Family murder mystery (1)

The past few days have been very peaceful, but Meng Siqi is still thinking about Lu He's incident. She always wants to verify whether the "Red Makeup Serial Murder Case" in this world is the same case as in the original world. So she is always a little absent-minded.

She came back from the cafeteria at noon and slowly poured a glass of water. Zhao Leiting asked her why she became so sentimental and whether she was worried about becoming a regular employee. Including the time the original owner had been interning at the police station, her internship period was almost over for six months.

She almost forgot about such an important matter. Zhao Leiting encouraged her confidently: "Don't worry. If you can't turn it around, I'll eat your cup."

Holding the steaming cup in her hand, she couldn't help but smile: "This is made of stainless steel..."

Zhao Leiting was about to reply to her when he was interrupted by a voice as loud as a bell. Han Changlin walked into the office quickly and said, "Go! There's a murder case!"

Everyone immediately stopped what they were doing, packed their equipment and prepared to set off. Meng Siqi suddenly took a sip of hot water and almost burned her throat. After getting in the car, she was still clearing her throat.

Zhao Leiting sat in the middle of the back row, tilting his head slightly forward, and asked, "Captain Han, what's the case?"

Han Changlin will explain the key points of the case during the trip so that everyone can prepare themselves mentally. He said: "A family of three died at home. Let's go and see the situation first."

This seemed to be a relatively big murder case. Meng Siqi obviously felt that the carriage was very depressing. She had been at the police station for more than two months and was no longer so sensitive to murder cases. However, she still felt a little depressed at this moment.

Tang Xiaochuan turned on the radio while driving. The music from the radio was slowly flowing out. Meng Siqi leaned against the car window and his mood slowly calmed down.

The group soon arrived at their destination, which was a residential area with four-story houses. Many people were already crowded at the gate, with occasional police officers walking among them. It seemed that many people had heard about the murder and came to inquire about the situation.

Seeing the police car entering the community, everyone took the initiative to make way. The car stopped beside a lawn. Meng Siqi saw at a glance that a cordon was set up outside a residential building, and there were many pedestrians watching outside the cordon.

Several police officers were standing guard at the cordon. One of the young police officers came up to greet Han Changlin when he saw him, "Captain Han, you are finally here."

"Who discovered the scene?" Han Changlin asked as he walked inside.

The police officer followed Han Changlin's steps and said, "The child is in junior high school. She had a competition today, but she didn't come to school. Her class teacher contacted her family and her father's workplace, but to no avail. So we decided to go to her house to check. When we knocked on the door, we smelled blood, so we asked the property management to open the door. This scared us to death."

As they were talking, the group had already arrived at the door of a room on the first floor. Before they entered, a smell of blood wafted out from inside. It was the first time that Meng Siqi felt such a strong smell of blood. She suddenly felt a little uncomfortable in her stomach, but fortunately, she had changed a lot compared to before and would not be easily knocked down.

Wearing gloves and shoe covers, Han Changlin and Feng Shaomin were the first to enter.

The voices of colleagues from the forensic department and the trace detection department came from inside, "Team Han."

Meng Siqi was the last one to go in. It was noon and the whole living room was well lit and very bright. She couldn't help but cover her nose with her fingers. As soon as she passed the entrance, she was stunned by the scene in front of her.

The blood on the ground seemed to have almost solidified. Lying in the pool of blood was a man, who seemed to be middle-aged. Blood was oozing from his chest, most likely from a stab wound in the upper body. There was also a bloody trail under his body, probably because he crawled on the ground several times before his death, or was dragged by someone.

His slightly bald head was scarlet, and blood and hair mixed together like a ball of red mud algae. It was not clear where the fatal wound was.

The smell of blood hung in the living room, and several flies were buzzing around, looking for a place to live.

The situation was so terrible that Meng Siqi looked at it for a while and then stopped looking at it carefully. But as a criminal police, she had to "identify" the body.

Medical examiner Chen Jierong half-knelt on the ground, pointing to the wounds on the body while introducing Han Changlin. She looked calm and her tone was calm.

"The male victim was stabbed several times. The fatal injuries need further examination. The preliminary conclusion is that the first crime scene was the living room."

"What about the time of death?" Han Changlin asked.

"From the way the body spots were formed, it was probably between 8 and 9 last night."

"Um."

Chen Jierong stood up and walked towards the bedroom. "The female victim was killed in the master bedroom. There is a balcony in the bedroom. She might have been hanging clothes at the time..."

Meng Siqi tried her best to avoid stepping on the bloodstains on the ground and followed all the way to the master bedroom. The house was relatively spacious, and Meng Siqi was also trying to find details. She noticed a large TV in the living room, which showed that the deceased's family was well off.

The bedroom is decorated in a more upscale style. The bed and cabinets look high-end, and there is also a European-style floor lamp, which reflects the mood of the host and hostess.

