Chapter 13 Case 11 Knocking at the Door at Midnight
The Christmas Eve murder case was successfully solved and we were heading home on the third day after Christmas.I slept for a full 14 hours the night before, so I managed to catch up on sleep.On the way back, I was full of energy and seemed extraordinarily excited. I talked with Master about the details of the case along the way, which can be regarded as a summary of improvement.
As soon as the car drove onto the highway, Master's cell phone rang.
"Don't you want to go on business trips?" Master made a face at me.I knew in my heart that if there was a case, we would have to go on consecutive business trips, because that year, the provincial forensic doctor was only me and Master.
"First of all, congratulations on your new achievements. When you come back, each of you will be rewarded with a pack of good cigarettes." The familiar voice of the captain of the criminal police came from the master's mobile phone, "Where are you?"
"We don't want good cigarettes, we just want to rest." It seemed that the master had already had a bad feeling, and said with a smile, "We just got on the highway, and we can't bear to run continuously."
"This..." The captain seemed a little hesitant, "I also want to give you two days off to adjust, but..."
"Okay, where is it?" Master knew that since he chose this profession, he chose a life without freedom.Master often joked that we are led by the nose by criminals. When they commit crimes, we have to work. Wherever they commit crimes, we have to go.
"Ahem." The captain obviously felt a little guilty, coughed dryly twice, and said, "Well, you have worked hard. This is not a small case, and you must be involved."
"No way, what kind of Christmas is this? It's simply a killing day. Three people were killed just now." Master frowned and said.We all know that the big case mentioned by the captain is estimated to be more than 3 dead.
"Yes, there are three again this time." The captain's next words confirmed our guess, "In the urban area of Qingzhou, a family of three is gone, which has a great social impact."
Qingzhou City is less than 100 kilometers away from Qingxia County where we are located. "When was the case?" Master asked.
"It should have been last night. At 8 o'clock this morning, the male owner of the deceased's family found it after returning home. The local police have protected the scene and reported it to our hall as soon as possible." The captain said, "If you rush over now, it is estimated that Site investigations have just begun."
"Understood." Master hung up the phone, the tiredness in his eyes disappeared, full of excitement before the battle, he stretched his head and said to the driver, "Xiao Ruan has worked hard, go to Qingzhou."
At 10:00 in the morning, our car drove into Yuanda Community in Qingzhou City. At the gate of the community, the leaders of the criminal police detachment of the local Public Security Bureau were already waiting for us.After a simple exchange of pleasantries, we walked towards the center site on foot.Yuanda Community is a villa area, a wealthy area, and the people who live here are high-income earners.The central scene of the case is a small villa near the gate of the community. The property right of this villa is owned by Xu Qingliang, the owner of an IT company in Qingzhou City. Xu Qingliang, his wife, daughter and mother-in-law live in the villa.
Outside the security zone of the center site, densely packed crowds of onlookers stood.Although it is located in the outskirts of Qingzhou City, with the expansion of the city, the area where Yuanda Community is located has become a large-scale residential area.A case of extermination occurred in a large-scale residential area, and the social impact was very bad.
Master and I carried the investigation box, squeezed through the dense crowd, crossed the cordon, and walked to the gate of the scene.A man in a suit squatted in the corner next to the entrance of the scene, holding his hair with both hands, with a painful expression on his face.Two policemen are questioning him.
"We have moved here for 3 years. We just wanted the security measures here to be good and safe. I didn't expect this kind of thing to happen again." The 40-year-old man in front of him said with red eyes, "Zhao Xin and I got married 5 years ago. , I am 10 years older than her, and I love her very much. She has no job, and after having a child, she concentrates on raising the child. Our relationship has always been very good."
Master and I were listening, and the man suddenly fell silent.I interrupted and asked, "When did you find out?" The man pointed weakly at the policeman handling the case, and said, "I've told them all about it, don't ask me any more."
The investigator took the words and said: "Oh, that's right. Last year, Mr. Xu opened a branch in Qinglin County below our city. From August last year to now, Mr. Xu has been working in Qinglin every Sunday to Tuesday every week Lin county branch works and returns to Qingzhou on Wednesday. Today is Wednesday, Mr. Xu came back from the county early and arrived home at about 8 o'clock. When he opened the door of his house, he found his wife Zhao Xin lying on her back in the living room , the body was already hard. He ran upstairs again and found his 3-year-old daughter and mother-in-law killed in the upstairs bedroom."
Master nodded, put on the headgear, mask, gloves and shoe covers together with me, and walked into the center site.
The site is a two-story villa.The first floor is the living room, kitchen, bathroom and a large bedroom, and the second floor is several guest rooms and study.Xu Qingliang and Zhao Xin usually live in the big bedroom downstairs, and Zhao Xin's daughter and mother live in a bedroom upstairs.
Next to Zhao Xin's body, several forensic doctors and trace inspectors were carefully looking for traces and physical evidence.Master and I went upstairs first to investigate the scene upstairs.The doors of the upstairs guest rooms were all closed, making it very quiet.Along the corridor, we opened the rooms one by one and looked at them. Every room was very clean and tidy, and nothing unusual was found.Until we opened a larger guest room at the end of the corridor, a strong smell of blood came to my face, and I rubbed my nose subconsciously.
