The Book of Death by Heart Poison

At the end of the year, there were too many cases to be solved urgently. After discussing with Liu Zhiqin, Hua Chong finally chose Anjiang City.

Since this summer, there have been three chopstick-related homicides in Anjiang City. A pair of chopsticks were placed next to or on the corpse of the victim. In the latest case, the victim was the owner of a braised meat shop that relied on the Internet for sales.

"Anjiang City?" Haizi immediately rushed from home after receiving the departure order, "Anjiang City is very special."

"Huh?" Hua Chong quickly walked through the corridor, "What's so special?"

"The boss of the Serious Crime Squad in Anjiang City is a woman." Haizi said, "What is her name, Zhao? Well, I suddenly forgot her name. The year before last, she came to visit and study with us."

Liu Zhiqin said: "Zhao Ying, as far as I know, is the only female head of the serious crime team in a big city."

Hua Chong thought for a while, then nodded, "It's quite powerful."

He himself used to be the captain of the serious case team in Los Angeles, and the scale of Los Angeles was similar to that of Anjiang City.The captain of the serious crime team in a big city is under a lot of pressure, and the probability of unsolved cases is much higher than that of a small city. Once the investigation starts, all the information will be gathered to the captain.The captain must not only rush to the front line, but also strategize, which is a huge test for both physical strength and mental endurance.

He's male, and he feels overwhelmed at times.Zhao Ying is a woman, so the hard work involved is extraordinary.Some old-timers have a prejudice against female police officers, thinking that they should not appear in the serious crime unit, which is a battlefield for men.Zhao Ying not only joined the serious crime team, but also became the captain, which shows her ability.

"Then this case will definitely not be easy to solve." Haizi said, "With such a powerful person, the murderer still hasn't been caught. This is the third case. I have a hunch."

Liu Zhiqin turned around, "What?"

Haizi said: "Look, it's already December. My experience tells me that if you encounter a difficult case in December, you can usually spend the Spring Festival in other places."

Hua Chong smiled, "It's better to try to let you go home for the Spring Festival."

Haizi felt embarrassed again, "Oh, I was joking, do you take the flower team seriously? I have been working for so many years, and few years have I spent the Spring Festival at home. Once I went back for the Spring Festival, my mother was still not used to it, so I asked Why did I have nothing to do during the Spring Festival, did I make a mistake and was fired by the organization?"

When a group of people talked about working overtime during the Spring Festival, they talked a lot.The more powerful the burden on the shoulders of the people, the more serious cases occur at the end of the year. Even if there are no serious cases at the end of a certain year, the accumulation of serious cases in the local area is still unbearable. Over time, I get used to it and talk about it. It also means a little high-spirited.

Hua Chong fell asleep not long after boarding the plane.He is the kind of extraordinarily "practical" criminal policeman, he is unambiguous at all when he can take a break, unlike Haizi and the others who can watch clouds for a long time.

Liu Zhiqin sat next to him, asked the flight attendant for a blanket, and covered it carefully for him.He fell asleep for a while, the plane encountered air currents, the turbulence did not wake him up, but turned him upside down, and lightly hit Liu Zhiqin's shoulder with his head, Liu Zhiqin looked at him with lowered eyes, and even slapped him, Make him sleep more comfortably.

But generally the person who sleeps on the pillow feels comfortable, but the one who is being pillowed suffers.

Hua Chong slept soundly, while Liu Zhiqin looked after him, keeping his body propped up.Hua Chong didn't wake up until the announcement was made that the flight had arrived over Anjiang City and was descending, and he caught a glimpse of Liu Zhiqin rubbing his shoulders.

"Did I press you down just now?" Hua Chong lowered his voice so quietly that he almost reached Liu Zhiqin's ear.Probably because he just woke up, his voice was still a little deep, a little hoarse, and it was a voice that was rarely heard.

Liu Zhiqin smiled and said, "I've been pushed all the way."

Hua Chong wanted to say that I will rub it for you, but realized that it is not appropriate to be too intimate in such a public place, so he said, "Then I will let you squeeze me when I go back."

He said and patted himself on the shoulder.

Liu Zhiqin narrowed his eyes and smiled, "Okay, go back and press."

Hua Chong realized what it meant to go back and press, and gave him a look, "It's not serious again."