As soon as he walked onto the balcony, all Meng Siqi's thoughts of exploration were instantly interrupted. The female victim was lying in a pool of blood, her long hair disheveled, her face and neck covered in blood, and her silver silk pajamas were soaked red.

Chen Jierong said: "The female victim did not have many wounds, and it is very likely that she died from a slit throat."

However, Chen Jierong's next words turned Meng Siqi's stomach upside down. She said, "The deceased's tongue was cut off..."

Following her reminder, Meng Siqi went to look for the so-called tongue. Unexpectedly, with her keen observation, she found a scarlet object in the dead man's right hand.

This bloody and tragic scene made Meng Siqi feel uncomfortable. She turned sideways and pressed her chest with her hand, not wanting to show her loss of composure.

Zhao Leiting glanced at her and said nothing.

As for the subsequent conversation between Chen Jierong and Han Changlin, Meng Siqi didn't hear it clearly at all.

She followed him out of the bedroom reluctantly. The bathroom was opposite the bedroom.

Meng Si looked forward and saw a pool of blood on the ground, but it had been diluted by water. There were columnar bloodstains on the white tile wall, but there was no corpse on the ground.

Chen Jierong said: "The girl must have just finished bathing last night, and the water droplets on her body had not yet been wiped off. The murderer rushed in and inserted the same sharp weapon into her carotid artery. This should be the murder scene..."

Han Changlin asked: "Where is the body?"

“It went to the kitchen!”

Chen Jierong motioned to follow her. The group went to the kitchen again. As the entrance to the kitchen was narrow, Han Changlin and Feng Shaomin went in first.

When Meng Siqi approached the kitchen, he even smelled a faint meaty aroma amidst the bloody smell. This was not the usual pork, chicken or beef; this smell was not pleasant.

Just as she was about to go in to take a look, Zhao Leiting suddenly turned around with an uncomfortable expression on his face.

Feng Shaomin also retreated to the door and looked at Meng Siqi. Although his expression was calm, his tone was serious: "Xiao Meng, don't come in yet."

"Okay." Meng Siqi felt that something was particularly bad going on.

She clearly heard Chen Jierong's introduction: "After the murderer carried the victim to the kitchen, he put her bathrobe underneath her. The body was processed here, and some of the victim's fat tissue was cut off and thrown into the pot."

"Fried corpse?" Han Changlin made a calm and incredulous sound.

At this moment, Meng Siqi's stomach began to churn. She wanted to vomit and felt extremely uncomfortable.

Chen Jierong's voice was not as calm as before. This time, she had some emotion in her voice, like a rebuke, "Yes, the murderer's behavior was very cruel. Look, there are heavy oil stains on the handle of this pot, and the traces of the cotton thread of the murderer's gloves are left."

"What a fucking beast!" Han Changlin cursed.

"Captain Han, look again. Compared to other parts, the fat tissue cut from the left thigh is the largest, weighing more than 500 grams. Before frying, the murderer used a kitchen knife to cut the fat tissue into matchbox size, so what you see in this pot are basically small pieces of cooked meat..."

Zhao Lei Ting suddenly patted Meng Siqi's arm and said, "Let's go to the door and see if there is any evidence!"

Meng Siqi almost held his breath and nodded silently.

It was not known whether Zhao Leiting felt unwell or wanted to comfort her. The two of them reached the door together, and Zhao Leiting took a long breath.

Meng Siqi couldn't help it and squatted in the aisle, trying to vomit. But in the end, nothing came out. After her stomach was tormented several times, she felt better.

"Are you okay?" Zhao Leiting asked from the side.

"It's okay. It smells a bit pungent!"

“You’ll get used to it.”

Meng Siqi stood up slowly. Just then, tears welled up in his eyes. Zhao Leiting smiled and said, "You are in trouble!"

Meng Siqi gave him a cold look and said, "What can we find by looking for evidence at the door?"

"Have you ever thought about how the murderer got in? There is no sign of damage to the door lock at all."

This is an iron door, which should have been replaced by the owner. If you want to go in, you must obtain the owner's consent. But when she entered the door just now, she didn't even think about these details.

There was also a house at the other end of this floor, with a wooden door. "Why didn't the family across the street hear the noise?" Meng Si asked, looking towards the room at the end.

Zhao Lei Ting thought for a moment and said, "There are no couplets posted. Could it be that no one has lived in the house?"

It is possible that this building needs to be revisited. What happened last night? Who is the murderer? How could he come and go in the community without any harm and brutally murder a family of three?

Half an hour later, Han Changlin and his team finally left the house. He instructed, "Old Feng, take Xiao Zhao and Xiao Meng to take a good look at this building and the community. Don't miss any details."

"Okay." Feng Shaomin nodded.

In the afternoon, the three people visited the users of the entire community one by one. It turned out that this community was newly built last year, and there are still many empty houses that are being renovated or unoccupied. The deceased was one of the first residents to move into the community, and his neighbors have not moved in yet. Therefore, almost no one knows what happened in the deceased's home last night.