On the floor of the bedroom lay the corpse of an elderly woman, and on the bed lay the corpse of a little girl. Both corpses were wearing the cotton pajamas they wore for sleeping in winter.Most of the pajamas, sheets, and quilt were stained red with blood, and the wall beside the bed was covered with splatters and splashes of blood.Except for the bloodstains, Master and I found no obvious traces.It seems that the murderer didn't do anything extra in this room, he just killed someone and left.
The corpse of an elderly woman was wearing slippers and lying prone on the floor beside the bed. Her hair was soaked in blood, her entire skull had been deformed, white brain tissue was mixed in the middle of her hair, and there was a large pool of blood under her head.I gently turned over the head of the corpse, and found that the facial muscles of the deceased were already stiff, the face was covered with blood, and the facial features could no longer be seen clearly.
The body of the little girl on the bed was even more horrible.She was lying on the bed, staring at her round eyes, which were full of horror.There was a hollow in her forehead, which should have been hit with a blunt object.Her neck was cut with a sharp instrument. The small head was only connected to the torso by the cervical spine, and the soft tissues were basically severed.Along the direction of the carotid artery, there was a large amount of splattered blood, indicating that she was not dead when her neck was cut.The little girl has no body spots all over her body, because her blood has basically flowed out.
What I hate the most is that a child is killed, and my heart hurts as if it has been violently hit.I gritted my teeth and vowed to myself that I must seek justice for this little girl.After watching the scene, Master and I walked downstairs slowly without talking.The investigation near Zhao Xin's body has ended, and judging from the expressions on the faces of the technicians, no valuable evidence was found.
Master and I approached Zhao Xin's body, which had not been turned over yet.This is a woman about 30 years old, lying on the floor with her eyes wide open, like the corpse of an elderly woman, with blood under her head.Apparently, she also died from a blunt force blow to the head.The woman was wearing a cotton sweater on her upper body, and the cotton wool trousers and underwear on her lower body were taken off together, covering her genitals indiscriminately.
The master walked over and removed the cotton wool trousers that covered her lower body, and there was a dagger stuck in her lower body.
"Half-naked, with a dagger stuck in her lower body. Is this rape by a psychopath?" I said.
"No, it might be adultery." Master frowned.
After the forensic doctor inspects the scene, he will form a preliminary judgment on the nature of the case in his own mind. This preliminary judgment does not necessarily have a sufficient basis. It is just a guess, not an inference.This kind of guessing is mostly based on intuition, and the basis for intuition is the experience formed after participating in a large number of site surveys.With the preliminary judgment, the forensic doctor will constantly verify or deny his own judgment through autopsy and on-site re-examination, and finally draw an inferred conclusion.
I know that Master's judgment at this time is based on intuition, and the conditions are not sufficient to sort out sufficient evidence in a short period of time.So I didn't continue to ask why Master thought it was a homicide caused by adultery, but not a rape by a psychopath.
But one thing is for sure, Zhao Xin's body was half naked, and a dagger was inserted into his lower body, which must have something to do with "sex".
We detected the rectal temperature and ambient temperature of the corpse respectively, and recorded them for the next step of inferring the time of death.
"Let's take the corpse to the funeral home." Master said.Although we have been fighting continuously since Christmas Eve, the sufficient sleep last night combined with the sense of accomplishment and joy of just solving the case made us obliged to start working immediately, hoping to solve the case as quickly as possible.
Master and I sat in the car without talking, and lived every scene like a movie in our minds, hoping to connect the scenes together.At this time, we were under a lot of pressure, and the actions of the criminals at the scene were very simple. Through the preliminary on-site investigation, we did not find any valuable traces and physical evidence.
The master felt that the air in the car was freezing, and he deliberately joked: "Some people say that the forensic doctor of our provincial department is a 'cadre of the third hall', do you know why?"
I didn't answer, I haven't come out of the shadow of the little girl's horrible death yet.
"We travel every day, live in hotels, eat in restaurants, and work in funeral parlors, so we are 'cadres of the third hall', hahahaha." Master's joke was so cold that he was the only one in the car laughing.
After waiting for a while in the autopsy room of the funeral home, the three corpses arrived. "Old rules, from easy to difficult." Master said, "Let's start with a little girl."
Because the soft tissue of the little girl's neck was completely cut, when her body was taken out of the body bag, her head was tilted back excessively, as if the small head was about to be separated from the torso, my heart suddenly trembled one time.
The cause of death of the little girl is very clear, hemorrhagic shock.The center of the frontal part of her skull was somewhat sunken, apparently suffered a blunt force blow during her lifetime, but the bleeding in the brain tissue below it was not obvious, and it was difficult to explain the cause of death with such a degree of brain damage.The little girl's corpse spots basically did not appear, the arteries and veins on the left and right necks were completely broken, and her heart also showed a shrunken state, so she must have been cut with a dagger-like tool when she lost resistance to a blunt instrument blow resulting in death from hemorrhagic shock.This is an extremely cruel method.
