Chapter 8 - Case 1: Dismemberment

Chapter 8

Lin Xiu Ran then took out his finger and continued: “If the puncture was in the heart, the deceased may be killed within a few minutes, and there will be no time to rescue them. This may be the cause of the deceased’s death, but because of the lack of internal organs, we can’t rule out other causes of death. For example, it could also be hemorrhagic shock caused by the abdominal organs, there could also be an artery pierced by the knife in the neck, or some other reason that caused the death. Also, based on the marks on the bones alone, we can’t be sure that the knife stab to the chest was done while the deceased was alive.”

Xu Yao added: “I think it’s unlikely that it was due to the stabbing of the neck. If the neck was stabbed, there would probably be a large amount of sprayed blood, but we didn’t find a large amount of blood on the cut and cleaned clothes. This doesn’t quite fit.”

Lin Xiu Ran explained: “The above is just an inference at the forensic level, that’s the main finding of the corpse. The rest are unrelated, such as no bleeding points on the back, no damage to the skull, no fracture of the hyoid bone, no other injuries on the body. This corpse is severely mutilated, so we can’t get more information from the forensic autopsy alone.”

Lin Xiu Ran finished speaking and began to pack up the relevant pictures. After they were packed up, he concluded, “I’ll give you another comb through my findings, based on the condition of the body. The time of death of the deceased was between 6:00 pm and 12:00 am on the same day, but because the body had been soaked in ice water, and lost important information; it is impossible for the time of death to be more specific. The cause of death is suspected to be a stab to the heart. I think this may be a crime committed by an acquaintance, and not a serial murderer. Judging from the knife, there should be only one person who dismembered the body. Big, certainly not a strong man, but he can’t be very thin, at least an adult with independent behavior. The killer has some knowledge of the human body and organs, and may have some medical background.”

Lin Xiu Ran was turning thirty this year, and was in the golden age of forensics. He was both experienced and energetic. A calm and collected, logical, no-nonsense forensic doctor can help solve a case by being twice as effective with half the effort. After the analysis, everyone had some new understanding of the case.

“Previously, I had access to the surveillance route here, and although I don’t have a complete image, it’s almost certain that the deceased went home around 8:30 pm.” Zhu Xiao assembled various clues to add to the timeline.

Xu Yao also summarized the material evidence information: “In terms of material evidence, the previous material evidence forms have been sorted out. As Director Lin discovered, the deceased was cohabitating, that is, there was once another person living in the house. With hair obtained from combs and pillows, and comparing the result with the DNA extract, it was confirmed that it was the same person. There were fingerprints everywhere in the house, many which were found on doorknobs, toilets, and in the dining room. We were also able to obtain a clear fingerprint from the knife that was thrown away, along with the body parts. The clear fingerprints matched some of the fingerprints that were foundmade in the house.”

There are fingerprints! Which was undoubtedly good news. Song Wen asked, “Where is the fingerprint retrieval process at now?”

“With Chief Gu.”

Now that the second generation ID card system had most of the population’s fingerprint data on file, there was just an approval process to go through. After comparing it with the household registration data, we could know the person’s identity.

“There are fingerprints on the murder weapon, so does that identify the suspect?” Fu Lin Jiang asked.

Old Jia nodded and said: “This person had disappeared after the crime, he has probably gone into hiding. I thought this case would be quite difficult, but looking at it now, solving the case is just around the corner.”

“Show me the murder weapon that was found again.” Song Wen stretched out his hand for the evidence, and Xu Yao handed him the blood-soaked knife sealed in an evidence bag.

Song Wen looked up and down the knife, then put forward a different viewpoint, “I think this might not be the murder weapon. Based on the two gaps in the ribs just now, we can calculte the width of the murder weapon, or simulate the shape. A double-edged knife is the only way to create a wound like that. This knife might just be a knife for dismembering the corpse.”

Lin Xiu Ran took the knife and looked at it, nodding his head, “Yes, such a knife can only form marks on a single rib. It doesn’t match the knife marks on the chest.”

“Is it possible that the murderer used this knife to stab the deceased in the abdomen, and that the knife wound in the chest was created by with another murder weapon?” Fu Linjiang proposed another hypothesis.

Song Wen bowed his head and thought for a moment, before shaking his head: “It’s a bit too complicated. At this point of the case analysis, I don’t understand some parts of the case. With the extent of damage to the body, was there any purpose in covering up the cause of death ? It does not make sense that the body was dismembered while wearing gloves, but fingerprints and bloodstains were left on the murder weapon. The killer had all day yesterday, to dispose of the body. Since he was wearing gloves, he should have cleaned up all traces of the crime. The murderer did not deliberately dispose of fingerprints from the other rooms and left traces on the murder weapon, which is inconsistent with his usual cautious behavior.”

“The appearance of the knife is too coincidental. There were fingerprints everywhere in the room, but nothing was found on the tools used to separate and stew the corpse. The knife which was thrown away had fingerprints and blood stains on it, which is not logical. So much so, that it appears as if the murderer had deliberately left them.”

Song Wen was silent for a moment, his gaze sharp, and spoke out another possibility: “This knife could have been placed deliberately by the murderer to mislead the police.”

Everyone was silent all of a sudden, in order to mislead the police investigation? So the purpose was to frame Lin Zhenghua’s cohabitant?

“What’s your opinion on this, Lu Siyu?” Song Wen suddenly raised his head and asked.

“Me?” Lu Siyu, who was not attentive and did not have his guard up, was suddenly pointed to. He was caught by surprise and unconsciously licked his lips.

Song Wen said, “It’s okay, say whatever comes to mind.”

Lu Siyu flipped through the notebook in his hand, hesitated for a moment before speaking, “This case is more brutal, I think the person who dismembered the body has a strong psychological quality. With that kind of splitting method, we can’t rule out female suspects.”

Lin Xiu Ran nodded, “Because of the equivalence mentality, when a female murderer kills a woman, she is less likely to abuse her breasts and sexual organs compared to a male murderer. Male murderers are also less likely to prey on male organs when they kill men; and in the few cases where this happens, it is often because the relationship was a rivalry, adopting this behavior for emotional revenge, or they are born perverts.”

The angle that Lu Siyu brought up was something that the crowd hadn’t considered before. Song Wen thought along with his words and suddenly realized something. He raised his eyebrow, then turned to look at him without commenting.

When Lu Siyu noticed Song Wen’s gaze, he lowered his head and began to write something down in his notebook.

Fu Linjiang nodded his head in agreement, “If it was just to kill the person, there would be no need for this unnecessary action; strangling or stewing would probably be more logical. And the murderer used a lot of useless steps when disposing of the corpse.”

In other words, such a step used to destroy the body was too much. The killer doesn’t seem to care whether or not someone else obtained the identity of the deceased. Yet they were deliberately hiding wounds and certain things, what kind of logic is that?

Song Wen turned in his swivel chair and made a decision: “No matter what, there has been a lot of progress in the case up to here. Even if the cohabitant of the deceased is not the murderer, he must be thoroughly investigated. His fingerprints appeared on the murder weapon, which means that he is also a relevant person. The more information you get, the more helpful it will be to the investigation of the case. Zhu Xiao, you should seize the time to gather the deceased’s information and clarify the identity of the cohabitant. Fu Linjiang, you will continue to investigate the case with Old Jia. Now, I think we need to meet the family of the deceased.” He got up as he spoke, “That’s our other suspect.”

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Zhong Qing, is a thirty-eight year old housewife. She was Lin Zhenghua’s wife. Zhong Qing graduated from Nursing School, worked as a nurse in cardiothoracic surgery for a year, and married Lin Zhenghua when she was twenty-two, giving him a son a year later. Shortly after the baby was born, Zhong Qing quit her job and became a housewife.

In the eyes of society, Lin Zhenghua is an outsider, has a good income and Zhong Qing is the insider that keeps the family in order. His son Lin Shang has a good academic record and focuses all the way. This is a happy and contented family..

But in fact, in the place where everyone does not know, they have their own hidden pains.

Song Wen looked at the woman in front of him. She was about 1.6 meters tall, and was a little thin. She was well maintained, her figure was not fat, and one couldn’t tell her true age at all; just like a young woman in her early thirties. Now her eyes were swollen, and she was rubbing the corners of her coat somewhat helplessly. Today, she had been told to come and claim the body.

After signing a series of slips, Zhong Qing was led to the funeral home’s corpse storage. Lin Xuran was a professional forensic scientist, every corpse would be stitched up after autopsy, and this corpse was no exception. After the remains were pieced together, what could be stitched together had been processed as much as possible, to make the corpse look less of a mess.

With the freezer pulled open a slight amount, revealing only Lin Zhenghua’s head, Zhong Qing covered her mouth and nodded; then took two steps backwards, her eyes streaming with tears.

Song Wen led her out of the cold storage in the funeral home, and sat in the special lounge to receive family members. Song Wen asked Lu Siyu to pour Zhong Qing a glass of warm water, and then handed her the death certificate. Song Wen had seen too many corpses claiming processes, and everyone’s reaction was different: panic, unacceptable, crazy, fainted, and indifferent. In comparison, the woman’s reaction was more docile.

“Now that we are investigating your husband’s death, can we ask you a few questions?” Song Wen waited for Zhong Qing to calm down and then asked her. This is a routine investigation and one of the works of criminal police.

Zhong Qing held the glass in her hand, as if she needed that bit of heat from the hot water to give her strength, then she straightened up and nodded her head. Her actions showed that she was a well-educated woman, her words and actions were quite restrained.

Seeing her agreement, Song Wen looked at Lu Siyu and motioned for him to start inquiring. This was the first time that Lu Siyu interrogated a suspect. He looked up at Zhong Qing. He seemed to be a little nervous. He lightly licked his lips and asked, “When was the last time you saw Lin Zhenghua?”

“About a week ago. He… doesn’t come home very often. We are basically separated and we live our own lives.” The man was dead, it was meaningless to hide those things and pretend to have a perfect family harmony.

“Did you know your husband was living with someone else outside?” Lu Siyu asked again.

Zhong Qing gently nodded her head, “I know. He hasn’t touched me since I gave birth to our son. He rents an apartment outside all year round, sometimes staying for several days in a row, and sometimes he occasionally comes home to see his son.” She took a sip of water and continued, “Their circle is quite messy. In the past few years, as far as I know, he has changed several people. The latest one is called something……”

“Called what?”

Zhong Qing thought hard and spit out a name, “What…hui.”

“Do you think any of them will try to kill your husband?”

Zhong Qing shook her head.

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“So what’s been unusual lately?”

Zhong Qing shook her head again, then nodded as if remembering something and said, “But he seemed to be a bit upset lately and had asked to borrow money from me, but the reason was very vague.”

“Borrowed money?” Song Wen’s eyebrows furrowed. This couple really lived their own lives, so heartless.

Zhong Qing explained, “After we got married, half of his salary was to be paid to me, and he kept the other half for himself to spend. Lin Zhenghua’s salary has never been low. In addition to the living expenses for me and my son, I still saved some, but recently he suddenly wanted to ask me to borrow money.”

Lu Siyu continued to ask, “Did you lend it to him?”

When Zhong Qing heard this question, she hesitated and lowered her head, like a mosquito humming: “Not at first. Later… I gave him one hundred thousand.”

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One hundred thousand was another key point. Could Lin Zhenghua have died because of money? In addition to the money he had on hand, it was estimated that the money was more than that. He asked Zhu Xiao to check Lin Zhenghua’s income, which was about 500,000 yuan a year. But if it was for the money, why was there no sign of robbery in the house? The victim’s cell phone and wallet were not missing.

“Where were you and what were you doing between eight and twelve in the evening on the day of the murder?” After Zhong Qing showed a difficult look, Lu Siyu didn’t delve into the money issue, but instead moved on to other questions.

Zhong Qing recalled a moment, squeezing her bag strap with her hand, “That night, my son had cram school. I sent him to it, and it started at 8:30.”

“How many make-up students were in the class?”

“It’s a small class, there’s eight of them.”

The cram school was small, so if she said she was going, she shouldn’t be able to make a false start.

“It starts at eight-thirty and ends at what time? What were you doing while your son was at cram school?”

“Two hours of English lessons from eight-thirty until ten-thirty at night. I waited for him at a nearby cafe, and because I go there so often, all the clerks there know me.”

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After about a dozen questions, Lu Siyu looked at Song Wen for his opinion, seeing if there was anything he wanted to add. Song Wen opened his mouth to ask Zhong Qing, “Do you love Lin Zhenghua?”

Zhong Qing seemed to have not expected this criminal police captain to suddenly ask such a question, and the first question was such a sharp question, she was momentarily speechless.

Song Wen put away the usual smile on his face. His gaze was steady and his words were not surprising, and he continued to ask her, “Married to a homosexual, life is not harmonious. Have you ever thought about divorce?”

When Zhong Qing was asked such a question, her face had turned red and she was reluctant to answer, being put on the spot like that: “I…I…”

Song Wen looked straight into her eyes, pressing harder at every step, chasing after her with every word. He suddenly asked her: “Don’t you hate him?”

Lu Siyu looked sideways at Song Wen. The man’s gaze was sharp as a sword, his earlier question was still relatively gentle, but Song Wen now got directly to the point.

Hearing that last question, Zhong Qing was suddenly like a snake struck by seven inches. The whole person got out of control. Big tears flowed from the corners of her eyes, but she was holding the corners of the mouth and trying to smile. A contradictory expression made her face distorted…

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