NOS Chapter 10
by VolareChapter 10: Mopan Mountain (10)
In the evening, the originally deserted barbecue restaurant was packed with criminal investigators.
Li Xiaotian stood on the periphery with his arms crossed, clicking his tongue and saying, “This guy… actually has some real skills.”
“Who are you talking about?” Guan Yao raised an eyebrow.
Li Xiaotian instigated, “Aren’t you going to take a look and see what the forensic doctor has dug out of that swill bucket?”
Guan Yao smiled, “Not interested.”
But at that moment, Yu Chunming’s voice came from the crowd.
“Guan Yao,” he called out, “come and get the evidence.”
“Evidence?” Guan Yao paused, “What evidence?”
Yu Chunming stood beside the stinky swill bucket, his face as calm as if he couldn’t smell the odor. He looked at Guan Yao and replied, “The victim’s severely damaged skull.”
Guan Yao’s Adam’s apple bobbed, and he didn’t say anything.
Meng Changqing, who was standing next to him, immediately “wahed” and, unsurprisingly, threw up again.
Guan Yao slowly exhaled a breath and stepped forward, saying, “Look at his uselessness.”
Indeed, there weren’t many promising policemen at the Linchang (Forest Farm) Police Station because they rarely handled such cases before. On the way back, everyone held their breath and didn’t want to say a word.
Yu Chunming lit a cigarette at just the right moment, using the nicotine smell to dispel the stench of corpses lingering in everyone’s nostrils and brains.
“Actually, because it’s cold, the smell isn’t strong.” Yu Chunming flicked the ash, “Before realizing there was a problem in the bucket, I just thought there was a sour smell of rotting meat.”
“Ugh.” Meng Changqing covered his mouth.
“But once you realize what’s inside, the brain will automatically change its recognition of the smell, making people aware of the fear of the death of their own kind, so it’s normal for you to feel sick,” Yu Chunming said calmly.
Guan Yao’s face turned green. He glanced at Yu Chunming, who was smoking leisurely, and asked through gritted teeth, “Then why aren’t you disgusted? Aren’t you one of us?”
Yu Chunming’s expression remained unchanged: “I’m also disgusted, so after smoking this one, I’ll have another one. I hope Officer Guan won’t mind.”
Guan Yao looked out the window.
Tonight, they not only found a large number of rotten bones and muscles in the barbecue restaurant’s swill bucket, but also found a lot of clothing fabric hidden in the food scraps.
After comparison, it was confirmed that these all belonged to Lin Zhimin.
Yu Chunming was right; they really had an unexpected discovery.
“The forensic doctor and the trace team will be busy tonight.” After returning to the station and washing off the nasty smell, Meng Changqing sighed.
Li Xiaotian leaned in and teased, “Oh, worried about that police officer working hard?”
“Brother Li Xiaotian, you…” Meng Changqing blushed and stammered.
Guan Yao pulled Li Xiaotian away: “Stop joking with the kid. Go to the cafeteria and get something to eat. Officer Yu hasn’t had dinner yet.”
Li Xiaotian “yoed” again, “Old Guan, how come you’re starting to call him ‘Officer Yu’ too?”
Guan Yao raised his hand to punch him, and Li Xiaotian quickly dodged.
Just then, Yu Chunming entered the room, and he gestured to Guan Yao: “The criminal technician from the driving school is back. Come and take a look at the crime scene photos.”
Guan Yao quickly glared at Li Xiaotian and Meng Changqing, ordering them not to talk nonsense or act recklessly.
But as soon as he stepped into the research and evaluation room, Guan Yao heard Yu Chunming ask, “Meng Changqing likes Na Fei?”
He was looking down at the crime scene photos, seemingly casually, but his words were somewhat considerate: “Na Fei is married. Remember to remind Meng Changqing tactfully later.”
Guan Yao was stunned, and then inexplicably relieved: “That police officer is married?”
Yu Chunming got up and closed the door to the research and evaluation room. He glanced through the glass at the still-silly-smiling Xiao Meng sitting outside and said, “They’ve been married for many years. The man is a teacher in Lin City.”
“Oh, I see…” Guan Yao didn’t delve into why he felt relieved. He turned and asked, “Did the driving school find anything?”
Yu Chunming nodded and placed a photo with a faint blue light in front of Guan Yao: “The criminal technician extracted blood residue from the floor crevices in the driving school’s rest room, and tests proved that it belonged to Lin Zhimin. At the same time, through reagent reactions, it was found that the walls, tables, and chairs in the rest room also had traces of blood that had been cleaned, and there were many indentations on the ground caused by the movement of chairs. Looking at the photos alone is a bit messy. The report hasn’t come out yet. We may have to go to the scene to find out what the direction and trajectory of these indentations are.”
Guan Yao looked solemnly at the photos in front of him.
Yu Chunming asked, “Can you find the old employees of No. 2 Timber Factory who were familiar with Lin Zhimin? It would be even better if they knew Qian Guowei.”
Guan Yao shook his head: “They weren’t in the same workshop as my parents. I’ve only heard of such a person. As for old employees who were familiar with him… I really don’t know. I’m afraid I have to ask the old leaders in the factory office. But how many of the No. 2 factory employees are still in Za Mu Er now? Those who should have left have basically left.”
Yu Chunming remained noncommittal: “If that’s the case, let’s go to the driving school first.”
“Now?” Guan Yao asked in surprise.
Yu Chunming raised his head: “What’s wrong? Aren’t you and I on duty tonight?”
Guan Yao hesitated.
At this moment, Li Xiaotian knocked on the door and came in. This short, stout middle-aged man scanned the two of them with his beady eyes and finally said, “It’s past dinner time, and there’s not much to eat in the cafeteria. How about I ask the old aunt on duty to make a bowl of noodles?”
“That’s fine…”
“No need,” Yu Chunming had already put on his coat again. “No need to bother. I’ll go back to the driving school.”
Guan Yao stood in place without saying a word. Li Xiaotian immediately questioned him with his eyes.
“I… I’ll go with you. Give me the car keys from our team. My broken car shakes when I drive it,” Guan Yao said.
Li Xiaotian gave an OK sign and hurried away.
Guan Yao turned to look at Yu Chunming and asked abruptly, as if he had suddenly remembered something, “Just now, you said that a large amount of Lin Zhimin’s blood residue was found in the driving school’s rest room. Can the watchtower still be considered a second crime scene?”
Yu Chunming sighed softly: “That’s what I was thinking too, so I have to go and find out.”
Guan Yao took the keys from Li Xiaotian and sighed along with Yu Chunming: “Let’s go.”
What Lin Zhimin experienced before his death is still difficult to piece together the truth from Liu Bin’s contradictory statements and his fragmented remains.
No one could have imagined that such an ordinary person in the eyes of his neighbors would suddenly suffer such a great catastrophe. What had he done and experienced to ultimately die so disfigured and tragically?
Guan Yao, who personally sent Lin Zhimin’s head to the laboratory, felt a chill in his heart. He belatedly realized that Za Mu Er, the small city where he was born and raised, seemed to have some past that he had never understood.
Sitting in the car, Yu Chunming keenly noticed Guan Yao’s silence and gloom. He asked without any hesitation, “Are you scared?”
And Guan Yao didn’t respond with a sarcastic retort, as he usually would. He answered honestly, “I’m a little scared.”
“Are you scared of those rotten body parts, or of the people hiding behind them?” Yu Chunming asked.
Guan Yao raised the corners of his mouth: “Neither. What I’m scared of is that the place and people I’m familiar with will become completely unrecognizable overnight.”
Yu Chunming turned to look at him.
Guan Yao laughed: “That sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it?”
Yu Chunming didn’t answer.
“People who grew up in big cities like you probably won’t understand the mentality of those of us who grew up in small counties,” Guan Yao said. “My grandparents, maternal grandparents, parents, uncles, and aunts were all old employees of No. 2 Timber Factory. It’s said that my great-grandfather was too. He used to work as a coolie in Songlan and was later sent to Za Mu Er to look after the forest farm. My family has been passed down from generation to generation to this day. When I was a kid, when the No. 2 factory was still there, I thought that when I grew up, I would also go to the No. 2 factory and become a lumberjack. As a result, later, a big fire burned down my home, the No. 2 factory collapsed, and my… relatives and friends basically left. In the end, I was the only one left, living in this broken place, guarding these broken things. But broken things also have their good points. The good thing is… I’m familiar with them.”
Yu Chunming’s eyes flickered slightly: “Is that why you stayed in Za Mu Er to become a policeman?”
Guan Yao pursed his lips, not knowing whether he didn’t want to answer or didn’t know how to answer. After a long while, he said evasively, “Just think of me as an uncultured old stubborn.”
Yu Chunming didn’t say anything more. He quietly watched Guan Yao park the car, take out the key, and then followed him into the driving school in the dark night.
Doing business in Za Mu Er was really difficult. If it weren’t for the rise of the tourism industry in recent years, I’m afraid even fewer people would be able to stay here.
Just like Lin Zhimin used to do in his early years, dealing in steel and selling used cars, doing these things was not as profitable as going up the mountain to collect mountain goods every spring and summer. Therefore, this driving school, which was not popular in the first place, quietly declined not long after. Lin Zhimin occasionally put up a sign and drove a taxi to earn some extra money.
The police had previously retrieved his driving recorder and found no problems. Even the traffic police team’s violation records were clean.
In fact, Lin Zhimin looked more honest than the publicly recognized honest Liu Bin.
“So, why would a person who lived an honest life be…”
“Violently assaulted,” Yu Chunming completed Guan Yao’s sentence.
“Yes, violently assaulted.” Guan Yao frowned tightly.
As soon as the two entered, Yu Chunming noticed at a glance that there were obvious indentations on both sides of the armrests of the chair in the center of the room. He said that the indentations looked like they were caused by rope bindings.
“Rope?” Guan Yao touched the two shallow marks with his gloves. “Can ropes alone leave such abrasion marks on wood?”
“Of course not. So, these are probably the marks left by the person who was tied to the chair, struggling constantly,” Yu Chunming said, holding up the photos sent back by the criminal technology imaging team, and came to the back of the chair.
Sure enough, there were also several indentations of varying depths, and the shapes of these indentations were quite consistent with the indentations on both sides of the armrests.
“It was in the crevices of this chair that a lot of dried blood stains were left.” Yu Chunming squatted down and looked at the chair from top to bottom.
When the criminal technology imaging team came to take pictures in the morning, they didn’t move anything in the rest room, so the chair was still in its original position, and the abrasion marks on the floor were still tightly attached under the chair.
“How did you determine at the time that there were obvious signs of a fight in the rest room?” Yu Chunming raised his head and asked Guan Yao.
Guan Yao stood by the door and looked at the puddle of dirty water under his feet.
For safety reasons, the aging wires had been cleaned up. At this time, the activity board room was so dark that you couldn’t see your fingers, and only the flashlight in Yu Chunming’s hand was emitting a glimmer of light.
Guan Yao replied: “It’s because of that wire.”
Yu Chunming raised an eyebrow, signaling him to continue.
“When laying wires in an activity board room, it is also necessary to slot the wall and then bury the wire conduit in it, but due to the different materials, some wires may be buried shallower or exposed outside. For example, the wiring of the light at the door is directly fixed to the facade with plastic pipes.” Guan Yao pointed to the walls on both sides, “Normally, these wires fixed on the facade will not be touched, but if you look closely, you will find that there are obvious scratch marks on a section of the plastic pipe. If it wasn’t for these scratch marks causing damage to the wires, the old wiring buried in the wall would not have drooped down and almost fallen into the puddle.”
Yu Chunming raised the corners of his mouth, and there seemed to be a smile on his face.
Guan Yao continued: “Looking to the side along these scratch marks, you will find that there are four marks about the width of a human finger at the level position on the opposite wall. So I guess, this is probably caused by the victim trying to escape to the outside, holding tightly to both sides of the door, but being pulled back firmly, by someone.”
“What else?” Yu Chunming asked again.
“Also…” Guan Yao walked into the room and touched a crack in the corner of the table according to his memory, “Here, if I guessed correctly just now, after the victim was dragged into the room by the perpetrator, the inertia would cause him to hit this table. During the process of leaning back, the perpetrator punched him in the face. He tilted to the right, and the blood from his mouth was sprayed here.”
“There is indeed blood residue here.” Yu Chunming nodded.
“Doesn’t that add up?” Guan Yao strode to the chair in the center of the room. “After the victim lost his ability to move, the perpetrator fixed him on this chair. The drag marks extending from the end of the table to the chair are similar to the footprints left by the heels of the shoes, and the shapes and spray directions of the blood stains on both sides of the chair can correspond to the bleeding situation after the victim was beaten. Dead people don’t bleed so much, and dead people don’t get beaten. Lin Zhimin was still alive when he was brought here.”
Yu Chunming stood up and said with a smile, “Officer Guan’s technical level is much better than Han Chen’s.”
Before Guan Yao had time to figure out what Yu Chunming’s smile meant, he tasted a little bit of sarcasm from his words. He snorted: “Are you praising me, or are you scolding me?”
Yu Chunming smiled without saying a word.
In the middle of the night, in the dark, Guan Yao felt a chill in his heart from the smile.
“What does that mean?” Guan Yao stepped forward and pushed his shoulder, “Are you laughing at me, right? Laughing at me for not being as good as your criminal investigation major from the police university? What’s wrong? Which point did I say wrong just now?”
Yu Chunming replied; “You didn’t say anything wrong. Officer Guan, although you didn’t come from criminal investigation, you have very good eyesight, rich experience in handling cases, and you are professional and careful. You shouldn’t be buried in a small place like Za Mu Er.”
Guan Yao’s expression froze.
Yu Chunming added specifically: “I’m not joking, I’m serious.”
So, in the middle of the night, in the dark, Guan Yao was suddenly in a trance again. He was dizzied by the familiarity that Yu Chunming faintly revealed.
What’s wrong with me? Guan Yao thought blankly.
Of course, Officer Yu, no matter how much he calculated, could not have figured out why Guan Yao was staring straight at him at this time. He reached out and shook him, jokingly saying: “What’s wrong? Did I praise you wrongly?”
Guan Yao took a step back and pushed away Yu Chunming’s hand. He coughed unnaturally a few times and pointed to the scratches on the ground, stiffly changing the subject: “What does the on-site survey report say?”
“The on-site survey report determined that there should have been more than two people here when the fight occurred.” Yu Chunming accepted it as soon as he saw it and stopped deliberately teasing Guan Yao. He walked outside the door and pointed to the muddy bottom on the left side of the activity board room, “It’s here. They extracted three pairs of completely different footprints.”
“Footprints?” Guan Yao squinted his eyes and looked in the direction pointed by Yu Chunming’s flashlight.