The causes of death among older women are similarly simple.The back of her occipital was covered with contusion wounds, the occipital skull was completely comminuted, and the brain tissue was completely shattered. She died of a severe craniocerebral injury.The tools of crime are also blunt weapons.
Zhao Xin's autopsy progressed quickly, and her forehead injury was also caused by blunt force.The perineum and uterus were pierced with a dagger.Other than that, there is no other damage.
"None of the three corpses had resistance injuries. Could it mean that acquaintances attacked them by surprise?" I asked.
"Zhao Xin's injury should have been unprepared. According to the location of her body, she should have been hit directly when she opened the door, but the other corpses cannot be said to have been unprepared. Think about it in conjunction with the scene," Master said. "Elderly women are wearing slippers and pajamas. What does it mean?"
"Wake up from sleep and get attacked."
"Yes. And all of them were on the occiput and hands, and there was no injury on the front. This was attacked while being chased." Master said, "And the old man died beside the bed. It can be seen that her purpose was very serious. Obviously, they want to protect the little girl."
"What is the criminal process?" I asked.
"Zhao Xin's body has not been seen yet, but the route of the criminals should be very clear now. It is winter, and all the windows on the scene are locked, so the entrance and exit can only be the gate." Master said, "And the gate's The door lock was not damaged, which means that it was not a lock picking, but knocking on the door to enter the room."
"Zhao Xin's body is at the door, it should be Zhao Xin who opened the door, right?" I said.
"There was no trace of dragging the corpse or changing the scene. So the murderer probably knocked Zhao Xin unconscious after seeing her, and then went upstairs. Because the old man was alarmed, the old man got up and opened the door to find the criminals, and immediately turned around to protect the little girl. , was knocked down by the criminals, and then the criminals killed the little girl. After killing the little girl, the murderer went downstairs again, took off Zhao Xin’s pants, and inserted a dagger into her genitals.” Master simply outlined the crime The process of the activity.
This inference is reasonable, and we all nodded in agreement.
"Oh." I broke the silence, "There is still a process." I pointed, and the positive result was obvious.
I went on to say: "The semen spot is positive, the line is very obvious, it should be that I have just had sex."
"There were no traces of struggle at the scene, no signs of restraint on the body, and no damage to the clothes." Master said, "I don't think it was rape."
"What if after killing the little girl, I went back to the first floor, raped the corpse, and then stabbed the dagger?" I said.
"The possibility you mentioned is not ruled out." Master frowned, lost in thought.
"That's right, since the possibility of necrophilia cannot be ruled out, we can't rule out the crime of fleeing for the purpose of sexual assault." I said.
The master thought for a while and said, "I think it was an acquaintance who committed the crime."
"Is there any basis?"
"Yes." Master said, "Have you calculated the time of their deaths?"
It turned out that Master was using the time of death to analyze.I said, "I've done the math. Within 10 hours after a person dies, if the temperature drops by 1°C in one hour, the calculated value must be multiplied by 0.8 in winter. The temperature of the three corpses we measured at 10 am was around 26°C. It means that the temperature dropped by 11°C, 11 hours multiplied by 0.8, is about 9 hours after death." Although my math is not very good, it is still very fast to calculate the body temperature.
"The three people all died around 1:00 am today." Master did a simple addition and subtraction.
"This time is usually the time that criminals on the run like to choose." I am still sticking to my thoughts.
"I still think it's not running away, but an acquaintance." Master said, "First, the security of this community is tight, and since the criminals are not looking for money, why would they choose a community with a greater risk? Second, if it is running away, It is impossible to choose the stupid way of knocking on the door, and at this point, the victim will not open the door to a stranger."
I nodded, and still insisted, "But what if criminals pretend to be repairmen or policemen or something to trick the door?"
"This is the third point I mentioned." Master said, "If the criminals can't enter the scene through other means, and can only enter by tricking the door, Zhao Xin will not be dressed like this."
What Master said made sense.A young woman, when a strange man knocks on the door in the middle of the night, even if she trusts him to answer the door, she should not open the door wearing cotton sweaters.
"That's right. That's an acquaintance. After entering the scene, he beat Zhao Xin to death, then went upstairs to kill two people, and then went downstairs to rape the corpse." I analyzed, "Now I don't know whether it is for hatred or a psychopath. People kill for rape."
"It's not necessarily important." Master picked up a physical evidence bag beside him, which contained Zhao Xin's vaginal wipes. "We have key evidence. The owner of the semen is likely to be a criminal. Send it for inspection."
After handing over the physical evidence to the DNA testing personnel of the Qingzhou City Public Security Bureau, Master turned to the investigators and said, "An acquaintance of Zhao Xin who is involved in adultery, let's investigate."
"There is no need to investigate." A hearty voice sounded. Master's good friend, Xing Chao, deputy director of the Qingzhou City Public Security Bureau, walked into the dissection room, "I heard that you are here, so I came here specially. The investigation all morning has the result. .”
Master took off his gloves, shook hands with Director Xing, and asked anxiously, "What result?"
"Zhao Xin is really having an affair with someone else."
"Really? The result came out so soon?" Master smiled and said, "The leadership is good! However, I still can't help but ask, is it reliable?"
"See what you say." Director Xing thumped Master's chest.
