Diary of a Criminal Investigator-Chapter 405: Second Crime Scene Investigation
Before Zhang Xiaofeng was killed, Ren Qiang investigated who he was with.
"Yesterday at noon, that is, the day before the incident, Zhang Xiaofeng had lunch with a lumber wholesaler and drank half a jin of white liquor."
"We have done background checks on the other party. Their company has frequent three-year-long transactions with Zhang Xiaofeng’s lumber factory. They are business partners."
"The lumber that the person who reported the crime was hauling early this morning was going to be sold to this company."
"We phoned the boss who had lunch with Zhang Xiaofeng yesterday noon. He said Zhang Xiaofeng left the gathering early."
"Left early?"
Qin Yong straightened his back: "Did he mention where he was going or who he was meeting?"
Ren Qiang shook his head: "No, at the time, Zhang Xiaofeng said he was going to meet a friend to handle some urgent matters, but he didn’t specify whom."
"However, we’ve looked into the surveillance at the restaurant and made some findings."
Ren Qiang signalled Zhang Hui to show the surveillance footage, which was from a hotel’s lobby.
"Yesterday at noon, the two had lunch at the Jungar Hotel. Zhang Xiaofeng’s driver dropped him off, but after leaving the meal, he didn’t take his own car and instead got into an unfamiliar vehicle."
In the surveillance, you can see Zhang Xiaofeng walking out of the hotel lobby, exiting to get into a silver-gray sedan.
"Is there a license plate?"
Qin Yong asked in a low voice.
Due to the angle of the hotel lobby’s surveillance, only part of the car’s body was captured, not the license plate.
"There is!"
Ren Qiang nodded, and Zhang Hui operated the projector to play the next video clip.
"This is footage from the surveillance at the hotel’s entrance."
In the video, it’s clearly visible that Zhang Xiaofeng walks out from the hotel lobby and directly gets into the back seat of the car.
"We have already tracked this car, and the traffic police are currently assisting us."
"Great!"
Qin Yong and the others were excited.
Zhang Xiaofeng leaving midway from the meal must have been to handle something significant.
Otherwise, Zhang Xiaofeng wouldn’t likely leave an important business partner behind.
Moreover, Zhang Xiaofeng didn’t take his driver’s car but instead got into an unfamiliar silver-gray sedan.
Judging from the current situation, the person who called Zhang Xiaofeng away and picked him up is very likely the murderer.
"Have you checked the call logs?"
"Yes, no unfamiliar calls were found on Zhang Xiaofeng’s phone yesterday noon, and there was no call during the meal. They probably communicated through WeChat."
Nowadays, phone numbers are registered under real names, so the other party obviously did not leave such an obvious clue.
However...
Would the murderer leave such a big flaw?
The Jungar Hotel is a top-tier hotel in Haizhou City, though not the best, and it certainly has surveillance.
Didn’t the murderer consider this?
As the crime scene of Zhang Xiaofeng’s murder left only footprints, it’s evident that the murderer has some anti-surveillance awareness.
Yet, when picking up Zhang Xiaofeng, they didn’t think about the hotel’s surveillance?
Of course, even if there are doubts, finding the person who picked up Zhang Xiaofeng is the priority. After all, this person was the last one seen by the police before Zhang Xiaofeng was killed.
The case analysis meeting soon ended, and Ren Qiang went to the traffic police team. With the license plate number, the driver’s information can quickly be determined.
Finding out who picked up Zhang Xiaofeng yesterday should be straightforward with this information.
Lu Chuan went back to the scene, where the Crime Scene Investigation team found climbing marks on the wall.
Lumber factory.
The lumber factory’s wall was an ordinary red brick wall, about one and a half meters high, with no broken glass shards or anti-theft nets.
A typical adult could easily climb over it.
Of course, there are some protective measures inside the wall to prevent theft.
Every certain distance, there’s a spike board, so if a thief comes in unaware, they might step on the spikes when climbing over the wall.
The houses near the lumber factory were all rented local factories, with insufficient investment in basic facilities.
Landlords didn’t want to spend money, and tenants wouldn’t invest much in the property that wasn’t theirs.
Thus, there were these simple spike boards for theft prevention.
"These are fresh scrape marks."
With just one glance, Lu Chuan confirmed the scrape marks on the wall were fresh.
"There are climbing and stepping marks here...the patterns...are similar to the footprint patterns at the site."
Though the stepping patterns were tiny and not very clear, in Lu Chuan’s professional eyes, they were relatively easy to judge.
"Here are dragging marks."
Liu Guodong pointed next to the stepping marks, where there was an apparent fresh scrape mark on the red brick, covering a large area.
"Check the trace evidence to see if there’s any discovery."
Lu Chuan nodded, realizing this was likely where the murderer dragged Zhang Xiaofeng into the lumber factory.
At the time, Zhang Xiaofeng wasn’t dead yet; he was likely sedated, almost as if he were dead.
The Crime Scene Investigation team worked smoother than Lu Chuan and Liu Guodong anticipated.
Although the murderer was stronger than Zhang Xiaofeng, Zhang Xiaofeng was still a 160-pound adult. Dragging him over a one and a half meter high wall left many traces.
"There’s a hair here!"
"Master, I think it’s highly probable it was someone who used to work here committing the crime."
After collecting the hair, Lu Chuan sealed it in an evidence bag.
"What makes you say that?"
Lu Chuan pointed to the grass below: "The spike boards here have a pattern, starting from the main gate, there’s one between every four wall piers."
Liu Guodong looked around and confirmed this pattern: "It’s highly likely the murderer pre-scouted?"
"Or they were already very familiar with this place."
Liu Guodong agreed with Lu Chuan’s perspective. The murderer acting within the factory, with the dormitory nearby, and their understanding of the spike board distribution beneath the wall piers all indicated familiarity with the lumber factory.
Additionally, the vehicle Ren Qiang found at the Jungar Hotel, able to pick up Zhang Xiaofeng, suggests they most likely knew each other.
"By the way, master, have they found that person yet?"
"Mm, they said in the group that the identity was confirmed just now on the way."
"Does that mean the case is solved?"
"Not exactly, depends on the results of the interrogation. Let’s first go back and do DNA analysis to see if we can get results."
Lu Chuan nodded; if the hair found on-site could yield DNA results, it would at least provide direct evidence pointing to the murderer.
If other clues align, they could collect DNA information from all suspects for comparison.