Liu Zhiqin was innocent, "What are you talking about?"

Hua Chong said, "Go ahead and pretend."

Liu Zhiqin laughed, packed the blanket and returned it to the flight attendant.

When the special operations team arrived, the weather in Anjiang City was not bad.The airport is well-built, and the Municipal Bureau sent a car to pick it up. From the airport expressway to the Municipal Bureau, the street scene along the way changed from lush trees to row upon row of high-rise buildings. The glass of the high-rise buildings reflected light in the bright sun, and the eyes were sore after looking at it for a long time .

Among the criminal police who came to pick her up was a female policewoman named He Ruo. She had short hair and was not tall. She was a little nervous along the way, saying that she had never cooperated with the leaders above.

Hua Chong said: "Don't take us as leaders, everyone is a brother unit."

"Brother, brother unit." He Ruo scratched his head, "But I'm not a man, and our captain is also a policewoman."

Haizi slapped her thigh, "The sister unit?"

He Ruo laughed, "You really have no airs. I was a little scared when Team Zhao sent me to pick you up."

Haizi didn't understand, "There's nothing to be afraid of, everyone is a policeman."

"I'm a woman." He Ruo rubbed his finger embarrassingly, "When many people heard that there was a female police officer in the serious crime unit, and the female captain was in charge, they started to resist before they saw it."

"We won't." Hua Chong looked at He Ruo gently, "Don't worry."

He Ruo was young, but he blushed because of the "rest assured", "Okay, okay."

The police car was supposed to drive directly to the city bureau, but after Hua Chong learned that he would pass by the murder scene on the way, he temporarily decided to go around the scene first.

The factory building of the second brother, Lao Lu, is on the edge of Dongcheng District, with a cordon around it.

Anjiang City is very expensive, and the rent in the central area is too high, so small individual producers like Erxiong Laolu who don’t need to use passenger flow are all on the edge of the city.The street where the second brother, Lao Lu, is located is called Ajie Street, and there are many shops doing online business around it.Correspondingly, there are surprisingly many courier stations, and courier vehicles often pass by on narrow roads, and there are many courier boxes piled up inside and outside the store, even on the side of the road.

The second brother, Lao Lu, is considered to be a larger family. It has a yard with a low wall and an iron gate on the front. The iron gate and the fence are embedded with anti-theft spikes.The yard is an ordinary concrete floor. There are two houses on the left and right. The one on the left is a one-story house with the kitchen inside. The one on the right has two floors and is an office area, where workers receive orders, pack, rest and eat.

He Ruo shouted: "Team Zhao! Team Zhao! Our sisters... our brothers' unit is here!"

Zhao Ying immediately came out from the building on the right, looked at Hua Chong and his party in surprise, and even forgot to introduce herself, "Are you here now?"

"Well, I have to come and see anyway." Hua Chong said, "Captain Zhao?"

Only then did Zhao Ying take off the gloves, "Hello, Zhao Ying."

The body of the victim, Kuang Ming, was discovered by a courier four days ago and is currently being kept in the forensic identification center of Anjiang City. The scene has been investigated in detail, and many places have been marked.

"This is where the body was found." Zhao Ying pointed to the area between the stainless steel table and the sink in the kitchen, "Kuang Ming died of mechanical suffocation. There was a 2 cm wide lesion in his neck. The murder weapon was rough-woven hemp rope. After killing him with the hemp rope, the murderer pierced two holes in his neck with a sharp weapon and inserted two chopsticks."

Before coming, Hua Chong had seen Kuang Ming's neck in the detailed photos.Strangulation is a very common method of murder, but after the victim's death, it is a bit unimaginable to pierce two holes in the neck and insert chopsticks.

The bleeding may cause trouble for the murderer, and the piercing is redundant.Is this some ritual that must be done?Or is the killer doing the "signature"?

In serial murder cases, some murderers will leave their own marks on the scene of the murder, implying that the cases with the same mark are their own "masterpieces". The criminal police vividly call this behavior "signature".

Hua Chong frowned and walked around the stainless steel table, saying, "But chopsticks are a kind of 'signature'."

Zhao Ying said: "Yes, this is what has always troubled me. In the three cases, there were chopsticks at the scene of each case. If you ignore the different materials, the chopsticks themselves are 'signatures', and there is no need to stick them on the victim's body."