"Be careful, there is blood." The master pointed to the chest of the dissection suit and said jokingly.
"The current clues are very important." Director Xing said, "The investigators of our investigation team reported that Zhao Xin was very close to a man named Zhang Lin. The key is that Zhang Lin pursued Zhao Xin when he was in school. He chased very hard, everyone knows it."
"This is a clue?" The master looked disappointed, "How dare you call this kind of news a clue? Isn't it too unreliable?"
"Of course it's more than that." Director Xing said mysteriously, "Through the investigation of our video team investigators, although the surveillance around Zhao Xin's home was not captured, we found that Zhang Lin would go in and out of Yuanda Community every Monday and Tuesday. He said he was here to make soy sauce, no one would believe it, right?"
"Yeah." Master's disappointed expression faded immediately, "Last night was Tuesday, did he come again?"
"Yes, at 9 o'clock last night, he entered the gate of the community." Director Xing said.
"Very suspicious. Where is Zhang Linren?" Master asked, "Don't Zhao Xin's mother and children know about such blatant extramarital affairs?"
"It's normal if you don't know. There's not much movement upstairs and downstairs, so you can't hear it." Director Xing said, "The most suspicious thing is that Zhang Lin left this morning on a business trip."
"Business trip?" Master added strength, "If he doesn't go on a business trip early or late, it should be him."
"Hey." Director Xing scratched his head and said proudly, "My soldiers are fine, they have already gone to arrest people. I guess you will have good news after lunch and nap. However, investigation is investigation after all. Have you found any traces and physical evidence that can identify the crime?"
It turned out that what Director Xing was most concerned about was not the forensic doctors from the provincial department to personally handle the case, but whether the forensic doctors from the provincial department had found any key evidence.The master also showed a proud expression, and imitated Director Xing's words: "My soldiers are fine. The semen has been sent for DNA. I guess you will have good news after arresting someone and taking blood."
The two leaders laughed confidently.
After lunch, it was already 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and Master and I went back to the hotel.The master said: "The case has a clue, so I can have a good sleep in the afternoon. The man will be interrogated after being arrested, and the DNA test will take a little time. I guess there is nothing to do today. Let's wait for the good news tomorrow morning."
After a blissful rest for one afternoon and one night, early the next morning, Master and I walked into the meeting place of the task force with our heads held high.
No matter where the task force meeting place is, it is full of smoke.What I didn't expect was that when I walked into the task force, what I saw were not faces full of joy, but anxious expressions of people in the room.An ominous omen passed through my mind.
"Why are you so stern?" Master asked Director Xing suspiciously, "Did the DNA match?"
"A good news, a bad news, which one to listen to first?" Director Xing said.
"You say it first."
"The good news is that the genotype on Zhao Xin's vaginal swab is the same as Zhang Lin's genotype."
"Such good news, aren't you happy? If the DNA matches, isn't the case considered solved? What bad news can there be?" I interjected.
"The bad news is that Zhang Lin still hasn't confessed. He keeps yelling that he was wronged," Director Xing said, "and our investigators really don't feel like he did it."
The intuition of investigators is the same as that of criminal technicians, both of which are based on experience.Sometimes many people are surprised why the so-called intuition is so accurate, but in fact it is just rich experience.
"Can't the case be settled without confession?" I said, "It's not like there are no cases where there is no confession."
"The key is that he can justify himself. Our evidence chain is broken." Director Xing said, "Zhang Lin confessed that he has been in an adulterous relationship with Zhao Xin since last year. Every week when Xu Qingliang is not at home, Zhang Lin will I went to Zhao Xin's house for a tryst, but in order to prevent Zhao Xin's family from finding out, I went home after finishing the work. The night before yesterday, Zhang Lin went to Zhao Xin's house, and he did go home after having an affair."
"When did Zhao Xin have dinner the night before yesterday?" Master suddenly asked a question that seemed to be far-fetched.
"From 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., Zhao Xin and her sister had dinner at a nearby restaurant." An investigator replied.
"Do you have the surveillance video of Zhang Lin leaving Yuanda Community?" Master asked.
"Yes. Zhang Lin left Yuanda community around 12 o'clock."
"Let him go, you caught the wrong person." Master frowned and said slowly.
I know that Master's main basis is the time of death. We infer that Zhao Xin died at 1 o'clock, but Zhang Lin left at 12 o'clock, so it should not be Zhang Lin's fault.
"But the normal error of the time of death is one hour. It's not surprising that he killed someone before leaving." I said.
Master said: "First, the time of death. According to the temperature of the body, Zhao Xin died at 1 o'clock. According to the degree of digestion of the contents of the stomach, Zhao Xin died about 6 hours after the last meal. She finished the meal at 7 o'clock. , so the deduced result is also 1 o'clock death. The two death times echo each other so there should be no error of 1 hour, so Zhang Lin may not have the time to commit the crime."
"I don't think it can be ruled out simply through time." I argued, "Can't he leave and come back later?"
"Monitoring showed that he did not come back." The investigator said.
"Can't it come in over the wall?" I said.
The investigator was silent.
