Chapter 831 - The Crime Scene

Chapter 831: The Crime Scene

The next morning, the wind was mild and the sun was bright. However, because there had been a sudden drop in temperature overnight, Zhao Yu still felt quite cold.

The breeze that blew on his face felt like a sharp knife, constantly pricking his skin. In order to stay warm, he borrowed Director Ba’s cotton hat. Director Ba dared not to complain about this, as Zhao Yu was the leader, after all. So, he asked someone to buy Zhao Yu and his team members a few new cotton hats.

At this moment, Zhao Yu, Zeng Ke, and Cui Lizhu arrived at the Royal Tomb neighborhood to check out the crime scene, which was in Han Kuan’s and Zhang Jingru’s house.

Although the name “Royal Tomb” made it sound like it would be a remote place, it was actually a village in the city. Specifically, it was located in the northwest area of the Golden City, within the fourth ring road.

It had been named “Royal Tomb” because it was said that, during the Qing Dynasty, many royals had been buried here. Thus, the people who lived here were all descendants of the tomb guardians.

However, Han Kuan and his wife were not born here. They had only bought the house and moved here after they got married.

Soon, they arrived at the house. At the sight of the police, many of the local residents ran out of their houses and gathered together while gaping at Zhao Yu and his team members.

Looking at the busy scene in front of him, Zhao Yu recalled last night’s warmth, which he had shared with Miao Ying. However, since they had decided to divide the labor for the investigations, after dawn, they had to separate from each other and each look after their own case.

Miao Ying, along with Ran Tao and Wu Xiumin, continued to investigate the 11 Kills case, while Zhao Yu brought Cui Lizhu and Zeng Ke with him to investigate Han Kuan’s case. Of course, before beginning the investigation that day, Zhao Yu had opened a new hexagram as usual.

This time, he got a Gen Kan hexagram, which indicated that he would attain a certain level of achievement both the case investigation and in his relationship with a woman! However, Zhao Yu was no longer enthusiastic about any other women, as only Miao Ying had his heart.

Thus, he was only really concerned with the Gen portion of the hexagram, which referred to the case itself. As he had received a few Gen hexagrams in a row, he was thinking of taking advantage of this in order to make great process in his investigation!

Therefore, in order to restore the crime scene as authentically as possible, Zhao Yu had not only called over the civil police who were at the scene that day, but he had also called the forensics team to join them. Even Zhang Jingfeng, the victim’s brother, and Han Kuan, who was still being detained, came along.

So, as the local residents saw a big investigative team arrive, they were very surprised and could not help but start whispering amongst themselves enthusiastically. This was especially the case when they recognized Han Kuan among the group!

Taking off the police seal that had cordoned off Han Kuan’s gate, Director Ba then opened the gate with a key. As he watched Director Ba, Zhao Yu felt strange. After all, Director Ba was the logistics director, so had no obligation to participate in this criminal investigation.

Therefore, Zhao Yu thought that the Deputy Bureau Chief Zhang must have asked him to temporarily act as the captain of the criminal police in replacement of the actual captain, who had just given birth to a baby boy.

They really were severely short-handed! However, Zhao Yu was not annoyed that he was not dealing with the actual captain, as he had really started to like Director Ba. After all, at least Director Ba was more logical than many of the others in the police station!

Since no one had been taking care of the yard for more than three months, Han Kuan’s yard was in quite a shocking state of disrepair. At the moment, it was covered with snow. As Zhao Yu stepped into the yard, his ankles sank deep into the snow, causing a chill to shoot up his legs.

In order to prevent anyone from entering and burglarizing the home, or worse, contaminating the crime scene, the police had reinforced the damaged door frame and repaired the broken door. After Director Ba opened the door, they entered Huan Kuan’s house.

The couple’s bedroom was on the left side of the house. After pushing the bedroom door open, Zhao Yu finally saw the crime scene.

Although the sheet with bloodstains had already been taken to the police station for tests, upon seeing the big bed, Zhao Yu felt like he could almost smell the blood, and he immediately imagined Han Kuan lying in a pool of his wife’s blood!