He didn't see the corpse, and he didn't know much about the whole case. Hua Chong couldn't draw a conclusion for the time being, and asked again: "Have you found any traces of the murderer?"

Zhao Ying said: "The trace inspector found a set of footprints, but also found that the floor had been cleaned."

Hua Chong asked, "Who did the footprints come from?"

"It's a worker here called Su Yuan. We found him easily, but he doesn't admit that he killed Kuang Ming, but only admits that he entered the kitchen in the middle of the night." Zhao Ying sighed, "What does the inspector mean?" Yes, his statement has a certain degree of credibility, because the floor has indeed been cleaned, and there is no trace of Kuang Ming, which means that the cleaning time is after Kuang Ming's death, and the person who cleaned it is the murderer. If Su Yuan is The murderer, he wouldn't return after cleaning up and leave such clear footprints."

Hua Chong asked: "Then how did this Su Yuan explain that he entered the kitchen in the middle of the night? After seeing Kuang Ming's body, he didn't call the police?"

Zhao Ying raised her hand to the opposite wall. There were three large freezers standing there. The doors of the cabinets were originally silver-gray, but they were stained with oil and blood, making them look dirty.

"This is not only a kitchen, but also a small warehouse." Zhao Ying said: "There is a lot of meat in the freezer. We have inspected it, and it is either expired meat or unsanitary. It shows that the low price will make these unhealthy meat The meat that should appear on people's tables is collected, processed, and spices are used to remove the peculiar smell, and packaged into delicacies. Su Yuan occasionally comes here to steal some of the meat and sell it to two restaurants on the opposite street. On the night of Kuang Ming's murder, He claimed that he was here to steal meat."

Hua Chong bypassed the stainless steel table, walked to the front of the freezer, and opened it to see the smelly air-conditioning blowing towards his face.

"Damn it!" Haizi shouted next to him, "The boss is so mean! Can this kind of meat be processed and sold?"

Although the meat was all frozen, but the amount was too much, the smell was particularly strong.Even the criminal police, who were used to seeing rotting corpses, felt uncomfortable for a while.

There are also three uncovered plastic boxes on the stainless steel table, which contain the vacuumed lo mei. The production date and expiration date have been stamped on it, but the buyer who enjoys them will not know that they have been sold long before the production date. has expired.

"By the way, Su Yuan's fresh fingerprints were found on the handle of the cabinet door." Zhao Ying said.

Hua Chong calculated the distance between the refrigerator and the stainless steel table, and retreated to the door.The stainless steel table is equivalent to the tool table in this kitchen. It is facing the door, and when entering from the door, it is easy to see the corpse lying on the side of the stainless steel table.

But Su Yuan said that he didn't notice the corpse at all.

"We need to consider the situation at night." Liu Zhiqin walked to Hua Chong, "When the lights are not turned on in the middle of the night, it's pitch black here. Su Yuan's goal is the freezer on the left, and the corpse is actually in the stainless steel cabinet. In the shadow of the table. Su Yuan stole food, and his spirit was in a very nervous state. He wanted to make a quick decision, but he might not notice the corpse in the shadow. The courier was different from him. It was already dawn when the courier came in. You can see the dead body by the table at a glance."

Hua Chong looked up and found a camera hanging from a corner of the ceiling, "Is the monitoring not working?"

Zhao Ying smiled wryly, "It was closed by the chef here."

"chef?"

"Yes, it's called Wang Xian." Zhao Ying said, "There are 4 chefs. They were still working overtime hours before Kuang Ming was killed. They left together at 12 o'clock. Wang Xian turned off the camera. All the workers confirmed that, It was Kuang Ming's request to turn off the camera. The camera is only turned on during the day, so that he can occasionally supervise the work of the chefs, and turn off the lights and monitor when people leave. This has long been the consensus of everyone."

Hua Chong said: "The murderer probably knew this."

The early shutdown of monitoring is very beneficial to the murderer, and the camera has become a decoration.In the case of Fenglan City Water Park, Gu Yunzui had the ability to turn off the camera, but chose to modify it. Liu Zhiqin was able to restore the entire video.

Hua Chong turned his head to look at Liu Zhiqin.Liu Zhiqin said softly: "There are other clues."

Zhao Ying led everyone to the house on the right, and Hua Chong subconsciously looked at the ground when passing by the courtyard.

"There are traces of broom scratches in the yard, and the footprints have been destroyed." After Zhao Ying finished speaking, she looked around and pointed to the broom tied with dry branches in the corner, "Here, that's the kind. It's not very common in cities, except Sanitation workers, very few people still use such brooms."

The house on the right is messier and more crowded than the kitchen. The tables, chairs and benches are still in the state before the incident. Packing tools such as tapes, knives, plastic bags, and boxes are placed everywhere. Received package.There is a row of computer desks on the right side of the wall, with 4 computers on them. Several notebooks are spread out on the desks, with different handwritings, all of which are rather scribbled.

"The customer service staff usually work there, taking orders and after-sales are all managed by customer service." Zhao Ying said: "Su Yuan is mainly responsible for packing, but we also learned from the inquiry that the division of responsibilities for this kind of self-employed business is not particularly strict. Su Yuan can also serve as customer service, and the notebooks on the table are their work records."

Hua Chong noticed that there was oil on the table and beer bottles were thrown on the ground.

"Before the incident, everyone except Kuang Ming had dinner here." Zhao Ying said: "The request for dinner was put forward by the employees. Business is good in winter, and chefs, customer service, and packers all work overtime continuously, asking the boss to order takeaways." , Kuang Ming agreed, but he seldom eats with the staff, so he didn’t show up, and no one thought it was wrong.”

Hua Chong took a few steps, picked up the work records on the table and looked through them, "When did Kuang Ming leave?"

Zhao Ying said: "After ordering takeout, it will be about 6 o'clock in the evening."

Hua Chong asked again: "Where did he go after that?"

"The chess and card room is just two streets away from here. Kuang Ming divorced more than ten years ago, and his son is studying in an experimental middle school and living on campus." Zhao Ying said: "We have checked his communication records, and no one We asked him to come back to the factory on the night of December 12th, and he suddenly appeared in the kitchen after all the employees had left, and we haven't investigated the reason yet."

With a preliminary and intuitive understanding of the case, the special operations team returned to the Municipal Bureau.

Pei Qing wanted to see the corpse with her own eyes, so Hua Chong went with him to the forensic identification center.

Kuang Ming's body was placed on the dissecting table, and the wound on the neck was the most eye-catching.The first is the two places where chopsticks were stabbed open by sharp objects. The diameter of the wound was thicker than that of chopsticks, and the depth was about 5 centimeters. Unhappily, the murderer inserted the knife and rotated it repeatedly until the wound was completely opened before inserting the chopsticks.

This is followed by an abnormal curvature of the neck, with the Le groove located near the Adam's apple, resulting in fractures of the thyroid cartilage and cricoid cartilage.When being strangled, the upward blood could not flow back, and the corpse showed a swollen and purple face.This made the corpse look very hideous.

Hua Chong, wearing a mask, stood by the dissecting table, observed for a while and said, "Do you think the corpse is not in harmony?"

Pei Qing raised her head, "In the case of strangulation, in addition to the neck and face, the corpse is usually accompanied by other struggling injuries and restraint injuries, especially the hands. It is not uncommon for fingers to be broken, but the struggling injuries on this corpse Almost negligible."

Hua Chong said: "Kuang Ming is 1 meters tall and weighs close to 79 kilograms. He is relatively strong. To strangle him, the murderer needs to subdue him in terms of strength. With the consciousness of survival, Kuang Ming must struggle. If he does not struggle, he will struggle. What's wrong with being weak?"

"When a person is strangled while awake, it is instinct to struggle fiercely." Pei Qing said: "Unless he was already unconscious at that time. He only became conscious when the murderer was about to strangle him to death, but by then it was too late."

Hua Chong said, "Poisoned?"

Pei Qing said: "I heard that toxicological and pharmacological tests have been done, and the possibility of poisoning has been ruled out. Judging from the condition of the corpse, there is no sign of poisoning."

Hua Chong said, "Where's the head?"

Pei Qing shook her head, "No damage."

Hua Chong hissed, "That's weird, it's impossible for a strong man to be strangled to death without any resistance?"

"I'll do the autopsy again." Pei Qing said, "Flower Team, go out and rest first, and I'll give you a clear result later."