"Secondly, Zhao Xin's body did not have restraint wounds or resistance wounds. She was beaten to death unprepared." Master ignored my objection and continued, "In addition to inserting a The dagger, no other damage. The clothes were not damaged, and the people upstairs were not disturbed. So Zhao Xin was not raped by Zhang Lin, but voluntarily. Since there was an adultery just now, Zhang Lin should have no motive for committing the crime. "
"Passion kills?" I said.
"Passionate homicide should first have quarrels, fights, and resistance injuries." Master said, "And this case is premeditated, not passionate homicide."
"why?"
"According to all the current evidence, there is only one murderer, and there are two kinds of crime tools at the scene, blunt weapon and sharp weapon." The master said, "If it is not premeditated, it is difficult to collect two tools in a short time, so this case is premeditated." crime."
I stopped talking.Seeing that I have no objection, the master continued: "Thirdly, if Zhang Lin planned in advance with tools, first came to have sex with Zhao Xin, and then killed her, Zhao Xin should not have died next to the living room door, in the bedroom Wouldn’t it be safer to commit the crime? More silent? According to the form of the injury, Zhao Xin should face the door and be hit head-on. And it must be after having sex.”
"Why did you have sex first and then get killed instead of being raped?" My question this time was not out of objection, but out of curiosity.
The master flipped through the slides and said, "Look at the crotch of Zhao Xin's underwear, there is semen stuck to it."
This is indeed an important piece of evidence.The reason why Zhao Xin's panties had semen stuck to them meant that she put them back on after she had sex, rather than being stripped of her underwear and raped after her death.The reason why Zhao Xin's pants were taken off after she died at the scene, it seems that the murderer just wanted to stick a knife in her lower body.From this point of view, the murderer must have a deep hatred with Zhao Xin, and the reason for the hatred is love.
"So, after Zhao Xin had sex, he was hit at the gate again. There are only two possibilities." The master swallowed, "First, Zhao Xin sent Zhang Lin to the gate, and Zhang Lin suddenly turned around and attacked him. She. Second, someone knocked on the door about an hour after Zhang Lin left."
Everyone is nodding.
"If Zhang Lin turned around and attacked suddenly at the door, where did he hide his blunt weapon so that Zhao Xin could not find it?" Master said, "There are two murder weapons hidden on his body, and he also had sex with the victim, and the whole process was unremarkable." It is too difficult for the victim to discover the murder weapon. Therefore, it is more likely that others will knock on the door and commit crimes."
I am convinced.Director Xing said: "The expert's analysis is reasonable. Judging from the situation at the scene, it really doesn't look like Zhang Lin did it. And according to the investigation, Zhang Lin really didn't have sufficient reasons and motives to kill Zhao Xin."
"Then... what should I do next?" I ran out of ideas.
Master looked at me with a smile and said, "Let's go, let's look around the scene."
Although the wrong person was caught the first time, the investigators are still very confident.An acquaintance committed the crime, and it was a strong man who might have an affair with Zhao Xin: so many conditions were deduced by the master, and the scope of investigation had been reduced to the minimum.As we all know, new clues will be discovered soon, and new suspects will surface soon.After the meeting was over, the investigators split up to continue the investigation, while Master and I boarded the car to re-investigate the scene.
Master and I investigated the site carefully until lunch time, but still found nothing new.It seems that the criminals were at the scene very briefly, killed people mercilessly, and left the scene immediately.Master and I were very upset.
Back at the hotel, each of us held a laptop and carefully looked at the photos of the scene and the dead body.On-site information is very useful. Forensic doctors can sometimes find some traces that they did not find at the scene by reviewing the photos of the scene and the photos of the corpse.Because of the different light and angles of photography, sometimes it can show things that are not easy to be found.
On the morning of the third day after the incident, Master suddenly knocked on my door.Said: "Let's go to the scene to have a look again. When I looked at the photos yesterday, I found a suspected blood footprint."
There really was a new discovery. Master and I rushed to the scene quickly and found the traces found in the photos.This is a shallow blood footprint, which is really difficult to see with the naked eye, but if you use a flashlight to illuminate it from the side, you can vaguely see it.We recruited trace inspectors and on-site photography technicians to take pictures of the shallow blood footprint on the half heel for careful observation.Through the careful observation of trace inspectors, it is determined that this is a relatively characteristic trace that can be compared.But where to find the suspect's shoes?Although there are new discoveries, they cannot promote the progress of solving the case.
Master and I worked for another morning, but found nothing except the small half of the footprint.We walked to the security room at the gate of the community resentfully, wanting to see the surveillance video of that night and try our luck.After watching the video before and after the time of the incident, we only saw a lot of cars coming in and out, but we couldn't see any suspicious people, which made us very disappointed.
Master stood up, stretched himself, lit a cigarette, and wandered slowly by the door of the security room.
Suddenly, I heard Master calling me from outside the door: "Come here, see what this is?"
What I like most is to hear Master speak in such a tone full of surprises, which means that Master has made unexpected discoveries.But when I ran to Master, I was a little disappointed.The master was on the side of a small room, looking at something that looked like a manhole cover on the ground.It's no wonder it's just a manhole cover, I thought.
Looking at the manhole cover carefully, I found that it was two circles larger than the normal manhole cover, the surface was a little faded, there were protruding handles on both sides of the cover, and there was a latch.
