On the way, Han Xingxian had no contact with anyone else, which means he swallowed the pill at home.
Could the murderer really be Han Xingxian's wife, Li Mengman?
I was thinking, feeling a bit impatient, and it happened to be the end of the workday. Zhao Simeng invited me to have dinner outside. I informed Director Liu about the situation and planned to get a search warrant for Han Xingxian's house. He said he was handling it and would need some time.
After sorting it out, we went straight to Li Mengman's house. When she saw us coming, she calmly opened the door and said, "Why are you here?"
I politely said, "Nothing much, we just found some new clues and wanted to consult with you, Ms. Li."
"Alright! Please come in!"
Saying that, Li Mengman politely invited me in. This time, I came alone. After turning on the recording device in my pocket, I said, "We discovered that since your husband left the house, apart from Gu Wenbin, he didn't come into contact with anyone else until his death.""I've told you already, it must be Gu Wenbin's doing. You should just arrest him."
Noticing how often Li Mengman targeted Gu Wenbin, I smiled and said, "We can't draw conclusions yet. We found some pill residue in the victim's stomach, and it was determined that he ingested it at home."
I intentionally revealed some information to observe Li Mengman's reaction, but she calmly said, "Oh, you're talking about the painkillers he usually takes. Han Xingxian had some pain in his arm and always relied on painkillers for relief.""Can I see what kind of painkillers he was taking?" I asked.
Li Mengman said yes and went to the cabinet to get some painkillers to show me. I noticed that the bottle of painkillers was placed deliberately on the table, almost as if she wanted me to see it.
I opened the bottle and sniffed it, realizing that the medication matched what was found in Han Xingxian's stomach. Could she have tampered with the pills?Taking advantage of her inattention, I pocketed one pill to bring back to Zhao Simeng for analysis. I also checked out the balcony of Li Mengman's house and found only her neatly hung clothes. The bedroom, cabinet, and bed were all meticulously organized, indicating that Li Mengman seemed to lead a very orderly life."Well, Ms. Li, I still have some other matters to attend to. I'll take my leave for today," I said."Oh, Officer He, no problem."
I left her house and took the painkiller back to the police station for Zhao Simeng to analyze. After her tests, it turned out to be an ordinary painkiller, identical in appearance to what was found in Han Xingxian's stomach. I asked the technical department to investigate further and found that Han Xingxian had been obtaining this painkiller from Fuming City Hospital recently. The hospital confirmed everything was as expected.Further investigation into Li Mengman showed that she had no background in medical knowledge, so it was unlikely she tampered with the pills. It's possible that Han Xingxian took another medication after leaving home, which just happened to look similar to the painkiller.After all, many medications are white and similar in size to painkillers. How could we conclude that the painkiller was the explosive pill that killed him?Thus, we ruled out her as a suspect.The case hit a deadlock again. At noon, I decided to have lunch with Zhao Simeng before discussing it further. We went to a Korean restaurant and ordered a few dishes. While eating, Zhao Simeng said, "It's been a long time since we came here to eat.""Yeah, I remember we used to make time to come here when we were students."
"Yes, it's been years in the blink of an eye. He Sheng," Zhao Simeng looked at me and said.
We seemed to recall some intimate moments from our time in the school club, and it warmed us inside.Unexpectedly, at that moment, as a waiter passed by, there was a sudden bang!We immediately stopped eating and looked at the waiter. Her abdomen had exploded, and blood sprayed onto our table. It seemed this meal was over.The sight of blood all over the table was nauseating. We stood up quickly and went to the victim. The waiter soon collapsed on the ground. Zhao Simeng immediately took out the forensic kit and began her examination. I, noticing the sunlight, didn't assist her but instead directed other customers to stay away, though many were busy taking photos nearby.I called for backup and then joined Zhao Simeng. She kept examining and turning her forensic umbrella before saying, "There are no other fingerprints on the victim's body. The way her abdomen exploded is very similar to the previous victim!""Could it be the same perpetrator again?" I immediately took photos of the victim and sent them to the technical department.
Zhao Simeng continued her examination. This time, she used the same materials as last time to extract substances herself. Although it was slower, we couldn't call Sima Chao for every case.I complimented her work, "You're not slow at all!""It's alright, but I'm much slower than the forensic experts," she said humbly.
Knowing that she was always modest, I didn't say anything further.When support arrived, I instructed the officers to keep everyone away from the scene and maintain order. Once everything was under control, Zhao Simeng said, "The victim probably swallowed the pill six hours ago, leading to the explosion now.""Were there any other substances in her stomach residue?" I asked.
"So far, just some food residue. She had peanuts, corn, and some red beans for breakfast."
Using my sharp sense of smell, I also detected these scents but noticed another sharp, distinct odor—betel nut.Betel nuts are quite popular in the north and contain harmful alkaloids that are said to be carcinogenic. But could this be related to the case?I told Zhao Simeng, "There's also a betel nut scent you didn't notice.""Right, Captain He, you're amazing. Betel nut contains harmful alkaloids. If combined with the pills, could it cause an explosion?"
I said, "Sulfur combined with alkaloids could indeed cause an explosion. That seems to be the principle here."
"Exactly. I think the first victim must have also consumed betel nut or some other food containing alkaloids."
This case felt a lot like poisoning incidents from before, except this time it involved explosive pills. I began to wonder—where would such harmful pills be produced?That was the key to this case. After collecting all useful evidence, Zhao Simeng said, "That's about it. Let others search the surrounding area!"As I stood up and prepared to leave, I overheard an officer questioning the Korean restaurant owner."What's the name of the employee?"