The Murder Case in the Secret Room B&B (2)

Meng Siqi had learned before that footprints are very important behavioral characteristics in criminal cases, as important as fingerprints. Footprint experts can even determine the gender, age, height and weight of the parties based on footprints. In other words, this is crucial to solving the case, especially locked room cases. The pattern of footprints can even determine the crime at the scene at that time.

Han Changlin said: "Everyone, please retreat first and wait for the forensic doctors and trace examination colleagues to come and investigate. There may be very important footprints under our feet."

Feng Shaomin said: "It is estimated that there are no more now. There must have been dozens of people who have stepped on this area."

Han Changlin sighed: "Okay, let's go get to know the suspect first."

When everyone was walking back, Chen Jierong and his colleagues arrived and met at the gate of the yard. Chen Jierong and his colleagues were carrying forensic investigation boxes and asked, "Captain Han, how is the body?"

Han Changlin stopped and said, "The body hasn't moved. Please check it first. I'll come find you later." He turned around and looked at his colleagues in the Trace Examination Section, including Wang Wei. He reminded them, "The footprints may have been damaged. Wang Wei, please check with the police station after the test. They should have collected some information in advance."

"Don't worry, Korean team."

After the forensic doctor and the trace examination department entered the yard, Han Changlin went directly to the hall. Meng Siqi saw Yao Bingchun sitting in a chair. His face was slightly stiff and he no longer had the smile he had before.

The young police officer next to him stood up and greeted them: "Korean team."

Han Changlin asked: "Captain Yao, where is the suspect? Can you take us to see him?"

Yao Bingchun did not answer immediately. He turned his head and called the young police officer next to him: "Ma Xinyi, you take them there."

"Okay." Ma Xinyi agreed and made a gesture of invitation.

Meng Siqi followed them up the corridor to the second floor, where there were rooms connected to each other. They were probably B&B accommodations. Two female police officers stood guard at the door. Ma Xinyi pointed to three of the rooms and said, "Captain Han, the three suspects are in the room, separated. We have female comrades in the station watching them."

"This is some information we learned before. See if it can be useful later." Ma Xinyi handed a thin document to Han Changlin.

Han Changlin took it, glanced at it, said thank you, and handed it to Meng Siqi. Meng Siqi had been the one who took the notes before, and Han Changlin probably wanted her to continue her work on this basis.

Han Changlin asked: "Officer Ma, where are the others?"

He was probably referring to the two chefs and the waiter. Ma Xinyi said hurriedly, "The two chefs are in their own dormitory. They are dormitory employees. We have not allowed them to go out. They are less suspicious, so they are not separated. The waiter is also downstairs, in another room. You can ask me directly when you want to."

"Okay, Officer Ma, you've worked hard," Han Changlin nodded, "You guys should go and rest for a while."

Ma Xinyi smiled and said, "Okay, let's go down first."

After Ma Xinyi and the two female police officers left, Han Changlin curled his lips, as if he had other thoughts in his mind. The tone he used when he asked Ma Xinyi to rest just now was completely different from the tone he used to talk to Yao Bingchun in the yard.

In his eyes, Ma Xinyi's work was qualified, but all this was also instructed by Yao Bingchun, which shows that in the entire criminal investigation work, Yao Bingchun took into account everything that should be considered.

Perhaps criminal investigation work is not perfect, and no one dares to say that it is foolproof.

Feng Shaomin seemed to see through Han Changlin's thoughts and said calmly, "Yao Bingchun still prioritizes things when doing things. He may be a little impatient sometimes, so mistakes are inevitable."

Han Changlin said: "I rejected his face, but I was right about the footprints." But he also knew in his heart that the police station was assisting in the case and it was still a cooperative relationship. If he rejected their face, it might not be smooth to carry out his work later.

Feng Shaomin said: "I will talk to him later when I have time. We all need to do our job well in order to solve the case."

The two chatted for a while, and Han Changlin asked: "Do you think we should take him back for trial or try him here?"

"These three suspects are the most likely suspects. I think we should record the waiter and the chef's statements first to eliminate their suspicion and focus on bringing these three suspects back."

"Okay." Han Changlin nodded. "We only have 24 hours, so we have to hurry."

Meng Siqi seemed to understand Feng Shaomin's intention. Interrogating here was just for convenience, but the problem was obvious. There was no serious atmosphere here, with birds singing, flowers blooming, mountains clear and waters tranquil. This might be detrimental to the interrogation. The interrogation room in the police station would make the suspect speak the truth.

Next, Han Changlin took Zhao Leiting to question the waiter's statement, and Feng Shaomin took Meng Siqi to question the two chefs' statements.

In a dormitory of the B&B, she met two chefs, both of whom were young people in their twenties. It seems that there is a great shortage of chefs in the industry right now.

Both of them are less than 1.7 meters tall, one is thin and the other is slightly plump. The thin one is called Xu Liang and the slightly plump one is called Hao Chunlai.

After questioning the two people separately, the roughly same conclusion was obtained: after 7 o'clock last night, the owner of the B&B asked the two people to stay and provide the final catering service, because the deceased Long Shanwen had booked the B&B and did not need so many people to serve, and the others were scheduled to go off work. So only two chefs and a waitress stayed here.

Catering services were only provided until 11:30 p.m., so neither of the two chefs went to the backyard after 11:30 p.m., and there was a football game at 12 a.m. that lasted until nearly 2 a.m. They also told us what the specific game was, a live broadcast of Serie A.

The two of them watched the game, ate peanuts and drank beer, and finally fell asleep on the sofa.

When Meng Siqi entered the dormitory, he smelled a strong smell of alcohol. There were more than a dozen beer bottles lying all over the floor, and some peanuts dropped on the ground.

The whole room was simply furnished, with a bunk bed, a TV on the table, a small sofa with three or four seats, and a small round table in front of the sofa, on which were chopsticks and a few greasy plastic bags, probably for midnight snacks.

When Feng Shaomin asked, Meng Siqi added two questions, "Did you leave the dormitory alone last night?" and "Did you hear any noise last night?"

The two chefs gave the same answer: beer was full of water, and they went to the bathroom during the game, but not many times. The bathroom was in the corridor outside, but they only went in and out for a short time. They both had low alcohol tolerance and got drunk in the second half of the night, so they didn't pay attention to the noise outside.

Feng Shaomin finished his questioning and said after he left the room, "It seems that the chef is basically not a suspect. Go back and check the Serie A match last night."

"Okay." Meng Siqi replied.

The interrogation of Han Changlin and Zhao Leiting ended early. Meng Siqi returned to the front hall. Zhao Leiting said, "The waitress Shi Xiaomei went to bed early last night. There is a phone in her room. If someone wants a service like a blanket delivery at night, she will put on her coat and go to do it. Usually there are no customers requesting it at night. It was very quiet last night. She didn't know something happened until this morning."

Han Changlin sat on a wooden chair in the lobby, straightened up, and added: "I learned some things when Wang Wei and Ma Xinyi handed over the materials just now. There are six people with fresh footprints in the yard, four female tourists and two chefs. The two chefs were delivering meals yesterday, so it was inevitable. There are no waiters' footprints."

Feng Shaomin nodded. "That is to say, the suspicion of the chef and the waiter has been basically eliminated."

Han Changlin said, "Yes, but it cannot be completely ruled out. We will add more information later. But now the focus is still on the three sisters of the deceased. The most urgent thing is," Han Changlin stood up, "take the people back to the bureau first. We will quickly connect with Chen Jierong and the others."

Over there, Chen Jierong had basically completed the examination of the deceased's condition, and Wang Wei had also conducted further investigation of the traces at the scene and was still supplementing information with the police station.

When they returned to the yard, Chen Jierong said, "Captain Han, look, the victim's calf is slightly bent. She must have been stabbed in the chest last night, knelt on the ground, and then fell down. Her calf is not fully extended."

"Before she fell, we can assume that the murderer may have used force to pull out the weapon that had stabbed her chest. The deceased should have used both hands to hold her chest. Her left hand was directly covering the wound, so the blood on her left palm was very thick. Her right hand was pressed on her left hand, so there was less blood, but there was still blood on her fingers."

"Her dominant hand should be her right hand. After falling to the ground, she probably stayed there for a short while and used her index finger to draw a circle on the tile floor."