"This is the motor room." The security guard who came over said.
"The motor room is underground?" I said, "No heat dissipation?"
"Oh, you're talking about this cover." It turned out that the security guard thought we were interested in the small house next to us, "There is a cellar under this cover. When this community was demolished, the original residents had cellars. Because the community did not build an underground building. The garage, so the cellar was preserved."
"What's the use of this cellar now?" Master asked.
"It's useless, the drainage is not good, and the water accumulates all the year round. It can't even be used as a storage room."
"Does anyone go down?" Master asked.
"Who would go down here? Impossible."
"Impossible? Then how to explain this?" Master pointed to the latch of the cellar cover.Following Master's finger, we found that the latch of the cellar cover was open, and there were fresh scratch marks on the latch head, indicating that the latch had been opened not long ago.And I noticed that there was freshly dug earth around the cellar lid, which also proved that the lid had been opened not long ago.
"Couldn't some thief think there's something good down here?" said the security guard.
"It's so close to your security room, how dare the thief have so much courage?" Master asked.The security guard was speechless.
"Let's open it and have a look?" Master's eyes were full of excitement.
The lid was quite heavy, and it took me a lot of effort to open it. It was dark underneath, and the slanting stairs blocked the view, so I couldn't see the situation in the cellar clearly.Although I couldn't see it, I felt something strange.The moment the lid was opened, a gust of hot air mixed with a stench of corruption came to my nostrils, and I rubbed my nose subconsciously.The master standing beside me knew me very well and said, "Does it smell?"
I nodded: "It stinks."
Master and I went to the survey vehicle to get rubber shoes and a gas mask.I was in a very nervous mood. I didn't know what would be in the darkness of the cellar. I had a feeling that I was about to go on an adventure, which was both exciting and nervous.
In order to prevent the presence of toxic gases in the basement, we wore gas masks, galoshes and dissecting suits and walked slowly down the cellar.The cellar is not spacious, and five or six people can stand in the entire cellar.When I shone a strong survey light into a corner of the cellar, I spotted a dark shadow.
My heart suddenly rose to my throat, and I looked carefully, and it seemed that there was a person lying in the stagnant water in the corner, motionless.Master saw me standing there in a daze, and said, "Go over and have a look, hurry up, it's too hot here, and it's easy to lack oxygen."
Right above the cellar is the motor room. Most of the heat generated by the huge power is dissipated in the air, and the other part is stored in this small basement.We had been in the cellar for two minutes in our winter clothes, and we were drenched in sweat.
I bravely walked to the side of the man with my master, and took a careful look with the search light. The neck and head of the man leaned against the wall, and the part below the neck was completely submerged in the stagnant water.
We didn't try his pulse and breathing again, because he was already highly corrupted and the stench was strong.
After briefly looking at the surrounding environment, the master said, "Get it up first, there is not enough oxygen here."
The skin of highly decomposed corpses is very slippery and easy to peel off, so Master and I moved the corpse very carefully.When transporting the corpse to the ground, I asked, "Master, this should have nothing to do with this case, right? People from the Qingzhou Municipal Bureau hate us to death. They haven't got a clue about this case yet, so send them another one."
"Why must it have nothing to do with this case?" Master asked.
"This... this is highly corrupt." I said.
"In this humid and high-temperature environment, it can become highly corrupt in two or three days. Our murder case has been committed for three days," Master said.
Hope suddenly lit up in my heart, did the murderer commit suicide in fear of crime?
It took a lot of effort for Master and I to move the corpse to the ground and put it in the sun.Suddenly a corpse came out, and it was an unrecognizable corpse. The security guard waiting at the side was so frightened that he staggered and almost fell, covering his eyes and squatting on the ground.The corpse is indeed terrifying. Due to the expansion of the corrupt gas in the body, the corpse has been severely deformed, the eyeballs protrude from the eye sockets, and the tongue has been protruded out of the mouth by the decayed tissue. The skin of the corpse is green and shiny from the water. .
As soon as the body was out in the sun, our interest was aroused.Because the clothes of the corpse were exactly the same as the uniforms worn by the security guards around him.
"Brother, is it scary?" Master took off his gloves and patted the shivering security guard on the shoulder, "Can I ask you a few questions?"
The security guard nodded, taking a furtive glance at the rotting corpse lying aside.
"The night Zhao Xin was killed, who was on duty in your security room?"
"Boss Qi." The security guard lowered his head and said, "Our security captain is on duty."
"What time does he go to work?"
"He took over at 5pm that afternoon and was until 7am the next morning."
"The next day, who did he take over from?"
"With me." After thinking about it, the security guard said, "No, to be precise, I came to take over, but I didn't see the captain. His key is on the table."
"Didn't you see Boss Qi when you took over?" Master said in surprise, "Such a big thing happened, Boss Qi disappeared mysteriously again, why didn't you tell the police?"
"What's there to say? It's normal for the successor to not see anyone. You can leave first if you have something to do. And it's not a mysterious disappearance. Everyone knows that the boss should return to his hometown on Wednesday morning. He has already invited him in advance. Fake."
