Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
"Killer, since the body was disposed of in the dry well, it indicates a familiarity with the village, suggesting that Killer is likely someone from this village." At this point, Captain Shi stroked his stubble. "Back to the police station. There are two urgent matters to address: first, we need to locate the original murder scene; second, we must investigate anyone who has had a grudge against Zhang Fushun or any financial entanglements with him over the years... and also..."
Upon returning to the police station, we began to piece together Zhang Fushun's background through household registration files. Zhang Fushun, male, 54 years old, Han ethnicity. His wife, Wang Guihua, and they have a son named Zhang Dongcheng, who is currently a university student and not in Niulan Village. When we notified Zhang Dongcheng, we learned that he was working out of town but said he would rush back immediately.
Captain Shi specifically instructed, "Look into Zhang Fushun's medical records..." I was somewhat puzzled by this. It seemed Captain Shi noticed my confusion and explained, "In cases I've encountered before, there have been instances where families could not afford high medical expenses and ended up killing their burden."
I caught on to Captain Shi's implication and said, "You mean Wang Guihua?"
Captain Shi nodded and glanced toward the interrogation room before continuing, "Wang Guihua exhibited two suspicious behaviors. First, during such a significant event, when the entire village gathered to watch—children included—Wang Guihua arrived late. Second, typically family members would identify the body first; however, when she was still three or four meters away from Zhang Fushun's severely damaged corpse, she began crying and acting hysterically. It seems we need to interrogate Wang Guihua thoroughly."
Yang Xiaojuan worked quickly; before we could interrogate Wang Guihua, she had already checked Zhang Fushun's medical records. "Zhang Fushun's alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase levels are elevated, likely due to long-term alcohol consumption. He had previously been hospitalized for liver issues, but the costs were not high. With medical insurance, his family could easily afford it; it shouldn't lead to murder."
The Criminal Investigation Team split up; some went to investigate Zhang Fushun's relationships while I followed Captain Shi into the interrogation room. Wang Guihua had regained her composure. According to her account, her husband Zhang Fushun worked in the city under a contractor at various construction sites and generally did not come home. She mentioned that he hadn't returned for two months.
Captain Shi asked, "What were you doing from July 5th to July 12th?"
Wang Guihua replied, "What else could I do? Feeding pigs and growing vegetables; isn't that what everyone in the village does?"
"Did Zhang Fushun have any enemies? Have you seen any suspicious individuals recently?" Captain Shi continued questioning.
"No," Wang Guihua answered.
"What about those injuries on you?" Captain Shi glanced at her.
At this question, Wang Guihua instinctively tugged at her tank top as if trying to hide her scars. I looked closely and noticed several bruises on her abdomen and lower back that appeared to be caused by some kind of impact. As I moved around a bit more, I saw similar marks on her back.
Wang Guihua hesitated but eventually revealed under Captain Shi's persistent questioning that these injuries were inflicted by Zhang Fushun using various farming tools. "In this village, which man doesn't hit his wife? Mine is okay; he only hits me when he's drunk..."
Hearing this stirred an indescribable feeling within me—a mix of bitterness and sorrow. As we stepped out together, I remarked, "During those days, Wang Guihua must have seen Zhang Fushun; some of those injuries are new..." Captain Shi nodded in agreement. "Exactly. Let's head to Wang Guihua's home; there should be plenty of clues there."
Zhang Fushun's small courtyard was not far from the dry well, and there were no neighbors on either side. After the incident, Zhang Fushun's home had been sealed off by the police who arrived later. By the time we got there, the forensic team had already completed their report. We reviewed the report as we walked into Zhang Fushun's courtyard. Upon entering through the main gate, two rooms faced us: one large and one small. The smaller room was used for storing grains and vegetables, while the larger one was where people lived. On the east side of the yard was a small kitchen, and on the west side were a makeshift pigpen and an outhouse.
The report indicated that luminol tests had been conducted in each room, revealing blue-purple reactions. However, after comparing with the DNA of the corpse, it was found that the blood was not that of the deceased Zhang Fushun but belonged to Wang Guihua. Furthermore, since Zhang Fushun had suffered multiple stab wounds, his blood should have been sprayed everywhere, but the blood traces found in the house did not match that expectation.
The forensic team also found several knives in Zhang Fushun's home, including a kitchen knife, a chopping knife for firewood, various farming tools, and a slaughtering knife used for pigs. After comparing these with the wounds on the corpse, it was determined that none of these knives were the murder weapon; in fact, the blood on the slaughtering knife was not human.