"Wait a minute, why did you stop for a while?" Han Changlin asked.

"The deceased may have been waiting for the murderer to leave."

Han Changlin nodded as if he had realized something, and then asked, "What do you think the symbols the deceased wrote on the ground are?"

"I don't know. I can't tell. You guys should analyze it. I'll do a further autopsy later and tell you what I find."

"Yes. Can the time of death be confirmed?"

"About midnight to one o'clock last night."

After listening to Chen Jierong's description, Meng Siqi basically understood the situation, especially Chen Jierong restored the behavior of the deceased when he was victimized and assumed the murderer's behavior, which was of great help in solving the case.

All the troops gathered, and Zhao Leiting and several policemen took the suspect back to the police station.

The interrogation will be held in the afternoon. At noon, Han Changlin looked at the empty tables of Meng Siqi and Zhao Leiting. They should still be eating in the cafeteria. He walked to Feng Shaomin's table and said, "Mr. Feng, for the interrogation in the afternoon, Zhao Leiting and I will be in one group, and you and Meng Siqi will be in another group. This will save time."

Feng Shaomin thought for a moment and said, "Captain Han, my thoughts may be slightly different from yours."

"Hmm? Tell me."

"Although the time is tight this time, the three suspects were in the same place at the same time last night. If they are interrogated separately, some details may be overlooked. I prefer to interrogate them by one person, with the same train of thought, because that way it is easier to compare the confessions of the three people and find loopholes. If one of them is a criminal suspect, then her confession will definitely not stand up."

After listening to this, Han Changlin felt that Feng Shaomin's idea was thoughtful. No matter which of the three people was the suspect, as long as one person's confession was slightly different from the other two, it would be easy to be exposed. On the contrary, the interrogation thinking of one person would magnify the difference.

He nodded immediately and asked, "Who do you think is more suitable to be in charge of this interrogation?" In the past, Tang Xiaochuan usually presided over the trial, but he was on vacation today.

Feng Shaomin said without hesitation: "I recommend Xiao Meng. Xiao Meng has clear ideas and is good at grasping the key points."

This is not only a compliment from the master to his disciple. Feng Shaomin has been in contact with Meng Siqi for some time. He found that Meng Siqi's thinking is very clear and she can find important details from many details.

Not to mention the previous work, Meng Siqi only asked two questions during the questioning of the chef this morning. In Feng Shaomin's view, both questions were well thought out and were effective questions to promote the case. He believed that Meng Siqi's comprehensive ability has become mature. Although there are still some shortcomings, it will be more perfect in time.

Han Changlin affirmed: "Since the master values ​​his disciple so much, let your disciple perform well today."

"Okay, I'm looking forward to it too."

Meng Siqi and Zhao Leiting had just returned from the cafeteria after lunch. As they walked into the office and added some hot water, Han Changlin came over and ordered: "Xiao Meng, get ready. You will be the interrogator of the three suspects in an hour. You will decide the order of the interrogation of the suspects."

"Me?" Meng Siqi had a full lunch and her mind was still at the stage of providing energy for digestion. She nodded instinctively.

"Your master and I will both participate, just go ahead and do whatever you want."

"Okay, Korean team."

Meng Siqiqiang hurriedly took a sip of fruit tea and immediately started working at her desk. In the morning, Han Changlin gave her the information of three suspects investigated by the police station. She had to familiarize herself with it as soon as possible to avoid being completely clueless when the time comes.

The deceased, Long Shanwen, was a 26-year-old female who was an honorary consultant of Shalai Garment Company. Shen Song, the legal representative of Shalai Company, was her husband. The couple had no children.

Meng Siqi extracted useful information from it. Long Shanwen's position might just be in name only. She was essentially a freelancer or a housewife. Her financial source was estimated to mainly come from Shen Song.

The following is the information of the three sisters of the deceased. Due to time constraints, I only recorded a rough outline.

Xia Sulan, female, 26 years old, a worker in a soap factory, has a two-year-old daughter.

Sun Yuanyuan, female, 25 years old, supermarket salesperson, single. She lived with the deceased last night and was the first to discover the deceased in the morning.

Ding Qian, female, 26 years old, community logistics worker, divorced.