Diary of a Criminal Investigator-Chapter 402: Crawling Corpse

Ren Qiang’s Team 2 was responsible for questioning, while Sun Jun’s team conducted investigations in the surrounding areas and retrieved surveillance footage.

Around the East Suburb Wood Factory, there were other factories, some of which operated around the clock in three shifts.

"Did your furniture factory notice anything unusual last night when you were working overnight?"

"How are we supposed to notice? The noise inside the factory is too loud, we couldn’t hear a thing, and we didn’t notice anything unusual."

"Go fetch the surveillance footage from the cameras at the intersection and at the factory entrance. You should be able to see clearly who’s coming in and going out."

Retrieving the surveillance footage went smoothly, but its content left Sun Jun disappointed.

The surveillance camera at the East Suburb Wood Factory’s entrance had been broken for a week and captured nothing the previous night.

Due to the different positioning of the entrances, the surveillance from other factories couldn’t capture any vehicles entering or leaving the wood factory, providing no valuable information.

On the scene, Lu Chuan and Liu Guodong stood in front of the human skin, examining it closely.

"The culprit should be around 1.8 meters tall."

Liu Guodong gestured at the top of the skin: "With a height of 1.8 meters, reaching up would extend the hands to around 2.4 or 2.5 meters. If the culprit were shorter, the head wouldn’t be at this height."

"Also, on the ground, there are only footprints; no traces of a ladder or anything to climb on."

Lu Chuan agreed with this assessment.

The victim was approximately 1.75 meters tall, and the skin was 2.5 meters from the ground, allowing them to estimate the culprit’s height.

"Moreover... the culprit is not very old, with developed muscles and significant strength."

Lu Chuan pinched a piece of skin, noting the clean cuts and tearing marks, indicating that the culprit used both a knife and bare hands to peel the skin.

Lu Chuan had encountered a similar skinning case last year when he and Shen Yan unintentionally uncovered a murder during an art exhibition.

"I’ll collect these footprints and analyze the suspect’s physical characteristics later."

"Alright, you focus on that; I found some fingerprints at the scene, but they likely aren’t from the suspect."

Liu Guodong discovered some fingerprints with an ultraviolet light, primarily on the wood; none were on the wall or skin.

The fingerprints on the bloodied body were likely blurred and impossible to collect.

The area outside the warehouse had been cordoned off, and no staff from the wood factory had seen the scene inside; otherwise, they would likely quit.

Ren Qiang’s questioning continued.

Now, Ren Qiang personally questioned the person who reported the case about the situation at that time.

"I... I handle timber transportation, coming here every three days around this time to load the wood."

The transporter, who had seen the human skin, looked pale and was trembling.

"Just you handling the transport?"

"Yes, the warehouse has a forklift. After driving in, I use it to load the lumber myself, so both the transport and loading fees go to me. The lumber is neatly stacked, making it easy to move, just time-consuming."

This transport assignment was routine for him, having done it for three years.

The deceased was identified as the factory director of the wood factory, Zhang Xiaofeng. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

He was balding with a green dragon tattoo on his arm, confirming his identity just by looking at his skin.

"Does your boss have any enemies?"

"I don’t know; I’m just a worker and never see the boss. You should ask the managers."

In another office.

Zhang Hui questioned the factory’s deputy director, the victim’s brother-in-law.

"My brother-in-law used to run in certain circles and knew a lot of people. In recent years, he’s made enemies by starting a factory."

"But those are just business dealings; none would harbor a grudge severe enough to kill him like this."

"How was his relationship with your sister?"

"Pretty good. We’re from the same village, and when they got married, my brother-in-law wasn’t wealthy; they’ve been doing well over the years."

"Did he have any affairs or relationships outside marriage?"

"Well..." The person hesitated momentarily before continuing, "You can’t really say it’s an affair, more like a fling now and then..."

Ten minutes later.

"My name is Guo Meimei. I’m... I’m... sob... I’m President Zhang’s secretary."

This secretary...

Was quite attractive, with a voluptuous figure, exuding a seductive presence.

"Are you married?"

"No, no, I’m single, unmarried, and don’t have a boyfriend."

"How long have you known Zhang Xiaofeng?"

"Two years. I met President Zhang when I applied here last year, and... um... I’ve been his secretary ever since."

"How long has your inappropriate relationship lasted?"

"This... this, two years. But officer, we just... just..."

"President Zhang gives me 10,000 yuan a month; I work here. We didn’t destroy any family, and I’m single..."

In another room, Zhang Xiaofeng’s wife arrived at the wood factory.

"Old Zhang... struggled outside for years and might have offended some people, but recently he’s mellowed out, older now, with no deep grudges."

"How did this happen to him... sob..."

Three hours later, the crime scene investigation ended.

Wang Changjiang conducted a preliminary examination.

"The time of death was around 1:30 AM, with the fatal wound being a stab to the back, leading to severe blood loss."

"The victim suffered torture; the suspect used a sharp knife to cut the skin, with some tearing. The skin was hung on the wall."

"Additionally... the victim’s tongue was cut out, with sulfuric acid burns in the throat, severely damaging the vocal cords."

Liu Guodong continued to report.

"The tendons in both wrists and ankles were severed, likely to facilitate skinning. The victim wasn’t dead after being skinned; only after a stab to the back did the victim crawl to the wall, eventually dying from excessive blood loss."

"Are you saying the victim crawled from beneath the skin while severely wounded?"

"Yes, indeed. The crawling trail on the ground is evident."

"Lu Chuan collected the suspect’s footprints for physical characteristic analysis, finding some fingerprints, possibly from the workers; those will be compared later. We’ll arrange for everyone at the wood factory to have their fingerprints and footprints collected."