Chapter 67: New Doubts

At the case meeting, Lin Qiupu confidently stated, “Everyone, we have a lead on this case. We’ve traced ‘Ximen Qing’…”

Hearing this name always made everyone chuckle.

“We found that there’s $50,000 missing from his personal account, and the disappearance of this money coincides with the time of the victim’s murder. He himself is vague about where the money went.”

“So, can we close the net now?” a police officer asked.

“We’re still missing evidence. Our main focus now is to find out where that $50,000 went. Once we figure that out, the case will be solved. Let’s aim to crack this in three days.”

Everyone was in high spirits when suddenly a hand was raised. Lin Qiupu said, “Old Peng? What do you have to say?”

Peng Sijue calmly said, “Captain Lin, did you read my secondary autopsy report?”

“I haven’t seen it yet. Go ahead.”

Peng Sijue tapped the file in his hand and said, “According to my second autopsy, there’s a suspicious bone growth at the back of the victim’s head. The victim also had osteoporosis, hypokalemia, muscle relaxation, fat deposition, and venous thrombosis. In simple terms, his body was severely deficient in phosphorus, potassium, and calcium. Additionally, there were extensive scratches in his esophagus, which had been there for at least three months.”

“The victim and the car were burnt so badly, and you still found all this?”

“Yes, it took a lot of extra time.”

“So, what’s your conclusion?”

“I don’t think this case should be concluded so hastily. Just because the involved parties have certain surnames, it doesn’t mean it was Ximen who did it. Maybe the killer is taking advantage of this line of thinking. If this was indeed a hired murder, the abnormalities on the victim can’t be explained away. There must be more to this case.”

Hearing Peng Sijue openly contradict him, Lin Qiupu was a bit annoyed and said, “Old Peng, let’s put this aside for now. Regarding the motive, what do you think the killer’s motive might be?”

“You can’t just ignore it! This is a fact! I believe that for this case to be truly solved, these doubts must be perfectly answered. Otherwise, it’s not a real solution.”

Lin Qiupu smiled wryly, “Old Peng, who’s influencing you now?”

“Autopsies are my job, solving the case is yours. Report finished, I’m leaving.” Peng Sijue didn’t wait for a response and left directly.

If it were anyone else being so disrespectful, Lin Qiupu would have exploded on the spot. But it was Peng Sijue, so he could only swallow his anger.

All eyes were on Lin Qiupu. He gritted his teeth and said, “Captain Peng’s new findings should be taken seriously. Dongxue, Xiaodong, you two go and verify them. Everyone else, continue tracking down the $50,000! Meeting adjourned.”

After the meeting, Xu Xiaodong asked Lin Dongxue, “What’s the captain’s intention?”

“What intention?”

“Calling just the two of us to investigate, is it to ask that expert for help again?”

Lin Dongxue laughed, “You can read between the lines now?”

Lin Qiupu avoided mentioning Chen Shi’s name, and when he had to, he would refer to him as “a helpful citizen.” Maybe he felt that as the captain of the criminal investigation team, asking for external help was too humiliating.

“Should I call Brother Chen?” Xu Xiaodong asked.

“Go ahead!”

Xu Xiaodong dialed the number, “Hey, Brother Chen… nothing much, just a small problem with a case… How did you know?… Okay, sure, we definitely need your help. Please come over!”

After hanging up, Xu Xiaodong was very happy, “The case has hope now.”

“From your words, does it mean there’s no hope with Captain Lin?”

“I didn’t say that!”

Half an hour later, the two of them met Chen Shi at Yong’an Soy Milk while having breakfast. Chen Shi asked, “What’s up? Didn’t you say you didn’t need my help for this case?”

Lin Dongxue blushed, “We thought we didn’t, but Captain Peng brought up some new findings today that we hadn’t considered. He said the victim had some peculiarities.”

“What kind of peculiarities?”

Lin Dongxue took out a copy of the secondary autopsy report. Chen Shi read it for a while and said, “Let’s discuss the case!”

The incident happened three days ago in the morning. The reporter was the victim’s brother, Wu Hao, who said his brother had been missing for two days. Initially, it was handled by the local police station. Later, a scavenger discovered a burnt car in the suburbs, with what seemed to be a body inside, linking the two cases together.

The car was indeed the victim Wu’s, and DNA tests confirmed that the charred body was Wu himself.

There were obvious traces of accelerant on the car, suggesting that someone had killed Wu, put him in the car, and set it on fire. The body was burned beyond recognition, and it took a lot of effort to separate it from the car. Due to the extensive burns, they hadn’t found a fatal wound, and the estimated time of death was roughly five days prior.

The investigation then focused on Wu’s relationships. Wu Hao insisted that it was done by the wife and her lover, bringing Pan Xiuying and her lover, Ximen Sheng, into the police’s view.

The officers involved immediately suspected Ximen Sheng upon hearing his name and seeing his shady face.

But both had solid alibis. At the time of the incident, they were at a resort. Although Ximen Sheng seemed nervous, his alibi was airtight. Lin Qiupu increasingly suspected that Ximen Sheng had hired someone to commit the murder.

So the current focus was on investigating Ximen Sheng’s financial expenditures.

After hearing this, Chen Shi commented, “Hasty conclusion!”

“The victim isn’t named Hasty, it’s named Wu…”

“I mean your brother jumped to conclusions. Just because someone had an affair, you assume he’s the murderer? Even officials in the Song Dynasty didn’t judge cases like this.”

Lin Dongxue felt a bit embarrassed. Xu Xiaodong said, “Brother Chen, it’s not just Captain Lin. Everyone in the task force thinks ‘Ximen Qing’ is the culprit. Sometimes you need intuition to solve a case, right?”

“Intuition and assumptions are two different things.”

“So, what do we do now?”

Chen Shi looked at the file in his hand and said, “Old Peng’s analysis is never wrong. These doubts must be closely related to the truth of the case. Start the investigation from scratch!”

“Start over!?” Lin Dongxue widened her eyes.

“Tired already? Or should we play a round of ‘Pen Fairy’ to ask the victim who killed him?”

Xu Xiaodong exclaimed, “Is that possible!?”

Lin Dongxue looked at him like he was an idiot and said, “Alright, we’ll follow your lead.”

Chen Shi said, “Order me two more buns.”

After a hearty breakfast, Chen Shi said, “Let’s get to work!”

“Where to first?” Lin Dongxue asked.

“Who lives closest?”

“Wu Hao’s gym is the nearest.”

“Then let’s go there first!”

The three of them drove to a fitness club. There were no customers in the morning. Wu Hao was playing a mobile game in the lounge. Seeing the police, he immediately became agitated and asked, “Have those adulterers been convicted?”

Chen Shi asked, “Mr. Wu, are you sure they are adulterers? Do you have evidence?”

“I already showed you the evidence, didn’t I? Is this officer new? Fine, I’ll show you again.”