Zhao Yu then raised his hand and motioned for Director Ba to stand at the door, thus preventing all of the others from coming in. As he now had the room to himself, Zhao Yu carefully observed the bed, all of the other furniture, the floor, the windowsills and so on. As he perused everything, he was thinking about all kinds of possibilities…

In this way, Zhao Yu observed the room in silence and without disruption for more than ten minutes. He then waved to Zeng Ke, while asking him to bring him the photos of the crime scene. The others also entered at this moment.

Then, much to the others’ surprise, Zhao Yu lay on the bed, in the exact spot where Zhang Jingru had died! Moreover, he adjusted his posture and positioned his limbs exactly according to the photos, even closing his eyes at the last moment.

Everyone looked at each other, dumbfounded. None of them had ever seen such strange investigation methods before! Among them, the handcuffed Han Kuan opened his eyes wide and looked very excited. He was thinking that Zhao Yu’s strange behavior would serve as a great inspiration for his next novel!

Zhao Yu lay there for several minutes, and just when everyone thought that he had perhaps fallen asleep, Zhao Yu sat up and straightened his arms, striking a classic zombie pose! The others were shocked by his sudden movement, and they didn’t know what to make of it.

Zhao Yu, of course, had his own reasonings for his strange ways. As he laughed wickedly, he raised his right arm and began to compare the crime scene photo with what he saw in the room presently.

After a while, he said to Zeng Ke, “See… Zhang Jingru was on the left… And Han Kuan was on the right! Zhao Jingru’s right wrist was slit! So, if she wanted to commit suicide, she must have slit her right wrist with her left hand!”

At this time, Zhang Jingfeng suddenly shouted angrily, “My sister did not commit suicide! Are you trying to help the bald man get away with murder?”

“Shut up!” Director Ba snapped, shooting him a mean glare.

Zhao Yu then asked, “Han Kuan, was your wife left-handed?”

“No… Absolutely not!” Han Kuan replied.

“Well… Even if she was left-handed, this still would not add up!” Zhao Yu then pointed to his right hand and said, “The autopsy result showed that Zhang Jingru’s wound was deeper on the left side. So, even if she had wanted to commit suicide, why would she carry the knife in such an unnatural way?”

“Hmm…” Upon hearing this, Director Ba couldn’t help but add, “Leader Zhao, even if she held the knife the other way around, this can’t explain the fingerprints! Zhang Jingru’s fingerprints were not found on the weapon… Only Han Kuan’s were!”

He then said, “Also, after Zhang Jingru’s wrist was slit, there was no sign of a struggle. So, if she had really done this to herself, it would be impossible for her not to leave her fingerprints on the knife!”

Zhao Yu nodded his head and said, “Okay… So, let’s say she didn’t commit suicide. If the murderer is Han Kuan…”

“What?” Han Kuan’s face changed as he shouted in disbelief, tinged with a hint of rage.

“Yes, that would make sense!” Director Ba nodded and said, “When we rushed into the room, we found Han Kuan holding the knife in his right hand. If he had used his right hand to slit Zhang Jingru’s right wrist, it would coincide with the direction of the slit.”

Zhao Yu nodded.

“Then… What are you waiting for?” Zhang Jingfeng pointed at Han Kuan angrily and said, “Shoot him dead!”

Han Kuan panicked upon hearing that, and he started to beg Zhao Yu, “It really wasn’t me!”

“Hmm… Okay… Let’s suppose there was a third person at the crime scene that day…” Zhao Yu said. “Could this person have manipulated such a scene?”

“We’ve thought about that possibility before,” Director Ba said. “If the murderer wore gloves, it would be easy. He just had to render them both unconscious, then slit Zhang Jingru’s arm. All that would be left after that would be to put the weapon into Han Kuan’s hand. That’s all!”

Zeng Ke then said, “But, in that case, we have to ask ourselves the first question again… If there was a third person, why didn’t the person just go ahead and kill Han Kuan? Wouldn’t it be more believable to create a scene depicting a couple committing suicide in the name of love? Why would he have spared Han Kuan?”

Zhao Yu replied with a possible theory, “Maybe… The murderer and Han Kuan had a history, which would mean that he either was either seeking revenge on Han Kuan, or he wanted to prove something about Han Kuan’s novel.”

Just as Zhao Yu had finished this thought, Cui Lizhu suddenly came in and said, “Boss, I have checked the entryways and mirror! It’s impossible that there was a third person!”