"You mean, Boss Qi asked for leave to go home, but this incident happened on the night he was on duty?" I asked.
The security guard nodded: "If you don't believe me, go to his hometown and ask."
Master frowned: "You don't need to ask, no accidents, this corpse is your Boss Qi."
The security guard shook his head like a rattle: "No, no, this is a fat man. Our boss Qi is a handsome guy."
“这是腐败导致的肿胀，死者不是胖子。”师父说，“你们齐老大身体上有什么特征吗？”
“没什么特征吧，哦，有的，他左边长了个小耳朵。”
蹲在尸体旁听着他们对答的我，翻动尸体的头，尸体的左耳旁长了一个小耳朵。
青州市殡仪馆。
我和师父用了将近4个小时的时间仔细检验了齐老大的尸体，初步排除了机械性损伤和机械性窒息导致的死亡，也排除了缺氧、溺水导致的窒息死亡。对于死因，我们一筹莫展。至于其他的痕迹物证，更是一无所获。
赵欣一家三口被杀案中发现了浅血足迹，可是齐老大居然没有穿鞋。赵欣一家三口被杀案中，因为小女孩的动脉破裂，我们分析凶手身上应该黏附了血迹，可是齐老大的全身被泥水浸泡好几天，没有办法发现血迹。“到底是不是他干的呢？”我十分疑惑。
“可能性很大。”师父说，我以为这又是师父的直觉，可是师父接着说，“你想想，案发前后，我们看监控看了那么久，如果有一点点可疑的情况，都会被我们发现的，可是我们什么都没有发现。我们设想一下，如果凶手一直都是在小区内，在监控不能发现的保安室附近，就有可能不出现在监控里，对吧？”
我点点头，师父说得很有道理，但是不能成为判定凶手的依据。“可是我们没有任何证据。”我说。
师父点点头，说：“自产自销的案件最头疼，死无对证，所以对于证据的要求更高，不然没法给死者家属、群众和办案单位一个交代。”自产自销是我们内部常用的俚语，意思就是杀完人，然后自杀。
对于法医来说，自产自销的案件难度最大。因为没有被害人、目击人或者犯罪嫌疑人的供述，定案的依据完全靠刑事技术，对于证据的要求是最高的。可是怕什么来什么，根据师父的推断，齐老大作案的可能性很大。
“下面怎么办？”我问道，“去专案会吗？”
“休息吧。今天太累了。”师父擦了擦汗，说，“专案组那边我已经通了气，已经开始围绕齐老大做工作了。另外，今天的调查，一无所获。”
听出了师父语气中的无奈，我也确实没有力气再去做什么。我和师父乘车回到宾馆，倒头便睡。
第二天一早，我一如既往地被师父急促的敲门声惊醒。打开门，师父径直走进我的房间，急匆匆地说：“不出所料，齐老大是中毒死亡的。”
这确实是一个好消息，如果中毒也被排除的话，尸体高度腐败不能进行病理学检验，那我们就真的连齐老大的死因都搞不清楚了。死因都无法说清，是法医最大的耻辱。
“昨晚理化实验室忙了一夜。”师父说，“今天凌晨出的结果，毒鼠强中毒死亡。”
“毒鼠强？”我很惊讶，“这可是违禁物品，一般弄不到的。”
“这个问题侦查部门已经解决了。”师父说，“这个地区以前市面上很容易买到毒鼠强，前段时间清理毒鼠强行动才控制住，不过有很多存货没有交出来。这个小区有段时间曾用毒鼠强灭鼠。保安室内有毒鼠强完全可能。”
我点点头：“死因是解决了，可是仍没有依据说是齐老大杀了赵欣一家。”
“我觉得很有希望。”师父说，“你给我背一背理论。毒鼠强中毒的临床表现。”
“毒鼠强是神经毒性灭鼠剂，具有强烈的脑干刺激作用，强烈的致惊厥作用。进入机体主要作用于神经系统、消化系统和循环系统。临床表现为强直性、阵发性抽搐，伴神志丧失，口吐白沫，全身，类似癫痫发作持续状态，并可伴有精神症状，严重中毒者抽搐频繁几无间歇，甚至角弓反张。”背书是我的强项。
“既然这样，如果齐老大走到积水内服用了毒鼠强，在积水里剧烈抽搐，由于肌肉的抽搐和积水的阻力，会不会导致他鞋子脱落？”师父说。
我浑身打了个激灵，不是因为被师父的推断折服，而是因为我知道师父的下一句话很有可能是：“我们再去那个地窖里看一看。”那是一个恐怖的地窖，我真不想再下去了。
“我们再去那个地窖里看一看。”师父说。
