Chapter 48

Walking out of the tunnel, Liu Zhongyi led the two people to the investigators who were conducting inquiries outside.

"How's it going?"

The investigators all knew Liu Zhongyi, and after calling him "Captain Liu," they informed him of the preliminary results of their inquiries.

First, the deceased was named Wang Qicheng, who was fifty-three years old and the main person in charge of the engineering team here.

The time was 7:45 PM. According to several witnesses, Wang Qicheng greeted them and then went into the tunnel alone for inspection without calling anyone else. About ten minutes later, several coworkers entered the tunnel and found Wang Qicheng's dead body.

At the same time, Wang Qicheng's expression at that moment was no different from usual, which basically ruled out any psychological issues.

"Was the deceased well-liked in the engineering team? Was there anyone who had a grudge against him?"

Liu Zhongyi flipped through some records and looked at a man in his forties.

The man was wearing a safety helmet and the uniform of the engineering team, with his eyebrows furrowed and a very low mood.

Upon hearing Liu Zhongyi's question, he smiled bitterly and said, "Old Wang's reputation, how should I put it? Although he was quite strict with his subordinates, everyone knew it was for our own good, and no one deliberately resented him. So Old Wang's relationships were actually quite good, at least I don't know of any grudges he had with others."

Liu Zhongyi nodded and asked a few more questions. Then he closed his mouth, knowing that more detailed information would have to wait until they returned to the bureau for further specific records. This was just an initial understanding of the situation.

"Captain Liu, the preliminary test report is out."

At this moment, a police officer walked out of the tunnel and handed Liu Zhongyi a simple preliminary report.

This report was just the initial inspection by the on-site technical team and the forensic doctor. More detailed and specific reports would require further procedures and more sophisticated equipment. However, even from this simple report, many issues could be seen.

External examination: One male corpse, 173 cm tall, with no abnormal development and good nutrition. The face, skull, meninges, and brain tissue suffered mechanical deformation damage, with 70% of the brain tissue missing. The skin was pale, with no jaundice, and the limbs had no deformities. The fingernails and toenails were significantly cyanotic.

Internal examination: No abnormalities in the skin, respiratory system, liver, spleen, and biliary system. No abnormalities in the digestive system. No abnormalities in the urinary and reproductive systems. The heart was missing for unknown reasons, and no traces were found at the scene.

Preliminary pathological diagnosis: 1. The brain suffered destructive trauma for unknown reasons, resulting in instantaneous death. 2. The heart was missing for unknown reasons, with no damage to the body cavity or skin.

Preliminary determination: Homicide!

As an experienced police officer, Liu Zhongyi immediately saw the puzzling aspects of the report. Why did the brain show such explosive damage? It was as if someone had placed a bomb inside the deceased's head and then detonated it.

Even more strange was why the deceased's heart was missing?

And there were no wounds on the body?

It was as if the deceased had been a person without a heart all along.

And could a person without a heart still be alive? That was undoubtedly a tall tale.

The on-site investigation by the technical team did not find a definite cause of death or the object that caused it. This bizarre phenomenon was something Liu Zhongyi had never encountered in his twenty years of police work.

Taking the report from Liu Zhongyi, Wang Xinhua and Li Ruide read it and frowned, especially Wang Xinhua, who couldn't contain his curiosity and asked, "Captain Liu, this is a bit strange. The deceased's brain being blown up is one thing, but what kind of murder method could make the heart disappear without a trace?"

Indeed, apart from the massive injury to the brain, there were no other wounds on the deceased's body. So why did the heart disappear without a trace?

"Don't worry, let's wait until the body is taken back for an autopsy."

"What about the construction project here?"

Li Ruide pointed to the distant tunnel. "This is a key project under the close attention of the city government. We can't afford to delay it."

Hearing Li Ruide's words, Liu Zhongyi suddenly felt a headache. He could imagine that once he returned to the bureau, he would be called to the office by his superiors and ordered to solve the case as quickly as possible, without delaying the project.

But how could things be that simple? The clearance rate for criminal cases was never as high as people imagined. The cases that made it to television and received commendations were the ones that were solved smoothly, while the unsolved cases were several times more numerous.

Not to mention that this case from beginning to end was shrouded in a bizarre and chilling atmosphere, with no clues to follow.

"What else can we do? After the on-site investigation and photography are completed, we will discuss with the person in charge to seal off the site for a day. We will lift the seal after confirming everything is correct the day after tomorrow."

Liu Zhongyi could only give such instructions.

Li Ruide nodded in agreement, understanding Liu Zhongyi's difficulties.

"This is going to be very troublesome."

Liu Zhongyi sighed, pinching his nose, looking somewhat fatigued.

"Ding ding..."

At this moment, a sudden ring of a mobile phone broke the silence. Liu Zhongyi took out his phone and saw that it was a call from home.

"Hello, what's wrong?"

Pressing the answer button, Liu Zhongyi asked.

"Old Liu, Mom fainted again. We're at the hospital now. Do you want to come over?"

A woman's voice on the phone sounded very anxious.

"Is it the same old problem? How serious is it? I have some work to do here. I'll call you back after I'm done."

After a few words, Liu Zhongyi asked his wife to take good care of his mother and hung up the phone.

"Captain Liu, why don't you go home first?"

Wang Xinhua, hearing a few words, guessed what had happened at Liu Zhongyi's home and hesitated to suggest.

"What are you talking about? How can I leave here?"

An experienced police officer naturally had his own skills. It wasn't just about Liu Zhongyi being diligent; if he suddenly left his post, it would cause trouble if it got back to his superiors.

"Alright, let's continue working. We need to analyze the case tonight and prepare for a long battle."

Patted Wang Xinhua on the shoulder, Liu Zhongyi walked forward to continue understanding the case.

The more they understood the case, the more puzzled the detectives became. From the preliminary understanding, although Wang Qicheng was strict with people, he was upright and liked to help others. There were no known grudges in the engineering team.

Through his friends, they learned that Wang Qicheng had been working for a long time, with a very limited social circle. His interactions were mostly work-related, making it hard to say if he had any personal enemies.

Of course, the specific situation would have to wait until the deceased's family arrived to understand.

However, at least from the motive, the people in the engineering team could be ruled out, as many of them were eating together at the time, with witnesses providing evidence that no one left the group during that period, except for the deceased.

Ruling out the engineering team, the other possibility was that it was done by an unknown outsider?

But after investigating more than a dozen people, no one had seen an unfamiliar outsider at the construction site, making this lead seem unattainable.

Liu Zhongyi and Wang Xinhua, along with several police officers, conducted on-site interviews and learned that the deceased's daily behavior before the incident was no different from usual. His hearing and vision were also normal, with no signs of mental issues.

After nearly an hour of on-site interviews with no results, Liu Zhongyi frowned, and Wang Xinhua quickly had the interviewees sign the statements.

"Captain Liu, we can hold a preliminary meeting now."

Li Ruide walked over and said.

"Alright, let's do it."

Liu Zhongyi signed the statement and followed Li Ruide to the temporary meeting room.

After the on-site investigation of a general criminal case, the on-site command personnel and those involved in the investigation and interviews would hold a preliminary meeting to discuss and study the nature of the case, the number of perpetrators, the time of the crime, the tools and methods used, and the motives, and make an initial judgment and decide on the measures to be taken.

Often, during this process, many clues would be discovered, which would be very helpful for the case, making the preliminary meeting particularly important!