Chapter 658: Change of Direction

“Dong Xiao is already dead?” Lin Qiupu asked skeptically. “Don’t forget, he had a gun, and the blood found on Li the Secretary belonged to Lu Qi. How do you explain that?”

“The blood might be from Lu Qi getting injured. They fought, Lu Qi killed Dong Xiao, and then he and Su Chan disposed of the body and burned the place down. Li went crazy because he saw Dong Xiao being killed. He’s been with Dong Xiao for a long time and knew all his dirty secrets. If he saw Dong Xiao kill someone, he wouldn’t have gone insane.”

“Li might have gone crazy from being trapped in the fire. He barely escaped, it could have traumatized him.”

“Then why was he the only one who escaped? There were many strong bodyguards in that house, but they were all trapped inside and burned to death. Some were even found on the first floor, just steps away from the door. The deaths in that house are suspicious. What happened inside might be more complicated than we think.”

The two men couldn’t convince each other.

Just then, Peng Si-jue called them over. The autopsy room was full of charred bodies, even the floor was covered with them. Lin Qiupu asked, “Captain Peng, did you find anything?”

“I found that many of these bodies had broken bones or fractures. During the first autopsy, I didn’t pay much attention because there were a lot of collapsed bricks and debris. But now, I noticed something. Look at this…” Peng pointed to the third skeleton. “This one has a fractured elbow.”

“The fifth one has a neck fracture; the sixth one has a leg fracture; and the eighth one has a lower spine fracture…” Peng pointed out each one.

Chen Shi pondered, “These fractures aren’t from debris. They look like they resulted from a fight. Someone disabled them without killing them… who could be that strong?”

“Could it be Lu Qi?” Lin Qiupu was shocked.

Lin Qiupu immediately had his men check Lu Qi’s background. It turned out Lu Qi had been practicing martial arts and combat skills since he was a teenager. His combat style matched the fractures found on the victims.

Chen Shi said, “Remember, these people were found trapped in small rooms. Initially, we thought they were hiding from the fire. But now it seems Lu Qi disabled them and locked them in different rooms before setting the place on fire.”

Lin Qiupu was astonished. “Why would he kill them? If he and Su Chan were having an affair, they probably bribed the staff. That’s why no one warned Dong Xiao.”

“People turn into beasts after they kill,” Chen Shi sighed. “Lu Qi killed Dong Xiao and then went berserk, disabling all the staff. Li went crazy because he witnessed it.”

“The blood on Li’s clothes was spattered. Could he have been the one who fired the gun?” Peng suggested.

They immediately sent Li’s bloody clothes to the forensics lab for a gunshot residue test. It turned out there was gunpowder residue, indicating he fired a gun at close range.

Chen Shi visualized the events of January 20th. Lu Qi and Su Chan were having an affair when Dong Xiao arrived. An argument ensued, Lu Qi killed Dong Xiao, and Li the Secretary picked up the gun and fled.

Lu Qi then went on a rampage, disabling all the staff, locking them in small rooms, and setting the house on fire before escaping with Su Chan and Dong Xiao’s body.

“But why didn’t Lu Qi leave Dong Xiao’s body at the scene to burn?” Lin Qiupu asked.

“No matter how much a body is burned, DNA testing can still confirm the identity. If Dong Xiao’s body was found, the police would focus on Lu Qi and deduce he was the killer. Peng, can we charge Lu Qi with the current evidence?”

“No, because these people died from inhaling toxic gases, they technically died in the fire. We can’t prove the injuries were caused by someone… but you might be overthinking it. Maybe Dong Xiao’s body had evidence that couldn’t be destroyed by fire, so Lu Qi had to take it.”

“Evidence that can’t be burned?” Lin Qiupu and Chen Shi asked in unison.

“I once worked on a case where the victim was burned thoroughly, but we found the suspect’s DNA on the victim’s teeth. The victim had bitten the suspect during a struggle. This is just a technical hypothesis.”

“That makes sense,” Chen Shi nodded.

“I’ll call a meeting. Our focus now is to find Lu Qi!” Lin Qiupu said.

After a special task force meeting, the second team’s focus shifted from finding Dong Xiao to finding Lu Qi. But Lu Qi was hard to find. There were no surveillance cameras at the scene. During a re-examination, Peng noticed that among the burned cars, Dong Xiao’s was missing while Lu Qi’s car was destroyed. This suggested Lu Qi took Dong Xiao’s car to create the illusion that Dong Xiao was missing.

The next day, Chen Shi and Lin Dongxue went to Lu Qi’s house. Though they didn’t expect to find him there, they hoped for some clues.

Now that Lu Qi was a suspect, Chen Shi didn’t hesitate to pick the lock and enter the apartment.

It was a duplex. The living room had a large sofa, a projection TV, and a bar stocked with alcohol. Chen Shi commented, “This is a rich man’s house.”

The bookshelf was filled with books, but they were all new and unopened. It seemed Lu Qi never read. There was one old book. Chen Shi took it down and froze. Lin Dongxue curiously asked, “What is it?”

The book was full of photos of naked women. It wasn’t a professional photo album but seemed like a collection of Lu Qi’s conquests. This man was a real womanizer.

“Disgusting!” Lin Dongxue said, repulsed. “Put it away.”

“Alright, alright,” Chen Shi put the book back. On the shelf was a photo of Lu Qi shirtless, wearing boxing gloves, covered in sweat, taken after a workout.

Chen Shi checked the bathroom, kitchen, and fridge. “No one has been here for days.”

“Do you think Su Chan is being held against her will? After seeing Lu Qi kill so many people, how can she stay with him?”

“I don’t know what she’s thinking, but when we find her, she’ll probably say she was kidnapped.”

At that moment, there was a knock on the door. They tensed up…