1个小时以后，我和师父穿着防护服，戴上橡胶手套和橡胶护袖，再次沿着漆黑的楼梯，走进那个闷热、恶臭的地窖。地上是齐小腿深的泥水，照明已经完全失去了意义。我和师父像摸泥鳅一样，在水里摸索。
幸亏地窖的面积狭小，10分钟后，在我们就快要缺氧时，找到了一双黑色的高帮棉皮鞋。
对于这个发现，师父显得相当兴奋。虽然我们不是痕检员，但是能简单地看出，这双黑色皮鞋的鞋底花纹，和现场的浅血足迹极为相似，这可能会成为定案的依据。
我们拿着鞋子，重新回到地面。师父说：“我马上把鞋子送去痕检实验室比对。”
这句话仿佛有潜台词，我下意识地问道：“那我呢？”
“你休息一会儿，下去再捞捞看。”师父说。
“我？一个人？还下去？”
“如果害怕就算了，等我回来。”师父在用激将法。
“怕？有什么好怕的？下去就下去，不过，毒鼠强是粉末状的，用不着容器啊，下去还能捞到什么？”此时，面子大于一切。
“我知道应该没有容器，让你去捞的是凶器。”
我顿时明白过来。赵欣一家三口被杀案中死者有两种损伤，能形成锐器伤的匕首已经被提取，但能形成钝器伤的凶器还没有找到。如果真的是齐老大作的案，凶器不在保安室，那在这地窖中的可能性就很大了。虽然我知道师父的这个分析很有依据，但是一想到我要一个人在这死过人的黑漆漆的地窖中打捞凶器，脊梁骨还是冒起了一丝寒意。
不得已，大话已经说出去了，我只有重新返回到地窖里。积水里不知道有些什么东西，隔着厚厚的胶皮手套，我不断地触摸到一些软软硬硬的东西，别的倒不怕，就怕抓到一些活物，那会是一件很恶心、很危险的事情。
时间不长，我的指尖便触碰到一个硬邦邦的东西，拿起一看：锤子。
我喜出望外，跑出地窖，把锤子装在物证袋里，脱了防护服就给师父打电话。电话那头的师父也显得十分高兴：“基本可以定案了，足迹鞋印比对一致。”
现场有齐老大的血足迹，齐老大死亡现场有符合尸体损伤的凶器，齐老大的死亡时间和赵欣一家的死亡时间基本一致，监控录像可以排除其他可疑人员，但不能排除本身就在小区内的保安齐老大，齐老大发案第二天早晨其实就已经自杀。种种证据证明，本案的犯罪分子就是齐老大。
但是这并没有让师父满足：“齐老大的衣服上有一处新鲜的破损，虽然面积小，但是我还是觉得和本案有一些关系。”
为了能让师父把本案的犯罪过程尽量细致地重建，当天下午，我拖着疲惫的身躯，再次和师父复勘赵欣的家。
赵欣的卧室，依旧和初次勘查一样安静，被子是被掀起的，案发时，她应该是听见敲门声下床开的门。即便平静，师父还是发现了异常。
“你过来看。”
我走近师父所站的卧室窗边。卧室的窗帘是拉着的，但是没有拉好，露出了窗户的一角，阳光从窗帘没有遮盖的地方照射进来。
“走，我们出去看看。”
我和师父走到屋外，果然，在卧室窗外的花坛泥土上，有一枚和现场血足迹相似的鞋印。跟着我们一起来的痕检员蹲在地上看了看，说：“特征点基本一致，应该是齐老大的鞋子！”
“原来是偷窥？”
师父笑着摇了摇头，说：“窗下的这枚钉子上，你仔细看看，有衣物的纤维附着，这就能解释齐老大为什么衣服上有一处新鲜破损了，提取了送去进行微量物证检验。另外，我们去专案组吧。”
来到专案组，侦查部门也获取了好消息。赵欣的一个邻居反映，上个月曾两次看到小区保安队长齐老大在当班的晚上进出赵欣家。
“专家分析得很对啊。”邢局长说，“看来这个齐老大和赵欣也有奸情。而且他们俩的奸情关系应该刚开始不久。”
“是的。”几天来，师父的脸上很少有这样舒展的笑容，“根据监控录像和现场的一些物证，我们已经可以确定本案系齐老大作案无疑。根据我们刚才的发现，我认为是齐老大在发案当晚想去找赵欣幽会。齐老大请了两个月的探亲假回老家，想在临走前再和刚刚建立起奸情关系的赵欣温存一下。可是不巧，这一晚正好是张林到赵欣家。可能是齐老大没有联系上赵欣，就绕到屋后赵欣的卧室窗户窥探，不巧发现了赵欣和张林的奸情。他一气之下就去保安室准备了锤子和匕首，等到张林离开小区后，就携带凶器来到赵欣家，通过电话或者敲门的方式进入了现场。他在现场的动作很简单，赵欣刚开门就遭到了齐老大的迎头打击。可能是赵欣倒地的声音惊醒了楼上的老人，老人随即出来察看，并且看到了手持凶器的齐老大。为了灭口，也是被巨大的仇恨与嫉妒所驱使，齐老大就上楼杀了老人和孩子。杀完人，他脱掉了赵欣的裤子，在她下身插了一把匕首。”
师父喝了口矿泉水，接着说：“显然齐老大杀了人以后立即选择了自杀，但是不想被别人发现，就想到了小区里那个根本不会有人注意到的地窖，他是想一个人静静地死去，化成白骨也不被发现。”
“如果不是你发现了那里，这个案子可能永远是个悬案了。”邢局长显得有些后怕。
“典型的因奸情引发的仇杀。”师父叹了口气说，“自作孽，不可活。”
Notes:
Notes: