is the murderer or one of the murderers."
Any other cause of death would lead the police to suspect that Lu Xiaoshuang was also a victim.
After all, in the former case, there is a possibility that Lu Xiaoshuang could walk in by herself, but in the latter case, it is impossible.
The police will then launch an investigation around "social relations closely related to Lu Xiaoshuang."
The result will naturally be to investigate the air. Maybe the first thing they will investigate is Zhou Yi, and then Wu Yongcheng, Qiao Jiali and others.
At this time, the anonymous letter of complaint sent to the Municipal Party Committee Office will come into play.
By then, the case will be at a stalemate, because it is quite ridiculous to investigate a group of detectives who are not in Hongcheng.
In this way, the murderer can effectively interfere with the police's ability to solve the case, forcing the police to go down the wrong investigative direction.
The second possibility is that no one will discover the bodies and human heads in the mine in the short term. Maybe three to five years, or even ten to eight years later, someone will discover human bones in the mine.
By that time, the police will launch an investigation and confirm through DNA that the complete skeleton is Lu Xiaoshuang's and the human skull is Xu Liu's.
Then it will be linked to the grand case that has never been solved.
Since the victim's new body has appeared, the investigation into the grand case will naturally be reopened.
The grand cases before this were absolutely unsolvable.
Because two people were missing in this case, Lu Xiaoshuang and Xu Liu, and these two people were about the same height and weight.
Moreover, all the body parts thrown outside had been fried, making it impossible to confirm whether the deceased was Lu Xiaoshuang or Xu Liu through the body parts.
There is no point in solving a case where even the deceased cannot be identified.
But by that time, the case would be even more difficult to investigate because so many years had passed and all the information had become blurred.
The fingerprints on the murder weapon and the travel bag became direct evidence to suspect that Lu Xiaoshuang had committed murder and disposed of the body.
Of course, the final result is either that the case remains unresolved or that it is hastily concluded on the grounds that Lu Xiaoshuang is the murderer.
The murderer can rest assured.
The third possibility is that with the development of the times, these original wastelands in Xinbei Town may be used for development and construction, and a large number of abandoned mines will be filled in.
The remains of Lu Xiaoshuang and Xu Liu were completely buried.
Underground, no one knows.
That’s right! These are the only possible outcomes!
Zhou Yi was so excited that he slammed the table, startling everyone who was staring at the TV.
Everyone turned to look at him.
Lu Xiaoshuang on the TV happened to be looking towards the camera at this time, as if she was looking at Zhou Yi through the camera.
Zhou Yi raised his hand and said, "Captain Liang, can you please pause for a moment? I have something to say."
When Liang Wei heard this, he signaled to the person operating the DV and the recording immediately paused.
Liang Wei said: "If you have any ideas, tell me."
This time, Zhou Yi stood up directly and spoke out the several possibilities he had just analyzed in his mind.
There is no need to be too taboo about these ideas, because they are all analyzed based on the clues we have now, and there is no content related to the previous life that needs to be avoided.
After all, these things never happened in the previous life.
"That's what I was thinking, especially since I've always been troubled by a question: why were the pieces of meat from the bodies dumped outside fried, destroying the possibility of DNA testing, while the heads in the mines were only superficially fried."
Someone didn't understand and asked, "Why?"
"The surface was oiled to disrupt the accuracy of the forensic examination's determination of the time of death. This was to prevent us from using the time of death to rule out Lu Xiaoshuang as a suspect if the first scenario arose."
Zhou Yi said loudly, "So I reasonably suspect that Xu Liu died on the night of the 28th or 29th, which is during the time period when Lu Xiaoshuang has a solid alibi."
"But why didn't the murderer completely destroy Xu Liu's head? Given the extent of the mutilation, I believe the murderer had the time and ability to completely destroy Xu Liu's DNA. But he didn't do so to prevent the second possibility. The murderer deliberately left Xu Liu's DNA for us police."
"Because the murderer's goal is to make us guess that 'Lu Xiaoshuang killed Xu Liu' and mislead our investigation. Even if this misleading information may not take effect until three to five years, ten years, or even twenty years later!"
"After all, if Xu Liu's DNA wasn't there, when Lu Xiaoshuang was found years later with only a skeleton left, the police would simply assume that the skeleton was that of the deceased who had never been found in the Hongda case, and thus confirm that the deceased was Lu Xiaoshuang."
"And Xu Liu will either be declared a missing person and have his case filed separately. Or, because of the bloodstains left on her hairband, she'll become a suspect in Lu Xiaoshuang's murder. Whichever it is, it means the Grand Case won't be over. To close the case, we must find the murderer. We must find both missing persons in this case. We must find them alive, and we must find their bodies if they're dead!"
Zhou Yi took a deep breath and said solemnly, "So, only when the police confirm that one of them is the victim and the other is likely the murderer, and there are no other valid clues, can the grand case come to an end. Only when the case is closed can the murderer completely disappear from the police investigation and escape legal punishment."
"So all of this was a trap set by the murderer to achieve his criminal intentions!"
This analysis shocked everyone present, because Zhou Yi's logic was not only rigorous, but also very bold, and his assumptions about the development of several cases were also very reasonable.
Although some people present felt that the previous analysis of criminal psychological profiling was too subjective, after all, it was obvious that Zhou Yi and Lu Xiaoshuang had a good relationship.
Then no one will question this case analysis.
Everyone present is doing this, and whether they have real skills or not can be seen in just three sentences.
Moreover, Zhou Yi's analysis did solve some of the biggest doubts at present.
Why did Lu Xiaoshuang herself, Xu Liu's head, and the murder weapon appear in the mine, a place that had nothing to do with Hongda.
Why are the body parts outside destroyed by frying, but DNA can still be extracted from the human head without even destroying the facial features?
And why the murderer controlled Lu Xiaoshuang by repeatedly drugging her instead of silencing her directly.
In response to everyone's surprise, Qiao Jiali and Chen Yan beside Zhou Yi seemed much calmer.
But they couldn't suppress their joy in their hearts, because they knew that the "super detective" of the Third Brigade had returned!
Zhou Yi, no longer worried about Lu Xiaoshuang's safety, regained his fearless state.
When Zhou Yi elaborated on several key points, Liang Wei's eyes lit up obviously.
But the expression on his face remained as still as a mountain.
People at his level would not easily reveal their true thoughts.
But for Zhou Yi's performance, he finally felt that he "lived up to his reputation."
After all, in several major cases in Hongcheng before, Xie Guoqiang mentioned the outstanding performance of the young man Zhou Yi in the provincial department.
For this purpose, he even specifically retrieved Zhou Yi's file, wanting to see how excellent the resume of this young man who suddenly emerged was.
But it turned out that Zhou Yi's resume before he was transferred to the Municipal Bureau as an exception was as ordinary as it could be.
This made him suspicious, wondering if this young man named Zhou Yi had any connections.
When he learned about the establishment of a special task force for the grand case, he was quite looking forward to seeing how Zhou Yi would perform.
When I got the list submitted by Hongcheng, I found that Zhou Yi was not on it.
He rushed to Hongcheng overnight to join the task force. After the meeting, he casually asked Xie Guoqiang why Zhou Yi was not in the task force.
Xie Guoqiang smiled and said that young people still need more experience.
He concluded that this person was most likely a half-baked person.
But after almost a week, the leader of the headquarters suddenly told him that Qin Beihai found Director Xu and recommended Zhou Yi to join the task force.
This confused him. Why would Mr. Qin be a guarantor for Zhou Yi for no reason?
He became even more curious about Zhou Yi.
Zhou Yi's analysis of criminal psychology just now made him feel quite interesting and novel, and was very similar to some advanced research theories he had seen abroad.
I feel that Zhou Yi may actually have some valuable information.
It was not until just now that Zhou Yi's impassioned speech made him certain.
The previous cases in Hongcheng were definitely his contribution!
"So you think that the murderer chose Lu Xiaoshuang to take the blame because he knew that Lu Xiaoshuang and Xu Liu had a conflict in the past. Can this be used as a motive for the crime?" Liang Wei asked.
Zhou Yi replied, "No! Captain Liang, I think this is just a superficial phenomenon."
"Oh? Why?"
"Because if the murderer dismembers and disposes of Xu Liu's head according to the existing methods, the possibility of being caught is still very small." Zhou Yi was not joking or demoralizing, because this was the case in the previous life. As long as the murderer maintained this method of committing crimes, he would not be caught.
"So theoretically, the murderer didn't need to go to the trouble of finding a scapegoat and complicate the entire case."
Liang Wei nodded in understanding and said, "So what you're saying is... Lu Xiaoshuang isn't actually a pawn used by the murderer to divert our police attention?"
Zhou Yi nodded firmly and said, "That's right! Although I haven't figured out the reason behind this yet, I'm sure that this grand case is a killing spree that kills two birds with one stone!"
"Because Xu Liu and Lu Xiaoshuang are both the murderer's targets!"
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