We wandered around the house several times but found nothing suspicious; it appeared to be an ordinary farmer's courtyard. Unlike at the dry well site, which had likely been sealed off immediately to prevent contamination, this place seemed untouched. Captain Shi stood staring at the pigs, lost in thought.
Before we got close, a strong smell of pig manure wafted through the air. Several sows were rolling in the mud, grunting as they did so, their bodies covered in muck as they occasionally nudged at the ground with their snouts. The ground beneath them swayed slightly as I watched them alongside Captain Shi.
I suggested, "Perhaps this isn't the primary crime scene? There might be another location."
Captain Shi paused for a moment before responding, "That's a possibility. Notify our colleagues at the bureau to search carefully around Niulan Village; the crime scene can't be too far from here." After saying this, Captain Shi fell back into contemplation. Once he made notifications, I stood beside him and began to consider potential scenarios regarding this case.
It was clear that Wang Guihua was lying, but there were two possibilities: either Wang Guihua's injuries were not inflicted by Zhang Fushun or they indeed were caused by him. If it were the latter, it would imply she had seen Zhang Fushun recently; this possibility seemed more likely.
Considering Wang Guihua's deceitful situation led me to hypothesize that between July 5th and 12th, Zhang Fushun might have returned home after drinking some alcohol and picked up farming tools leaning against the door to beat Wang Guihua. She might have become accustomed to such behavior from him; however, every person's tolerance has its limits.
There was a student who could no longer endure bullying from classmates and ended up stabbing seven of them to death with a dagger. An elderly man could no longer bear his daughter-in-law's scolding and smashed her head into pulp with his cane. These individuals could endure much but when they finally retaliated, it often led to severe consequences.
Perhaps Wang Guihua could no longer tolerate such domestic violence and fought back, killing her husband before disposing of his body in the dry well. However, this raised two questions: why were there no bloodstains in their home? And what was the murder weapon? Unless these two questions were resolved, even if Wang Guihua had a motive for murder, it could not be definitively concluded that she was responsible.
After a long while lost in thought, Captain Shi snapped back to reality and made several phone calls. He assigned tasks accordingly; given the gravity of the case, both the Police Department and Substation detectives would temporarily report to him.
First, since Substation personnel were relatively familiar with Niulan Village, they needed to conduct a thorough investigation there to locate the primary crime scene and find the murder weapon. They also needed to gather information about Zhang Fushun and Wang Guihua's characters throughout the village.
Second, during any remaining time available, they would interrogate Wang Guihua continuously for twenty-four hours to extract useful information from her. As she was currently the prime suspect in this case, she represented a significant breakthrough opportunity.
Lastly, they would conduct another autopsy on the corpse to uncover any minute details that could provide useful information and assist team members in determining their investigative direction.
At the same time, Captain Shi summoned the village chief once again. The chief, wrapped in a coat, hurried over and said, "Leader, you must catch the Killer! Our village has never experienced such a terrible thing in hundreds of years. As the village chief, I bear a heavy responsibility. If we can't catch the Killer, I..."
Captain Shi replied, "Of course, capturing the Killer is our duty as police officers. I called you here to ask about Zhang Fushun's character."
The chief pulled out a box of Hongta Mountain cigarettes and handed one to both me and Captain Shi, lighting them for us. After taking a puff, he continued, "Fushun and I grew up together. He doesn’t have many hobbies; he just likes to drink. He usually works in the city and comes back every month or two to bring his wages, staying for just a few days before leaving again."
He sighed before continuing, "I never expected something like this to happen. He’s usually quite honest, but when he drinks, he loses track of how much he can handle. His son, Dongcheng, is a college student! He can’t even recognize the big characters in the book but somehow managed to raise a college student. Many people envy him for that. When people talk about Fushun, they don’t call him Fushun; they call him 'the college student’s father'!"
Zhang Dongcheng should be on his way home now. Captain Shi nodded and took a drag from his cigarette before asking, "Does Zhang Fushun often hit Wang Guihua?"
The village chief looked around before responding, "Well, most people in the village know about it and have tried to advise him. Zhang Fushun has promised not to hit his wife, but when he drinks too much, it’s a small fight every three days and a big fight every five days; it’s hard to stop. But actually, when he’s not drinking, Zhang Fushun treats his wife quite well. Men sometimes hit women; is it possible you suspect Guihua did it?"
The chief shook his head repeatedly and then said, "That can’t be! Couples may quarrel at home, but there are other women who get hit too. If that were the case, wouldn’t seven or eight men in the village be dead? Guihua is usually carefree about being hit; I doubt the Killer is someone from our village..."
Just as he was speaking, Captain Shi's phone rang—it was Wang Gang calling: "Captain Shi, we have a lead!"
Comment 0 Comment Count