Until Mr. Wang left, Xu Dayuan didn't explain why, simply telling him to just do as instructed, leaving Mr. Wang without a temper.
When everyone had left, only Xu Dayuan and Zhou Ning remained in the meeting room. Zhou Ning now desperately wished to follow them to the train station to keep watch, as waiting there wouldn't be as nerve-wracking.
But Zhou Ning couldn't figure out why Xu Dayuan had kept him there.
"Tell me, do you know why I asked Mr. Wang to go to Liu Bingyi's wife last night to learn about the situation?"
Zhou Ning was startled.
Leaders are leaders, their words are watertight. How could I guess your thoughts? Isn't this asking too much of someone?
His! You call this 'learning about the situation'?
However, Zhou Ning suddenly thought of something and answered seriously:
"The one spreading these idle rumors in the village is Wang Chengjuan. I think if these two victims had an affair, they would surely find a secluded place, so as not to leave gossip behind.
In the morning, when we arrived at the scene, Wang Chengjuan was the one Mr. Wang was talking about, wasn't she? Two people had died, and there was a highly decomposed body, yet she wasn't scared at all and kept watching my every move.
So, Xu Da thinks she is hiding something or knows more than what she lets on; a little intimidation—no, that's not right—a revisit to the village might scare Wang Chengjuan, and perhaps she might disclose something useful?"
Xu Dayuan laughed, and my, the smile was somewhat frightening.
"Doctor Zhou, you're quite something. This observational ability and sensitivity of yours are better than many in criminal investigation."
Zhou Ning rubbed his nose.
"I'm guessing here, while Xu Da is strategizing. Without your conversation with Mr. Wang, I wouldn't have thought of this much. Aren't you just praising yourself!"
Xu Dayuan laughed even more joyfully, as if the previous gloom had been swept away.
"You have a way with words, always so appropriate no matter what. Alright, get some rest now, and based on the interrogation, you'll need to come over early to compare fingerprints. If necessary, you might have to revisit the scene."
Zhou Ning stood up; no matter how anxious he was, he couldn't just sit here and wait. With insufficient rest, his mind wouldn't be sharp enough.
"Xu Da, I'll be leaving first."
...
The next morning, Zhou Ning hurried to the small second floor of the detective squad.
Before entering, he saw Zhao Xinli standing at the door, looking around. Upon seeing Zhou Ning, Zhao Xinli waved vigorously, and Zhou Ning approached.
"What's up?"
"The boss told me to wait for you. Liu Wangcai's fingerprints have already been collected, and he wanted you to compare them as soon as you arrived."
Zhou Ning nodded, knowing without a guess that these people must have been busy all night.
"Okay, I'll start the comparison now. By the way, does Liu Wangcai have any injuries on his hands?"
"He does, on both hands. He said he got them at the construction site when some rebar slipped and injured him."
Zhou Ning paused; what convenient timing for the injury.
"I'll start the comparison first, and then I'll have a look at his wounds."
Zhao Xinli grinned.
"The boss said the same thing."
Zhou Ning didn't delay and went straight upstairs to the office. On the desk lay a collection form marked with Liu Wangcai's name and the fingerprints of both hands. However, the thumbprint of the right hand was covered with a dark black ink, which seemed to be the mark of a gauze wrap.
Zhou Ning knit his brows tightly, scanned the fingerprints, then logged into the fingerprint comparison system to compare them with those found at the crime scene. This method, more accurate than visual observation, can analyze based on the characteristics of the local sample.
After waiting a minute, the comparison system flashed with a red 'search fail' signal, indicating that Liu Wangcai's fingerprints did not match any of those found at the scene.
This result made Zhou Ning somewhat incredulous.
Could it be that my analysis was wrong, and Liu Wangcai isn't the murderer?
But according to this investigation, the person most likely to have killed Li Delin and Zhu Meifeng is Liu Wangcai. Otherwise, who would kill these two people at the same time?
Could it be Zhu Meifeng's brother?
Impossible. Even if he knew that his sister was cheating, no matter how disgraceful, she was still his sister. At most, he would give Li Delin a lesson.
Zhou Ning's thoughts continuously appeared on the transparent big screen. Looking at the various information he had gathered earlier, Zhou Ning stood up, grabbed his camera and the inspection kit, and walked out the door.
As soon as he reached the staircase, he saw Xu Dayuan coming up.
"Mr. Xu, I was just about to find you. The fingerprint comparison results are out. Liu Wangcai's fingerprints weren't found at the scene. I want to check the wound on Liu Wangcai's hand. The timing of his injury is too coincidental. Did the people who went to the provincial city verify it?"
Xu Dayuan sighed.
"I told them last night to ask the workers if anyone saw Liu Wangcai get injured. Someone replied this morning saying that on the 26th at noon, there was a scream when a steel bar slid down from above. No major harm was done, just that both hands were bloody. He even went to the nearby clinic for bandaging."
Zhou Ning was not discouraged and looked at Xu Dayuan with determination.
"Mr. Xu, let's have a look first. There's a difference between a scrape and a cut. Even if he is ruthless and fakes his wounds, he's not a professional. He doesn't understand the differences."
Hearing Zhou Ning's words, Xu Dayuan laughed, patted Zhou Ning on the shoulder, and they both headed downstairs.
"I was waiting for you to say that. I won't hide it from you, I'm the most suspicious of Liu Wangcai. Last night, after being taken to Tieshan Police Station, Wang Chengjuan confessed. Statring two years ago, Liu Wangcai has been giving her three thousand a year to inform him whenever Li Delin visited their home.
After Liu Wangcai left for the spring festival this year, Li Delin would visit once every half month, and she reported on time to Liu Wangcai, including Li Delin's car number, company name, and places the two planned to go."
She even followed them twice, seeing Li Delin taking Zhu Meifeng to the seaside at Lan Tai Zi and even staying there. As for Zhu Meifeng, who seemed to stay at home quietly, in fact in the past six months, she was rarely at home except when her child was about to return.
The most recent call Liu Wangcai made to Wang Chengjuan was on the 20th. However, the phone number was new. Yesterday after we left, Wang Chengjuan, scared, called Liu Wangcai, and this new number was switched off.
Knowing his wife's affair, he would usually scold or beat her, but with evidence this time, how could he keep calm? Therefore, I'm highly suspicious of Liu Wangcai. The more he has alibis, the more the call records don't show up, the more I feel something is off."
So much information overwhelmed Zhou Ning. Why had Liu Wangcai hired someone to spy on his wife for two years, but not before?
A thought suddenly crossed his mind.
"Mr. Xu, can you ask someone to check at the court and see if Zhu Meifeng has filed for divorce? I remember there's a rule, if the initial divorce filing fails, and after an interval of more than six months it is filed again, with evidence of domestic abuse or separation for over a year, the court will usually grant the divorce immediately.
I recall during the special case meeting, Mr. He mentioned that Li Delin's ex-wife said that Li Delin was preparing for a wedding, and Zhu Meifeng was three months pregnant. This all connected..."
Zhou Ning didn't finish his sentence. Xu Dayuan was quick to catch on, and immediately made a phone call. The person on the other end complained for a while, as it was just past seven o'clock and not yet working hours, but Xu Dayuan urged them and hung up.
"I'll know as soon as they check. You're something, aren't you kid? How do you know how divorces are adjudicated?"
Zhou Ning smacked his lips, wearing a helpless expression.
"There's a senior in my club who studies law. He talks about this stuff all the time. It's hard not to know about it. By the way, Mr. Xu, what place is Lan Tai Zi?"
"Their village is by the sea. The villagers used to build some stone houses on the rocks. The roofs are painted blue, and they fly the national flag. But now, everyone's working at the docks, so it's just preserved there."
Zhou Ning paused, suddenly thinking of the fact that Zhu Meifeng had been starved for two or three days. Could it be possible that she was held there before her death?
"What's up, lost in thought?"
Mr. Xu looked at Zhou Ning, and Zhou Ning realized they had already reached the interrogation room downstairs.
"It's nothing, let's first look at Liu Wangcai's hand injuries."
Xu Dayuan waved his hand, and a police officer came over to open the door. Sitting on the interrogation chair was a thin man with a small stature. Even seated, one could tell he was short. His hair was unkempt, beard shaggy, hands wrapped in grimy bandages, not handcuffed, looking almost like a beggar.
With his height, climbing through the back window seemed difficult. Zhou Ning pursed his lips while Xu Dayuan signaled to the person conducting the interrogation inside the room.
"Stop for a moment and let Doctor Zhou inspect the suspect's wounds."
Upon hearing this, Liu Wangcai exploded, clenched his fists, and started to struggle against the iron chair.
"My wife is dead, but I'm not the perpetrator. Haven't you done enough? Why don't you find the real killer instead of bothering me? Don't touch me! Ah, don't touch me!"