Chapter 71

New book seeks support, collection, and recommendations! This week, I gave a panty push, but the effect wasn't great, and it didn't help much with collections and recommendations. So it all depends on everyone. I sincerely ask everyone to give a few more recommendations, so I have a chance to show up on the charts. I bow in gratitude!

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Li Xiangdong also noticed the problem with the window. He came to the window, looked at the lock, and saw that it was a sliding window with a hook lock. This type of lock is very easy to break; from the outside, one just needs to insert a wire to open it.

Li Xiangdong called Zhang Lu, who was in charge of evidence collection for the second team, to take photos of the window frame. Then he pushed open the window and indeed found several marks where the wire had rubbed against the frame.

It seems the murderer indeed entered the house from here, then went down to the second floor first, directly killing Lu Hailong's in-laws, and then returned upstairs to kill Lu Hailong and his wife.

"Looks like the murderer has a deep grudge against the Lu family. The two of them had over a hundred knife wounds each; without deep-seated hatred, one wouldn't go to such lengths," Zhang Lu said unintentionally, but Li Xiangdong was taken aback.

"Huh? Why do you say that, Brother Zhang?"

"Hey, isn't it obvious? When we were collecting evidence, we found a safe in Lu Hailong's study on the fourth floor of this building. There was over 300,000 yuan in cash inside, but the murderer didn't take it. They only took the gold chain from Lu Hailong's neck, his wife's jewelry, and the cash in their wallets. The scene was handled very sloppily, trying to make it look like a robbery, but it was very unprofessional. If it was really for the money, why didn't they take the money from the safe upstairs? That safe was the cheapest kind and could be broken open with an axe, let alone finding the key on Lu Hailong's body. The first team was so focused on the wallets thrown on the ground that they didn't even notice the safe on the fourth floor. Hehe, I didn't tell them about it."

Zhang Lu said with a sly smile while taking photos. Li Xiangdong was delighted; the second team indeed had hidden talents. When Wei Zhengming introduced Zhang Lu, he mentioned that Zhang was an expert in trace evidence. It seems he is also very skilled in case analysis. The second team is indeed full of hidden talents!

"So, the murderer set up a false scene in the third-floor bedroom, taking some valuable jewelry and the cash in the wallets, making it look like a robbery?"

When An Jiaoning and the others arrived at the third-floor scene, it had already been mostly disturbed by the first team. She hadn't seen the wallets Zhang Lu mentioned, but now that he brought it up, she began to piece together the clues.

"That's right. When I entered the third floor, Lu Hailong and his wife's wallets were emptied and thrown on the ground. The first team secretly collected the wallets, thinking they had found the right direction, but I don't agree. If the murderer was really after the money, they would have thoroughly investigated the Lu family's situation before acting. And for the sake of money, they wouldn't have killed the couple immediately; they would have subdued them first, then dealt with them one by one to maximize their gains. Lu Hailong is a gangster and has several small coal mines; how could his house lack a large amount of cash? Why would they be so eager to kill the people? Most importantly, I found a hidden compartment in the wardrobe in Lu Hailong's bedroom, which contained over 50,000 yuan in cash, probably for his wife's household expenses. It was easy to find. If the murderer was after the money, they wouldn't have missed the wardrobe and the cash. Don't you think the murderer is too weak?"

Zhang Lu shared his analysis with An Jiaoning and Li Xiangdong, and Li Xiangdong nodded in agreement.

"That's right. It doesn't seem to be for the money. If it was for the money, they wouldn't have left Lu Hailong's car. They took the couple's jewelry but didn't take Lu Hailong's Cayenne. This car is a favorite among gangsters and nouveau riche; it's very sought after in the black market. It can easily fetch over 200,000 yuan in Mengjiang Province or Jixiang Province. If it was for the money, the murderer wouldn't have left the car."

"Hehe, you're quite knowledgeable, I didn't expect that."

Zhang Lu was pleased with Li Xiangdong's analysis. This young man has a bright future.

An Jiaoning was very impressed by the two of them. Based on the information, they had almost ruled out the motive of robbery. So the murderer had two possible motives: passion or revenge.

Currently, the motive of passion seems unlikely, as Lu Hailong's wife was also killed, so it couldn't be a conflict over her. If it was because of Lu Hailong, it makes sense, as he was wealthy and might have had affairs that led to trouble.

The motive of revenge seems the most likely, given that the couple was stabbed over a hundred times, clearly indicating the murderer's act of venting anger.

Li Xiangdong and Zhang Lu discussed and gathered more clues. Zhang Lu went to collect evidence in other parts of the room, while Li Xiangdong climbed onto the window sill.

If the murderer entered and left from here, they would have left traces, which wouldn't escape his eagle eyes.

This window was on the back of the small building, and below it was a row of warehouses storing grain, local specialties, coal, and other items.

The warehouses were newly built, using color steel materials, with a color steel plate roof that was light but relatively sturdy.

Ordinary people would find it hard to notice anything on these color steel roofs, but Li Xiangdong could see the slight deformations, which were the footprints left by the murderers.

He jumped onto the roof and followed the footprints. An Jiaoning, though puzzled, followed him onto the roof.

The warehouses led to a back wall of the compound. On this wall, Li Xiangdong found clear signs of climbing. The broken glass on the top of the wall had been knocked off, indicating that the murderer had climbed over from here.

An Jiaoning was also pleased with this discovery and quickly used a walkie-talkie to notify Zhang Lu to collect evidence. Just as she finished talking to Zhang Lu, she saw Li Xiangdong jump off the wall and run towards the distant rice fields.

This jerk, he doesn't even say anything. An Jiaoning grumbled to herself, took a deep breath, and followed him, jumping off the wall.