The community security guards did not pay special attention to the flow of people in and out last night, because a large number of users in the community were renovating, the number of people coming in and out was very complicated, and there was more than one entrance to the community.

The current investigation has yielded almost no effective clues. An elderly person who lives in the community and knew the deceased said, "This family looks friendly and doesn't seem to have any enemies."

Feng Shaomin was more careful and asked the property management to open several uninhabited houses near the deceased's home to confirm the situation. Except for one house that was being renovated, the rest were unfinished and empty.

The investigation lasted until around seven or eight in the evening, and Feng Shaomin asked Meng Siqi to take the bus back early.

Meng Siqi was feeling a little heavy-hearted. She tossed and turned in bed that night. Once she fell asleep, it was as if she had entered a crime scene, with blood all over the floor. Later, she turned on a bedside lamp and fell asleep in a daze.

Unexpectedly, the next day, she woke up late and hurried to the police station, but it was already past working hours. She had never been late before, but this was the first time. Moreover, she was going to be promoted to a regular employee soon, so she felt a little nervous for a moment.

At that time, the office was already busy. All the colleagues from Team 2 were gathered around the crime board in front of the desk. It seemed that Team Korea was already analyzing the case.

Her appearance made everyone turn their heads, and for a moment she stood there at a loss as to what to do.

At this time, Zhao Leiting said, "I'll go get the files."

Feng Shaomin said, "Let Xiao Meng go."

"Ah..." Meng Siqi was still confused and had no idea what they were talking about. She hurried forward and asked, "Master, what do you want me to take?"

Feng Shaomin said, "July 12 arson case, go to the archives and get it. The archives keeper's surname is Hu."

"Okay, I'll get it right away."

The file room contained all the case files of all sizes that had been handled by the bureau, but this was her first time here.

An old comrade was sitting at the counter at the door. He was neatly dressed in a uniform and had white hair and beard. He must be about to retire after devoting decades of service to the bureau.

She stepped forward and said, "Uncle Hu, Officer Feng Shaomin asked me to get a copy of the July 12 arson case file."

"Are you Xiao Feng's apprentice?"

"You know?"

Uncle Hu smiled broadly: "I also heard that Xiao Feng finally accepted a disciple."

Meng Siqi didn't know how to answer, so he just smiled.

"Okay," Uncle Hu nodded with satisfaction, "It should be this year's case. It's on the left when you enter. Come and register with me later."

"Okay, Uncle Hu." Meng Siqi agreed and walked into the archive room.

The space inside is very large, especially like an old-style university library, with rows and rows of bookshelves filled with file boxes and bags.

This place does not record an ocean of knowledge like a library. What is recorded here is the sinful criminal history of Jinyang City over the past few decades, full of lies, jealousy, rage, arrogance, greed, lust, evil, and all the despicable aspects of human nature are recorded.

They appear to be nothing more than emotionless words, but they conceal countless deaths, countless broken families, and countless heartbreaks.

This place gives people a solemn and heavy atmosphere, which makes people calm down and examine themselves deep in their hearts.

Meng Siqi walked quietly among them and stopped beside a bookshelf. There were plaques on the sides of the bookshelves, marking the year of the case files. She immediately saw the year of the bookshelf on the left: 1993.

She immediately went to the bookshelf and started looking for it. If it was arranged by month, it would be easier to find. After flipping through it for a while, she found a file titled "July 12 Arson Case".

Although Meng Siqi didn't know the details of this case, it was definitely related to yesterday's tragic case.

When she took down the case file and prepared to leave, she suddenly remembered something. Was the case file of the Hong Zhuang serial murder case that Lu He was investigating also here?

She immediately looked through the case files of the past two months, but after checking twice, she could not find the case file. She remembered that the case was currently under investigation and it was very likely that the case file would not be sent to the archives and should still be in Lu He's office.

Maybe she had to confirm one more thing.

In the original world, the news linked the "Red Makeup Serial Murder Case" to another "Red Lacquer Serial Murder Case" because both occurred in Jinyang and the modus operandi was similar. Some experts even believed that the "Red Makeup Case" was an imitation of the "Red Lacquer Case" that occurred 20 years earlier, or that they were committed by the same person.

In other words, if it is confirmed that the "Red Paint Case" still exists in this world, then it can almost be concluded that Lu He and the Lu He who died in the original world are the same person.

She immediately walked towards the bookshelf from the 1970s. That shelf was covered with dust and no one would probably look through the files there.

Assuming that the year was 1970, Meng Siqi went straight to the point, not caring about the dust rising into her mouth and nose, and directly looked through the case files. After less than a while, she saw the two words "red paint". For a moment, she actually felt that her luck was so good. She stood there in a daze for a while, not knowing whether to open it and take a look.

However, at this moment, she heard some noise and it seemed that someone was rummaging through something on the other side of the bookshelf. Just as she was about to leave, she saw a person standing right in front of her.

"Are you interested in this case?"

Through the "wall", Lu He's sharp and judging eyes were looking at her.